｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･"When have you ever liked nice and romantic things?"･:*:･ﾟ☆

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡Push past that. When you fear the drop, that's exactly when you jump.･:*:･ﾟ☆

Octavia

"Yes, I suppose it was." Andreas seems to mull over his words and I hesitantly look at Silva and freeze at the hesitant hope and disbelief in his eyes. "So how long exactly have you been panting after my mate's cock?"

I freeze at Andreas' words, not daring to breathe as the obvious kicks me in the face. Of course, it makes perfect fucking sense. He was friends with Irene, not mates, and he and Silva drifted apart during the war. Oh sweet Apollo I have been so stupid and blind.

Silva gapes at Andreas not bothering to hide his shock and relief, though the blush adorning his face negates the obvious annoyance in his arched brows.

"Are you serious?" Silva demands, "20 years of being bestfriends, comrades and me raising your son and all get is 'HoW LoNg HaVe YoU bEen LusTinG aFteR mY mAtEs' COCK!'"

"I actually said panting-"

"That's not the point!" Silva huffs, hands on hips as they both ignore a completely horrified and shocked Dowling. "You just wanted to do the whole protective alpha male claiming bullshit instead of something nice and romantic."

"When have you ever liked nice and romantic things?" Andreas grips, crossing his arms in offence.

"Well Irene and I-"

"Ugh." Andreas throws his hands up. "Don't bring Irene into this."

"Oh I'm sorry that we were adults and got together in a normal, nice-"

"She made you wait the entirety of the war, disappeared in her grief - like I did- and Sky's 9th Birthday party. Which means I can at least say I didn't bastardise our child's birthday by making it about our relationship."

"It was a family moment!" Silva cries and I can see the frustration draining away from them both as they stare at each other with love in their eyes. "We're really doing this then."

"If you'll have me." Andreas states quietly and I turn away at the vulnerability in eyes.

"Of course I'll have you, you bloody idiot. Irene has been nagging at me non-stop about talking to you. "

"Funnily enough, she's been doing something similar to me."

"Could you do it?" Silva whispers and I slowly step away, tugging Riven with me as their conversation turns personal enough that even Dowling steps back. "Be with Irene in a relationship when the two of you aren't in love."

"I do love her." Andreas murmurs, their voices getting quieter and quieter. "I don't think I love her like that, but she is my best friend and I could build a life, home and family with her. With you."

"Did something happen?" Kat demands and I flinch at the sound of her voice. "You were all huddled away arguing and debating. Has the situation changed."

Not the situation you're thinking of but I'm hoping to god that Sky and Beatrix aren't going to get Daddy issues from this.

"The situation hasn't changed." Riven smoothly interrupts. "It was about the political aftermath of this."

"Aftermath - we've not even fought this battle yet." Los interrupts and I see a few specialists eye us curiously.

"No but be grateful we're thinking of this shit for you." Riven arches a brow at him. "Do you want to deal with hundreds of media questions, be the face of crime and loss of life?"

"But we're not at fault here."

"No we're not. But we are the faces that are going to tell parents that they're child isn't coming home. And they won't have seen the Burned Ones, what they will see is us."

"Who-" Kat hesitates, glancing between us and where Andreas and Sikva are standing side by side. "Who tells the families?"

"We have people trained for this." I reassure and silently curse Riven for making the specialists question who will tell their parents what happened to them. "Some of us might do it personally, sometimes a friend of the deceased will go with us but we always send a trained grief counsellor or a professional who has the right training so that the news is delivered in the correct way."

"Correct way?" Kat echoes.

I nod. "Calmly, with respect and sincerity. Offering what reassurance we can while not lying to the family. We don't recount the gruesome details nor do we bash the death. We try to allow the families to remember their loved one as who they were and not how they died."

Kat nods and walks away, Dolos gives us a quick smile before following after her and my heartbreaks that they have to consider this. Because they signed up to protect people. Protect. They didn't sign up to kill and fight a war. They thought they would be dealing with rouge creatures, the occasional demon or even working on the humanitarian crisis and providing aid. They didn't expect this.

