Morning dawned with the sun's rays filtering through the sides of the tent. Isabella slept on as Edward kneeled and parted the flaps to peer outside. Storm-Heart, Doom-Hallow, Venom-Tongue, and Iron-Shadow were nearby, huddled at the top of the rise that separated them from The Forsaken. Edward stared at the back of his brother's head and hoped he would have the chance to sleep instead of going off to war. The last thing he wanted was for them to be unprepared. The confidence he once felt in his brother's ability to fight waned as the minutes before they faced the enemy drew to a close.
He heard her stirring behind him and turned to greet Isabella. The fist which held his gut clenched at the sight of her sleep-tousled hair and heavy lids.
"You look so beautiful."
She smiled and then yawned. "I cannot possibly look beautiful now."
"Why ever not?"
She crawled over to where he sat and kissed his cheek. "After yesterday's ride and sleeping on the ground, I am not at my best."
"You do not have to be at your best to be beautiful, my love."
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, clearly." Isabella ran her hand over her tangled hair. "We should get something to eat and see if the others are awake."
"I haven't seen anyone but those on watch."
"They remain in their tents, most likely. We have jerky and dried fruit to break our fast."
They climbed out of the tent and sat by the ashes which were once the fire. Within minutes, Edward had it blazing once more, and Isabella handed him his food. He set about eating quickly and then began unwinding the braids from his wife's hair.
"I didn't bring a brush," she said.
"It matters not."
He ran his fingers through the waves and then began the task of binding them back into many braids wound together. He made certain all her hair was off her face and behind her head before he tied off the last leather strip.
"There."
"You are too kind to me, my husband."
Considering how much he enjoyed the intimate task, he did not think it was overly kind of him. "Nonsense, Isabella. ߴTis my pleasure."
She sighed, wishing they were back home where they could have a normal day for a change. There had been nothing besides training since they were wed, and now they were about to face their worst enemy.
Soon, more of the warriors exited their tents and joined Isabella and Edward by the fire. Everyone carried the same food for breakfast and settled in for a quick morning meal.
"I know you are all eager to be finished with this," Esme began. "I appreciate each and every one of you for being here."
The four on watch came to sit with them, Garrett taking the spot next to Edward.
"How do you fare?" Edward asked.
"Nervous. You?" Garrett rubbed his palms on his pants before taking up his breakfast.
"The same."
"Have they moved, Doom-Hallow?" Esme asked.
Garrett shook his head. "No, chieftess."
"This is perplexing. I would think they would be eager to prove themselves and to move forward with great haste to take us off guard."
"Perhaps they know they cannot," Rosalie suggested.
"Perhaps." Esme didn't sound convinced.
"What are you thinking?" Carlisle asked his wife.
She tossed her braids over her shoulder and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "I've long since felt something was not right, but I cannot put my finger on what it could be."
"What doesn't feel right?" asked Jasper.
Esme was quiet for a few seconds. "The intelligence we've gathered is different each time. It does not always bear truth, I understand such, but it's as if they want us to think them weak. There has been no mention of them before they came here; no histories. From where, then, do they hail? If they are from far away, how did they hear of the sword? It isn't advertised. Few know we have it, and those few are of magic."
"What you're saying is dangerous, Mother," Isabella said. "You're suggesting they have inside knowledge of us as the Blood Protectors."
Esme nodded. "This is what disturbs me. Where did they gain such knowledge?"
Katrina held up a hand. "Truthfully, the town of Stormcoast knows who we are."
Several of them nodded in agreement.
"Why would any of them have had reason to meet with one from Blackthorn?" Carlisle countered.
"Trading?" Katrina suggested. "It isn't a secret, exactly, merely not something which is spoken of far and wide."
"Well, if it isn't a secret, then it's common knowledge," Edward pointed out.
Emmett nodded. "It is a rather poorly kept secret. There are some things which are never spoken of, and some of which are general knowledge."
"This isn't the point, honestly." Isabella pointed over her shoulder in the direction of Blackthorn. "The point is, we don't know who we're facing, and they haven't attacked us though we sit here in the open."
"So, we move cautiously but hit them hard," Jasper suggested.
"That's what I think, too," Tanja agreed, slipping an arm around the neck of her wolf as it came to sit beside her.
The others agreed. With a plan in place, they began to break up camp. Edward was dismayed to find that Garrett did have to leave with them rather than sleep. The intense worry he'd felt ever since the day before was there in his bones now, aching directly into his soul. They would fight an unknown enemy within the hour. If ever there was a test of his strength and endurance, it would be now.
The wolves gathered with their owners and everyone mounted their horses. The order was the same, with rank taking precedence. Edward kept his focus on Isabella as his main priority. Something was amiss, he was positive of that fact, and yet Esme and the others had hashed it out and come to a resolution. There was nothing more to be done than follow orders.
As they traversed the land, grass eventually became dirt, and trees were fewer and much farther in between. What remained was twisted trunks and bare branches, crows seated atop them in thick groups of inky watchers. Edward felt the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck rise as a premonition of death and destruction washed over him. The day would not end well, he knew it in his bones.
