Well, usually I aim to upload a chapter every Saturday; Sunday at the latest buuuuut I thought I'd upload this one a bit early this week, a little end of the week treat for you guys lol
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)
Rae' Rae x
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Corinne's POV
Two days. It's been exactly two days since the Generals left the castle to go back to their realms. It has also been exactly three hours since Leon left for the vampire kingdom.
Tatum and Sasha managed to gain the approval from their King and Queen and found a high enough warlock to assist us. He was actually the King's cousin. A level eighty-six warlock. He and Leon left together three hours ago, fully briefed on the plan. If they ran at a steady pace the whole way, it would be roughly a couple of days before they reached the castle. We would not be able to have contact with them until they got there. It was nerve-wracking but it was something we had to do and all we could do now was wait.
The past couple of days have been rather hectic though. We received a call from my mum yesterday explaining how Corey wanted to come home. He was confused about why he was there and was adamant on the fact that me and Callie had abandoned him. My mum said he was crying for hours. She said the best thing to do was to video chat with him, to let him know that we were still around and we were always going to be around. It took a very long time to convince him but we managed to do it in the end.
*Flashback*
"I think it would be best to video chat with him, he won't stop crying." My mum explained. Corey was having a bit of an episode today. We sent him away with my parents to keep him as far away from the upcoming war as possible. We couldn't afford for him to get hurt again so that was the only thing we could think of. The problem with that was the fact that Corey had abandonment issues, seeing as his biological parents literally left him on the castle steps. It took ages just to get him to agree to go with my parents and no he thinks me and Callie has left him forever, which is far from the case.
I looked over at Callie. The phone was on loudspeaker so she could hear the conversation as well. She had a pained look on her face. It wasn't nice to know that your son was hurting and you couldn't do anything about it,
"Me and Callie and by our computer right now, we will connect with you."
Callie logged onto our computer and opened up video chat. She clicked on my mum's name and it rang a few times before she answered. My phone then beeped twice, letting me know that my mum had disconnected the call.
My mums face popped up onto the computer screen and me and Callie both smiled and waved at her, receiving the same in return,
"Hi mum, are you okay?" I asked. She nodded,
"I was up until not long ago when Corey just suddenly fell into this episode."
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, "I'm so sorry, he is not usually like that."
"He thinks you two aren't coming back for him. Everyone has tried to tell him that it's not true but he isn't hearing any of it so I hope by him actually seeing you and hearing it come directly from you, he might actually believe it."
I nodded, "Put him on please."
She nodded and moved away from the computer screen. I looked over at Callie and she shook her head,
"I think we should be gentle but firm with this. I understand his trouble but he cannot act like this every time we go away without him; it is not the true nature of a Prince."
"Of course," I agreed, "Just don't be too hard on him."
"I won't."
We turned back to the computer screen just as my mum came back, with Corey next to her. You could see he had been crying a lot because his eyes were red and he had tear streaks down his cheeks,
"Corey Remington." Callie started. He lifted his head up to face us and his eyes went wide,
"Mama?" He spoke timidly,
Callie crossed her arms over her chest. She was not impressed by his behaviour in the slightest, that much was clear,
"We are not happy with you Corey."
He ducked his head slightly, "I didn't do nothing."
"You will look me in the eyes when I am speaking to you young man." Callie spoke firmly, she was far from messing around.
Corey lifted his head up to look at us again, "I sowwy mama."
"Me and mama Corinne told you from the beginning that we were not leaving you. What is one of the things that a royal does not do?"
"Lie. They not suppose to lie."
Callie nodded, "Exactly. We would never lie to you Corey. We sent you there to keep you safe. When it is safe for you to come back, you will. Understand?"
He nodded and wiped his face free from any remaining tears, "I do. I thought you weft me."
"We will never leave you Corey." I said, "We love you very much okay?"
"Okay, I wove you too."
I smiled, "I know baby. Now we don't want you crying again okay? Big boys don't cry. A Prince does not cry."
"I a big boy mama I pwomise. I no cwy anymore."
"Good boy. Me and mama have to go now but we'll see you soon. Be good for nana and granda okay?"
