Rage of the Alpha (Part 2 of the Alpha Queen series)

Chapter 18

Trees shook. Birds took flight. The ground trembled as massive lacerations tore deep into the earth. Not one person questioned what this meant. Everyone knew: the Deamons had arrived.

Asher and Saber left to gather the Wolves first, aside from a general nod toward their friends, nothing was said. Ferian and Lamia went to corral the Witches, while Liffin and Lola appeared from nowhere to accompany Autumn and Winter - after rallying their own soldiers they would try to reach Summer and Spring if they could.

The Elves and Vampire Queen would seek out whatever Vampires remained, seeing as this could take a while and the Elves could blend into just about any surroundings, this made sense. Autumn kissed his wife senseless before leaving, which left her momentarily dazed, but the situation was dire, and they had to move.

Neall had declined to go with her daughter, knowing there was only one place for her to be. She tipped her head to the skies and closed her eyes, letting her senses wander around the gentleness of this place. Peace was too easily shaken as she learnt about the area. All the life here was every bit as tense as her, just waiting with bated breath to learn of their world's fate.

With no tranquility to be found, Neall opened her eyes once more and let them see for the first time, into her Mother's heart. It was something she had never dared before, something she knew would be a two-way bridge. But the time had come. Their world was at stake.

As soon as the connection was made, she did not hesitate - teleporting straight into the Fae Queen's chambers. The Queen whirled around gasping, her eyes like saucers as if the dead was walking the earth. She pointed a lone finger towards Neall and began to heave huge amounts of air. It looked like she was about to hyperventilate.

"Mother, I know you recognise me, but we honestly don't have time for theatrics. I appreciate the bombshell I have dropped on you, but we don't have time. Our allies have all gone to gather their soldiers. Surely you felt it. They are here. We are out of time. We must rally your army here and set out. We cannot fail. Saber cannot stand without us." Neall pleaded as best she could under the circumstances.

"Mother, please listen. Can you hear me?" She tried again, but the woman before her only stared at her, clearly the shock of the moment was too much. "I really don't want to do this, please respond before I have to take action."

Neall decided to try a page from Lola's book... She moved over to the decanter. Wine would have to do, she thought as she turned to face the Queen again. The splash echoed through the silence, blue fairy wine running over Mab's clothes, dripping from her astonished face.

"Please Mother, we are all in danger, we need you." Neall pleaded one last time. Tears sprang to life when the realization hit that Mab was gone, right when everything was about to go to shit, all because of Neall not facing her mother sooner. Only one option remained...

MAB

It was cold, so very, bone-chillingly cold. What is going on? How can it be this cold. I have never experienced a sensation quite like this, yet I know what it is. How? What is going on? She became aware that she was moving, but she couldn't see anything. It was not dark, rather... empty. Turning her head, her gaze locked onto a window and she hurried there, hoping to catch a glimpse of... anything.

The world Mab saw was her own - her chambers as she departed from them, hurrying through the corridors, and down the stairs. A tendril of unease snaked through her as she came upon the barracks.

"Look alive boys and girls! Time to mobilize. The Deamons are here. We're meeting our allies in 30 minutes." Mab heard herself shout at her soldiers. She banged against the window futilely. This cannot be happening!

"I'm not giving these orders. Can't you tell you damned idiots? Have you ever heard me speak this way?" Mab shouted from behind the glass.

It's someone else damnit, it's not me, and then it struck her.

"Who are you! You bastard, free me immediately!" Mab screamed at the demon who had taken possession of her. It had to be one of his brothers. He wouldn't dare.

"It's me Mother. Try to calm yourself. My father is nowhere close. And we won't be meeting him without Saber. Just, try to stay calm. Your screaming is giving me a headache, and I really need to focus. It's only my second time doing this, so please." Came a woman's voice as if she were standing right by her side.

With trepidation, Mab turned her head very slowly. The resemblance to Argon was stunning, as much as this woman's beauty was.

"This cannot be, my daughter is dead. You must be a relative of Argon to have such a strong likeness to him. Who are you?" Mab said quietly.

"I assure you, my name is Neall. And I was born from the fires of the pyre you lit, when you thought me dead. The fire that gave me life also gave me basic knowledge, but most of what I know comes from the human realm. However, right now, at this very moment, your mate has invaded our realm. I am not as adept as I should be, but you are. We need to focus on defeating them now. I promise I will not leave. Can you retake your body now? Will you be able to do what needs doing Mother?"

"I think I need a moment," Mab admitted, turning to the window in an effort to avoid the pain of what this woman was telling her.

"There isn't much time to give you. We must know their numbers and strength before we meet them. Your power can do that because you are still linked to them whereas I was born here - I have no such link. And I fear they would discover me instantly if I tried using your power." But Neall was backing away, to give her mother a semblance of time.

"Please think carefully about everything I said Mother. Saber will need both of us."

SABER

Having linked with all the Alphas, it took very little time for the Wolves to arrive. The furthest pack was three days from where Sebastian's pack lived. But her old home village was situated right in the centre of them all. Naturally this was an ideal location to depart from. Between Asher and herself, they had been able to teleport the entirety of the "Wolf devision" - as Asher had taken to calling them - in half an hour, giving them all plenty of time to rest while waiting for their allies.

Between the two of them and the Alphas, they had come up with a temporary strategy which would bring half the wolves along the coast, and the other half through the forested area. This was based, however, on Asher's recalling of a dream Saber could not remember no matter how hard she tried.

Apparently, the coastal bit was only a hunch on his part, but Saber was certain her mother would find the demons and let them know somehow. A commotion and then a roar of voices broke out from the edge of the trees. All Saber could see was a white flag, held high above the heads of the Wolves.

"Who is it?" She demanded through the link to the furthest wolf.

