Cody's POV

For the second time I gasp awake, throwing up pure stomach bile, groaning as the convulsions irritate my bruises.

My breath is wheezing, and I try to keep them shallow, softening the sharp pain in my chest if only a little bit.

By the way the sun has changed I can tell I've been here for a few hours. Maybe three. Maybe more. Pure exhaustion fills every part of my bone, though the pain keeps me awake.

Richard came back two times after leaving me gasping for breath the first time, each blow feeling more and more personal. I shift, trying to ease the feeling of my surely broken ribs when my ears pick up on someone, multiple someone's, though one doesn't seem to be coming on their own accord, coming towards the tent.

My body tenses, adrenaline pumping my veins as I wait, Jessie's growing frustration in the back of my mind.

'I hate that fucking bitch. We need to get out of these chains, Cody. I can't switch with you or protect you if I'm locked up like this.' He tells me, his voice desperate, almost pleading. I've never heard Jessie sound so scared before and it shakes me for a moment but I do my best to shake it off.

'I hate her too, and we'll find a way out of here. You don't have to protect me, we fight for each other.' I tell him firmly, just as the flap to the tent is thrown open.

I watch, trying to keep my face smooth, as Makayla barges into the large space, dragging behind someone else behind her by the hair. She throws the wolf onto the floor, the girl's knees slamming against the stiffly packed dirt, but it's not until she forced herself to sit up that I realize who she is.

"Jessica?" My voice is hoarse, severely dehydrated after throwing up so many times and no water. Her eyes flicker towards me, and I sigh with relief when I see that they're still brown, grateful they're not the Shadow possessed black pits that Richard had. But she doesn't answer, instead looking down, her shoulders hunched. I notice the bruises on face and arms, along with the eerily similar rune that's been drawn on the center of her chest like some sort of sick branding trophy.

"Oh she won't answer. Not unless she wants me to continue working on my masterpiece while I wait for her to finally tell me what she knows. Such a stubborn girl." She mocks, and I see Jessica flinch.

She and I were never friends and never shared classes or spoke before I met James. And while she wasn't the nicest, I could tell it was fueled by pain and heartbreak that she hadn't bargained for. The last thing she deserves is this.

And all it does is start to piss me off, my fear slowly burning into smoldering flames.

"You see, I grew up in Vilin and as a kid." Makayla starts, playing with an engraved knife in her hand, pacing the small space in front of me. "I always thought Hybrids were this shining beautiful example of how at peace and loving our species are to each other. I thought all those fairytales about us all being one under Celeste were true. Until I was old enough that my horns started to show, and I started school. It was like I was a monster. A nobody. Some plague. Until my family was forced out into Ameden where they're the only place to have their own schools because we're not welcome anywhere else. So when I heard that Satan was gathering an army to take this land and all the Divine Children with it, I was more than happy to offer my services. You snobby spoiled entitled bastards don't deserve what you have. Finally this will be a home for Nightlies and Dark Hybrids. I hated that name when I first heard it, but now I think it has a certain ring to it. So it doesn't matter if you tell me now, or later, or if I kill you and find it myself, the only thing on your horizon is death. Now I don't care, but I would think you would want to get to spend a few more days with your family and lover before the world comes burning down. Or not. It's fun for me either way."

She walks towards Jessica, grabbing her hair tightly before yanking her head to the side harshly. She presses the knife to her throat, sliding it softly back and forth, just barely grazing her skin. Just enough to leave sharp raised lines in its wake. 

Jessica's eyes are screwed shut as she quietly tries to hold back her sobs, knowing any movement could force her to cut her own neck on the extremely sharp knife.

"What about you, baby girl? So you know where the key is?" The Enchanted asks, her voice sickly sweet. Jessica doesn't answer, only continues to try to control her tears and breathing. Makayla gets bored and throws the girls head down to the ground before overstepping her and making her way towards me with a wicked sinister gleam in her eye.

"The first thing I'm going to do after I deliver this key, is burn down the High Church of Celeste. It'll be a glorious blazing fire." She admits to me as she comes over.

Her knife is still in hand, and I watch with horror as the knife slowly goes for my neck. I evade her, going to push her away, but she uses her free hand to hold my body in place, her grip on my shadow firm and absolute. This power is terrifying. Overpowered. If the Enchanted wanted to invade  Vollmond all they would need is a nicely timed night raid, using their other abilities to compensate for their defensive holes.

Fuck.

Fuck.

We were right all along.

Why did we have to be right.

"Did you know that before it was outlawed and stricken from mainstream information, there was a barbaric, less painful way to sever your Soulmate bond? It's painful in the moment sure, but this method bypasses all of that inescapable pain nonsense. It was forbidden because it didn't have to be the Soulmates that severed the Mark and Bond. It can be anyone." She tells me as I feel the sharp tip of the knife peirce my skin sharply. Tears spring into my eyes, panic consuming me, trying my best to move against her powers, but it's useless. Jessie is going insane, yelling, howling, cussing, even sobbing as he tries to force himself out, hating that we're sitting here useless and helpless again.

Just before the blade slices through the skin of my Mark, she stops, releasing my shadow and smirking as she gets up.