"I will! See you soon!"
He waved to us and I smiled before waving back with Callie doing the same thing. My mum then waved to us as well before the call disconnected. I switched off the computer and walked over to the bed before laying back on it and closing my eyes. I felt the bed dip beside me but I didn't open my eyes,
"Are you okay love?" Callie asked. I nodded and turned on my side,
"I'm fine, just need some sleep."
"As you wish." She placed a kiss on my cheek before I felt her leave the room. I felt bad for turning my back on her like that but I really didn't want to deal with anything right now. Just not now.
*End of Flashback*
After that, my mum messaged me saying that Corey was back to his usual happy self, which made me glad to know. However, me and Callie weren't okay at the moment. She slept in the spare room that night. I didn't realise how badly I upset her and I think it was time I found out.
Making my way towards where Callie was, I thought about what I was going to say to her. She didn't like it when I turned my back on her the way I did, especially when she had no idea why I did it. It makes her feel like she hasn't done enough in terms of our relationship more than anything else, which was far from the case, I just didn't want to deal with anything at the time.
I walked into the meeting room where Callie was doing some paperwork once again, it was just her way of cutting herself off from the world,
"Callie."
She looked up from the papers before looking back down again, "Did you sleep well?" She asked. I sighed and sat down opposite,
"I know that is not the question you wish to ask, so to save you the time, I apologise for the way I acted. I just didn't want to deal with anything and I unconsciously cut you off in the process."
She froze and raised her eyes up to look me, pushing away the papers that were in front of her,
"Unconsciously?" She asked incredulously, "You turned your back to me Corinne, for no apparent reason. This war is putting a strain on our relationship big time."
"It is just something we have to get through together."
She scoffed, "Together. Right. How can we get through this together when you go and do that? The difference between me and you, is that I realise my mistakes and apologise for them immediately. You do not."
I flinched slightly at the tone of her voice, it was one she had never used with me before and I didn't like it,
"That's unfair Callie and you know it."
She ran a hand through her hair, she only did that when she was upset or frustrated. It was safe to say that she was both right now by the looks of it,
"Is it unfair? We will never be able to get through this war if we continue to push each other away. My parents stayed strong together and they still fell. We will follow in their footsteps if we continue down the road we are going down."
"You say this as if we are about to get a divorce any moment now."
She closed the files in front of her and shook her head, "That is not what I'm saying. Far from it. All I'm saying is, we will never win this war against King Symmons if we are at war with each other."
I nodded in agreement. She was right, "You're right. I'm sorry."
She moved back in her chair and opened her arms out to me. I stood up and walked over to her so that I could give her a hug,
"I know you're sorry. Let's just move past it. The troops should be waiting for us outside so I think it's time we go and greet them."
I leant back and nodded, giving her a peck on the lips. She smiled and gave me another kiss before standing up from the chair. She picked up the file on the table and put it back in one of the drawers before walking back over to me and taking my hand.
She led me outside towards the training grounds where we had roughly three-hundred warriors waiting for us, consisting of mermaids, witches, warlocks and wolves. A hundred of each.
Silence ran over the grounds as me and Callie walked out of the castle. Everyone separated into groups. Groups of their own species. That was going to change.
They bowed to us and we made a stop in front of them, "Troops," I started, "Welcome to Remington Castle. Your Kings and Queens have chosen a hundred of their best warriors. You should be proud of yourselves."
I started to walk up and down in front of the three groups, "However, the time for fun and games is over. I don't know how you train back and home and quite frankly I don't care. You are in my home now and things will be different. Guaranteed. You're used to training and fighting against your own species. That is going to change right now. Mix groups please."
They looked at me wearily but didn't question my order. They weaved in and out of each other so that they all blended in together. The species were now mixed,
"Good, now pair up, with someone of a different species. I want wolves fighting mermaids, witches and warlocks fighting wolves, mermaids fighting witches and warlocks. I don't care who it is you fight, as long as they are a different species to your own. Get to it."
They moved once again and paired up. Every warrior had a uniform and every uniform had the royal colours. That way, I knew exactly what kingdom everyone was from. They couldn't hide.
