Endless

Chapter 29

Devon

I rushed upstairs, Ruby had called an emergency meeting at six in the morning.

When I opened the door to Cyrus's (temporarily Ruby's) office, Elijah, Xavier, Lyra and a few other warriors I hadn't met were standing around the room. I walked over towards Xavier, the look on his face had me a bit worried.

"Where's Emily?" Ruby asked from behind the desk.

"She's asleep, I couldn't wake her up." I responded, Emily was still pretty sensitive to the sun, but she also had a very tiring day with her father last night in the river.

"Very well, you can tell her later." Ruby said standing. "My brothers and sisters, I just heard word from master Cyrus, master Bellona from the western coven has declared war on us."

My eyes widened, war? The room burst to life in gasps and mumbling.

"Why would she declare war on us?" A man half yelled from beside Elijah.

"Because we are harboring the electus and we refuse to kill her." Ruby said flatly. The warrior scoffed at her comment.

"What the fuck is master Cyrus thinking!? Why would he have a war rather than give the electus up?! Has he lost his mind!!" The man yelled violently. Anger boiling up in me from his words, but before I could even walk up to him, Elijah wrapped one hand around the mans throat and lift him from the ground.

The man gasped, grabbing at Elijah's arm and hand. Elijah gave him a death glare with bright red eyes.

"How dare you question master Cyrus, how dare you speak of him is such a way, I should kill you right here, our masters words are law, his decisions are our missions, and we follow him until our deaths." Elijah's words were deadly. He brought the now trembling warrior up close to his face.

"If you wish to keep speaking against our master, Jacob, I will consider you a traitor and will have no choice but to end your life." Elijah growled at Jacob, daring him to say another word. He set the now ghost white warrior down and turned back towards Ruby, arms crossed.

"He has asked that we begin training immediately. None of us have fought in a war, so none of us are prepared. Most of you here are the top warriors of the coven, our master is counting on us to train the younger warriors." Ruby said and then turned towards Xavier and I.

"Lord Devon and Xavier, master Cyrus has asked that you two push to continue Emily's training. She needs to be able to defend herself, Bellona will send her best to capture the electus." Xavier and I nodded.

"And, Lord Devon, Cyrus has asked that you also help with the training of our younger warriors. You are quite skilled in combat, we could use your help." Ruby said to me.

"Of course, I will do my best to be of assistance." I responded.

"Master Cyrus will return later today, once he arrives, we will begin to prepare, I suggest you all get your rest, be back here by one."  Ruby said and dismissed us.

Being up at one in the afternoon would be difficult for many of the warriors here. I already knew Emily wouldn't be able to wake up by then.

Everyone filed out, hurrying back to their homes to get some rest. I walked next to Xavier, who I noticed looked a little paler than normal.

"Are you alright man?" I asked, we slowed down a bit, letting everyone else get ahead of us.

"I don't know, I mean, a war? That's.... that's insane. I can't fight against other warriors, I don't want people to die, and..." he choked, obviously very shaken up. I laid my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it while waiting a few moments for him to calm down.

"Xavier, I don't want you to fight unless you have to, and I'm sure Malik would agree with me on this." He looked up at me, confused.

"What? If I don't fight I'll be seen as a traitor." Warriors are never suppose to shy away from battle, in fact, most warriors believed dying on the battlefield was the most honorable thing to do.

"You won't be a traitor, I want you to protect Emily, stay with her, you both will be moved far from the battle grounds. Bellona will most likely think Emily is with me, so while they are trying to get to me, you and Emily will be out of harms way." I said letting go of his shoulder.

Xavier looked surprised by what I said and doubt started to cover his features.

"Devon, I can't protect her, I'm not strong enough, I'm barely a warrior. If it hadn't been for Malik I wouldn't have made it through training and I would have been kicked out of the coven. The only thing I have is my ability but even that's pretty useless." Xavier said with clenched fists. I shook my head.

"You don't give yourself enough credit, Malik has told me about what you can do." I grabbed his shoulder again, forcing him to look at me. "And I know for a fact, you will protect Emily with your life, I trust you more than anyone here Xavier."

He looked at me with shock for a few moments, then with kindness. He embraced me, which to be honest caught me a little off guard, but then quickly let go.

"Thank you, I won't let you down."

I smiled at him and we continued to head back to our rooms. I said goodbye and walked the short distance to my door.

Before I touched the doorknob, I caught the scent of Emily's blood. My heart beat kicked up, I retched the door open, almost breaking it, and rushed inside.

Emily laid on the bed, completely alone. I rushed over to her side and was shocked at what I saw.

From the corners of her eyes, dark drops of blood fell onto the pillow.

I grabbed onto her arms, shaking her slightly, but she didn't move.

"Emily? What's wrong? Emily!" I nearly shouted at her, it was almost like she was sleeping. I could hear her heart rate and breathing, they were both a little fast but that meant she was alive.

Suddenly she screamed and opened her eyes. She sat up straight in bed, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay? What happened??" I asked a little frantic while I moved to sit next to her on the bed.

She turned her head slowly, her eyes a bright red, the bloody tears stopped falling. She spoke slowly, in a light whisper, fear covering her features.

"There's going to be a war."