｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,"I won't have you die with me."･:*:･ﾟ☆

Beatrix

I really fucking hate running. It is the enemy of all. Why does anyone run unless they are running away from something? I don't understand it and I'm running away from a god-forsaken Burned One.

"Keep going!" Irene calls from in front of me. "We can take cover in the hollow!"

I stumble as the Burned One roars from behind Silva and I. Why couldn't Irene have carried him, he's her mate. But she can't because oh yes,she's dead on her feet thanks to Dowling and Silva's stupidity. I smirk at the thought of what hellish realm of pain Silva must be in right now.

Bastard deserves it.

"Quickly!" Irene calls as we dive into a cave hollow on the mountain edge, Irene has pulled back a moss and ivy covered tarp that has camouflaged the front.

Silva groans as I slowly lower him to the ground, the cave quickly descends into darkness as Irene enters and closes off the entrance behind us. I let go of Silva and quickly pull out my phone, it's nearly dead but I fire off texts of desperation. Praying to Helios that they get read in time.

"Saul?" Irene worries, rushing to his side.

"I'm okay, I'm okay my love." He tries to comfort her.

It's really ineffective when your veins are turning black from poison.

"What can we do?" I ask, fear coating my voice.

Fuck. I don't exactly like the male but I don't want him to die.

"Stem the bleeding," she commands. "We should have enough Zanbaq to keep the infection at bay."

I rip off part of his shirt, wincing when he cries out in pain as I press against the Burned One cut. Irene swears quietly behind me and I look over to see her holding two vials of Zanbaq, the other looks to have been crushed in the strap on her armour.

"Okay, let me through." She murmurs.

I watch in trepid silence as she pours the oil onto the cloth I'm holding against Silva's wound. I gasp in shock, tears filling my eyes as Silva screams in agony.

"Oh Helios, they will have heard." I panic. "Irene-"

"Hold your nerve." She demands. "We get the Zanbaq into his system and then we move on."

I nod shakily, feeling my hands tremble against Silva's side. Oh helios, i'm covered in his blood.

"You're doing- Pretty, good-" Silva gasps as he flings his head back to lean against the wall. "I threw up the first time I saw a Burned One."

Irene forces out a chuckle.

I sniffle slightly. "Unfortunately not my first Burned One."

"Oh?" He questions clearly seeking a distraction.

"I ran a few missions with Octavia." I answer, that's part of the story at least.

I don't know if there were Burned Ones there the night I lost Ricki and Ellie, it's a blur and a constantly changing nightmare.

"Ah, you'll be running missions with us in no time." Silva answers, gasping in pain when Irene pours another dose. "I saw you fight one of them, you're good."

"Thanks." I mutter, giving him a watery smile.

Silva looks at me but I get the impression he is looking through me at something else.

"You remind me of a friend I lost." He whispers, bring a hand up to brush against my cheek. "He would kill a hundred Burned Ones for his family and never bat an eye, yet he would shed a thousand tears if we so much as winced in pain."

I gasp in shock. Andreas. He means Andreas. The smile I give him is forced and sad. I miss him, my father. It was him and I for so long in that safe house. Octavia was an adjustment but after what Rosalind did to the both of us together we were bonded for life.

Not to mention Tavi introduced me to Ricki and Stella in the later years. Helios I miss her.

"Where did you go?" Silva asks me. "You drifted off there for a second."

I sniff back tears, "Just lost in thought."

"Care to share?" His eyes are filling with the black tar and I look over to see Irene wholly concentrated on his wound.

"Thinking about my mate."

"Ah, I know what you mean." He murmurs sadly, "Are they at the school?"

"She died." Tears drip down my face.

Silva slowly brushes the tears from my cheeks, a sad understanding in his eyes. He must have lost so many friends during the war, lost so much to war.

"I wish I didn't understand that pain." He murmurs.

"People keep saying I should move on." I don't know why I told him that.

