Chapter Nineteen: … And Let Slip the Dogs of War!
Battleground - February 17th - 9:30 am
Isabella surveyed the gathering, which accounted for everyone except for Esme, Rosalie and Talia who stayed back to tend the handful of newborns they had chosen to save. The group had only suffered a single loss, finding Felix's body torn to pieces on a beach up north. Culling the newborns he left behind was a relatively easy task, as they had all split off into smaller groups and were aimlessly wandering the woods. Some gave up without a fight, some had already collapsed from the poison coursing through their bodies. The rest tried to fight, and were handed quick deaths. In all, of the nearly thousand souls that had originally gathered on that battlefield barely seventy were still alive.
The line was full of people Isabella loved. Each represented a piece of her soul that had been slowly stitched back together, and a single loss would be devastating, from which she might ever recover. Yet how could she ask them to stand down now, when so much was on the line? It was almost too much to cope with, so she pushed it from her mind and focused on the present, her face set in a determined glare as she launched herself up into the air on ephemeral wings of shadow. Surveying the area she discovered around a dozen vampires approaching from different directions, and the pack of enemy wolves flanking them at the rear and on each side.
She couldn't spot Joham among those approaching, but she was sure after the rest of this mob was taken care of he would show his face and then everything would be over. She let go of her power and landed in front of her family again, looking briefly at each face and meeting their eyes. She found friendship and love and above all a confidence in her with each exchange. Even those that she barely knew seemed to be invested in her leadership and this cause. Surprising her more was how committed the Volturi seemed, with Sulpicia and Athenodora ready and waiting to fight.
Marcus and Charlie both beamed a look of pride at her, and this was more than enough for Isabella to turn to face their enemy with a clarity of mind she hadn't felt in a very long time. Joham's Lieutenants and Captains, led by Fitz and Aliyah crossed over the tree line and let out a warcry, breaking into a run towards Isabella's line of forces. While numbers favored Isabella and her coven, Joham's forces began to change as they ran towards them.
Isabella roared a challenge and started forward at a run, followed by everyone she loved. As the forces grew closer everyone set their gaze on a target on both sides, and then the lines crashed into each other. Isabella took on the biggest and strongest, their fight immediately breaking the enemy line and pushed him back so they were alone to fight one on one. He was slower and weaker than her at first, but had some skill. Enough that most of her attacks were countered to a degree.
Then something shifted, and he began to grow both in strength and speed, the thin black lines running up and down his exposed skin thickened and he seemed to grow several inches in a second. The fight turned deadly, but she wasn't about to let this new abomination get the victory against her. After a furious exchange of blows, she knew her beloved had broken through the line and was coming, and timed her next attack to coincide with her joining the fight.
He was taken by complete surprise, as his legs were swept out, and Isabella used his forward momentum to grab ahold of his head and snap his neck. It was a delaying tactic, and only worked long enough to paralyze him for a few seconds. But that was long enough as she looked up at Alice and motioned to help her remove his head. It took some effort, but a strange cross between a stone-like crack and a wet slap echoed through the clearing as they managed to free his head from his neck, splattering black blood over both of them.
Life instantly drained from his eyes and Isabella turned back to see what she could do to help only to realize that the fight was well in hand. So she looked at Alice and motioned up, hoping she might find Joham lurking somewhere.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:32 am
Chaos erupted, yet Sulpicia wasn't daunted. Surrounded by her new Volturi guard and her sisters she felt powerful. Even Marcus was backing her up, and for the first time she felt like choosing to side with Isabella and her strange coven was the right choice. Then things turned sour as one of these enemy monsters crashed into Santiago, rending him in pieces faster than she could track. Jane pushed her power towards the malformed terror, but it seemed to have no effect except to draw its attention. In an instant her most powerful enforcer was cut down, Jane's lifeless eyes staring up towards Sulpicia as though questioning everything about her life.
Athenodora screamed, as her secret lover Gabe was hit squarely in the chest, which shattered on impact and sent him flying back in several pieces across the field. A second later Sulpicia froze as she watched the monster grab a hold of Athenodora by the shoulders and pull her in half long ways as though she were made of tissue paper. Didyme and Marcus used the opportunity and attacked him from behind, but the monster was too fast and flailed, tossing Didyme away from it and hitting Marcus square in the face.
While thrown to the ground hard, Marcus recovered right away and chose to not press the attack, instead taking off towards his wife to make sure she was okay. Sulpicia, now with only a few of her guards left; Tabitha, Greta and Simon, called out "to me!"
All three managed to hold in their shock and grief and rally around her. Sulpicia nodded, her expression growing steely as they all began to attack in coordination. Slowly they whittled down the monster, until he was flailing wildly in pain and panic, until Sulpicia saw an opening and grabbed ahold of his throat, ripping it out in one vicious move.
Instead of a crack like rock, she was met with a wet squelching noise, as dark blood began to pour from the wound and the monster toppled head first to the ground clutching its ravaged throat. She let out a triumphant laugh, which trailed off as she looked around at the remains of her once powerful coven. Greta now had a chunk missing from her right shoulder, and Tabitha was holding onto her stomach as though she were hurt. Simon appeared unharmed at least, and all three were standing which was a good sign.
She began to think over the possibilities, she had good reason to believe that some of those newborns might serve as adequate recruits in the new version of the Volturi. She was lost in thought, depending on her guard to protect her, when the beast below roared and rose up like a marionette whose puppeteer realized it was missing the show. Then in one swift motion it reached out and took her head. The last thing that ran through her mind as darkness closed in was how unfair it was for the Volturi to have such an ignoble end.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:36 am
Brianna hadn't planned on running, but Eliza and Isabella were immediately set upon and she found herself on the front line, her confidence in combat faltering as a malformed hulk of a woman who stood half a head taller than her came rushing at her. The family's forward line was thin, and she quickly found herself alone and chased into a copse of trees. She risked a glance back, and while distracted hit a tree dead on, cracking it and sending her sprawling.
Her slow heart beat in protest as she tried to recover, but the monster was already on top of her, trying to gain purchase on one of her arms. Brianna flailed, desperately hoping she might find a way to regain some kind of advantage. When suddenly the woman flew back against a tree with enough force to cause a deep crack at the base of the tree. The noise of the impact echoing through the forest.
She knew it was her, she knew this was her gift. She could feel the monstrous woman struggle against her mental grip, but her invisible psionic hands were like a steel cage and this overgrown deformed creature was nothing but a tiny puppy trying to push against the bars with its feeble strength. She felt her mind swell at the possibilities, this was real, this was her power, and it was terrifying. She gritted her teeth and started to stand, then closed the distance between them but kept just out of arm's reach, while trying to meet its wild frantic eyes.
