Dragon Falls (Indigo Apocalypse Book III)

Chapter Twenty-Five: What Is Th Cost Of Power And Freedom? Everything

DIANA:
    I stood vigil on the window ledge, listening as Holly fled the room. Listening, as Kitana breathed heavily, listening, as she snarled. I turned my head to eye her. She didn't notice. Kitana paced back and forth, her violet eyes shadowed, glinting though, in the incandescence of the lights far north. Her claws out, fangs bared, my oldest friend and sister kept pacing, kept snarling. Her pointed ears could barely be seen in her dark hair. She pressed her palms against the wall, breathing deeply. Shadows swirled around her, shadows that felt cold and icy, shadows, that she hadn't spoken to in months, years. I heard and felt her shift back to human, heard, as her breathing became easier, as control settled in, as horror and shame replaced senseless ire and rage. Kitana turned, and eyed the blood on her hand, Holly's blood.
    A tear slid down her cheek before she mastered herself. It glistened there, a sparkling dot on her face, before she wiped it away. "I know it's you Diana. Come on." I flapped over and landed on the floor. Kitana eyed me for a few minutes, frowning. "Strangeness, I don't think I've seen you in this kind of bird before." I shrugged my wings and shifted back to my human form. "How did no one sense you?" "They ensured that no dracons, or vampires in bat form could invade through the treetops, but, shifters who can shift into birds, especially small swift birds, forget it. They weren't so very smart." "And the other two?" I gestured to the treeline a few dozen feet away. Shadows twined through the branches languidly. Kitana nodded. "Good." I kept my eyes level on her face. "Kitana." Another tear slid down her cheek before she turned away. There was a time where tears would have been obsolete to Kitana. Well, that and absolutely superfluous, frivolous. A time, she wouldn't have allowed Holly to see the pain on her face, a Time, she wouldn't have allowed anything to show at all. A time, those shadows wouldn't have spoken kind words to her. A time, she'd have banished them instantly. She'd never have felt such deep remorse and shown it so freely. "You've changed Sister."
    She looked up, automatically scowling slightly. "What—"You know what I mean." I said, cutting her off. I leaned languidly against the ledge, eying her. "You aren't the lost werewolf trying to find her place with the Indigo. You aren't a vicious killing machine. You aren't the lost lonely girl fighting with the shadows. You aren't the beast who just wanted death. You aren't a cautious girl, trying to figure out what love really means to her." The scowl vanished under a wave of understanding. She looked down at herself, at the babe that was growing inside her.
    "You're a mom now, which means that you're going to argue with your daughter, with both her and your soon to be child." "But I laid hands on her." She whispered. "That wasn't you." I said. Kitana's eyes lashed with self-hatred. "It was, it—"Wasn't." I said coldly. "It was all the backlash of Hiquanna's power. It would've lashed out at some point or another. The imperative thing is that you talk to her, show her that you love her. That you care, that you're sorry." "And she would believe me because?" Asked Kitana. I smirked, reaching out to take her hand. "Because she loves you, and you love her." I frowned. "Did you really think you and her wouldn't fight? You and her would never argue, or fight?" "I didn't want her and I to end up like Amala and I." She dropped my hand and looked away. "I wanted, and want her to love me, to not fear me and feel more obligated to do the things I ask, want her to know I love her and care about her." Kitana paced away, then back. "Plus," I murmured. "You love Amala still, and Kamala." "But I feared her." "So?" I replied. "Who cares? You got over your fear eventually."
"I hate how you can see the positive in everything." Said Kitana importuned. I snorted. "Maybe it's just my personality." "Right," Said Kitana. "You all easy going, so optimistic. You use to never be involved in everything, or, anything. You were a quiet background girl." "I was," I noted. "I was a background character, and was ok with that. But times have changed. Look at Vera. She used to be so open about her emotions, refuse to go into battles, fights, or even see the aftermath of a battlefield. And now—"Now she's changed." Kitana echoed. "Grown stronger mentally, more battle ready." She sighed and faced the door. "I've gotta go and talk to her, have to apologize for this." She raised her still bloodied hand. Kitana opened her mouth, then shook her head. "No, no what ifs, if she accepts it, then she does, if not, then not." She took a deep breath, and stepped toward the door. It burst open, and Kendra shoved her way in, her eyes were wide, and filled with fear. "What?" Immediately, the worried mother was long gone. In her place, was the Shadow. "Oh yeah." I thought. "She is back." "It's Holly." Kitana's stance did not change. Her countenance remained the same, but there was something about her ora, it shifted, ever so slightly. Her wolf was closer to the surface, protective of her pup. "What is it?" "She came down." Kendra eyed Kitana's bloodied hand. "She said she was going into the trees, going to find Hiquanna's home, and, challenge her,."