Page 94 of The Dark War

“I’m terribly sorry. I had no idea.” Grunting, my sister and her mate came into the tent. Raine had areas of dried blood on her neck, forehead, and cheek. Her tattered shirt was covered in dirt and grime. Dean didn’t look any different. His pale torso was covered in scratches, scrapes, and blood.

“I’m here.” She let out a sigh. “Oh, Clara.” she put her hand over her head. “What happened?” Explaining to my sister what my mate had done for me, saving my life, and risking her own, she chuckled, grabbing the wet cloth to clean Clara’s face. “Of course she did,” Raine cooed, kissing Clara’s cheek. “I wouldn’t expect anything less of a queen.”

My chin wobbled, feeling the sob almost wrecking through me. My mate had given me much, all I did was take from her, and she selflessly continued to provide. “Go, big bro, I got her. Dean will keep watch, and I’ll do whatever Dr. Talbert says so he doesn’t touch her.” My shoulders sagged, not wanting to leave my mate, but it would be unfair of me to stay while our people needed leading.

It is what Clara would want.

“Marcus, Wesley, and Charlotte are outside,” Raine said offhandedly as she peeled away Osirus’s cloak. “They are ready for orders if you are willing to let some of your responsibilities go.” She side-eyed me.

“Just because you are my sister doesn’t mean you get to talk so casually,” I mumbled. Raine went back to work as I held onto Clara’s foot. Squeezing it a few more times, Raine muttered, “I’ll talk however I want,” wobbling her head back and forth.

I rolled my eyes, walking out and seeing not just the small group that Raine mentioned but my parents as well. Mother came running up to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Oh baby, I thought you were gone. I saw him stab you. I couldn’t get up there!” She wept in my arms. My hands went to her back, rubbing them up and down.

“You scared the shit out of us all. The gods blessed you,” Dad whispered, consuming me in a hug. “We’re lucky to have your mate as the queen.” I smiled sadly, keeping them both tight to my body. As we released, a blood-curdling scream echoed through the vicinity.

Turning, we see Odessa stepping out of her private tent, and one lone vampire rouge jumped from the other side. His claws were extended, his body oozing with infected wounds. Fangs lengthening, he moved slower than expected, but Odessa trembled as she fell to the ground.

A large wallow that had been fighting in battle jumped from the tent. The muscular, catlike body and the maw of a wolf sped forth and pushed Odessa out of the way. The vampire, taking his chance to strike, punctured his claws inside the wallow’s chest, pulling out its heart. It thumped erratically in his hand but wallows ran off pure adrenaline. The vampire, thinking he won, stepped aside and leered at Odessa, only to be pinned to the ground by an enormous paw. The wallow stretched his jaws over the vampire’s neck and twisted as we heard a sickening crack.

Odessa shook, her arms wrapped around her frail body. Creed’s massive wings covered her in a shadow until he shifted into his human form. He grabbed her, pulling her away from the vampire as the wallow fell onto the body.

“Fluffy!” she screamed, reaching for him, but Creed pulled her away. She wailed in his arms, her arm still calling for her pet.

“Gods.” Charlotte shuddered. “I would have frozen too. I know they aren’t all bad, but… when you have bad experiences…”

“Then you group them together.” Dean stood by Charlotte. “It’s understandable. Vermillion has dealt with the wrong rulers for a long time. It will take time for everyone to trust our species once again.” He smiled down at her.

“It will take time to trust everyone,” I said. “We are all starting over. New land, new rulers, but one thing is for certain”—I looked at the small crowd that gathered—“we all deserve—”

“A second chance,” Jasper completed my sentence as he stood behind me. His hand went out for me to shake. I smiled, putting my hand in his and pulling him into a hug.

Chapter Fifty-one

Clara

“Areyousurethereisn’t anything else I can do?” My mother pulled the quilted blanket over my legs. She said it had magical healing properties. Her mother was a witch and wove it with the webs of extinct spider species in northern mountain caves. I shook my head at her. She bowed her head slightly, sitting back in her chair in defeat. Evelyn was curled up in my arms, her body resembling that of a young toddler.

I’m sure this quilt wouldn’t work on me anyway if it had magical powers. I had been fine after day three of my deep healing sleep Giana kept me in. The only time I woke was when Kane came to check on me after inspecting the shifters and fae that needed extra assistance in healing.

It had been two weeks since the day that Virion had met his demise, and each day was filled with more things to do than the last. Kane had taken care of it all. His near-death experience had changed him, for the good or the bad, I wasn’t sure, but he was doing it all. Thoughts of inadequacies had passed, and his mind was clearly open for me to see his guilt from being stabbed.

He didn’t purposefully get stabbed. I wasn’t sure why he was taking it upon himself to ‘make it up’ to me, but here he was, curled up in bed around his daughter and me. Kane had run himself into the ground. He has barely slept since he woke up from a sleep I never thought he would wake from.

Kane carried me around the battlefield on day three of Virion’s demise. The grass, the trees, and the foliage were already breaking through the dark muck of the previously dark magic. Before I could ask why the land was healing so quickly, Folen, along with Zaos and his mate Annabelle, placed their hands on the ground in unison, bringing a blinding light where all their hands intersected. Slowly, out of the burned trees of the north, more elves jogged to the scorched land, all their hands grazing trees, bushes, and naked branches.

After days of healing the soil below, more greens, purples, and blues covered the land, but it was only sparse. That was when Horus, Osirus’s mighty dragon, descended from the sky after days of recovering. His head lowered to Folen, confused yet astonished he was receiving such a gift to touch the white gold dragon placed his hand on Horus’ forehead.

Blinding light from Horus’ forehead radiated while Folen held his palm to him. Horus’ claws raked the soil before him, bringing up the dark ash soil as it evaporated. For hours, they stayed like this, Folen holding his hand to touch the dragon. This proved fruitful because now the land looked like the black magic had not tainted it.

Shifters, the fae kind, vampires, witches, and warlocks stared at the world in awe. It looked even more beautiful, lush, and exotic than before the war. Trees sprouted the plains, covering the thick grasses. Significant bouts of shade brought out strange animals from the forest. Animals that I had yet to learn about scurried up trees and buried burrows into the ground.

If a unicorn popped out, it would be freaking cool.

As Folen let go, his face brightened, looking at the sight. Unfortunately, his voice saddened when he looked to his right, where his brother usually stood. His back turned, not speaking a word, and he strode away with a heavy heart. No one dared to follow when he looked back to see us all staring. He nodded his head, taking his walking stick and disappearing into the thickness of the forest.

The elven territories took a hit, about half of their colonies were gone, but they would rebuild. They were once a prosperous nation thousands of years ago, holding a piece of the land as their own. Once the shifter wars were completed, they were only left with a quarter of their people. Their numbers were hurt again, but being absorbed into the Cerulean Moon Kingdom, they would receive significant aid. The three witches who had lost their sisters were already en route to complete undoing spells, restoring at least the homes they had once constructed. It was to honor their sister Glinda.

The bodies of the rogues were burned in a pile of fire. Cyrene had woken two days after falling into a deep sleep. Ondi had tended to her, and she healed faster than expected. Hecate must have had a hand in her healing, knowing Cyrene’s jobs were far from over. With Cyrene’s help, she created a flame that engulfed all the bodies in seconds. The fire was so hot that it reminded me of the fire that leaked from the canyon. It left no teeth or bones. Their bodies and the memories of their past would now be long forgotten.

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