"Give me a reason not to rip you apart." Brianna demanded, her voice a lot stronger than she expected.
"I think she's lost. They all are." A voice from nearby surprised her, and she sent an invisible hand to restrain this stranger. Then a flash of blonde hair caught her attention, and as she turned she came face to face with Lauren.
"You, how did you find me, and what happened to them?" Brianna demanded, her confidant voice starting to sound like Isabella, which made her smile internally.
"I didn't mean to find you, I was following her. As for what happened, Joham, he gave us all these vials with a 'perfected catalyst'. I think he might have been blowing smoke, because I'm very glad I didn't drink one now." Lauren looked at the woman with a strange expression that Brianna took for compassion. She glared at the monster who was still writhing against her invisible grip.
"Right, I don't think I can just kill her." Brianna admitted, now that she had someone else there she felt her confidence waning.
"I can, if it's what needs to happen." Lauren motioned for Brianna to release her.
"Oops, sorry." Brianna let go of her hold on Lauren, who shrugged with a slight shake of her head.
"Telekinesis? That's… wow." Lauren smirked, and then walked towards the woman. "Clara, can you hear me?" Lauren asked as she caught the monster's eyes. "Do you want to be like this? Do you want to fight for a man that would turn you into a monster?"
"Why… do… you… care?" The strangled inhuman voice of the hulk managed to get out. Clara stopped struggling, her attention fixed on Lauren.
"Clara, you're important to me, and there's only a very small handful of people I can say that about and mean it." For Lauren, Clara was the one person that had been able to cut through her tenuous grip on sanity. Not that they were ever really close, but as much as she was capable she cared about Clara almost as much as she had come to care for Isabella and her family.
"I… am… not… worth… anything!" Clara pushed out between frantic crazed breaths. "I… can… not… be… this… anymore!"
"I'm sorry, I wish there was something more I could do beyond ending your suffering." Lauren winced at the offer, but Clara just nodded, a small lopsided smile curled up her deformed face and a peace settled over Clara's expression. Then Lauren took a couple of deep calming breaths and reached back one clawed hand, ready to rend her friend to pieces.
"I was a part of the army that attacked the Denali, I survived, and I might be able to help her." Brianna said, placing a hand on Lauren's shoulder. Nothing aggressive or invasive, just a simple touch which caused Lauren to stop and glare at Brianna before her features softened.
"Why would you do that?" Lauren's brow furrowed, how could this family respond so graciously and kindly to her? She had never been close to Isabella even as a human, she had kidnapped and turned Angela's daughter and now they have done nothing but treat her with trust, respect, compassion and forgiveness. It made her heart ache with longing to be a part of them, to live as a valued member of a family and not just some nameless soldier in an army full of expendable canon fodder.
"I know what it feels like to not feel worthy of living, that would be enough for me to help her. But I get the feeling this woman is family to you, is that right?" Brianna gave her a warm and welcoming smile, which cracked the foundation of whatever wall Lauren might have tried to erect to protect her fragile heart.
Lauren nodded once in shock, and then a few more times in quick succession. "Yes." Was all she could say.
"Then she's family to me too, I am Isabella's daughter after all and you are her sister." Lauren's composure broke entirely and was unable to say anything else. Brianna turned towards Clara, "Would you let me try?" Clara was already looking between the two of them with confusion and a small twinge of hope on her malformed brow. Had she known that she would be twisted by the man who had promised her the world, she would never have vowed to give her life to his cause.
Brianna was about to lean in to bite the creature, but stopped and looked at Lauren who was still shivering from overwhelming emotions. "Lauren, do you want to be with her? As a family? As… lovers?"
This seemed to break her fugue state, and she tentatively looked towards Brianna feeling unable to fully explain her feelings. "I… I don't know. She's the only one that ever seemed to understand me, she means a lot to me."
"What about you? Do you feel the same?" Brianna turned towards Clara who was looking at Lauren with an affection that Brianna recognized. She was momentarily worried about that affection being one-sided but she also reasoned that the soul bonding might account for feelings that neither could fully express in their current state of existence. Except, there would be no way to know until they were turned, and the consequences of bonding them completely might be irreversible and problematic.
"Yes… I… love… her!" Clara's face twisted with a strange mix of affection and pain, she had never revealed her feelings for Lauren because Lauren hadn't seemed capable of that kind of love, but now she wasn't sure and this was her last chance for something more.
"Alright, there's a way to bond the two of you together. It's a lot, but when it happens, any emotions that you felt for each other will be purified. I know because I have someone like that and while it is overwhelming, it's everything. I do have to warn you, that if this is something you want, I'll do this now but I cannot watch over you. I have to help my family, which means you would be vulnerable."
"Sounds like a test, huh. Why not." Lauren smirked and then looked to Clara, who seemed confused, but hopeful and elated by the idea of exploring something with Lauren. For Lauren, while romance was not something she had ever considered, not since Victoria had destroyed her life, this felt different. Maybe it would turn into something, or maybe it was just going to develop into something more familial or platonic. Either way, she couldn't reject Clara now when she needed her.
"Are you both sure?" Brianna asked again, and Lauren and Clara nodded almost in unison.
Brianna then moved so quickly that neither of them could really track what was happening, as she sank her teeth into each of them releasing her venom. A second later Clara felt her jaw being forced open, and Lauren's wrist was suddenly in her mouth. Lauren felt the same as Clara's wrist was placed in her mouth. In the next instant they both fell into a comforting darkness, before each experienced the other's life in full.
Brianna looked down at the two of them, Clara's body shrank down almost instantly, her slight frame and delicate features made her seem almost peaceful. She hadn't expected this outcome, but it was the best solution she could imagine. Then with a small sigh she turned back towards the battle to go help her family, with more confidence than she had ever felt before.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:37 am
The creature at her feet was helpless to her mental onslaught, its body twisting as it tried to fight against her will, without much success. She had only caught sight of him after he had slaughtered most of the Volturi, and had to separate from her daughter to lend a hand to the few survivors who were desperately trying to stay alive.
"Thank you." Tabitha said breathlessly, as she pressed the missing chunk of her own flesh against her abdomen and winced as it started to seal back together.
"Can you kill it? It just healed in seconds." Simon asked with obvious terror, his head moving about on a swivel to make sure nothing else was coming for him.
"I'm not sure, this isn't natural. I can tell you that their minds are fractured, any rational thought has been all but stripped from them, they are twisted and bent to one purpose, to kill us. It would take a tremendous amount of willpower to fight against that imperative, and would suggest some kind of alchemical influence that caused this transformation." Angela gritted her teeth and took a step towards writhing monster, when she felt something shift in her lover's mental state.
"Huh?" Greta asked with a blank look on her face.