It took roughly five minutes for them to pair up considering there were so many of them. From the corner of my eye I saw Callie walk up to one of the men; from the mermaid kingdom. She stood in front of him and crossed her arms. He immediately straightened up and bowed his head,
"Your majesty."
She tugged on his shirt, "You have yet to start fighting and already your shirt is untucked. We are to look presentable at all times. Wear your uniform with pride or prepare to give it up."
He nodded and tucked his shirt in, "Yes your majesty. I apologise."
Callie nodded and came to stand next to me again. I then continued to address the crowd,
"Okay. I want each pair to go and find a space. Fight each other to the best of your ability. Don't hold back but take into account you are fighting to achieve submission, not death so do not go too far with it. We just want to see how well you can fight a different species. Understand?"
"Yes your majesty!" The crowd responded,
"Good. You may proceed."
The crowd dispersed into different areas of the grounds and started to fight. Every species had their own skill set. We were the only ones that could change into another animal. Witches and warlocks mainly used magic but it was limited depending on their level. Every warrior had to be above level fifty, it was the law in their world. When it came to the mermaid kingdom, they fought at their best near water, as they could easily manipulate it to their control. On land they were just as good of fighters as anyone else but thrived near water. It was because of this reason that we decided to hold the war near a lake. It was roughly two miles from where we were going into battle but it was close enough for them to be able to use it to their advantage.
Luckily I had rather quick reflexes because I manage to duck and avoid a white ball of light that came towards me. As it passed above my head, I turned around to see Callie grab it with her hand, stopping it from going any further.
She twisted it around in her hand and I stood up, "What is it?" I asked curiously,
"It's a paralysing spell. It paralyses your opponent for five seconds. Just enough time to create an attack. I've heard it's very effective."
"Why hasn't it affected you?"
She smirked, "I have mastered deflecting spells like this. I can catch these like they're nothing. Usually they disintegrate as soon as it touches something. Observe."
She threw the ball at a nearby tree. It was quite breezy out here so you could clearly see the leaves moving in the wind. As soon as the ball hit the tree, the leaves stopped moving and the tree stood still. Exactly five seconds later, it started moving again and I stared in awe,
"Fascinating right?" Callie asked. I nodded,
"It is. How long did it take you to learn that?"
She shrugged, "Roughly five years, give or take a few months. I can only deflect spells under level forty. That is a fair amount but there are way more spells above that level. Every spell is distinct, hence why I knew I was able to catch the paralysing spell without it causing me any harm. Lucky for you, you have quick reflexes."
I smiled, "Lucky me is correct."
We were cut out of our moment by the sound of growls. Now usually I would take no notice because growling during fights is very common but there was something different about these ones.
Me and Callie turned towards the noises and saw a crowd surrounding something. We walked towards it and everyone made way for us as we got closer.
In the centre of the crowd, were three wolves fighting against a witch and a warlock. Usually I wouldn't have a problem with this but usually it didn't look like they were fighting to the death,
"Enough!!" I shouted out. They didn't listen and continued fighting so I thought of something else. I walked in between the fight, much to Callie's disapproval. I knew they wouldn't dare try and fight me and if they did, I would put them in their place.
I stood in the middle of the fight and caught the fist of a warrior in my hand just as he was about to throw a punch at his opponent, not realising that I had taken his place,
"I said, enough." I dropped his fist and all five of them bowed their heads in surrender,
"It seems you five weren't listening when I said you were fighting to achieve submission, not death!" They flinched at the pitch of my voice but no one dared to speak, "Someone explain to me what happened."
The warlock spoke first, "They have a hatred for us." My wolves growled at them but immediately stopped once I turned my attention on them, allowing the warlock to continue, "Everyone knows that Diane Cristal is a big part of this war and why it's happening worse than it should be. She betrayed our kingdom and your wolves seem to think that everyone in our kingdom is like Diane. That is far from the truth."
Jaymie, a wolf warrior growled, "You liar! You are all the same! You are scum!"
Everyone apart from a select few shouted out in protest. I let out a loud growl to silence the crowd once again,
"You know better Jaymie. If you believe what you said, that means they can say you are the same as Cyran. That us wolves are all the same."
