~Chapter Thirty Four~
When we arrived on the island we were greeted by a very anxious Avery and Eldon. I looked around for others but none were seen. We climbed off our dragons, who once we were safe on the ground, took off again. They would help protect us from above.
“What’s wrong? You seem troubled,” Shep asked Eldon.
“The magic wall can only be held for so long. It is weakening. The fight will start very soon.”
“Well, we better get going then. Lilly, you stay with me at all times,” Shep ordered and though I found that highly unlikely, I didn’t argue. He needed a clear head to fight. He didn’t need to worry about me.
“Where is everyone? I thought they were all here.” I was confused.
“They are here, just hidden. We have a plan. One that will keep all of us or most of us alive, I hope. Here put this on.” He handed me a large coat which I was thankful for. Ellurrah was freezing. I felt the cold deep in my bones and couldn’t help but shiver. The coat was warm and cut out the harshest feeling of cold, but didn’t block it completely. My companions were already moving swiftly thought the dense forest. I had to keep up a light jog to keep up. The fast pace kept my blood flowing and kept me warm.
I was following closely behind Shep when his full sprint came to an abrupt halt. I smashed right into his back and bounced off, landing hard on my butt.
“Are you okay?” Shep asked while pulling me up.
“Yeah I’m fine. Those are some brakes you got there. Why are we stopping?”
“We’re here,” he said and pointed. My eyes followed his finger and there it stood, Kelsha’s fortress. I expected something big, but this place was unreal. I had never seen a place as large and intricate. Jax’s compound was just a speck of dust on the land compared to Kelsha’s behemoth fortress. I should not have expected less, of course, she would build a place bigger and better than any other structure in all of Neveah. It wasn’t just for protecting. She was full of pride, and I’m sure boasted on this gaudy piece of work.
Around the fortress was a barely there electric umbrella. If it wasn’t for the tiny sparks that the umbrella threw off I would have missed it. Just beyond the sizzling umbrella I saw movement. Many of Kelsha’s followers were moving around the compound. They appeared disorderly and confused.
“They don’t look so bad, Shep.”
“We exposed Jax when we came looking for you. I imagine a fair amount of her army will turn on her. They were fighting for her because they drank her Kool-Aid, believing that your family was against them. They just want to live peacefully. Many are frightened of Jax and will not appreciate Kelsha having kept him a secret. They will question their trust in her.”
I remembered what Theron had told me. I couldn’t say for sure if he was being honest, but I think he was. He knew about Jax after all. I recalled our conversation and filled Shep in.
“When I was with Theron,” I began and Shep shot me a look that said to never speak that man’s name. I felt the same, but knew this could be helpful.
“I don’t want to speak of him either, Shep, but he did tell me things that may be helpful.”
“I just don’t want to hear his name on your lips.” I knew how he felt, that’s how I felt about Fionna. Though I had grown to like her and my insecurities were gone, I always felt a rush of fury when she was around or Shep spoke of her. Our situations were different, but it all came down to having our bodies that were reserved for each other being loved and touched by another. The circumstances were trivial when it was all said and done. I had moved past Fionna, and Shep said he didn’t blame me, but there was still that nagging feeling that we were both tainted.
“I know, baby, but this could be important. I will not say his name but will you listen to me?”
He shook his head in response, agreeing, but not happy about it. I called the rest of our little crew over and filled them in on what I knew.
“The man that took me away from here told me that he knew about Jax. He said there were whispers amongst her people that Heren was in fact Jax and they didn’t like it. Many of them were already losing trust in Kelsha. They were beginning to see through her façade. I just thought that might be useful to know.” I felt like I was on display and discussing my time with Theron with anyone made me uncomfortable. The pity in their eyes was agonizing. I hated that they felt pity for me. I was fine. They didn’t need to worry about me during this fight, that would surely get them all killed. Everyone seemed to be handling me with extreme care. It was getting annoying.
