Luca - Day of the war
I stared down at the beast I had just slain, watching in wonder as it's body evaporated into indigo hued ashes. It's lifeless eyes were the last to disintegrate, becoming one with the wind as it swivelled north.
My body numbed, the sword in my hand falling onto the ground as I stumbled backwards - eyes upwards to the tree Leila had just pushed me out of.
How were they disappearing?
I looked behind me, only to see that everyone else's beasts were vanishing.
Was it her? Was she the reason they were disappearing?
Was she the reason the soil greened with every step I took? Was she the reason the scent of lilies and trees enveloped my nose? Was she the reason we had won the war?
The noise from behind me heightened in it's volume, consulting me in my theory.
We won the war.
We won't the fucking war.
A smile crawled up my lips at the thought.
Leila had slain the wicked witch of the west, and she would soon fly down with me and my beast and sing to victory. She would watch as all 4 kingdoms bowed down to her, accepting her as the one true Luna - the title she should have been given the day I met her.
"The war is won!"
"The east is no longer enemy?"
"Leila Haddad, the mother of werewolves, has given us a second chance at life!"
Various chants echoed from around me as my people celebrated, fists facing the skies that were somehow turning blue.
Leila was magic.
She was truly magic.
"King, is it true? Is it true that the mother witch is gone?" A southern boy asked, eyes glimmering with hope.
"Look around you, soldier," I gestured to the greening grass and the sun peeking through the thick atmosphere of the outskirts, "These lands are finally breathing. The heart of the soil beneath us bleeds once more,"
Everyone cheered.
My heart itched with genuine happiness.
Wait till you see this, Leila, I linked.
I turned to face the witches who had sided with us, brows furrowing at the expressions their faces held.
With my beast's chain wrapped round my wrist, I walked towards Kate, head tilted.
"What is it, Kate?" I asked, "Is something of the matter?"
She gulped, tears welling up in her ocean eyes before nodding.
My knuckles whitened.
"Speak then," I rushed, "What is it?"
"The second she entered the witch's cocoon, the guard spell had expired. My king, I don't know how- I don't- None of us understand why?" Tears spilled down the apples of her cheeks, "The prophecy said that she would need to hear-"
"The trumpets," I completed, "She needs to hear the trumpets,"
"I opened the window Leila ordered me to close a while ago. Please bring her back. I cannot reach her through our blood bond," She croaked, squeezing my arm, "But she's there. I know she's there. I can feel it,"
Without a second thought, I got onto my beast and flew to the top of the tree - a foreign hollowness setting atop my chest. I did not have it in me to feel. At that moment, all I did was fly. I had a mission, and that mission was to bring the owner of half of my soul back into my arms.
So when my beast landed on that damned tree branch once more, I wasted no time jumping in and sprinting up the top of the stairs.
My heart squeezed at the door Leila had broken, her shoulder imprinting its wooden structure. I uttered a prayer to the goddess, begging that I would find Leila waiting for me to bring her back down to reality, and walked in.
I was met with emptiness.
Silence so profound the beating of my heart forced my ears to ring.
My happiness quickly turned bittersweet.
"Leila," I called out, eyes taking in the circular arena my lover had fought in.
I gulped, unable to accept the moons fate.
I spun in circles, bile rising in my throat at her absence.
"Leila!" I screamed into thin air, falling on both knees, "Oh goddess. Oh goddess,"
It wasn't until I noticed tiny droplets of water colliding into the ground that I realised I was crying.
My heart hurt. It squeezed and pulled in all directions, smashing into my stomach and meeting my lungs with so my aggression breathing became a task in itself.
"Oh, Leila," I rasped, fingers digging into the wooden floors my woman fought on, "Where are you? Talk to me, speak to me, will you?"
None of this was fair.
The moon was too cruel to her.
She bled red, just like me, so why did she have to disappear, and I, not?
Why did she have to pass when everyone lived?
Why did she have to face the consequences of the underworlds magic when her heart was pure?
I smashed my fist into the ground, pain striking my entire arm at the sheer force of my hit.
