3.24 The Wheels of Change

 

Life, as we knew it, in Moonlight Falls was about to change forever.  The dominos were beginning to take shape and two star-crossed lovers, forced to meet deep within the woods at night, were about to set them all off.

A witch and a werewolf, key players from opposite sides of the battle, are forced to hide their love.  They are both fully aware of the consequences of what would happen if they were ever discovered, but a love as powerful as this is too strong to quit.

“Rest assured,” Camilla informed her lover as she transitioned back to her human form. “I took every precaution imaginable to ensure that I was not followed.”

“You know,” Thera teased, “There is no hurry to put your clothes back on.”

Any other night Camilla would be all too happy to fall for Thera’s flirty banter, but not tonight. Tonight Camilla has other things on her mind.  She quickly got dressed, and then got to talking.

 

“We need to plan our escape,” Camilla said with all seriousness “I can talk to Ryker, he will understand but what about…”

“No,” Thera interrupted. “We have been over this before. I am not running away.”

“You know what would happen if your father or brother found out about us?  Your father is Grendel Saavendra, the Supreme Commander of Moonlight Falls.  And you are in love with a werewolf.  A female werewolf.  If it had to come down to it, Ryker would try and protect us but…”

“I have told you this before, Father doesn’t care about me. I am not the heir to his ‘throne’. And Alcander is too busy with his vampire whore to pay me any attention.”

“Thera, you are my love. My everything. I can’t imagine a world without you. I never thought that I could ever feel this way. After Mira’s spell I thought that I was destined for a life alone. But now that I have found you I won’t let you go!”

Thera kissed Camilla with all the love and passion she felt her heart to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. Even though Thera didn’t quite believe it herself.

“I love you more than the moon loves the stars. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Thera said after their embrace. “But I am glad that you mentioned Mira, because I have to tell you something about her.”

 

“What about Mira?” Camilla questioned.

“You know that it is no secret that my brother is dead set in making her his wife. And, well, I overheard Alcander talking to his vampire paramour about his plan to finally get Mira to agree to marry him. Camilla, it’s bad. It’s really really really bad.”

Camilla’s hot blood ran cold at the severity of Thera’s warning. “What is his plan? No, tell me later. Right now all I want to know is how can we stop it?”

Thera knew that there was only one thing to do, “Rally the werewolves.”

 

“That has been tried before, and failed.  And too many people died as a result.” Camilla was skeptical as she reminded Thera while, at the same time, remembering her own terrible history regarding the failed werewolf revolt.

Thera didn’t need to be reminded of what happened during the revolt. Everyone in town knows about the revolt and how the werewolves tried to fight against the Saavedra/Petrov Alliance, and failed. Many people on both sides if the battle died, including Ryker’s father (executed by Grendel himself).  And because of that, Alcander and Osiris are even more powerful than before. However, Thera has come up with a plan to stop her brother and the rest of the vampires from taking over the whole town.

She has analyzed this plan from every angle, studying every possible scenario the same way Bobby Fischer studies a chess board. And while this plan wasn’t foolproof; it was their best, and therefore only, option. Plus, Thera had a few hidden pieces up her sleeve.

 

“This time we have two things going for us that we didn’t before.” Thera laid out her plan. “First, we know where the vampire nest is. Second, we can get the fairies to come to our side.”

“How and how??”

“I borrowed Mother’s invisibility cloak. The one that Alcander thinks was lost centuries ago. Well, I followed Reina after she left Alcander’s house and she lead me straight to where the vampires rest during the day.”

“But I thought that the whole ‘vampires sleep during the day’ was a myth.”

“It is. But during the day vampires are weak. Weaker then the average human. Which is why they go into hiding. And that is where and when the werewolves will need to strike.”

 

“And what about the fairies?” Camilla was curious to hear the second part of Thera’s plan. “It was my understanding that the faerie folk where totally aligned with your father and the vampires.”

“Once again I was able to use the invisibility cloak to over hear people talking. Father was having a meeting with a few members of the royal faerie families. It turns out that more than a few fairies have gone missing. And they are understandably upset that father has turned a blind eye to this fact.”

“Do they suspect the vampires?”

“Well, it is no secret that fairy blood is sweeter than human blood. Which can be very tempting to a bunch of vampires who feel invincible with total power.”

 

Camilla pondered all of the information that Thera had just laid out for her. It was a lot to take in, and Camilla needed a moment to process it all.

Thera’s plan was crazy. And reckless, and relied too heavily on heresy and not on indisputable facts.

But on the other hand, this plan might just be crazy enough to actually work.

“So, the first thing that we are going have to do is talk to Ryker.” Camilla said once she fully committed herself to Thera’s plan. “Tell him everything you have just told me, then he can call a meeting of the Alphas.”

“What if he doesn’t believe me? I’m the daughter and sister of the enemy.  I wouldn’t blame for not trusting me.”

“Ryker has a 6th Sense Ability for reading people. He can smell your intentions. So if you were to lie to him, he would know in an instant. But more than that, he will see that I love you and that will be good enough for him.”

 

So, it was final. The plan to bring down Alcander and the vampires was set. And if everything went according to the plan, the turmoil for everyone, not just the Immundus, will finally come to an end.

“But if we fail,” Camilla thought out loud as she held Thera close, “there will be no place for us, any of us, to hide.”