Their shoulders heaved, all of their faces were bruised and battered, their blood and the blood of others coated them, but they still looked prepared to continue the fight as they raised their meager weapons. Aria hefted the broken spear; she rotated it in her hands as she moved to the place where she had climbed onto the beam. Bending low, she was about to leap onto the table when the doors on the other side of the room burst open.
Aria gawked as Natasha burst through the doors with Jack, Aria’s father, and the others hot on her heels. The aching tension in her muscles eased as she rose back up to take in the new melee that had erupted in the room. King’s soldiers and militia converged with a loud clash of metal and shouts of wrath and pain. Aria recoiled from the violence that reverberated through the room, the blood that was so ruthlessly and methodically shed, but she welcomed the hope the new arrival brought with them.
The attention of Caleb’s men was diverted as they were torn between pursuing Braith, and trying to fend off the new threat that had poured into the room. Calista surged to the forefront as Natasha tried to flee the invading army. Calista grabbed hold of the vampire woman and brought her down beneath her. Aria had never liked Natasha but that didn’t mean she wanted to witness her death either.
Aria turned away before Calista delivered the final blow. Daniel, Max, and Xavier leapt forward as the guards encircling them were distracted by the troops flooding the room. She was bracing herself for the leap down when Braith appeared beneath her. His face was bloody, his plain forest clothes were torn and ragged, there was still a hole in his chest and stomach but he appeared to be healing rapidly. Though she sensed violence in his set shoulders, and locked jaw, his eyes were not red as they met hers.
“Stay up there!” he barked.
Aria bristled over his command. He didn’t give her time to protest though as he began to push and fight his way toward Caleb. She was about to ignore him, about to jump down anyway when she froze. If her capture had taught her anything it was that she had to think before acting, and she sensed that this was one of those times when it was best for her to stay out of the way and not plunge into the fray. She would only be a distraction to her family and friends, and especially to Braith. Her rebellious nature struggled against her decision, but she managed to restrain herself.
Through the mob, Aria spotted her father by the doors of the massive throne room. There was a bloody bandage wrapped around his shoulder, but he appeared unhindered by the wound as he fired an arrow and killed a guard that leapt at him. Relief filled her; tears burned her throat as he lifted his head and spotted her across the crowd. They exchanged a brief smile and wave before he was once again swallowed by the crush of people.
Her attention was brought back to Caleb as he attempted to lose himself in the press of bodies while the two sides hacked and stabbed at each other with ruthless intent. Aria wasn’t about to let him get away that easy though. She followed him across the beams as Braith tracked him on the ground. The tide of the fight seemed to be turning in their direction, but it was still far from over as Caleb barked orders while retreating toward the table, and then onto it. Aria realized only too late what he was doing, what he intended. He’d never been retreating, but heading towards something.
“Braith watch out!” she screamed above the incessant din of the room as Caleb seized hold of a bow and arrow and took aim at Braith.
Braith twisted to the side, barely dodging the arrow Caleb shot at him. A loud roar escaped him as he finally broke free of the crush and bolted toward his brother in a blur of motion. Caleb fired another arrow that Braith snatched out of the air and tossed aside. Caleb threw the bow uselessly at Braith and braced himself for the impact.
Aria winced as they collided with a thunderous shout and the loud crack of at least one broken bone, though she didn’t know who had suffered it. She didn’t want to look, but she couldn’t take her eyes away as they fell on top of the table, pummeling and tearing at each other with a ferociousness that rivaled two alpha wolves fighting for dominance.
All of their hatred toward each other erupted in a violent battle that shattered the plates, crushed and bent the golden goblets, knocked the candle holders over, and toppled a few of the poor souls trapped within the chairs. They rolled across the table as they punched and kicked and scrambled to stay on top, to remain in control, to destroy the other. The guttural, animalistic noises that came from them were unlike anything she’d ever heard and she hoped to never hear again.
Braith was healing fast but he was still impaired, and Caleb had been feeding better than he had. But even so, it appeared that Braith was winning as he leveled Caleb with a brutal blow that caved his cheekbone in. Caleb howled as he clawed at Braith’s face, trying to tear at his eyes as he fought to escape Braith’s devastating punches.
Nausea twisted in Aria’s stomach. This is war and it’s brutal, she reminded herself. She’d done her fair share of killing today, but what was between them was something more than the war surrounding them. This was a vehemence that had been building for centuries, and was finally being released in a torrent of blood and loathing.
Caleb somehow managed to twist in Braith’s grasp and dodge the next punch. Braith’s fist slammed into the heavy wood table, the harsh sound of cracking bone was distinct even over the raucous of the room.
Braith cursed loudly, he jerked his broken hand back as Caleb thrust his fingers into Braith’s Adam’s apple. Braith was thrown off enough by the switch in attack methods that Caleb was able to get his legs in between them and push Braith off. Braith fell back on the table as Caleb scrambled out from under him. Caleb staggered to his feet, nearly fell over, but somehow managed to keep his balance as he grabbed hold of one of the torches in the sconces above him.
A cry of horror escaped her as Caleb thrust at Braith with the flame. Braith jerked back as the flames caught at the tail end of his shirt. He slapped at the flames, beating them out as Caleb launched at him again. Knocking the torch aside, Braith seized hold of Caleb’s arm and jerked him forward. Caleb managed to dodge Braith’s punch, he slammed his shoulder into the lower part of Braith’s chest and propelled them both across the table.
