Sorry it has taken so long to post. I have had exams all week, and so I have been a bit distracted. Lemme know what you think!

Chapter 9

To Prepare for a War

Orion POV

The four of us stepped onto the frozen, Russian tundra. "Orion, what are we doing here? There is nothing up in Russia except...Oh." Jane said, realizing why we were here. Somewhere in the Russian plain, there lived another creature from myths and stories. "Orion…Why are we going to meet…Them?" Alec asked, just as confused.

"Because, Twins, we need allies for the time when we are to destroy The Witch. Vampires from across the globe will join them, and we need those who are able to destroy them." I told them simply, expressing my full thoughts right into their minds.

My three other companions were trekking along behind me, completely oblivious to the cold. I needed to keep the air around me warm to keep comfortable. It was times like this when I was jealous of my vampire partners. And then I remembered all that they could not do. Like throw fire. I smiled at that thought, realizing how I would draw out the children that I was hunting for.

A small flame grew on my palm, reaching the size of a small ball. "Orion, what are you-"I interrupted Felix as I thrust my palm forward, the fire rocketing in front of me. It screeched through the air, melting snow and burning sparse plants. The fire struck the tree line, a good half-mile away, and exploded, annihilating a large portion of the forest.

I looked towards the sky as my fire spread. I saw the moon in its three-quarters phase. Not good enough. I thought, moving it from its position. The moon rose higher in the sky, turning slightly. As more of the moon was revealed, in began to glow orange. The full moon is here, let its children come forth. I thought to myself, feeling the words become prophesy.

"Orion!" Jane yelled, pulling my attention back towards the forest. Rapidly approaching us, were three very large wolves, although wolves was a very loose term. Their front legs were longer and thinner, almost making them appear upright, though hunch-backed. Their back legs were equally thin, but still very powerful. They had a sparse covering of hair, a mere inch long, except on their heads where it was less than a centimeter.

Their teeth bared, they flew at us faster than any creature on land, faster than any vampire could hope to run. In a mere second, they had covered the half-mile distance, and were hurtling towards us, hate and anger in their eyes. I pulled my ace then, the three wolves tripping. They flew through the air, landing at my feet.

I held them in place, not allowing room for them to move; I may not have been able to die, but the vampires could, and these wolves could kill them faster than I could think. I could not bring the vampires back to life, either.

"Hello, my wolfy little friends." I said, staring straight down into the largest wolf's eye. He growled lightly, unable to do anything else. I lifted them, suspending them in mid-air. "You, my pets, will serve me now. I have a little problem that I need taken care of, and I need an army. Are then any other Children of the Moon nearby? If not, do you know of any remaining wolves?"

The three wolves growled at me, not wanting to respond. I merely entered their mind, stealing the information from them; there was another small pack a few hundred miles away, deeper in the frozen tundra.

"My friends, you will travel with us, now. Do not fret, you will be perfectly safe." I told them, reaching through the small barrier separating their souls from the rest of the universe. I twiddled with their life-force, altering the magical pattern of it. When I reopened my eyes, three normal humans stood before me, very shocked, and very naked. I opened a small hole back to Volterra, grabbing some clothes from a nearby store.

Handing the clothing to them, I noticed small details about the three humans in front of me. The Alpha was a man, somewhere in his twenties. The other two were females, around the same age, but smaller. I dropped them to the ground, allowing them free reign of their movements; they were utterly harmless in human form, no stronger than a heavy-duty weightlifter.

"Who are you, and why would we come with you?" The male spoke first, having dressed only in the pants I had provided. "Why, look around you; you don't have a choice. Besides, I am the only one who can restore your transformation powers, now. I have sealed them, until I see fit." I said the last part icily, broking no further argument. It did not work.

"How did you do that? Our shifting abilities are completely uncontrollable, based entirely on the phases of the…Moon." She said, noticing the full moon for the first time. "H-how?" She asked, wonder in her eyes. I became tired of this game. Reaching into their minds, I laid a command so strong that it would last until either they died, or I was truly killed.

You will all do exactly as I say. No more arguments with me. You will follow me wherever I go, unless I tell you otherwise. I am going to return your shifting abilities to you, but with no limitations. You will not shift unless there is immediate danger, which you will be able to sense. You will help me to destroy the little witch that plagues this universe, and you will sacrifice your lives to me, if I require you to do so.

As I layered each command, I granted them the abilities that I spoke of; I altered the magic of their phasing, making it identical to that of the Quileute's. Now, they could transform on a whim, my whim, and not be limited to the moon. They would also sense when there was true danger nearby, the kind that could harm vampires. "Yes, master." They all spoke, as though hypnotized.

Jane stared at me, wishing that she could have made them comply instead of me physically forcing them to. Go have fun. I said, opening a small hole for her to step through, sending her two minutes into the past. Be back in four minutes. I will close this hole without you, if you do not. She jumped through immediately, and the sound of howling and pain filled the air.

Virgo POV

I was blocking the sound coming from upstairs, the noise irritating everyone in the house. Is it so impossible for them to be quiet, every once in a while? I asked everyone, projecting the question out. I carefully avoided Emmett and Rosalie's minds, keeping away from Wardient as well, as he was watching. It disgusted me that he was watching, even though he had to, in order to make them have a baby.

