Flames of Fury

Magnolia

Incandis, Xander, Kat, and Ember are all waiting outside the war room when me and the guys arrive. Kat and Ember take the babies from Ro and Varian, I laugh to myself how they gave our parents more shit about taking the twins than they do Kat and Ember.

“Everyone here?” I ask Incandis and Xander.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m afraid it’s standing room only at this point.” Xander apologizes but that’s fine, I’d rather be on my feet with the amount of energy running through me.

“Great, thanks Xander.”

We walk into the war room where close to 150 people are packed in at my instruction. They have all stopped what they were doing to be here, and the work they’re doing is vital to the happiness and wellbeing of not only the colony but the pack as well so I want to be respectful of their time and get them back to their stations as fast as possible.

“Good afternoon, thank you for being here on short notice.” I address the room. “I want to get you all back to your work, so I’ll save my long winded gratitude for tonight’s banquet.” A few of the guardians chuckle at this, they know that I’m not usually one to gush but I believe that meritorious service deserves to be recognized. They’ve also been with me most of my life so they feel comfortable relaxing a little and giving the occasional laugh where appropriate.

“Let’s start with numbers. How many from Shadowmoon made it into the Grove?” I don’t specify a person to answer, my people know exactly who I’m talking to.

“567, not including their majesties and their family.” I can feel Ro’s and Varian’s confusion through our bond and I smirk because they don’t know they are the “majesties” he’s referring to. They’ll get it soon enough.

“How many are placed outside of the palace?”

“24. Eighteen guardian families have taken in the 24 male warriors that couldn’t be housed in the palace. Their food and lodging will be taken care of by the families.”

“Good, thank you. Make sure Xander gets the names of those families. Where are we with food and other supplies for the pack?”

“We’ve given every family a packed lunch and snacks to hold them over until tonight’s dinner. We will need to send out for an emergency supply run today, and then simply adjust our inventory orders thereafter.” Lucy answers my question and predicts my next, because that’s just how good she is – or maybe that’s just how predictable I am.

“Excellent. You’re relieved of this meeting then so you can make whatever preparations necessary.” The thirty or so members of the kitchen and palace staff shuffle out and get back to work. “Empaths, how is everyone handling the relocation?”

“As well as can be expected. The males are more angry than anything,” Eric begins, but he hazards a cursory glance at Ro and Varian when he mentions the males of the pack, “but that’s to be expected. The children have been calmed and the colony has been flocking to the palace with donations of toys and clothes for everyone. There is no longer any detectable panic. Fear and anxiety will probably increase briefly when we leave but we expect that tonight’s banquet will help settle those nerves. If I may say, my Queen, oddly enough it was easier to manage their moods with you in close proximity.”

Pride floods through me from Ro and Varian, but I don’t know what they’re so proud about. I didn’t do anything special. Anyone would have done the same in my position. My colony doesn’t shirk the call to help others in need.

“Thank you, Eric. All of you. Empaths are dismissed, please use this time to rest.” Another dozen or so people exit the room. With every answer I get, I can feel the burden of anxiety and doubt lifting off of my shoulders. So far so good, but now we’re heading into more treacherous waters.

“Death toll?”

“Unchanged, Love. The twelve deaths occured on pack lands and they’ve all been buried.” Varian speaks from behind me with his hand placed comfortingly on my lower back, not caring that over a hundred people are watching his every move around me.

“What of the injured? No fatalities once everyone was here in the Grove?”

“We were able to heal everyone, my Queen.” Dr. Heather answers me. “Ember’s help probably saved two dozen lives. Without her it would have been close. We also had several medical staff from Shadowmoon who made their way to the infirmary to volunteer their time and skills.”

I look towards Ember as Dr. Heather finishes her report and I smile at her appreciatively. I owe this woman so much. I’ll have to think long and hard about how to properly repay her for everything she’s done for me and for my people.

“Right now there are only seven people left in the infirmary. I’m going to check over them when I get back and hopefully discharge them. I expect they’ll be fully healed by morning.” Dr. Heather finishes.

“Great, that’s great to hear. Thank you. Medics are dismissed.” Nearly a third of the room files out, leaving only warriors and guardians of the Grove.

I take several beats to steel myself for the work we’re about to do. It may very well take us until the banquet so I’m grateful that my mother and Accalia agreed to orchestrate everything.

But before I address the group, there’s still one more question I need answering.

“Incandis, what have you gotten out of the prisoner?”

All eyes turn in unison towards Incandis, just as eager as I am for his response.

“Tears, mostly. Some intestines.”

There are a few rogue chuckles across the room which dry up immediately when flames lick across my skin. I turn my head towards him dangerously slowly and pin him with a look that could wilt every flower in a five mile radius.

Shadowmoon is as good as family as far as I’m concerned, which makes this attack on them an attack on us, and he’s being fucking cute?

Maybe I’ll throw him in the cells right next to the other guy.

“Mags you already know what he said, you knew it before any of us.” Incandis’ voice is soft and placating. “He’s with Illian.”

He’s right, I did suspect that. But suspecting something and having it confirmed are two different beasts. “What was he hoping to accomplish by sending only a dozen men to attack Shadowmoon?”

“To draw you out one way or another. Either you were there and you’re found because you’re one of the only things that wouldn’t have burned to the ground. Or…” Incandis hesitates to finish his sentence, looking anywhere except in my direction.

“Or what?” I challenge him.

His shoulders slump as he exhales a sigh. “Or, they expected you to run off and attack him like you did last time.”

“Hmm.” I scoff on a laugh. “Well, he’s right about one thing, I am going after him. But this time I’m bringing an army.”