"That is not true!" He shouted, making me shout just as loud,
"Then your point is invalid!! You cannot make accusations such as those and not think the same thing when the roles are reversed! That is hypocritical! That is wrong!!"
I knew what I was saying was getting to him by the way he was shaking in anger but I also knew that what I way saying was the truth but I wasn't about to just blame him, two other wolves were involved.
I turned to those two wolves and they ducked their heads, "I am not about to just blame Jaymie because you were also involved in this. What would the Generals think when they find out you've been causing fights for no reason?"
"We wouldn't be very happy."
Everyone turned to the sound of Tatum's voice. She stood next to Sasha with her arms crossed. Serena and Johan stood to the side of Tatum.
The crowd bowed and I gave them a single nod, "Generals."
They bowed to me and Callie, "Your majesties."
Tatum walked forward and stood next to me, facing the three wolves, the witch and the warlock,
"JJ, Sarinda." She acknowledged the witch and warlock. They both bowed to her, "General Wolfram."
She then eyed the three wolves, "You judge my species by one member. You eventually bring shame to your kingdom."
All of the wolves except Jaymie bowed their heads even further. I knew that if Jaymie continued to disrespect Tatum any further, she would go to further measures,
"Malcolm, Xenia, you are free to move back into the crowd. Jaymie, you can stay exactly where you are."
The two wolves moved back into the crowd and Jaymie stayed in his place, still refusing to bow his head. I had never seen such a level of disrespect,
"You will bow your head before your Generals Jaymie."
Jaymie growled, "I will not bow my head to a species below my own."
I gasped along with the rest of the crowd. This was a whole new level of disrespect and Tatum was not happy. She narrowed her eyes in his direction and he fell to the ground in pain. I noticed Callie scrunch her face slightly, probably at the memory of that happening to her. I don't know how painful it was but from the way Callie was on the floor crying and from the way Jaymie was shouting out in pain now, I can only imagine,
"If you will not bow to us willingly, I will make you bow by force! Do not test me! I am a very powerful mage and I will not hesitate to show you that!!"
Sasha walked forwards and placed her hand on Tatum's shoulder, "I think he has learnt his lesson my love."
Tatum nodded and Jaymie immediately stopped shouting out in pain, letting me know that Tatum had stopped whatever it was she was doing to him. She brushed down her uniform,
"Now, let us try again. You will bow your head before your Generals, won't you Jaymie?"
Jaymie stood up and bowed his head, "Yes General Wolfram."
Tatum nodded and waved him off before turning to face the rest of the crowd, "Although we are of a different species, we will always have authority here. As well as listening to your Queens, you also listen to us. We are not here to play around! We are at war and it would serve you well to remember that!"
Everyone nodded, "Yes General Wolfram!"
"As you were."
The crowd dispersed once again and got back into their pairs. Hopefully, we wouldn't have another incident like that today, it wasn't something we wanted to deal with right now.
All of the Generals turned to face me and Callie, "We are so sorry for that. We take pride in our kingdom and that is not the image we want to portray."
"It is fine Calliria." Johan replied, "We know your kingdom well and we know that not everyone in it is like that Jaymie boy. He needs to learn a thing or two about manners and respect. That display was something else."
I nodded in agreement, "I completely agree. I have never witnessed such a level of disrespect before. It was astonishing."
"We are here because we want to show the warriors how we fight." Sasha spoke. I raised an eyebrow at her,
"We, as in you guys, me and Calliria?"
She nodded, "Yes. Exactly that. We are unaware of how skilled King Symmons' warriors are. All six of us are highly skilled and I think demonstrating our techniques, our stance, our style, will really give them an insight into the type of level they will be dealing with."
I turned to face Callie to see what she thought about it. She nodded, letting me know that she was okay with doing this. I had never fought a species other than my own but I trust in my ability. I know I am a very skilled fighter and I know that if I put my all into any fight, I will eventually come out on top. The downside, especially to fighting a witch or a warlock is the magic. I don't know every spell in their world, in fact I don't know that many and that in itself will end up to be a huge disadvantage for me.
