15. ASHES
"If they want us to make the first strike," Tia said, "Then maybe they should make us."
"Tia's right," Carlisle said, speaking to us all, but not taking his eyes off of the twins. "They just want us to get closer to the Citadel, where they're safer, and have a higher advantage."
"Well, we're damn well not going to do that," Stefan added, a grin growing on his face.
"They have enough advantages already," Patrick agreed, clinging to Erica as if by glue.
"Super-telekinesis, cloning, not to mention the fact that all the ones we thought we killed are still alive, and they all still have their gifts," Emmett said, angry. "The wolves are tired, and we could very well lose. They obviously don't like a fair fight."
"No," Edward said. "They most definitely do not."
Duh, Brady thought. Does anyone even remember last time?
"What are they thinking, Edward?" Benjamin asked intensely.
Everyone's eyes went to Edward as he deciphered the minds of those just beyond the wall. His brow seemed to furrow in concentration and confusion.
"Their simply ready for battle," he said slowly. "But I don't... It's hard to understand... The real clone creator isn't going to fight, but she'll let her clones fight for her. She's in the Citadel, herself. It seems to me like something is off. Aro and Caius... I can't really hear their thoughts. It's like their being blurred, almost like they're a little too far away for me to pick up."
Then he snapped his head sharply to the right.
"That's an excellent plan! They won't have time to stop you that way, and you could take out the cloner before the real battle even begins!"
"That's why we were going to propose it, Eddy," Vladimir said, as Ty and Stefan gathered behind him. "Who do you suggest we take with us? We wouldn't want to uneven the playing field by taking the most crucial."
"Jasper, Esmé, Senna, Erica, Tia, Rosalie, Liam, Marcus, and Alistair?" Edward said, quickly, calling their names and motioning them forward. "The nine of you, plus the three Romanians, will need to circle the bay and get to the Citadel to find the cloner, and you must take her out before the bulk of the real battle begins. If you can, then kill Aro and Caius. Then, the playing field will be evened out entirely!"
Edward was entirely exultant.
"Maybe it would be of benefit to have one of the wolves tag along," Bella suggested.
Brady started bouncing up and down like a squirrel on crack.
OH MY GOD! I HAVE TO GO WITH THEM, JAKE! I WANNA HELP! PLEASE, I'LL BE SUPER CAREFUL! I PROMISE! PLEASE LET ME GO!
He was bouncing up and down, literally. How many energy drinks had the kid had today?
"It looks like Brady wants to go," Renesmee stated, nodding her head in his direction.
Fine! You can go, jeez! Jacob said.
And then Brady bounded forward to join the group of cloner-killers.
If anything happens to him, I thought to Jacob. I swear to God...
Jesus Christ, Seth! Embry said, irritated. You worry so freaking much! Take a pill.
That was kind of the end of that.
It took the group no time at all to fix up a plan, and then they were gone, shooting across the water like bullets. I barely caught a glimpse of Esmé carrying Brady before I barked a laugh. Brady was having funny thoughts.
I wouldn't have asked to go if I knew I would have to be carried, he thought, groaning a little.
And then they disappeared, circling around the bay into the forest.
Ten seconds later, Edward gasped out loud.
"What the hell?" he managed to choke out.
"Edward?" Carlisle said, instantly at his side. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"I can't hear them," Edward gasped, looking at the water as if he had seen a ghost. "It's like they don't exist at all!"
"What?"
They started chattering, angry and confused, as Jacob tried to reach Brady.
Brady! What's going on? Brady!
Jeez, you're giving me a headache, Jake! Hey, that rhymes!
Well, at least we can hear Brady, Leah sighed.
Jacob barked at Edward, interrupting him.
"The wolves can hear Brady," he announced.
"Why can they hear him and you can't hear any of them?" the tall and wild Zafrina asked.
"I don't know," Edward replied. "It makes no sense."
But what met our ears next was like the toll of the end.
"Welcome, friends," a voice like an angel echoed from across the dark blue water. I looked to see who it was. The bright red eyes of Caius met all of our eyes. "You seem a little early, don't you think? Haven't you heard of fashionably late?"
Caius laughed from where he had appeared, right beside Alec, and inverted towards the twins. I tried not to snarl at his laugh.
Edward snarled, but not at the laugh.
"What?" Carlisle asked, not happy about Edward's frequent groaning.
"I can't hear Caius either," he growled. "It's so confusing! I can't tell why at all! It's like none of them know what's going on there!"
"It's such a shame that you will all have to die tonight," Caius continued, still clear as a bell as a sudden explosion of thunder shook the air. A red-headed female that I recognized as Felicia now stood beside Caius.
I thought we killed her! Jared said.
