The Delta's Daughter Chapter 392

SHADOW

My beasts begin to growl and shake. Their snarls and attention concentrated on the young females that cross the field we currently march across.

The darkness curls around my veins and I hush the beasts to settle. "Patience my wild ones," I say as the females draw near to the front of my army's line.

Just over the crest of the hill, where the jungle meets the dense forest, the warriors of Cambiador lay in wait for me. I can feel my son's blood, his magic lingers in the air, it calls to me. And so do these three young females who approach.

It would be favorable for the Grimalkin to side with me, but that ship has sailed. And unfortunately, he will die alongside his brethren.

"Master," The young girls reach me and kneel down. From the pocket, of one she pulls out an object and instantaneously the darkness unravels and travels down my arms to my fingers. The inky black shadows strained from my body reaching towards the object in her hand. Her palm opens and the shadows grasp with excitement at the ring. The blue jewel swirls in response and the shadows snatch the stone up, delivering it right into my hand.

"You have done well youngling," I tell the girl who would make child thirty-two that had survived. Yet I didn't think she reached the maturity of eighteen yet. See age is just a number when it comes to my children. This female was probably only three years old but in maturity, she was eighteen. Most don't live to this age. Or this phase of their growth.

"Valik," I say to the rogue bear. "For your loyalty and competence, I gift you Thirty-two. She now belongs to you."

Valik looks at the young girl with hungry eyes. I cringe, but still, a loyal subordinate deserves to be rewarded.

My eyes white over and I lift my hands to the sky. The dark tendrils once more pour from my hands and the bright sky clouds over, providing cover for my children and the Changelings. With this heat, they won't last long in battle. It would weaken them.

A cold wind whips around us and the clouds grow darker. Small flakes of snow begin to fall, I watch as my army settles and becomes more comfortable.

"We take Cambiador!" I call to all. My instructions are repeated down the line by my children. "The Beta wolf and the chosen one is not to be harmed. Captured by any means necessary but not killed! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!" My voice bellows out, the command is certain. And for anyone that kills the beta wolf or the chosen one, they know they will die a slow death by my hands.

I need the beta to finish opening the veil between worlds and the chosen one has been promised to Aodh.

Feet stomp in chorus and swords clank with eagerness.

This is what it was all for.

To bring Aodh through so he can claim his promised bride. Inanna. To change the course of the realm. To rule by a true god's side. For my race to become dominant. To kill those who seek power beyond their worth.

"FORWARD!" I command and usher my beasts to move. They will be the first line of attack.

I feel the Beta nearing our position. He is with the chosen one. Soon. Soon all will be changed in the eyes of our true leader. And I will be the one to make it happen.

*****

MIKE

Snow falls heavily and the air chills Duke through his fur. He pushes on, keeping pace with Kellen and Finn. Note runs by our side as Lamia, Mathias, and Ascena lead the charge further in to the Cambiador border. Hunji with Morgan on his back flanks us while Travis in his oddly different wolf form and Rhett in his half-shifted form flank the other side.

Roars and growls can be heard coming from just over the ridge as we emerge from the forest that meets the jungle - the metallic smell of blood and death reaching our noses.

*No time to linger* Lamia shouts through a mass link to all. *The fight has begun, help our neighbors in defeating the enemy. May the goddess be with you all!*

There was no time for prep, no time for prayers before the battle. It had already begun. We crest the ridge to see copious amounts of Senko's soldiers laying waste to the large werecats.

At the front, fighting the beasts is a werecat larger than any I had ever seen, and a shade of deep crimson. He plows through the beasts; his tactile moves are unmatched. Making Senko's beasts that scared me look like nothing but chew toys for the large cat. His strength and size have Duke admiring him for a moment until we push our paws faster.

*Mike, hang back.* Kellen sends a command through the link. Duke is fast to withdraw his race to join the fight. But me not so much.

'We will not back down.' I tell Duke who listens and picks up speed again.

*Lyric,* I call to my mate. *Stay in my sight!* I tell her, and her wolf huffs with acknowledgment.

I watch as Lamia's wolf, Inanna, and Mathia's beast, Arcas, charge into the battle. We have the element of surprise coming up behind them. Or at least I thought we did until soldiers turn to face us, ready for our attack.

Teeth clash against skin and swords meet as the two armies come together. Blood seeps from both sides as we tear into our enemies. Kellen shifts mid-jump, his uniform falling into place. He draws his sword and lands on two feet while cutting and dicing through what we now know are Changelings.

I stay in wolf form, Duke sinking his teeth into anything that doesn't smell like a shifter. Tearing off the flesh and tossing his prey to the side. Moving on to the next. Duke's eyes search out his mate, and once he finds her, he goes back to fighting. Every few seconds he did this, making sure she was close and not in trouble.

