Ember Of The Timber Coven

Defend The Coven

"Happy is he who dares courageously to defend what he loves." - Ovid

Ember

I felt the entire fortress shake and knew that we were under attack once more. This would be the third time this month and High Priestess Amarantha had always kept my use of my power low. She didn't want me to use the full force of my power when we got attacked. I've asked why and her answer always is, to keep them guessing so they don't know how strong I am. Hell, I didn't even know how strong I was in a fight.

I raced down the corridors to get outside. Everyone was on my heels running with me. I could hear the witches we lived with scrambling to help defend the fortress and all the ones we loved inside it.

We ran out into the sunlight and I looked around the space. We were back in the courtyard and there was a large cannonball in the middle of the yard. I looked around to see where it came from and saw it came from over the gates.

"Sandy, can you return that cannonball?" I asked her.

"I can try," she answered.

River, Melody and I all grabbed our weapons as Sandy connected to her element, the Earth. Her light green eyes turned darker green when she used her element. All of us changed in some aspect when we used our powers.

You could feel the Earth lending her its energy as she concentrated on the large oak tree in the middle of the courtyard. She used her hands as if she were the puppeteer and the tree was now her puppet. We watched as the tree moved and picked up that large cannonball before Sandy sent all of her energy into the tree and it flung the cannonball from whence it came.

The tree settled back into place as it creaked and groaned. It was like Sandy had never messed with it and she grabbed her sword.

"Alright, let's get everyone inside the fortress and up on the walls," I said loudly.

The four of us along with our familiars walked out of the fortress gates and started motioning our people inside. You could hear the howls of wolves as they approached. Suddenly the sky was blocked out by dark rain clouds when it had been a promising sunny day. They must have witches with them that want to block the sun out for the Vampires. This was going to be an intense battle.

I started ordering everyone inside and to their positions and to be ready for anything. Once everyone was inside, I went out into the field with Bastet beside me. Melody, River and Sandy joined me with their familiars. We were the protectors but that didn't mean that the witches wouldn't help. They had a big part to play here.

I felt my heart hammering away in my chest as the adrenaline started to course through me in anticipation of the battle ahead. I heard the movement of the army into the area. The wolves soon moved into view as the first line of their defense. I knew that mixed in with them would be the vampires and at the back would be the witches.

Their forces stopped at the edge of the treeline to ready their attack. I could see the fur and the red eyes of the rogue wolves of the Mystics army. I could hear the hissing of the Vampires as they got ready to attack, wanting our blood. The wolves and the witches I didn't mind but the vampires creeped me out massively.

I looked to my friends as they held their weapons at the ready. The witches on the fortress walls had their weapons ready and were prepared to use their magic as we fought to save our home and lives.

I took a deep breath to calm myself so I could think clearly in the battle ahead. I could hear someone amongst the Mystics army speaking before they launched their attack. When they stopped speaking I heard the sound of rogue wolves howling their battle cry. When rogues howl it sounds like the wind crying through the trees. It's an eerie sound and makes most people shiver in fear.

As their army's wolves stepped forward to attack, I smelled burning cedar elm trees. I sniffed the air and looked around for a fire. I hadn't lit a fire or tried to burn anything yet so I was very confused. I looked to my left and saw nothing. That's when I felt the presence of someone step up to my right and I looked over to find someone I didn't know.

He had lightly tanned skin with big beautiful lips and long black hair that’s made into dreadlocks that was currently pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes were honey brown and he had a nicely chiseled jaw that had a short black beard on it. This man was taller than me by several inches and I wasn't short.

I watched him as he started to strip his white cotton long sleeve shirt off while his eyes were trained on me. My eyes roamed his frame and I saw chiseled muscles along with many battle scars. He was just completely mouth watering to behold. He was the one that smelled like burning cedar elm. I love that smell.

'My soulmate is a wolf.'

----------

Killian

I followed High Priestess Amarantha out of her office with her owl on her shoulder. We went down the many halls of her fortress with Reginald on my heels. We walked out of the main building and I followed her up onto the fortress walls as all of her people got ready for battle. My hand was on the hilt of my sword to keep it steady while I climbed the steps.

We stopped right above the wall gates and looked out past the field into the trees. The Mystics had sent a small unit of their army here to kill and harass the coven.

I looked from the treeline to the four people that were standing between the fortress and the army. Those four were crazy to be out there.

"Why are those four out there?" I asked.

"Those four are Elementals that have trained to protect this coven since they were born."

Elementals. They were rare and only one had a certain element. You wouldn't find two different Elementals that could use the same element such as air unless they were parent and child.

I stood there looking at them in wonder. I knew that Amarantha was an Elemental but I didn't realize that there were 5 of them protecting this coven. That made me want to secure an alliance with them even more.

The breeze blew in my face and I could smell the rogues from the treeline but there was something else mixed into the scent. I smelled smoked peaches like an orchard had been burned.

"Our mate is out there," my wolf, Knight, said.

"If she's part of the rogue army you realize we will have to kill her right? We can't afford to possibly be mated to a traitor." "Yes. I understand but something tells me she's not part of the army. Get out there and find her." "Ok."

I looked at Amarantha and asked, "may I help with this fight out there with the Elementals?"

