AN... Okay. This is the FIRST HALF of the battle scene.
I really, REALLY wanted to have this done like three weeks
ago, but it has been fighting me every step of the way.
I sent it to Prettyflour back in September, and she had it
back in decent time, but it was SUPPOSED to be twice as
long, and SANS cliffie. It has not cooperated.
So, I said all of that so that you will know why this is so
short again, and unresolved! Hopefully the characters will
speak to me soon, because right now they are being
stubbornly silent, but you have ALL been so patient with
me, and I feel horrible that it has been so long again since
I posted, so please accept this small chapter as a humble
apology. I love you guys!

Thank you, Prettyflour for your mad skills and patience
with my wishy-washy ass! You rawk.


Chapter 39

And So, It Begins...

Bella POV

We sat around as mated pairs, enjoying a few minutes of silence. I clung tightly to Jacob, my head resting against his chest. The anticipation was heavy in the atmosphere, and as I breathed in the scent of my love, my nerves were soothed and my spirits buoyed… for surely God had not allowed such love as we shared, and was reflected in each of the couples present, only to watch its destruction at the hands of an evil, hateful being.

As Alice went stiff in Jasper's arms, and her eyes fixed into the familiar glaze of premonition, we all came to attention, readying ourselves for whatever she would say.

"Twenty minutes. They'll be arriving from the eastern side in twenty minutes." She whispered as she closed her eyes, and shook her head of her vision. "They just lost another one. Their numbers are down to just eighteen. We can do this." She spoke with conviction.

Leah kissed Edward and grabbed my hand, leading me towards the tree-line and into the eastern woods so that I could lay my scent trail. About six miles into the dense forest, she produced a pocket knife.

"It's going to hurt like a bitch, but you really need to cut deep if you want to leave some blood. You'll heal quickly enough." She shrugged, and I rolled my eyes at her.

"Duh." Her lips twitched into a grin at my ever mature response. I took the knife and cut a test slice on my thumb, and watched it heal in about thirty seconds. I managed to smear about three drops onto nearby foliage from this minor incision. I sighed heavily, and bit my bottom lip hard as I opened a massive gash across the width of my palm, squeezing my hand into a fist, and flailing blood as I ran a mile back towards the clearing.

Leah was right, it hurt really badly for about ninety seconds. When I stopped and opened my hand to look at it again, the cut had completely healed over, leaving no trace behind. I shook my head disbelievingly.

"This is going to take some getting used to." I sighed, cutting an even deeper gash before shaking it about again flinging blood in a trail behind me as I ran at inhuman speeds back into the clearing. I used the tall, dew covered grass to wipe my hand clean of the blood that was beginning to dry on my skin, then kissed Jacob deeply before sending him to wait with the rest of the pack.

"I love you, so very much." I sighed against his lips.

"Forever, babe. See you in a bit." He responded before giving me a final peck on the nose, and sauntering off into the woods.

I climbed onto my perch, a boulder, and began the final countdown as everyone moved into position; readying for the arrival of the newborns. We stood stoically, silently as we listened for movement in the woods. After a few minutes, a very large flock of birds flew towards the clearing from the east, then split, scattering towards the north and south just before they flew over-top of us. It was a bit unnerving.

Moments after the parting of the sea of birds, we heard the first whispers of movement in the underbrush. The approaching army was obviously incredibly untrained, as they made enough noise to be heard from the better part of a mile away. I could make out snarling and yelling as well as what sounded like screeching metal in the distance. I looked towards Alice and Jasper, askance. Jasper nodded his head knowingly. Alice whispered "seventeen.", and Emmett chuckled.

"They keep this up, and it will be anti-climactic." He huffed out quietly. I could practically hear Rosalie rolling her eyes as she shook her head at him.

We were all intensely focused on the sounds of the forest surrounding us, and I became aware of the soft, swift sounds of feet running across the dampened earth just out of sight; skirting along the southern and northern boarders of the clearing. We began to see snippets of motion as heads bobbed around in the trees to the east. I got a glimpse of bone colored skin and red eyes just as the first two newborns burst through the trees and into the open. In all, seven barged across the clearing from the east, towards Carlisle and Esme.

"Surrender and I'll allow you to live. There is another way to live, without bloodshed." Carlisle implored loudly. Six of the monsters were unfazed, and continued their march toward my vampire parents. One, however stopped in her tracks and cocked her head to the side, furrowing her brows as if she were considering his words. I noticed that she was really small, and very young. My heart broke for her.

Poor kid. I thought, Probably never had a choice or chance. She looked so lost and scared.

