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Chapter 34 – War
The wild snarl of Alpha Balthazar filled the night as we sensed the ground rumble with heavy footsteps running in our direction. Ambrose hissed as he prepared for the attack and the red eyes of furious vampires glowed red. Chip and Earl howled inside the pack house as they recognized the threat rushing towards us.
Zeus was the first to mind link me. “Ares, my wind is unable to move the mist, try yours.”
A small vortex of wind started spinning before my mother linked me. “Ares, the mist is an illusion of dark magic, it’s not actually tangible. My wind isn’t fazing it.”
“He’s trying to keep the fighting on the ground, under the mist.” I replied.
“Use my fire.” Apollo urged.
“It’s a shadow, I’ll use Apollo’s fire to light things up.” I linked everyone back.
“But how will you contain your fire and keep it from spreading?” Poseidon asked.
“Like this!” I opened up a deep trench in the kill zone between the vampires and the tree line on all four sides of the territory. White-hot fire burst from my palms and I filled the trenches with my internal fire from the Gods. The flames crackled and burned with blistering heat, brighter than any manmade fire. Every shifter recognized the power of the flames. Apollo let out a yip as the ground lit up and gave us the visibility we needed.
I looked to the dark sky and quickly pulled the clouds in, willing them to become charged with static so Zeus and my mother could easily access lightning bolts without depleting their energy. Balthazar stood closest to the woods and his beast was frenzied with excitement.
The first echo of a gunshot was fired at Balthazar as dozens of hunters appeared at the southern tree line. Their silhouettes were dark, and they crouched down to form a firing line with their guns. The bullet did nothing to Balthazar and left no trace of blood. He wasted no time before he broke into a run on his hind legs and sprang over the burning fire trench. With a wild snarl, his claws fully extended and he attacked in full beast mode.
A storm of bullets showered the unfazed vampires and they returned fire with the dart guns. Hunters rushed out of the eastern woods, and I swooped low to greet them with roaring flames from the top while Zeus used a warm wind with the fire pits to spray them from the ground.
“We’ve got company in the north!” Demeter linked me and the trees came alive, swinging and striking hunters. I immediately launched fireballs at hunters who managed to step out of the tree line. They were dressed in all black and carried semi-automatic guns. Some tried to take aim at me as the ground beneath their feet trembled and I recognized the handy work of Pappoús. Large ropes of thorny vines erupted out of the ground, entrapping hunters and impaling them. Some tried to run, but Pappoús was faster.
Poseidon pulled large portions of water from the lake and formed what looked like a large water snake that wrapped around several hunters, drowning them.
I looked down to find Alpha Balthazar lashing out with brutal efficiency as he cut down the hunters before they had a chance to release a scream. His claws were slick with oozing gore as bodies littered the ground at his feet. Several bullets struck him, but nothing seemed to affect him.
Many of the vampires continued to use dart guns on the hunters. Thanks to their genetically modified DNA, the hunters were just as susceptible to wolfbane as regular wolves. One of the hunters was catapulted over the fire and Ambrose spun as the shape darted towards him. With deadly speed, Ambrose decapitated the hunter and kicked his head into the pit of fire. Eudora’s parents stood back to back and continued firing darts all around them.
“Boats, you have boats arriving!” Wylder mind linked me.
I soared in the direction of the lake and considered freezing it so neither the boats nor occupants could reach the shores of our territory easily. But then I remembered Wylder was still in the water.
“Incoming!” I linked Wylder and sprayed fire down on ten boats. I used my water element to float the burning inferno’s miles back in the opposite direction.
“Damn, Ares, you look like a fire-breathing dragon!”
“Anyone jump off?” I asked.
“I don’t think so, but I’ll handle them if they did. Has the evil twin shown his face yet?” Wylder asked.
“No, not yet, but he’s definitely here.” I answered as I quickly returned towards the cracking of lightning surrounding the pack house.
“Do you hear that?” Apollo asked and I focused on a sound in the distance.
Thwup-Thwup-Thwup-Thwup-Thwup-Thwup. I heard the choppy sound of helicopters flying low in our direction.
“We’ve got helicopters moving in.” I linked the others.
I remembered how cold-sensitive humans were, so I used a spray of water from the pond and cold air to freeze some of the charging hunters into statues. Demeter floated dust clouds and Zeus swirled them in gusts to blind some of the hunters. My mother continued to set hunters on fire and use tree branches to knock them into the fire pits.
Aunt Anabeth had earned the title of Alpha Grave Digger long ago, and now I understood why. She opened and closed precise sinkholes under the feet of her opponents. She turned the earth into pools of quicksand that no enemy could escape.