She looked at me in curiosity and I felt Reginald hit my arm. I needed to get out there but I didn't have time to explain it to him.

“You may both join our fight at your own risk,” she said with a nod.

I headed for the wooden stairs that we climbed up to the fortress walls. Reginald was still hot on my heels.

"What are you doing, Killian?" he asked in dismay.

"Possibly securing an alliance and I might have found my mate," I said as we started to walk out the gates.

He said nothing more as we headed out to stand with the four Elementals. As we got closer I noticed that it was the woman dressed in black and red that smelled like smoked peaches. She was a little taller than average height for a female but was still shorter than me. I stepped up beside her and she looked over to me. As soon as my eyes met hers I knew she was mine. Her big honey-colored eyes seemed to burn like they were living fire. Her hair was long, straight and black as night. Her skin was milky white and looked soft as silk. She was beautiful.

I took off my shirt to get ready to shift and watched as she looked me over. I wanted to smirk at the fact that she was checking me out but I didn't. Instead, my attention was drawn to the army ahead as they sounded the first wave of attacks.

I looked from the army ahead of us over to Reginald and nodded my head. That was our silent way of saying fight like hell and stay safe.

The four Elementals got ready as Reginald and I shed our clothes and shifted to let our wolves out. Knight is a large black and gray Alpha wolf. Reginald's wolf, Valor, was a little smaller making him my Beta. He was dark and light gray.

We both got into positions to help the others fight. As the army charged we stayed put waiting for them to come to us. The wolves ran at us head-on. They were a mix of Omegas and a few Gammas. In our world, Alpha’s were large and mostly black, Betas were a little smaller and gray, Gammas were rust-colored and Omegas were cream-colored and very small.

As the wolves got closer silver arrows flew out over us and took them down. The vampires were taken down with wooden arrows as they ran at us. They would burst into flames as they died from the wood arrows.

We stayed there waiting to engage. A rust-colored wolf charged at me and I quickly acted as it got close enough, taking it up in my jaws and snapping its neck as I slammed it to the ground. I looked over to my mate to see that there was a gray cat by her side.

"Crescere," she chanted and the cat transformed into a large gray panther almost my size.

I instantly knew that the cat was her familiar. This was going to be interesting. A cat with a pack of wolves. I hope no one eats the poor cat.

The other Elementals made their familiars grow to help with the fight. A large dog was now a little bigger than me. A giant spider that made my fur crawl and then the giant chicken the size of an ostrich.

As the army attacked we all engaged and killed. I watched my mate when I got the chance to and was impressed to learn that she fought like a warrior and she was fierce.

The witches started to use their magic as the army advanced and we started to get overrun by the enemy. The ground shifted beneath my paws and I looked around to see one of the female Elementals using the Earth to her advantage.

The male was seeping all of the water out of the dead bodies close to him and using it to suffocate the wolves that attacked him.

The other female Elemental was using her power to suffocate the ones around her. She had the power of air and could move the wind, or make the oxygen level around her drop. Vamps and wolves alike were dropping to the ground around her gasping for air.

I waited to see what my mate would do and what power she possessed but she kept fighting with her spear and her cat. I looked away from her just in time to engage in a fight with three Vamps. I quickly took them down without too many scratches and no bites thankfully.

I looked up to see my mate and her cat being overrun with rogues and vampires. I internally freaked out thinking that she could be killed before I can even talk to her. I started to make my way towards her to help protect her when I saw her drop her spear and flames developed in her palms. She controlled fire.

I watched as she threw flames at the vampires and rogues. I stepped back and took out a few that tried to engage with me. Soon we were both being overrun with more enemies like moths to the flames. A Gamma grabbed Knight by the back leg and tried dragging him away. Suddenly the Gamma burst into flames, he yelped and cried as he died beside me.

I looked over to see my mate with a murderous look on her face. The flames in her hands started to travel up her arms before they consumed her whole body. She was burning entirely and the heat of the flames coming off her hurt my fur. I stepped back and watched as the intensity increased and it hurt to almost look at her.

I glanced away to see our enemies falling all around us as their bodies burned and boiled. The dead that were on the ground caught flames and burned to ash. Holy hell, she was powerful.

In no time with her fire elemental help, the enemy's army was fleeing from the battlefield. They were scared to burn to death. I wonder what they would report to their king about this battle.

The Coven members started to stand down as the enemy ran. The three elementals' energy went back to normal and they looked around them. They gathered their familiars, made them shrink and started to walk towards my mate who was still standing there burning.

I watched as her fire started to burn less and less. It was slowly dying out. Soon she was standing there with no clothes on as they had burned off of her. She's gorgeous to behold and not ashamed of her body or anyone seeing it.

The male elemental walked up to her and took his shirt off and gave it to her. I couldn't help the growl that came from me, but he was looking at what was mine and offering her his clothing. Were they an item? That couldn't be. The supernatural world knew that all of us had a mate, no matter what species we were.

I stood there and watched as she took his shirt from his hands and pulled it on.

She said, "ad normalem," and her cat went back to its original size as he ran up to her and rubbed on her legs.

She looked over at me and said, "shift back so we can talk."

Her voice was commanding yet soft and sweet. I did as she requested and shifted back. I pulled on my clothes then turned to talk with my mate for the first time.