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The Necklace	By : belladonnacullen Category: Twilight Series > Het > Alice/Jasper Views: 4635 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
APOV
“We use bait.”

Things happened very quickly after those words were uttered. It took a fraction of a second for Donnchadh and Riodh to spread their wings and shoot for the stormy gray sky. But the dragon fighters were quicker, and they leapt gracefully into the air, each pinning a faerie under an arm, before noiselessly landing back onto the mossy ground. The two fighters stared at the faeries with wide unblinking eyes, and the faeries looked scared senseless, unable or unwilling to look away.

But Donnchadh and Riodh’s’ limbs and wings struggled even as their eyes seemed frozen in fright. They kicked their little arms and legs and their wings cut through Chun-Tao and Dong-Mei’s clothing, eventually leaving deep gashes full of translucent fluid in their hard vampire skin. Even though it must have hurt, the fighters didn’t flinch, pressing the faeries securely against their sides with one arm as they attempted to still their flailing limbs with the other, all the while never breaking eye contact with them.

“What the hell do you two think you’re doing to those faeries?” I shouted, planting myself directly in front of the fray. I couldn’t believe they would consider using my faeries as bait.

“What do you mean?” Chun-Tao almost snarled, staring Donnchadh in the eye. The intensity of her voice took me by surprise and I took a step backwards, but verbally stood my ground.

“Just what I said. What the hell did you mean by bait?”

“Alice,” Dong-Mei managed to sound calm, despite the stern look on her face as she stared at little Riodh. “If we get a faerie or two out there in the water, we’d have trouble keeping Cirein Croin away. Why do you think the fae want him dead? Dragons love faeries, perhaps more than vampires do.” Dong-Mei’s voice broke and she licked her lips. “Although that’s hard to believe at this moment,” she added breathlessly, swallowing the venom pooling in her mouth. Riodh’s trembling intensified until the force of his terror caused Dong-Mei’s arms to vibrate.

“Mary Alice,” Riodh plaintively squeaked, and I took a tentative step in their general direction, feeling uncharacteristically conflicted. In the past I’d always known what the right thing to do was. But now…

“These two either planned to trap us here or kill us,” Chun-Tao hissed.

“Alice, don’t forget why you are here,” Dong-Mei interjected. “You and I and Chun-Tao are here for your family. For Jasper, and the rest of your coven. These two winged-things are not your family. We are here with generous souls and we do not deserve this treatment, these half-truths. They led us into a situation where we are unlikely to win.”

I stopped in my tracks, my words of protest stuck in my mouth. Suddenly it was clear: the fighters were right. This was a set-up; it had to be. The faeries’ plan seemed destined to end in either death or entrapment. My mind was spinning; I had been so sure this was the right path to take. And now Jasper was back in the desert because Aodhfionn had convinced him it was the right thing to do. And I might be stuck here in the sidhe. Or worse. Had I been wrong all this time?

Suddenly the dream world of the sidhe felt like it was spinning around me, and I was more alone and confused than I’d been since… since… since then. My mind quickly traveled to a time and a place I didn’t like to revisit: the days following my transformation. I remembered with perfect, frightening clarity the sudden empty-armed feeling that overtook me, and the awful burning darkness that had gradually given way to fire in my throat. I couldn’t recall my name, or even what I was. I didn’t know right from wrong or good from evil. I only knew what I wanted: blood. But with every man, woman and child I stalked, (and there were many), a small voice inside my head whispered that my actions were damnable and depraved. I didn’t know any alternative. Day and night bled into one unending nightmare of thirst and hunting and warm life pouring into my throat.

Until I saw his face. I’d just finished off a large human male, and I’d been delighted that I had the strength to easily snap his neck with my bare hands. I’d thrown his body across a field of harvested grain just to see how far I could make him fly, when a vision took over my mind. I’d seen dim flashes and pictures over the hours since I’d opened my new red eyes, but this image was clear and exacting in a way that I hadn’t seen before.

I watched the scene unfold with curiosity. A dangerous and dirty, yet frightened man walked into a greasy café, looking for something. For me. He needed me. He was tall with a long mane of golden hair, eyes as red and skin as chalky as my own. Beautiful. He was beautiful. And although I’d never met him, I loved him.

Love had bubbled up from a dark and dusty corner of my soul and quickly and easily forced itself into every cell of my body. The overwhelming force of emotion that hit with Jasper’s image stunned me, and I’d sat down and thought for the first time since my awakening. I didn’t know what I was or where I’d come from, but now, I knew what it was to love.

Somehow, I knew I’d never been loved before, but in that moment I knew that I was going to find the person that would love me more than any other. With Jasper’s image burned into my mind, I already loved him more than I did myself. I knew that he needed me, but in my present state I could hardly help myself. I had to change. The knowledge came swiftly and certainly. And for the next thirty years, before I ever held Jasper’s large hands in mine, I worked to make myself a better person for him.

And now… now I might never see him again. Now, the only thing I wanted was Jasper, and I was afraid there was no way back to him. I shook my head sadly, empty and defeated. “Why?” I whispered.

“We’d never let anything happen to you, Mary Alice,” Riodh half whispered and half whined.