We killed the clone of her, Sam corrected.
Raindrops started to fall then. They were cold, colder than any rain that I had ever experienced back in Washington. I doubted Florida got as much rain as we were about to get.
"Ah, the rain," Caius said, maintaining a friendly demeanor. "You will have met my friend Felicia by now, I suppose? Or a clone of her, I suppose." He laughed again. "Of course, that doesn't surprise you. You really don't have any idea what I have up my sleeves for tonight, my friends. Especially not you, mind-reader."
His fiery glare seemed to burn a hole through Edward's control. Edward growled so loud it was almost a scream and tried to lurch across the large stretch of water. Carlisle held him back, and said, "Wait. Not yet."
Caius didn't laugh this time. Maybe he was hoping that would have provoked Edward to attack first. I wondered what else he had up his sleeves.
"This won't be any fun if someone doesn't attack first," he said, frowning now. "I was hoping you would-"
He was interrupted by a scream so loud that I could've sworn that God in Heaven had to cover his ears. Caius spun round, along with the others beside him. Then he spun towards us, horror on his face. Edward smirked up at him with such irony that it was like a death wish.
The team had reached the Citadel! And they were winning!
Dawn broke across Caius's face.
"Kill them!"
Caius's finger pointed at us, and Alec and Jane were instantly in action. Caius disappeared behind the twins. Adrenaline spread like electricity through my veins as the witch twins lurched from the wall and onto the beach.
Our vampires were across the water in seconds. I was shocked to feel cold, stony hands on my fur as I was carried instantly across the water. When we reached the beach on the other side, hell broke loose.
I barely had time to register who our opponents were before we flew into action. Felicia, Jane, Alec, Demetri, Heidi, Kereana- too many to name in my state of mind.
The ground beneath my feet felt like ice as I lurched for Jane- I wanted to be the one that killed her. I felt some kind of electric energy surge through my veins as I slashed at her, and I thought hopelessly that she was using her power on me, but that wasn't it. It wasn't pain, it was like power! I slashed at her arm, knocking it out of the way far enough for me to lock my teeth around her torso. I took a chunk of her side off as the sounds of battle exploded around me. I heard screams, some kind of metal scraping together, and howling like mad.
I spit Jane's hard, venom-filled flesh from my mouth, hoping Benjamin would be fast enough to burn it before Jane would have time to put it back on.
Jane shrieked and swung for my leg, and I dodged just in time- right before Alice appeared from nowhere, knocking Jane down, right before she tore Jane's left hand off.
I stepped back in shock as Jane threw Alice off of her, and Alice landed perfectly a few feet away.
I sharp pain erupted from my front right paw from a blow I hadn't seen, and then I was flying! I collided with the huge wall, and slid down limply. I got up within seconds, and analyzed the situation. I was far away from the battle. I could only make out Bella, who was moving in a strange way that I hadn't seen before.
It took me too long to realize what she was doing. The reason Jane hadn't been able to paralyze me with pain was because Bella had learned a new way to control her shield! She was using it to protect individual people!
I found Alice and Jane again, who seemed to be locked in a dance of death at the very edge of the battlefield. I ran as fast as the speed of sound back to where I had been, and Jane barely had time to feel it as I locked my teeth around one of her legs
She screamed like a demon as I ripped her leg off at the knees, and venom dripped from the stub that remained. Jane fell down. She was in immense pain, and she was dying. I let no pity enter my heart as I spat her leg from my mouth and growled as I stepped towards her.
"No!" she screamed. "Please! Don't!"
Then Alice grabbed the soon-to-be-dead girl and threw her towards the wall.
"Seth, go!" Alice yelled to me when I tried to follow her to Jane. "This is for me to handle!" Then she yelled to the battle. "Edward, help!"
I obeyed, trying to gather my rusted thoughts.
I ran towards Jacob, who was fighting Heidi in the middle of the battle, with Benjamin at his side. I got there just in time for my right paw to knock Heidi away from Benjamin. I barely missed Benjamin's wave of fire before it collided with Heidi. Her gorgeous hair disappeared from her head in seconds as screams burst from her throat and echoed across the battlefield.
I tried not to look as Jacob tore her apart and Benjamin burned her. Purple, solid-looking smoke erupted all around us. Benjamin used that to our advantage. A sudden burst of wind erupted all around us, sending chills down my spine as smoke appeared all around us.
Jumping out of the smoke, I back-flipped into another battle, where I could tell that my friend was losing. Jennie almost got killed seconds before I locked my teeth around Demetri's head, ripping it from his shoulders. At the same time, Patrick's jaws snapped one of Demetri's legs off. We threw him towards the edge of the battlefield as he tried to piece himself together.