"Bree, get your ass in the fight!" Yelled a tall, dark haired newborn that seemed to carry himself with an heir of authority. "Ignore him! Riley told us they would try to deceive us!"

Just after he bellowed at the girl, Bree, he launched himself at Carlisle, lunging for his neck. Carlisle easily side-stepped his attack, managing to grab a hold of the young vampire's head, and used his own forward momentum as leverage to rip his head off, then quickly grabbed his arms, and placed his foot in the center of the back, ripping off the limbs. He spun around, and saw Esme fighting with another large male as a female began to charge from behind her. Carlisle closed the gap, managing to knock her off of her feet just as her hands grabbed a fistful of Esme's hair, yanking her head back, and leaving her throat vulnerable.

Edward flew forward like a bullet, ripping the head off of her male attacker, and finishing him off as he spun around, and ran back toward the two vampires that sped past him in an attempt to get to me.

I took a second to glance to my left, and saw Jasper busily fighting with two very adept newborns, and Alice seemingly dancing and toying with her attacker. The way that she stepped aside just enough for him to miss her would have been comical if I had the time to really watch and appreciate her situation. When I shifted my attention to the right, I saw Rose tearing a female apart viciously with a snarl. Emmet had a hold of one male by its head, his arm stretched out at full length. The vampire was swinging its arms, trying to hit him, unable to reach him, or escape his grasp, while another barreled towards him full tilt. I huffed a quick chuckle as he used his brute force to heave the vampire he had in his grasp at the other. The sudden collision sounded like boulders crashing. The force of the blow tore the body away from the head that he still held in his grasp. I heard Emmett laughing as I turned my attention in front of myself.

Edward tore a leg off of one of the two vampires that were speeding in my direction, and was in mid-stride to return to defend me against the other, when the one he was trying to leave behind managed to grab a hold of his foot, and take his feet out from under him. I watched in frustrated vacillation as the blood thirsty newborn with coal black eyes, and shaggy brown hair continued on its path towards me. I was hoping to keep from phasing until Victoria showed herself. If I phased now, it would ruin the shock value, and I really wanted to see Victoria's eyes as she realized that her time was up… at MY hands! (Or teeth, as was sure to be the case)

Just as I was about to give in and make the shift, I caught sight of a russet blur flying past me, and colliding with the brown haired vamp. My eyes were frozen on the scene playing out in front of me, as Jacob fought to defend me.

Jake had barely managed to tear the throat out of the vampire, and begin to rip him apart limb from limb when I heard Edward utter a low oath. I looked around and noticed that save for the small young female named Bree, (who was cowering at Jasper's feet) all of Victoria's army that had converged on us in the clearing were dispatched, and their various parts were being collected by Rose, Emmett and Alice to be burned. Jacob froze, and crouched low, as Edward began to shout toward the western side of the clearing.

"Get to the reservation!" His command was loud and authoritative. "Now!" He began to run past me when I jumped onto his back, knocking him to the ground.

"What's going on at the reservation?" I demanded. His eyes were fierce as he uttered the one word that could instill contempt into my veins.

"Victoria." His eyes bore into me, conveying all I needed to know. I phased as I took off in the direction of the Quileute reservation. Fear and anger fueled my every stride as I raced towards my father, and my brother. If Victoria was on the reservation already, God only knew how many of my people she had harmed; maybe even killed.

My people. A deep sense of awareness seized me with this thought. The Quileute Nation were my people; my family! Trees and streams passed by in a blur as I dug in my feet, stretching and pushing as hard as I could muster. As I ran, I stretched out with my mind, listening with all of my being to hear my pack mates. In my intense focus, I nearly stumbled as I heard it: Seth's mind. I saw the blonde haired male lunging toward him. I felt my heart break as I heard Colin's mind fading, and practically felt the pain he was experiencing as his gasped for breath, his chest crushed by the same vampire who was now attacking my brother!

I caught up to Leah, and heard the terror in her thoughts as she too saw and heard the situation that our baby brother was caught up in.

Seth, aim low, and try to take out his feet! Leah pushed her thoughts forward, screaming in her mind towards him.

We had just passed into the edge of the village as we heard a loud yelp, and felt the air whoosh out of Seth's lungs. He had managed to knock the male off of his feet, but before he could right himself, he was kicked in his side hard. He had the wind knocked out of him, and a few ribs on that side broke. We were just getting close enough to hear Sue scream. Unable to see what was happening to her, we feared the worst.

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I love all of my readers. I hope you all know that.
And I wish that I could hear from each one of you.
but I know that some are just shy...
To those of you who are NOT shy... Please,
leave me some love? I need inspiration.