"There will come a time in your life when you lose something that matters to you. You'll fight for it and you won't win. But what really matters isn't the war you're waging; it's that you don't lose the person you are in the midst of the battle."
J. Sterling
TRIGGER WARNING!
There is mention of death and blood. If those make you uncomfortable, there will be a brief description of what happened in the author's note at the end.
SOFT CRUNCHES OF SNOW ECHOED THROUGH THE CLEARING AS EACH COVEN AND NOMAD SPREAD OUT ACROSS THE ONE SIDE OF THE FIELD WAITING FOR THEIR INEVITABLE DOOM. Streams of anxiety permeate the air causing few of the witnesses to pace in their spots as they all wished for this to be done and over with. Before the collective made their way onto the field that day, the Lothbrok clan created a game plan to keep Ulfhild hidden away until the time was right for her to reveal herself to the Volturi. It was decided that Ulfhild will use her abilities to alter the reality around her to keep her out of the Volturi's radar but remain visible to those on their side of the battlefield. Who knows what could happen?
"Whatever happens, I will have your backs here on this plane and in Valhalla," Ulfhild whispered into her parent's and sister's ears. "I love you, Faðir, Móðir, Fe. Alföðr and Týr watch over us along with The Morrígan."
Just after Ulfhild finished her sentiment with her family, shudders passed through each and every person as a sea of black started to wash over the opposite end of the clearing signifying the entrance of the Volturi in its entirety. It became very evident to everyone that they outnumbered them all easily and it definitely didn't ease up the nervous energy. To add onto it, Garrett's commentary was making it that much harder to ignore the fact that this event could quite possibly be the beginning of the end for them all.
As the Volturi get closer and closer, it becomes blatantly obvious to Edward that Aro is searching for the two missing Cullens and analyzing who has all joined alongside the Olympic coven. Closer and closer, the Volturi came forth out of the woods completely and as the last of the Volturi's witnesses come through, the Quileute warriors in their shifted form start spilling out of the dark crevices of the Olympic National Park. The packs divided up evenly throughout the witnesses with Jacob standing proudly beside Bella, Renesmee and Edward and Leah bringing up the rear of the pack putting herself within reach of the Lothbroks. As the wolves fully situated themselves, the army the three kings have conjured up stops to face the gathering of witnesses across from and Carlisle takes this opportunity to step out of line.
Loud and clear, Carlisle spoke to the Volturi, "Aro, let us discuss things as we used to. In a civilized manner."
Without a moment of hesitation, Aro gracefully spit back, "Fair words, Carlisle. But a little out of place, given the battalion you've assembled against us."
Still under the effects of her abilities, Ulfhild snorted at the king's words knowing fully that Aro was making out their witnesses to be more than what they are there for – soldiers in an unevenly matched war. Carlisle waited a few seconds after the snorting to clear his resolve and make Aro think he was taking a moment to formulate.
"I can promise you, that was never my intent. No laws have been broken." Carlisle had just barely finished his statement before the rage of Caius began to break through ruining the calm yet anxious nature of the conversation.
"We see the child. Do not treat us as fools." Venom dripped from Caius' mouth making it very known within those short sentences that Caius doesn't wish to see a trial; he came to see a quick execution of dozens of innocent people.
With an equal amount of ferocity, Carlisle poured his sentiment into his next piece of testimony. "She is not an Immortal! These witnesses can attest to that. Or you can look. See the flush of human blood in her cheeks."
"Artifice!" Caius spat again but was quickly cut off by his brother who turned to meet his raging eyes.
"I will collect every facet of the truth. But from someone more central to the story. Edward, as the child clings to your newborn mate, I assume you are involved." Aro gestured out to Edward with an open hand wishing for the broody vampire to make his way over to enemy territory.
