The Delta's Daughter Chapter 107

LAMIA

Riocht was beautiful. The palace was built in white lime stone. The central rise in the elevation of the building, emphasized the main portico, which was framed by five symmetrical exterior arches. On the ledge are statues carved from either marble or the same lime stone. Each statue, situated in the arches, was of a god or goddess standing with an animal.

There was the Goddess Morrigans, with her wolf by her side, and one of Arcas, who I recognized right away, because he was carved standing with a bear, the exact copy of Mathias’ beast. I saw the goddess Bastat, a large puma-looking feline woven around her legs.

The one of Selene, the moon goddess, was unlike the one at The New Moon palace. There she was portrayed with a wolf, but here she was carved into a beautiful mother figure, with children by her feet, looking up at her in awe. Next to her was a large man, also with a wolf, regal looking and powerful.

Then I saw her, the goddess Inanna. She stood front and centre, a large imposing statue, and flanking her on either side was a wolf and a lion. Behind her stood a bear with its large paw resting on her shoulder.  

The words from the book I was given at the Alpha Academy came back to me: the heart of a lion, the strength of a bear and the wisdom of the wolf.

‘Inanna,’ I called out to my wolf ‘Was this you?’ I asked with a little awe in my voice.

‘Long ago, that was one of my human counterparts, Riocht was built the last time I was gifted a human, when the curse was placed.’ She told me, I felt the remorse of wolf, her longing for a family. ‘Look’ she said and urged my gaze to wander back to the five statues, ‘The man with the wolf; that was Conri’

At that moment, like pieces of a puzzle I had been staring at for so long, it finally became clear and they all fit together. The fable that was told to me, The queen who died in child birth and cursed the throne before she died, her mate, the king that was killed by his brother, was Inanna and Conri.

It was never about us, it had always been about our wolves. The reason Kellen and I were so close and shared that special bond, is why Odeia told us we couldn’t be mated, because we were from the same bloodline. She had called us cousins, but now I understood.

It was never about Kellen and I, it had always been about our wolves and their history.

I was brought out of my revelation when a booming and assertive voice broke my revere.

“You are early, you still have two days,” Orion’s voice carried across the open court, reaching our ears. I cringed at the sound, and my wolf growled in hostility. “No matter, you are here now, but I must say, you underestimated me. It seems like you didn’t bring enough men.”

“Fight me like a man, Orion, Father against son, one on one, unless you are too cowardly?” Mathias’ voice rang out, deeper than Orion’s’ and a slight growl was detectable as his voice was mixed with Arcas’

Orion chuckled, “I am no coward, and you will have your fight if you can get through my army.” He poked at Mathias, just then hundreds of shifters came out of the shadows and from the tree line, lining up waiting for the command to attack us.

Where did he get all these fighters from? There was no scent from any of them, not one, but I could tell they weren’t all rogues. The ones that had shifted already bared their teeth, snarling and growling at us.

Just then, I sensed more shifters incoming, a small sadistic smile crept across my face. I held my head up high looking at Orion, taking in the woman next to him, with white blonde hair, a wolf. Next to her stood Finnegan, holding little Petra’s hand. She looked terrified and clung to the white-haired bear, as if she trusted him and he would keep her safe.

When my eyes met Finnegan’s, he gave me the slightest nod, and a twitch of his lips. I saw his hand move and zeroed in on the act, my eyes glaring, and suddenly softening, as his hand gently squeezed Petra’s in a comforting gesture.

‘He will not hurt her, he will protect her, I can feel his tenderness for the girl, he is not our enemy’ I wanted to believe Inanna's words, but I was having a hard time, my concentration was on the approaching shifters.

“Orion,” I called out to him, in a mocking tone “It seems you have underestimated us,” My sadistic smirk turned into a goading smile when Kellen and his men emerged from the western side of the tree line, my father and Uncle Michael on either side of him and Mike.  

