by Sammy King
“Ah I see you that you’ve discovered that you didn’t kill my son like you thought you had” Abaddon spoke with a laugh.
“You know you can’t win this Abaddon” Ada said firmly.
Abaddon flicked his head to face Ada as he suddenly moved forward to stand in front of her, the tattoo’s that were etched into his skin shone. As Ada looked between Dane and Abaddon recognition hit her. That tattoo’s; they were the same. Ada shook her head and scolded herself for being so stupid as not to have recognised that. Dane snorted as he was able to read her. Abaddon continued to glare at her, as he slinked toward her.
“And do you think you’re going to defeat me, you and your human?” Abaddon snarled into her face.
The air suddenly became thick with howls. Ada could hear them surrounding them throughout the woods. Abaddon stepped back from Ada and smiled. Dane didn’t look quite as calm as his Father.
“I see you are prepared for war” Abaddon laughed as he flicked his hand out.
There was a sudden screech as the Werewolves were struck with an inaudible sound. Ada shook her head but didn’t take her eyes off Abaddon.
“You are a bold one” he said. “It’s a shame that you and my son couldn’t have made it work. We would have made the right team, just like your Mother and I could have, before she met the Vampire.”
Ada shook her head and spat on the ground to show her disgust, which brought a snort from Abaddon. The ear piercing scream that split the night gave Ada such a shock that she couldn’t help but visibly jump. She spun on her heel searching for the source of the sound. Dane had disappeared, she couldn’t see him, but her Father stood beside her a wicked smile covered his face, Travis was propped against the tree. The Vampires had also disappeared. Ada looked around to try and sense them. She could feel the energies, filled with fury, but there was also an energy of fear and death.
The scream had given Abaddon a shock too, as he spun on his heels. His wings being poised high in the air ready to escape. His eyes narrowed and a frown spread across his face. As he turned Ada caught a glimpse of Dane who was collapsed on the ground. He held his throat and was gasping for air, his eyes bulged and fear embraced his body. His aura a dark blue; oozed panic. Ada frowned and could sense where the anger was coming from. Vampires. One after another they flew in a black blur, each one taking a swipe at Dane with their fangs, each one so fast that only their energy could be felt. Abaddon roared and spread his wings around Dane, scooping him into his arms.
“Kade” Abaddon roared “You make them stop”.
Kade laughed the most wicked of laughs as he raised his arms out straight. His eyes glowed red and a deep growl formed in his throat. Suddenly the blur of her Father was headed towards Abaddon. She watched as the Angel was knocked off balance, dropping Dane to the ground in a heap. Dane couldn’t even lift his head as his life force began to ebb out from his body. The blurs came thick and fast, as they sped past her. The wind of their energy blowing Ada’s hair from her shoulders as she watched Dane’s body being tossed around like a leaf on the breeze.
Abaddon stood with in an instant and flicked his wrist out. Ada felt a sharp pain wrap itself around her throat. Her neck was on fire; her breath was being pushed out of her body. She clutched at her throat, trying to rip at the invisible force that was holding her. She felt her face heating and darkness threatening to creep in her eyes. She stumbled backwards.
“Just trust” the words rang out.
Ada looked around to see Dane’s blue eyes staring at her.
“Just trust” he spoke again.
Ada frowned unable to comprehend. He lowered his head onto the ground and she could feel the final life force drain from Dane, as the Vampires continued their fatal dance. She continued to claw at her throat as she collapsed to the ground. Ada lowered her hand to the amulet and closed her eyes. Suddenly she was thrown into light, the woods had disappeared and there was nothing but a white light surrounding her. She could hear footsteps behind her. Ada turned and saw the Witches of her ancestors behind her. The burning in her throat had released and she was able to stand and breathe again.
The ancestors reached forward and touched Ada. The Witches hands began to rip at her skin; the pain was unbearable as their fingers clawed at her, gouging flesh from her body. Ada screamed out and threw her arms into the air. Within an instant her vision cleared and she was back in the woods. She was standing within the sacred Warlock stones with her arms outstretched. Abaddon lay on the ground, he looked confused and there was a look of fear that danced on his eyes.
