“She’ll love it,” Caia whispered.
These last days had not been easy for Alexa. Not only was she still mad she hadn’t been able to take revenge against Marita personally, but she had felt betrayed by Jaeden who she had thought had become a good friend. Jae was trying her best to make it up to her. Last night, when Lucien had given Alexa permission to fight in the battle her mood had improved somewhat. Jae was hoping the necklace would finish the job.
When they reached Notre Dame Cathedral Caia cloaked them with magik and took a hold of them all as they entered the portal that Penelope had promised to leave open and guarded for the day. They stepped back into the Centre, old pros now at using portals.
It was a little bit of a hurry to get back to their rooms and wash up in time for dinner, but they got to Ella and Magnus’ suite, where the dinner was being set up, with time to spare.
When they got there, however, everyone was already there anyway. It was the anxiety and fear over the next day that had brought them together early. Even the kids knew something was up, sticking close to one another and eyeing the adults with perceptive eyes that made Caia feel guilty for not telling them what was going to happen in the morning.
Neither Isaac, Imogen, Christian, Lucia, Julia, Mal or Cera would take part in the fight tomorrow. They had children that needed them. As for Draven and Kade they wanted to fight, feeling they had nothing else to lose but each other. That meant Vil, Laila, Lucien, Ryder, Jaeden, Irini, Alexa, Aidan, Ella, Magnus, Draven, Kade and Caia were the members of the pack that would be on that battlefield in the morning. They would be joined by Marion, Vanne, Reuben, Saffron, the Council, Phoebe MacLachlan, her Alpha and fifteen members of their pack. That was only the beginning. The entire Centre would be there along with thousands of Daylights. It was going to be the most awe-inspiring thing Caia had ever witnessed.
Laila fluttered from person to person with Vil trying to ease the tension and fear. It worked somewhat, but Caia thought perhaps there was just too much emotion between them all to soothe. Lucien tried to keep it all light as everyone took their seats at the table. Caia watched carefully as Vanne and Marion sat next to one another, their shoulders brushing, their eyes meeting often. She smiled, hoping they were friends again… and maybe more someday, she mused.
“This looks amazing.” Lucien gazed over the dishes upon dishes that littered the table.
Vanne shrugged. “I had the kitchens put in a little extra time. Thank you for inviting me.”
“And me.”
“And me.”
The grateful murmurs of Marion, Saffron, Nikolai and Reuben filtered down the table.
“I’m glad you all came.” Lucien smiled back and squeezed Caia’s hand. “For tonight, why don’t we forget about tomorrow and just enjoy each other’s company.”
And that’s what they did. Friendly teasing and banter accompanied the meal. Reuben was battered with questions about how old he was and was he there when Marie Antoinette lost her head and did he meet William Wallace and was Julius Caesar really such a dick…?
He laughed it all off, answering the questions gamely, looking to Saffron for help when he could. As for the pack, they looked happier than they had in a long time. They laughed with one another and were able to speak of those they had lost with a sad humour and sweet remembrance. Alexa laughed at something Jaeden had said, twiddling the pendant of the wolf necklace that hung around her neck. For a moment, Caia was debilitated by a sharp feeling of utter terror. Would all this be gone tomorrow? Would the pack be destroyed once more just as they were regaining themselves? And would it all be her fault?
Caia, don’t, she pleaded with herself.
Fear was for everyone else. They needed her to be confident and assured of what they were doing, of what she was taking them into. This had been her idea. She had no right to fear or doubt.
“You OK?” Lucien whispered, leaning into her.
She sipped a little of her wine and threw him a smile. “Of course.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Sometimes Caia wished her mate didn’t understand her so well. “Really, I’m OK.”
He didn’t say anything more, but as they lay together that night, trying to catch their breath after having lost themselves in each other, Lucien propped himself up on his side and gazed down at her, his eyes narrowed and serious. “You’re allowed to be afraid, Caia.”
Warmth sprung to life in her chest at the knowledge he understood her so perfectly, but she shook her head with a sharp jerk. “No, I’m not.”
