｡･:*:･ﾟ★"We're not dying today. None of us are.":*:･ﾟ☆

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡"Everyone still here?" ･:*:･ﾟ☆

Beatrix

"That was our deal, was it not?" I hiss at Irene as I follow he quick stride through the hallways and try to ignore how fucking powerful it feels to stride confidently at her side as we give orders. "I keep you alive through this war and you help me achieve all the shit Rosalind promised I would."

"Language." Irene snaps, giving me a sharp look. "Swearing is an indicator of lack of knowledge. You should know better, and far more eloquent words to use to make your point."

"You swear."

"Do as I say, not as I do."

I roll my eyes.

"Regardless, you have already taught me how to charge my power during storms, two languages and how to braid my hair in those fancy braids of yours." She gives me a look when I pause for breath. "The point is, you held up your side of the bargain. Will you at least give me a chance to hold up my side."

"You want me to hide out in the Safehouse." She questions, turning to give me her full attention. "I am needed here right now, I cannot leave."

"No but after, when Rosalind no doubt makes a grand appearance. I have escape plans in place for you." I give her a hopeful look, begging that she will agree to go and keep her babe safe. I know she wants what is best for her child, little belle weighs on her mind but she has children here she can't bear to abandon either. "The specialists are loyal to you. Far more than they are loyal to Silva and Andreas. They can buy us some time as well, you would have a fully guarded escort through the forest. There would be no risk to the babe."

"You really have thought this through."

"Dane! Can we talk?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up-" He chokes in shock as I pin him to the wall by his throat.

"Irene supported you when you came out, threatened away the bullies and gave you advice." I state in reminder, arching a taunting brow. "I need you to return the favour."

Of course Dane wasn't my first or only plan.

"Kat! Wait up." The specialist turns with a smile, pride still gleaming on her face after being awarded the Dragon Blade. "I need a favour."

"You're Dolos, right?"

"Sam Harvey if you don't get me a medical kit I will burn you alive."

"Musa! You're friends with a few fourth years right. Would they like some protection charm practise?"

I may have gone overboard but Irene is the closest thing I have to a mother, not to mention Andreas cares for her dearly, and I won't see her harmed when it could all be easily avoided.

"Of course I've thought this through." I huff, ignore the slight insult that I would half-arse something as important as her life. "I take my job seriously."

"Alright." Irene nods hesitantly, eyeing me up and down in a new light. "But I only agree because you look and sound so much like Andreas right now, and we both know his plans tend to work at all costs."

I beam at the compliment, clutching the clipboard and information files in my arms tightly before striding into the courtyard ahead of her. The extension charms have been put in place and the first and second years are carting in infirmary beds, supplies and barricading the windows and doors. We'll have to open a section of the barrier to allow for all the injured to come inside. Which means we run the risk of a Burned One entering as well.

Stella's organising the healers.

Helios, she looks hot as fuck when giving out orders.

"Are you going to talk to her or keep staring from afar like a creepy old man?" Irene whispers as she waddles up to my side. I swallow heavily, clearing my throat as I suddenly find the mud on my heeled boots very interesting.

"She's angry with me for Brandon." I mutter bitterly. "He's her boyfriend. I shouldn't even be interested in someone who's already in a relationship."

"The heart wants what it wants." Irene's voice is wistful and sad, she never mentioned any relationships before Saul. "You can't control it. In some ways you can but love creeps up on you sometimes."

"Is this about Stellatrix?" I whip round to face Octavia who has suddenly appeared by my side. She's buckling up her leather armour, strapping on the metal gauntlets. "Because Brandon isn't going to be a problem much longer."

"What do you mean?" my brows furrowed in confusion.

"Brandon was arrested with Aisha and Musa."

"He was trying to stop Bloom though." Irene cuts in, smiling at a passing student. "So she might see him as her wannabe knight in shining armour."

"How did he know about Bloom, aside from the Aster Dell business?" I ask again, feeling very much left out of crucial information.

"Aster Dell." Irene frowns, well at least I'm not the only one out of the loop. "How do all of you know about Asterdell?"

"Ah yes, Rosalind's tipping point." Tavi winces at the reminder. "Brandon was apparently the chauffeur for my sister and Bloom. Stel says that they looked around for a while, she managed to pierce the wards to allow them access. Bloom took a few things from there, pieces of pottery, keys, a few boxes from under the floor. Rosalind no doubt told Bloom about Aster dell, spun a pretty story with villains and heroes for her."

"She took something, didn't she?" Irene sighs, rubs at her head in exhausted disbelief and I push down my guilt at the sight of it.