“Shut up,” I muttered.

“We’d die first. We’d give our lives for you; we have no choice. It’s what we do,” Donnchadh added.

“But you’d let my friends die. And you’d trap me here?” I countered, my voice rising.

“You’d be much safer in the sidhe.”

“But what if I don’t want to live in the goddamned sidhe!”

“You could like it. I think you do like it, don’t you Mary Alice?” Riodh asked.

I didn’t answer. I gritted my teeth before focusing on Dong-Mei and Chun-Tao, who were still securely holding the faeries. “Fine. Dragon bait. Let’s get this over with and get out of here.”

“Then help us, Alice. We cannot hold them in our gaze forever. Trap them. You are the only one that can do it,” Chun-Tao instructed, the set of her jaw giving evidence to the effort she was putting into keeping the faerie in her arms.

“But how?”

“They cannot lie, Alice.” While she might have thought that explained everything, it meant next to nothing to me at the moment. Riodh began to visibly tremble in Dong-Mei’s arms, but he couldn’t pull his pink eyes away from hers.

“Mary Alice,” Donnchadh pleaded breathlessly.

“You were supposed to help me, to keep me safe,” I answered back.

“That is what we are doing, Mary Alice,” he gasped.

“Prove it.” I surprised myself with the snarl that came from my throat.

“Please, Mary Alice,” Riodh begged.

I stalked over to within an inch of Donnchadh’s face. “Bring. That. Dragon. Here. Now!”

“We can’t make a dragon do anything.” The resentment I heard in Donnchadh’s voice sickened me.

“Dong-Mei and I will make a raft, and we’ll float you out onto it,” Chun-Tao whispered like a promise, as she held Donnchadh in her arms.

“No, please. The fae don’t venture into these waters.” Donnchadh began kicking his legs with renewed vigor at the prospect. I watched as Chun-Tao worked to hold him still.

“Alice, make them do it. We don’t have time for this.”

Finally, I understood what had to be done. Without my sight I might have been a little slow on the uptake, but now Chun-Tao’s request came through loud and clear. I looked between Donnchadh and Riodh, their eyes still frozen as they gazed at the unblinking vampires. While Donnchadh was writhing against Chun-Tao’s arms, Riodh was twitching nervously, and his chubby knees knocked against Dong-Mei’s side. Between the two faeries, he was definitely the weak link.

I tried to put any misgivings I might have out of my mind as I walked up to Dong-Mei and the little faerie. ‘He’s not my family, He’s not my family,’ I chanted to myself. Instead, I focused on Jasper, and all of the sacrifices he’d made over the past month. I thought about Edward and how many years he’d suffered before he finally found happiness. I thought about Bella, my only friend and Edward’s mate.

My eyes were burning and I blinked rapidly, suddenly hating those stupid faerie tears. I wanted to blot out all evidence that I was any relation to the two despicable creatures in front of me. Carlisle was my father. Esme was my mother. My real family was what was important right now. I tried to reason that Riodh was nothing to me. But with that thought, I had to consciously suppress a racking sob. I hated that I felt so weak, but this had to be done.

I knelt down so that I was at eye level with the faerie, although he couldn’t seem to turn away from Dong-Mei. “Riodh, don’t you like me?” It was an unfair question. I knew he liked me, and I knew he’d have to answer truthfully.

“Of course, Mary Alice.”

“Then tell me you’ll do this for me, for my friends.”

Riodh stuttered and shook and I watched as he tried desperately to turn his head, to close his eyes. “Please, Mary Alice, don’t --” he begged.

“Riodh, I don’t want my friends to die. I don’t want them stuck here. I need to get back to Jasper. We need to fight the dragon, now. We can’t wait. Please, help us to lure him here. For me. It will hurt me terribly if they die, or if any of us are stuck here. As my DinSheenK’ha, please.”

The little faerie sniffled and clenched his tiny hands, and I watched blue-tinged tears snake their way down his chubby red cheeks. “I’ll be your bait, Mary Alice,” he whispered. With those words uttered, Dong-Mei finally looked away. The faerie shuddered and blinked before disappearing from her hands. He reappeared a moment later in front of me, still sniffling, his pink eyes rimmed in red.

“Oh, little Riodh, I won’t let anything happen to you. Don’t worry,” I gushed, pulling the small man into my arms. I knew what I was saying was most likely a lie, but in a situation like this, a life for a life, my family’s wellbeing came first. Riodh smiled ruefully up at me, and then threw the weight of his little body against mine and gathered my hips in his arms in a surprisingly strong hug.

*****

JPOV
“What are you, Jasper Whitlock? You are like no other vampire I have ever seen.”

“Where’s Aodhfionn?” I asked Sakhmet, ignoring her incomprehensible question.

“Why did you only kill one?”

“Faerie!” I shouted, turning in a circle, certain he was just beyond where I might be able to smell his sickeningly sweet scent.

“And what you did to her body, her eyelids…” Sakhmet continued to babble.

“Sakhmet!” I instantly closed the space between us, and grabbed her shoulders in my hands. “I don’t care about the dog!”

“You did. You did.”

“But, Alice…”

“And then, right afterwards, when you should be drunk on blood --”

“Alice,” I whispered.