That smile only grew, when Tobias entered from the North West, both leaders, bringing with them some 300 plus fighters.

Orion’s face flared red with rage, his fists coiled and his posture stiffened. “Still not enough, chosen one!” I he yelled his frustration, and then came the one word that could change everything after today, “Attack!”

I opened my mind and reached out to my four Knights, Mathias and my army *Gamma teams, prepare to advance* I called out and the gamma teams we had trained shifted and moved forward to meet Orion’s army.

The clashing of teeth and fur could be heard as they engaged in battle. Wolves, bears and felines began grappling. The sounds of growls and howls filled the afternoon air. I unsheathed my swords ready to fight in the front line alongside our warriors, when Mathias' hand grabbed my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

“Little Wolf, wait. Where are the crawlers?” He warned cautiously. I frowned and looked around; they were nowhere to be seen.

Lucien called out to us “their monsters are moving towards us from the river.”

“Alpha and Beta teams, at the ready, Crawlers incoming!” Kellen bellowed, his voice carrying through the breeze, commanding and strong like the king he was. My father and uncle lead the charge.

Both Mathias and I sent out a link and the Alpha and Beta teams moved into position, creating a semi-circle and half turned to watch their backs. They drew their swords, and stood at the ready with their armored suits and shields

In a few minutes, but what seemed like the wait of a lifetime, silently the Crawlers came pouring from tree lines and out from the shadows of the palace. Hundreds upon hundreds slinked towards our armies.

We were out numbered. But we had strong fighters.

“For your King and Queen!” I heard Travis call out and ran forward to meet the crawlers, his sword held high, and our army following his lead, meeting the crawlers head on. The Alpha and Beta teams from the Kodiak kingdom and Kellen’s kingdom charged from the side with Mike and Tobias leading them.

The sound of a loud horn blared through and over the sounds of the battle. I turned to see where it had come from, thinking more crawlers were coming, when I caught a familiar scent, and then I saw her.

Tawny was running towards the centre of the fight, Crimson flanking her left and her father on her right and a large number of warriors followed behind them, led by Mason.

The cavalry had arrived. With them were another 40-50 men and women, tall and lithe, Lycan.

“Miss me?” Tawny panted as she joined me by my side and began cutting down crawlers. I had never been so grateful to see the were-cats in my whole life.

“We found the Lycans on our way in here. They came to assist. Their Alpha sent his best warriors to aide their queen.” She smirked, and at the same time thrust her sword into the belly of a crawler, the monster, disintegrating on impact.  

There was hope, we had the numbers and I pushed forward with a new found vigor.

I let out a deep and warning growl, a battle cry, and rushed in to the thick of the battle, Mathias by my side, wielding his axe.

The battle was in full swing, and I ran to assist, I dug my claws into my hands until I felt the blood trickle into my palms, then reached to draw my blades again.

The blades hummed and zinged, I felt Inanna’s power bleed into them and the scriptures on the shiny metal began to glow with the familiar orange hew, the powerful feeling not as strong as the last time, but still a forceful strength.

Inanna was holding back, and for a second I let it worry me, before she sent encouraging vibes through my bones, letting me know she was with me.

*Stay alive Lamia, I will not lose you today* I heard his voice ring through my head.

*Stay alive my king, without you I would die* Suddenly, I felt his hand on my elbow and he drew me back for a kiss. It was brief but he gave me all he could, at that moment, telling me how much he needed me.

“Protect your queen!” He yelled at Hunji, who nodded in affirmation.

Then he was gone. Mathias had gone after Orion.

***

“Argghh” I screamed out, as sharp pain twisted my gut. I looked down expecting to see blood, but there was none. This was not my pain, this was Mathias’

The pain hit me again, this time bringing me to my knees, and my swords dropped from my hand and I gripped the dirt. Fearing the worst as images of Zane’s death plagued me.