"They drank a potion and were turned into monsters. I will hold onto this creature for as long as possible, but I must go. Destroy it if you can, if not for revenge, then as a mercy to put it out of its misery." Angela met each of their gazes, then was off towards Talia as fast as her new body could move.
Angela could feel a panic start to rise in her chest, her new heart beating three times as she traveled the distance to the newborn staging area. When the field came in to view her heart sank, as she took in the view before her.
Esme was on the ground, and Rosalie was with her holding her mother in her arms with tears streaming down her face. Esme was clutching her stomach, where a large patch of blood was spreading up her chest and pooling underneath her. Talia was doing her best to fight against another of Joham's monsters, who was a bit larger than the rest. Talia was on the backfoot, having confessed to Angela that she wasn't much of a fighter. The only thing keeping her alive was her greater speed, and the fact this monster was swinging at her wildly, despite his clearly overwhelming strength.
Angela didn't hesitate, she locked down the creature's mind, then launched herself into the air without a single decibel of sound. She aimed her kick at the base of his neck, which in theory should render him paralyzed from the neck down if executed just right. As she hit she used her momentum to flip off of his back to gain some distance, landing silently she waited for a beat to see what happened next. Thankfully her aim proved true and he immediately dropped to his knees. His arms went limp as a look of shock and confusion crossed his face before his eyes rolled up and he fell face first into the ground.
"We only have seconds." Angela warned as Talia started to move towards her. Angela placed a foot on his back and reached down to grab a hold of his head.
"Holy hell." Talia shook her head in disbelief as the creature began to move again. "What is that thing?"
"Joham created a new kind of monster, it appears. The battle is going poorly." Angela began to pull at the neck, but wasn't making as much progress as she wanted.
"What do we do?" Esme asked with a small gasp as she managed to get to her feet, the stomach wound already beginning to heal.
Angela's expression hardened as the monster's arms began to move, flailing back to try and get a hold of her. She sneered at the creature, using all of her strength to separate its head from its body, knowing if she didn't kill it now then people she loved would die. Two seconds ticked by as she struggled, as Talia appeared next to her and grabbed ahold as well. Together they pulled with everything they had left until a wet sound like a side of beef being slammed into concrete rang out as his head finally separated from his body. The body twitched for several seconds, before it began to dissolve into a black goo. Angela dropped the head to the ground and turned to her new lover, pressing their foreheads together.
"I have to go back, they need me." Angela whispered, hoping it wouldn't be the last time she would touch the woman she never expected to find.
"I know, but you have to come back to me. I need you, we need you." Talia said breathlessly, her whole body pressing into Angela needing the contact,while touching her stomach and their unborn child.
"I love you, Talia." Angela said, as tears began to form in her eyes.
"I love you too." Talia said back, and kissed her tenderly. Then Angela was gone, leaving a sting of longing on her lips.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:38 am
Vladimir had been fighting with a malevolent glee in his heart after watching the last of the Volturi scum fall. He had lost sight of his brother shortly after the fight started, but found himself alongside the nomads Charlotte and Peter who worked very well together, to the point where they could almost anticipate each other's movements. He was surprised by how fast and resilient Joham's altered monstrous vampires appeared to be, with at least two of his hits bouncing back when they should've taken off limbs.
"This beast is odd, don't you agree, nomad?" He asked offhandedly to Peter who shrugged as he dodged one of the monster's attacks.
"Big and slow." Charlotte muttered, as she positioned herself behind the hulk and tore into his achilles tendons. The creature shrieked in pain, and turned on her, which gave an opening to both Peter and Vladimir who used the opportunity to deliver some particularly brutal attacks, ripping off chunks of the monster's flesh.
Vladimir had expected it to keep attacking mindlessly, but instead it threw a heavy blow at Charlotte sending her flying back, and then changed tactics and retreated. Peter raced off towards his mate, as Vladimir watched the creature retreat. He quickly reasoned that this one had a strategic mind before it was lost to whatever procedure turned it into this hulking thing. He smiled viciously again as he followed it into a thicker copse of trees, but found himself distracted when he caught sight of Stefan who had already lost an arm and was on the ground trying to stay alive. He hesitated, and started to turn away from his own prey, when he felt something grab a hold of his right shoulder.
"Damn." He muttered as he was pulled back harshly. The creature slammed him against a tree, the bark crumbling against his back and a sharp crack filling the area as the trunk split up the middle. The creature stared at him as it held him in place by the neck. Its abnormally long arms were stronger than his own, and he knew there was no way to get loose.
"Master's wish… peace with you…" The creature's vaguely feminine voice wasn't remotely human. It was twisted and dark, and had a peculiar echo to it that sounded a bit like a snake hissing.
"Peace, Joham knows no peace, he is selfish, obsessed with his own pursuits and doesn't even value your life. Look at what he's done to you." Vladimir said quickly, needing to get out his argument. The creature just laughed, a vile sound that made his atrophied heart sink.
"Strong… Powerful…" The creature sounded happy, as though being turned into something grotesque was a good thing.
"Twisted, broken. You cannot even speak in sentences anymore." Vladimir shot back, hoping to somehow convince this thing that it was wronged by its master.
"I… AM… A… GOD!" The creature shouted, the sound was piercing and terrifying even for Vladimir who had seen more death and war than the Volturi council.
"Closer to a demon than a god my malformed friend. Let me go, and I'll appeal to the bleeding hearts I have aligned with. They will forgive and forget your role here, maybe they will even have a cure for this… ailment." The plea was clearly failing, and Vladimir realized his error as the creature began to squeeze the hand wrapped around his throat.
"Arrogant… Scum…" The creature said, fixing blackened eyes on him as it grabbed a hold of his shoulder and began to pull on his neck. Vladimir gritted his teeth, and began to struggle hoping that the two nomads had recovered and would be looking for him. Except no rescue came as his neck began to crack. He didn't know why it was killing him so slowly, but it gave him time to escape into memories. He hadn't expected to die, but at least he fell to a worthy foe.
Then a pair of large hands grabbed the monster's head from behind, and in one smooth motion pulled its head off cleanly. The body immediately collapsed, letting Vladimir drop to the ground. It took him a minute to regain his bearings, until a hand reached down to help him up.
"Emmett, thank you." Vladimir said with genuine gratitude, which was a feeling he hadn't expressed in centuries.
"Stefan will be okay, he's just pissed." Emmett confirmed, and Vladimir felt his body relax as that worry was released.
"Again thank you." The apology came out as sincere, which again was unusual for him. Vladimir was never one to appreciate kindness, but he couldn't deny that Emmett had just done a great service for him that would leave him indebted. He knew that Emmett would never call on that debt, but wondered what he could do in return.