“Exactly,” Sakhmet agreed. But I couldn’t care about her right now.

Sakhmet pulled herself away from me, and I disgusted myself when I realized I was still clinging to her, my fingertips digging into her chalky ebony skin. She was skittish as she backed away from me.

“Maybe it is true. Maybe…”

She continued to back away, and I had the irrational impulse to call her back to me. I certainly didn’t desire her company, but I didn’t want to be left alone and bereft either. It was my own fault, though. I’d let Aod convince me to stay behind in the desert. I deserved to suffer through Alice’s absence. It was only right.

I let Sakhmet go, not bothering to pay attention to the direction she took, or to track her scent on the desert wind. Instead I turned westward, and slowly began the long journey back to the compound. When Alice made it back to me, it was the only place she would know to look. I refused to let my mind wander to the other possibility, the one where I considered ‘if’ she would make it back to me. Because that would mean the end of my life as well. I would make sure of it.

I was wallowing so thoroughly in my own morbid thoughts, that I almost didn’t notice the sugary-sweet smell in the air. Almost, but not quite. I scanned the horizon, searching for the faerie.

“Aodhfionn, where the hell are you? Get out here, now!”

Aodhfionn landed in front of me, all silent-like, but at least he wasn’t smiling. Because, if he were smiling, I couldn’t trust myself not to smack the look off his face.

“You were perfect, warrior,” he said proudly, like he was my father or something. Forget that he was a five foot tall faerie with wings. I ignored him. I’d figure out what he meant later.

“What about Alice?” I asked.

“She’s in the sidhe. They’re waiting on the dragon.”

“But she hasn’t fed, Aod. And she’s waiting on a dragon, like you said. It’s too dangerous.”

“Her DinSheenK’ha will keep her safe.”

“But she can’t fight a dragon if she hasn’t fed.”

“How do you know that? Have you ever fought a dragon?”

I resisted the urge to punch the faerie, and instead pulled myself up to my full height and moved within an inch of his body. But then I had to fight the sickening desire to lick his cheek, instead focusing on the equally strong desire to twist off his head. I hoped that instinct would come across and scare some sense into him. “I. Can. Not. Lose. Her. If she is in any danger, whatsoever, you will take me to her now.”

“Mary Alice will live through this, warrior. Which reminds me, we should speak about the Volturi.”

The faerie had changed the subject with such speed, I wondered that I didn’t have whiplash.

“What do the Volturi have to do with this?” I growled, not satisfied at all with his answers so far.

“I believe you have worries about what may happen if Alice’s vision comes true, if she presents herself to Aro.”

It had been at the back of my list of concerns, but it was true. Given the new information we had about Alice and her past, I didn’t trust that Aro would let her get away. And if he did, it would just push her higher on his list of desired acquisitions.

I’d been walking straight for the compound, but I stopped in my tracks and sighed. I felt like I didn’t have the emotional strength to voice yet another concern for my mate, so I simply stood still and waited for the faerie to speak. I knew he would. He didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

Aodhfionn appropriately took this as a sign that he’d been right about my misgivings. “I have a plan, warrior.”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, since I’d been completely unimpressed by every other plan of his that I’d seen up until this point. But my only idea to keep Alice away from Volterra was to somehow incapacitate her and go on my own. Given my mate’s current hostile feelings toward me, this seemed like a less than stellar plan.

“I’ll go,” Aod proclaimed, like it was more a done deal than a proposal.

“I don’t think so. I’m not putting my family’s future in your hands.”

“You already have.” He was right, and I didn’t like that at all. I felt sick all over, disgusted with myself that I’d let a little faerie work me like putty in his hands.

“They’ll kill you before you have a chance to speak.” His plan, if that’s what he called it, was ridiculous.

“Without their powers it will be harder for them to kill me than you think.” But even as he spoke confidently, I saw something flash in his white eyes. Actually, it was the opposite of a flash. For an instant, his eyes had gone dull gray.

“They’ll never let you get to Aro, let alone allow you to speak to him,” I countered.

“Aro will want to see me and speak with me; and perhaps more than that. He’s vampire, just like you are. You know he’ll want to see me, warrior. Besides the attraction, I’ll have his jewels.”

“Why don’t I trust you?” I hissed under my breath. The statement wasn’t necessarily for Aodhfionn, and I’d only half meant to blurt it out loud.

“Because as one of the fae, I have the annoying habit of being mischievous and helping in an overtly painful manner. I speak the truth, but I twist my words.”

“Well, when you put it like that, faerie --” I chuckled grimly, without a hint of actual amusement in my voice.

“I haven’t done anything that wasn’t for Mary Alice’s good. More than any other charge…” Aodhfionn’s voice faded into silence. For once, he wasn’t able to matter-of-factly finish his statement. His eyes left my face, and trailed along the distant edge of the horizon.

“I’ll do this,” he whispered so faintly, I almost didn’t hear. And then a barely perceptible tremor worked its way down his spine.

“What are you doing?”

“My job.”

He was looking so hard at something on the horizon, staring with such purpose, yet I was sure he wasn’t focusing on anything at all.

“What do you see?” I hissed.