They tumbled over, bouncing across the hard surface before spilling onto the floor beneath her feet. Braith seized hold of Caleb’s shirt, lifted him up and smashed him into the floor. Caleb was stunned for a moment, but then he rapidly kicked out at Braith as he was lifted high again. Aria had been so focused on the fight between them that she didn’t notice the soldier that had come up behind Braith until he smashed a club off of Braith’s back.
A cry of distress tore from her as Braith pitched forward beneath the force of the blow. Braith spun as the guard went back at him with the club raised high and a malicious gleam in his eyes. Grabbing hold of the club, he ripped it from the man’s hands and swung it across his face. While he was distracted Caleb threw himself at Braith’s back. The knife he brandished gleamed in the light of the room. Braith knocked his hand aside, blocking Caleb from slitting his throat completely, but Caleb was still able to cut him. Blood spilled forth as Braith’s sliced skin began to bleed profusely, and more guards encircled him.
She had relented and stayed aloft, but there was no way she could stand idly by and watch Braith be murdered in cold blood. Her gaze fell to the piece of broken flag pole she had left behind and she scurried back to it. The ominous feeling that she may already be too late gave her a burst of tremendous speed as she propelled herself back toward Braith.
Braith was struggling against two guards when Aria launched herself off the beam at Caleb. There was a moment when it almost felt as if she were flying, almost felt as if Braith would die while she was suspended like a feather in the air. And then, finally, she was falling.
Caleb staggered beneath her as she crashed onto his back and nearly drove him to his knees. He somehow managed to catch his balance as she wrapped her legs around his waist and clenched her thighs against his sides. With a ferocious cry, she lifted the makeshift stake above her head and plunged it down. Caleb’s skin and bone gave way with a loud crunch beneath the fractured wood as she drove it through with a strength born of terror and love. His legs gave out as the pole broke through his ribcage and pierced the other side. Even before she saw the angle of the pole she knew it hadn’t been a direct blow to his heart.
A howl escaped him as he jerked back and tried to throw her off, but Aria adhered to him like a burdock to cloth. She bit back a cry of agony and frustration as he clawed at her over his back, tearing her arms open but not slicing as deep as the creatures from The Barrens had. Caleb beat at her, catching the corner of her eye and splitting her lip as she tried to keep her face shielded from him.
Suddenly Braith was before them. She’d never seen him look like this before, feral and lethal but with an air of control he’d never possessed when her life was threatened before. His eyes, as they met hers, were not rubies. Instead they were a piercing gray that touched the very core of her soul with their beauty. She knew, without words, without a gesture or move, what he wanted her to do.
A final burst of energy poured through her as she leapt off of Caleb’s back. Braith lunged forward and grabbed her around her waist. Pulling her protectively against him, he slammed his right hand into Caleb’s chest. An inhuman wail escaped Caleb; he reared back beneath Braith’s assault as Braith yanked back with a mighty heave. Aria turned away, and buried her face in Braith’s neck as Caleb’s wail increased in frequency before silencing completely.
She shook against him, clinging to his solid frame as he held her flush against his side with her feet dangling in the air. His hand trembled as he brushed the sweat dampened strands of hair back from her face. She didn’t even care he was touching her with the hand that had just destroyed his brother as she lifted her gaze to meet his frantic eyes. She simply stared at him for a moment, basking in the feel of him.
A small breath escaped her, he was the only thing she could see, the only thing she could feel as he kissed her firmly, bit into his wrist and offered his blood to her. She stared at it for a moment before snagging hold of it and pressing it to her mouth. She eagerly swallowed, pulling his blood into her body as she tried to rid herself of the awful taste of the king’s blood that stained her tongue and throat. The sweetness of his blood, the pureness of it flowed into her, healing her at the same time it helped to purge her system.
He kissed her forehead as he stepped back from the table and turned her into the shadows of an alcove. Aria gradually became aware of the hush that had descended around them and she released Braith’s arm. Her hand pressed into the hollow of his back as she leaned around him to survey the room. The few soldiers that continued to fight were swiftly being taken down. It seemed that when Caleb had been destroyed, most of the king’s remaining soldiers had given up the fight. There were pushed against the opposite wall, their weapons on the ground at their feet and their arms raised in surrender.
There was a new King now.
“Are we safe?” she whispered.
Braith’s lips were warm against her ear as he bent his head to hers. “Yes. You are safe now Arianna.”
Aria’s heart hammered, her hand clenched upon his back, she didn’t want to let him go, but she had to.
Her grip on him eased as he slid her to her feet. Bodies littered the ground; blood splattered the floor, walls, and fighters that remained. She somehow managed to keep from vomiting as she surveyed the carnage. Jack momentarily came to the forefront, he gestured frantically for Braith to join him. Foreboding filled her as she took a step toward the large group. Braith seized hold of her face, turning her away from the casualties strewn about the room and spilling into the hall beyond the massive doors.
“I have to help them.” She managed a small nod as his eyes raked her face. “I need you to stay here Aria. Please, do as I ask until everything is secure.”
She should help, but the idea of plunging into that pile of dead bodies was more than she could tolerate right now. The thought of finding one of her loved ones amongst the dead caused her stomach to twist into knots. It may be cowardice, but she couldn’t face that possibility right now, she simply couldn’t. They were alright, they had to be; she just couldn’t see them right now through the crush of humans and vampires filling the room. “I will.”
His eyes closed for a brief moment as his shoulders sagged. He kissed her for a lingering moment before reluctantly releasing her; he grabbed a bow, and a mostly empty quiver of arrows from the body of a dead guard. Aria accepted the blood splattered weapons. She took a step back as she watched Braith disappear into the swell of bodies. Though she didn’t relish the thought of killing anyone else, she pulled an arrow from the quiver and rested it against the bow as she searched the crowd.