Serena let out a loud whistle, making the crowd stop immediately, curious as to what was going to happen next. Everyone turned to face us,
"Who wants to see a demonstration?" Serena asked. Everyone nodded and murmured to each other.
Serena turned to Callie, "How about we start?"
Callie nodded and took off her crown, turning to face me so that she could hand it to me. I took it from her hands and she smiled down at me,
"It's been a while since I fought a mermaid." She admitted. I smiled and gave her a quick kiss,
"Show them what we wolves are made of baby."
She winked at me and turned to face Serena, "Alright, let's go.
Serena and Callie walked off into the very middle of the field. The rest of us surrounded them in a circle, making sure that they were kept in a certain area. We didn't want the fight to be taken past the circle otherwise it would start to get out of control. However, I knew that if I saw it was getting out of hand, I would be able to calm Callie down and Johan would be able to do the same with Serena.
Tatum walk out between them, I guess she was going to referee the match.
"I want a nice clean match."
Callie and Serena bowed to Tatum, then bowed to one another. They then took their stances.
"Begin!" Tatum yelled while moving back to us.
Neither of them moved for a while because everyone knew that making the first move was a disadvantage, no matter who it was you were fighting.
Eventually, Serena made the first move and went for a round kick on Callie. She expected it and caught Serena's foot in her hands, flipping her onto her back. It didn't take long for Serena to recover though. She swung her leg out, removing Callie's legs from under here, making her fall to the ground. Before Serena could even get close to her, Callie rolled over and stood up.
Callie was adamant on not shifting during a demonstration fight. She was at her strongest when she was in wolf form but she always made it clear that if she couldn't win a fight in human form, it just wasn't good enough. She would only shift it she deemed it absolutely necessary or if she got really angry, which was rare. I for one had never seen it happen but I had a feeling I would see it today.
I was right.
Near the end of the fight, still fighting in human form, Serena pushed Callie just a little too far,
"Come on pup, is that all you have?" Serena goaded. If there was a word that made Callie angry, other than the word weak, it was the word pup. I've never seen or heard anyone call her that but she had told me it has happened before.
Callie growled, "Call me pup again and I'll show you how far it will get you."
Serena smirked, "Pup."
It was a daring move from Serena. She didn't understand what Callie was like when she shifted out of anger. I knew I would have to end up stepping into the fight and I didn't know if it would end well.
Callie immediately shifted into her wolf and shook out her fur. The crowd let out various noises, most in fascination. Not a lot of people had seen Callie's wolf close up so this was a huge deal for everyone. She looked extremely majestic but I knew she didn't feel like that right now.
She bared her teeth at Serena and advanced on her. Serena continued to back up but Callie wasn't having that. She pinned Serena down with her paw and growled at her. I knew it was time to step in.
"Tatum stop this." Sasha whispered to her wife.
Tatum started to walk in but I stopped her in her tracks, this was something I had to handle myself,
"I'll do it." I started to walk up to her when I felt someone grab my wrist. I turned around confused and came face to face with Tatum,
"Is it safe for you to go up to her when she's like that?" She asked. I nodded and gently removed her hand from my wrist,
"She is my wife." That was all I needed to say for her to nod and allow me to move forward.
I walked up to Callie and Serena and I placed my hand on Callie's fur, immediately making her turn around and growl at me,
"Callie, you need to stop this."
She continued to growl at me and advanced on me. I refused to move though, I knew she would never hurt me. She was just too angry to realise who I actually was right now.
She pinned me down to the ground like she did with Serena previously. It knocked the wind out of me but I still wasn't phased. It hurt that she didn't recognise me enough to stop and she allowed her anger to get the better of her but I knew this wasn't the true her.
I could see four guards advance on us, "Stop right there! If you advance, you're dead!"
They stopped in their tracks and retreated back into the crowd. I looked into Callie's eyes, pleading with her to stop what she was doing. How could one word make her this angry?
"Callie, please." I pleaded.
She continued to growl at me and I closed my eyes just as she went to attack my neck. When nothing happened after a few seconds, I opened my eyes again to see Callie in mid-attack but frozen. I looked over at Tatum and Sasha, knowing that one of them made that happen
"I couldn't let her attack you Corinne. She would never forgive herself." Sasha tried to apologise.
