Getting to Moon Mist seemed like a breeze since we didn't stop off anywhere. The ride was surprisingly silent as we watched for signs of King Orsand and Edmond. A terrible feeling grew in the pit of my stomach.
"They're in Moon Mist. Something is going on at home."
"You can't be sure, Ellie."
"Your Maj...mother, I just know it."
She reached back to me and patted my arm. A sympathetic look in her eyes. She knew as well as I that the problem was in Moon Mist.
The driver slammed on the brakes and came to a screeching halt, throwing us all forward.
"What the hell!" I yelled out.
"What is that?" he asked.
We all looked through the windshield at one of the creatures. It stood in the middle of the street, covered in blood. It looked at us through narrowed eyes and let out a high-pitched shriek. I grabbed the bow and an arrow, standing up through the sunroof. The creature ran toward us as I nocked the arrow letting loose before it could reach us.
The creature fell to the ground, dead.
We all climbed out of the vehicles and slowly approached. I bent over the hideous thing, staring at it.
"It's not quite what I thought," Queen Amelia said.
"It almost looks human."
"Vampire?" Samantha asked.
"I don't think so. It's out during the day and look at the teeth," I said, pulling back the lips, "it's not just the typical fangs. The teeth are all razors."
"What is it then?"
"I'm pretty sure it's just a hellbeast."
'It looks like the things that attacked us.' Diana thought to me.
'They do?'
'Yes. We didn't know what they were either. Artemis did not know at the time either.'
'She's had millennia to figure it out, maybe she knows now?'
Diana shrugged her ethereal shoulders once again.
I pursed my lips and sighed heavily. "Okay. We don't have time to wait around. Let's do something with this and get going."
"What do we do with it?"
"I guess take it? We can't leave it here."
"Put the body in the trunk of one of the SUVs," Queen Amelia said, walking back to ours. "And not mine. I don't want to see that thing again."
We continued along the forest road until we reached the outskirts of Moon Mist. We saw the royal SUVs parked across the road, seemingly blocking anyone from going in or anyone from getting out.
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
"I don't know. I don't like how quiet everything is," Kyle said, climbing out of the SUV.
We walked toward the abandoned vehicles and saw nothing.
"Something had to of made them stop here."
"Princess Elanor, you're from Moon Mist, do you know the way?"
I nodded. "The town is about three miles down the road."
"I guess we're walking the rest of the way," Queen Elanor said.
"Or running? We can shift and run."
"That would probably be the best way to get there quickly."
I placed the bow on the ground and shifted before picking it up carefully in my mouth. I glanced over at Diana and saw her shift even in her ethereal form. Her fur was surprisingly similar to my own. A beautiful silver, blonde.
'You shift?'
'I am wolf.'
'But you're dead.'
'Yeah, but I can still shift.'
I sprinted down the street, quickly followed by the rest of the warriors and Queen Amelia. We made good time getting into the town. I sniffed the air and picked up the faint scent of blood. Blood that was all to familiar to me.
Dad?
I followed the trail to the meadow beside my father's estate. The creatures were lined along the tree line while King Orsand, Edmond, my father, and the other warriors stood opposite. I ran to where my father stood beside King Orsand and Edmond.
I looked my father up and down and noticed that his nose was bleeding.
Dad's fine.
Another smell drew my attention though. The fur on my haunches rose and a low growl formed in my throat as I turned to see something that should have surprised me a lot more than it did.
Harmony. She stood with the creatures in wolf form.
What is going on? What is she doing?
I glanced up and down the line of wolves and noticed Alex standing behind Alpha Anwar. He stared at the ground, tears staining his cheeks. I shifted back to human as did the others.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked. "Why is Harmony over there?"
"Well, long story short, she's who's been letting the creatures in."
"How? How has she been letting them in? Is she letting the humans in? I don't understand."
"We have no idea."
"Look who finally decided to show up," Harmony yelled across the meadow as she shifted back to human. "How nice of you to finally join the party, dear sister."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm creating something for myself! Something that does not involve you."