"They're two minutes out!" A voice calls and we move into action immediately. Silva and Andreas jump apart, striding to opposite sides of the line as Dowling takes the centre. Words of advice and commands are past between us as we work in small groups. Weapons hum and sing as they're drawn from the sheaths until all there is left is silence.

We wait with baited breath for the first to emerge. There should be five at the start of the pack and then we'll have to divide them into smaller groups once the bulk of the pack reaches us.

My head thrums for a second and I shake myself, shrugging off Rosalind's little poison trick. I don't need the reminder of her presence right now.

Sharp inhales of breath echo down the line as the specialists are faced with the Burned Ones on an open field. Four of them break from the tree line and to our soldiers' credit they do not baulk at the creatures racing at us.

Shield the specialists where you can. Slow down the Burned Ones and take care of any if you can.

Yes mistress.

"Hold your nerve!" Tomen calls down the line.

"Archers at the ready!" Silva roars as the Burned One's come into the shooting range. "Volley!"

The whoosh and flick of arrows losing sound through the air, the noise so smooth and gentle in comparison to the roars of the Burned Ones. Screeches of rage are ripped from the Burned Ones as the exploding arrows find their mark and the first six fall to their knees as the shot hits their Cinders.

"Volley!" Silva calls and the row behind the fallen doesn't falter a single step as they race and dodge through the next volley, seemingly having learned from the first's mistake. Or rather, one learned from the other's mistake and a series of snarls and chips had the others falling in line behind it.

"Riven." I murmur as he steps away from the line with a spear in hand as the second wave reaches the halfway point. He half turns, listening to me but refusing to back down. "Make it count."

I can feel his smirk as he takes three powerful strides, hand pulling back before launching the spear through the air. A smirk tugs at my face as I see the trajectory of the spear head straight for the leader only for it to swipe the spear mid air. Gasps of surprised horror whisper through the specialist as the intelligence of the Burned Ones come into question.

It doesn't matter though, for while the leader was distracted by my mate's kill blow spear I had already fired an arrow straight at its Cinder. Trap laid, set and executed. I raise my chin in defiance, the embodiment of calm confidence as the leader crumples to the floor and those seemingly under its command falter and screech.

"Fire at will!" Silva calls as eight or so Burned Ones are nearly upon us, four others trail behind them ready to attack. "Bows down, swords out!"

"One each." Andreas calls, voice laced with arrogance and excitement. "Pick your creature. ON ME!"

I wait for Andreas' battle cry as he charges before following along with the rest of our rank. Riven is by my side in second as we race towards the oncoming Burned Ones. The sound of thundering footsteps and battle cries fills the previous silence until all I can hear is the clash and roar of battle as our specialists surround and hold off the creatures as the fairies' magic crackle and glow.

Half a thought has two pulses of shadow energy thrown from my palms at the oncoming Burned One Kat, Riven and Dolos have chosen for us. The creature rears back allowing Kat to swipe as it's unguarded middle as Dolos takes out its legs. My power rips out from me forming ropes of shadow to pin back the arm about to hit Kat but I'm unable to stop the other that sends Los fling through the air.

"Dolos." Kat screams but the Burned One is escaping its confines and Riven brings his sword down on its arm in one fell swoop that has the creature screaming as it loses a limb. For a moment all I can hear is its pain, the sounds of swords clashing and arrows being fired among the screams of our specialists drowned out by the sheer rage of the Burned One before me. A tug at my chest has me stumbling a step, attention drifting to Riven as he tugs on our mate bond again, eyes wide as he looks between me and Krispy Kreature here.

I shake out of my stupor realising my mates intention as the screams die down. I throw both hands out, dark power exploding from my palms as I pin down the Burned One and attack its Cinder. It's not enough but I daren't risk using any more power when there are others to kill.

Kat steps forward, sword raised, and rams the blade through the creature's middle, killing it in second. We hold for a moment as she twists the sword and I push my power through her blade, using it as a conduit before she pulls back and the Burned One slumps down.

A cry for help has me turning towards a group of all specialists being massacred as their fairy has seemingly fallen.

"Go!" Kat roars. "I'm going to find Dolos."

