Chapter 24

[Markus]

Violence…

Violence was something I was very familiar with. Even before I truly became a Monster, inside and out.

I use the phrase "inside and out" because even before my transformation into an inhuman Beast, I had always been a Monster at my core.

I remembered many times in my short human life, when I had proven to the world and myself just how scrupulous and unimaginably cruel I could be. Like that time, when another hunter tried to steal my deer after I had already killed it.

It had been a hard winter at the time and my Mother had been essentially starving herself to keep me fed. And that bastard tried to take the food I had caught for my dear Mother, after I had snuck out at night. Needless to say, he didn't leave the forest with my prey. Or at all, for that matter.

I remember it too well. My juvenile looks had made it all too easy to lure him into a false sense of security, before I rammed my knife into his crotch and broke every single bone in his limbs and face, as he laid there squirming like the worm that he was, until he was only able to weakly twitch and whimper. At that point, it would have been more merciful to kill him… but mercy had always been something that was hard to muster for me. Instead I left him there, in his own piss, shit and blood, as a ready meal for any predator who wanted to get their fill in these harsh times. I didn't lose even a second of sleep over my deed and brought the game home to my Mother, with a smile.

I was thirteen years old, at that time.

Another incident, that came to mind instantly, involved some traveling merchant, who tried to pressure my Mother into becoming his whore, during one of our shopping trips. It had taken all my willpower to resist killing him right then and there, but I held myself back. The thought of potentially getting even one drop of his filthy blood on my pure Mother disgusted me to no end. Instead, I tracked him down on that very night, before torturing him in the forest, until he couldn't even beg for death anymore. I disposed of his hacked up corpse, via one of the many pig pens in the village.

That happened when I was fifteen.

And these were just two of many incidents, where I showed just how much of a Monster I was, under my innocent looks. A beast without remorse, that didn't shy away from the most cruel of acts and reveled in them instead. But the point of this brief exposition wasn't to prove that, despite the few good principles I had retained, from my Mother's teachings, I was truly someone belonging into the depths of hell.

No, this whole exposition was simply done to give you an inkling, as to why I was currently grinning like a madman.

Newborns. Dozens of Newborns were swarming all around me. Their hands, shaped into greedily grasping claws. Their faces contorted into visages of pure animalistic bloodlust and fury, lacking any remains of the humanity they once held. Their singular goal being, to kill and consume what their instincts told them to. And in this case, that would be me.

Sadly for them, this hunt proved to be different to any other they had experienced in their short vampiric existence.

Because instead of them killing their prey in seconds…

This so-called 'Prey' was ripping them apart instead.

Dash right… Punch there… Tank a hit here… Rip a head off and dodge to the left… and most of all… Kill. Kill that tall blond female Newborn. Kill this short and bulky male one. Kill the small girl, who looked barely older than twelve. Kill this one… and that one…Kill… Kill. Kill Kill Kill Kill…

Kill every single enemy in sight… and laugh while they die SCREAMING.

The Fighting, the Violence, the pure unadulterated CARNAGE made me feel like coming home to an old but dear friend. I hadn't realized how much I had missed it… until now.

But this time, the pure JOY I felt was even stronger than it had ever been before. Because this time… I had someone to share it with.

My Mate and I were fighting side by side… and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced.

Despite her being way less physically powerful than me, and also a little slower and way weaker than any of our adversaries, she still tore through them with deadly grace. It was as if we were born to fight side by side. We didn't need any outward signals or sounds. We were like two parts of one being. Perfectly in sync.

Where she went low, I went high. When I blocked, she attacked. When she went for a kill, I made sure her back was covered and vice versa.

Despite us being surrounded from all sides, despite us being outnumbered by over fifty to one… we still tore them into pieces, without so much as a scratch.

It was magnificent… and I felt myself fall for her all over again.

I would have never thought it possible, but in these moments, in the middle of this symphony of violence and death… she seemed even more beautiful than ever before. And it didn't matter that she was not even in human form right there. It wasn't her physic that heightened her beauty in my eyes right then. She was already the most beautiful in that aspect. It was something entirely else.

