The Prophecy Of The Wolves I - The Beginning
~ Chapter Thirty-Four ~

Liliana and Cayden were both woken up by a loud crashing sound that made the entire pack house shake and tremble. They both jumped out of bed and rushed to put on their shoes and weapons.

They ran outside, only to freeze in their tracks. A giant fire dragon was tearing down the protective shield Kaine and Axel had put up while she was asleep. Liliana closed her eyes in defeat as she realized what she needed to do. Liliana opened her eyes and looked at Cayden. “Get all the warriors out here. Well, the ones who are well enough to fight. I have to change,” she pressed a firm kiss to Cayden’s lips before taking a few steps away from him. “Please be careful, my beloved,” she whispered.

Cayden didn’t have a chance to respond as Liliana closed her eyes and took a few more steps away from him.

Liliana took several deep breaths before shifting into an ice dragon the same size as the fire dragon. She had wanted to be bigger, but she didn’t have enough energy to do so. Her holding the elemental barriers around the safe houses again took a lot of the power she had managed to regain. She was using the last of the magic she had left to shift into a dragon as giant as she could get. She let out an earth-shaking roar as she shot into the sky.

As Liliana flew higher to try and spot the fire dragon, she looked down to see all the capable warriors rushing onto the field. Battle cries were ringing through the air on both sides as they charged at each other. Liliana watched them clash before focusing on searching for the fire dragon.

It took Liliana a minute, but she finally spotted the fire dragon. She flew toward it with nothing but determination and rage in her soul. She would take out that dragon before it could harm those fighting on her side. Those that she loved and cared for.

The fire dragon flew toward her, colliding in a vicious clash of teeth, claws, fire, and ice. They fought in the sky as the armies fought below.

They clawed and thrashed in each other’s group, trying to get the upper hand. Until the fire dragon finally did.

Liliana wasn’t sure how long she had been fighting with the fire dragon. The only thing she knew was her injuries from the fire dragon and the fast-approaching ground. She let out a loud shriek of pain and rage as she landed on the ground in a heap, thankful that she hadn’t been too high in the sky.

Liliana struggled to get her dragon legs under her. When she finally did, she looked up to the sky and did her best to keep track of the fire dragon. It was doing a nose dive, heading straight for her. Liliana was too exhausted to fight the fire dragon much longer. So she acted like her injuries were worse than they were. She let her body fall back to the ground as she kept an eye on the fire dragon. She waited for the perfect moment, buying her time. Then, as the fire dragon was just above her, she lifted her head and shot out a full, fierce blast of ice. The fire dragon shrieked as the blast effectively froze the fire dragon in its place in the sky. Liliana swiftly spun around and used her barbed tail to shatter the dragon into thousands of pieces so the shards wouldn’t harm any of her soldiers.

Liliana groaned as she managed to get her legs under her once again. She couldn’t see very well from the ground, so she flung her wings out and practically had to drag her body back into the sky. She used her enhanced eyesight to look over the battlefield. She was so exhausted; she was sure the elemental barriers around the safe houses had come down. She felt like she would fall out of the sky at any moment, but from what Liliana could see, she had to keep fighting.

Fight she did. She pushed her exhaustion to the back of her mind and dove into the fighting warriors, picking up enemies with her claws and ripping them apart or biting their heads off. Things went like that until it was all she knew. She would dive. Pick up an enemy. Kill. Repeat. Due to her being as exhausted as she was, she didn’t see Atlas launching a giant boulder right at her. Instead, the boulder hit her wing, which was her broken arm. She fell from the sky as pain wracked through her body.

However, this caused Atlas to be distracted as he ignored everything around him and started heading right for Liliana, thinking he could end it all by ending her.

Atlas overlooked Zeus, Ares, Hephaestus, Artemis, Hades, and Athena surrounding him until it was too late. He let out a growl as Athena twirled around a chain and wrapped it around Atlas, effectively chaining his arms to his sides.

The gods had caught Atlas once again. Seeing that the gods were chaining him, his army chose to retreat, not wanting to end up in the same predicament.

Cayden was fighting any being that came into his path while keeping tabs on Liliana in the sky. He was worried out of his mind about her, but he knew that she could handle herself.

Cayden felt his heart drop to his stomach the first time she had fallen from the sky, but he was relieved when she killed the fire dragon. It was a brilliant move on her part to lure the fire dragon in before she took the dragon out.

Then Cayden watched her get back up, fly into the sky, and begin tearing their enemies apart. She used everything in her arsenal as an ice-breathing dragon to kill any enemy she could grab. Within no time, the enemy’s numbers were almost nonexistent.

