Chapter 14 – The battle continues and switched allegiance
Aro and Caius let out a gasp as the other tribeswomen appeared. They still outnumbered their opponents 2 to 1, but this certainly made their victory less assured, especially in light of what happened to their brother Marcus.
Aro began to calculate their options. He wasn't willing to leave without Edward, Bella and Renesmee, but perhaps he could assure Kaure and her tribes safety in return for them standing down.
"I see that this battle is more even than we had anticipated, but you are still outnumbered my dear" Aro reasoned
He paused to gauge Kaure's reaction before continuing.
"Perhaps we can negotiate here. Surely if we promise to leave you and your tribe alone and leave quietly with Edward, Bella and Renesmee, we can avoid any unnecessary violence. I will of course retract my earlier decision to take your niece with us" he said in a calm and soothing voice.
Kaure stepped forward and looked over at Edward and Bella for a moment.
She turned back to Aro and ran a hand through her hair.
"So if we stand back and let you leave with Edward, Bella and Renesmee you would leave here and never return" she asked.
Bella gasped and Edward squeezed her shoulders reassuringly
"Wait, let her finish" he murmured into her ear.
Aro nodded in affirmation
"Of course my dear, I am a man of my word as is my brother" he assured Kaure.
Kaure took a deep breath and gave the appearance of considering the offer for a moment.
"It's very tempting Aro, but I am afraid it's a no deal. You see we're awfully fond of Edward, Bella and Jacob and my niece would never forgive me if i allowed harm to come to Renesmee, so I thank you for your offer but.. NO... besides I do believe that we have the upper hand here so you have no real bargaining power do you?" she asked.
Aro narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean you have the upper hand. Is maths not your strong point, you are outnumbered my dear"
Kaure sighed.
"It wouldn't matter if we were outnumbered 5 to 1, you and your men are simply no match for us, didn't your brothers earlier destruction alert you to some of the methods at our disposal"
Kaure lifted her hand up palm facing forward to show she was wearing the tri-let.
"See this pendant, it may just look like a bit of pretty jewellery, but it's actually the key to your destruction. All it took was for Athena here to place her pendant to your brothers head and he turned to dust. It won't be difficult to do the same to the rest of you" she goaded.
Aro studied the tri-let pendant for a moment.
"Just what is this supposed magical pendant" Aro enquired.
Kaure looked over to Aro and was pleased to see that he looked worried.
"This is a bloodstone. All of the tribal women you see before you have one in their possession, but not all of them choose to use them, some prefer to get their hands dirty in some hands on combat" she said rather glibly.
Caius was listening on with great interest.
"Do you expect us to believe that a small pendant such as the one you possess can destroy our kind so easily" he asked in a sharp tone.
Kaure nodded
"I have no doubt it will work against you and your men, but interestingly enough it doesn't work on Edward and Bella. We assume it is down to your diet, but perhaps it's just because Edwar and the rest of the Cullens have purer souls"
Aro and Caius, despite feeling in some danger were both fascinated by the concept of this pendant.
Whilst this conversation was going back and forth Jane saw an opportunity to get a little leverage. She silently made her way to the hut where Renesmee and Tawémake were hiding. If she could just grab one or both of them then it would put the ball back in the court of her master.
Jane's journey to the hut was going so well, until Felix realised what she was doing. Much to his surprise his first thought was that of his daughters safety.
"JANE NO" he called out.
Jane hissed and hurried her movements.
Felix couldn't stand the thought of Jane harming his daughter.
"Kaure, she's trying to..." he called out, before falling to the ground and writhing in pain as Jane cut him off by using her powers against him.
Kaure immediately reacted to Felix calling out her name. As she realised what was happening she was floored on two counts. First and foremost she was angry at the audacity of this Jane's attempt to get to her niece and Renesmee, but she was even more astounded at the fact that Felix tried to warn her and to protect her niece... his daughter.
Jane quickly called out to two other members of the guard to come with her as she was almost at the hut.
Jacob was the first to react.
"Oh no you don't" he shouted
He then phased into wolf form and blocked Janes path to the hut.
"Get out of my way mutt" she snarled, but Jacob refused to back down.
Kaure nodded to two of her tribeswomen and they phased into the MngWa and flanked Jacob either side.
"What the hell is this." Jane yelled out
"Not only do we have to put up with shape shifting wolves now we have fierce cats"
Jane paced from side to side trying to work out how to get past Jacob. She then gave the orders to the other two guard members to battle with the MngWa's.
The fight between the Volturi guardsmen and MngWa's was over very quickly. They were simply no match for the fierce creatures. Several members of the guard took step back in horror, fearing what they were seeing.
Aro gave them all warning glances to stand their ground.
Jane growled in frustration.
"Last warning… dog! Get out of my way or else I'll make you" she snarled.
Jacob shook his head and bared his teeth.
Jane was about to advance when she felt a hand touch her shoulder
"What now" she snapped before spinning around to see a mirror image of herself staring back at her.
"It's just a trick" she said as she studied the mirror image in front of her.
The tribal woman posing as Jane grinned sweetly before using Jane's own power against her, within seconds Jane was writhing on the floor in agony.