“Look, take the information, think it over and use it or don’t, it doesn’t matter to me. I know you are all worried about me but the pity you wear so obviously when you look at me is maddening. I am fine! Yes, I was taken prisoner. Yes, I did things that I don’t care to ever talk about again. But I am okay. I made it. I lived. Stop looking at me as though I am the walking dead. Telling you what he told me doesn’t hurt me. It helps me to know that maybe something, even a small piece of information, might help us make it not for nothing.” I turned away from my family and paced, trying to squash the intense anger that I was feeling. I can’t explain why I was so angry at that moment. I think I just wanted to be treated as an equal. I was not fragile, but their well-meaning concern was grating my last nerve.
“We are so sorry, Lilly. We just love you so much. You are a strong woman, we know that but the thought of losing you, it is just so scary. Please forgive us. What you have told us is very helpful. Thank you,” my meme said, and I stopped pacing.
“I’m sorry too for blowing up. I just can’t handle the pity I see in your eyes. We have to be strong and united. You can’t all go in there worried about me, it will get you killed.”
“You’re right. We have to have our heads focused,” Denali said just as a large dragon swooped over our heads and the electric umbrella vanished. The dragon, Paeris, breathed fire along the ground of the compound, sparking multiple little fires. We had to move, the fires wouldn’t burn long in the glacial environment.
“Time to move,” Shep said before turning to me and kissing me hard and fast. “I love you. Stay alive please.”
“I love you too, Shep! We are both going to stay alive! Now let’s go.”
We approached the entrance of the fortress as a united front, our own army still unseen. We stood shoulder to shoulder poised and ready to fight. When a mass of Kelsha’s followers swarmed us, my grandmother began to speak, loud and booming, commanding their attention. Stopping them where they stood.
“My dear people of Neveah; this war is not necessary. The cause Kelsha has fed you is based on lies and her insatiable hunger for power. She does not care about you. She does not care if you live or die today as long as you kill us. She has told you we don’t love or accept you. That is a lie. My family, we love all Neveahian’s. There are no monsters in Neveah. Please, let’s go back to living in peace as we have done for so long. It’s not too late for you. We came for Kelsha and Jax. They have committed acts of atrocity on Neveah. They must be punished. We have no want to fight you, but we will if you choose to stand for her.” My meme looked out over her people. She was sad to see so many of them easily swayed to believe she didn’t care about them. No one loved people, things, and creatures more than she did.
We listened as whispers were thrown between the Neveahian’s that had sworn to fight for and protect Kelsha. When they began to approach us, we all reached for our weapons, but my meme raised her hands, ordering us to back down. One of them approached us, her hands in the air, surrendering. Her brown hair was braided and frizzy. Her face smeared with dirt, defeat and disappointment evident.
“We are with you. We will stand with you. We all just want to go back to living the way we used to live. This is more than any of us wanted and knowing she has kept Jax here, hidden, all this time is concerning. You have our pledge to stand with you if after this is done we can resume our lives as they were. We do not want trouble. We just want to live in peace.”
/> “Of course.” That was all my meme could say before an attack from above caused the ground to shake. At the very same moment, Kelsha appeared with Jax in his form. Suddenly, chaos ensued as the fighting began.
I pulled my sword from my back and saw Michael raise his bow and aim. He shot at anyone that came at him. He and Leah stayed back to back, each using their weapon to their advantage. Thousands of fighter fairies converged from the surrounding trees, arrows began to fly. They were vicious with their attack, showing no mercy. Denali was fighting his own battles as were the elves and just about everyone else that had chosen to stand with us, including Kelsha’s former followers. It appeared at first glance that we would emerge the victors of this fight, until the true beasts were unleashed.
Our dragons circled Kelsha’s fortress throwing fire that sparked enough flames to light up the structure. I saw Lucy circling, choosing her target, when a creature straight out of a nightmare appeared out of nowhere. The beast was at least five times larger than any of our dragons and was easily the most frightening thing I have ever seen. It appeared to be skinless as it flew by in a blood red blur heading straight for Lucy. Before I could process what was happening the monster struck her with its wings, knocking her from the sky. The beloved Lucy spiraled from the sky, unable to stop her fall.