Taking his time, Edwards looks down at Bella and his young child before making his way over towards the head of the three kings. The moment Edward stepped out of the safety of their numbers, Bella began shielding Edward from any harm to come his way as he made his way to the over-eager Aro. In what seems like forever, the eldest Cullen child finally reaches Aro resulting in Bella dropping her shield so Aro could collect the evidence he needs to show that Renesmee wasn't an Immortal child unlike the accusations being bestowed upon them.
Moments of Aro collecting what he needs from Edward's mind, he releases Edward's hand stepping back in amazement at what Edward sparingly showed him of his child. "I'd like to meet her," whispered Aro as he very daintily pointed towards the youngest of all the people on Cullen's side.
With the simple gesture of turning and nodding towards his mate, Bella grabbed a hold of Renesmee's hand and they began to make their way to Edward with Jacob following dutifully behind them as protection. Just as Jacob began to follow behind, Emmett came to slowly replace Jacob to have him bring up the rear of the mini group. It seemed that as every time someone made their way closer to the Volturi, time slowed down making every second longer than what was deemed necessary for the dire situation everyone was currently in.
"Ah. Young Bel-la. Immortality becomes you," Aro weirdly enunciated Bella's name as she came to a full halt besides Edward with Renesmee pressed into her side and their impromptu bodyguards hanging behind a few meters away from them. Aro smiles like a total creep as he looks down at the young hybrid analyzing her. Shrieks of laughter abruptly force their way out of Aro as he makes the discovery of the strange heart beats echoing inside Renesmee. "I hear her strange heart."
Holding out his hand, Aro silently offered for the young girl to take it so he could search her memories but the young child had other plans. She politely greeted the ancient vampire as she stepped closer to his hunched form before placing her petite hand on his cheek showing him her life using her own abilities. Transfixed by the images flowing between his eyes, Aro felt as if he was living Renesmee's whole life with how real everything felt around him. Once time was lined up to this very moment in Renesmee's timeline, the king straightened his form and prepared himself to release the information he had just obtained.
"Magnifico! Half mortal, half immortal. Conceived and carried by this newborn while she was still human," declared Aro who was yet again followed by the venom which was common to Caius' speech.
"Do you think they fooled me, brother?" Aro whipped around again to stare down the rage that was brewing within Caius' burgundy eyes. Aro's gaze was forcing Caius to force down some of his desire for a bloody execution and reassert himself in a more calm fashion.
While the ongoing silent conversation was happening between two out of the three kings, the small family unit was quickly making their way back to the others in their crowd with their pseudo bodyguards keeping a watchful eye on the Volturi army to make sure none of them will step out of line and try to start something they simply couldn't finish. As tensions began to lessen due to everyone being on their respective sides, Aro resituated himself to face the Cullens and their witnesses and Caius began to assert himself again.
"Bring the informer forward," barked out Caius as the guards brought forth Irina from the depths of the cloaked crowd. Once she was in place, Caius snapped again, "Is that the child you saw?"
Irina's eyes roamed over to Renesmee looking at the girl who was older than the last time she had seen her. Unsure about the child and if it was even the same girl, Irina sputtered, "I'm not sure."
Very quickly, Caius threatened the use of Jane's abilities against Irina if she did not give the audience and him the proper answer to the question he was seeking from her. In all of her honesty, Irina knew looking at Renesmee's small form beside her parents that the young was very much the same child she referenced in reporting the crime but, it was obvious she was a growing child and that her assumption of the bronze-haired girl was an immortal child was wrong.
"She's changed," spoke Irina before continuing. "This child is bigger than when I first made the allegation."
Angered by Irina's statement, Caius' seemingly permanent sneer began to etch itself deeper into his face making the venom in his body boil. Caius wanted bloodshed and if it wasn't blood from the vegetarians standing at the other end of the field, then the accuser would just have to do it in his eyes.
Not hiding his discontent, Caius spat, "Then your allegations were false."