I let out a deep breath and moved from underneath Callie, standing up and looking at her. She was literally frozen in time,
"Thank you Sasha."
She nodded and Tatum walked forward, "She is stuck in something we call triggered-emotion. When a word or action triggers something within someone, the corresponding emotion takes over completely. The spell Sasha threw at her, freezes her in time, giving her the right amount of time to realise her mistake. Triggered-emotion is rare but it happens."
Johan cleared his throat and turned to face the crowd, "Training is over for today."
Everyone bowed and walked off into the castle and we all walked up to Callie,
"Why did you push her Serena?" I asked. It was one thing to call a Queen a pup but to do it twice?
"I-I didn't think it would have this effect on her."
I growled and turned to her, "Exactly! You didn't think! And now my wife is frozen in time because of you!"
Johan stepped in front of me as I started walking towards Serena, "A Queen you may be and I respect that but I will not have you speak to my wife in such a manner. Please, take a step back."
I stepped back and shouted out in frustration. This war was creating a ripple effect everywhere else. It was putting a strain on everything and everyone involved. Emotions were heightened and stress was at a whole new level entirely,
"The effects of the spell should be wearing off now." Sasha whispered, still looking guilty even though she had no reason to be. If she didn't do what she did, who knows what might have happened.
We all walked up to Callie but stood a fair distance away. None of us knew how she would be because of this and after what happened, we weren't about to take any chances.
It took a few seconds before Callie started moving again. It was like a continuation of the attack but she immediately stopped in her tracks and shook her head confused. She looked around until her eyes landed on me. I attempted to walk up to her but she shook her head and moved away from me, flattening her ears against her head, an indication that she felt guilty,
"It's okay Callie, I know it wasn't you." I reassured. She wasn't hearing any of it.
She shook her head again and ran off into the woods behind her. I was not about to let her run away from me again.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see it was Johan, "Let her cool off. She'll come back when she's ready." The last time I did that, she almost took her own life. I was not making that same mistake again.
I shifted into my wolf and ran after her. I knew that if I didn't find her soon, I might never find her at all. One thing Callie promised she would never do is hurt me physically and she nearly broke that promise. She would punish herself for that and I had to make sure that didn't happen. No matter how long it took.
Callie's POV
What have I done? I lost control and almost attacked my own wife. If something didn't stop me in my tracks, I would have attacked her. How could I look Corinne in the eyes after that? How could I look anyone in the eyes after that?
When Corinne tried to come up to me, I just couldn't allow it. What if I went to hurt her again? What if I couldn't control myself? I couldn't take that risk so I had to get as far away from her as possible. I would rather die than lay my hands on Corinne.
I knew Corinne was chasing after me, I could feel it. She was quick in wolf form but I was quicker. I had to be quicker. I had to protect her; even if it was from myself.
I heard a rustling noise in the bushes and immediately turned to the source. There was no one there so I passed it off as the wind and continued walking forward. That was until I heard it again.
I growled in that general direction. In my wolf form, I wasn't someone to mess around with but everyone has a weakness. Superman was weak because of kryptonite. Thor was weak without his hammer. I was weak because of silver. Everyone knew that. The reason why our enemies don't use it on us is because silver is extremely hard to come by nowadays. You need the right contacts to be able to obtain any.
The bushes rustled again, snapping me out of my thoughts. I bared my teeth preparing myself for any form of attack. I wasn't about to go down without a fight.
I had run far enough where I was still on the edge of my territory but a few steps forward and I would be entering No Man's Land.
I all of a sudden felt a prick in my side. It was small but it hurt. I whimpered in pain and fell to the ground, shifting back to my human form. It would make the pain worse but it would be easier to handle. I looked at my side to see I had been shot with a dart and I was certain that dart contained silver because the pain was unbearable.
My vision started to blur, my senses started to fade. I couldn't even open my mouth to call for help and I didn't have the strength to open my mind link.
The last thing I saw before I blacked out completely was a blurry figure standing over me and the last thing I smelt was vampire.
I knew this wasn't going to end well.
The war had officially begun.