Jennie pulled a power-lighter from her pocket, and Demetri's remains erupted into flame and smoke, filling the rain-broken sky with the violet-black again.
I jumped back from the fire as Demetri's ashes spat more smoke, and I knocked right into a cold back. I almost whipped around and whacked the head off of the one behind me, but it was Carlisle.
Carlisle ducked a blow from a Volturi I didn't know and yelled:
"Seth! Alice needs your help!"
Thats when I heard Alec.
"Get the hell away from my sister!"
I turned just in time to see Alec pick Alice up by the collar, and then I was behind him. I roared with all the lungs I that I had, and I could've sworn that his hair stood on end as he spun around towards me. I reeled back on my hind legs, and both of my paws collided with his face.
Then I started seeing double.
Alec fell to the ground, but somehow, his foot collided with my back.
"Seth! His clone!" Alice yelled as she lunged for the real Alec.
I wheeled backwards only to be face to face with Alec's clone. I shrieked in terror as his lightning-fast hands reached for me. There was no time to react before he spun me around and slammed my body against the tall metal wall.
CRACK!
I felt the reverb of my pain in all of my pack family's minds as my ribs cracked under the Alec-clone's hands. A howl of pain and of terror tore from my lips.
The clone disappeared when a tiny black-haired form crashed into his side. I slid to the ground, which was farther down then it should have been. The Alec-clone's scream was cut off by a metallic screeching as I attempted bravely to stand to my paws.
"Ben!" Alice yelled right before I stood up.
Benjamin was over to us in seconds, and he lit the clone's remains on fire quickly.
"Alec's down," he said.
"No, it was Alec's clone," Alice corrected putting the other parts of the clone in the fire.
"Where did the real Alec go then?" he asked as the smoke filled the air around us.
Alice spun to where the twins had been, but Jane and Alec were both gone. Not even Jane's destroyed body parts remained. Both of the vampire's heads jerked up in synchronization towards the wall.
"Benjamin," Alice said. "We're going up."
"On it," he replied.
I didn't comprehend the meaning of anything they had just said until a sudden crack resounded around us.
Then we were lifted into the air, with the ground still under us: Benjamin was lifting us to the top of the wall on a slab of rock!
A sudden tug almost made us crash into the wall.
"Ben!" Alice yelled. "Be careful!"
"It wasn't me, I swear!" he yelled back, spinning round agilely to see the reason of the stop.
His glare was greeted by another, more forceful tug. I looked down to see an olive-skinned man with auburn hair with his hand pointed towards us. Another tug almost brought us down again.
"It's Oberon!" Alice yelled. "Stop him!"
Then huge shards of rock shot up from all around Oberon, confusing his focus. Oberon used his telekinesis to divert the rocks towards the battle, and tugged on the rock again.
Oberon's form suddenly shifted as he slammed into the cliff adjacent to the wall, out of his control entirely. I glanced in surprise to Jennie, who gave us a thumbs up as she pelted Oberon with rock and sand to keep him distracted.
We moved up again, quicker this time, and the whole world was brighter all of the sudden. I thought it could have been the climate change, but it was a new light.
Lightning!
The rock beneath my feet crackled, and I jumped to one side of the crack that had formed there. I whined loudly and barked as I struggled to stay on. Then the rock split in two! Both parts kept moving, somehow.
"Seth!" Alice yelled, as lightning shot up all around us.
A white hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed on to Alice's ankle.
"Alice!" Benjamin screamed, but the rock beneath us kept moving.
I whined again, and tried to claw at the hand, but Alice reached down and grabbed the hand.
The hand pulled back, and suddenly, an uninvited guest joined us in the air.
Felicia was flying in the wind, her vivid red hair flying around her like a whirlwind. Her eyes were filled with hate. I growled when her lips pulled back into a guttural snarl of her own. I yelled internally when lightning formed at her fingertips.
A burst of sudden red separated the weather-controller from us. She screamed as fire erupted from Benjamin's hands for the millionth time. The fire wrapped itself around us, a result of Benjamin's circular arm movements. Through the flames, I knew that I could see Felicia's charred and broken form fall to the ground.
Ben didn't let the fire dissipate until we were at the top.
The two vampires lithely bounced from the rock onto the plateau that stood before us. I staggered to them, but I spun to see what was going on below.
The battle was immense. The smoke didn't make it too difficult to see the action on the battlefield, but it was still thick. I could barely make out Jennie still duking it out with Oberon, and it seemed that Edward and Zafrina had joined her. All of my wolf family, including my Jacob, were in the center of the battle, and chunks of vampire were being spewed everywhere. I couldn't tell who we had lost, or who they had lost, but death was everywhere.
None of my family was dead yet, none of my pack. I would've felt it, I would've experienced their death with them.