Cayden felt relief course through his being, almost making him sag to his knees. The relief did not last, though, as he was looking around, checking to see how many soldiers they had lost, it happened. Atlas had thrown a boulder the size of an actual person and knocked Liliana out of the sky. The shriek of pain that she let out broke his heart as he rushed toward her broken form.

From the corner of his eye, Cayden saw Atlas was also heading toward Liliana at a much slower pace but quickly found himself surrounded by the gods. The war was over, but nothing mattered to Cayden at that moment. Nothing would matter until he got to Liliana and knew she was okay.

When Cayden got to Liliana, she was breathing shallowly and whining. Cayden held his hands out to show that he meant her no harm as he stepped closer to her head. “It’s okay, dove. I’m here now,” he said as soothingly as he could, with his throat as raw as it was from yelling.

Cayden stood next to her and brought his hand up to rest it on the side of her head. “The war is over now, my dove,” he said softly. “The gods have captured Atlas,” he explained. “You can shift back to your human form now.”

Cayden gently stroked the side of her head until she closed her eyes and shifted back to her human form. He was thankful that her clothes and weapons remained on when she shifted, using this other ability gifted to her by the gods.

Cayden kissed her forehead and looked over her body. He noticed that she was holding her broken arm close to her chest. “Good. Now let’s get you to a doctor. You landed so hard the ground shook.”

Liliana moaned in pain as he picked her up. She was so burned out that all she could do was lay her head on Cayden’s shoulder and let him carry her through the bloodied battlefield. Her world faded into darkness before they reached the field halfway.

Apollo glared at Atlas as they pushed him into the cave where he was meant to be. This cave had been where Atlas had tricked his darling daughter into taking his place. He was thankful that Adrestia had been willing to take his daughter’s place.

The gratitude that they had finally caught Atlas was clear on Adrestia’s face when she saw them walking toward her.

They stopped when a pair of hellhounds started growling at them as they lowered their bodies to the ground, prepared to defend their new loving owner. “Viper! Silvia!” Adrestia snapped. “Heel. They’re okay.”

The hellhounds instantly sat down and seemed to relax, but everyone knew they would attack at her signal if she felt threatened.

Aphrodite walked up to her daughter with tears in her eyes. “Oh, my sweet girl,” she said as she caressed Adrestia’s face.

Adrestia smiled brightly. “I’m okay, mom. Would love to get this off my shoulders, though,” she said as she looked up at Uranus.

Aphrodite nodded and took a few steps back.

Ares walked forward, pushing Atlas in front of him. Athena removed the chain whip around Atlas’s arms and midsection when they had Atlas directly underneath Uranus. Adrestia quickly rushed toward Ares while Atlas was forced to hold up Uranus again. Adrestia sagged against Ares and shook her head. “That was not my idea of fun,” she mumbled.

Ares chuckled. “Well, don’t take someone’s place underneath Uranus next time.”

Adrestia grumbled as she rolled her eyes. “You’re never going to let that one go, are you?” She questioned as she looked up at him.

Ares shook his head. “Nope.”

Adrestia groaned. “Great.”

“How about we get you out of here and have a healer look you over?” Aphrodite asked.

Adrestia nodded. “Some food would be great as well.”

Ares chuckled again as he stood up with Adrestia in his arms. “That’s my girl.”

They left the cave, leaving Atlas and the war behind.

Liliana groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She looked around and found that she was in her room in the private home she shared with Cayden. As she turned her head, she found Cayden asleep next to her. She sluggishly lifted her good hand and caressed his face.

Cayden woke up and smiled lovingly at her. “Hi, dove.”

Liliana grinned. “Hi, beloved.”

“How are you feeling?” Cayden asked as he sat up fully.

Liliana looked down at her body. “I’m okay. My arm is killing me, but other than that, I’m fine.”

Cayden’s smile widened. “Great,” he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips. “The war is over, dove,” he whispered against her lips. “We can finally have peace and raise our twins.”

Liliana’s smile was bright and joyful. “Thank the gods,” she looked toward the cribs and frowned slightly. “Where are the twins?” She asked as she looked back at Cayden.

Cayden chuckled. “They’re with my mom.”

Liliana smiled as she sat up. “Let’s go get them then. I want to hold our babies in my arms,” she frowned as she looked at her broken arm. “Well, arm,” she said with a slight laugh.

Cayden couldn’t agree more as he stood up and went downstairs with Liliana.

As they went to his mom’s house to pick up their twins, Cayden couldn’t help but be hopeful and grateful for the future they had now that the war was over.

After all, anything was possible with the gifts and powers their children already had, and they would only get stronger, but he knew that with those powers, trouble would be right there to accompany them. He was prepared, though, prepared to do anything to keep his family safe.

For the time being, Cayden would enjoy simply being with his family and raising his twins with his beloved dove.