Wolves, bears, and big cats battle against Senko's army. Leaping over bodies of comrades and those of the enemy, I sink my teeth into yet another changeling. Blood covers my wolf's face, his jowls dripping with the dark red liquid.

Lamia shifts into her skin form, drawing her swords, standing between Ascena's white wolf and her mate's beast.

From the corner of my eye, I see Note fly back, landing on her side. I turn in direction, but out of nowhere, one of Senko's blood-hungry beast's smashes into me. Knocking me to the ground.

Duke tries to stand only to have a large paw push us back down. He growls and snarls, claws lashing out at the spiked and horned beast.

Snow falls faster and thunder echoes through the jungle. Blood trickles over the earth coating the once dirt-covered ground, now with a thin blanket of white. The copious amounts of blood stain the white flakes. The beast digs his claws into me and gnashes his teeth, snapping at my face, yet not seriously harming me like I know it could.

Senko's army devours ours, the Changelings pouncing on our warriors and sinking their teeth into our skin and fur. Duke throws the beast off us scrambling to his paws. We shift into our skin form, unsheathing my sword.

I look around for Lyric, but I don't see her.

*Mike!* Her anguished voice comes through my mind, and I panic.

*Lyric! Where are you?* I answer back. The mind link is cut and use my wolf's senses to scent her out.

I see Lamia with Kellen both fighting in their human forms. Hunji by their side.

"Mike!" I hear Lyrics' voice and turn to see her fighting off Changelings, protecting Morgan.

I fly over to aid my mate and the witch. Travis and Finn joining us.

My attention turns back to Lamia for a brief moment as her swords begin to glow the familiar orange and green. She dances through the bloodthirsty army. Kellen's sword carries a blue hue, and they fight back-to-back protecting each other as they always had.

Mathias barrels through the beasts tearing their limbs from their bodies. Working with Crimson as they eliminate them one by one.

Hunji fights the giants, sliding between their legs and cutting them off at the knee as Ascena's white wolf rips off heads.

I see Rhett and the MacTire army holding strong some distance away against the rogues and subordinates that have joined Senko.

We could win this. I have hope in my heart. With each kingdom working together… we could defeat the Shadow Witch.

In the distance, away from the main fight, I spot Senko on the back of one of his beasts. This one is much larger than the others. The beast's skin is a shade of diluted red, the spikes on his neck more prominent, and the horns on his head bigger. Its tail swishes and Senko sits proud, with black curls of shadows escaping from his hands.

Above his head, like a crown, four stones swirl. He had them all.

On instinct, I begin to fight my way towards him wanting to kill him. To end this unnecessary massacre. To end the battle once and for all.

His eyes turn black and on me. The cruelest, evilest, smile slowly takes form on his face. And his hand moves to point to Lyric.

At a loss caught between the two, I watch in slow motion as those tendrils of shadows extend toward my mate. This is why I wanted her to stay back. Whether she could hold her own or not.

Do I kill him and hope whatever the black magic is doesn't taint Lyric, or do I rush to try and save my mate before the blackness touches her.

I know I can't hesitate. It could cost my little thief her life. I'm too far from either of them.

I howl out, my message clear to save Lyric. Travis hears my anguished call and his two-toned wolf bounds toward my mate as he too notices the black magic aimed her way.

But it's too late. Duke is in a furious rage. That rage spilled out into my emotions. Ascena's words resound in my head 'Keep your emotions in check.' But what about Dukes?

He seethes and growls and now he knows Travis's wolf is there to protect his mate he forces the shift and his paws beat against the cold ground, teeth snapping and snarling as he heads right for Senko.

Thunder crashes again and the grey sky lights up with the quick succession of flashes of lightning.

"Mike!" I hear my name screamed by several people over the rumbles from the sky and through the growls and cries of the battlefield. But Duke has a one-track mind. Senko.

The twisted grin on Senko's face doesn't waver as I draw closer to him. If anything, the sick smile widens. Black eyes bore into me as if waiting for me to get close enough.

'Stop!" I yelled at Duke to no avail. He plows forward ignoring my commands. With a one-track mind, he holds fast to his control.

'He cannot be allowed to open the gateway between realms.' Lightning strikes around us, singeing the ground by our feet as Duke moves with unmatched speed. 'Aodh cannot pass through.'

His abhorrence and rage become stronger the closer we get to Senko. Ignoring our wounds as our skin begins to knit back together. The shadows from his hands stretch toward my mate faster. Duke growls and we pick up speed running even faster than I could imagine. The battle and fights blurred by us - determined to reach Senko in time.

