200 Years Without The Cullens

Chapter 20-The Rebels Assemble

Carlisle and Esme didn't return for rather a long time, which had us all worried. We were comforted when the Irish coven - consisting of Maggie, who could tell when someone was being less than truthful, Siobhan, who could will things to go her way, and her mate Liam - turned up on our doorstep, pledging their allegiance before Edward, Kate or myself could utter a word.

The final coven to turn up was the Egyptian coven. It was a rather half-and-half family of four, and we ended up with just one half. Amun, the leader of the coven and his mate Kebi ended up refusing to fight. We'd been lucky, up until that point, with having vampires agree to help us, so it was to be expected. I couldn't help but feel a little disheartened though. However, Benjamin, who could control the elements, and his mate Tia had decided to stay and fight. We were grateful, needless to say. We were taking on the entire Volturi guard, and needed all the help we could get.

Stefan's stern voice snapped me back to the present.

"Bella, you must have your shield around us at all times, unless we need to use our gifts. Particularly Edward. Once the fight breaks out, you can drop your shield unless you feel someone needs protecting. Chelsea and Alec should have been taken out by then. If they haven't been, God help us," he said, his dark red eyes boring into mine.

I nodded my head in understanding. Kate and I had been practising again, just to make sure. I'd been able to control my shield for decades, centuries even, but using it while fighting Alistair had been a whole new experience, and Kate had been able to shock poor Edward more than once. I had it more or less under control by now.

"Who's taking out Chelsea and Alec?" Jasper asked.

"It would be better if I or Vladimir took out Chelsea, being unmated. Zafrina, you must keep Alec under an illusion while Jasper fights him. It is essential that he is rendered useless. Jasper and I will attack at the same time," Stefan said.

"Should I keep all of them under an illusion?" Kafrina asked.

"As many as you can, but not Aro. He must see what's going on. We don't want the Cullens to be destroyed, but we'd rather not have excessive bloodshed," Eleazer said, shooting Vladimir a glare as he opened his mouth to protest. I got the impression that the Romanians were violent, and wanted nothing more than to slaughter every one of the Volturi.

"Who do we aim to take out after Chelsea and Alec?" Emmett asked, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

"Renata and Jane. Renata is Aro's protector, and we can't get to him unless we get to her. You'll need a couple of skilled fighters to go for her. Vladimir and Emmett, perhaps? As for Jane, that's going to have to be Bella. If Bella were fighting someone else and her shield slipped, Jane would immediately be able to hurt them," Eleazer said grimly.

Edward let put a slight growl, loud enough only for me to hear. I squeezed his hand reassuringly, but I was nervous. I had to kill Jane. I didn't know if I could mentally deal with, let alone have the physical power to do so. Edward seemed to sense my discomfort, as he squeezed my hand back and turned to Eleazer.

"Can I fight with Bella?"

"That sounds like a pretty good idea to me. That is, if Bella can hold up her shield?"

"She was fine while training," Alistair said, praising me for the first time in his entire visit.

"In which case, you two attack Jane," Eleazer said.

"By this point," Jasper continued, "The fight will have broken out properly. Attack and kill whoever you can. There isn't enough time to be merciful. Wolves," he turned to Jacob's pack, "I'd suggest that you come out at the same time as Bella and Edward go to attack Jane. One of you may want to go with them, to fight off any vampires that get in their way."