Broken Souls
Chapter 36: Battle Grounds

Alpha Aaron’s POV

I hate that Kay is here. What I hate more is that she is somewhere without me. I know that what she is doing is important, but still I don’t care. I don’t want her here, and I want to be with her. I still don’t understand all the magical crap they kept explaining to me, but whatever I know what I have to do. All I need to do is get to Seth that should be easy I think rolling my eyes. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget about the rogue army we have to fight through. We are hidden for now under a magic cloak, but the moment we get to the castle, we will be seen, and the fight will be on I just want to slip in and replace Seth. If I kill him, that seems like it should solve the problem to me.

As we approach the area, every wolf is on high alert. The air is so uncomfortably still and quiet. This whole area feels cursed, making all of the wolves even more on edge. The sprawling grounds surrounding the castle are fields of weed and thorn. The castle itself is holding up mostly. One tower looks as though it may fall at any moment, though. The dark stones of the castle are worn by weather and time but mostly sound. I can’t see any life anywhere. Nothing but the still emptiness. I know our wolves are stalking the tree line getting ready for hell to break loose. Through the link, I hear Oriel and the other lead warriors.

“Ready,” they say one after another.

“Let’s end this Aaron,” Michael is the last voice I hear before I howl loudly, and the air splits with the sounds of thousands more.

I can’t even tell for sure where the rouges are coming from. They seem to be under the same magical concealment we are. God I hate magic. The fields of weed are now nothing but a battle ground. They start running from the castle doors in human form before transforming and joining the throngs of fighting wolves. The air is now filled with the sounds of the fight: I can see witches taking on wolves sending them flying through the air. I need to end this. I need to end Seth is all I can think as I am charging into the fight. I kill the weak rogues quickly, but there are so many. Soon, I have a dozen on me. That’s when Oriel breaks through the swarm of rogues.

“Looked like you needed a hand,” she links me. I swear I see her wolf wink at me as she takes out rogues and helps to clear a path to the castle.

Kay’s POV

Diana and I start to climb the stairs. They just seem to go on and on forever. Every so often, we come to a window. I can see the tree line at the edge of the beautiful sprawling grounds. The well-kept grass and large flower gardens make this the most beautiful place I have ever seen, but its beauty does nothing to hide what it really is: a prison for souls.

My mind wanders to Willow and Serena. I just hope they are safe. When I last saw Willow, she was being engulfed by Hadeon’s black shadow form. I know Willow said she would be stronger here. That she would be able to handle him, but I’m still worried about her. I also replace myself worried for little Serena. She is still just a child confused and scared.

I’m lost in my thoughts mindlessly climbing the steps when I hear the crying above me. I already know it’s Seth. I can feel him there behind the door. When I reach the door, I’m surprised to replace that it isn’t even locked. Seth hasn’t even tried to escape. He’s just sitting on the floor crying. The room is small and empty. The only thing in the room is Seth and the sound of his sobs.

“Seth, I need you to come with me.” I’m trying to speak to him gently, but I just want to get out of this place as soon as I can.

“I can’t. He’ll just replace me again,” Seth sniffs.

“I know you are afraid, but you asked me to save you, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” I remind him as I kneel down on the floor beside him. Seeing Seth like this, I don’t think I will ever be afraid of the monster he became. He is the saddest thing I have ever seen, and I just feel sorry for him. I will not forget what Seth became or the things he did. I just don’t think I will fear him. I can’t fear him anymore; he’s just pathetic.

“Seth,” I try and sooth him as I take his hand, but he flinches from me. I can feel him broken and lost. “Just come with me.”

“Why would you help me? I know what I became and the things I did. Hadeon loved to show me the monster I became. Why help me?” He asked hanging his head in shame.

“Because if I help you, I can beat Hadeon and save everyone I love. Let me help you to save them.”

My words must have struck a chord with him because he nods his head once before abruptly standing up pulling me up with him.

“Okay.” he murmurs looking at the door, and I can clearly see he’s scared to death of walking out that door. At least he seems willing to try now. Diana huffs and heads for the door as we leave the small room in the tall tower.

That is when Diana lets out a low growl and picks up her pace. We head to the same door that we first came in through, but I’m met with the terrible sight of Willow locked in Hadeon’s shadowy hold and what looks like hinds around her throat. It looks as though he’s pulling the energy out of her body as she begins to look pail and limp. Serena’s screams ring out across the yard as she runs at them glowing a soft pink. Before she can even reach them, Hadeon’s black shadows whip through the air colliding with the small girl sending her flying until she hits the ground hard. Diana’s growls combine with the sound of Hadeon’s sick hissing that sounds as though he is laughing. Diana is about to lunge for Hadeon, but it’s Seth that I see race passed me.

I hear him yell: “Not the little girl!”

Seth manages to knock Willow from Hadeon’s hold. As Seth and Hadeon collide, the air seems to rip open in a thunderclap that has my ears ringing. The shock wave of energy knocks me to the ground and knocks the air from my lungs. As I get up coughing and gasping, I can see Willow lying on the ground looking old and weak. Serena is not here. She must be locked in the void still. Diana growls in my mind, and I feel her try and push forward. Then I see him. I see the real him for the first time: The looming tall thin form of Hadeon. His gaunt face and long thin fingers still give me the feeling of looking at the grim reaper just now he’s flesh and bone wrapped in a black robe. He’s alive. Hadeon in out of the void just like he wanted.

I can see the figures of the witches lying on the ground with up rooted trees. The blast of our arrival knocking them out cold. I just hope they are alive. Looking around, it looks like a meteor struck the ground. The round corridor we are in and the broken uprooted trees are a frightening thing to behold. Now, it’s just him and me. I can feel Diana pushing me to shift, but I’m not ready to yet. He looks at me, and his raspy laughter makes me shiver.