This was the first time ever that I came to realize her to be the goddess of war and death that she was.

Graceful and brutal. Flowing and vicious. Beautiful and merciless.

Her captivating, almost dance-like, movements stood in stark contrast to the gruesome and deadly wounds they caused on our enemies and that created a truly delicious dichotomy. Absolutely magnifi-

I was ripped from my inner swooning by one especially big Newborn, who was rushing at us from Leah's left. Without hesitation, I flipped over her back with one hand in her fur, while my other hand punched the head off of another Newborn who tried to attack from above, and moved to block the charging enemy. In the split second that I jumped, Leah already moved to cover my previous position and snapped her jaws forward with blinding speed, biting off another head, before its owner even realized what happened.

The big Newborn reached us, right after I completed my vault, and did not hesitate to lunge for my throat. I didn't even blink and simply thrust my right hand forward, with my fingers extended and rigid.

Now, I am sure that some of you know the saying "A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife". It is generally meant as a warning for any knife user, because a dull knife is generally harder to control than a sharp one, but there was another reason for the saying. A dull knife leaves messier and generally much more gruesome and painful cuts. In terms of lethality it actually almost trumps the sharp knife. The main point as to why the dull knife loses though, is simply the ease of use. A dull knife needs much more pressure to cut and that leaves us with our current situation.

What would happen, if there was an abundance of pressure?

Well, the answer to that was currently unfolding right in front of me.

The leaping Newborn was almost horizontal in the air, when my knife-hand met the tip of its nose. Its Nose like any other part of its body, inherently had a very high level of durability and hardness. It would have been able to take a hit from a high-caliber round and stay perfectly unharmed.

But in this situation, that didn't make even the slightest difference.

With my frankly insane senses and processing speed, I was able to view it almost in slow-motion. My fingers first indented and then crushed its nose. Without any pause, they continued to sink into the face of the Newborn. It didn't even have the time to realize what was happening, as all of this happened in the smallest fraction of a second. And it wouldn't get the chance to react either.

Once my fingers had sunk up to the beginning of my palm into its skull, it was already all over for it. With a loud crack the Newborn's head split apart, right down the middle, but it didn't end there. Its own momentum, coupled with my own unyielding strength, caused my hand to continue on its path and a split second later, the Newborns vertically bisected body flew up and past me on both sides, hitting two more jumping enemies.

Sadly I wasn't able to pay attention to that or even express my joy at the perfect hits, as I had to fight down my screams at that moment.

My teeth ground loudly against each other as I forced myself to keep moving. I couldn't afford myself even a second of pause, in this battle. It would be disastrous if the flow that Leah and I fell into got disrupted at any instance, so I kept moving. My hand was nothing more than a ball of pain to my senses, after my previous move, but luckily it seemed to have frozen in its previous extended position, which allowed me to use it effectively still.

Despite that, I couldn't help the dread seeping through the pain induced cracks in my mind.

It wasn't the pain that caused this though. No, the pain was there all along. My whole body was drenched in pain and agony, even before this battle started, and it became only worse with the constant fighting. But that was manageable. And I use that term very very VERY loosely here. But no, the problem was something even worse.

This was a sign that I was losing control of my body.

My hand was proof of that and I had no delusions that it would stay at just one hand. It was not that detrimental to my fighting, with just the one hand lost, but once I lost an entire arm or maybe even a leg my efficiency would drop exponentially. And I was already pushing myself to my limits to reach and stay at my current speed and strength.

My current overall state was even more debilitating than I could have ever expected. Compared to my usual power, I was effectively crippled. I was barely able to muster triple the speed and strength of a Newborn. It was pathetic and humiliating, how weak I had become.

If I were to lose a major limb in my current position, I would become almost useless.

With that assessment made, I redoubled my efforts to slaughter all our enemies. Now more than ever, I felt like time was running out and the only thing I could do was scramble to finish this before that happened.