Edward laughed slightly at my thoughts, finding something about my disgust funny.

I allowed my mind to wander once again, more bored than I had been in years. Orion's words came back into my brain, polluting my thoughts. I knew that a war was looming in the next few years, but what was I supposed to do about it? I did not even know how long it would last, or if it would even be a real war! Would there be more than one battle? How many were going to fight?

It's time for the others to learn the truth, Virgo, the ones who are oblivious, as of yet. That voice entered my head again, fleeing immediately. Who are you? I screamed, making my voice echo throughout everywhere. I sent it as far out as there was intelligent life, which was nearly forever. There was no possible way for whatever it was to not hear me. "Virgo, who are you shouting at?" Jacob asked, looking at me funny.

"It was some guy! I have heard this strange voice in my head! Its presence was far more immense than any of the Deities, yet not nearly as overbearing. It is so frustrating, because as soon as he speaks to me, he is gone! I have searched the entire universe for him, but I have come up with nothing! I have even been dream-walking, and I'm still empty-handed!"

I ended my little tirade, tired of not having answers. I noticed in the silence left behind, that it truly was silence; Emmett and Rosalie had stopped. I turned to see them walking, hand in hand, down the stairs, their faces glowing. Wardient appeared next to me, looking immensely please with himself; Jasper's face lit up as well, a small chuckle escaping his lips, confirming my suspicions.

"So? When can we be expecting?" Bella sang, excited for a vampire birth. The universe truly was an amazing place if this sort of thing could happen. Wardient nodded his head, agreeing with my thoughts. How can you read my mind? I asked him, for his mind only.

I don't. You merely give off very powerful signals when you feel strongly about something. You feel strongly about many things, which is why it seems like I can read your mind, at times. I'm no Edward. He said this with a smile, making a bad joke.

"You can expect to have a new little member of the family in about nine months." Rosalie said, glowing even brighter than Emmett. "Nine months? Wow, Rose, that's a long time." Alice said, thinking about the future, probably looking into it. "Aw! It's so cute!" She crowed, having seen nine months into the future. "Alice, shut up! We don't want to hear anything about it yet!" Emmett yelled, scaring everyone from the intensity.

I was unable to be entirely happy, however. Orion's words were still plaguing my thoughts, distracting me from the present. I was continuously drawn back to the point where I saw the battle taking place, but all I saw was an empty space; nothing was viewable.

I heard everyone talking again, still overjoyed at the news that a vampire was going to have a baby. I was trying to get myself back into the conversation, when Alice gasped. She fell forward onto the floor, staring into space more intensely than I had ever seen her before. Never had a vision affected her this greatly, so it must have been something huge.

I put myself into her mind, and recoiled immediately. Her vision was one that I had never wanted to see; Orion leading a small pack of true werewolves down onto the Cullen family, taking everyone by surprise. They never stood a chance and, the worst part was, that no one was spared. Not even the baby. I made up my mind immediately, and the entire vision vanished.

Alice sat there, breathing hard even though she had no need of air, recovering from the intense vision. I had unintentionally blocked my mind from Edward, and he was staring at me curiously. Before I could say anything, however, Alice spoke. "Jacob…Go and get…The pack. Bring them all here…As soon as you can. I mean everyone, including the imprints."

"No!" Edward shouted at this, enraged that she would drag the imprints into this. I broke in, stopping his rage from Alice. "Edward! It won't happen like that, and it was not going to occur for another three years in the first place! Do you really want an entire pack of wolves here, without their imprints, for three whole years? I think that if we did that, we would have no need to worry about Orion killing us all, the pack would do it first!"

"What is everyone talking about?" Jake said, interrupting my third tirade for that day.

"Alice just had a vision of Orion killing us all with a pack of Children of the Moon. We need you to call the entire pack, and the imprints, up here so that we can prepare for that even that will happen in three years. So far, Orion has not gathered anything other than the wolves, but I have a feeling that this fight is going to be much more than a single battle."

"I'm going too." Nessie said, grabbing Jake's arm.

"Of course. We'll leave right away. Come on, Ness." Jake said, pulling her out the door. "We'll be back in a few days. Don't worry about anything!" Jake called as he began stripping when he was just beyond sight of the door.

My words from five seconds ago reentered my mind, as though pushed there by some other force; I have a feeling that this fight is going to be much more than a single battle. Then, another thought that had happened earlier was pushed back into my mind; It is time for the others to learn the truth, Virgo, the ones who are oblivious, as of yet. I shivered as I realized what these thoughts meant, being pushed together like that.

"You guys…We need more than the wolves help for this one. I was right, before; this will be more than just one single fight." Alice gasped again, seeing what I was planning. I was blocking Edward, so he could not even see Alice's vision. "No, Virgo! You can't do that! I will not let you involve them, like this! This fight does not concern them, at all!"

"It does, Alice. Orion will kill us, if he can, and then he will move onto the rest. It may seem cruel to reveal this to them in this manner, but there is nothing else to be done." I took a breath before speaking the line that would change the world forever.

"I am going to go tell the humans, tonight."