Fighting for Power (Howl of the Elements: Book One)

Chapter 23

***picture of the twins***

Chapter 23:

After a few minutes of pain, Selena felt the urge to push again. The midwife realized what was going on and hurriedly placed the infant to the side, just in time to catch a second one.

"Twins! How wonderful," the midwife squealed.

Leon's face paled even more and then scrunched up to a look of disgust, "That is nasty. Did you just shit on my bed?"

Selena didn't care if she had or not. There was probably a good possibility with how hard she was pushing those babies out, but she really didn't care at the moment. All she was focused on were her new babies. Two new babies. No wonder she had gained so much more weight with this pregnancy.

"Just shut up already and come look at your sons," a smile spread across her face as the midwife handed her the babies.

"My-my sons? They are boys?" he stuttered.

"Yes, just like you wanted," Selena replied, snuggling them close to her body.

Leon walked over to the side of the bed and stared down at the two tiny baby boys resting in each of their mother's arms. They both had full heads of dark hair, just like their mother's. They had small button noses, thin lips, and fair skin. Leon watched carefully to see their eyes as soon as they would give him a sneak peak. He was anxious to see what color they were, to see if they were a combination of the elements.

"What are you going to name them?" the midwife asked.

Selena glanced up at Leon, but he was still in a trance looking at their eyes. One yawned and slowly blinked his eyes open, but to Leon's disappointment they were as red as his own. Leon sighed, but then his hopes lifted again as the second child's eyes began to open as well. The newborn seemed to stare straight at Leon, but those green eyes made Leon turn away.

"Name them whatever you want. They aren't the offspring I was wanting," Leon grumbled and stomped out of the room.

Taken aback, Selena was speechless for a moment. How could he walk away from his own children? Just because they were only of one element doesn't mean that they aren't still special.

"I'm sorry, Miss," the midwife whispered.

Turning to face her and trying to keep the tears from spilling out, Selena muttered, "It's okay. Everything is fine. I have two new sons. Tobias and Tristan."

***

Neil had gotten both Logan and Shawn free. Zachary, who had been standing guard at the bottom of the staircase, followed them back outside. When they stepped out of the front door, Neil glanced around and saw that the coast was clear. He started leading them towards the woods, but stopped when he realized that Logan and Shawn were gawking around like a couple of fools.

"What's wrong?"

"It's...winter?" Logan asked in astonishment.

"And it's really bright," Shawn mumbled, try to shield his eyes from the light.

"Oh yeah, I forgot how long you were locked up. Can we still try to hurry, though? I don't want anyone to see us," Neil replied with a shrug.

Logan snapped his attention back to Neil. Neil was right. Logan was more than ready to see Layla again, if they were really telling the truth.

"You're right. Let's go," Logan nodded his head and nudged Shawn.

Neil motioned for them to follow him as he darted into the trees. The other three were right behind him, and the further they went the more Logan was starting to recognize the direction they were going in.

As soon as they reached the clearing, Logan asked with anger flowing through every word, "How the hell did you find this place? This was supposed to be secretive."

Turning to face him, Zachary responded, "Woah, calm down boy. You should be happy that we found this place. If we hadn't, then we wouldn't have been able to save Layla and she would have died for real."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry..," letting out a loud sigh, Logan frowned slightly and stared at the water.

A thin layer of snow covered the ground and chunks of ice floated around in the water, but the waterfall was still flowing just as much as ever. Granted, the water would be freezing, but this area always looked so peaceful and magical no matter what season it was.

Neil started heading towards the waterfall, "You have to be careful 'cause it's really slippery. We have to go behind here."

"Why? What's behind there?" Logan asked in surprise. He had never thought anything was behind it.

"Layla found it. There's an entire cave back there. It's really cool," excitement poured from Zachary as if he was a little kid showing a friend a new toy.

Taking very slow steps, the four boys worked their way behind the waterfall. Logan and Shawn were shivering from the cold. Their clothes definitely weren't warm enough for this weather, let alone being that close to such icy cold water that splashed against their skin as they inched by it.

Once reaching the other side, though, both Logan and Shawn gasped as they looked around. The cavern walls were reflecting light from torches that were lighting the way. The entrance was a tunnel that had a stream of water running through it. The tunnel wasn't very long, and it opened up to a really large area that looked as if it was used as a commons room. It was even more lit up with torches along with a fire pit in the middle of the room keeping it cozy and warm. There was a large basket off to the side that had a decent sized collection of food. Scraps of cloth were set up in separate areas that looked to be where people had slept.

It was shocking to see just how big of a space was hidden behind that waterfall, and the fact that Logan had not once thought to check it out before. He kept scanning his eyes around the room until they landed on the one person that he thought he would never see again.

Layla was lounging next to the fire pit besides a couple of girls. She was dressed in a dirty shirt that looked to be three sizes too big for her, a long raggedy skirt, bare feet, and her hair pulled up into a messy bun. Despite the fact that she looked as if she had been rolling in a mud pile, Logan was still astonished at just how beautiful she looked in his eyes.

A/N: I swear I would want to punch Leon in the face if I was Selena in this situation, but there always has to be one character that even the author dislikes. Also, I know some of you were guessing twins from the last chapter, and you were right :)

And Logan and Shawn are finally reunited with Layla! What do you think?