"You are ruining the entire realm. The kingdom has been destroyed because of you, Harmony."
"Good! Why should I care when such a selfish person takes everything from me!"
"Who took what from you?"
"You! Princess Elanor. I mate with an Alpha so you have to go and force a mate with the prince."
"You're kidding right? You're mad about who I mated with? This is about me and the prince? What is wrong with you?"
"No. Not just that. I've lived in your shadow our entire lives. You think you're so special. What because you're the daughter of Artemis? Because that vile Goddess chose you?"
"What did you say?"
"You heard me!"
'That's not your sister.'
'What?' I looked over at Diana.
'That is not your sister. Can't you see it?'
'See what?'
'Focus, Elanor. Focus and look.'
I closed my eyes and did as Diana said. I focused deep within. I looked for Artemis. For answers.
"Child," a voice said from beside me.
I opened my eyes and looked to see Artemis standing there.
"Mother."
"You've found who is responsible?"
I nodded my head. "My sister. But she's not my sister."
She stared across the great meadow at Harmony. She pursed her lips and stepped forward.
"Hera. Release the girl."
Harmony threw her head back and laughed maniacally. Her shoulders heaved as her head shook. At times, the face that looked back was not my sister. It was a remarkably beautiful woman with blonde hair and fiery red eyes.
"What..." dad started.
"I know. I'll explain later. Right now we have to prepare to fight."
A woman in black armor stepped through the throng of creatures. She held a large, black sword and stood beside Harmony. Or I guess Hera. They looked at each other with wicked smiles before turning back to us.
"Are you prepared to die? My creatures were unable to destroy you all those years ago, but they're ready now," the woman shouted.
"Who is that?"
'Enyo.'
'Who?'
'She led the fight against Aelfred and me.'
'But who is she?'
'She's a daughter of Hera. The Goddess of War.'
'What does she have to do with us?'
'Nothing, but she does whatever her mother wants. She's an obedient Goddess. Like a Goddess should be.'
'What Artemis is not.'
"What do we do?" a warrior asked from back in the ranks.
"We hold ground and wait. We fight. We do not give up. We do not fight for ourselves, we fight for all wolf kind!" I shouted.
"Warriors. Troops. Guardsmen. We do not give a single inch. We will fight. We will battle until the very end."
Everybody let out howls as we held fast. Harmony, or Hera, whispered to Enyo who yelled in some strange language to the creatures. They let out high-pitched shrieks, saliva hanging from their lips and curling over their razor teeth.
They moved forward at lightning speed toward us. The gap was quickly closing.
"Don't harm Harmony!" I called.
"What?"
"She's possessed. That's not her acting that way. It's Hera."
"The Goddess Hera?" Edmond asked.
"Yes. Do not harm her," I repeated.
"You heard the Princess," King Orsand said. "Noone is to harm Harmony."
"Darling," Queen Amelia said, stepping out from the throng of soldiers.
"Amelia? What are you doing here? Why are you here?"
"I'm not about to let you fight alone. We are in this together."
I looked at Edmond, he held tightly to Apollo's sword as I pulled an arrow from my quiver. Diana stood beside me and beside her, another form seemed to appear. A tall man with shaggy hair and a magnificent crown. Diana smiled at him and he at her.
'What the hell? Who is that?'
'Aelfred.'
'Where did he come from?'
'Oh, he's been here. He's been with Edmond the whole time.'
'I've never seen him before.'
'You wouldn't. He's not here for you just as I'm not here for Edmond.'
'He's been able to see him the entire time?'
'No. Sometimes guides are there to nudge you without being as visual as I am.'
'I can see him now?'
'Yes.'
'Why?'
'I suppose with the amount of magic going through the air right now, the veil between worlds is slimming.'
As they charged us, we ran. Some of the warriors shifted to wolf form while others relied on their weapons. My father shifted, biting into the neck of one of the creatures. It's black blood staining his beige fur. Edmond shifted and rammed through a few rows, biting as he went along.