Leah didn't let my new drive startle her and continued to perfectly match my rhythm, but my dread only grew. Even in the cacophony of violence around us, I could hear her racing heartbeat and her fast panting. She, unlike me or our enemies, didn't have unlimited stamina and, after this much hyper-intense fighting, she was beginning to reach her limit also.

I tensed my right leg and made to dodge an incoming attack, while my eye already sought out the next target. I had to be faster and end th-

CRACK

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

A nuclear explosion of pain rushed through me at the same time as a deafening cracking sound resounded over the clearing. I didn't even notice my own blood curdling screams or that I had fallen to the ground. My sole focus was on the roaring agony that came from the giant crack that suddenly opened up across my entire leg. I had never felt such pain before. It felt like my very soul was breaking into pieces. None of my other cracks has caused me even a wisp of the pain this one brought, when they opened up. All of my being became flooded with nothing but agony. There was nothing left but mind breaking pain.

I was sinking deeper and deeper into an endless hell of pain… until a scent violently forced its way into my almost shattered consciousness.

Blood…

Wolf blood.

But not just any Wolf blood.

… Leah…

My Mate. My Mates' blood.

Leah was bleeding… she was hurt.

No…

UNACCEPTABLE!

I had to protect her.

I NEEDED to protect my Mate!

Move… move…move… MOVE!

PROTECT HER.

With my active mind all but gone, my instincts took full control and easily locked onto my first and most important priority.

Protecting my Mate, at all costs.

With that, I forced my eye to open… and instantly saw the cause for the blood scent.

Leah was crouching over my prone body, while surrounded on all sides by Newborns. Her beautiful fur was drenched in so much blood that it was dripping down all over me. I could make out many open wounds, from my position alone. She looked like she was about to fall over dead any second, but she didn't even attempt to move away from me. Instead she snapped her teeth at any approaching enemy, while fighting to stay on her feet , while covering as much of me with her body as possible, at all times.

I didn't know why they didn't simply jump on us, all at the same time, but in my current state I didn't and couldn't care to think about that. My only focus was on the fact that regardless of their current behavior, they would kill my Mate eventually, if this situation prevailed. It was obvious that they were still entirely focused on getting to me and Leah was in their way.

I tried to jump up and fight them off, but it became quickly apparent that I was in to state to do any kind of fighting. The molten agony, raging through every single one of my cells, made that very clear. I felt that I would probably be able to perform one short explosive action, after which even my newfound instinctive resilience would break down under the pain. What that would mean for me ultimately, I didn't know. Not that that mattered to me, to any extent, at this moment.

There wasn't even a second of hesitation.

With inhuman effort I willed my body to move and in one abrupt motion, I sprang to my feet. The surrounding Newborns seemed startled and alarmed at my sudden actions and Leah exclaimed something in shock and elation, but none of that registered in my breaking mind. Before anyone could say or do anything, I swiftly lifted my Mate into my arms and swung her around, before throwing her with all my remaining strength towards the treeline, where our allies were.

Her body flew high over the masses of our enemies, until she vanished from my view between some trees. All the while, her heartbreaking howls could be heard.

Just moments after my sudden action, the Newborns decided that they had been cautious enough and they rushed me, with renewed ferocity. I didn't even attempt to protect myself. This was my end. Any moment now the pain, I had felt building inside me, would crash over me an-

SHATTER

PAIN

My mind shattered.

Any and all thoughts and memories become just wisps that randomly flitted around, where once my mind was, until even those fragments crumbled and vanished.

PAIN

Look Mama, I caught this rabbit all on my o-

PAIN

I will avenge you, Mot-

My memories… my Mother… no… not my… Who?

PAIN

Take it. Buy Anna her medicine. She deserves to live. And you deserve to see your daughter gro-

PAIN

Rebbeka… Anna… I kille-

No… I was losing them… I was losing… what were their names?!

PAIN

"I won't leave you, no matter what. So please… don't leave me, also."

