I'm on my way
Under nightfall we embarked on our way to the vampire realm. The plan is to meet the witch queen and her army at The Crossroads. "I'm on my way, from misery to happiness today" Arlo starts singing and the wolves chime in "Ah ha, ah ha, ah ha, ah ha" Arlo's in his element as the wolves seem to love a sing song. Great!
"Why strike at night? The vamps will be at their strongest and we can't flush them out into the sun. Which would be an advantage" A high ranking wolf asks. "A couple of reasons. The first being, we don't know the affect the sun will have on us. I for one am not willing to sacrifice myself to test. Secondly, The serpentine forces have attacked during the day with the consumption of the queen's blood." The wolf accepts my reasoning with a smile and falls back in line.
We approach The Crossroads. All eyes on the path to the witch realm. Waiting. "They should be here by now" Janice states. Restlessness breaks out among the wolves and they start in-fighting. They are not patient creatures. "Dante break that up" I order. A flash of light blinds us for a moment. A witch with short brown hair appears before us. "Your majesty, we are under attack. Serpentine forces intercepted the king and are attempting to storm the castle."
"We will fight with you" Itching for a fight the wolves cry out in excitement at my words. Janice moves to the other side of us all, she nods to the other witch and slices her hand. In perfect tandem, they draw a symbol on the ground at each end of the wolves and I.
"Brace yourself" Dante shouts to the crowd. The witches slam their hands on the symbols and flash, we are in the witch realm. Surrounded by carnage. Screams and snarls. Hissing and cutting. People running and fighting. Buildings on fire. Not standard fire, blue fire from spells.
The wolves waste no time shifting and launching at the enemy. Biting, clawing and growing with such aggression. The twins and follow suit and change. The best thing about us changing, is we don't rip our clothes. Thank the heavens. I'd hate to fight naked, boobs swaying in the wind.
We charge in a blur of force. Taking out anyone in our way. A part of me feels conflicted by killing my own, well part of my species now. However, they serve the serpentine and my goal is to take out all serpentine...Thorne.
I haven't thought of him since he escaped. The image of his face in my mind distracts me and I'm hit. "WHO DARES TOUCH ME!" My booming voice creates a sonic pulse that shoots through the enemy. Ripping them to shreds. Ooooh that's new!
We all make our way to the Palace. Dodging spells and vampire bites. Maybe running right through the middle of the battle was a bad idea. However we make it to the Palace with no casualties. The wolves charge in ripping the heads off of vampires. I go straight to the throne room.
In the throne sits the serpentine queen. The witch queen is bound by her queen's mark. Black snakes constrict around her. I leap towards her, monster mouth bared. She envelopes me in her snakes too. Shit! Arlo comes in to back me up. He is startled by the white haired, white eyed Helena.
"Hels?" For a moment she gives him a gentle smile. Arlo runs towards her. "Fool" she says waving her hand. Arlo flys through the air. He's impaled by a flag pole displaying one of the Royal seals of the witch realm.
I let out a scream, Tears escape me. I manage to break out of the queen's mark. Not just shocking me but the serpentine herself. She waves her hand and disappears. Her snakes on the witch queen slither away into the shadows.
Dazed by Arlo's limp and impaled hanging body and the shock of being able to break the mark. No one is able to break the mark! It's just impossible, or so we thought. Arlo's blood drips down on me and I fall to my knees in despair. I'm numb, this grief is all consuming.
"Yo Queenie, can I get a little help? This is really uncomfortable" I look up and double take at Arlo's smiling face. "Arlo, your alive!" I crawl up the wall like spiderman. I hug his shoulders "Aah ouch! Be gentle with me"
I just laugh and tears of joy run down my cheeks. "Okay baby boy, this is gonna suck" I grip his shoulders and with a big heave, I pull him off the pole. He lands face first on the ground "Sorry, still not used to the strength" I call down to him. He replies but I can't hear him cause he's talking into the floor. "Majesty, thank you for coming to our aid. I'm indebted to you" I hate to say I told you so.
"Your grace, you can repay me by continuing to support me. Now we've had a glimpse of them in action we can better prepare ourselves" I look over to Arlo he looks so depressed "I will leave you to sort your people and affairs" The witch queen runs off out of the room. "
Hey" I say to Arlo "Hi" he sighs "I'm sorry you had to be apart of that" He strokes the back of his neck "For a moment, I thought Hels was in there. She tricked me with that smile. I was a sappy idiot. It could have been worse" My poor boy "Arlo, if you were never impaled, I would have never known I could break the mark. My love for you, fueled me" He looks up at me and grins "Happy to be of service, you can always count on me to be staked" Oh Arlo, you truely are a curious one.
Janice, Dante and Will the Lycan come to us. "Majesty, the vamp forces have been pushed back. However, there is no sign of the witch king. We believe he has been taken hostage. The witch queen is performing a location spell on him to confirm." Can always count on Dante for an update.
"What now?" Janice asks. "We take them out!" Will adds. "I agree with the lycan. The witch queen has already agreed to prepare her army, now they have a better understanding of their attacks, we will regroup at the pack house and stratagise" They all nod except one.
"I say we strike while the iron is hot. They'll expect us to regroup" Will says, arms folded and his best Alpha stance going "We will need rest and strategy. We can't just storm the gates expecting great results. The serpentine queen has powers. She will already be planning her next move. I suggest we do the same."