Hunji, Rhett, Mike and Kellen surrounded me, creating a wall of defense fending off the attackers.

We were slowly winning, the crawlers were less and less, and Orion’s army was weakening, his line was beginning to break. I saw my father’s black wolf, taking down enemy after enemy, tearing their heads off, like the true General he was, he commanded the battlefield.

I focused all my attention on my mate, he needed me.

I felt him and picked up his scent underneath all the copious amounts of blood that had been spilled. ‘Mate needs us’ Inanna agreed.

I rose to my feet, pushing the pain way down and steadied my breathing. I grabbed my swords and let Inanna push forward, guiding us to our mate.

I stumbled into the large entrance of the palace, looking around for any sight of him. I didn’t have the time to take in the grandness of the hall I stepped into. I heard the angry growls and thumping of heavy paws and threaded my way through the hall until I found a court yard.

Mathias was engaged in battle with Orion. It was beast against beast. Arcas’ swiping and clawing at the equally large dark brown, almost black bear.

Taking a step forward, in an attempt to help my mate, I was caught off guard with the feeling of claws slicing through my arm. The sensation left a sting in my flesh and I looked down to see the blood seeping and then trickling down my arm.

Out sprang the woman with the white blonde hair, her eyes narrowed with a vicious cruelty. Her claws swiped at me again, this time opening my wrist. The burning sensation spread through my veins and I dropped the sword from my one hand.

I lashed out, swinging my other sword at her, but she was quick and dogged the blade with ease. The burning on my skin intensified and she swiped me again, this time my other arm. It was then I realized her claws had been dipped in some kind of poison and I wasn’t healing like I should and the effect was slowing my reaction time off.

‘Shift!’ I commanded Inanna.

‘I can’t’ she said, sounding defeated.

‘Then morph!' I commanded again, this time with more demand.

My hands began to extend their claws and my gums started tingling as we began to morph into our beast, but before we could, I felt the cold sharp stab of a silver blade in my back, then saw another glimmer of metal as an arrow hit my shoulder, just outside the fabric of my suit. Another hit my arm and another narrowly missed my neck. I stopped the shift to my beast, knowing if I shifted my body would be more exposed.

In my haste I failed to see the woman, dart in front of me, until she was before my face, her open palm extended and she blew the silvery substance right at me. I choked as the silver nitrate hit my nose and mouth. The powder stung my eyes, burning them.

Another sharp stab accompanied by the heat of the silver.

*Help* I cried out through the link.

With my eyes blinded, I couldn’t see the next attack and felt the cool blade pierce through my skin, low on my back. I lashed out, trying to inflict any damage I could on the assailants.

Fuck, I thought. I was at a handicap.

In the background, the sounds of Arcas’ and Orion’s beast tearing at each other reached my ears. I rubbed my eyes, my vision blurry but my eyes were healing and I could make out the shape of a large shifter, white hair and violet eyes.

I heard the thud of a body when Finnegan shot around me. The crack of a neck let me know he had killed the person who had stabbed me three times.

The woman came at me, her claws extended and poised to strike, when she halted mid leap and fell to the ground. My savior stood behind her, his sword coated with her blood. His face was a mixture of fear and anger as he lifted his sword and drove down hard into the woman’s neck, severing her head.

Mike’s murderous glare turned to Finnegan and quicker than I could shout he threw his sword. It flew towards the violet-eyed bear, piercing his abdomen straight through. With inhuman speed Mike was pulling the sword from Finnegan and ready to strike the killing blow.

“NO!” I screamed. He couldn’t kill him. Finnegan had saved my life. “Mike, he killed for me, spare him,” I begged.

Before he could reply or finish Finnegan off, the realm shattering roar of Arcas’ reverberated like thunder, rolling across the palace grounds and echoing off the limestone walls.

A deadly silence stilled the air, the sounds of our clashing armies began to die and a hum of defeat reached all our senses. A chilling shiver ran down my spine.