"Look," Alice said, in awe.
I turned groggily towards where she was looking.
If I was human, I would have gasped, but it was more like a pant in wolf form.
What met my eyes was a battlefield. There had obviously been a battle here as well. I knew some of the bodies, but they were all the bad ones. I couldn't see any of my friends or family here. But the bodies of my enemies were burning, and it nauseated me that I could still recognize the faces. Corin, Santiago, Hallie, Kereana...
About 100 feet away from us, the battlefield stopped. A strange building stood where the ravaged Volturi bodies did not lay: the Citadel of Didyme. It was only one story, but was massive, sort of like the old Asian huts in all the kung-fu movies. The marble statue of a woman stood on a pedestal, and I guessed that it was Didyme, sister of Aro and wife of Marcus. One of her hands was missing, as if it had been knocked off during the battle. I could guess that it had gotten mistaken for a body part and been burned with the bodies.
But where was the team that was sent here? Had they achieved their objective? Or had something far worse been waiting inside the Citadel?
I walked forward for a reason that barely registered into my head.
I could hear Brady. Of course, I could hear Brady. Why couldn't I?
But this wasn't like the mind-sharing I had been accustomed to.
Brady was nearby. Brady was inside the Citadel.
"Wait," said a familiar voice that I instantly recognized as Edward. The voice was accompanied by a strange rush of wind. Jennie, Tanya, and Edward both leaped onto the battlefield with us when I stopped walking.
"There was a great battle here, as well," the strawberry-blonde Tanya said, sorrow filling her. It was obvious that she didn't relish the thought of killing another of their kind.
"I wish I knew the entire outcome," Edward said, his eyebrows pushing together. "I still can't hear anyone."
I started walking again, and this time they didn't stop me. In fact, they walked with me, cautious, and afraid. Brady's voice was somewhere just beyond the walls of the building, and I had to be certain that my pack brother was safe.
I crossed a line of green jade stone that seemed to separate the Citadel from the past battle's results.
Then a scream escaped my lips.
Pain ripped through my veins. It felt like I was being sliced open over and over. It was like I had swallowed razor blades and they were ripping me to bits right now.
And then I was human, and my ribs were aching.
The vampires gasped.
"What just happened?" Benjamin asked, in awe.
I exhaled suddenly, and stood to my feet. The vampires politely averted their eyes as I pulled the clothes on my leg onto the rest of my body. My ribs were sore from when Alec's clone had crushed them, although they had healed by then.
"What was that?" I asked, my eyes wide.
"I don't know," Edward said, his face contorted in horror. "It's as if there's an enchantment on the Citadel..."
He reached out and brushed his hand against the air. His hand seemed to sparkle, although there was no sun to cause it. I realized that it was the air that glistened. The jade was glowing, I saw now, and it seemed to be some kind of shield.
"It's a shield," Alice said, perplexed. "None of our powers will work in there, not even the werewolves' ability."
"This is the reason I couldn't hear the others when they got here, or Aro and Caius," Edward realized out loud.
"Damn it," Benjamin cursed under his breath. "Mine won't work either. I'm practically defenseless without my power. Should I stay out here to keep watch?"
Edward paused in thought.
"Just come with us," he said finally. "We're stronger as a group than as solitary fighters."
Benjamin bit his lip and nodded.
They each crossed the line, but none of them seemed to experience the pain of getting their abilities taken away like I had.
"I am defenseless," I said, feeling weaker than I ever had, and also a little shaky. "Is it safe for me to go in there?"
"Brady might need someone he trusts to help him," Edward said, even though he must have realized the danger I would be in.
Then I had a thought. If no one has any powers in the Citadel, wolves included, then how could I hear Brady's mind? He wouldn't be a wolf, of course. But what if it wasn't Brady that I had heard? I shivered.
Edward and the others walked slowly forward, wary of everything around them.
Then we reached an open door. Well, it wasn't open, but broken in. The shards of the door were splintered everywhere.
I looked up from the shards.
What we saw turned my heart to stone, my breath to vapor, my spirit to acid, my mind to ice, and my blood to ashes.
Three vampires stood ten feet beyond the entryway. A woman with flaming red hair, wild-looking and angry. A female with straight, white-blond hair, tall and strong. And a man with black hair, average-looking and vicious. I knew the red-haired one, and the blonde one well, but the black haired one was new.
"James," Edward said, shocked, mortified, and disbelieving. I recognized the name as the vampire that had tried to kill Bella in phoenix, when she was still human... The Cullens had killed him.
Victoria, Irina, and James stood before us now, back from Hell.
"Welcome, my friends," Victoria said. "It's been too long."
And they stepped forward to kill us.