"Anytime!" Emmett said with a big grin before racing out to help anyone who might need him.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:42 am
Zoey had been surveying the battle, jumping in when she could and using her blade to help whenever possible. But the combat was chaotic, so she retreated up into a tree with a long branch overhanging into the clearing by a dozen feet or so. That's when she spotted Eliza, and decided to jump into her fight. She timed her landing, using her momentum to swing her sword down at just the right angle to cut through tendon and bone at the bicep, cleanly severing the arm as the hulking vampire tried to swing on Eliza. The creature shrieked in pain and in a moment of blind panic reared back and began to clutch at his stump.
Brianna ran up beside her and smiled viciously as the monster stopped in place frozen by her gift. Eliza grinned and jumped up to pull the monster's head down to give Zoey the perfect opportunity to deliver the killing blow. She didn't hesitate and in one fluid movement separated its head from his body, a second later it began to melt into a viscous black goo.
"Gross." Brianna muttered as she looked down in horror at the dismembered body dissolving into a puddle at her feet.
"They're vulnerable to these blades, and apparently beheading is the only way. I saw the Volturi take one down only for it to come back up less than a minute later." Zoey offered, as she looked for her next target, she found the Denali fighting against a couple of these creatures and were not faring well. Relying almost entirely on Kate's gift. Zoey motioned for Eliza and Brianna to follow her, and they all immediately took off towards that group.
"Where's your mom?" Brianna asked as they began to run.
"I'm not sure, she trusted me to work alone, and last I saw her she had taken off. She sent a mental message saying only that there was somewhere she needed to be, it sounded important." Zoey said with a small shrug, suddenly worried but not willing to show it outwardly.
"What could be more important than this?" Brianna asked incredulously.
"Talia, she must be in trouble." Eliza guessed.
"Shit, that means Rose and Esme are in trouble too. Should one of us go to help?" Zoey asked them with a sudden surge of concern.
"I think we're needed here, plus your mom is bonkers good at fighting. She'll be able to do it, especially if Talia, Esme and Rose help." Brianna said with a big sympathetic smile.
"I hope you're right, I can't lose her." Zoey answered, trying to push down the panic at the idea of losing another mother to violence.
"We can't lose any of them. Speaking of which." Eliza said as she crashed into one of the pair of monsters that almost had Carmen in its clutches. Zoey attacked the other one, pushing it back with a furious series of attacks that separated fingers and sliced into its arms in several places. The monster roared in pain, but its voice was no longer remotely human as the last vestiges of its former humanity vanished from its face.
"They aren't done changing." Zoey warned, drawing Brianna's attention as she reached out with her gift and forced the creature to stop, except it was somehow harder to lock it in place.
"They're stronger too." Brianna said with a note of terror in her voice. Zoey didn't hesitate and cut through the creatures' neck with one smooth slicing motion. Except this time the body didn't immediately begin to dissolve, instead it started to shift and change, a new head growing from one of the growths on its shoulder.
"What the fuck?!" Zoey stepped back as it tried once again to break free from Brianna's mental grasp and managed to lunge forward a foot before she had it locked down again.
"It's like holding onto a wet noodle." Brianna gritted her teeth as she strained to retain her grip on the creature, which no longer looked remotely human. "I'm gonna try something." She planted her feet and used her gift to grab ahold of the creature at a hundred different points along its body. Then she began to pull, hard and fast. Its new head opened a flap that looked vaguely like a mouth and shrieked in pain as it began to shiver from the stress its body was now under.
An instant later it exploded out in every direction with a wave of black blood coating everything in a radius of twenty feet. Brianna, Zoey and most of the Denali were covered. Eliza managed to duck behind the monster she was fighting, then used the distraction of its partner getting exploded to grab Zoey's wakizashi blade and began to slice off pieces of the creature until it was nothing more than a torso. She waited, wondering if it was enough, until the chest began to collapse and then dissolve into another puddle of black goo.
"This is like something out of a bad horror movie." Eliza grimaced at the sight, half convinced it wasn't actually dead.
"Thank you." Tanya said, as the family converged to look for another fight.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:43 am
Mei had been in rare form, cutting through the first of the monsters before it had even begun to transform. The second one proved to be harder, as Kira in tiger form did her best to help, despite getting a mouthful of the black blood and having to stop for a moment to get the taste out of her mouth. She shifted back to human, and Mei threw her a sword. Together they began to take pieces off of their opponent, as it attempted to get through Mei's onslaught.
Kira realized quickly that she was utterly out of her depth against this thing, it was twice her size, triple her strength and nearly as fast as Mei. The only advantage she had was her blade, then she felt something shift in her stomach. A piercing pain rocketed through her body, forcing her to drop her sword and fall to the ground clutching at her stomach. She caught Mei reacting to what was happening, but Mei didn't let Kira's new sitation distract from the battle at hand. In fact it seemed to only spur her to fight even harder. In seconds the second monster was in pieces on the ground, quickly dissolving into nothing but a puddle.
Mei rushed to her side, and lifted her into her arms. Before she could really register what was happening she found herself far away from the fight, in a quiet little grove miles from the battle. She felt a pang of dishonor at Mei's actions, but their views had never aligned on such matters. She felt something coursing through her veins that felt like acid. The pain was impossible as it spread quickly through her system.
She reached up to touch Mei's cheek, and noticed black lines criss-crossing her arm and hand. The tips of her fingers already blackened and started to deform.
"I'm sorry." Kira muttered, her voice hollow and broken. "I should've been more careful."
"Me, I am to blame." Mei countered, her voice cracking with emotion.
"There's no point in fighting, is there? I'm… I'm gonna… I can't be…" Kira could feel the changes already starting to affect her thoughts, as images of violence started to flash before her eyes. "You… you need… you need to kill… me."
"Never." Mei said, her eyes starting to redden with tears. Then she gasped as a thought occurred to her. "Brianna was healed by Eliza. Maybe my venom can heal you."
"Okay." Kira acquiesced before voicing the thousand concerns she had with that plan. The least of which was the possibility that this black shit coursing through her veins might affect her beloved. What was more likely was that her venom would just kill her, which was better in her eyes than turning into one of those things.
Mei didn't hesitate and immediately bit down on Kira's neck, releasing her venom and then bringing her wrist up to Kira's mouth. "Bite me."
"I don't… think…" Kira tried, but Mei wouldn't listen and shoved her wrist into Kira's open mouth. She felt something primal tug at her, and before she could stop herself her instincts took over and she bit down and began to tear into Mei's flesh as her body shifted. It took a few seconds but something changed, as a wave of a totally different kind of pain started to spread from Mei's bite.
They collapsed together onto the soft blanket of dead grass, as the mix of blood and Joham's experiment merged into something new.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:45 am
"No!" Ben screamed as he watched one of the creatures pick up his wife and tear her in two at the waist, throwing the halves of her in different directions. She was just the most recent to fall, after watching Liam die in the first few seconds of the fight, and Kachiri from the Amazon coven lose her head a few seconds earlier. Her sisters lost their minds with grief and began to attack the creature mercilessly, because Zafrina's gift had just stopped working seconds before as they were determining the best way to kill the thing.