He scowled at her. “Of course you are.”
“Lucien, I started this. This was all my idea. I can’t be afraid when everyone else is or they’ll think that I’m not sure we’re going to win this thing.”
“Caia, they know there is a risk we won’t win this thing. They’re not stupid. They’re not blindly following you into battle because they think you’ve given them a 100% guarantee of survival. They’re following you into battle because they believe in this… not because they think you’re lack of fear is a promise of victory.”
She gave a huff of laughter that caught on a sob. “Then I guess I should tell you I’m terrified.”
Snuggling her close, Lucien kissed her softly on the cheek and rested his head next to hers. “Me too.”
32 – Pistols at Dawn
Unlike human battlegrounds where terrain and weather could determine the outcome, the supernatural battlefield was perfect. The chosen spot was a massive beach with towering sand dunes to Caia’s left. To the right the tide remained out and would do so for the entire length of the fight due to a spell that had been cast on it by the Daylights. The sand beneath her feet only looked like sand; she didn’t feel the familiar sinking of her feet into the grains. Instead, the ground was compact and smooth, as was the entire beach. A dome-like barrier had been suspended over the area to shield the supernaturals from human view. To prevent humans from wandering onto the beach and banging up against the barrier, another spell clouded the atmosphere, a spell to muddle the human brain temporarily so that any thought to approaching the beach was quashed, and replaced with one to go and get some ice cream or something to that mundane end. The weather was still and perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. And although the water could be heard lapping in the distance, its spray didn’t come anywhere near them.
Caia’s stomach was in knots. She was sickly white with fear and anxiety, just as the rest of the pack was. Her heart was pounding so hard and fast she was constantly fighting the need to be sick, or pass out. The build up to battle had been excruciating. It had taken hours for the Daylights and Midnights to arrive, and now finally the Council had announced it was time.
Across the beach – at some 3,000 yards in the distance – stood the assembled Midnights. Their battle lines were a fair mirror image of the Daylights own. In a crescent-shaped line stood five different divisions of Midnights. From left to right, the first two consisted of daemons, the third and fourth of faeries in the shape of big cats and large vultures; and in the fifth stood magiks. Behind that line was another crescent made up of four more divisions. Behind the daemons stood more faeries (all big cats) and guarding Orina Beketov and the Council, who led from the very back, were two blocks of magiks, and the fourth block of magiks guarded at the back of the faeries and magiks in front.
The Daylights stood in the same crescent formation. Up front from the left in the first two divisions stood faeries in the shape of big cats (when Caia had enquired about the choice, Saffron had shrugged and told them that faeries tended to have an affinity for them and felt stronger as a feline), panthers, leopards, tigers you name it and they were it, purring and growling and bussing up against one another with affection and encouragement. Vampyres made up the third division centre in line and the last two all lykans. Guarding the lykans from behind were magiks. The second division of the second line was made up of more vampyres, who along with the third branch of magiks, stood to defend the Council who led fr
om the back. The fourth on the far left was made up of magiks who waited behind the faeries in front.
Yeah, they were already to go alright, Caia exhaled slowly.
“Caia,” Alfred’s voice echoed through the lines by the use of a spell. “It’s time.”
Everyone had attempted to talk her out of speaking with the Midnights, telling her that it would make a target of her. But as they would already recognise her as soon as she got close enough because of the gods little IM, Caia decided to go ahead with it. Trying to ignore her trembling nerves she looked to Lucien, who even in wolf form managed to throw her a bolstering look. She stepped forward from her front line amongst the lykans. Caia strode with determination, her shoulders pulled back, her head held high, her face devoid of expression.
Standing at the half-way point between the two Covens, and utilising the nifty speaker spell Penelope had taught her, Caia addressed the Midnights, surprising herself with the maturity and authority that rang in her words. “I am Caia Ribeiro. The gods have seen fit to tell you who I am and what I have done. I have given the trace magik back to the gods, freeing us all from Galen’s revenge. Without the trace, I believe we can begin to build a road to peace.”
