Preternatural Prophecy Chapter 15

            They landed with a thud on the rocky ground of the mountains. Wendel stood up first dusting himself off. He helped the twins up off of the ground. Each looked around at their surroundings. The birds chirped from the trees, a lone wolf was heard far away. Laurel hugged her twin. “Thank the Gods that the old woman gave you that necklace! Otherwise we might still be back there fighting off the vampires.” Laurel said pulling away from her sister.

            “Do you think she is a God though?” Tatiana asked pulling the necklace from under her shirt. She rolled it between her thumb and forefinger thinking it over.

            “Probably just something used to scare off Aiden. You saw how frightened he was after he saw half his army gone with the blink of an eye.” Wendel said, thinking deeply. He scratched the back of his head, looking down.

            The twins looked over at him. He was deep in thought. Tatiana went over and took hold of his hand. “What is the matter Wendel?” She asked gently.

            “Half of Aiden’s army disappeared right in front of us. They were gone before we knew what happened. Many intelligent beings died today. I am starting to regret taking up this mission. It wouldn’t be right to kill off an entire civilization.” Wendel said solemnly.

            “Wendel you cannot be serious! They have murdered, stolen, and decimated the human race for years. We cannot let them continue on like this. They are an unchecked force which must be destroyed.” Laurel said taken aback by his statement.

            “Laurel, can you not see that we are destroying an entire race, an entire culture. It would be like the human race being wiped out for good.”

            “But it isn’t the same Wendel! They are killing monsters made to destroy everything in their path. Humans have compassion! We are like two different things!”

            Wendel looked directly at her with a cold stare. He stepped forward looming over her. “Not too long ago I was a human Laurel. Not too long ago I was just like you. I changed into a vampire because I chose to go with you! Do not tell me those things are true because I am proof that they are not. What you saw with Delano’s wife also shows you that they are not cruel monsters that deserve to be slaughtered. She gave her life to be with her husband in the afterlife! She did not have to do that. It was her choice. It was an act out of love not hate. So do not tell me that vampires are just killing monsters because they are not!” at this point he was screaming at Laurel. She shrinked back a little, having never seen Wendel like this before.

            Tatiana grabbed onto Wendel’s arm. “Wendel stop it!” She shouted. He looked down into her eyes. A deep mourning in her eyes was all Wendel saw. He looked deep inside, caught by what he saw. Deep inside her eyes he saw what he had never seen before. Tatiana’s blue eyes were rarely this dark. They had turned from a sharp icy blue to a dull grey. Wendel saw pain and suffering in them. Wendel knew that Tatiana never wanted to kill anyone but he did not know that it had hurt her this much to kill. Inside was a pain that only he knew about. It took him back to his sister.

           

            Wendel and Thea used to play in the streets as children together. He was a year her elder. They would skip stones across the water. One day they went out to the lake to gather water for the village. The village had recently dug a new well but found it to be dry. The village sent out each child every day to gather water from the lake until a new one could be dug. It was an especially hot day. The children were exhausted by the time they reached the lake. A scream erupted from the group of children.

            Thea and Wendel turned to see a black shadow cover the sun. The world went dark. More screams erupted, though this time it was from the direction of the village. Shouts came up from the group of children. Every single child’s vision turned towards the village. Huge explosions erupted. The children sat wide eyed and the sun reappeared and black shadows fled the village. The children ran back as soon as they could. They arrived to find the buildings shattered and blood pouring out into the streets. Thea ran to the head of the group to see her parents tied to the dual gargoyles that sat attached the fountain that had supplied water to them for years. A vampiric knife was embedded in each of their stomachs. Thea fell to her knees and cried. Wendel stepped up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. His eyes flashed with pain.

            A single person stood across the forum. An evil smiled was plastered on his face. “Hello there, children. As you can see there isn’t much of your village left. You can thank us vampires for that. This was just one of many villages we will destroy. Luckily you will be spared because it is daylight now. You will not be so lucky the next time my vampire army attacks you.” He turned and walked away.

            Thea stood up, anger seething through her veins. Thea drew her bow and nocked an arrow. She took aim at him and shot. She pulled back the string and released the arrow. It shot forward and hit him squarely between his shoulders. The vampire reached back and pulled it out of his back. He looked at it and turned. An evil grin was on his face. He dropped the arrow and laughed before turning to shadow and disappearing.

            Thea turned to the children. She wept loudly. Everyone else started sobbing. Wendel stood there in the crowd of crying children. He looked to his sister and shook his head. Thea looked up and wiped away her tears.

            “Listen to me! This is not the end! We have learned from our parents how to run this village. We all knew that one day our parents would pass away. We did not know how ever that that day would be today. So today we shall band together like our parents have and run this. We may also be under threat of the attack from these abominations that have plagued us. Now are you with me?” Thea shouted above the sobbing. Every child stopped sobbing. They all looked up with hope at Thea and moved toward her. Wendel stood while the wave of people crowded her sister. Wendel turned around. He made his way towards the armory.

           

            Wendel shuddered and fainted in front of the twins. His limp body kicked up a cloud of dust as he hit the ground. Tatiana gasped. Laurel bent down and felt for his pulse. “He is still alive. He is just unconscious.” Laurel said.

            “What happened? Why did he just faint like that? One minute he was looking into my eyes and the next he just fell down. I don’t understand.” Tatiana said.