“I see the good in things. The world as it could be. The light just shines out of Mary Alice, doesn’t it? She’s so good, even though…”

“Even though she’s a vampire,” I finished for him. “Yes. She’s very good.” It was the understatement of a lifetime.

“And she’s both light and dark and it’s astounding. I still don’t know how she did it. I can only hope…”

Again his voice trailed off and he pressed his eyelids closed.

“Faerie, you’re fucking scaring me. What’s wrong with Alice?”

“I’m sorry, Jasper. I’ll make sure that she’s fine. It is my job. But I would do it anyway, even if it weren’t. The way I feel…” And while the possessive part of me wanted to deck him or fight him, or truth be told, kill him for a making statement like that to my face, another part of me was overwhelmingly grateful for what he was saying.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll only let Aro have the jewels if he gives his word to leave your family alone for the rest of the year, like he promised he would. He wants them back badly enough that he’ll agree.”

“But you can’t just march into Volterra and ask to speak to Aro. What will you do?”

“That’s for me to worry about, warrior. You just worry about keeping Alice away from Volterra. Will you keep her safe for me? I can’t do that if I’m with the Volturi.”

“I promise, Aod. There’s no way in hell I’d let anything happen to her.”

“Thank you, warrior.”

I’m not exactly sure where the tables got turned like they did, and Aodhfionn was thanking me for keeping Alice safe, but they had, and it left me feeling unsettled. And then it dawned on me, if he was talking about bringing the jewels to Italy…

“Then, they’re really going to slay the dragon? And Alice will live through it?”

*****

APOV
The water’s spray was like a cold whisper against my skin. This time my clothes were definitely wet, and salty, and they felt heavy enough that they might drag me down to the ocean floor. I know that made no sense; I was a vampire with insane strength. But stripped of my visions and Jasper’s arms, deceived by my own sight and by these creatures I’d come to consider distant relatives; it was all I could do to hold myself erect and balance on the jagged sandstone crag underfoot, scanning the horizon for a reptile rumored to munch on whales as snacks. Anything that I had to deal with beyond that, like wet clothes, was overwhelming.

I know. I’d gotten myself into an insane situation; one so bizarre I was having trouble actually believing that it was real. In one minute the sidhe had seemed like an ideal world full of ponies and flowers, and in the next it was a nightmare. I was simply hoping to live to see Jasper again. Any desire to somehow help my family seemed like a faerie tale too good to be true.

I tried not to let my mind stray to thoughts beyond the task at hand, but it was like trying to hold back grains of sand when the tide went out. My mind was fractured, pulled relentlessly in dozens of directions while I watched the pounding waves. I was desperate to know if this was all for nothing. I didn’t know if I could live with myself if I’d inadvertently put my family in danger. And it pained me not to know how Jasper was holding out in the desert, and what particular torture he was enduring thanks to Sakhmet, Aodhfionn and me. And I worried that I’d misled Edward and Bella. If anything happened to Bella, Edward would kill himself, and it would be my fault.

And then all of the old doubts returned as well; about what I’d gotten Emmett and Rose into, about what Jane was doing at this moment. Maybe she would leave Volterra early; maybe she was already on her way to Forks, or to Isle Esme.

I clenched my fists and barely held myself back from screaming in frustration. I could feel the muscles in my neck straining and I heard the loud scraping noise my teeth made as they ground together.

Riodh heard my gnashing teeth and spun around to face me, always looking to protect me in his own little way. After he promised to act as bait, Dong-Mei and Chun-Tao had quickly fashioned a raft, tying together some rowan branches with vines. Riodh had strung little orange berries to the vines, and muttered an incantation, while Donnchadh stood off to the side, his arms folded with a look of anger and disapproval etched on his thin face. Now, Riodh’s raft was anchored to a jagged rock, twenty yards from the shore, while Donnchadh glared at the scene from the precipice behind me.

I tried to smile reassuringly at Riodh, but I’m sure my own uncertainty was showing through. It felt like my smile, usually so quick and infectious, had been plastered on with a putty knife. Riodh waved a little in my direction. More than anything, he looked scared for his life. I guess he was, and I felt torn in two. One piece of myself wanted to jump onto his little raft, pull him into my arms and run away. But something inside me, darker and full of love, kept him there, bound to fulfill his promise.

I watched Riodh sneak a glance at Donnchadh as he stood above us all, safely on the solid ground of the cliffs. Donnchadh had argued that putting his own life in danger wouldn’t do anything to help keep me safe, and he hadn’t uttered another word since. But the stern manner in which he’d been looking at Riodh since then, spoke volumes.

The dragon fighters were perched on craggy rocks on either side of me, high above the water’s edge. I could almost see the spiritual connection that they’d forged to the earth, sky and water, because they seemed balanced between the elements, instead of resting on the ground. Their bodies were poised in effortless concentration, and their faces looked impassive and peaceful. Jasper had explained bits and pieces of the meditation they’d taught him, and I wished I’d had the time to learn from them. If I could trust my visions of the future, I would eventually get that chance. I tried to convince myself that I’d make it that far.