"Isabella, I need you to know how much I love you."
She slowed her horse to match the pace of his. "Until the sun turns black in the sky. I remember."
"It isn't merely that. I have a terrible feeling about this."
She frowned. "It's only natural to fear your first battle."
"My only fear is losing you," he insisted. It was not simply fear, he realized, but a deep-seated knowledge that something wasn't right.
"You cannot. You have me for eternity, remember?"
He tried to accept her smile, patronizing or not. "I remember."
He swallowed around a dry throat and returned his gaze in front of them. Once again, she would not see his fear as valid. He couldn't blame her when she feared nothing and no one—only this time, he knew something was coming for which they were not prepared. He couldn't pinpoint how he knew, but the feeling was too strong to ignore.
It did not take them as long as he would have expected to find them. He assumed the enemy had been moving in their direction so they would meet sooner. In the near distance, he spotted a large group of black-cloaked beings seated on massive horses. Everyone saw them at the same time, and Dark-Sorrow held her hand up in a gesture meant to stop her troop.
"What in the ever-loving hell is that?" Raven-Sword murmured.
"That's the fate we were chosen to meet, sister," Emmett said from Alise's side.
"So Mother was correct," Jasper said. "They fooled us."
"Nay," Isabella corrected. "They attempted to fool us, but Mother knew."
"She knew too late," Rosalie said to her sister.
"They'll kill us all," Wolf-Hammer whimpered.
Skull-Strike glared at Caius. "Get ahold of yourself, or sit this one out."
"Enough, all of you," Carlisle barked.
"We go in as planned," Esme ordered. "We flank them and take them out. No one is to pass the middle mark, on your lives."
Esme's orders were easier said than done, in Edward's mind. Destiny is all, as the saying goes.
Where they'd expected eleven fighters, there was at least a score. Where they'd expected tall men, there were mammoth horses with men astride them who seemed to be stretched to an unrealistic height. There was an unnatural stillness about the men who waited; they wore cloaks with deep hoods which covered their faces, two glowing orbs in place of eyes.
"Am I the only one who thinks they resemble the Wandering Nightmares, but much, much taller?" Alise asked.
Jasper frowned at his wife. "Yes, and the fact they haven't made a move in our direction is eerie."
"We need to get moving," Emmett said. "As Dark-Sorrow ordered."
With deep regret, Edward urged his mount forward to join the others. The sound of galloping hooves was the only noise to be heard. The Forsaken did not move in the slightest as the True-Sworn drew closer. Not until the last possible second was there movement from the other side, and then it became the nightmare Edward feared.
As the True-Sworn attacked, the beings barely reacted. Swords went through misty black cloaks, arrows found no purchase. Confusion set in as they hardly fought back, and Edward knew in his heart they were in even more danger.
The sound came from not too far off. It was a battle cry, a snarling and a screaming meant to set their opponents' teeth on edge and the hair rising. They wielded spears and spikes, throwing them at the True-Sworn and pulling more weapons from their sides. Bone-Crusher found himself off his horse and face to face with a member of The Forsaken who went after Widow-Maker while Isabella was busy fighting off another, and all around them was chaos.
"Shadow beings!" Raven-Sword called out. Alise's revelation didn't do them a bit of good at that point.
The Forsaken had magic, it seemed. There were many more entities on the field, but only some of them could fight well. The issue was the confusion and the times the shadow beings did fight back. The other issue was the fact that The Forsaken were quite tall, brawny, and well-trained fighters.
There was screaming, grunting, and the sound of steel on steel ringing in his ears. Edward stood back to back with Widow-Maker, intent on fighting off her attackers. He'd taken one down with a jarring blow to the face which would not soon see that man getting up again. He fought off another, seeing the blood-red eyes of one and the nearly white eyes of another. They wore animals as head coverings and painted their skin. Savage was the word which came to his mind.
It became a blur of motion; fighting, waiting, defending. The wolves fought by the sides of their archwarriors in the middle of the melee, snarling and snapping their massive jaws. His wife remained glued to his back, the only comfort to be found. There were moments when he thought the fighting would never cease, and then one long, endless moment where he wished he had the ability to turn back time.
He knew not from whence they came, only that suddenly there were hulking men grabbing warriors and running off with them before anyone could catch them. Smoke appeared from the shadows and covered their faces, choking them and blinding their sight. It was insanity on the battlefield, and Bone-Crusher clutched his wife's hand as Raven-Sword was stolen right off her steed.
"Isabella!" Edward shouted, heedless of her warrior title. He cared not for niceties when Alise had just been kidnapped.
"Stay here!" she ordered and ran off.
But, of course, he didn't listen.
He did wonder later, when his wounds were being tended and his heart bore a permanent hole, if staying would have changed the outcome. How could he not wonder if following orders would have been the correct choice, or second-guess whether he'd fucked everything up?
All he knew when the smoke cleared and the shadow beings disappeared, was that they were missing several members of the royal family.
And his mate was among the missing.
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