"It seems the Fae Queen's men have arrived, my Queen, your mother among them." He answered straight away.

"Let them through quickly," Saber felt anxious to see her mother, but she sincerely hoped her grandmother did not come. Maybe she found it so difficult to relate to the Queen because her mother was much more like Zarina. That little power display before the Elves feast also reminded her too much of something the Queen might do.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Saber managed one look at Asher, who was suddenly by her side, just as her mother cleared the trees. Not seeming to care, Neall rushed to embrace Saber, so that even Asher found himself caged by her arms. Saber lifted her head to find Mab staring at them.

No way around this then.

Saber untangled herself from her mother's arms and walked to meet the Fae Queen, squaring her shoulders while clenching her jaw. She held out a hand, "Thank you for coming." Knowing full well Mab would never have said or expected that.

To everyone's shock, Mab clasped her forearm in the warrior way, "Thank you for allowing me, my Queen."

The silence went beyond deafening, it was suffocating, but Saber held her ground even when she wanted nothing more than to rip this imposter apart - or maybe crawl into a hole and cry for the way things turned out.

"If you would call me by original name, Zarina, we can discuss the information I've gathered. Let's get these fuckers - as you would call them - out of our world grandchild."

Eveyone around them froze once more and gaped. Saber could not help but accept the unspoken challenge: to wield the crown and save their world, in return the Fae Queen just relinquished her title and abdicated her throne in front of both Fae and Wolf. Saber could only nod.

"King Asher, lead the way." Zarina requested.

King Asher and the Alphas were so adept with war and battle that plans and back-up plans were produced swiftly. In no time at all, both armies were readied and awaiting their command. Ravens were used to communicate with Autumn and Winter - who by this time had only been able to convince the Spring Court.

Summer preferred to wait it out and take their chances at being co-rulers with the Deamons, proving to Saber beyond a doubt that Caspian came from there. The Elves found a couple of hundred remaining Vampires who had refused to accept the usurper, fleeing the nest before they could be executed. Needless to say they were thrilled to have their Queen back.

Ferian and Lamia were also successful with the Witches. When Lamia's Mother heard her Elven friend stood a chance at reverting back, she told them she would die to help save her friend anyway, why not the world too.

Saber was at the head of the Wolf army with the Alphas by her side. She was scared as hell. Although much of her advice had been used during their war meeting, she still felt a little... green. Most of the nausea was nerves, pure and simple. And the rest of it was the death, there would be countless casualties and Saber truly hoped she would be able to stay the course.

They were heading to war, and it was surreal. As their army moved - in wolf-form so they were ready for any ambush - Saber was numb and just going through the motions. A type of lethargy had taken hold of her because she did not want this war, and her body seemed lazy to accept any commands. Just when she was chiding herself yet again for not keeping pace with the Alphas, Saber felt it. That feeling of darkness.

She almost wished they could just stop for a minute so she could hold Asher, but he was leading the Fae - as their King no less. It had turned out a walk in the park to teleport both armies. Neall had cast her gaze over everyone and with a flourish, she had snapped her fingers, sending everyone where they needed to be.

Although there was one thing missing - her father. There were so many things she needed to ask- needed to know. As they drew closer, she imagined her father would have talked and prepared her. It was a bittersweet thought - one that distracted her mind from where this was heading.

Just before they cleared the last trees, Saber could make out what looked like a dark cloud descended upon the land. As she stared for a moment, she mumbled, “I wish my Dad was here.”

"We're here with you honey." Looking over her shoulder, it seemed all the Wolves were urging her on. Saber heard each one through the link, saying the same. Her heart wanted to explode with gratitude. The Alphas smiled and the closest tipped up her chin. Thunder echoed in the distance, the rumbling sneaking closer.

Rain started pouring over them. Her aching heart could not withstand the enormity of emotion that washed through her. The flame tattoo beneath her foot was suddenly burning, but she didn’t care. It felt familiar, like her body knew what was happening even as her mind thought about the loss of life this day would bring.

The burning fire spread upwards, slowly sneaking its way toward the lightning tattoo on her tummy. The swirling heat from both combined until she felt nauseous. It spread agonizingly slow over the rest of her as she fell to her knees, eventually coming to her heart.

The feeling when it met with her past pain and suffering was staggering. It exploded and sent a shock wave outwards. The wave connected with the approaching darkness and it dissipated, leaving Saber horrified at the sight before her. She remembered this dream now. I followed my father in the dream, and he lead me here, right to this spot before he vanished.

It was impossible to discern any individual person from the sea of the enemy’s army. Appearing as a painting of innumerable soldiers, dressed in all black. Metal weapons and shields reflecting the sunlight so one’s vision was blurred. A battle-cry came from her left and Saber saw countless Fae soldiers dressed in all white.

Her heart pined for the person at its head, the picture clearly showing off King Asher. His army was ready to attack, but they seemed to be waiting for something.

High-pitched ululation came from her right and she watched in amazement as thousands of witches arrived with multicolored clothing, halting in mid-air as the three factions formed an arrowhead.

The Witches' cry continued until it merged with those of her Wolves and the Fae. It was terrifying - but it filled Saber with a new strength. She looked to their enemy and noticed a lone figure coming forward. Herself and both other leaders made their way forward, standing in front of her grandfather. His features were not hidden like in the dream, but there could be no mistaking the power he held.

"Blood of my blood, I only see your armies. I would have thought you would at least bring my mate and child. Why did you not?" Argon did not seem happy that they weren't present.

The earth beneath them rumbled as he spoke. Her frustration with this man knew no bounds. Saber did not say anything, instead letting lightning slam the earth all around them. In response, the enemy’s wide-toothed grin could be seen clearly. The menace in his tone was undeniable.

“Then I shall have this world’s power before I destroy it."