They’ve lost someone important.
No. I know exactly who they’ve lost.
They’ve lost their Luna.
They lost Aunty Raven.
Theo lost his mama…
The realisation rattles me to my core, my control faltering for half a second before I force myself to focus on Calindra. I can’t fall apart, not now, not when they need us the most.
And Calindra, she stands before me, a cruel smile on her face as if she’s enjoying the pain that surrounds us.
Aunty Delsanra’s magic is intensifying as she fights her, the darkness beneath her fingertips spreading around Calindra. She might be Hecate’s favoured, but Aunty Delsanra has demon blood, and it’s clear Calindra doesn’t know how it works.
I focus on her, trying to assist the attack despite the emotions inside me. It’s bringing back memories, memories of Dad’s death. The pain of battle… Is this how it feels? Having to continue fighting when someone you love has just died?
Is this what war means? That you keep going when it feels like you can’t?
From up here, I can see the ruin, see the dead lying all over the place. Everyone must have lost a loved one… Every death matters…
Is this what Mama wanted to shield me from?
“Aldona!” Aunty Delsanra’s shout snaps me to the present, and I frown.
Focus!
I nod at her as I raise my hand, calling upon the element I can now bend thanks to Isolara. Aunty Delsanra is confused for a second, but she doesn’t question it; instead, our powers weave together as Calindra laughs, completely unbothered by the devastation unfolding around her.
“Seems like you lost someone important,” she taunts, raising a shield, tilting her head mockingly. “Oh… the pack Luna’s dead? How tragic.”
“Bitch!” someone snarls from below us, and the air detonates as a blast of power slams Calindra into the groundwith bone-shaking force, fury blazing in Mama’s eyes.
For a moment, just a moment, I think it might be enough, but it isn’t. Calindra rises to her feet, that smirk still on her face, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. “Don’t get too confident, I just didn’t realise you were here, but you should be weakened right after your last escapade,” she taunts Mama, her power rolling outward in suffocating waves.
Even with Isolara awakened inside me, even with all of us here, this won’t be easy.
Mama simply stares at her, her chest heaving. “The poison will slow you down, though.”
Calindra’s smile falters, and she looks sharply down at her body.
“Clever…” Aunty Delsanra whispers.
“Let’s do this,” Mama snarls, her eyes blazing with hatred, blood splattered across her face.
The setting sun casts an orange glow across her, merging with her aura, and for a moment, I don’t even recognise her. This warrior, who has seen far more battles in her lifetime than I’ll ever know. Shadows stretch long over the battlefield, over the bodies and the broken ground, and yet she stands here like a beacon of hope.
She is the kind of woman I strive to be.
Yes… that is the kind of woman you should try to be. I was hesitant, Aldona, but you have shown me you are not the daughter of Endora, but my daughter! Fight. And protect the ones you love!Isolara’s voice powers through me.
Endora snarls with hatred, but I can feel her power humming through me, too.
“We give it all we have,” Mama says quietly.
I nod, knowing I can’t hold back. After this, she’ll know of Endora, know of Isolara.
We exchange looks, and Aunty Delsanra frowns as she turns her focus on Calindra.