NO! Nonononononononono…

PAIN… hunge-…

I love you, Leah Clearwater.

Please… not her too…

PAIN… Hunger…

My beautiful Mate…

PAIN… HUNGER…

I love you, Le-

PAIN… Hunger…

No… please no…

PAIN HUnger

I lo-... y-... Le-

PAI- HUNger

No… Lea-

PA- HUNGer

…plea-... save m-...

HUNGER

L-...

HUNGER… HUNGER…

HUNGERHUNGERHUNGERHUNGERHUNGERHUNGERHUNGERHUNGER…

Leah PoV:

The impact with the ground had almost knocked me unconscious.

My wounds were still bleeding profusely and I was sure that there was more blood outside my body than inside, by now. My fur felt heavy and stiff from all the blood, it had soaked up. Some of the bigger gashes had gotten filled with dirt, from my tumble over the soft forest ground. Breathing was difficult and I was sure that at least one of my ribs had broken and possibly punctured my lungs.

None of that mattered though.

With desperate strength, I fought against my failing body to get up once more.

I had to get up.

Fuck the bloodloss! Fuck my broken bones! Fuck my torn muscles!

I HAD to get up!

I HAD TO GET BACK TO MARKUS!

His previous screams were still echoing in my ears and I didn't even attempt to suppress the tears, as they soaked my fur even more. I had never heard him scream like that ever before. It sounded as if he was dying right there…

A growl escaped me as I pushed the memory aside and focused back on fighting to get back on my feet.

Everything hurt… but nothing I felt could compare to the pain I heard in his screams. He was probably barely able to fight as he is right now, especially without me at his side…

Burning anger began to bubble under my worry and determination, but I quickly quashed it. It wasn't the time for petty anger. I had to make sure the target of my anger was alive and well, before I could even think about any kind of reprimand.

With a loud growl, I managed to lift my upper body off the ground and after another big effort I managed to stand completely. I allowed myself no time to catch my breath and attempted to step forward right away. I almost fell over immediately, but managed to catch myself at the last second.

I couldn't muster the strength to move after that and simply fought to stay standing, while breathing heavily. Blood was now also dripping from my maw.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

A whimper escaped me as his screams echoed once more through my mind.

I couldn't stop now. I had to help him!

With renewed fervor I forced my leg forward and did my first step of many, to get to my Mate. One became swiftly two and I felt a small spark of optimism until it got crushed almost immediately.

As I tried to move to perform my third step, I lost balance and began to fall over. I tried to force my body to catch itself, but it would simply not react. I felt despair grip me. I knew that if I fell to the ground right there, I wouldn't be able to get up again.

My vision became blurry from my tears, as despair and hopelessness gripped my heart, and I could barely make out the approaching ground…

But suddenly my fall stopped.

My sight was still blurry, but I didn't need my eyes to recognize the owner of the furry body that caught my fall and was currently supporting my weight.

The familiar scent of my little brother filled my nose, as his warmth diffused my body even through my blood crusted fur. At that moment I didn't care as to why or how he was down here. I simply felt relief and warmth.

Right after Seth caught me, another person appeared at my other side and supported me even further, with ice cold hands. A brief glance and sniff showed me that it was Esme who had come to my aide also.

"Shhh, it's alright, Leah. We are here. We are all here with you. We won't leave. Not again."

Her soothing voice filled my ears and Seth barked in agreement, as my mind slowly registered what she had just said.

My vision began to clear and one look around showed exactly what she meant. They were all here. The Pack, minus Jacob, and all of the Cullens were standing around me, with faces and thoughts full of determination.

They had returned to help us.

Before I could get overwhelmed by emotion, I quickly swiftly focused on what was truly important. I exclaimed mentally.

"We need to go and help Markus! He needs us, right now!"

"Yes, you are right. We need to hurry."

Came the reply almost instantly from Edward and with that they all sprinted away, towards the battlefield. Seth and Esme stayed by my side and helped me to slowly hobble my way back to my Mate.

Please hold out, Markus.

We are coming.