Alec looked on in horror as his sister was in obvious agony, he ran to help her as fast as he could, but wasn't fast enough to stop the tribeswoman placing the trilet pendant to Jane's head and turning her to dust.
Alec slumped to the ground and picked up a handful of dust and watched as it ran through his fingers.
"Jane" he whimpered.
He had no time to mourn the destruction of his sister as the tribeswoman quickly applied the trilet to his forehead and he was soon a pile of dust mixed in with his sisters.
Aro and Caius were both visibly taken aback by this turn of events.
Edward and Bella started to feel hope as this was all working better than expected.
"Not so sure of yourself now are you Aro" Bella called out, taking some pleasure out of seeing him squirm.
Aro was dumbfounded by what he had just witnessed. Jane and Alec were two of his prized possessions and their demise alongside Marcus's was just too much to bear.
Aro began to panic. He was no longer sure of their victory and now, for the first time in many years actually feared for his life.
"It seems Edward and Bella have made their feelings quite clear and do not want to join us" he said to Caius.
Caius nodded his head in agreement. He was not one for running away from battles, but given what he had seen so far they were up against some formidable opponents.
"I agree my brother, perhaps we should accept our losses and bid these people goodbye"
Aro and Caius began to retreat a few steps back, but Edward shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but we want this finished. Bella, myself and Renesmee will not live our lives in fear of you changing your mind and coming after us again. We've had enough Aro and we want this ended. One way or another"
Aro held his hands up in mock surrender.
"Please Edward, My brothers and I have ruled over the vampire world for many years and if you do anything stupid like rid the world of us, you'll be sorry." Aro replied
Caius liked where his brother was going with this.
"Aro's right Edward. If by some miracle you defeat us and bring down the Volturi, there will be no order. Vampires will no longer feel obliged to hide themselves and this could bring pain and destruction to humans and you wouldn't want that would you"
Edward exchanged a pained look with Bella. He hadn't actually considered the consequences of a world without the Volturi.
Bella lowered her shield and spoke to Edward silently.
"Don't listen to them Edward. The Volturi rule the vampire world with fear. If we are able to get rid of them then we can elect new leaders, ones that not only keep deaths of humans to a minimum, but would do so by ruling our kind fairly. Think of the possibilities. If we were ruled with someone like Carlisle, who could share the successes of the Cullens and the Denalis who blend in with society rather than hiding in the shadows, he could change things for the best."
Edward took a few moments to consider this and knew that Bella was right. If the Volturi is defeated it would mean a lot of change, but change was good.
He noticed that Kaure was studying his and Bella's silent communication and he took a moment to meet her eye contact and smile at her. Kaure seemed to visibly relax.
Edward turned his attention back to Aro and Caius who were stood flanked by the remainder of their guardsmen
"I'm sorry Aro and Caius, but we choose to fight"
Aro glared at Edward and sighed. He turned to his brother Caius and sighed.
"Very well a fight it is, but let it be known that we intend to fight hard" he sneered.
Caius bared his teeth and let out a snarl.
Aro turned to look to the remainder of his guard and raised his right arm in the way.
"Are you ready men. These people want a battle and a battle they should have."
Several of the guard raised an arms in support and joined in with the snarling, but others stood with a look of fear in their eyes.
Aro picked up on this immediately and repeated his question. The unsure guards reluctantly joined in, but Felix however remained silent and stared at Kaure.
His eyes glanced over to the hut and back to Kaure and he knew in that instant that his loyalty was not with his master, it was with Kaure and the daughter he just found out he had.
Aro turned to Felix and studied his features. Felix looked deep in thought and this confused Aro. In all the years Felix had worked for him he had never once hesitated to join in a fight.
"Are you not excited Felix?" he asked
As Aro spoke those words Felix was snapped out of his thoughts for a moment. He turned back to look at his master, but for the first time he really studied Aro. All these years serving him, he had been ruled with fear, but as he studied Aro closer he could see the look of fear in Aro's eyes, despite his act of bravado. Had he really been so blind all this time and overlooked the fact that Aro was really nothing on his own? it was the power he held over others to do his bidding that made him something to fear.
Felix, who was stood to the right of Aro, but a few men away felt an odd sense of freedom. He at this moment realised that he didn't need to listen to Aro's commands.
He broke his gaze with Aro and turned his gaze to Kaure. She was staring at him in confusion. Felix looked from her to the hut and back to her and tried to think of some way to communicate that he wanted to fight with her not against her.
He watched on as Edward approached her and spoke into her ear.
Edward explained to Kaure that Felix wanted to fight with them not against them and in particular to protect Tawémake.
Kaure was a little taken aback by this, but nodded to Felix in agreement.
Aro was getting tired of Felix not answering him.
"What the hell are you playing at Felix" he snapped.
Felix turned to Aro and looked at him directly in the eye, something which he was usually too afraid to do.
"What the hell am I playing at?" he asked mockingly to goad Aro.
Felix sped across to join Kaure and the others before turning his attention back to Aro.
"I'm realising whose side I am really on" he called back.
Aro was enraged about this turn of events.
"Get back here this instant" he commanded, but Felix would not respond.
He was not about to let Aro get anywhere near his daughter. He would do all that was in his power to protect her and if that meant helping out Kaure and the others then so be it.