Before I could process what I had just seen, more monsters emerged around and above us. There were swords slashing, arrows flying, knives wielding, and hands doing everything in their power to stop their enemy. I swung my sword at anything that approached me as I made my way to Kelsha. I could see her and Jax standing at the top of the staircase, watching the fight, but not joining in. This confirmed my idea that they were both nothing more than cowards who sent others to do their dirty work. I was no coward, and I had my eyes on Kelsha. The things that woman did to my family fresh in my mind. My parent’s death, holding Shep hostage, sending him to kidnap our child, passing my child off as her own, resurrecting Jax, setting fire to Gwendolyn, my list went on and on. And Jax, the mastermind behind it all. His obsession with my mother started all of this. They both had to die, and I craved to be the one to do it.
I ran through the crowd of fighting. I jumped over bodies that had been lost. I fought through the smoke that was growing thicker by the minute. Then I saw her, my meme, standing there, unprotected. She made no move to defend herself, made no attempt to fight. Her face wore a heartbreaking look of sadness as she watched her people fight and kill each other. She just stood and waited. I can’t say what she was waiting for, the end I assume, but the end of what? I ran for her, intending to protect my broken grandmother when I saw him coming, a small little man swinging an ax. He was running in a direct line to my grandmother, his ax held above his head, ready to swing. Her back was to him. She didn’t see him coming. I ran as fast as my legs could take me. I screamed for help. I screamed at her to move. She didn’t hear me. No one heard me. I couldn’t reach her. He buried the ax in my grandmother’s back, causing her body to crumple to the ground. Time seemed to slow when my grandmother died. I felt a strange mixture of defeat and wild craving to fight. I looked around to see more of us fall. Eldon Androni took a knife to his heart, Avery, Josidian, all dead. I felt a new rush of energy, a raw desire to stop this insanity before we lost another life.
I picked up a sword from one of the bodies at my feet and charged the fat little man who killed my grandmother. I drove the sword through his heart before he could defend himself from my fury. I kneeled beside my grandmother and lifted her head into my arms. I kissed her angelic face, so peaceful in life, so peaceful in death. I gently laid her head back on the ground and continued my mission: Kelsha and Jax. It was time to stop this war.
From what I could see Leah, Michael and Denali were still holding their own as was Shep. The casualties were rising though, on both sides. I watched Fionna, through tear blurred eyes, take her sister's life. As her sister fell, so did Fionna. She held her sister in her arms and cried. Just before a man, that looked to be part fish, could slice her throat, Diallo shot an arrow straight through his heart. Bodies were piling up out numbering those that were still standing. I was nearing the steps leading to the monsters that started this war when I turned to Shep, remembering what Calista had said so long ago. We had to do it together.
“Shep!” I yelled above the painful screams and the sickly sound of metal clinking together. Before he could respond, I saw her, my aunt Vivianna holding my son. What the hell was she doing? I abandoned my quest to kill Kelsha. Instead, I sprinted to my aunt, whom I was beginning to think had lost her damn mind.
“What the hell are you doing here with him? How could you bring him into this battle? Are you trying to kill the two of you?” I was screaming frantically as I ran to her, yet her expression remained the same. Her pretty face was calm as she stood in the midst of flying swords and evil powers being exercised. She didn’t appear scared or worried about the safety of my son. When I was close enough to touch both of them, she pushed James into my arms.
“What are you doing?” I asked, confused and pissed. If her innocent, sweet face hadn’t looked so pretty and so serious I may have slapped her for bringing my son into a war zone. I held James tight in an attempt at protecting him from the fighting.
“It has to be all three of you, not just you and Shep. You need him. It will be okay. This will end but you can’t stand here and question me, you must do it now!”
I watched her eyes look past me and focus on Denali who was in a fight with a truly frightening beast at least three times larger than my uncle and using powers that were unseen but obviously inflicted a great amount of pain on my uncle. Vivianna’s face twisted in agony as she watched Denali fall to the ground in pain, his sword lying on the ground beside him. He was dying.
“Now, Lilly! Now!” She said frantically.
