Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Alexandria's Point Of View

I was running across a field littered with bodies. The one who was pursuing me was almost close enough to catch me now. I sped up, trying not to look down at the bodies I was running across. My attempt to keep my eyes on the horizon in front of me failed and I looked down to see the body of my soulmate laying below me, his eyes wide open. He was surrounded by everyone I loved. My mother was laying with my father's hand grasped tightly in her own, a sword through both of their chests. Next to them lay Alexa and Zach. Zach held Alexa in his arms as though he'd been trying to shield her from death. Adalyn and Dakota lay with their hands clasped, staring at each other through glassy eyes. I screamed at the sight but the sound was cut short by the sting of pain that shot through me when I felt Esmyth's sword cut through me. My last thought was lost in the sea of pain that I was drowning in...

"Alex! Alex babe wake up."

I opened my eyes to find Tristan staring down at me, his expression worried. After a few moments the lingering terror from the nightmare faded and I was able to breathe normally again. Burying my face in Tristan's chest I took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. He held me tightly to his chest and whispered comforting words in my ear.

"What was that about?" Alexa asked, her voice worried.

"It was a nightmare. A stupid nightmare." I replied, my voice still shaking a little.

"Are you okay?"

I looked over at Adalyn and smiled. "I'm fine. It's over now."

"You sure babe?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. It was scary at first but I'm okay now. I promise."

Tristan stared down at me for a few more minutes before smiling at me. I smiled back a him as the fear ebbed away. As we stared at each other I heard Clara talking to Michael upstairs and spared a glance at Adalyn to see her grinning. Before she could say anything Dakota answered the unspoken question.

"They figured out last night that she's his soulmate. She went upstairs to get some air and they ran into each other. They've been up there since she woke up this morning."

"Wow. But he's a vampire...how're they going to work that?"

"He's gonna change her later tonight. They're still discussing it." Adalyn answered with another smile.

"Good. That means she'll leave you alone now." Zach told Dakota with a grin.

"She would have done that anyways. Adalyn and I talked to her last night before she went upstairs. She actually apologized to Adalyn and they're friends now. Which is incredibly wierd because they've never liked each other very much."

Adalyn rolled her eyes. "I never said I didn't like her. I just thought she was sorta rude."

We laughed for a few minutes before sobering. The silence that filled the room then was nervous. We all knew what question we wanted to ask but none of us wanted to ask it. Finally, Zach asked it in a voice that didn't seem like his.

"Where are we going now?"

Dakota sighed. "We can't go to my Uncle Liam's place 'cause Esmyth knows that we were headed there next. According to Michael we're headed to a house his mother bought last summer. He said we'd be there by dinner time tonight. Elizabeth is gonna meet us there tomorrow."

"Well, that's better than nothing I guess." Alexa said, looking up at Zach.

"When do you think we'll have to leave for this fight with Esmyth?" I asked.

"I don't know. Probably pretty soon. We'll have to leave before Esmyth figures out where we are." Tristan answered, tightening his arms around me.

"True. I'd say we learn what we can in two weeks. After that we leave." Adalyn said, looking around at us.

"I agree with Lynnie. If we wait longer than that it could end up bad. We want to save our people then we need to do this the right way. We can't wait three weeks or more to leave. It's time to face him." I agreed.

Behind me, Tristan tensed at the sound of my words. I looked around at him to see what was wrong and saw him staring down at me. The look in his eyes was one I sincerely hoped that I'd never see again. It was like...like he was afraid that we only had two weeks left together. My eyes filled with tears as I touched his cheek and spoke, my voice softer than normal.

"We can't act like we only have two weeks left together. If we give into the thought that we're going to die...we won't survive. Raven promised us that we wouldn't die and we have to trust that now. It's the only way that we're ever going to survive. And, believe me, I have every intention of surviving."

Tristan managed a small smile.

"I know that love. It's just...I dunno. Hearing you say that it's time to face someone that's trying to kill you makes me want to protect you. That's what I've always hoped to do in some way but I can't save you from this. I can't stop him from hurting you. It kills me."

Dakota's voice rang out then. "I know what you mean. Every time I think about letting Adalyn go in there and fight that...that monster I want to kill him myself. And if he hurts her I'm going to do just that."

"Yeah. I can't stand the thought of Alexa going in there either but I can't stop her. I can't protect her from this and it kills me." Zach said, keeping his eyes on Alexa's face.

I looked at my sisters and spoke.

"It isn't going to be easy but we have to do this. I'll admit I'm terrified at the mere thought of fighting him but...there's no way around it. We have to fight. It's the only way we're going to save our people."

Adalyn kissed Dakota's cheek before speaking to us.

"I hate it when he worries about me. That's going to be the hardest part about this whole war thing. I can't make everything all right again."

When Alexa spoke her voice was stronger than I'd ever heard it.

"Look, if we keep thinking about this we're going to drive ourselves bonkers. We have to start thinking about how we're going to defeat him."

Before anyone else could reply our mother popped up in front of us. I was surprised to see her but not because she had just popped up out of thin air. I'd seen her do that more times than I cared to count. No, I was surprised to see her because she usually would have just sent Raven to give us a message. When she spoke, I realized why she'd come instead of Raven.

"They've got Raven. Esmyth himself came for her. I was told to tell you that

it's...it's time for the first battle. He's not letting her go until you beat him."

"Where is he?" Alexa asked, her voice solemn.

"He's at the Battlefield of Blood. He's waiting for you."

I sighed. "Well, so much for two weeks." Then, looking at Tristan, "We need to tell Michael and Clara to head to that place alone. We have a job to do."

In front of me, my mom smiled.
"I'm so proud you all. You're the bravest Witches in our world and I'll always love you. Just, do me a favor and keep yourselves safe...all right?"

"All right mom. I love you." I whispered.

When she was gone I turned back to my siblings and our soulmates. Tristan re-entered the room and stood behind me, ready to leave at a moments notice. But I wasn't ready yet. I stared around at my famly and spoke in a voice that I hoped wouldn't betray the terror I was feeling.

"We're going to beat him. And when we do I'm going to throw a party. A huge party where we're all going to relax and have a good time."

Zach grinned. "Sounds fun but right now we've-"
"We've got an evil asshole waiting to kill us. Let's get out of here."
We grinned at each other for a half second before making our departure. I was terrified but I somehow knew that this battle wasn't the Final Battle we feared. No, this battle was only the beginning. There would be much more to come after this. This was only the beginning of the war. I grasped Tristan's hand tightly in my own as we walked forward into battle...