The Fight is On

*Hezzlie*

I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking at. Dozens of forms have just stepped out of the woods all around King Solomon and King Hudson’s wolves. It looks like they are getting ready to fight on their side. They’re all wearing long, dark robes, and I’m not sure who–or what–they are.

“What in the world?” Mom asks next to me, but I can’t answer her. It all looks so strange. Who are they? Why are they here?

Then, I think I recognize one of them. 

“Is that… Veronica?” 

Mom squints into the distance. It’s hard to see from here, but I recognize the way that she walks. When she lifts her hands, I see a faint glow, and I know immediately that it’s her.

“Witches,” I say. “Why are there witches here?”

Mom shakes her head. “You don’t think… Veronica has moonstones, right? There’s a good chance that she was here just to spy on us. What if she took that information to our enemies and decided to use it against us?”

“No!” The word slips from between my lips, but I don’t think my mother is wrong. All the color drains from my face as I think about what’s about to happen. The woman who came here to train us is about to annihilate us. Why would she do such a thing? I always thought Veronica was a little shady, but why would these witches be more loyal to my father than to me when I’m one of them?

Veronica has her hand in the air, and I can see a glowing ball of light, but she hasn’t thrown it yet. While she’s poised at the ready, the rest of the witches wait, as if they are expecting something to happen.

Just then, the chatter in the mind-link changes. ‘He’s turning!’ 

I pull my eyes away from the witches long enough to see that at least one of our so-called allies has kept his word. Alpha Hudson’s forces are closing in on our boundaries, and our warriors are about to collide with his when he turns around and starts moving toward King Solomon’s battlelines.

I let out a breath, and part of me calms, even though I know that’s only half of our problems. The witches are still standing in the sidelines. They aren’t moving yet, which means they aren’t attacking us, which is a positive. But they aren’t attacking our enemies either, and while the group of witches over near Veronica would have to fight through our allied forces in Alpha Hudson’s men to get to King Solomon, there are several witches standing in the woods in the woods near his line on the right side–the eastern flank, the part of the battlefield where my brother has just come into view with a mass of our warriors sprinting in behind him.

At first, it’s a majestic sight, seeing our forces pouring in, attacking King Solomon’s wolves, and pushing them back. But then, I see some of our wolves go down, and all of the glory is washed right away. War is not some glorious, majestic, beautiful thing. It’s ugly, dirty, and evil.

But it’s also a necessity. We didn’t ask for this. King Solomon brought it to us. I can only hope that we’ve outsmarted him, though, and that we will manage to be victorious despite the witches showing up unexpectedly.

And then… all around the perimeter, the witches lift up off the ground, their hands glowing, and it’s clear they’re in the fight now.

I turn and look at Mom, and we ready ourselves to fight back.

*Rowan*

It seems to take for fucking ever for Hudson to make his turn. The moment he does, all the wolves in King Solomon’s army seem to freeze, unsure of what they’re supposed to do. I wish I had Hezzlie’s ability to hear their thoughts because they have to be completely caught off guard.

At the same time, Aiden comes flying in from the right. In my head, he says, ‘They’re completely confused. Now is the time to push them back.’

‘I understand,’ I tell him. Then, to everyone else, I say, ‘Go! Attack!’

I collide with a large brown wolf, but he’s no match for me, especially when he’s looking in front and to the left of him, not sure if he’s about to get attacked by a  group of wolves he assumed was on his side.

I  tear through several wolves, none of them much of a challenge at all to me, but my eyes are constantly scanning the horizon. I’m looking for two specific wolves–King Solomon, who is clearly at the back of the pack–and Zeb, who has to be out here somewhere. I’m sure he’s tangled up in the midst of the battle that’s going on all around me, but I can’t find him.

I do see something else, though.

We are surrounded by a group of floating people in robes, and they absolutely have to be witches. Their hands are glowing, and it’s quite obvious they are about to blast their enemies with their powers.

I just don’t know who the hell they’re here to fight against.

We gave Veronica moonstones. Is she here to fight against us? To unleash their power against us? Or are they here to help us?

I’m about to find out.

But my eyes are quickly torn away from the witches by a menacing growl from my left, which is the direction where Alpha King Solomon’s castle sits in the distance. I recognize the sound, even though I haven’t heard it in a while.

I spin around just as Zeb comes flying at me. I’m a second too slow, and the bastard pushes me backward onto the ground hard enough to knock the wind right out of me. A sharp pain radiates through my lungs into my abdomen as his claws sink into my chest. Using my back legs, I kick out at him, trying to force him off me, but without being able to draw a full breath, I can’t fight back effectively. And unlike the last time Zeb had me pinned, no one is coming to my rescue.

I’m strangely okay with that. I don’t want to be bailed out again. I want to beat him, one-on-one. In order to do that, I need to find a way to buy a few more seconds so I can breathe. I dig down deep, picturing Hezzlie in my mind, and channeling all of my strength. With every bit of energy I can harness, I kick out again, and Zeb loses his grip on me. He tumbles backward, and I finally manage to take a deep breath, regaining my footing and taking a wobbly step toward him.

He leaps up as well, stalking toward me, baring his teeth and growling again. I’m ready for him this time, though. I crouch down, moving closer to him as I try to determine what he’s going to do.

Both of us are caught off guard only seconds later when the bright light from the perimeter lights up the battlefield, and a large blast sends wolves flying everywhere. Both Zeb and I duck, our eyes wide as we try to determine what the hell the witches are doing.

I have no fucking idea….