"They don't understand your pain" He answers. "Would you want to be with her again, if you had the chance?"

"She was the love of my life, I would burn realms to the ground for one more minute with her." I snarl

Silva chuckles mirthlessly. "You really do remind me of him."

I snort. "Is that a good thing?"

"To me," He asks, a quiet sort of grief filling his voice. "It's the most heartbreaking gift someone could give me."

I frown. Is that a good thing?

"To the world?" A small, savage grin lights up his tired face for a second. "I can't wait to see the carnage you will cause."

"Don't encourage her." Irene jests as she finishes tying strips of Silva's shirt as a makeshift bandage. "We don't need any more blood thirsty teens than necessary."

"Oh?" He smiles at his mate, love clear in his pitch black eyes. "Do you know something I don't know about our students?"

She rolls her eyes at him.

"Only that we have a specific knack for raising little hellions."

He grins and looks at me. "That's the closest you'll get to a compliment from her."

"C'mon," Irene mutters as she glances at the entrance. "We need to keep moving."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Stella

"Oh good, we're all calm." Musa mocks as she and Terra stand next to us. "I thought you backed out?"

"Changed my mind." Aisha answers. "Besides, what would all of you do against a Burned One? At least we stand a better chance of survival if I go with you."

"Hey," Terra gasps, "I'm here too."

"Let's keep going shall we." I interrupt, we don't have time for this. "Do you know the way?"

"Ah yes, the barn is to the north, it's right next to this funny shaped tree stump-"

"Show. Don't tell." I roll my eyes at Terra.

The walk through the forest is mostly silent until we all come to a stop in front of the barn. Well that's not ominous in the slightest. I pause and look at the girls beside me before striding towards the barn. I distantly register Terra asking Musa something but I really can't bring myself to care.

I'm nervous enough as it is.

My phone buzzes and I glance down to see a text from Brandon. He's free to meet up on the weekend. I grin, we'd spent hours last night arguing over whether tea or coffee was better. I said tea, he said coffee and now he's determined to have me try every kind until I accept defeat.

I'm planning on showing him the little tea parlour in the village, it's filled with all different flavours of tea. Infused one, tea gems, fruity, iced tea.

"What are you smiling for?" Aisha asks me in confusion.

"Nothing." I answer quickly, probably too quickly. "Let's just get this over with."

We walk towards the barn, only pausing when we reach the door. Helios, this is ridiculously creepy. Bloom slowly opens the barn door, apprehension in every step she makes. Aisha and I quickly follow and I glance back at where we left Musa and Terra. What are they doing?

"It's not here." Bloom states and I turn back to see Aisha staring at Bloom oddly.

"They must have taken it already." Aisha states, glancing around the barn.

"No, no." I murmur quietly, rushing towards the chain post.

The chains are cold and heavy in my hands, it's been gone for a while now.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Beatrix

The footsteps of the Burned One echoes behind us as we race towards the barn. Silva is placed precariously between Irene and I, every movement forces a cry of pain from his lips.

My legs begin to tremble in exhaustion. Fuck. I can't keep going like this.

"My love?" Silva murmurs,

Irene gently shushes him. "It's okay, we're nearly there."

I glance over to my mentor, seeing how pale she's gone. This isn't good for her, especially with the strain of Silva's wound on her matebond.

"I'm slowing you dow-."

"No you're not." Irene doesn't let Silva finish the sentence before interrupting. "We'll make it."

We're not going to make it. The Burned One has moved away from tracking us in favour of pausing at every dead body. I fight the urge to gag at the sight of the mutilated soldiers. It won't be long before another Burned One catches our scent and we're still another 5 minutes out from the barn, even if we were moving at a light jog. As it stands we're barely going faster than a speed walk.

"You have to leav-"

"I'm not leaving you." Irene snaps.

"I'm slowing you down." Silva cries, grief thick in his voice. "I won't have you die with me."

"No." Irene gasps, her voice thick with tears.