"I don't know what but Terra's back so she can tell us."

"Terra's back?" I questioned in shock, I thought the winx had all been locked away and I said as much.

"Not Terra, she went to talk Bloom down at the stone circle. Riven found her unconscious and surrounded by scorch marks, no Bloom or artefact in sight."

"But she successfully charged up whatever she had." Irene questions and Octavia sharply nods. "Right, okay. Beatrix and I will handle it. You need to join the specialists."

I reach out to squeeze Tavi's hand, fighting back the feeling of guilt and betrayal at letting her go out and fight without me. I should be by her side. But I also made a promise and my brother and Silva are counting on me to keep Irene safe. Octavia gives me a quick hug before jogging out the room, calling over the specialist stragglers to join her.

We're going to war then.

"What do we need to do?" I ask Irene.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Octavia

"I want Omadas working as teams to hunt the Burned Ones!" Andreas' crackling voice comes over the radio into the Range Rover as we hurtle over the rough forest road. "Finlay, Dolos and Kat, lead your Omadas straight through the village to the south, I want you as back stop on the other side."

Riven links his pinky through mine as we watch three cars peel off our convoy and head into the field. We don't look at each other, just stare straight ahead into the back of the driver's seat. Sky is sitting with Silva in a different truck, acting as his liaison with one of my shadows. The three of us are to be separated into the main hunting parties for communication via shadow network since it's more reliable than phones.

"We're going to make a kill box." Silva's voice echoes through the silence that is no doubt mirrored in the other 9 cars. "Lead all the Burned Ones to the city centre, we'll block off streets with magical shields so that they can't leave. I want 10 fairies posted there to handle them. The villagers under Tomen's guidance have set up triage at the north border, the remaining 7 cars will stay there to shuttle-run the injured back to Alfea."

"Tom and Andrew, take your squads to the east and set up a border, wait for our signal to start moving in and herding the burned ones. Lilly, Ben, you take the west. Andreas, Dowling and I are going to take the remaining three Squads and start herding the Burned Ones."

The line goes silent then Dowlings calm voice flickers through, "The Solaria Troops will be here within 2 hours, we hold off the hordes until then. Be prepared for anything, the Cave goblins are on the move and we all know bloodshed draws the worst of the creatures from the forest."

"Remain calm and remember your training. Be strong and swift, for hesitation will get you killed. You fight for the people we are sworn to protect and the person beside you... Helios guide us."

The silence is deafening.

The Carnage we arrive at is impossibly worse. Smoke rises in columns over the village, the sound of crackling flames and falling structures booming over the screams but the smell. I fight the urge to cover my face as many specialists around me do, the clogging smoke, burning flesh and death clings to the very air in an unnatural warmth. It brushes over my skin in carrasses and I shudder at the touch.

Our cars pull to a stop at the makeshift med camp. The screams are worse here. Death hangs in the air as families hunch over fallen figures laid out on the ground. Harvey wastes no time setting to work, his small group of seasoned medics following his lead as they begin to assess the damage.

I feel Riven curl his body around mine but I can't bring myself to look away from the horrors outside the car. The noise, the smell, the reality of it all is still frozen for us. We have not yet stepped out. When we do... it will be real. We will step onto a battlefield.

"I love you." Rive whispers as he presses a gentle kiss to the crown of my head.

"Don't say it like a goodbye." My voice is hoarse and I fight back tears. "Say it as a promise to come back to me."

"I promise to come back to you." He murmurs, stroking a hand down my arm.

"Don't make promises you can keep." I mutter, forcing a light tone.

"Then I promise to fight with everything I have to come back to you."

"And I promise to burn this village to the ground if anything happens to you or Sky." My voice comes out with a strength I don't feel but the rage is all truth. I won't let anything happen to my mates. "And then I will dig you out of the ashes myself."

He lets out a soft chuckle, the unbuckling of our belts like a gun being loaded. I follow his movements, sliding along the seats until we're close to door but Riven's hand pauses on the handle.

"Are you ready?"

"We're not dying today. None of us are."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"Dane, I've got two heading down Samson street!" I roar over the fray, plunging my sword into a cave goblin.

"I'm cornered by the bakery!" Dane calls back as the streets begin to be overrun. "Where's Andreas?"

"Heading to Samson street!" The aforementioned male roars back as he races down the cobbled lane.

Riven's got three Burned Ones by the East Church. Asmodeus' voice echoes through my head as he and his brethren rip through the goblin cannon fodder before us. Sky says that Tom and Andrew haven't cleared out the survivors from the Church yet.