I didn’t question her. There was no time for questions. I ran to Shep, who was backing away from his opponent. Just before I reached him his sword reached up and sliced the head of the relentless monster. He looked at me with James in my arms and though confusion filled his eyes, he didn’t question the fact that our child was in a war zone. He urged me to the stairs that would lead us to Kelsha and Jax.
“It has to be the three of us. That’s what Vivianna said. I don’t know how, but we have to do it together.”
“Okay, let’s end this,” he said, and we began our climb to the top.
Shep’s fingers wove themselves around my own as we climbed. “Feel your power, Lilly, just feel it,” he said quietly. I didn’t know how to just feel my power. There was nothing to heal. Nothing to touch, but I tried. I cleared my mind and tried to focus on my healing ability. I felt Shep’s hand relax, which told me he was doing the same thing. I turned to look at him and saw the cuts and scrapes that had marred his skin begin to fade. I felt an electric current pass between us and once again Shep’s hand squeezed harder, he felt it too.
I pulled James closer to my body, shielding him from whatever was to come. I felt him nuzzle his little head against my chest and felt his body wiggle. He was giggling quietly. The current grew stronger the closer James snuggled and the more he giggled. We stopped our climb and allowed the energy being created between the three of us to resonate. I felt my entire body warm and tingle. Slowly, the air around me grew heavy and the fighting surrounding us began to slow down.
I looked up and saw Kelsha’s face turn from a proud mother to a defeated coach. Jax stood beside her, confused. I turned to see what had changed Kelsha’s face and was surprised to see that the fighting had stopped. Everyone had essentially been frozen in place. The silence that fell around us was unnerving and peaceful at the same time. When Jax realized what was happening, he tried to turn and run, but it was too late. Shep and I approached him, our boy safe between us, the electricity reaching both he and Kelsha, causing them the inability to move.
“Your time has come to an end,” Shep whispered before ending Jax once and for all. Without ever breaking our h
old of each other, Shep took James from my arms. It was my turn.
It was surreal when I think back on it, my lack of fear and remorse, my craving to drive my sword through her heart. My need to see her lying there, bleeding. It was dark and disturbing to feel such strong emotions, but the spark had been lit, and the flame was burning hotter by the minute. I felt nothing but relief when my sword buried itself inside of the monster who nearly destroyed my family and an entire world. The two of them, so perfect for each other, so bad for the world, crumpled in a heap on top of each other. I pulled my sword from her chest and the weight of what I had just done hit me. The adrenaline was fading. The fear was receding. I killed her. I didn’t regret it. I wasn’t sorry, but I felt the weight.
Shep pulled me into his arms and held me tightly before whispering “It’s over. It’s really over.” We looked out over the Neveahian’s, who had been trying to kill each other moments before, all frozen in time. “Wow, we can stop time,” Shep said as though the realization had just occurred to him.
“Yeah, but what happens when time resumes? Does the fighting stop with the end of Kelsha?”
“I don’t know, Lill. Guess we should find out.”
We loosened our hold of each other and relaxed our bodies. James fell promptly asleep as though on cue and, slowly, life returned to everyone around us. We waited. Everyone dropped their swords and turned to Shep and me. Their faces were confused as though they had been woken from a bad dream. “It’s over Shep. It’s really over.”
“Yeah, it’s really over.” He kissed the top of my head, and I saw his smile for the first time in such a long time.
~Chapter Thirty Five~
Those that fought for Kelsha and lived through the battle were placed in a prison that Shep helped Denali design using the structure of Jax’s compound. Those that didn’t make it through the battle, including Danu and Fionna’s sister Maura were stacked in a deep hole and lit on fire. Jax and Kelsha were put in their own shallow grave and burned. Kelsha’s fortress, thanks to our dragons, eventually burned to the ground. We left those that had called Ellurrah home far before Kelsha intruded on their homes, to their land. Just to be safe, though, a spell was cast over the island, keeping anyone left on the island there and prevented anyone from entering.
Neveah Box Series (Neveah Box Set Book 5) Page 72