I didn’t want to interrupt them. Okay, I kind of did. Staying still and looking out at nothing was killing me. I don’t usually stand still or stay quiet. And while the fighters might meditate when they’re nervous, I did what any normal girl might do: I fidgeted. I thought out loud, and filled the void with my voice, because otherwise I’d get lost in my thoughts and doubts. Dangerous territory.

“Umm, what am I looking for?” I called out, glancing back and forth between Dong-Mei and Chun-Tao.

There was a significant and weighty silence, filled only with the sound of waves and branches slapping against the surface of the water. Dong-Mei answered a full minute later. “You do not need to look, Alice. We will find him.”

“But I have to do something. I have to help. I always help. That’s what I do, you know? I mean, I spent almost thirty years helping Jasper before I even found him. And just ask Bella. I’ve been helping her for the past two years.”

Chun-Tao finally turned toward me. Her quick movement silenced me.

“He is not made up only of body, but also of spirit. He will come from the water like he is water himself. You will not see his shadow, or even the water quiver, until he is here.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Alice, leave it to us,” Dong-Mei pleaded.

An unusually large wave slammed Riodh’s little raft into the boulder it was anchored to. Riodh was jostled and nearly slipped over the edge, before he managed to grab a hold of one of the vines that held the structure together. He scrambled back to his feet, and seemed to make a point not to make eye contact with any of us.

“And you’ll watch out for Riodh?” I asked.

Chun-Tao sighed and shook her head. “He’s the least of our worries, Alice.”

“Fine,” I muttered. “I’ll look out for the faerie.”

“Alice Cullen, you will do no such thing. That faerie volunteered for this, and he can keep himself safe. What would Jasper say to us if you didn’t come back?” Dong-Mei asked.

I didn’t get a chance to tell them what Jasper would say, though, because at that second, slate gray water rose like a wall in front of us, filling my field of vision completely. Water poured from the sky back to the ocean at my feet, hinting at the sloped contour of the creature beneath it. But I didn’t see a dragon. At least I didn’t think I did. All that I could see was turbulent clouds above my head, and water. There was water everywhere. Water was being pulled up from the sea and was hurtling from the sky, splashing back into the pool below my feet. The sea itself had sunk, and the water falling back into it was whipped into a whirlpool, as if a piece of the seabed had gone missing.

And then I heard it. The deep, earth-shattering bellow shook me until I thought I might fall apart. The rock at my feet actually did, and I managed to jump just before it crumbled into the vortex beneath me. I aimed for the cliffs above, but instead, Donnchadh caught me in mid-air. I struggled in his grasp, pulling at his arms, but he flew fast and wouldn’t ease his grip until we were far beyond the water’s edge. Then, finally, he let me fall to the mossy ground below.

I went to run for the shore, but Donnchadh stood in my path.

“We have to get back to Riodh.”

“No, Mary Alice. Don’t be foolish.”

“Donnchadh, we don’t have time. Where’s Riodh?”

“You know I don’t have the sight when it comes to the other fae.”

That same violent noise shook the earth again. It was so loud and all consuming that I thought my head might explode. Donnchadh was thrown to the moss at his feet, and I took the opportunity to dart past him. I pressed my hands to my ears as I moved to the edge of the cliff to look for Riodh, or Chun-Tao and Dong-Mei, or Cirein Croin himself.

*****

What I saw before me was too large, too strange; I didn’t know what I was looking at. I saw flashes of gray and turquoise, and a tower of shimmering water tall enough that I needed to arch my neck to take it all in. The air moved violently and at first it pushed me backwards, before I was nearly pulled off my feet, and sucked out towards the mayhem in the water. I felt my feet slipping on the slick moss, and I turned and tried to scramble backwards. But my feet were pulled from underneath me, and I fell face first into the green.

The world shook again and hot wind tore at my hair, smelling of fire and salt and bitter charred things; things you wouldn’t speak of in polite conversation.

And then, long fingers closed around my wrist like a vise, holding me in place just as my feet slipped over the edge of the precipice.

I was on my feet again quickly, and Donnchadh’s hand never left my wrist. I watched him pulling at me relentlessly, trying to move me away from the edge. Impossibly tall waves of water washed over the massive cliff, drenching us both. And the sound the creature made was unending. It was almost like the wind, but bigger and louder, threatening to tear at the granite fibers of my being.

I shouted to Donnchadh that I needed to go back, but I may as well have had no voice at all. Nothing could be heard over the all-encompassing static roar. But I was stronger than the faerie, and as soon as I got my bearings I began towing him back towards the dragon and my friends.

Donnchadh’s face contorted in anger as he tirelessly and ineffectually worked to pull in the opposite direction. His thin feet tore up the moss as he dug in his heels, while I made my way to the fight.

And then everything changed for me. A new scent joined the putrid burn, overwhelming all of my other senses. It was bright and magic and light, sweet and sour. It was everything, like life itself, and I needed it.

I spun around with such force that Donnchadh’s feet left the ground. Still connected to my wrist, his feet flew over the edge of the cliff and he dangled in the air. But I hardly noticed, and let him hang. For in front of me was life and death in a measure I’d never seen before.