As Duke's paws pound on the ground and the lightning strikes beside us in time with our steps. Duke's front paws raise until he is running on hind feet, upright like a Lycan, yet still a wolf. I gain some control, but Duke still steers us towards the dark witch.

Then in a surprising turn of events, the shadows change direction and come for me. Thick black tendrils of creeping shadows wrap around our fur-covered wrists.

The stones that rotate above Senko turn faster and faster. The crack of lightning crashes and tumbles down striking me. Bright and brilliant blue light surges from my body. My eyes, my hands, my chest - all alight with electric blue sparks that explode from my being like electrical branches.

A thread of light hits the stones, and everything goes white. Blinding each and every shifter on the battlefield. The brightness collapses leaving us in the dark but still, the battle rages on.

I hear the screams, the cries. I'm lying on the ground, my eyes desperately trying to focus on my surroundings.

I hear cursing and orders being flung out by Mathias.

Slowly my eyes adjust, and I roll over. "What the fuck happened?"

"Get up!" Lyric screams at me. "Get up now!"

Golden and blue lines hang in the air. They grow longer and begin to separate. As if the air was melting creating an invisible chasm to…

As the tear grows larger, giving way to colors of reds, oranges, and greys, figures appear on the other side.

"Mike get up please!" Lyric's voice cuts through my distraction. Her pleads of terror jostle me and I scramble to my feet. I grab Lyrics' hand ready to get her out of here and chance a look back at Senko.

He sits upon his beast laughing manically. Arms spread open yelling "Welcome!"

Welcome? Welcome what?

That's when from the chasm, pours creatures I have only read about. Fairytale beings spoken in folklore. Horses of black with eyes of blood. Fire puffs from their nostrils and they gallop through the rip in time. Horns three feet long adorn their cranium, and they take to the battlefield stabbing shifters with their knotted spike.

Humanoid beings crawl and jump from the opening. Deamon dogs more harrowing than those of Senko's beasts pour through. Coated with black skin and eyes just as red and demonic.

"Retreat!" Ascena calls out to all, her voice echoing over the chaos.

There is no flight. There is only fight at his point.

Crimson leaps in front of us, His fur form large and vibrating with rage. His fur bristles and his teeth gleam. Aimed at Senko.

"Join me son, or meet your fate with your friends," Senko says to Crimson.

Crimson roars at his father. Challenging him when Senko's shadows begin to overshadow him. Taking hold of the Grimalkin whose whole body begins to glow - fighting off the magic that is slowly going to kill him.

"Not today fucker! Not my mate!" Cries a familiar voice, the swoosh of a sword meeting flesh could be heard and the shadows that constricted Crimson fell away.

Senko's head slides from his shoulders. His body slumped off the beast and onto the thin blanket of snow. His head rolled across the blood-soaked ground and landed at Crimson's feet.

"Who is that?" Lyric says in awe. "I like her."

"Tawny!" Crimson calls out, now shifted, and rushes to her side as she plows her short sword into the skull of the beast. "The boys… you…"

"Safe and it's a good job I came when I did." She shakes her head "You are trouble on your own."

"Damn little kitty." I smiled at my friend who I had missed.

"We have bigger problems now." Crimson points around. That's when I notice there's not just one tear or opening around us but several. There's not just monsters and creatures coming through but an army of men - shadows. Some on horses most on foot.

"Retreat!" Ascena calls for us to back off again.

Nobody moves until Lamia calls for all armies to retreat. And we begin to pull back. As more things filter through into our realm.

Ascena shifts into her skin form "The stones! Separate the stones and close the veils!" She cries out to Hunji who runs with speed towards Senko's body.

Lamia and Kellen fight off creatures and Changelings. Mathias protects his queen from the dark army that flees toward his mate like flies to sugar.

But it's too late.

A chasm opens up behind Lamia, different than the others. Swirling like a vortex. Like a magnet the force of the vortex clamps onto her, and Lamia's feet slide backward.

"Lamia!" I scream reaching an arm out and running for her. Travis, Finn, and Rhett make a move and Mathias turns to grab his mate.

The veil's force has a tight grip on the queen, her body being yanked backward.

"Lamia!" Kellen yells with terror and leaps for her, managing to grasp her hand. "Hold on." He grits trying to pull her back.

At the same time, Mathias is there, only an inch from grabbing her and hauling Lamia to safety when out of the sky from nowhere comes the biggest bird I have ever seen with wings dipped in gold, glistening despite the overcast that hides the sun.

It all happens too quickly.

The bird snatches up Ascena, taking her to the sky. Simultaneously knocking into Mathias who tumbles back.

Bright green light pierces our surroundings. I look to see Hunji plunge his sword at one of the stones shattering it. Veils begin to close and I'm almost to Lamia and Kellen.