Ada stood to her full height and took hold of the amulet. It began to glow through her fingers. Instantly she began to chant as she slowly stepped toward Abaddon; releasing the amulet from her neck with her free hand. Abaddon creased his brow into a frown as he slowly stood. She could sense that he was unsure of what power she held. Ada continued to chant as she raised the amulet high in the air. She could hear the Werewolves begin their howl again to match the tempo of her chant.
As her chant increased in speed and volume she felt her temperature begin to rise. Soon it felt like the forest was alight; the heat soared and carried her on a cloud of humidity. Sweat trickled from her body and her eyes blurred with the haze that danced in front of her. But inside, Ada couldn’t feel the heat, it didn’t bother her. Her only intent was to kill Abaddon. Soon she heard her chants being matched. Ada turned her head slightly to see the coven women standing in a triangle behind her. Soon the sound of their chant was like a roaring ocean crashing against the rocks. Abaddon shook his head as he stepped back.
He flicked his wrist again and she heard a scream as one of the coven members was alighted and turned to ash, he did the same again and another Witch was set alight. Ada continued her chant. A rumbling started deep within the earth and Ada felt as the ground trembled through her feet and legs, she could hear the leaves shake off the tree’s and the stones rattle.
Abaddon looked around nervously as the rumbling continued to quake under their feet. From behind her the cracking pierced through with a thunderous sound as the rocks behind her began to fall apart. Ada took the chance to turn her head and glance behind her when Abaddon’s face visibly paled and his eyes widened. She saw her ancestors were being led by Merza, who formed a pentagram behind her. Merza stepped forward and clasped Ada’s hand that held the amulet. The ancestors continued the chant. Abaddon shook his head, fear taking over his face.
“How is this possible?” he tremored.
Slowly Ada and Merza brought their hands down and pointed the amulet at Abaddon.
“You brought the battle. We’ve brought the war” Merza roared over the sound of the chant.
A blue light lit the sky like a flash of lightening and the amulet roared with thunder. The light shot forward and hit Abaddon in the chest. He screamed an ear piercing scream as he fell towards the ground. His wings folded underneath him. He continued to scream as he writhed on the ground.
Ada watched as the Werewolves came in from the woods like a flood, leaping over one another, teeth bared, snarling, and their spit flying as they ripped flesh from Abaddon’s body. His screams filled the air in a terrifying crescendo.
Once the Werewolves stepped back, leaping over one another fighting over parts of Abaddon’s body that they had managed to rip apart, Ada looked down at him pitifully; nothing more than a mangled wreck of feathers and flesh. She shook her hand and pointed the amulet at him once more. The amulet glowed a golden light that enveloped Abaddon, Dane and Ada. Within the light she watched as Dane and Abaddon’s bodies turned to ash.
The wind whipped up and the ash swirled high in the sky like a tornado, scattering the ash to the ends of the earth. Silence fell all over the woods as Ada turned to look at her risen ancestors. Slowly they began to fade, leaving only Merza and Kaia. Kaia stepped forward and kissed Ada on her third eye before slowly disappearing into the atmosphere. Merza wrapped her arms around Ada’s shoulders and pulled her close. Ada could feel tears starti
ng to spring forth but she wanted to hold them back. Slowly the golden light ebbed back into the amulet and she could see the woods reappear shrouded in darkness.
Chapter Thirty One
“Love is not sufficient. It never has been. Stories that claim otherwise are lies. There’s always something after happily ever after.” Arthur Phillips
Ada turned around to see the Werewolves and Witches that were lost in the battle. All in all they had come out fairly good.
‘Dad where are you?’ Ada called to Kade.
She sensed his energy and went towards him. She stopped short when she saw Travis held in Kade’s arms. Kade’s face was streaked with tears as he visibly trembled. Ada screamed and ran towards them. Travis’s throat was cut open and bleeding. His skin pale and she could feel that his heart was nearing to a stop. The Vampires stood around watching what was going on. She could sense their concern.