The world was awash in fire and blood and my body fought the twin desires to flee from the flames and to dive head first into the stream pouring from the sky. Blood rained down into the ocean in a thick red downpour. Behind the blood I could see the flash of impossibly large silver scales edged in turquoise. But then everything was engulfed in flames, forcing me backwards.

I’d inadvertently dragged the faerie back onto land, his clothing singed and wet, smoking. But the noise and the fire came closer, and the ground shook beneath us. I took another step backwards, even as my nose commanded me to run into the flames and drink. But then, as if in warning, fire licked at the ground at my feet, and I turned on my heels and ran, Donnchadh half-running, half dragging along at my side.

Panic set it, and I found it hard to breath. There was fire everywhere. This could be the end, I thought. I might never see Jasper again. It could all be over, and the last person I would see was the damned faerie that I was pulling along next to me.

I half-heard that he was repeating something over and over, stammering and shouting. I strained to listen, hoping it was a piece of useful advice, or some kind of spell that might save my vampire flesh from the flames.

“It’s me, it’s me.”

“What?” I asked as I ran.

“I can’t keep you safe. He’s after me.” And before I knew it, Donnchadh was gone.

I took one second for the flames to recede, and another second for me to catch my breath and steady my thoughts. Of course, the dragon had been after the faerie. Dong-Mei had mentioned that dragons loved to feed on faeries. But now he would be out in the ocean after Riodh. He was bleeding, but he needed to die. This would all be over if he were dead.

My thoughts turned predatory and my body commanded me to run back to the cliff and jump, to scramble up the giant’s shoulder, and to sink my teeth into that sweet spot just below his jaw. If I pushed and bit and tore at the flesh enough, I was sure I could find the great vein, and then I’d be awash in warm, delicious blood and this would all be over. Except, I couldn’t do that. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to leave the sidhe.

With that thought, my body nearly convulsed. It had been over a week since my last meal, and blood was falling from the sky in a veritable downpour. Blood that smelled better than anything else on earth. I could only guess that the giant was bleeding because of something the dragon fighters had done. I hoped they hadn’t used their teeth, but how else could they have managed this?

A rush of wet air made me leap forward. I spun around to see a bit of shiny gray flesh through the smoke and fire, before something as large as a stadium came crashing down to the ground where I’d been standing. Then the land underneath crumbled and cascaded down into the water.

More of the ground gave way beneath my feet, and I jumped backwards as my ears rang with another deafening roar. It was as if the earth itself were groaning as it broke underneath me. The dragon’s voice was everywhere; it was all encompassing, and my natural inclination to attack gave way to the desire to fold in on myself and hide.

But I couldn’t. I needed to help my friends and this dragon needed to die if I were ever to get out of the sidhe and ensure my family’s safety. So, I clenched my jaw shut and held my breath, took five steps backwards, arched my neck and opened my eyes.

The space in front of me was taken over by shiny gray and turquoise scales and smoke. The creature rose from the water below and took up all of the sky above. It was in constant motion, writhing before me and moving the air with it. I was nearly blown over with an incredibly strong gust of wet wind, as something translucent and purple sliced through the air. It was a wing. Without thinking, I jumped and landed onto it, and held on as the dragon beat its wing violently, trying to throw me off.

Another shriek rang out through the atmosphere, momentarily incapacitating me. I desperately hoped I could hold my body together, because it felt like the awful noise might tear it apart. Then I was assaulted by another gust of hot and bitter charred air. I looked skyward and realized it was the monster’s breath. I could just barely make out the unending blackness of his mouth, row upon row of dull silver teeth, and the deep burgundy glow of two eyes as large twin suns.

I clawed my way upward, only dimly aware of what I was doing. I needed to get to his neck, to the space just underneath the dragon’s jaw. The sweet hollow, where I loved to kiss and lick Jasper. The tender point where I would sink my teeth with thanks. The pulse point. The jugular. Words moved like motion pictures through my head, and I paid them little heed. Thoughts of Jasper, and my home swam to the surface of my mind, mixing with dreams of a river of unending blood, coating me gloriously.

“Alice.”

The voice was a far-flung whisper. It was a suggestion more than a sound. But it was familiar and full of warning.

It came too late.

The putrid black hole of the dragon’s mouth came charging at me with a speed that made it hard for my eyes to track. The teeth were taller than the cedars that sheltered our home in Forks, and my body was reflected back at me in the glinting dull silver and smoky gray light.

It was close, too close. I jumped, and the edge of one of the dragon’s teeth ripped my jeans, and skimmed my shin. I gasped with surprise and anger and intense, mind-numbing pain, as I peered disbelievingly down at my torn-open flesh.

But the sound that erupted from the beast pulled my mind away from thoughts of my shin. I’d moved just in time to get away from the dragon’s mouth, and I’d been so quick that he bit down on his own wing instead of me. The sound he made was fierce, full of anger and pain, and he shook his body, trying to throw me, spraying fresh blood over my body in the process.

That’s when I knew what I had to do.

“Mary Alice, come back. I’m on the cliff.”

Donnchadh’s voice was strained, even though he was speaking directly to my mind. I scanned the dark landmass in front of me, but I couldn’t see him amidst the smoke and flames and blood, and with the dragon moving like an angry snake below me.