Both hunters and vampires had run out of bullets and darts. The vampires moved at an incredibly fast pace, dipping, and weaving while working together to effectively decapitate the humans. Balthazar seemed to move effortlessly as his natural predator, ripped, snapped, and shredded through hunter after hunter.
Four helicopters came into view and the first had a large open door allowing me to view the mounted machine gun on the floor with a gunner in position. I launched into the air again and flew higher than the helicopters. The first helicopter started spraying bullets at the rooftop of the pack house. The bullets zinged and ricocheted off the metal boxes and I was thankful Conner went with the double armor. 
“Let’s clacker ball these fuckers out of the sky!” Zeus roared.
“I’ve got the first helicopter, you take the second.” I replied.
I willed the wind to swirl around the helicopter and the helicopter struggled to hover. The vortex of wind picked up and Zeus used his wind to start the second helicopter spinning as well. A moment later, we propelled the helicopters at each other, and they exploded on impact. The third helicopter veered off course and sailed towards the lake.
“Oh no, you don’t!” My mother yelled and struck the helicopter with lightning before I used my wind element to send it flying into the side of the northern mountains. It erupted in a fiery crash and Pappoús brought down a rain of boulders from the side of the mountain to bury the remains.
The last helicopter maintained its distance and hovered near the most southern tip of our border. The moonless sky was dark, and the black mist moved to hide the helicopter. I knew I couldn’t release Apollo because his golden fur would be easy to see. His size would also make me an easy target. While I was immune from the poison, I didn’t know if I would be knocked unconscious again if I sustained another shot. 
“I’m going down, let me know if the helicopter moves close.” I growled and landed near the eastern woods. I drew water out of the ground that held the shape of a large dancing wolf, the way Papa Diesel used to do it. Then I used a constant flow of lightning to charge the wolf before I unleashed it on the hunters.
“HOLY HELL!” Poseidon yelled as the water wolf rushed several hunters and electrocuted them.
I heard screams of agony from the northern field where my grandfather had tangled hunters up in thorny vines. I focused on my earth element and pulled up twisting vines of my own. I wondered if I could infuse the vines with fire, without actually destroying the thorny weapons.
“Let’s do it, Demigod!” Apollo barked and I could feel him infusing his energy into mine.
I turned the vines loose on the next wave of hunters rushing towards us. Like glowing snakes swimming in the dirt below our feet, they exploded out of the ground, squeezing and burning hunters. They tethered around the ankles of the unsuspecting and pulled them into the earth. They wrapped around the thick necks of hunters and burned them alive. The spikes furrowed into their bodies and the vines tossed them into the fire trenches.
“Where the hell is my brother?” Ambrose shouted as he ripped the head off another hunter.
“He must be in the helicopter that’s still hovering.” I replied.
“It could be a ploy to keep you busy. The hunters don’t stand a chance, see if you can find him.” Ambrose advised.
I sprinted through the forest and used a tree branch to catapult me into the air. I soared higher and higher trying to stay out of the line of fire from the hovering helicopter in the distance. I wondered if Azazel was waiting and watching the war unfold from the front seat. As I neared, the black mist grew thicker and thicker.
“Maybe he’s using a spell to protect the helicopter?” Apollo said.
I lit up the sky with electricity and struck the helicopter. It continued to hover, unaffected by the jolts I had just delivered. I moved closer and locked in on the eyes with a grinning clone of Ambrose. Only this man wasn’t a vampire. The helicopter continued to hover for a moment longer before it turned to fly east.
Using the wind, I formed a twister around the helicopter that continued to fly unscathed. I moved faster and faster through the wind until I was hovering over the helicopter. When I looked down the helicopter was a transparent illusion. It wasn’t real and Azazel was not in it. The mist grew thicker, and I knew Azazel was near.
I swooped low just over the tree line and tried to find the elusive warlock. Apollo was eager to be released and hunt his prey. I dropped into the southern woods and was surrounded by a deafening silence. There were no more hunters left in the woods charging towards the pack house.
“Ares!” Wylder called through the mind link. “The shoreline is covered in thick black mist. I can’t see anything, but I can sense the hunters moving north on the beach.”
“Don’t move, I’ll be right there!” I growled as I pulled up a column of rock below my feet so fast, it propelled me into the air.
“Ares the mist is thick over the lake.” Poseidon linked me.
“It could be a distraction.” I linked with the others. “The fourth helicopter wasn’t real. It was an illusion and Azazel appeared to be inside it.”