She heard the snickers and the roars of outrage and denial amongst the Midnights. She hadn’t expected anything else. They hated her and her kind.
“You don’t believe me but it’s already begun. I am half-Midnight and yet I stand and fight with Daylights, I stand and fight with two other Midnights who are willing to die for us.”
“And they will!” Someone screamed out at her in the distance.
Ignoring the sickness that roar encouraged, Caia forced herself on. “You don’t believe our world can exist in peace but the trace that bound us to the war is gone. And after today… so will the war itself be!”
War cries of support and growls of anticipation battled against roars of hate and disdain. Caia turned her back on the Midnights, showing them she was unafraid of them, and walked ‘calmly’ back to her spot on the front line. Her insides felt as if they had all snapped apart.
Lucien nudged her leg and she ran her hands through his pelt in thanks.
A rumbling sounded in the distance as a first wave of daemons began moving as one towards the Daylights.
“Faeries!” Alfred cried from the back. “Take out those daemons!”
A thundering exploded in Caia’s ears as the faeries leapt forward as one. Their large paws pounded into the ground propelling them forward at awesome speed, their muzzles drawn back, their eyes focused on their enemy. Caia’s heart raced in her chest knowing Saffron was amongst them.
“Magiks on the left flank move forward.”
The awe of the beauty of the faeries race across the beach, the blur of colours, momentarily made Caia forget what their goal was. And then, as she had known they would, three hundred yards from their target the leading faeries, many of whom were leopards, shifted as smoothly and as wondrously as a waterfall. The ground shook under their feet and what sounded like trumpeters deafened Caia as they turned from graceful feline into over-sized elephants and massive rhinoceros’ with lethal tusks. A cry rose amongst the Midnights but they weren’t quick enough to defend the daemons who were crushed beneath their feet. Some of them managed to scamper out of the way and attempted to clamber onto the shapeshifters to pierce them with their weapons. They were merely shaken off and trampled underfoot. Behind those faeries leapt those still in cat form. They launched around the mass of bodies and huge mammals to attack the Midnight faeries behind the daemons.
An order rose from the Midnight Council and faeries in the front line moved into help whilst the magiks that had stood to the far right closed ranks, covering the gap made in the line.
She watched on in horror as screams and whines rent the air as cats fought cats, and vultures whooped onto elephants and rhino’s, pecking at their eyes to blind them. Even from her position she could see blood flowing in the sand.
“Vampyres!” Alfred bellowed. “Front and second line! Move forward!”
As the vampyres sped off in a blur of movement, led by Reuben, Caia felt the earth behind her tremble as the magiks who had guarded at the back of her closed in, in front of the Council. The vampyres were in amongst the battle in no time and the urge to throw up grew greater as she watched the mass of struggling bodies. Most of the elephants and rhinos had disappeared in the crowds. Caia assumed they were either wounded or found fighting as a cat more efficient. When the magiks guarding the Midnights front line suddenly moved in on the battle sparks of fire and cascades of water crashed through the air onto the scene. Caia felt the change in the atmosphere as air magiks began to fight; she watched as huge rocks came out nowhere and crushed the Daylights underneath them as earth magiks triumphed.
It all seemed like moments but Caia knew she had been standing shivering with terror for a long time.
“Lykans!” Alfred screamed. “Take out those magiks!”
As the wolves rushed across the sand Caia morphed instantly into her own wolf self and ran with them. The sand didn’t kick up around them as they sprinted and the ground acted as a wonderful springboard for their flight. The air rushed by in fragile lightness and Caia realised just how perfect the spellcasters had made this terrain for them. As lykans collided into the fold, tearing magiks who screamed in outrage, gore and body parts flying, clamping jaws on necks sending spurts of blood splattering, Caia changed. Instantly she had to put up a shield as rocks and earth shattered against it. She caught the eye of the magik who had targeted her and narrowed her eyes, flooding his lungs with water. He gasped and fell to the floor. At that she turned, pulling witches and warlocks off of lykans and faeries with her magik, dousing vampyres who had been set on fire, rescuing faeries by sending up shields. She was battered and targeted, exhausted by her need to defend not only herself but others, whilst being on the offensive at the same time.