I didn’t know exactly how to speak to the faerie without using my voice, but I had no time to try to figure it out. “No, I know what I have to do, Donnchadh.”

I didn’t know if he heard me, but it would have to do. I had a plan and I didn’t have a moment to spare. I might not be able to bite the dragon, but the dragon himself certainly could. Without another thought, I scrambled upwards onto something hard and slippery, using my hands and feet to brace myself against the slick surface. But the edges were sharper than razors, and I was surprised to feel the flint-like substance cut through the creases in my fingers.

The pain was nearly as incapacitating as the dragon’s frenzied cries were. I jumped and threw out my arms, catching my hands on another sharp edge, my body lying flush with another hard, flat surface. I realized suddenly that I was jumping onto the raised spines along the dragon’s back.

I took a moment to try to refine my plan, but I could feel the cuts to my fingers deepening with every second I held on. Logically, when I thought about the best way to make a kill, I thought about draining the veins in the dragon’s throat. But I didn’t know whether the dragon could get its teeth within striking distance of his own jugular vein. The heart was the next logical spot to strike, but the ribs would most likely prevent any real damage. And the descending aorta was buried so deep in the abdomen, that a cut there would most likely only do superficial damage.

That’s when I knew where the cut had to be made. There was an unprotected spot on the body, where a large artery and vein travelled side by side. With a cut in just the right location, bleeding out would be almost inevitable. I shivered and felt my stomach sicken as I watched visions of predatory vampires flicker in my mind. Male vampires seducing human women, spreading their legs, their nose running along the inner thigh, looking for the perfect point of purchase, before sinking their teeth into the creamy skin at the groin, fulfilling twin desires as they drained the life out of the human between her legs.

I was headed in the wrong direction.

I scurried to the edge of the scale, jumping, then running, jumping then running, over and over as I made my way down the dragon’s neck. As I suspected, the creature could never writhe in exactly the right direction to bite down on his own throat. But as I made my way across the unending expanse of his back, I would linger and jump in such a way that the dragon managed to lunge and bite and tear shallow gashes in an attempt to catch me.

Of course, his ribs and spine protected him from doing any real damage. My actions only seemed to anger the beast. When I realized this, I pushed myself faster, moving over yard after yard of slippery, blood spattered scales.

“Alice!”

The voice was louder now. I stopped and scanned my field of vision. But before my eyes could fix on anything besides fire and blood, I was knocked off my feet by a hard body that wrapped itself around mine. We tumbled and slid sideways, and a fraction of a second later, the beast’s mouth came down over the spot I’d been standing on, violently biting down on his own flesh.

“What good is saving your family if you yourself are dead, Alice Cullen?”

It was Dong-Mei. We slipped down the monster’s sloping back together and scrambled for purchase, but there was nothing to grab a hold of. Both of our bodies slid over the edge, and I felt my stomach drop out from underneath me, as we hurtled toward the churning red waves far below.

But just before our bodies crashed into churning mixture of blood and seawater, something warm and thin and strong as steel grabbed my wrist, and I was pulled back upwards into the air. I clutched at Dong-Mei, but soon realized that I could no longer feel the pull of gravity on her body either. I twisted my neck, looking up through the smoke to see the tawny skin and big doe shaped brown eyes of Donnchadh. He held Dong-Mei and I by our wrists, and his strong wings cut through the wind, flying us to the shore.

But the faerie’s presence enraged the already tortured dragon, and a high pitched keening cry tore through the air around us as fiery red eyes moved in our direction. And then, I felt like we’d disappeared.

In another flash we were standing on a mossy field, far from the water’s edge. Here the noise from the dragon was little more than a static rumble. The air was clear, but the smell of the dragon’s blood was still overpowering, pulling me in like a moth to a flame.

“I should have done that before, Mary Alice. But I panicked. I won’t leave you behind again.”

“What are you doing?” I yelled.

“Keeping you safe.”

“I didn’t ask for your help. Maybe you can just walk away from Riodh and my friends, but I won’t do it. Chun-Tao is back there, alone! And have you seen Riodh since… since --?”

“Mary Alice, Riodh is gone. It was suicide to do what he did.”

“You don’t know that! And Chun-Tao is out there!”

“But I’m here to save you.”

“Then stay out of the way! You just make things worse. I’m going back with Dong-Mei!”

“No you’re not. She left while you were yelling at me,” he said smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.

He was right. I looked around us and Dong-Mei was gone. I could just barely make out her slim retreating figure as she raced back to the water, and the dragon, and her mate.

Without hesitation, I dashed after her, hoping I could reach her, so that we could talk about my plan. I was certain it would work and we could kill the dragon, if only we could pierce both femoral arteries and veins. But suddenly, the faerie was in front of me, flapping his wings wildly, darting back and forth across my path.

“Leave me alone!” I shouted, grabbing him by the tip of one of his wings and flinging him sideways, cutting my finger in the process. Again, he appeared before me, blocking my way. I growled and lunged, but in my mad haste I missed him and nearly threw myself on the ground instead. My anger rose and desperation flooded through my veins. I couldn’t let him keep me from the fight, from my friends, from little Riodh. I needed to get back to the dragon. This time I tackled him and pinned him beneath me. “Let me go, faerie. I don’t want to kill you.”