I don't bother to tell her it's useless, that the fallen bodies around are testament to the Burned One's wrath. Instead I watch as she races through the battlefield, fending off various attacks as the specialists struggle to contain the Burned Ones long enough for the merge number of fairies to kill them.

"Pixie lets go!" Riven roars and I race to follow him, picking my steps carefully as I try to avoid stepping on lost blades, fallen comrades and the occasional Burned One carcasse or dismembered limb. We run as fast as we can towards the specialists being overrun. A startled cry leaving my lips as Riven suddenly drags me to the ground just in time for a specialist to be thrown through the air over our heads.

We stumble to our feet, watching as the last four specialists make their stand against the two Burned Ones before them. A scream of rage rips from me as I fling a hand out in a wide arc that has the Burned Ones being pushed back by a shield of Shadow. I thank myself for the foresight of jogging in the mornings with Sky and Riven to gain the stamina and practice to shield while running.

The specialists glance behind them and one calls the other to fall back to where Riven and I are. We form a line and I build a shield around us as a third Burned One begins to circle us with the other two. Fuck. Not good. We were supposed to kill them off individually. I send bolts of power straight for the Burned One's cinder but they easily dodge and blows only end up hitting their limbs and angering them further.

Fuck.

We're going to be overwhelmed.

If you had bothered to answer my summons-

You would what, Rosalind? I hiss, turning left and right as I try to keep my eyes on the Burned Ones. And how are you in my head again.

Oh Please, Darling. We both know I poisoned you with élenchos myaloú, it was child's play breaking the remainder of your mental shields after that. A Burned One lunges forward and I send off a bolt of darkness that has it stumbling back but the other lunges forward as well and I distantly register the specialists with me holding them off. You made an admirable effort to maintain your shields with practice, they've even improved, but still no match for me.

I'm a bit busy-

Oh yes, Burned Ones, Cursed Ones, the little failed experiments. How are you faring against them, little shadow? I flinch at her use of Andreas' nickname.

I've killed three already tod-

Pathetic. I trained you to kill much more than that. Even after all these years I still flinch at her tone. You have relied on those shadows too much. You forgot about your own power.

What do you want Rosalind?

Right now? I want to help you. Will you let me help you?

I don't need-

I can show you how to stop them, all of them. Even the ones at the school.

School what do you mean at the-

"Octavia!" Riven yells and I move in time to avoid the oncoming burned one. Swinging out of the way while unfurling my silver whip and flick-curling it around the creature's neck. The momentum of the Burned One continues on and I use my shadows to brace myself against the weight and to charge the whip until with a final screech the monster's head is ripped clean off.

I turn, wide eyed, to stare at Riven who gapes at me in return. Sweet Helios that was insane. I should be dead. I should be so-so dead right now.

Impressive. You were always good at fighting physically. Do you want to learn a magic trick?

Abracadabra?

More like... Bippity, boppity, BOO.

I scream as magic bursts from my palms, erupting in dark flames and setting the area around me ablaze in dark fire. Silent, it's so silent, as though the flames were blocking all sound, as though I were far away from the death and carnage.

The flames crackle and burn, it's as though I can feel their movements, their sounds yet I can't hear it. Can't see it. The darkness dances and moves, sentient yet- not. Because they're my shadows, not the ones who came to me, who I control out of respect not power. These are my shadows. My powers. My flames.

It's beautiful isn't it. Your power is stunning, flawless.

I watch transfixed as the flames begin to dance, spreading out from me like wildfire and devouring all in its path. It's so calm, so seductive, so different from the war raging outside. It slithers and glides across the ground, moving unseen through the grass and loss. The bodies shift but do not burn under its silken touch.

Until the flames dissolve into mist and shadow.

A gasp of surprise bleed past my lips too loud and echoing in the silence of my mind.

Are you ready to listen yet?

I remain silent but my answer seeps into my thoughts, slides to the forefront of my mind where Rosalind dwells.

Good. Shall we play a little game?

It's called Echo.

I need you to listen carefully, I need you to understand my commands and hear the echo. It's the Echo your following.

The shadows warp and move, becoming heavier and thicker like a dark fog clouding my mind. It begins to swirl and twist, moving around me at its centre. I swallow, my fear palpable as I realise that I am in the eye of the storm. Where's Riven? Is he safe or caught in the stor-

Dig deep into your power. Dig into the well.

