I AM MI6

Chapter 19; Scars run Deep

Author's Note:
A thousand reads!!! Ok. I'm done. Oh, and for anyone willing to give their opinion. Did I make this chapter a little too grim?

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Now side by side with the strangers who were now to be the allies who could either make or break this day. The sky, which was now long empty of the warmth of the sun was like a black hole. The moon gone from the sky behind the clouds which filled it. The air was like ice, with an eerie breeze blowing through my fur. It was the only sound, there was only silence left. No one would talk, no one knew what to say. This was it.
Jack and James were standing at either side of me, whereas the rest of my friends had spread themselves out amongst the ranks of the gathered army. Each of the men merely looked at me, and nodded in acknowledgement. There was nothing left to be said between us, at least I hoped for this much.
Kneading the ground beneath my paws, I slowly dug a hole into the ground without noticing it, we were all restless. The scents which flooded my nose were almost overwhelming, other wolves, vampires, the Fae, and the more familiar scents of my close friends. Every instinct that I had, was filling my veins with adrenaline. All I wanted to do was to get this finished, regardless of what that ending might have been.
Close to me, a younger wolf approaches, the dark grey wolf of Robert is now settled beside me, waiting in an equal state of nervousness as I am. Despite the fact that he is older then me by a decade or so, we both have the same stakes at risk. Something to lose at the end of the day, and that put a burning in our blood. The urge to protect those that we cared about, and to destroy the enemy who got in our way of doing so.
He allows me a sideways glance, but otherwise doesn't make eye contact with me, his long grey tail flicking from side to side, a tell of how much anticipation was filling him at this point in time. "So, this is how it ends, huh?" His tone completely mutual, and his expression gave nothing away as to what he might have been thinking. However it didn't take a person with the brain of Einstein to guess what he might have been thinking.
My ear twitched to the left, but my eyes don't leave the field which is to be the place of battle in mere minutes time. "Always the optimistic one, Robert." I say calmly, letting out a long breath and watching the condensation form in front of my nose. Despite the thickness of my fur, I feel the cold deep in my bones. I wonder how the older wolf with the greying muzzle was fairing, but then scolded myself inwardly for thinking about this. He was probably one of the strongest wolves on this field, just in a different way.
Once upon a time I would have pictured a smile lacing the lips of the man beside me, but not now, not today. I brushed my shoulder against his, but didn't move again afterwards, my eyes trained on some unknown enemy at the other side of the huge field in front of us. "You know me, Elliot. There's optimism and then there's realism, and I'm getting old as it is." The older man answered, a sigh rumbling from deep inside of his chest.
If it had been any other wolf, I would have comforted them, but I knew after all the years in which I had been friends, if that was the right term for the relationship that we had. Had I so much as moved to say something comforting, I would never have heard the end of it. Even if the end wasn't particularly far away.
A moment or two passes, and neither of us say another thing, when again the silence is filled instead with the sound of soft footsteps. Or rather paw steps, and from my right hand side suddenly is the wolf of Ron. He sits there for a moment without saying a word, then opens his jaw to speak. "You two ready?" His growl is low and careful, as though he feared that their might be someone listening in that we didn't want to.
Shrugging my shoulders with a slight sigh, my eyes trained on the line of trees which are scattered across the furthest corner of the field. "As I'll ever be, probably." I answer in a tone that surprises even me, it is strained and painful. It was all I could do to stop myself from lunging at the first person I saw, be it ally or enemy. My control was slowly wavering, and if I didn't get my claws into something pretty soon, I would probably lose what little grip I still had on it.
With a low tone, the younger wolf said with a rumble coming from deep within his chest, he too seemed to be staring into the distance, at some invisible enemy. The blood lust was running deep in our veins, we needed a kill. Our animalistic instinct to protect was becoming more and more overwhelming to the point where we were both shaking where we stood. I didn't understand how Robert could stand so calmly in comparison. "It will all be over soon, and I'm sure soon enough you will be praying for it to end." Robert's voice was deep and solemn, it sent a shiver of fear down my spine.
He was the alpha, he was the rock of a pack which was meant to keep them together through thick and thin, regardless of what might happen. To hear him so hopeless, and pessimistic, even if he hadn't been my alpha at any point, for fourteen years he had been the closest thing to an alpha I had ever had. It scared me to hear him so on edge, even if he displayed a great deal more of control then myself and Ron.