Irina was riddled with regret and grief having let her anger cloud her vision when she stood against the young couple and their child. "The Cullens are innocent. I take full responsibility for my mistake." Never did it occur to her that her sisters would actually help witness for the Cullens and now she felt more and more negatively as she essentially brought her family in the line of fire. This was now the time to repent for the damage she has caused. "I'm sorry."
Just as Edward screamed out his opposition to the incoming scenario, Caius signaled for Felix and Santiago to rip apart Irina's form and Demetri handed a lit torch to the waiting hand of the angry tyrant for him to burn the dead Denali sister. In their grief and anger, Tanya and Kate push themselves forward trying to make their way towards the Volturi king only to be trapped by their fellow witness. Garrett suffered under the voltage Kate was exuding, keeping a tight grip on her for not just her sake but for everyone's sake. Emmett and Eleazar restrained Tanya with each of her arms in their grip fighting against her rage.
"Blind them." Edward briefly looked at Zafrina signaling for her to use her gift to visually remove them from the present. Garrett swung Kate around to make sure that Zafrina was able to get ahold of the electric woman.
Still fighting against the men and frantically looking around, Tanya snipped at Edward, "Give me my sight back."
"Tanya, this is what they want." The mind reader crouched down to be eye to eye with the blonde woman even though her vision was dark and empty. "If you attack now, we will all die."
This is what finally got to the Denali leader to settle down. Acting out in anger now would mean that they would be going in blindly and death was immediate to those who didn't go into a battle as calm as they possibly could. With the Denali sisters calmed down from the boiling rage, Zafrina released them from her gift and allowed them to properly see the world around them again. Edward took this time to make his way back to his wife and child making the poor choice of turning his back against the enemy.
With a willowy whisper, Jane activated her power, dropping Edward to his knees in the white pillows on the ground. All that came from Edward's fetal form was groans and strains of burning pain lighting his body up in a fire from the inside out. Bella was quick to enable her shield protecting her husband from the agony Jane was psychically inflicting upon him. Steadily, Edward strongly stood back up smirking at his wife's abilities and he told her that it was working.
Rapidly looking around, Jane tried to use her gift against the other witnesses feeling weak against Bella's shield and utterly useless. The newborn smiled at the ancient teen's look of desperation who was trying to frantically reclaim a sense of control and her twin brother was ready to defend his sister in her time of need. Alec began to release his numbing vapor and was quickly stopped by Aro who knew it was nonsense to try to use his gift against a shield as physical and strong as Bella's had developed to be.
"Aro, you see there's no law broken here," Carlisle declared out to break the silence that filled the air after the witch twins' attempt to weaken the more vital players of the Cullens and their witnesses.
Following Carlisle's statement, Aro began to preach to the crowd,"Agreed. But does it then follow that there is no danger? For the first time in our history humans pose a threat to our kind. Their modern technology has given birth to weapons that could destroy us. Maintaining our secret has never been more imperative. In such perilous times, only the known is safe. Only the known is tolerable. And we know nothing of what this child will become. Can we live with such uncertainty? Spare ourselves a fight today, only to die tomorrow."
Uncovering themselves from the very edge of the Washington forests, Alice and Jasper had finally returned to their home and are here to stand beside their family in this desperate time of need. Relief filled the Cullens at the couple's figures walking towards the Volturi. Aro was ecstatic to have the seer finally near and within his reach desperately hoping to obtain her abilities for his guard. Meeting up with them, two of the higher level guards stop them from getting any closer to the three kings.
"My dear, dear Alice," Aro drew out his syllables. "We're so glad to see you here, after all."
"I have evidence the child won't be a risk to our kind," Alice's small voice echoed out. "Let me show you."
The seer knew that her vision would be enough to persuade the tyrannical man to let everyone off and proceed through life secretly. A petite hand extended out between the two burly guards and Aro swatted away to guards motioning for them to release Alice but, to keep Jasper at bay. Caius tried to speak out to Aro but he was determined to get his grubby hands on Alice's to see what she had seen. Once the woman was within his reach, Aro greedily grabbed her hand and began to her thoughts. In that moment, Alice Cullen realized that no matter what she shows the man, it won't be enough to change his set-in-stone mind.
