Page 86 of The Dark War

Visions of our spa days, the pampering, the laughing, the beautiful memories of helping her find her mate in the pack house prison. Oh gods, what the hell was happening?This can’t happen, not now, not ever!

Leia’s hands were covered in her mate’s ashes, and she bowed to me. She gently smiled, petting my fur. The tears came pouring down my furred cheek. “He’s there.” Leia’s tear matched my own. Leia stared off into the distance, her arm outreached. “We are going to be okay.” Her heart was slowing, her breath beginning to cease. She laid down into his ashes, her hand buried in the remains. “Don’t give up, Little Fox.”

Chapter Forty-six

Under the Moon

Leialaiddowninher mate’s ashes, her eyes fluttered closed, and her heart stopped. The surrounding crowd was still in shock at one of the royal’s most trusted couples in their inner circle was gone. None of them could help the dying pair. No amount of physical strength could have pried the empty embodiments of the ghost-like shadows.

Clara’s maw tightened, and Giana reamed in her head. Clara was not one for violence, she never was, but something broke her at this moment. She had lost her pup, which she never knew she had until it was too late. Her daughter had been sent to Earth along with her family. Children, weaker shifters, all waiting for the Cerulean Moon and Golden Light kingdoms to fight for their home.

The action presented before her, watching her close friend die with no way to aid her even with her healing powers, engulfed her heart with fire. Revenge fueled her, and the longing to rip something or someone to shreds increased.

The crowd stepped back. Wolves whimpering, the vampires watching in awe while Clara stepped back. The constant growl in her chest, her lips rising above her teeth in warning, and the hair on her back made the crowd afraid.

Clara was the light. She was the one that brought the light sources so close to the Bergarian surface. She had brought new hope when she arrived in her home world. Now she radiated violence, a new side of her they had never seen. She was now a warrior. Her trying to defeat a rogue king months ago was nothing compared to this. Clara, their queen, was no longer frightened. Her revenge radiated to take back what was rightfully theirs, Bergarian, their homes.

Clara snarled, foam beginning to drip from her maw. Raine, ready in her wolf form, approached her, her head rubbing against her fur. The links were broken. There was no way for them to communicate, but even her sister-in-law’s soft, gentle nudges as she whimpered beside her did not deter her.

Kane approached his mate, his clawed hand going to calm her, but to no avail. Her stance did not waver. She growled, barking, foaming coming from her maw.

Virion looked over the soon-to-be battleground with a smug look. Crossing his arms, the shadows dance gleefully around him. “Changed your mind yet? It will be less painful if you go willingly.” Clara snarled, shaking her head, foam spraying the warriors.

Clara’s anger fueled their own. This day would go down in history when they officially saw their queen ready to defend the entire land. Virion frowned. He parted his legs to better grip the cliff he stood on. The cave behind him slowly revealed his rogues. Vampires, witches, warlocks, shifters of every kind that had refused to side with either kingdom descended the cliff, half falling to the left and the other to the right.

“I’m a bit disappointed my right-hand couldn’t be with me today,” Virion said casually, tugging at his red suit jacket. “A bloody shame, but in the end, there was less blood to spill for my hands.” Virion had no care for Duke Mortus anyway. He was used to getting on the inside of Vermillion. Having one kingdom fall before the other two was much easier than planned.

Osirus’s horse reared back, screaming a boisterous neigh, his sword swinging around in a perfect vertical circle. “Oh, you are quite welcome.” Osirus smirked. His horse pounded the ash of dead grass, trotting forward. “In fact, we can get rid of you and solve all of our problems.” Virion glared, his black fingernail tracing his jaw line.

“All right then. Let’s get this started.”

Along with the cave behind Virion, more rogues came to the scene. The dark canyon rose with fire. Each kingdom fought for its own part in this war. As the fire grew, more rogues that had hidden inside poured out, immediately attacking the wolves and fae that stood too close. Clara rushed forward, along with her mate, running straight for the cliff. Their job was to climb the cliff and get rid of the source.

Wesley and Charlotte, not far behind, began running with them. In her wolf form, Charlotte ripped into the neck of one witch who dared to pull out a red orb of fire. Charlotte, already trained, killed a witch with a demon inside. She dodged the blow and aimed for the back of the neck. The witch, caught by surprise, dropped the orb that fell to pieces. Charlotte gripped the back of the spine, cracking it instantly. A dark shadow left the body, being sucked back into the fire.

The demon had escaped the witch’s body. It would not be able to return to another unless summoned by another rogue witch. The sword dangled from Wesley’s back as he ran, but as soon as he came close to three wolves, he pulled it from his back. The rotting sulfur from the canyon was nothing compared to the bodies of these three rogues. They held a different smell.

Death, burning hair, and flesh. All oozed from old wounds. The spell cast over the land not only hurt the Cerulean Moon Kingdom’s wolves, but also the rogues. Wesley gritted his teeth, wondering why they weren’t healing as they should when a bright light ascended above the canyon.

Cyrene hovered over the canyon, and a bright shield encompassed her body. Her thumb and middle finger touching in a circle as she looked over the carnage. Wesley smirked, his fangs showing through, not as painful as he thought it might be. The rogues circled him, thinking that they had the upper hand.

The sword swung in a violent circle, slicing the necks of the two. The last wolf jumped on Wesley’s back, scratching it down with his claws and a jaw on his shoulder. Wesley roared, feeling the pain engulf his skin. Charlotte, who had already dealt with the witch, charged with hunger. Her mouth opened, her teeth cracking the neck of the assailant on her mate. Wesley groaned, stumbling forward, his wounds being deep.

The healing process was there, but it was too slow. Wesley wasn’t sure how he was to carry the sword to its destination until he felt another furred body hovering over them. The fire in the eyes of their queen had dimmed, her eyes softened, her snout touching the head of Wesley, who laid on his stomach.

Charlotte continued to fight the rogues surrounding them as he was healed instantly. His fist hit the ground, grunting thanks to Clara, who turned the fire back in her eyes. Her lips lifted over her teeth as she stared down the surrounding rogues. Five witches, three wolves, and two bears.

Kane had not left Clara’s side, his claws dripping with the blood from the bodies he had already disposed of. The rogue death numbers were growing far greater than he had expected. It was welcomed, but they still had a long way to go.

The rogues before them circled until they all pounced at the same time. Wesley took the sword, impaling one of the bears, while Charlotte took down the witches who had turned their bodies into their demon forms. Some with long black hair, horns protruding from their heads, the hooved feet clomped into the dust as she attacked. Claws raked down Charlotte when she jumped low from the ground. The underside of her belly had been unfortunate, but gave her the perfect advantage of attacking from behind.

More of the Warrior pack wolves swarmed, trying to ease the burden of the attacks of two alphas and lunas, but it proved futile. They had their strength, although not as strong as they used to be because of the dark powers raining on them, but they prevailed.

As Kane pulled out the heart of the last bear that lay on the ground, he bit into the heart that lay in his hand. Blood spurted from the muscle until he threw it into the Underworld’s flames.

Virion looked over the Cerulean Moon Kingdom’s side of the canyon. He chuckled, seeing them all fall one by one. The shadows behind him stalked into the cave, leaving Virion to his own devices, and called for one weapon that would not be taken lightly.

Virion had summoned a dragon from the bowels of hell. It had been resting in the deepest parts of Tartarus, one to supposedly be dead for thousands of years, but he found it. With the help of his demons, they brought him out of his slumber.

---