"You should remember that fact that next time Richard comes back." She tells me before grabbing Jessica by the hair, not even giving her a chance to get up and follow on her own, though from Makayla's satisfied smirk, that's exactly what she wants.

The rage continues to build, the smoldering flames and blazing fire as the two leave the tent.

I go to look away, but to my surprise, something catches the flap before it can fall all the way close before it suddenly drops after a bit of ruffling. The tent is silent, and without my Mana Vision, I'm blind to any spells or powers at work. I stay alert, looking around, trying to find anything out of place when suddenly there's a hand on my shoulder and over my mouth, lips touching my ears next.

Even the scent of the assailant is gone, the feeling of them touching me the only proof I have of their existence.

"Cody, it's me." Lips brush against my ear, the words as low as possible, hoping to avoid detection from any listening ears. I immediately recognize the voice as Charlottes and I slump slightly, relief flooding me that they've found me. "It's better if you don't speak, I'm certain they have eyes on you somehow. Everyone is gathered at the White Cabin. I came for recon. James and Sloan are coming for you. We all are." She tells me and I want to cry from sweet relief, but I don't move, keeping my eyes on the door as I listen. "And here." She says pressing something into my palm. "The Academy has chains like these in the holding cells. My key should work. When you hear commotion, get moving, otherwise they'll find you missing and go to find you instead of being here for my plan. Stay strong, Luna." She tells me, squeezing my shoulder softly before her presence and her hands disappear.

Nothing but what passes as a strong gust of wind through the tent flaps even tells me that she's gone.

I take the key from my hand and place it in my sock, though from far away it would seem I'm tenderly checking an injured ankle.

Thank Celeste they're coming. 

I think about all of our friends and allies crowded into the White Cabin preparing for the worst circumstances we've faced.

We were taught growing up that thanks to Celeste and Vilin and the efforts of the Divine Army, for the past three hundred years we've been able to grow up in times of peace and prosperity. But right now, all I'm feeling is woefully unprepared for when the dangers and creatures in the night finally go bump once more.

'This is something dad was always worried about remember? He would always say the fastest way for people to fail is to have Peace for too long.' Jessie reminds me, finally able to calm down with the key and Charlottes assurance. But he's right. I remember growing up with my father often talking to Casey and eventually me about how hard, scary and dangerous it was to just live in Kaulike before the borders got offically recognized, given each species their own region. His Warriors would always complained that they never worked as hard as when they trained at the Academy and my fathers response was always "Good, that's the way it should be. As long as you can protect your family, you can start over anywhere."

Fond memories of my family keep me comfort for a while, until I hear footsteps that I've learned by now, Richard barging through the flap with eyes for me only.

He's bare handed again, his sleeves rolled up, his eyes lightless pits.

"I heard that you might just be ready to admit where the key is." He says with a slight pout as if he hopes it isn't the case. nausea washes over me at my reality, the frail hope given to me already crumbling in my hands.

"I am not even the official Luna yet. Even if I'm wrong and there is a top secret key, I don't know about it. And if I did, I'm still not convinced I would tell you. You're wasting your time." I tell him tiredly, no bite in my tone, just an exhausted rendition of the truth.

My response pulls a smile from him, telling the exact words he wants, giving him the green light he needs so he punish me. I start to shake under his gaze, his usually scowling face all the more terrifying lit up in tha crazed smile.

'Cody, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.' Jessie tells me, rocking himself back and forth, and I don't have it in me to comfort him, terror taking away all level of thoughts, only helplessness fills me as I in vain try to move away.

Richard grabs my shirt and forces me to stand up, my knees almost giving out on me, but I'm able to stand with his support. I have to look up slightly to meet his eyes and I see him searching my eyes hungrily looking for that debilitating fear, feeding on it.

Disgust and hate flare inside of me, taking back the slowly dying flames. I gather the blood and the bile in my mouth and spit a large wad directly in Richards face, looking down my nose at him dispute our difference in height.

Without warning he punches me in the gut harshly and when I doubly over he uses the opportunity to slam his knee into my hand, sending me flying backwards onto the harshly packed dirt, slamming the breath from my lungs.

'FUCKING BASTARD. I WILL KILL HIM!' Jessie is screaming. Probably crying.

I don't know if I'm dying or if I'm hurt, but I'm starting to wonder if I'll even still be here when Charlotte returns, breathing being more of a challenge than it should be. my body hurts all over, and I watch as Richard looks down at my battered body, my Omega genes slow healing only adding to the pain.

He lifts a foot and places it on my burning and aching chest, pressing down softly, but even that little pressure sends me screaming in pain, the feeling blinding and encompassing as my broken ribs press into the walls of my chest and again my lungs.

"You are nothing. You only have one more chance, boy." He spits at me before raising his leg and exiting the tent leaving me gasping on the ground, my eyes screwed shut as if that could somehow help ease the pain.

James.

Sloan.

Everyone.

Please.

Hurry.

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Okay not my longest chapter but I think I was able to stretch it enough without dragging it out. Charlottes ability is coming in clutch. Next Chapter, the calvary is on the way!

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