            “Whatever it was it is powerful enough to take down a vampire. I believe it has nothing to do with us because if it would have affected us we would have been knocked out first.”

            “Laurel it was really rude to say that in front of Wendel. You know how he is dealing with this transformation and how it cannot be reversed. You owe him an apology.”

            “He might not get it Tati.”

            “And why not?”

            “That…” Laurel said pointing towards the mountain tops. A giant wolf howled at the full moon. It turned its head towards the twins. It threw its head up for one more howl then charged down the mountain side with the rest of the pack following it. They were all gigantic white wolves plunging down the mountain side right for them. There were five in total. Tatiana and Laurel drew their swords.

            The wolves fanned out around them, circling up around the trio. A chuckle like growl emitted from the biggest wolf. Laurel held her sword up in a defensive position. Her eyes locked with the wolf’s eyes. It growled a low growl. The alpha wolf jumped at her. Laurel swung her short sword in a wide arc and cut through its stomach. It groaned and fell back. The wolf’s stomach was now exposed. It lay down and nodded to the rest of its pack. The rest of the wolves attacked. Tatiana slashed through the first one only to be knocked aside by another. Her falchion drew blood from the throat of a third. The fourth knocked Laurel onto her back. It dived for her throat. Laurel threw up her sword. The wolf bit down on the sword. Four arrows shot out of the woods surrounding them. Every single arrow found its mark. One second later the four wolves attacking them fell to the ground. An arrow stuck out the back of each wolf's skull.  The alpha wolf stood up and ran back up the mountain side away from the trio and their unknown assistants.

            Four men dressed in all green stepped out from behind trees. Their hats resembled that of Wendel’s when they had first met him. It was pointed near the front with a curve in the back. Each hat had two feathers in them. They hurried over to Wendel pushing aside the twins. The two picked him up. The four turned to see Tatiana and Laurel pointed their swords at the unknown people.

            “Where are you taking Wendel?” Laurel demanded.

            “Some place safe, away from you savages.” One said. A red stripe curved around the band of his hat.

            “We are not savages.” Laurel jerked forward. The ones not carrying Wendel immediately drew two arrows and nocked them.

            “One step closer and you will be killed. You may be the chosen ones but that does not mean that you cannot die.” The one with the red band said.

            Laurel was taken aback by this. “How did you know?”

            “Everyone in the world knows what you look like and who you are. By the way your parents are very proud of you.” A smile snuck onto his face. That set off Laurel.

            “DIE!” Laurel screamed. She lunged at him only to receive two arrows to the chest. Her eyes were sharp, her lips turned into a nasty snarl. She raised her sword and smashed his skull in. She stabbed him repeatedly. She pulled the two arrows from her chest, the wounds closing up. “Never mention my parents to me again.”  Her eyes shot upwards to see the other three had disappeared.

            Tatiana put a hand on her shoulder. “Laurel you need to let it go. They have. It’s time for you to let it go.”

            “I will never let it go. Do not bring it up again.”

            Tatiana sighed and went over to the dead man. “How long before this is all done and over with? How long before we can just live in peace? Why has the line between good and bad been so smudged? Is all this killing in the name of good? Why can so many evil things come for the sake of good? Are all of these to go unanswered throughout time? I cannot believe that this is what fate had dealt us. There is no way. We need to find Wendel.” Laurel nodded and looked around. Tracks in the dust leaded into the dark forest. The footprints caught Tatiana’s eye. “What’s the chance of them just being right inside waiting for to give him back?” Tatiana asked. A hint of worry plagued her voice.

            “Not very good. We don’t even know where they are taking Wendel.” Laurel said grimly.

            “Well we should get going then instead of standing around talking.”

            “Very true. Let’s go.” Laurel responded. She replaced the short sword in her sheath and dashed the way the prints lead. Tatiana followed her closely. The prints zigzagged repetitively. Who ever had taken Wendel had definitely been trying to lose the twins. The footprints took them through bushes, over a river, and finally stopped at a cave. The twins skidded to a halt in front of it. Moans could be heard from inside. A scream echoed out of the cave. It died down.

            “Do you think Wendel is really in there?” Tatiana asked.

            “We will find out soon enough.” Laurel responded. Laurel removed her short sword and held it at the ready. She charged into the cave. Tatiana followed right behind her. The three archers sat around a table. Wendel lay on top of the table. The three looked up and saw the twins. They didn’t even flinch when they saw them.

            “Hello!” One called out to them. He was slightly taller than the others. Laurel scanned each ones face. She realized one of them was a woman. Her slender figure was hidden by the bulky clothing. The one who had greeted them stood up and walked over to them. He shook both of the twins hands then turned back to his companions. “Well now they are here and we can set back out.” The three of them grabbed their gear and left them. Tatiana dropped her falchion and turned around.

            “Wait! Who are you? Where are you going?” she yelled after them.

            “We are the green archers. You will see us around. You seem to have met our brother archer. He is part of the blue archers. Where his hat is we have no clue but we know him because he is wanted all over for treason. We must go now. You will see us again soon. We follow the old women’s orders as well so don’t think that we will not see each other soon.” The woman archer said before turning in a sweeping motion and stepping out of the cave. That left the twins speechless.

            Wendel sat up groggily. “Where am I?” He asked.