Ben lost his composure in that instant, letting out a bellow of rage and pain that drew the attention of the entire battlefield. Then he let go of his power, pulling on everything to stop the madness in whatever way he could imagine. He locked his eyes on the creature that Senna and Zafrina were fighting, the one that had hurt his beloved, and gritted his teeth as he began to draw moisture from its body.
The creature began to convulse and fell to its knees, Senna and Zafrina backed off as it stopped moving and watched with rapt fascination as an inky black substance began to flow out of every pore and opening in the malformed creature. After several seconds of this onslaught it let out a dry groan and fell forward, now a dry husk that quickly began to fall apart like sand. The cloud of goo was held in the air, as Ben held his hands up and then began to move them forming the liquid into a spear like shape and then flash freezing it before he sent it towards another of the monsters nearby.
The black ice spear burst through the creature's chest where its heart should have been and out the other side. Then Ben unfroze the liquid and flattened it into a blade, before freezing it again and sending it through the monster's body a dozen times in quick succession. The creature stood in place for the length of a heartbeat before it fell apart in pieces and quickly dissolved into a pool of black blood.
He then moved the black ice blade towards another of the now entirely inhuman creatures, his focus intent and no longer caring about his own safety. He made three distinct cuts before he felt something lift him up. He pulled on the blade and sent it towards the one holding him, hoping that it would hit true despite not having any visibility. As he was held aloft, he heard the black ice impact the one holding him, so he drew the blade back through it again and again. Seconds later he found himself in free fall, landing in a large puddle of black.
He quickly got to his feet, and wiped the sludge out of his eyes before finding Tia lying on the ground twenty feet away, her eyes were open and were staring at him with worry and love. He ran to her then, scooping up his beloved with one arm and running out of the conflict as fast as his feet could carry him. They would find her lower half, and hopefully she would be whole again, but it didn't matter, because she was alive.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:46 am
Eliza watched as Ben took out the last of the monsters, who had all dissolved into a mess of black nastiness that she was lucky to have avoided entirely. She almost laughed at Zoey and Brianna who were covered, until she took in the losses. Almost every coven lost someone, except for the Denali and her own coven.
She was about to say something when she realized that her mother and Alice were not on the battlefield. She had been so directed with the combat she hadn't been paying attention to the link. Brianna noticed in the same breath and they stared at each other with concern. But the worry was short lived as Isabella dropped down with Alice in her arms, both covered in black blood.
"Should've known." Eliza said sarcastically, and then walked towards her mother and step-mother with a relieved smile on her face. She was halfway there, as Isabella turned to her, when a chorus of howls broke the silence post battle. "How did I forget about the wolves?" Sent over the link and all three members of her family responded with soft chuckles or wry smiles.
"We took out one of those things, then I took to the air to get a good view of the surroundings and to find Joham. He's on a mountain about five miles north, watching. I'm gonna have to be subtle to chase him down. Can you hold the line here? Leah and Michelle should be making their move shortly." Isabella explained, as the survivors began to gather together. The absence of those lost began to filter in, as Eliza noted the devastation on several faces.
"I should come with you." Eliza tried to insist, wanting nothing more than to be the one to deliver the killing blow to her biological father.
"Not until the wolves are taken care of, I can't have your concentration split while Leah is in danger." Isabella argued with a clear and calm voice, and it broke Eliza's need for revenge. Her love for Leah was stronger than any anger she felt, and that change made her heart sing.
"Right, shit. Can you keep him alive until I get there?" Eliza hoped, but it wasn't an entirely serious request.
"I'll try, but no promises." Isabella smirked, and unexpectedly reached out to grab onto Eliza's shoulder. They shared a look, one of understanding and affection.
"I love you Eliza, you and Alice and Brianna mean more to me than anything." Isabella's clearly heartfelt and touching declaration had a note of melancholy, her voice wavering slightly with emotion. It was so unlike her, that it made Eliza instantly worried.
"You don't think you'll survive this." Expressing such a thing made Eliza's entire body clench with pain. She couldn't lose Isabella, or Alice or anyone of her extended family. As much as love was still somewhat new to her, it was now the most important thing in the world.
"I think that if he created these things, that he'll do something similar to himself, but worse." Isabella posited, and it forced Eliza to nod in agreement. Isabella let go and her hand dropped to her side. They shared one last look that said more than anything Eliza had ever hoped for. Her mother was never going to fully recover from Victoria's actions, but that no longer mattered because she had healed in a different way. That beast lurking in Isabellla's heart wasn't muzzled, it wasn't suppressed. It was alive, and finally thriving, but no longer wild and aggressive, it had been tamed with loving hands.
"Take this." Zoey tossed Isabella her sheathed blade, which made Isabella smile with satisfaction and joy.
"Perfect. Thank you Zoey, tell your mom I love her." Isabella said with a strange look on her face, and then turned to leave.
"I will, but you can tell her that too." Zoey tried, and Isabella turned back and gave her a quick sad smile as she and Alice disappeared into the forest.
"Wait, where's pop pop?" Eliza asked, looking around and noting Charlie's absence.
"He took off shortly after Angela left." Henry said as he helped Tanya walk towards the gathering, her injuries were healing but she was walking a bit slowly. Almost everyone had some kind of injury, but they would be fine as long as the wolves didn't do too much damage.
The Irish coven lost Liam, the Egyptians were nowhere to be seen. Stefan was missing an arm, and the Volturi were down to three guards. Marcus was injured and so was Didyme, and Charlotte was nursing a fractured arm. Henri and Yvette were lying together on the battlefield, both in pieces. The Denali all had minor injuries, with Garrett, Kate and Tanya struggling to even stand. Eliza took all of this in with a heavy heart, until she felt Brianna touch her arm gently.
"I'll find him." Brianna said before shooting up into the sky.
"She isn't using shadows." Eliza said, looking after her sister. "So freaking cool."
Battleground - February 17th - 9:38 am
Charlie had been backing up the Denali when he heard movement behind them, a pack of wolves was positioning itself, readying for a surprise attack. Charlie knew there was a plan for the wolves, but didn't know how long it would take to enact, and he couldn't risk them attacking prematurely. So he split off, crossing the treeline and cutting across the wolves point of view.
"Come and get me you mangy mutts!" He shouted just loud enough for them to hear, without distracting anyone on the battlefield. They all took off after him, breaking from their hiding spots without thought. "Too easy, now what?" He muttered to himself under his breath.