“Well thank you Kay. You got that weak peace of trash to sacrifice himself to me completely. Now I am here.” Hadeon smirks holding his arms out looking at the area around him. His voice is like nails on a chalkboard. I gave him just what he needed apparently; it’s all my fault, and I have a sinking feeling in my gut. My fault. I can feel the air buzz as Hadeon takes a mental hold of my mind bringing me down to my knees.

Alpha Aaron’s POV

Griffin and I have made our way to the castle door. As soon as we do, Seth’s monster wolf Cain is quick to meet us. We circle each other before he charges locking his jaws down on my shoulder. I finally manage to shake him off. I just need one opening to rip his throat out. I can feel the blood running out of the wound on my shoulder. He comes at me again, but I dodge him and jump onto his back sinking my teeth into his back just missing his spine. When he rolls, I’m forced to let him go his blood spilling out of my mouth. We are about to lunge for one another again, when a thunderous boom fills the air, and a wave of rushing energy comes from the woods leveling trees. The cloud of debris hits the raging wolves and levels them. It then hits Seth and I, sending us both into the wall of the castle. Seth hits the hardest and shifts back to his human body. His back bleeding, he lies on the ground a moment.

When I hear him whisper, “Kay,” I look to the sight of the blast. It is where she and Willow are. Before I can think, the larger black wolf, Cain, is racing passed me to the site of the destruction. I’m quick to chase after him not knowing what he is up to now.

Seth’s wolf Cain is still impossibly fast, and I have flashes of memories of trying to chase down Kay. She’s just as fast as he is. I can’t seem to gain any on Seth as we run, but I’m not falling behind, so I keep pushing as we race through the broken and turned over trees. We are getting closer to the epicenter, and I can hear grating laughter making me push my legs harder. Seth seems to do the same as he pulls a little more ahead of me. I make it just in time to see Cain slam into the tall figure.

I see Kay and quickly mind link with her. She seems confused for a brief moment before telling me that man is Hadeon, he is here, and we have to stop him. Seth rushes Hadeon again, clapping his jaws on Hadeon’s arm. When Hadeon hisses in pain, Seth howls as he’s blasted back with a burst of energy from Hadeon’s body. Seth collides with a knot of tree roots and lies unmoving. He slowly shifts to his human body. Kay and I are quick to rush Hadeon as he moves to finish off Seth. I don’t care what happens to Seth, but I won’t let Kay face Hadeon without me there.

Kay is starting to glow a blue color. I’m shocked I can see it. I can even feel the air begin to hum around her as the blue light glows brighter. I don’t know what she is doing, but Hadeon is soon shrieking in pain and falling to his knees.

“NO! YOU CAN’T! HOW ARE YOU DOIING THIS?” Hadeon continues to shriek. I’m lost trying to figure out what is happening. I nearly miss seeing Seth get to his feet, blood gushing from his head and back as he stumbles up to his feet. He grabs a broken branch from the ground the splintered end making a sharp point. With one last push of his strength, he roars as loudly as he can before slamming the branch deep into Hadeon’s back. Another blast of energy erupts from Hadeon in a shrieking mass of black shadow. Kay screams as her own body erupts in the similar blast of blue colliding with the bulk mass. It feels like I’m hit by a truck; all the energy collides and explodes like a bomb. Hadeon’s body lies on the ground unmoving with Kay’s body a few yards away. Seth is flung back into the tree roots again and is still.

I rush to Kay, and she’s breathing normally as I shift. She opens her eyes and starts to franticly look around.

“Hey, slow down.” I try and calm her.

“Seth,” is all she says. She then jumps up and moves to Seth. I follow her, eyeing the lifeless body of Hadeon trying to wrap my mind around what I just saw. I know I’m going to need someone to explain this to me. I still hate magic.

Kay is by Seth. He moves slightly looking up at her face. I almost growl and rush to her to save her when I see him touch her cheek.

“Thank you, Kay, and I’m sorry,” he mummers before his hand falls back to the ground. I get to Kay, and she has tears in her eyes when she looks into mine. Ther is a mix of sad and happy relief on her face.

“He’s gone, but he got to be whole,” she whispers wrapping her arms around my neck and burying her face in my neck. I hold her only a moment when a small cough makes me jump. A woman with long blonde hair is standing looking at us. I’m about to get up when Kay pulls out of my arms.

“Willow,” Kay nearly yells rushing to the blonde woman.

“Yes, dear. I have my power back now that Hadeon is truly dead, and all of his trapped souls are free as well,” Willow says looking back at Hadeon’s corpse.

“Here, I think Aaron could use this.” Willow says handing some fabric to Kay. Kay giggles as she takes it from her. When she hands me the robe, I slip it on. Wolves don’t care about being naked, but clearly witches do.

“I’m going to need someone to explain what happened,” I mutter as I wrap my arms around Kay. In this moment, however, I’m just happy that she is alive and Hadeon is dead.

I link Oriel, and before I can even ask her, she tells me: “We seem to have won Aaron. The rogues are retreating. I don’t know what happened, but they just slowly stopped fighting. We have wounded, and we need the medics.” I link the medical teams sending them in to help our wounded.

Kay looks up at me.

“We won,” she whispers sounding like she almost can’t believe it.

“Yes, we won,” I reply holding her tightly. For the first time in ages, it feels like we can just breathe. We just get to be us and finally start living our life.

“Kay, I love you,” I whisper in her ear, and she turns facing me cupping my face in her hands and kissing me.

“I love you, Aaron.”