"It doesn't matter what I show you. Even when you see. You still won't change your decision," spat Alice in Aro's unassuming face. She took her statement as her chance to turn towards Bella and mouth the word 'Now' signaling Bella's opportunity to start setting up Jacob and Renesmee on their way.
Bella took the chance to lock eyes with her daughter for a split second before moving towards Jacob ordering, "Take care of my daughter." Within seconds of Bella's promise, Jacob turns his wolf form around and takes off into the woods with Renesmee safely secured on top of his back. All of Jake's power went into pushing them as far away as possible from the clearing, as far away from the war that would be breaking out inevitably.
Nodding towards the fleeting furball, Caius calmly spoke to Santiago, "Get them," humming when the guard bolted after the child and her uncle.
Taking this time where the kings were distracted by the disappearing figure, Alice side-kicked Aro determined to send him flying away from her but he was quick to land on his feet like a cat and was distraught by Alice's actions. With a swat of a hand, two guards came forward and restrained the spiteful pixie woman stopping her from attacking the kings again. The coven grew more and more enraged by Alice's small form being swallowed up in the sea of black cloaks.
In his rage, Carlisle yelled out, "Let her go!" Immediately after, the patriarch dashed forward to attack Aro for holding one of his children hostage. Aro grinned as he came forward as well to meet Carlisle in the middle of his sprint. It was a blur when the two connected in midair with a cracking sound resonating from their connection. When they both landed back on the snow, Carlisle's body dropped to be flat on the floor and Aro grinned maliciously with Carlisle's head gripped in his slimy fingers.
In horror, the witnesses watched on as Caius immediately burned away the Cullen patriarch and Aro nonchalantly tossed the man's decapitated head into the fire like Carlisle's life didn't mean anything to the people around them. Just before everyone began moving towards the center of the clearing, the Lothbrok parents rotate their bodies to lock eyes with their camouflaged daughter knowing that the time is now for them to fight. Maja rested her small hands on the backs of her parents silently reassuring them that this is what needs to be done for the greater good of everyone.
Varying looks of agreement and concern wash over three of the Lothbrok clan whereas Ulfhild stood straighter and prouder in the face of adversity. Ragnar nods strongly at his eldest child giving her all the confirmation for red wisps of smoke to pour out of Ulfhild's palm and rapidly make its way into the hands of each member. The smoke started to take the forms of a variety of weapons suited to each member of this family. Matching swords of lengths to match the heights of their owners weighed heavily in the hands of Aeron and Ragnar with small daggers appearing on their leather belts. Maja's metal lance decorated in worn leather straps and runes seemingly popped up behind her attached to a strap going across her chest and Ulfhild's weapon was last to show itself as a large double-edged battle axe in her right hand with a small forged throwing axe in her left.
The second all their weapons appeared, the Lothbroks faced the oncoming Volturi army with the rest of the witnesses ready to destroy the dictators at hand. The family split up to help cover more ground and get rid of as many foot soldiers as they possibly can. Charging straight at her, a lower ranked Volturi guard smirked at the axe Ulfhild was wielding, making him believe that this would be an easy death for him to execute. The smirk quickly vanished when the axe made contact with his stomach and all the vampire could feel was excruciating pain that he was sure he hasn't felt since he transitioned.
Looking down at his body, all he could see was deep red pouring out of the crevice etched into his abdomen. Reaching his hand down, his fingers grazed the wound and gathered the red hoping to bring it closer to his face to examine it. Upon closer inspection, it finally clicked in his muddled mind that the deep maroon was blood, something he only saw when he had a meal supplied by the Volterra castle tours. The unnamed guard slowly brought his gaze up from the blood practically dumping from his body to make eye contact with Ulfhild who stood in a feral stance covered in what the man assumed was his blood. Blood lust was deep within her fanged smile and chaos exploded in the brown eyes that seemed to pulsate red like the smoke emitting from the weapons – no, from her hands death gripping her two axes. The way she stood reminded the guard of a snake who sank their fangs into their prey waiting for the right time to strike and suffocate them.