By the time the sun set once again later today, everything would be very much different. All that any of us could pray for, would be that it would be a change that wouldn't ruin the lives of thousands. That what we did today, would not end in chaos and death. Few of us would pray simply for ourselves to make it out of the other end of all of this, but instead regardless of what happened to the individual, but for the world to remain positive when night fell once again in a few hours time. That our children and our families would be able to live in a better world. A better tomorrow, no matter what the cost may have ended up being.
If it had been silent before, now I could have heard a pin dropping amongst the grass as everyone suddenly seemed to stop breathing in one single turn. A man had emerged from the treeline, not a man. A vampire. At his heels walked a wolf, its every movement was defined and careful. Tensing its muscles needlessly, this was a show of power and carelessness. He wanted us to feel scared, and I would have been lying to say that I didn't feel a little scared.
Slowly the pair made their way towards the center of the field, and it quickly became apparent that they certainly were not alone. Amongst the bushes and trees on the other side, were glittering eyes of all colours. Staring at us, as a hawk might have stared down at its prey from its perch on a branch, hungry and excited. Pointed muzzles and pointed guns showed through the treeline, but little else. I didn't have a clue how many of them their might have been standing there, but I could guess with ease that it outnumbered our own numbers.
No one spoke a single word, nor did they dare to breath a single breath as we watched and waited for something to happen. Then without a signal, three men and a single woman stepped forward. A male werewolf, Robert, a male Fae, by the name of Joshua, a female vampire by the name of Caroline, and a troll who was named Amos. Four of the strongest members of their individual kinds, though none would have called themselves leader outright. They were well known, and terrifying. Each known for their temper, and power. They were good choices for those to negotiate the terms, though I didn't think their would be a great deal of room in which to negotiate.
Every single person there leant forward just a little bit, straining to hear what was being said. The wolves had it easier then most, with their increased sense of hearing then the rest of the species present, and dotted across the group a few of them were repeating what they were heard to whoever would listen. Everyone was concentrating harder then any of them had ever done before in their lives, it may have been rude. But no one was about to pick another one up on their manners at this point in time.
"Good morning, Kai. Oliver." It was Robert who was the first to speak, as I had expected. The collectiveness to his tone, how calm his voice sounded couldn't help but make me feel a little hopeful. Praying that he wasn't just a good actor, and his feelings actually mirrored the expression and tone which his voice took. When he said the second name however, a little of his true feelings showed through. He spat out the word as though it was made of poison on his tongue.
The alpha only let out a low grin, in the form of his dark brown wolf he stood an inch or so higher then Robert, and Joshua, and the Fae hovered at eye level but a few inches away watching with a cautious gaze and Amos was a footstep away from the rest of them. Watching everything that happened with a careful gaze, listening to ever word as were we. The large man was probably one of the most intelligent trolls that I had ever met, and though that wasn't saying much in comparison to how low the bar was set with the rest of his race.
"Robert. Others." The alpha replied, blatantly offending the other men and women there, his voice like ice. He did nothing to keep the hatred from his tone, I was thankful the four supernatural beings had a stronger self restraint then myself. A growl had torn from my throat at his words, I would have ripped his throat out then and there.
He had heard what had been said, that much was pretty obvious, but he gave no signals that he had done and simply carried on talking. No change to the tone which took his voice. "I'm not going to sugar-coat it, Alpha Kai. If things carry on as they are going at this rate, people are going to die today. On both sides of the line, no matter how well trained those mutts on your side are." All of us smile just a little bit at the line about the mutt, though we wouldn't have admitted it had we been asked the truth.
In a tone which was almost humbling, it was completely honest and frankly painfully so. The vampire spoke up this time, crossing his arms in front of him. Though his face remained neutral, his pursed pink lips showing heavily against the pale white of his skin. His voice was "People are going to die, and we cant pretend that this isn't going to happen. And by the time the sun is at its highest point, we will be burying many friends. What are the chances that we can negotiate peace?" The older man spoke like a true gentleman, his eyes unwavering as he stared the alpha male in the eye without blinking.