He found himself on the path that Felix had taken, and realized this could lead to his death. There were no other options for escape, no good path and nothing that would keep him from potentially suffering the same fate. Except, he wasn't like Felix, he was different, improved if he believed his daughter and granddaughter. So he pushed his new body fast, faster than the wolves were able to keep up until they lagged behind and stopped in frustration. Howls filled the air, as forest animals scurried away or hid in their holes.
Charlie stopped and turned to face them, and could just make out their shapes through the enshadowed forest. He whistled sharply to get their attention, and they immediately launched themselves at him. This time he watched them advance, and took in their number, ten. He was outnumbered but that didn't mean he was outmatched. He thought about strategy while they closed the distance, until a solid plan came to him like a lightning bolt.
He started to move towards a nearby tree, one that was slim and young. Once they closed to within twenty feet he lowered his gaze and wrapped a hand around the tree. Ten feet, nine, eight, seven… he moved very fast and slammed a palm into the tree below his hand severing the trunk. Then he brought it down in the path of the wolves, and launched himself up into another tree. He managed to hit one square in the head with the falling tree, taking it down but not out.
The rest scattered, trying to right themselves and getting clearly upset to realize they had lost him again. He dropped down on one of them, slamming into their back and heard bones cracking under his assault. He then scaled the closest tree before any of the others could close in on him. He did this three more times without them getting any wiser, until the leader seemed to catch on to his tactics and pulled his pack back. With half his numbers injured to the point of incapacitation, the leader rallied his forces back to back off into a small clearing.
"Smart dog." Charlie muttered, trying to assess what to do next. That's when he heard the impact of dozens of paws hammering through the underbrush. He had no choices left except to run, as soon he would be outnumbered and outmatched. He took off in the vague direction of the battlefield, knowing that his overall strategy worked to distract some of the wolves and keep them from attacking too quickly before Leah and Michelle could make their move.
He was about halfway back, when he found a large gap in the tree canopy and had to drop down into a large clearing. He surveyed the area first, and was confident he was alone. As he began to run across a wolf appeared in front of him, then as he turned back another came in from behind him. Soon he was surrounded with no escape. He grimaced, and braced for their attack, but was surprised when they held off to circle him instead.
Then there was a small clipped bark, and they all launched themselves at him in unison. He counted the steps, and then jumped at the last possible second to land on one of their backs, wrapping his arms around its flank and throwing it into its brothers. This was a good opening move, but he was quickly on the backfoot, pushed back as he attempted to counter each aggressive bite and claw aimed at him.
He was nearing the tree line, and his goal of using the branches to escape, when one of them got lucky and slashed across his abdomen. He was surprised by the pain, having been a traditional vampire for so long he hadn't expected to be vulnerable to that kind of attack. Yet in the next second the pain subsided and he felt the wound already beginning to knit back together. All the wolves began to yap in excitement at the success of getting through his defenses, but the distraction proved to be an advantage as he used the opening to leap back onto a nearby tree.
It was a small reprieve as they began to gather around the trunk and began to hack at it with meaty paws and razor sharp claws. There was nothing within jumping distance, and his drop attack strategy was no longer viable because they were prepared for it. He had less than a minute to mull over his options, but couldn't think of anything except jumping as hard as he could towards the nearest tree and hoping for the best. For the first time in a century he actually missed his sidearm.
Then a flash of black caught his attention, as a figure rushed towards the wolves with such speed that he couldn't identify who it was. The first wolf along the stranger's path went flying into the trunk of the ravaged tree, and soon two others were down with sickening cracks of bone and the uncomfortable wet sound of flesh being torn.
"Leave you alone for a minute." Angela sent a quick telepathic message, and he felt his whole body relax. Then he figured out the best point to drop down and joined in the action. Together they did their best to fight, taking out several of the wolves before they could hear another wave of mutts closing in to reinforce those that had fallen.
"Fuck me." Angela said as she snapped the neck of the last wolf. She had no patience to keep them alive at this point, no matter what was planned for them. She could smell human blood on this pack, and had no interest in trying to reform a cannibal.
"Let's hope it's just a few." Charlie looked at his daughter who shrugged.
"I just hope they are into long pig too." Angela said as she steeled herself for the coming conflict. Charlie gave her a dirty look, but couldn't deny she had a point. It was easier to fight against an enemy that was morally black and objectively evil.
"No, we're fucked. That's over twenty coming our way. We have to run." Angela turned North and took off as fast as she was capable, which was just a smidge faster than Charlie. Within minutes they had a large gap between them and the pursuing wolves as they crossed a familiar highway.
"The water isn't far. We could probably cross the channel without much effort." Charlie suggested and Angela shrugged before giving him a quick nod in agreement. They were about to shift in that direction when something fell from the sky about ten feet in front of them.
"Brianna?" Angela said with surprise, and a bit of relief.
"Need some help?" She had a big excited smile on her face as she casually walked past them and took a stable position with her arms at her sides and her legs parted.
"What're you doing?" Charlie asked incredulously.
"The battle's over for now. Michelle and Leah are close to getting to their Alpha, so we just have to keep them busy for a while." Brianna was standing more confidently than either of them had seen before, her shoulders square and her body language assertive.
"How long is a while?" Charlie asked fearing what they were about to endure.
"Ten minutes?" Looked back at them, wincing and revealing how much of her attitude was newly built and somewhat fragile.
"We should keep running." Angela suggested, but Brianna shook her head.
"Nah, watch this." Brianna grinned wider her confidence back as if that small window into her real feelings was just as false as her new assertive persona. Then she reached out her hands as the wolves emerged from the treeline at full speed. She nodded her head repeatedly, as if counting off seconds, and then when they were in the middle of the road she held out her hands and they all stopped in place.
"Shit." Charlie exclaimed in surprise and elation. Angela wasted no time and was already attacking one of the wolves.
"No, we want to save as many as we can!" Brianna shouted as Angela stopped before snapping its neck.
"These wolves are vile creatures, they gave into their instincts and have been feasting on people. Are they really worth saving?" Angela protested as she stepped away from the beast, and turned back and glared at Brianna.
"Did they have a choice?" Brianna pleaded, and Angela gritted her teeth and reached out to touch the nearest wolf's mind. She shut her eyes and began to probe its memories. A few seconds later she let out a growl of frustration.
"Fine, can you hold them that long?" Angela said in a dark angry voice.
"I'll do my best." Brianna said as she took a deep breath and settled in to wait for the big play to pan out.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:50 am
Leah was trying to keep a level head, when worries about Eliza's safety kept rolling through her mind. Their strategy was sound, but dangerous, as the pack systematically distracted the large army of shifters to get them away from their Alpha, who had surrounded himself with dozens of protectors. During the entire battle against Joham's vampire force they worked at it, until barely a dozen were backing him.