"Someone get Tom on the line." I roar over the fray, "The East church needs clearing."

"Tom's down." one of the fairies calls back and I curse.

"What about Andrew?" I call back, flipping around and flinging a hand out to send daggers of pure shadow straight at a Goblin's head.

"Radio Silence!"

Presumed dead then.

Who's closest to clear out the Church?

Sky and Silva. The shadow goes quiet for a long moment. Riven has managed to lead away the Burned Ones, he and Dowling are leading them to the town square.

"We've got a Burned One clearing out the street!"

My head snaps around in surprise and I jump out of the path of the raging creature as it throws various Goblins out of its way. Mindless bloodlust. Some things never change about Burned Ones.

"Block off this street!" I roar, "section out a clear path to the centre."

The centre is getting overrun, they've got 10 bearing down on them.

"Change of plans." I call out, "We kill this one here."

I step back into the centre of the street sending spears of darkness to the Burned Ones back and relishing in its enraged scream. I tauntingly grin, signalling for Dane to back me up. He and Francessa appear on either side of me and I feel them tense as the Burned One races towards us.

Shadows rip free from the darkened streets reaching up to wrap the Burned One in inky chains, halting its progress. Dane and Francesca step forward and I begin to amass my power, focusing on feeling out the Burned One's core - it's cinder. I didstantly registered Andreas returning to us as he fends off the Goblins to buy me some time.

The Burned One breaks free from one restraint and Dane wards off its attack. Shit. I need to hurry up. The other three chains on its legs and arm begin to rattle and crack. I raise my hands and a wave of dark power explodes from my palms, hitting the Burned One square in the chest. It squeals and roars but I can feel the core as though it were beneath my finger tips. I grunt in effort as I feel my arms weakening and power reserves drop. I need to finish this.

A snarl of rage rips from my lungs and I snatch my hands back, ripping out the core in one swift move. Silence descends in the street and I look at the 4 specialists and three fairies in front of me.

"Everyone still here?" Andreas's gruff voice calls

"We lost Sam." Dane whispers, eyes haunted as he stares to where the boy's body lies in the rubble. Oh Helios, Dolos is going to be-

"Do we just leave him here?" Francesca murmurs in horror with exhaustion lining her body.

"Little Shadow." Andreas calls softly and I turn to him in question. "What's the situation elsewhere?"

We've lost twenty so far. Tom and Andrews teams in the East were killed when clearing out the local school. 13 Burned Ones dead between everyone here. There's maybe 20 or so still left in this region and if Beatrix's reports from the Lab are right that should be the last of them from the Alfean caves. Elsewhere is another story.

Do we have time to regroup?

Yes

"We have time to regroup." I state.

"Take him with us, we move to the medic station."

What of my mates?

There's a long pause that I don't like.

Asmodeus? My heart races at the thought of them being injured, I would know if they were dead but injuries?

Riven is fine, tired but fine. Sky took a swipe to the side. Silva is taking him to triage as we speak.

How bad is it? I question, picking up the pace as I run through contingencies.

Not life threatening but he can't be out in open combat here. Silva's sending him back to run things at Alfea. To take over for Irene should shit hit the fan.

He's not going to like being out of the fight.

Oh, he's already fighting Silva's order.

I race away from my group once we reach the medic field. Ignoring the shouts of the driver who nearly runs me over on his way to take the next batch of injured to Alfea. I peer into the windows but there's no sign of Sky.

"Octavia?" Andreas calls out in mild alarm and I curse myself for forgetting to inform Sky's own-helios-damn-father. "What's going on?"

He knows something is wrong.

"It's not bad, don't be alarmed. He's alive." I begin and he freezes, unnaturally still in a way that is a dead giveaway of his Dumaris blood.

"Saul? Sky- Riven-"

"Sky." I state and I think his whole world stops for a moment. "He's alive, it's not a Burned One injury. Silva is bringing him here as we speak."

Andreas shoves past me, grabbing my arm at the last second as he drags me to the centre of the med camp. Each move is erratic and jarring and- oh Helios, my mate is hurt. He's actually hurt. A fucking blade to the side. The amount of damage that can cause.

He could have died.

He still could die.

Take me to him. I snarl, shaking with rage. Right fucking now.

Shadows envelop me, twisting around my body before moving over to Andreas. I can hear cries of alarm but I ignore them. They are not relevant. Inky blackness swarms into view and I gasp as the sensation of falling over takes my body.

A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter but writing war scenes definitely needs to be broken up.