Isabella's POV:
My hair flowed behind me as I stared out at the sea. The sun was just beginning to rise above the waterline, and the reflection made the country we were nearing look like it were in flames.
Dawn was approaching.
I was able to sleep some, but the anxiety in my stomach was built so high I wasn't able to rest fully. But it was enough. I felt awake, energized, and prepared for whatever war we were about to walk into.
Taking in a deep breath, the salty air mixed with the scent of gunpowder and wood, making me let out a sigh. My blue eyes gazed at England's shores, my heart pounding as I saw a dozen ships barricading the once peaceful shoreline.
Harry walked up beside me, Layla holding onto his hand as he walked. She tried to peek over the side, but was a little too short to do so. I swallowed hard, sliding my eyes over to Harry, trying to read his expression.
His mouth was set in a thin line, his jaw tight and his eyes were fixed in a hard stare.
"Twelve ships...probably stocked full of their soldiers," he murmurs, a frown coming to his face as he glanced over at me.
"How are we going to make a difference? We have thirty men at most. They probably have well over a thousand." he whispers and I look away from his gaze. Shaking my head, I reply, "I'm not sure. But either way, we have to try."
Harry nods to me, both of us staring at the oncoming doom with unsure gazes, the wind picking up a little.
"Will we even be able to get to the shore?" Shayla asks, coming to my other side and I look over at her, about to answer when I heard Louis' voice. "We'll have to go to the end of the shore by the rocks. It's the only part where they don't have a ship." He says seriously and I look, my eyes scanning the shore until I saw a part on the left.
There were sharp rocks everywhere and a small cliff-side that had very unsteady rocks.
"It'll be death for us to go there. But I do agree, it'll be our best bet. If we get off the ship fast enough, we'll be able to avoid the rocks." Niall chips in, coming to Harry's side and we all look at him as he gives us a sideways smile.
"It's not like we've never bested a couple of rocks before, right?" he says amused and I chuckle, thankful for his humor to lighten the mood.
"If we can survive everything in our past, there's no way we can't tackle what we're about to face." Louis says with a smirk, his blue eyes determined as he stares at the shore.
"Besides, I have a lot of things I want to do after this war. So I can't die here." he adds and the same smirk grows on my face, looking back out at our destination.
"Yeah." I say in agreement, all of us growing silent as we stare at the coming doom.
The closer we got to the shore, the more I saw what was really going on.
There were small fires all over the shore, buildings aflame and the screams of people could be heard from here, as well as the clashing of metal. I couldn't see who exactly was on the shore, but the sound itself was enough to unsettle me.
Those screams would be forever embedded in my mind, as well as the flames that pierced the dawn.
"Jack! Begin heading for those rocks over there. We'll anchor out of sight so we can take them by surprise." Harry orders, turning his head slightly to the helmsman, who nods his head and begins to turn the wheel.
Cannons going off made me close my eyes for a moment, the deafening boom and explosion raging in the air.
"We're arriving too late." Shayla whispers and I open my eyes slowly, looking at the water in front of me. "No, we arrived just on time. There's no way we would've been able to get back before they attacked. Besides, being able to show up out of nowhere to fight will catch them off guard. They think we might have died back at their Capital." I say seriously and she nods to me, a frown on her face.
"I have a really bad feeling about how this was all planned. Doesn't it seem too perfect?" she murmurs to me so no one else can hear and I nod. "Their Emperor must be an incredibly talented military strategist." I mumble and Shayla sighs.
"There's no doubt one or two traps waiting for us." she says a little louder, the others looking at us.
"Of course there are going to be traps," Harry muses, stretching his arms out in front of him with a sigh. "This whole setup is a trap. There's no way we're not going to fall into one. We just have to be smart enough to get ourselves out of it." he says and I take in a breath.
It was going to be easier said than done. No one said it aloud, but everyone was thinking it, that much I could tell. No one wanted to admit that these traps scared them. This entire war we were plunging into scared them.
We were all terrified of what we were about to do: thirty or so men against nearly a thousand. The odds aren't exactly in our favor, no matter what way you look at it. Their ships are also positioned to their advantage, while we're having to go out of the way just to find an entrance to the shore.
I shook my head to get rid of the negative thought, not wanting to be completely pessimistic about the entire thing. We did have a chance to get out of this alive. I had to believe that.
Besides, I can't go down here. I have Layla...and I have Harry. I can't leave them.
The sun began to rise a little more, the red spreading across the sky, licks of orange flickering here and there. It was a beautiful devastation. The flames from Eastborne seemed to flow into the dawn sky, perfectly matching the destruction.
"If it weren't for the blood being spilled at the moment, I'd say it was a beautiful sunrise." Niall says with a sigh and I nod my head in agreement.
"There's no use continuing to stare at it. Let's prepare for battle." Harry says, shaking his head before turning around, leaving the side of the ship and going to the helmsman.
"He's right. Get your weapons ready." Louis says, walking away as well, Niall following him. Layla and Shayla stayed with me, all three of us remaining quiet for a few moments as we took everything in.
"Momma?" Layla asks quietly and I look down to her, seeing the worried look on her face.
"Nobody's going to go away, right? I'll be able to see everyone after this, won't I?" she asks and my heart tightens inside my chest, my throat dry as I stare at her.
The smallest smile came to my face as I kneeled down, putting a hand on top of her head, gently rubbing it back and forth. Her green eyes pierced my blue ones and the desperation for comfort in her gaze made me falter in what I was going to say.