“Oh please Dad; save him” she cried.
“I can’t. If I do heal him, I can’t keep him human Ada; he has lost too much blood” Kade spoke.
Ada didn’t care anymore. She couldn’t lose Travis. He meant too much to her. She shook her head and stroked Travis’s hair. Merza rested her hand on Kade’s shoulder and nodded her head. Kade lifted his head and allowed his teeth to elongate. He brought his arm to his mouth and bit deep into it. When the blood began to drip he leaned forward and touched it to Travis’s lips. The blood looked so red against Travis’s pale lips. Kade leant forward and put his tongue on the bleeding wound that was slashed against Travis’s neck. Ada couldn’t take her eyes off the blood that dripped into Travis’s mouth. She willed for him to take of the blood.
‘Please come back to me Travis’ she spoke into his energy.
Suddenly she heard Travis take a deep intake of breath as his eyes flickered. He opened his mouth and clamped his lips over Kade’s arm. Kade sucked in a breath over his teeth. Travis opened his eyes, blue opaque eyes as he threw his head off Kade’s arm. He licked the dripped blood off his lips, before he turned his eyes to Ada. He smiled a sly smile, his teeth still elongated sparkled in the dark. Ada smiled and let out a cry of delight as she wrapped her arms around Travis’s neck.
“Oh Travis” she cried as tears fell from her eyes.
Kade lowered him to the ground and Travis pulled Ada in tight against his chest and soothed her.
“What happened?” she asked.
Travis ran his hand through his hair and leant back against the tree that he was sitting under.
“Dane” he said shaking his head.
Ada shook her head and frowned, glancing between Travis and Kade.
“Dane materialised in front of us while we had Travis in our arms and tore at his throat with a dagger” Ermanno, a Vampire, spoke as he stepped towards Travis. “That’s why we attacked Dane”
Ada looked up at Ermanno and nodded giving him a weak smile.
“Well I guess you got your wish” Ada said looking over at Travis who sat with his eyes closed and a slight smirk on his face.
Travis snorted a laugh and shrugged as he stood and quickly scooped her into his arms.
“I guess I did. But there is something nobody told me about becoming a Vampire” Travis said.
Ada frowned and looked at him.
“What?” Ada said confused.
“It makes you horny as hell” he said with a laugh before turning and moving at Vampire speed back towards the coven.
Ada could hear the roar of laughter fill her ears behind her from the other Vampires as the blur of their energies moving at speed followed closed behind Travis.
Travis and the group of Vampires stopped short as they reached the stone building. It was charred and burnt from the fire that Abaddon had set. There were bodies of Paranaturals that lay scattered about the grounds, victims of the fire. Victims Ada hadn’t counted on. She felt the air suck out of her lungs as if someone sucker punched her.
“Oh Travis. So much death and devastation” she cried.
Travis gently put Ada back onto the ground. She stepped forward to walk past each body. As she walked past them, Ada waved her hand over each Paranatural, sending a chant of peace across them. As Ada passed each person, the bodies glowed gold and turned to ash and floated into the night’s sky. Ada felt the tears begin to drip down her face. Her heart felt so heavy. So many of the people she loved; gone. She couldn’t save them.
‘No one could save them’ Travis spoke into her mind.
Ada turned to him. He stepped into her and pulled her into his arms. She felt the tears give way to sobs. This was so needless she kept thinking. She kept thinking maybe if she had done things differently, if she hadn’t been with Dane, if she had of protected Travis from the beginning, her brain wouldn’t switch off.
“You couldn’t have changed anything, it was fate” Travis said in a soothing voice as he stroked her back and kissed her hair.
Ada sighed and pulled away from him to continue to survey the damage. Ada stepped through the back door of the coven. The walls were blackened most of the furniture was nothing but ash and soot. With every step she took, Ada felt power release from her body as the house began to heal itself. The walls rebuilt, the crackled paint righted itself, furniture materialised, her magic followed as she moved. Ada went through the rooms, her heart breaking with every lost piece of memorabilia she discovered. She reached the library and could hear the sobs before she went through the door. Morrigan sat in the middle of the room, clasping a book to her chest; tears fell from her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. Morrigan looked up at Ada.