King Orsand swung his mighty sword cutting down dozens at a time. I pulled arrow after arrow from my quiver with help from Diana as we killed as many creatures as we could. Edmond struggled as he worked his way through. Aelfred stayed by his side, helping as he annihilated as many as they could.
I stopped and looked around. The creatures kept coming killing more and more of us while it seemed we barely made a dent.
"This isn't working. We need help. We're not going to make it."
I closed my eyes, focusing deep within myself. I fell into the abyss watching for the light. It finally came into view as Artemis walked toward me.
"Child?"
"Mother. We need you. We can't do this."
"What is it?"
"Hera, she possessed Harmony. She has Enyo with her."
Artemis took a deep breath. "I will have to possess you as well. Are you okay with that?"
I nodded my head. "Yes. Please."
"Open your eyes."
I did as she said and saw that my body was already moving at lightning speed. I had no control over what happened as she lashed out with hand and arrow striking down creature after creature. She maneuvered through everyone until she was in front of Harmony.
"Sister," Harmony said.
"Hera."
"Ah. She called for you did she, Artemis?"
"This ends now, Hera."
"It ends when all of your creations are destroyed."
"No. You will not take your hatred out on them. They have nothing to do with your hatred of me."
"They are you. Especially that one," Hera said, pointing at my body.
Artemis held up an arrow, it glowed blue as she pointed it at Hera. "This ends now!"
She let out a yell as a blast of blue light released, striking Harmony in the chest. I watched in astonishment as she flew backward, Hera falling out of her. She scrambled to her feet in fright, looking around.
"Dad?" she called. "Mom?"
Tears fell down her cheeks as she sobbed, looking around frantically.
Artemis stepped out of my body and walked toward Hera. She picked her up by her throat and vanished quickly.
"No!" a scream came out from behind me.
I turned in time to see Enyo running at me full speed. Her armor clanked as she charged. I pulled an arrow from my quiver and fired it at her. It hit the armor and fell to the side.
Shit.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the end to come.
It didn't though. I opened one eye and saw Edmond and the sword of Apollo. He plunged it deep into the armor, withdrawing it as she sank to the ground. Blood spilled from the open sides as Enyo fell to her back.
"What is this?" she asked.
"You will leave. You will go back to the hell from which you came," he said.
Her eyes closed and her body vanished. I spun around, looking as the creatures stopped in their tracks, disappearing just as Enyo had.
"What happened?" Edmond asked.
"I don't know."
'Enyo is gone. Hera is gone. They are going back to the depths of Hades.' Diana said.
'Just like that?'
She nodded her head. 'It is over. For now.'
'My sister?'
'She should be normal again.'
Her ethereal body slowly disappeared as did Aelfred's. I ran to Edmond and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him deeply.
"Ellie."
"Edmond."
He brushed my hair out of my face, kissing me again.
"I need to do one more thing."
"What?"
"Bring them all back." I motioned to the field of bodies laying still.
"No."
"I already owe my soul, I'm getting my worth out of it."
I stood and raised my arms, willing the souls back. I'd gotten better at ignoring the black abyss when I wanted to. The souls poured forth from my fingertips, once again seeking their bodies.
I dropped to my knees when it was finished. Exhaustion took over. I had not slept well since everything started and it was finally catching up.
"Ellie?" a familiar voice asked behind me.
I turned my head to see my sister standing there, holding herself.
"Harmony? Is it you?"
"I...I don't know what happened."
I smiled weakly. "It's okay."
"I am so sorry for whatever I did," she sobbed, dropping to the ground beside me, and wrapping her arms around my neck.
"It's not your fault, Harmony. Hera possessed you."
"I couldn't stop her. I tried so hard to fight back. I am so sorry for everything. I didn't mean any of those terrible things."
"I know! I know!"
We sat in the middle of the meadow hugging. The war was finally over. Hera was gone. Where she went, I didn't know. I'd have to ask Artemis later. Perhaps before I repaid my debt to the Moirai.