It will sing and hum when you draw close. That's how you'll find me.

I shake, breathing heavily as my pants echo in the silence. My vision blurs and I turn and turn and turn. Desperate to leave, to escape. Where, where is it. Where's Rosalind? Where's Riv-

Dig.

Find me.

Hands trembling I drop to my knees, watching through blurred vision as tears drop to the ground beneath me.

Fear holds you back, it haunts you in the darkness. Don't fear us, you know us.

Sobs rattle my body as I claw and claw at the dirt, feeling it crumble and melt beneath my hands as if it were no more than sand. I can't- I can't. What- I can't breathe. I can't-

You're instincts are wrong. They tell you that you will die. Trust yourself, we will brign you to life.

Push past that. When you fear the drop, that's exactly when you jump. We will catch you.

The ground sinks beneath me and I plummet through the darkness. Silent screams escaping my lips as I turn weightless and drown. No. no, no, no. I can't- I can't-

Shadow mine, shadow bold, deep in the darkness of the world, rising up and burning bright, shadow mine comes to light. Rosalind's voice resounds through the silence and distantly I can hear it echo from the bottom.

Fairy mine, power strong, deep in the darkness you begin to glow, sinking down with fading light, fairy mine shrouded in fright.

I fall and fall and fall, the voices echoing around me. Many of them scream and shout, but others soothe and sing. Lullaby's I had once forgotten surfacing as fears I've overcome leap out in rage. Why? Why is this- why is she-

Wars never end. Their repercussions last for centuries. I know that voice. Have you not been fighting your whole life?

Darkling.

I had a dream, which was not all a dream.

The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars

Did wander darkling in the eternal space,

Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth

Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;

Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day ...

Little shadow? Unbidden a memory drift to the forefront of my mind. When I was small, I remember that the castle was yellow and bright, the colours all blurred and fuzzy until I couldn't see the details of my room from the bed. Then night came and I couldn't sleep, I was scared and frightened until-

The lullaby, from my mother. Except it wasn't my mother that was signing, it was the shadows. Silently they drifted over my cot, seeping around the stuffed toys to the small falcon and bear clutched in my arms.

They were alway there. I thought that Rosalind gave me the shadows but they were always there. They were waiting for me.

You took your sweet time getting to us. Asmodeus grumbles and I flinch back, realising that I'm laid out on the cold stone floor and my shadowed friends are looming above me as figures of darkness.

She was a child, Asmodues. Little shadow, my lullaby singer, hisses at my protector. Of course she didn't know the correct spells and enchantments to bond with us.

She could have at least connected the dot-

WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARESEHOLES! I roar, glaring at my companions as they stare back at me sheepishly. What in the name of Apollo are you doing here?

Moral support-

Well she got her claws back-

- we didn't want you to be alone

Explain, now. I grit out.

Oh they're not here for you. Not really, they're here because of your power. They're attracted to it. Like bees to a honey pot or acollites to their god.

They can feel what you're about to do.

And we want you to be careful about it, okay? Little shadow murmurs as she walks up to me, cradling my face between her shadowed hands. We're so proud of you and we'll be here every step of the way.

Draw the power to you, let it build and swell. Let it consume you until you drown in it.

I can't- I- I- I'm scared. I can-

Yes you can. Asmodeus states. You can do this, you're stronger than you think.

What am I- okay, okay. I can do this, I can do this.

Yes you can my darling. Yes you can. Little shadow whispers and for the first time I see the real caring figure that stood by my side all my life. I can do this. I can do this. For the specialists still fighting out there that are soon to be overwhelmed when the other-

The other Burned Ones. The other half - at least 25. But they're not going to be here where my mate is in danger. They'er heading to the school where-

It would be such a shame if Sky was on his way back to the village when those Burned Ones passed through.

And a roar of world ending rage rips from my chest as my magic explodes.

A/N: I was trying to find animals that Sky and Riven would be. What do you think they would be?

The poem excerpt was written by Lord Byron (not sure if that's correct but it's what google says) from "I had a dream..." to "and brought no day..."