"I...I can't make any promises, sweetheart. But one thing is for sure," I say, forcing my smile to get bigger. "I will not be going anywhere. After this is over we can go see Gramma, and it'll be like old times." I say and happy tears welled in her eyes.
She hugged me tightly, my eyes widening at the shaking of her body as she clung to me. I don't give her enough credit. She knows what's about to happen, and she's terrified.
"It's a promise!" she cries, sniffling a few times and my shoulders slack, putting my arms around her as she cried into my chest. "You aren't leaving!" she adds and a sad smile comes to my face.
"Mm-hmm. I'm not." I whisper, glancing over to see Shayla giving me a dubious stare. It was almost like she was questioning why I was making such a promise. I had no way of knowing if I was going to live through this.
But I had to. I can't leave Layla by herself. Besides...there's so much I have to live for.
I patted Layla's head one last time before lifting her face up, making her look at me. The corners of her eyes were red from crying, and her bottom eyelids were lined with tears.
"I need you to do me a favor as well," I say, watching as she blinks a few times confused, sobering up a little as she faces me. "I need you to stay out of harms way in the battle. Just as you don't want me leaving you, I can't have you leave me." I say and she smiles softly at me.
"Don't worry Momma, I won't go anywhere. I'll take care of myself." she promises and I wipe a tear from her face.
"It's a promise." I say, and she gives me a happy smile, the promise both of us made somehow reassuring her. If she knew I wanted to be with her and never wanted her to be away from me, it'd motivate her to stay safe. And she knew it'd motivate me to win.
"I have to go get ready now, but will you stay where I can see you?" I ask and she nods her head, wiping her face with her hands before taking in a deep breath.
"I'll be strong!" she says and I raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Strong?" I ask and she smiles.
"When you are down and worn out, I'll be your strength!" she says surely, a fire in her eyes that reminded me very much of her father. A smile came to my face as I realized she didn't mean physical strength.
"Yeah, that's right." I say, standing back up, looking out over the railing, seeing how close we were getting to the shore.
"Bella." Shayla says and I nod my head. "I know." I reply, giving Layla a quick goodbye before going to get myself ready.
While I was cleaning my sword, Shayla stood in front of me with her arms crossed. "You realize the depth of that promise you made, right?" she asks me and I let out a heavy sigh.
"Of course I do. But I also couldn't just sit there and tell Layla that no one would come out of this alive. She'd never let us leave the ship. Or she'd do something as reckless as trying to fight with us." I mutter and she sighs.
"I know, I know. I just...I hope you know what you're doing out there," Shayla mutters before looking me dead in the eye, making me stop all of my movements.
"Don't you dare die, Bella." she says in an authoritative way and I stare at her in shock. She's been intense before, but not like this. At least not with me.
"I won't," I murmur before frowning. "And you can't die either, dummy." I mutter and a smirk comes to her face.
"Like any of those soldiers can kill me. I doubt any of them could." she brags and I smile for a moment before it fades. "I'm serious." I whisper and she stares at me, both of us locked in a gaze as heaviness weighs on both of us.
"It's a serious wager to make that promise." she says and I smile. "Then you know how seriously I need you alive." I reply and she laughs.
"You never make it easy, do you Bella? But I promise. None of those soldiers are going to take me away from you." she says and I smile back at her, feeling slightly relieved.
After we both finished getting ready, we looked over at England's shore, the ships closer than ever and now I could actually see what was going on.
My eyes widened in shock as I saw civilians scattered across the sand, blood staining the sand. There were so many dead people already. But there were no Imperial Soldiers from the castle there...
It was a one-sided massacre.
I covered my mouth with my hands, seeing the Aluverian Soldiers completely overriding the beach; swords, spears, and other weapons in their hands as they continued to chase the civilians.
"They're going to pay." Niall growls beside me and I jump, not realizing he had come up beside me. My eyes widen as I see the look in his eyes. I've never once seen him so angry before. As I look around me, Harry, Shayla, and Louis share the same look as Niall does.
The hatred and anger lighting up their eyes was fierce, and extremely intimidating.
I stared back out at the shore, setting a look on my face as we went towards the rocks, positioning ourselves in a place where we could jump from the ship and land on the first set of rocks.
"No mercy. Not now. If they aren't showing mercy, then neither will we." Harry orders, all of the men echoing a battle cry from behind. All of us went over to the edge, preparing to get off our ship to engage. My heart hammered in my chest, but a fire lit in my heart as I thought about all the destruction and death they were causing.
Narrowing my eyes, I clench my fists together, prepared for what I was about to do.
"Layla, stay here on the ship. You'll be safe." Harry orders and Layla nods slowly, watching all of us with concern in her eyes.
"Let's go!" Harry orders, groups of us jumping off the ship, using rope to guide us safely down. As I hit the ground, I took off running, all of us running up the rocks as we navigated our way through the sharp minefield.
"The rocks are loose! Watch for falling rocks!" Harry calls out as a warning and we all nod, running full speed towards the battlefield.
Once we all get to the top of the rocks, Harry and I in front, we pause, looking out at the field with, our eyes burning with rage as we saw just how much blood has been shed already.
A moment of silence fell as some of the Aluverian Soldiers spotted us from the side, staring at us before letting out a war cry. Drawing my sword, I take in a deep breath, calming my nerves. "Let's do this." I growl and Harry motions us all forward.
"Charge!!"
YAY I updated!! Cliffhanger...but yeah, y'all should be used to it by now...sort of? I really hope you like this chapter! I tried to build up a lot of suspense so I hope I accomplished that! Please let me know what you think is going to happen!!