I neared the pack house and noticed the last of the hunters giving a good fight. They seemed to be armed with small steel balls of explosives that could harm vampires. Alpha Balthazar stood guard in front of Ambrose, catching and quickly launching the metal orbs back at the hunters. My mother and Poseidon muted the explosives with water bubbles and Aunt Anabeth lifted walls of rock from the ground to shield the vampires.
I reached the lake and swooped low for a better look. The shoreline was empty and there was nothing but dark mist. I willed the water to move Wylder to me.
“I can’t sense them.” I told him.
“Hunters don’t move that fast. They can’t be far.”
“Azazel doesn’t have many hunters left. There’s easily over two thousand dead.”
“Maybe he realized he didn’t stand a chance without Randall and the wolves we killed yesterday and decided to abandon his plans?” Wylder suggested. “There’s no way he would have known about the vampires, lycan, and all of your elements.”
“Surely Randall would have mentioned the elemental gifts.” I replied.
“Did the Australian dart guns work on the hunters?”
“Like a charm!”
“There’s no way he would have known and been able to prepare for that. Plus you already discovered his secret weapon, his Tears of The Moon. He wouldn’t have known that Miller told you or that you would hide everyone in the bunkers.” Wylder assured me.
In the distance, we heard Chip and Earl howling.
“THE BUNKERS!” I roared. It all came to me at once. He could have easily guessed I would have placed my mate and pup in a bunker for safety. Victoria would have known all about the bunkers living in the pack for two years. This wasn’t about me, it was about my mate and my pups. He was trying to prevent the rise of the lycans because the lycans nearly drove the witches and warlocks to extinction.
“DAMN IT!” Wylder growled.
Wylder and I charged to the cave nearby with the hidden tunnel leading to the emergency evacuation doors of the bunkers. Apollo howled through the mind link, urging everyone to the bunkers. My heart was racing, and Apollo was snarling with rage. How could I have missed this?
We reached the opening of the cave and it reeked of hunters. I immediately held my palm out and fire erupted, lighting through the black mist. I was going to send Azazel back to hell where he belongs.
We neared the evacuation door, and I could see the light spilling out. My mouth went dry knowing the light was coming from inside the bunker. The overwhelming scent of burned flesh filled my nose, tinged with iron. Several smoldering bodies lay on top of each other as we neared the open door to the bunker.
The sounds of screams, sobs, and panic met us as we stepped through the door. Azazel was on the ground in a pool of dark sticky blood, blocking the doorway. Something or someone had shredded him to pieces. I stepped over him and heard the screaming of my mother. 
“MATEO! MATEO, HURRY! PLEASE! MATEO!!” My mother dropped to the ground and cradled her head. My heart stopped at the sight before me.
“OH GODDESS, NOOO!” Demeter cried out and Alpha Balthazar entered the bunker behind her from the main door.
Doctor Kendra was working quickly to try and stop the bleeding. Yia-yia was beside herself, wailing in grief. My father rushed to my mother’s side as his eyes filled with tears. All of the pack members in the bunker clung to one another, crying, hugging their mates, and comforting the pups.
“DORA!” Apollo howled in my head, and I quickly scanned the room for our mate.
Paola sobbed as she held my whimpering pup close. Eudora also laid unconscious on the floor as Tymber pressed a rag to her bleeding head. I rushed to Eudora and was overcome with burning pain in my chest, it dropped me to my knees beside her. Apollo was frantic and let out low whines seeing our mate unconscious.
“She got knocked out when the door exploded, but she’s going to be fine.” Tymber told me.
“MATEO!” My mother screeched out again.
“I’M HERE!” Mateo said as he raced through the door. “I’M RIGHT HERE.”
The pain seared through my heart and Apollo howled through the mind link. Grandpa Crow's wolf howled back a sorrowful cry from somewhere in the territory as we felt the bond breaking. All at once, Zeus and Demeter dropped to the ground clutching their chest. Poseidon’s wolf howled from the pack house.
“SHE’S IMMUNE TO SILVER! THIS CAN’T HAPPEN!” My mother cried as Mateo placed both hands on my grandmother and gave her healing energy. It wasn’t the gunshot wound or the silver that was claiming her, it was the same poison that claimed her mate.
“Oh, my sweet Syble.” Pappoús eyes filled with tears as he clutched at his chest in agony.
“NO! NO! MOM, STAY WITH ME… MOM!” My father wrapped his arms around my mother to allow Mateo room to work. The more healing he gave the more it drained him. Right now, both of his arms, chest, and face had turned icy white as he concentrated all of his energy into keeping my grandmother in the world with us.
“PLEASE.” My mother cried. “PLEASE, COME BACK TO ME.”
“I can still turn her with my venom.” A deep voice standing near the main entrance said.