“I couldn’t fix it. My magic wasn’t strong enough” Morrigan cried.
Ada nodded and stepped forward sitting on the floor beside Morrigan. She pulled the book from her Aunt’s lap and pulled her into an embrace. The two women sat on the floor their tears mingling together and their sobs ringing through the coven. Ada heard footsteps and felt her Mother’s touch on her shoulder. Both women looked up at Merza as they stood and wrapped her into their embrace.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again” Morrigan cried to Merza.
Merza soothed Morrigan’s hair.
“I had to Mor. He would never have been stopped if I didn’t” Merza replied.
Ada frowned and shook her head.
“What do you mean?” Ada asked.
Merza sighed and patted the seats in the library, the three Witches sat down and Merza explained what had happened to her. She was working under cover with the Aje authority, Merza explained that she knew that there was someone crooked in the Authority. She hadn’t worked out it was Dane until much later.
“I never even suspected Frankie, but when I did it was too late, Abaddon already had me. Frankie led me straight into his arms. I felt so stupid in being tricked; but Frankie. I trusted him like a brother” Merza said shaking her head sadly.
Merza explained that she hadn’t planned for Abaddon to put her into a trance; she hadn’t even planned on being caught by him.
“I don’t know if Frankie had something to do with it, but I was sure that when Abaddon had me, he would kill me. But I overheard Frankie saying that if I died you would get my powers. I don’t understand though” she said with a shake of her head “Frankie knew that even if I was in a trance you would be able to get my powers”.
Ada frowned and shook her head.
“I hurt so much thinking about Frankie” Ada said.
Merza nodded her head and gently rubbed Ada’s back.
“I never saw it” Merza said with sigh. “That’s what hurts the most” she said.
“Something though has got me confused. If I couldn’t kill Dane in the vision, how was I able to get the amulet back?” Ada asked.
“You lost the amulet?” Merza asked her eyes widened with concern.
Ada dropped her eyes to the floor and nodded. Morrigan reached out and patted Ada’s leg.
“It’s ok we got it back” Morrigan said. “As for how you got it back, the amulet is an incredibly po
werful magical property and it doesn’t matter if you are in the psychic realm or in reality the amulet would find you”
Ada nodded her head and rubbed her eyes, exhaustion was starting to sink in.
“It didn’t occur to me that you wouldn’t have been able to really kill Dane though. The psychic realm is a strong place to be. You should have been able to kill him, his death should have been real” Morrigan said with a crease on her brow.
The three women sat back in the chairs quietly. There was so much left to ponder, but Ada felt like she didn’t have time yet to take it in. Ada realised how exhausted Merza looked as she stood clapping her hands on her thighs.
“Well come on you two. This place isn’t going to clean itself up” Merza spoke, reaching her hands out to Morrigan and Ada.
They both took her hands and together with the remaining coven went from room to room using their magic to rebuild and clean the coven. After the sun had risen, Kade and Travis were long gone to Kade’s home to avoid the sunlight; they had finally put the last touches on the coven. Morrigan turned and looked around the room.
“It looks better than before, maybe Abaddon did us a favour burning this down” Morrigan said with a weak laugh.
“Maybe” Merza said with a smile. “Well I think I could sleep for a week. I’m going to go home and crawl into bed with my husband”
Ada agreed and headed for the door with her Mother. As they opened the door they saw Karla standing there ready to knock.
“Merza. Oh God it’s so good to see you” Karla cried embracing Merza.
“It’s good to see you to Karla” Merza replied hugging her back.
“Is everything alright?” Ada asked with a frown.
Karla nodded.
“I’ve been through the causalities from last night; there were one hundred and fifty in all.” She said her face dropping.
Ada nodded and felt her heart grow heavy again. That was so many wasted lives for violence. Merza entwined her fingers with Ada’s.