I was angry at the world - at myself for not flying back up fast enough before Leila ordered Kate to shut the window closed.
I was angry that she was alone - completely unknowing of just what she was going through.
The tears wouldn't stop.
I was mourning her disappearance, I was mourning my future with her, the pups I had planned when she was away planning for victory.
Helplessness clouded my entire being, forcing my chest to cave and my sobs to strengthen.
If she was here, Leila would have wrapped her strong little arms around the length of my waist and whispered sweet nothings into my ear, telling me it was okay to cry.
If she was here, she would have placed a chaste kiss on my neck and ushered me to stand back up.
If Leila was here, she would have never wanted to see me like this.
"Oh no," Alpha Bilal's voice rang through my ears, "oh no,"
My eyes met his, blue meeting brown, brown meeting blue.
"She's gone," I let out, shakily getting on both feet, "Her soul no longer resides in our lands, Alpha Bilal,"
He palmed the area above his heart, lips parting at the words leaving my mouth.
"That can't be," His voice shook, as did his head, "It can't be,"
"Well it is," It came out aggressive, but I was not able to reign in my emotion, "the moon, once again, has decided her an undeserving fate. Ready yourself. We must inform the people,"
He nodded with red eyes.
As we both got on our beasts and flew to the ground, I realised that Alpha Bilal and I were in the same position. Both of us were blood bonded to Leila, both of us loved Leila, and most of all, both of us did not spend as much time as we needed to with Leila.
The soil beneath us shook at the force of our beasts landing, bringing me back to reality.
In front of me stood over 6000 soldiers who were awaiting a response - awaiting a declaration of victory.
So I got off my beast, as did Alpha Bilal, and stood with my shoulders held high.
They were worried, unable to fathom that their king had tears strolling down his cheeks, heads turning for an answer.
"My people," I spoke, swallowing down an array of emotions.
I didn't know where to begin. The love of my life and mother of my unborn children had just slipped through my fingers once again, and I didn't know that she would ever come back.
I didn't even have time to mourn her disappearance, but this is what Leila would have wanted.
She would have wanted me to maintain a strong front, to tell my people that everything would be okay.
"We have won the war, but we have lost something far more valuable than victory," I started.
Slaiman forced his way to the front of the crowd at my words, snatching his helmet off of his head. His eyes said it all, they spoke far more than his words ever could.
He knew what was coming.
He knew Leila was gone.
"Leila Haddad-" My voice shook, eyes filling with uncontrollable tears, "Leila Haddad has passed. The warrior of all 4 kingdoms, the hero of all Lycans, my mate-" I choked, looking down as I wiped aggressively at my face, "She has passed. Date of death, 27th of March,"
Slaiman's jaw quivered, his eyes watery.
He looked at me with so much emotion, so much regret, so much agony that I almost broke out of character.
Just like I had lost my mate, he had lost the sister he was not able to fully get to know after 6 whole years.
Just like I had lost my mate, he had lost a bond he was unable to repair in time - and I didn't know which was worse.
My armies shock was broken when Slaiman collapsed on one knee, his helmet resting on his side as he faced the great tree Leila had passed in.
Like dominoes, the rest of the soldiers followed him.
I was the last.
It was almost as though my body did not want to accept her passing, refusing to get down on one knee, but eventually, it did.
I remembered her vigour to be a solider - to be the soldier her mother had dreamed she would become. So I would announce her death like a true soldier.
I howled.
I howled a howl so dense the birds stopped flying and the trees stood still.
The soldiers followed after me - treating her like the absolute warrior she was.
Leila was the reason the pups of this generation and generations after could run around these grounds with a care in the world. Leila was the reason the grass was green and the sun shone. Leila was the reason my people could fall into slumber without fear that war would strike once more.
Leila was the reason I felt alive.
Leila was the reason my heart bled.
And Leila was the reason,
I would not be able to smile,
Without remembering,
That she was no longer there.
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I sobbed while writing this chapter. Tell me what you guys think, and what you're expecting.
Love you all, and love Luca.
Don't forget to vote and comment.
I need a time OUT.