“Mags, if we show up at his door with an army at our backs that’s as good as declaring war. The Elder’s Council —“ Incandis begins but I cut him off, he’s reminded me of another question I don’t yet have the answers to.

“Yes, speaking of the Elder Council, have we gotten anywhere on why they’ve been dragging their feet on Ianthe’s petition of war?”

“No, ma’am,” Malin speaks up, “they haven’t been returning our calls for the last two weeks.”

“Hm, interesting,” I say flatly while I begin to roll out the maps that the warriors had drawn up with Ember yesterday.

It’s interesting and uninteresting to me in equal measure. It’s rather curious why they’ve put up roadblock after roadblock, it’s like they’re trying to actively prevent a war without having to take ownership of actually saying the words.

But that’s a fight for another day, because despite their laws, I’m going after Ian anyway.

“Council or no council, make no mistake we are at war.” I say firmly.

“Mags you can’t.” Incandis interjects again, but he’s not factoring in one critical detail.

“You’re right, technically I can’t,” I admit, and then I turn slightly to look at Ro and Varian, “but they can.” A devious smile diffuses across my face.

“Ian didn’t attack us, he attacked Shadowmoon. The wolves can’t be governed by dragon law. As Alphas, Ro and Varian have every right to go to war with Drow Hollow.”

My mates’ eyes darken, partially with blood lust for revenge, and partially with good old fashioned lust for me.

I smirk at them indecently and tease them by letting my tongue lick against my bottom lip. “And if Shadowmoon should happen to seek aid from Twilight Grove,” I shrug with feigned innocence, “who are we to turn down our allies?”

The guardians smirk at me, it may be a loophole but it’s one we’d all gladly jump through in order to finish Ian off.

“My young Queen, we will follow you anywhere. But there’s still the issue of simply getting into Drow Hollow. Ember’s interior maps won’t do us any good if we can’t breach their walls.” Malin says.

“Could we teleport in?” Xander poses.

“No, the corridors can be small and we only get one chance at surprise. If we’re trickling in, the plan is fucked.” I smooth out the maps, looking at the edges to see if there are any weaker points that we could enter through.

There’s the sunken lake that Ember and I escaped from. But even assuming they haven’t caved that in, we’re still left with the same bottleneck issue.

“What about Ralph?” Ro says from behind me, everyone looking at him with the same confused expression.

My brows knit together and I shake my head quickly in a what-the-fuck manner.

“My Ralph?” Xander asks Ro and now I’m perfectly perplexed.

“Someone explain. Now, please.” I snap at both of them, now is not the time for inside jokes.

“When we were at Shadowmoon, Xander mentioned knowing an elemental — an earth elemental by the sound of it. Could someone with his gift undo the barricades to the caves?”

The more I process his words the closer my jaw gets to the floor. I look to find Ember but her eyes are already on me, but her mouth is pulled into a tight frown with her jaw tense.

“Oh my Gods, how did we not realize that sooner?” She shakes her head.

“Argh, that snake!” I hiss. “No wonder we never found a way out, the fucking son of a bitch was using elementals.” I pound my fist on the table, delighting in the crack of the bones in my fingers.

“Malin,” I look at my mother’s head guard, “does the offer for aid from Pine Grove and Rose Wood still stand?”

He smiles warmly at me and nods, he knows where I’m going with this. “Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Xander, call your friend Ralph of Rose Wood. We’re going to need every elemental in their colony.”

Xander disappears almost immediately, hopefully he’s going directly to Rose Wood to speak to their leaders and call on them for aid.

I straighten myself up head high and my voice clear. “Ian must have been using earth elementals to barricade the caves. It’s the only explanation for how he blocked them all off so quickly and how we managed not to suffocate. I’m sure he had them open the tunnels at various times to let in fresh air.”

I look back down at the maps Ember helped draw up yesterday. “Okay, four colonies, four directions. North, East, South, West. We flood in from all sides, two or three elementals in each group removing the barricades as we descend into the Hollow.”

“My Qu—“

“Mags.” I immediately interrupt Malin. I appreciate his need for tradition and titles but I don’t have time for them to tiptoe around me.

Malin practically scowls like the idea of calling me by my given name is unsettling. “Magnolia,” he says slowly, cautiously testing out how it feels, much like how someone would dip their toe in the ocean to test the temperature of the water before committing to taking the plunge, “if we bring the fight to them it would effectively eliminate any ranged attacks. It would be almost entirely hand to hand combat.”

“That’s actually to our benefit,” Ember speaks up. “The Drow are highly skilled in ranged combat, but that’s about it. They shy away from any hand to hand fighting and will attempt to distance themselves as much as possible.”

“And with the wolves with us…” I grin and sneak a peek at Ro and Varian who are grinning wildly at me.

“Hand to hand is our specialty.” The twins say with a dark promise of death to any Drow that crosses them.

“What other advantages might they have, Ember?” Malin addresses her directly.

“They’re highly resistant to magic and poison. Most of their weapons are coated in poisons which is why they prefer ranged attacks. They don’t have to be all that precise, a hit on you anywhere with a poison soaked blade is a sure death.”

I beam at Ember with pride, I’m so thankful to have her here with us. I know she has as good a reason as any of us to want to torch Ian, so I’m delighted to be able to give her that opportunity.

My phone buzzes with a message from Xander.

X: Rose Wood is a go. Heading to Pine Grove now.

Things are falling into place nicely. “Alright guardians, we’ve got about five hours until the banquet. Let’s plan out our strategies for getting in and ambushing them. Leave Ian to me.”

The guards huddle around the table pointing to the map, drawing notes and getting right to strategy. By this time tomorrow I expect we’ll have a fully developed plan of attack and I’ll finally get the revenge on Ian that I’m ravenous for.