Chapter 2
Arrival
Julio was in the field in his horse form which he loved. Yet he was feeling unsettled and pawing the ground. He didn’t know what was wrong, just that something was in his human type brain that wouldn’t allow him peace in any form. It was aggravating and even long runs over the plains at the head of the herd didn’t help. Nothing did.
Excitement was running through the herd, the natural horses ran away while the others stood around waiting. A messenger had come. Now he would be drawn back into the human world whether he wanted to go or not. He flashed to where the messenger waited. No point in leaving them cooling their heels, they were just doing their job.
“Greetings, Julio.” The female werewolf said.
“Greetings, Bernice. It’s been a long time. What tidings do you have?” She had been a lover a few times in the distant past.
“I bring news of the war. A battle is being planned and you and your followers as well as Herk’s are needed.”
“How much time do we have?”
“None. They want you as soon as possible.”
“Thank you for bringing the word. We will arrive as soon as we have gathered our soldiers.”
“I will give your message to Herk.” Bernice was gone in the blink of an eye.
Her artifact was the same one all messengers carried. It allowed almost instantaneous travel, protection for the messenger as long as the artifact was on them, and they could be tracked so headquarters always knew the status of the messenger. That came in handy.
“Jolie, we must gather our troops for travel right away.” Julio said.
Jolie is his younger sister. She was a warrior whether he approved or not so he kept her under his authority to protect her. Mostly, he had her in support services. So far she’d not complained or asked to be in a battle, but this one coming up all warriors would be in on including his sister. Just one more thing for Julio to be unhappy about.
“I’ll spread the word. They’ll come here and once they are gathered we’ll go?”
“Yes, they wait for us to finish planning and attack our target. It won’t be pretty.”
“War never is.”
“True. Go now and spread the word.”
Jolie left and Jespers, his brother, came. “We are all here. At least all of the southern herd that is going to fight.”
As Julio’s second, Jespers often took part of the herd south to keep them spread out. The natural horses, the young, old, and nonsoldiers would be left behind. Apollo was Herk’s younger brother and he had the western herd. He should be arriving soon. Then they would wait for the eastern and northern herd before they could leave. The main herd was centrally located.
By spreading out, they ensured their survival. They were also proactive in setting traps for the humans that hunted and thinned the herds, but every year there were still less of them. Eventually, his natural horses might be gone along with many of the unicorns and Pegasus that were caught along with them.
Now the horse shifters were going and the natural horses would be on their own for all intent and purposes. Julio felt bad about leaving them on their own but hopefully they would return soon. This was his world, the plains that he and the other horses, both natural and shifter, ran over day after day. The other places he went were like a dream and only this place was real to him.
The herds gathered as one after the other appeared. They would do their duty even though none truly wanted the fight. Everyone knew what was at stake and all intended to do their part. He felt pride at the size of the army he would lead to Herk. The directions to where they would wait for the others were in his hands and he quickly had the word spread so all would accompany him to the exact spot.
In a flash, everyone went from here to there. Now they would dig in and wait, but not for long. He sent word to Herk letting him know they were there. It wasn’t long before word came that Herk wanted him and two of the leaders to meet with the others that were commanding troops. That would be Jespers and Apollo their seconds.
Julio didn’t want to go, but he knew he needed to follow orders so he and the seconds arrived minutes later at Herk’s command center and home. Pru stood at his side sending glares Julio’s way. It took a few moments before thoughts of Janel came to mind. The problem was he didn’t want to think of her.
His mate was beautiful and he desired her, but they wanted different lives and had to go their separate ways. Between his responsibilities as leader of the unicorns and the pledge to support the war Ram was leading, he needed the peace of the plains to keep thoughts in his head from making it explode.
It was the only place he could escape and feel free, but his mate had no desire to be there at all. Julio was a leader, but the responsibility often left him on the edge of depression. That was something he fought against and wild, free open spaces helped him keep it in check. While he’d tried to explain his need to Janel, she hadn’t tried to understand which left them at an impasse.
Now he was near her again and he didn’t know what would happen if they came face to face. The feelings were there inside, but so was the fear of seeing her again. The three of them appeared in the court yard of Herk’s stronghold. A servant stood there waiting for them to appear and motioned for them to follow him as he led them to Herk.
The other leaders and their seconds would be there. That meant Janel would be too and he didn’t want to face her. It wasn’t fear, oh no. He just didn’t like drama or awkward situations. No one did or so they said and yet they set them up as they had now.
It was no surprise the second he walked in the door his eyes were drawn to Janel who was the most beautiful female in the room. She didn’t look at him, but he was certain she was purposely avoiding him. For a while, he had thought they would mate and be together forever. That was until they’d disagreed on all the basics of life.
Julio would admit he wasn’t the best at compromising, but neither was she. No one gave an inch so they both went their separate ways. The surprise was how much it hurt whenever he thought of her. Even now it hurt that she wouldn’t even look at him. Herk spoke, but he heard almost none of it as his mind was on Janel and how much he’d missed her. As he’d tried not to think about her, he realized now she’d always been in the back of his mind.
Now with her in front of him, there was no way to ignore the feelings he had for her. Looking at her lush curves and her hair swinging over her back, need hit him hard. Her eyes were light brown and her hair a mix of colors in the brown range. Julio loved her hair, it was soft and strands of it glowed in the sun. When he saw her, it was easy to forget their difference of opinion and the lack of common ground when it came to their lifestyles. Still, he could admit to himself if no one else that he loved that witch.