Magik came out of nowhere and Caia felt her lungs squeeze as they filled with water. She fell to her knees, grasping at her throat as a woman approached her with victory in her eyes. There was a blur of movement and suddenly the water dissipated and she could breathe. Reuben stood before her with the woman’s head in his hands, her body already decomposing on the sand.
“You’re welcome.” He grinned and then was off into the fight at warp speed.
Her eyes took in a sight she would never forget. The ground swam with blood and pieces of supernaturals. Insides spilled out onto the sand, limp hands trailing into the gore. Blank eyes of Daylights and Midnights alike looked up at her as she stumbled over their bodies. The noise of the battle grew muffled as she dove in front of a tiger, a bolt of fire heading towards it. Her water hit the fire and the magik cancelled out. The tiger growled and sprang at the attacking warlock, its claws slicing Caia’s arm as it swiped at the enemy. Caia hissed back a growl at the stinging agony and looked down at the bleeding, oozing claw marks on her arms. Caia turned as the warlock’s muffled screams reached her ears. She couldn’t imagine how painful his death had been if a ‘scratch’ like this hurt so badly. Dazed, Caia morphed her hand into wolf and back and then spun around. Immediately her heart exploded in her chest.
No!
Her eyes darted from witch to warlock as one by one they pulled out vials of golden liquid and threw it into the air, controlling it with their magik as it descended on the nearest lykan they could find. A girl shuddered back into human form, followed by an older female, followed by Alistair MacLachlan. Stunned, she stood there unable to comprehend that the fluid discovered by Pierre Du Bois had found its way into Midnight hands again and she hadn’t known about it.
A young lykan girl went up in flames. Caia roared in disbelief and threw up her hands, a tidal wave appearing amongst the battle. Like last time she tried to avoid Daylights but was afraid some were soaked despite it. The wave crashed down on two of the offending Midnights and Caia rushed the water into their mouths. She saved Alistair, and the Alpha began making h
is change back into wolf – Caia put a shield up around him to let him do so. Once he had transformed she focused on finding magiks with the fluid. A blasting of fire and magik exploded above her head and Caia looked around to see Daylight magiks approaching the battle. Thank goddess. One by one she took out the witches and warlocks with the liquid; her body bruised and bleeding from the hits they had managed to get past her; her throat was dry from oxygen deprivation from having encountered air and water magiks.
Satisfied she made to take on another warlock when her neck began to prickle in warning. A dark feeling crept over her. A sense of unreality descending and Caia turned around slowly.
A flash of black hair on the ground in the distance caught her eye.
No.
Blasting the man in front of her back absentmindedly, Caia stumbled through the fight, her view of the body growing sharper.
No.
Being trampled upon by fighting magiks and lykans, a naked Lucien lay amongst the sand, bloody and empty. A hole burst through his chest where his heart should be, his silver eyes blank as they stared straight up into the heavens.
No.
Caia fell upon him, her hand knocking away a vial with a tiny drop of golden liquid. Her hands fluttered over the gaping wound uselessly.
“No.” She shook her head and then grasped his cold face in her hands. “No.”
Caia pressed on his shoulders. “Lucien, wake up,” she whispered and then hissed as rocks smacked against her back sending her over him. Sobbing, she lifted her face, now bloody from Lucien’s fatal wound, and moved up his body to gaze into his eyes. He wasn’t in there.
He was gone.
An unbearable pain ripped across her chest.
Something inside her died.
Replacing it was an unforgiving fury.
She screamed with agony as a fire incinerated her insides, travelling from her toes like a snake slivering up her body. It wound its way around her heart and squeezed and seemed to burst the organ into gory pulp. White light blinded her, and the sensation of falling accompanied her scream of death, her soul begging for the destruction of those who had dared to fight them for their right to peace.
Blood Solstice: Part Three in the Tale of Lunarmorte Page 26