Michelle and her pack had been holding off, waiting for the right opportunity. While the big pack separated out into groups of three to draw out the distractions as long as possible. Then suddenly most of his remaining force was pulled away, leaving only a few remaining. She sent an Alpha message to Michelle to start the attack, while she allowed herself to open the new link she had discovered to Eliza. She held her breath as it opened, fearing the worst, when she caught the tail end of the conversation with Isabella.
"My love." Leah sent, and got an immediate response back of a wave of relief and love.
"Tell me it's done." Eliza sent back, with a feeling of hope and worry accompanying the words.
"We are starting now, he is finally exposed." Leah sent with a touch of impatience and disappointment in how long it had taken to enact the plan.
"Do you need help?" Eliza asked, hopeful that Leah had changed her mind about going in alone.
"No, it has to be us. I'll let you know as soon as it's over." Leah dashed Eliza's hope, and they both felt the sting of worry as Eliza physically reacted to the news. Causing Zoey to give her a concerned look, Eliza shook her head. "Just talking with Leah, they are moving now."
"Good timing, there are wolves at our doorstep." Marcus warned, as he surveyed the surrounding forest.
"Hurry, they are starting to gather." Eliza pushed, but instantly regretted putting the extra pressure on Leah.
"I will, and Imzadi, I will survive this and we will build a life together." Leah's word made Eliza's heart soar, and she couldn't stop tears from forming in the corners of her eyes.
"God I love you." Eliza sent along with a warm feeling of longing and the full scope of her feelings for Leah. It was a bit overwhelming, but she also knew that no matter what she had family now and that meant everything.
Leah set her jaw and began to move, letting her new Alpha strength flow into her pace. In seconds she was close to her target, and she had no interest in holding back. This Alpha was reprehensible, using his stolen power as a way to enslave these people turned against their will. She couldn't reverse the process, but she could give them a second chance. Except for those in his inner circle, the captains to his command. They had been involved in acts of violence, abuse and rape that made her entire body shake with rage. Amy was just one of possibly hundreds of victims, who were still under this maniac's thumb, to the point where Leah and Michelle could no longer tolerate such a man to live.
The Alpha was pacing in a small grove, his most loyal captains positioned to defend him. Leah didn't hesitate and slammed into one of the captains with enough force to throw the wolf into a tree, bones and flesh impacting with a sickening crunch. The body fell to the ground lifeless as she pushed into the grove and launched herself at the Alpha who was stunned by the sudden violence. She hit his right flank hard, shattering some ribs and again tossing him towards a tree. But he was stronger than his captain, and took the impact before catching himself and getting to his feet before she could attack again.
He yapped at his guards to back him up, but they were busy as Michelle's pack intercepted them and Michelle sprinted into the grove to join Leah in the fight. He backed against the tree he had been launched at and snarled viciously at them when he pushed through the alpha link to send a warning.
"I am Fenris, leader of all the wolves, bow before me and I will accept you into my great pack." His voice wasn't very powerful, but he did have the presence of an Alpha. It wasn't enough to affect either of them, but they could understand his hold over the rest of the wolves.
"I am Michelle Black, daughter of Jacob Black and I bow down to no one, especially not some sniveling petty little tyrant who treats his people as slaves and objects for your pleasure." Michelle started before Leah could speak, her anger overwhelming any etiquette.
"And I'm Leah Clearwater, Jacob's chosen successor and Alpha of the oldest and most powerful pack to have ever existed. You will submit to us or die here." Leah poured her presence into the link and she could visibly see him struggling to keep from immediately submitting to her will.
"Bit…" Fenris started but Michelle didn't let him continue his thought as she dashed forward and feinted left, hitting him on his right side hard enough to snap his head in the opposite direction. Leah used the opportunity and dashed forward to come up underneath him and wrap her jaws around his neck. Then with one brutal tearing motion she ripped out his throat.
His eyes went wide, and he slowly shifted back into his human form, desperately grasping at the giant hole where the meat of his neck used to be. He stared at the two giant wolves with disbelief and shock as he quickly bled out and fell face forward into the dead grass at his feet.
"That was faster than I expected." Leah said across the alpha link, and Michelle grunted in response.
"He pissed me off. Sorry, I didn't mean to steal your thunder." Michelle sounded a bit guilty, but Leah just shrugged, she had no ego in this fight.
"Hardly, I'm just glad he's dead. Now the hard part." Leah turned her attention to the pack link for all the rest of Joham's wolf army, and forced her way into it. Once she broke through she could feel the chaos of several hundred minds trying to understand what had happened and fighting panic over what to do next. She sent a wave of her power through the link and suddenly there was silence.
"I am Leah, the Alpha of the pack you have been fighting. Fenris is dead, his captains are dead and soon Joham will be dead. I will not force you to bend a knee in servitude. You are my brothers and sisters, and we have an opportunity to build something new and wonderful. All I ask is your patience in allowing me to show you a different life, a better life. Where you can make your own choices. All you need to do is accept me as your new Alpha. Become a part of my pack or Michelle's pack. However, it is now within your power to break away, I will not stop you. But understand, if you decide to leave, you must give up your hostility and go now."
Michelle could feel the overwhelming number of wolves immediately accept Leah, and few dozen joined her pack as well. In all, of the nearly four hundred wolves, only ten ended up dead, and fifty took off. Some created their own packs, and some just wanted to be free.
"It's over." Michelle sent to Leah privately, but Leah just shook her head, her gaze turned towards the mountains where the last fight was just starting.
Battleground - February 17th - 9:50 am
"Where are you going, coward?" Isabella taunted as she vaulted up the last two meters onto the plateau where Joham was hiding. He had a bag strapped to his back and was clearly about to make his escape.
"You seem familiar, have we met before?" Joham said as he turned around. "Ah yes, the Volturi enforcer. How could I forget, you did such harm to my endeavors."
"That's bullshit." Isabella shook her head at him, refusing to believe she had any part in his choices.
"No, not bullshit, you took everything from me. Centuries of notes and progress, and my subject Seventeen. It took me eighty years to recreate everything you destroyed that day, and even then it was all just a poor approximation, without Seventeen I had no hope of real success. That is why I chose to take this path." He sounded bitter and that rage was clear behind his somewhat calm expression.
"Path, you have slaughtered practically every vampire in the world!" Isabella raised her voice, the incredulity in her voice only matched by the hatred punctuating every syllable.
"Yes, that was the point. To clear the field, to make the world pure again. I would have an endless amount of time to further perfect my catalyst, find a new perfect specimen and build the world I have always dreamed was possible." Joham let his excitement into his voice, he wanted her to understand for some reason. In a strange way she was like an old friend, since she had been there when everything changed.