“Does everyone understand the plan?” Herk asked.
There was a chorus of yes throughout the room. It seemed everyone but him had listened carefully. “You didn’t hear a word, did you?” Jespers whispered in his ear.
“No, but that’s why you’re here.” Julio confirmed.
They popped back to their group to get ready to head to the battle. The others joined them and soon they were on their way. The village wasn’t large, its population probably matched the number of their warriors gathered nearby. Herk took him with him as he approached the leader of the group of Hubolla’s followers. They were heavily entrenched within the village like pests that didn’t want to leave.
“You have a chance to save your loved ones. Give up this fight and surrender.” Herk encouraged.
“We will never give up. We fight to the death. Will your warrior’s do the same?” The leader who refused to give his name said.
“You’ll see soon enough.” Herk replied.
They returned to their warriors as their enemies gathered in the streets. It was their hope the civilians would stay in their houses so they would remain safe. Many had no desire to fight and the children needed to be safeguarded as much as possible. Now that negotiations had failed, they would have to fight.
Herk moved them closer as the enemy grew in number and came closer. It was obvious many were hesitant to battle, but felt they had no choice. Perhaps they feared their families would be harmed. Maybe the threat was to their own welfare. Julio didn’t know, he only knew he had no choice but to take out the adversaries before they took out him or his people.
He felt a tingle run over him and saw the witches sending a protective spell over their army. It would help, but they could still be harmed. After living so long, he didn’t want to die but he knew his duty and he would fulfill it.
Screams and battle cries came from both sides as the armies clashed. The sound echoed through the valley they were in as bodies slammed together, swords hit each other, and guns went off. Most of the bullets shot against his side rolled to the ground, but a few made it through. As much as most supes feared witches, they were glad to have them on their side at times like these.
“She’s almost as powerful as Herk’s witch.” Jespers observed.
“They are cousins.” Julio informed.
“That explains it. I’m glad to have their protection. Damn! Did you see that?” Jespers asked.
He was referring to the lightning Pru sent into the oncoming enemy knocking down a large section of them. They writhed on the ground and the scent of burning hair and skin spread everywhere. It was an unpleasant odor.
The smell brought home the fact that people were dying. That made this war all the more real not only to him, but to them all. Pru’s face was covered with tears as she did her duty despite the fact that it was tearing her apart. Janel kept the shields on their own making sure they took the least damage possible.
Meanwhile they moved forward faster in the center of their lines cutting a swathe through the enemy lines. The battle was one sided, but even so they lost some people. The enemy was falling fast, but the lives lost on their side hurt his soul too. A fiery hate built inside him that a creature could cause all this death while insulated from it himself. This village would never be the same.
The death toll rose until few were left and those were trying to get away. They tracked them down and took them into custody. Letting them go wasn’t an option. The escapees would just go undercover and rebuild their army. A few hundred prisoners and piles of dead bodies to be burned on pyres were what was left. Their own dead would get a funeral and be honored. The enemy’s dead would be burned to remove the bodies so the human authorities wouldn’t find them. If a dragon had been handy they could have incinerated them. Too bad grumpy Knossos was nowhere to be seen.
Now Julio stood near Herk and Pru at the edge of a town that no longer existed. The first true battle in the war had now been fought and the enemy had truly risked or lost nothing. The town was in ashes, smoke, blood and death stained the breeze that blew remnants of these people’s lives around. Many females had lost husbands, but even the males that were left alive had lost their wives and some parents had lost their children.
None of them had asked for this nor had they wanted a part in this battle. The choice had been taken from them. Those that had refused to fight when they saw what was happening, had been killed by their neighbors or possibly even their family members. What would any parent do to protect the lives of their children? These children who were now orphans, at least a large number of them were. His soldiers had done all they could to preserve the lives of the innocent.
Now it was time to help them heal and pull together what remained for them into some type of life. Watching Janel on the edge of the battle throwing spells that either saved the lives of the innocent or their soldiers or that took the lives of those fighting against them had been hard. Not only was she at risk, but she was a distraction he couldn’t afford.
“The witches have now left with most of the civilians who were hiding.” Jespers observed.
“They need to be protected. Pru is with child.” Julio informed.
“It will soon be time for us to leave as well. The witches spelled the fires to burn hotter. Once they are down to coals, we can go.” Jespers said.
The soldiers left behind to clean up settled down taking turns throwing things on the fire that needed to be disposed of. It was a couple hours later before they were able to leave. Herk had instructed them to take up residence in a barracks he’d had built for troops. Several of the leaders including Julio would have a late supper with Herk.
Their troops would have food delivered to them in the form of a feast with a limited amount of ale since not all supes could handle their drink. Julio did a quick walk through of the village looking for anything that might draw the eye of someone that could get an investigation going. While several homes had been torn down, there were only empty spaces there now. Nothing was there that would suggest the violence that had caused them to be ripped apart.
No bodies were left behind or any sign that thousands of people had lost their lives and been burned to ash here. A few people had remained behind refusing to leave the place that had been their home all their life. Rebuilding would be no easy job and many of the crops and gardens nearby had been burned.
The sadness of this place would stick with all of them for years to come. It was time to leave and move on to the next battle, because he was sure it wouldn’t be long.