Breaking his gaze from the manic vampire who stood for the Cullens, his weakening vision began to observe the death and chaos happening around him. It was in that moment the nameless man realized that he was one of the unfortunate few who had encountered Ulfhild that was dying a very slow, human death. Bodies of other Volturi guards were scattered around the two in a circle-like pattern. Various piles of ash peppered the ground while others were set aflame screaming for someone to save them from their horrendous fate and just as he bled, there had to be at least five other soldiers whose bodies leaked of the same red substance as his but the difference was the light in their eyes had vanished leaving behind desolate forms.
In her blood lust, Ulfhild was getting creative with the chaos around her; the death and chaotic energy was fueling her, making her want to break out and strike out even more than she already was doing. Her powers were working in favor of those who were closer to her but most of her efforts were focused on the Volturi who were immediately coming after her. Ulfhild felt rejuvenated by the prospects of this battle; it was like finally drinking water after an exhausting trip through the hottest desert in the world. The feeling was welcomed and truly brought out the killer instinct that Ulfhild has taken years to hone and take complete control of. Through the haze of her blood lust and manic slashing at enemies, the unnamed man finally succumbed to his mind-boggling injuries just as a saddened howl slicing through the cacophony of cries and screams.
After Leah had signaled out a lonely howl for the death of her baby brother, Benjamin took that as his cue to change the fate of their losing battle by throwing all of his power into the earth creating a chasm that reached down to the magma levels below the crusts. Many of the Volturi fell into cracks in the crust and others were forcefully pushed down to their fiery deaths. The fiery chasm didn't discriminate between sides and engulfed anyone in its path. More and more began to drop like flies either from death by flames or death at the hands of another. Everyone who was still standing was engaged in battle fighting for their lives at this point but something sinister began to swirl in the belly of this beast.
Covered in the fictitious blood of her enemies, Ulfhild's sharp teeth started to lose visibility as her thirst for the Volturi's blood evolved into a sickening churn in her belly. Her instincts clawed their way at her neck practically screaming at her to finally take notice of the scene happening behind her at the very edge of the chasm. Time seemed to play in slow motion as Ulfhild shifted her soaked body to watch in shock at the prospect of her mate diving into the fiery pit to save Esme from being dragged down by the Volturi member on her heel. It was as if time went from barely moving to stopping completely at the sound of the hybrid's heart and soul shattering into a million pieces and following after the silvery coat of Leah's fur into the darkness.
Very quickly, Leah's helpless form disappeared from Ulfhild's blurry line of vision. Her vision was speedily being filled with tears and those tears streaked through her war paint creating an even more desperate look on her face. Now filled with newfound grief, the young woman wretched out an ear shattering scream expelling all the negative emotions that were rapidly filling her body and spilling over. All of these emotions ruined her control that she was proudly confident in allowing her abilities to run rampant and flow out of her trembling body like a broken dam flooding a forest.
Gallons upon gallons of ethereal red smoke seeped out of every pore in Ulfhild's flesh and began to make quick work of altering the reality of those around her weeping body causing glitches through the red-stained snow. Everything within all of the Volturi's vision began to shift out of focus for them, giving the Cullens and their allies the advantage they desperately needed to win this war. Even with Ulfhild's lack of control at this horrible time, it seemed that her ability had a mind of its own and worked to help her comrades and family, not against them. One by one, the Volturi were slimmed down to the final three, each approaching their deaths in very different ways. Caius torn by vengeful, grieving sisters, Marcus embracing death with a smile and open arms as the Romanians had their way and Aro fighting against the powerful duo whose motivation was fleeing through the thick of the trees. Fire in their veins started their undead lives and fire was their death.