I left him on the ground and ran for the water, but Donnchadh appeared in front of me again. It was too much. As much as I felt like I had to be with my friends in the fight, I felt like I would never be able to get there with this faerie dogging me at every turn. It was useless, and I fell to the ground, giving in. And I was gone.

For a second it was as if I ceased to exist. I had no body. But a second later, I was back.

“Alice!” Dong-Mei threw her arm around me, before I was thrown into the air. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back down, and I grabbed onto a scale with my hands. I was on the dragon’s back again, Dong-Mei at my side. I had no idea what had happened, but I couldn’t take the time to care.

“How did you do that?” she asked, but I didn’t answer.

“The femoral artery and vein, Dong-Mei. I think it’s the only way.”

Her eyes widened with my words, and then her brilliant smile took over her face. “The inside of his thigh, you mean?”

I nodded my head, and looked around, trying to get my bearings. Cirein Croin was so large, I couldn’t see where his back began or ended, and I couldn’t spot his head or his tail.

“You are very smart, Alice. We know. I am on my way now, Chun-Tao will get the other leg.”

“Really?”

“Yes. With all the blood he has lost so far, I believe it will work. But you shouldn’t be here.”

“I have to be. I can’t just sit and watch.”

Dong-Mei sighed, and the dragon bucked, nearly throwing both of us off his back. The air shook with his cry, and I gritted my teeth and scrunched my eyes shut, my only protection from the force of the sound. When I opened my eyes, Dong-Mei’s jaw was set, and she was shaking her head at me, but she held out her hand and I knew she’d let me go.

She ran so fast, she almost dragged me with her as she flew over the dragon’s back, and slid down his tail. Halfway down, she grabbed hold of a scale, and swung us over the edge, where we braced ourselves from the fall. I looked at his enormous haunches beneath us, and had no idea how we were going to navigate around his thigh.

Then, hurtling from the sky, I just barely caught sight of Cirein Croin’s gaping maw, before Dong-Mei pulled me out of the way. His hot, acrid breath felt like it singed my skin, as fire filled the air around us.

“Use your nails,” Dong-Mei shouted, and she jumped of the dragon’s back, ran her fingers along his thigh, until they dug into his skin, and she hung suspended in the air. The dragon roared and twisted his neck so that he could snap at her, but she was too fast and jumped out of the way again.

She flitted over the dragon’s thigh, moving too fast for him to track, and I knew that I had to follow if I wanted to help at all. So I held my breath and jumped. I felt the oily scales rub along my belly, and I clawed at the skin, until I finally was able to dig in and hold on. It was an awkward maneuver, but I managed to less than gracefully move my way around the dragon as he stomped and shook and lunged for me repeatedly.

The heat that emanated from his skin was growing, and my hands felt too warm for comfort as I clung to his scales. I was finally able to spot Dong-Mei, though, and I watched as she began to furiously tear with her hands at the juncture between the dragon’s thigh and his body.

A high-pitched scream pierced the air, and I held on for dear life as the dragon kicked his leg out from underneath him. I watched with horror as his crested gray head and red eyes went straight for the dragon fighter. His teeth clamped down on his own flesh, and blood spurted from the gash, but I couldn’t see Dong-Mei anywhere.

The dragon’s thigh began shaking convulsively, as sweet blood poured from the fresh wound. He unclenched his jaw from his inner thigh, his bloody teeth bared, his eyes rolling in pain. Dong-Mei was gone.

I looked back to the dragon’s bloody wound. The bleeding had slowed and I knew that wasn’t right. He must not have bit down deeply enough. The wound, as it was, wouldn’t kill him. Without Dong-Mei, I knew what I had to do. I jumped, and clawed and jumped and clawed my way to the gash in the dragon’s thigh. He was still shaky, and his skin was covered in fresh blood. Blood that brought to mind golden skies and love and warmth and commanded my body to drink.

But I pressed my lips together and held my breath as I plunged my hands into the torn flesh in the dragon’s thigh. I used my fingernails to tear through muscle and connective tissue, searching for the springy texture of blood vessels. I was up to my elbows in wounded flesh, when I felt the hot wind at my back. I jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the dragon’s teeth, and I watched him sink his muzzle once again into the wound. A massive river of blood rained over me, as my body fell into the water below.

JPOV
“Then, they’re really going to slay the dragon? And Alice will live through it?”

“I’m quite sure. The Saelie Court would never propose a plan that wouldn’t work. And I see your future, to a point. You’ll be happy, and I’m quite sure that would not be the case without Mary Alice.”

Sweet relief flooded through my body, and I felt it penetrate my fingertips and toes, despite the presence of the faerie. I couldn’t wait to see her, to apologize, to love her and swear I’d never leave her. To swear it again, for clearly I hadn’t been a man of my word the first time around. The sun shone brighter, the sand felt impossibly warmer beneath my feet. Alice was coming back to me. I’m sure I was beaming like a fool at Aodhfionn, and his smile was warm and genuine in return.

“Alice is strong, warrior, and you are lucky to have found her.”

“I’m blessed that she found me, Aod.”

“Yes, blessed,” he agreed.
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The Necklace