Isabella rolled her eyes, and let out a quick dark chuckle, "so you're insane, I mean I'm not sure what I expected. You're just like every other sociopath with delusions of grandeur. You're not a god Joham, your experiments have destroyed lives."
"Your opinion means nothing to me, but I am curious, what did you do with it? I assume you killed my precious subject Seventeen, which I cannot express how much of a waste…" Joham started, but Isabella began to shake with rage.
"Stop talking about her like she is a thing you own. She is not yours!" Isabella shouted, the shadows surrounding the entire plateau growing thick.
"She is? She is alive?" Joham stared at Isabella in shock and disbelief, his hopes and dreams suddenly expanding a thousand fold. He chuckled and then reached into his pocket, while glancing around him in awe at the power on display.
"She is my daughter, you arrogant egomaniacal piece of shit!" Isabella took a step forward, her hand on the sword hilt ready to attack.
"Ah ah ah, not another step." Joham held up a hand and waved a finger at her.
"Or what?" She glared at him, wanting nothing more than to rush forward and cut off his finger first before taking his head.
"You have no idea what I can do." Joham smiled viciously and directed his gift of influence towards Isabella, who would make a perfect general for his new cause. Isabella just cocked her head at him.
"Nice try, whatever you just tried to do doesn't work on me." Isabella smirked with a smug satisfaction, she never grew tired of gifted vampires underestimating her.
"Oh, well." He frowned, and pushed the rubber stopper off the vial in his hand, then in one quick movement down the contents before Isabella could react. She knew she didn't have long to act, and dashed forward while drawing the blade. But Joham anticipated her, and managed to dodge, and continue to dodge her attacks in a game of avoidance until his real perfected catalyst took effect. He was clearly outmatched, and was going to lose in a matter of seconds when he felt the first wave of changes pour into his muscles. He grinned, and found a small opening in her attacks and exploited it, throwing her back off the cliff face.
He knew it wouldn't take her long to get back, but he had the time he needed to complete the transformation. He watched as his arms grew in bulk and definition, and the ground seemed to push away as he grew in height by nearly a foot. He felt strong and powerful, and when she flew up over the lip of the plateau a short handful of seconds later he was already ready for her.
Isabella clutched Zoey's sword tightly as she landed, and stared at the abomination in front of her. Joham's muscles were bulging, his chest heaving and his face contorted into a grimace of pain and fury. They stared at one another for several long seconds sizing each other up.
"I owe you pain for everything you've done and taken from the world." Isabella threatened him with pure malice.
Joham roared, and rose up to his full height which put him almost two feet taller than Isabella. Then he leveled a deadly glare towards her muttering darkly, "Die", and then bursting forward in a surprisingly fast motion. Isabella knew they were evenly matched in speed, but then he showed himself to be half again as strong. She reeled back, to defend against his onslaught, learning his timing and skill.
The first few exchanges were almost a dance of avoidance and deflection, each testing the other. Joham was clearly trained, but not as competent with combat as Isabella. However what he lacked in skill, he made up with ferocity and aggression. Pushing forward with every attack and countering with a brutality that frequently punished her defenses. Zoey's reinforced blade helped, but she could feel it starting to lose stability after another flurry of advances and retreats.
The fight was fast, faster than any fight in recorded history, fast enough that even Alice had trouble following the action as she stepped out of her hiding spot. It was so fast that it made her worried about Isabella's chances. Eliza then dropped down on the plateau along with Brianna. Both staring at the fight with anxious concern etched on their brows as Isabella gave it her all. Eliza gritted her teeth, looking for an opening to help, but finding none.
It took a while, but eventually Joham got sloppy, and they all launched into the fray to help Isabella. Brianna found a way to grip his arms with her telekinesis despite the almost overwhelming strength he was exerting. Eliza came up from behind, plunging her blade through his lungs into his heart, and then Isabella using the opening to plunge her own blade into his neck, slicing deep as Eliza knocked against his head pushing his throat further into the blade. The effect was almost perfect, as he was almost decapitated in one action and he fell to his knees, his eyes wide with disbelief. He knew he was going to be the one to change the world, mold it to his image. To be cut down when he was so close, it was impossible.
"Goodbye father." Eliza spat into his face, his now lethargic eyes drifting towards her. Was this subject Seventeen? What had the Volturi enforcer done to her? No wonder they were so fast and strong, he had succeeded after all. He tried to laugh but his body was starting to fail to respond to his will.
Then as the monster that was once Joham drew its last breath it threw all that remained of its power into a punch that caught Isabella by surprise, plunging its fist into her chest and out through her back. A look of surprise crossed her face, as she screamed in pain, echoed by her family who all shared in her agony. Alice moved as fast as could move, and pulled her off of Joham's arm which was already limp and lifeless, his own catalyst giving him strength without the forced regeneration that would eventually destroy his underlings.
Isabella started to laugh, as the light began to fade from her eyes. Alice pulled her close, shutting her own eyes and trying to will herself to change this fate. Maybe break the laws of reality and go back to the morning, replay the battle which had been otherwise successful. Yet as she tried she could feel Isabella let go.
A deep well of sorrow and rage boiled up inside of her as Isabella's mind faded from the link. Then she let out a piercing wail, a scream so powerful it reached down across the battlefield and stopped everyone in their tracks as her mind began to spin down a black well of hopelessness.
"No." Was the word that escaped her lips as everything shifted and the world around her faded, the weight of Isabella's body lingering the longest.
She kept her eyes closed as strangely familiar sounds filtered in. Plastic sporks scraping on plastic plates and trays. Young voices overlapping in conversation, then the dull hum of Edward as his voice stopped in a strangled gasp. Alice felt confusion and bewilderment threatening to break what little was left of her sanity. Then Alice opened her eyes, finding herself on that day a century ago. The day she had her vision and Edward broke it with a petty and vindictive choice.
Author's Note:
This chapter was a nightmare to write. I had spent years with this vague picture in my head of what I wanted to do, but had absolutely no idea how I was going to get it down on paper. So starting with a blank page I hit a MAJOR case of writer's block. Not just the inability to get down what I wanted to say, but nothing was working. Eventually after months of struggling I had an epiphany and it all just came together. Originally each section had a character name header, it allowed me to craft each section around a single character and just write that scene. It cut things up in such a way that let me finally craft the story. Now I can imagine you might be a bit upset right now, and I'm not going to make things easier by saying, yes Isabella just died.
Please take this going forward, I promise there will be a mostly happy and satisfying end to the story. There are only three chapters left, and I promise they will be up as soon as I can get them written. Thank you all for your patience, support and wonderful comments all these years. I wish this had taken less time, I wish I had been able to stick to my plan and get this finished in a year (it has been almost three). Yet I am very proud of this work, and I truly hope you enjoy the final stretch of chapters.
Next Chapter: In Another Life