Slowly, the battalion of survivors began to group together to burn the bodies of those fallen and do a headcount on who was still standing. Aron and Maya were the first of their family to join back up embracing one another in a bone-breaking hug. All of the pent-up anxiety from being separated at such a deadly time began to dissipate between the mother and daughter as relief flooded them. Breaking apart, they worked together to find Ragnar and Ulfhild in the sea of alarming stiff corpses and the lively bodies maneuvering between them. It didn't take long before the two women were crushed into the burly arms of the patriarch of their family.
"Have any of you seen Ulfhild at all?" Worry riddled Aron's features when they all realized that there was still a vital piece missing from their family unit.
Ragnar shook his head causing his braided hair to whip around behind him. "I haven't seen her since we initially separated from one another." Maya was quick to add her response after her father's words stating, "I saw her last by the crack Benjamin formed earlier."
Wide eyes and concerned looks decorated each of the Lothbroks' faces as they assumed the worst that she could possibly be stuck by the chasm that had claimed so many lives earlier. In unison, the family turned towards the last known location of the eldest child and began to make quick work of looking around them to see if she could also be a part of the sea above the snow. Maja in all of her daintiness made quick work ahead of her parents, determined to find her sister before they could. All that Maja could think was that Ulfhild had to be okay, she just had to be. She had to be alive so they could spend their days hiding away from their chores giggling about the latest gossip in the village.
The siren-like woman neared closer to the outer perimeter of the chasm with her eyes bolting about analyzing her corpse quickly before moving onto the next one. Her molten eyes halted in their path where she recognized a pile of furs exactly like the ones Ulfhild always wore and would never leave the house without. Gently stumbling towards the pelts, Maja's bottom lip began to quiver as she began to wish that this wasn't happening, that this wasn't real and that maybe Ulfhild's gift might have affected her mind a bit. Venomous tears began to blur her vision as the young woman dropped to her knees to crawl the final distance to the body.
With shaking hands, Maja tugged the fox pelt that was covering the person's face and revealed a nightmare come true. A thunderous cry unleashed from the bellows of Maja's chest, a vast difference from her airy voice as she uncovered the truth of the body. Aron and Ragnar bolted using their super speed to Maja's hunched form and fell beside her echoing her cries and screams at the scene in their hands.
Frozen in time and horribly stiff, Ulfhild's once vibrant, bouncing eyes were clouded and seemingly locked in an open position gazing out to the edge of the cavernous pit beside her. The red that had decorated her skin from her victories against many of the Volturi witnesses began to be overpowered by the fresh red pouring out her marble skin. Cracks painted in the color of her ability's smoke had etched their way out from underneath the neckline of her tunic and worked their way up her neck to her face. These cracks flickered out the last of its smoke and were easily replaced by the blood of her flesh. Dried red-brown blood flaked away under Ulfhild's essence and disappeared from view as the three remaining members of the Lothbrok coven wrapped themselves around Ulf, grieving into her still form.
Today was a day they hoped that they would all come out victorious and no lives were to be taken but, it seemed that fate had a different hand to play. This was not how things should have turned out for anyone. Nothing anyone can do could reverse what has happened and all they could do was mourn the death of their family and their fallen friends praying for them to be received into the halls of Valhalla with open arms. All they could wish for was to one day meet them in those great halls and finally be together again.
so basis of what happens is that the battle happens but battles are where ulfhild feels the most powerful so she used her powers to make the volturi guards deaths much more gruesome than needed. leah falls to her death saving esme and this causes ulfhild to go into a spiral. the battle finishes and the lothbroks find ulfhild's dead body near where leah fell. essentially, ulfhild's gift killed her because she wasn't regulating her emotions.
this chapter took forever because i was struggling to write leah and ulfhild's scene in the battle and i had to take frequent breaks from it to not burn out. but, i have a schedule i should be putting up soon. im thinking of making a discord to give all you loyal readers better updates and to talk about possible book ideas.