I can see the barn ahead but it's still ages away, there's a valley between us. Irene stumbles over a root and we all nearly go down. Silva gasps in pain and I fight my own whimper of exhaustion. I don't know how long we can keep going.

We're slowing down, stumbling really. I trip over a log and the three of us crash to the mossy floor. Silva gags as he doubles over and I quickly righten myself to prop him up as he coughs out black blood. Fuck. Fuck that's not good.

"Saul?" Irene whimpers as she wraps her arms around him.

I look away as he leans into her.

"You going to be-"

"Irene"

"You'll be fine."

"My love-"

"Sky's waiting for us."

They drift into silence and I think it's the most heartbreaking thing I've ever heard.

"I won't be alone." He whispers.

"I won't leave you." She sobs

"Andreas will be waiting for me." He murmurs, "He'll want to hear all about Sky."

"No, no." She cries and I begin to cry with her.

Andreas is waiting for him. He is. But he's not waiting on the other side. He's waiting to leave that fucking trap of Rosalind's

"You have to let me go, my love."
"I can't." She cries, her voice thick with tears.

"You have to." His voice is tired but firm. "Sky can't lose both of us."

Irene sobs now and I have to take long steady breaths to fight my own tears.

"Bea- rix." Saul whispers brokenly and I move to his side once more.

I grab onto his hand, holding it tightly, whether to comfort him or I, I don't know. His eyes are quickly filling with black ink.

"I need you take Irene-"

"Saul, no, no,-" Tears spilled down my cheeks at her pleas.

"I need you to take Irene, and get her back to Alfea." he nods desperately at me. "Can you do that?"

"Yeah, I can do that." I cry freely now and he squeezes my hand.

"Tell Sky I love him."

The Burned One roars in the distance

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Octavia

Sky, Riven and I race through to the forest as fast as we can. Riven stole the keys to one of the jeeps so we could trace the group's footsteps and now we are moving the rest of the way to the barn on foot. Dowling is behind us somewhere with a group of Alfean soldiers.

Sky is to my right leading a group of ten specialists, Riven to the left with the same.

We told the specialist what was happening to their favourite teachers and they complied. Dowling was pissed but she couldn't exactly stop her when we informed her via text once we were all geared up and outside the barrier.

We slow to a steady jog as we reach the track where the cars were left.

Holy Helios, the damage.

I distantly hear a few of the younger specialists gag at the sight, the sound of vomiting following in some cases.

"Get it all out." Sky commands softly, "Take a deep breath and a sip of water."
"Find your bearings and then we continue on." Riv finished for him.

I scan the forest in front of me, feeling my mates come up to my side and do the same. There's not enough bodies here, the rest of the guard must be somewhere else. Not to mention there's no sign of the Burned Ones.

My stomach churns. No sign of Bea or Sky's parents either.

"Can you see them?" Sky whispers quietly to avoid being heard by the other specialist.

"They're not here," Rive answers with that Dumaris softness. "They're probably still fighting somewhere. I'd like to see a Burned One take down Irene when she shifts."

I grin in agreement but it doesn't stop the worry from flaring in my chest. Irene has been so weak lately thanks to the mate bond drama. It's no doubt draining her magic, what if she can't shift.

"What's the plan?" Sky asks, shaking himself off as he gets back to the task at hand.

"We stick together." I answer. "Stay in formation and sweep through the bodies, check for survivors and find the tracks. Leave a trail of markers behind."

They nod and quickly signal to their respective teams to get into formation. We move quietly from the path, sweeping through the fallen soldiers. The specialists in the middle of our ranks quickly pause to check vitals, they're all coming back negative but we need to check anyways.

I pause when Sky signals to move away from the barn, indicating to a trail of freshly broken tree branches.

Stella and the girls are by the barn. Darkling reports and I fight the urge to snarl in rage.

"There are students in the barn." I call and we all stop.

Fuck. We can't leave them.

"Riven." I call and he jogs over. "Take your team and escort them back to the barrier, leave two specialists with them to make sure they get back to campus."

We both eye the two in his group that seem to be shitting their pant, they're of no use to us if they are consumed by fear.

"And after?" He asks in a tone that says 'I'm not backing down from this fight', I merely nod in agreement.

"Sweep through the old trenches, if any of the soldiers survived they will go there."

"Silva and Irene would go there." Sky calls and the specialists around us immediately look down in worry. Look for a strip of cloth tied to a branch, he'll leave a trail somehow."

Riven nods to him before signalling to his group to move to the barn. I grip onto his hand, linking our pinkies and waiting for him to look down at me. We share a soft smile and he leans down to press a soft kiss to my forehead that has me closing my eyes to avoid tears.

"Stay safe, and stay with Sky." He pulls away and I nod shakily.

I watch after him once he lets go of my hand, memorising every feature of his out of fear. We can do this.

"Octa?" Sky murmurs as he stands so close to me that I can feel his body heat.

"Let's go." I command and send out my shadows ahead if to track the Burned One.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Beatrix

How dare they.

How fucking dare they.

Why must those Burned Bastards take everything?

I stare at the couple in front me as they are forced to say their last goodbyes, this isn't right. They don't deserve this. Not with Irene how she is.

We managed to make it further away from the Burned One. We couldn't go back to the barn, it was overrun with bodies and Irene spotted a Burned One prowling towards its. We've doubled back, heading across, past the barn. We managed to find the old trenches.

I say managed but Irene went into fall war dog mode and took us here on instinct.

Helios, I wish she could use her powers right now.

"My love." she murmurs, "I need to- need to tell you-"

"It's okay," He whispers. "I know everything that is important, I know I love you-"

"It's about why I was with Harvey." She cries, "He was helping me with a surprise."

"A surprise?" He whispers and I can feel the forced smile on his face as he tries to comfort his mate. "What surprise?"

"I'm pregnant, Saul." She cries and I hear his sharp intake of breath. "That's why I have been so sick lately."

"You- you're." The sheer joy in his voice brings a fresh wave of tears to my eyes.

I move away to give them privacy, taking watch as I stare just over the trench wall. I can't stop thinking about Ricki, and our silly little family dream we had. We were going to have the whole thing, the house, the picket fence and the dog. I laugh at the thought, sweet little Ellie.

And now Irene is going to lose that dream as well.

I pull out my phone and look at the texts I sent. Both read but only one has a reply. I guess Rosalind really does have her hooks in deep, she doesn't even care. I swallow heavily and look at Octavia's text. 'We're on our way', I really hope the 'we' is just her because I can't be with Dowling right now, I might actually kill her. She'll probably try to capture the fucking things instead of killing them.

Irene's pregnancy is real now. Before it was just a suspicion, a cute little secret. Now both mother and babe are in danger and that bitch of a headmistress pushed her towards it.

I'm going to kill her.

"Tie a strip- strip of my shirt." Silva gasps out as Irene gently lays him down in the trench, his back against one of the walls. "To the tree branch up there."

Irene silently hands me the strip and I do as he said.

"Can you still shift?" Silva murmurs to Irene.

"I might be able to make one last shift but I'd be drained after." She answers.

Fuck, I can't believe we're forced to risk the babes life like this.

It relies on Irene's magic and if that magic fails. I shake my head to rid myself of the thought.

"Do it, your wolf is the strongest and Sky knows what you look like in the grey form so they won't attack."

"Sky?" I asks.

"He will come after us whether we like it or not." Silva supplies with a slight note of pride in his voice.

"I can carry you then." Irene states, "If I'm my wolf-"

"I would be slowing you down again and this way I can but you some time."

"Buy us some time." She scoffs, "You're on your knee Saul."

"And these trenches are filled with explosive."

The trenches are what now?

"Andreas and I made sure of it during the war."

Well, fuck. We might just survive this after all.

A/N: Did anyone guess what was going on with Irene?