The Witching Hour

Ch. 40

Avalonna

Explaining to Connor what had happened in Avalonna's dream was not an easy feat, but having him accept the identities of their grandmother and aunt was even harder.

"It can't be true." Connor stated plainly as he helped load some of the horses Nera and Aurora had conjured up. The air around them was still cold and Connor had recovered well from his sparring with Lydia.
"Anthena is using our grandmother to lie to you, trying to trick you with her spells. That must be it." He said, trying more to convince himself than Avalonna.

"Connor, please. This wasn't a trick, and besides how would tricking us into thinking the queen is our aunt be any help to her? It won't stop us from ending her and the Red King's reign. Will it?" Avalonna replied and folded her arms while questioning Connor.

"No, of course not. It's just there's no way she's our mother's sister. How could we share the same blood and not even know of two of our closest relatives?" Connor replied.

"That is a difficult story as well." Avalonna said and paused,
"Our mother didn't want us to know of magic, so she made sure neither remembered any magical encounters. This included Sylene and Anthena, though you barley would remember anyway. I lost several good memories I know have back." She stated and looked down.

"Our mother took our memories from us? Maybe she is more like Anthena than I thought." Connor responded under his breath. The horses were all packed up and he and Avalonna were off to the side talking near a snow bank under a tree.

"Do not say such things, Connor. We both know you don't mean them. Whatever mother did to us was for our own good and helped us survive."

"Survive? In case you haven't noticed, only one of us still has a beating heart." Connor said calmly. Avalonna teared up at that statement and Connor exhaled slowly.
"I apologize," he said and embraced his sister,
"I did not mean to upset you. It's just the tension of battle and all of this news is hard to accept. I am also bothered that mother and grandmother speak to you more than me. Do you think they are ashamed of what I have become?" He asked aloud.

"It is alright, I just don't need to be reminded I let my younger brother die." she replied and blinked away any tears,
"Connor, you don't have any reason to worry about our family's approval. Both of our parents and our grandmother are very proud of the man you become. I think they contact me more because of my supernatural magic, they can't reach a natural warlock as easily. Besides, mother did not mind a vampire watching over her children so I doubt she held ill will towards them. Even if her son is courting that very same vampire..." Avalonna added with a playful grin.

"Yes, well, I..." Connor stammered and blushed deeply.

"Is my brother at a loss for words?" Avalonna laughed.

"Yes, sister, you finally got me," he said while pacing behind Avalonna,
"Here is your reward." He said and used his speed to quickly hit her with a snowball.

Avalonna calmly wiped the snow off of herself and smirked.
"When we are finished saving Aster, I shall get you back for that." She laughed.

"Yes, good luck with that." Connor smiled,
"I don't think we should tell the others about your dream or Anthena, they may see us differently and have doubts." He said with a more serious and quiet tone.

Avalonna thought this over for a moment before she replied.
"Yes, that may be wise. After this conflict is over we may share. It does not concern them nor does it change our plans." She nodded.

"Good," Connor replied.
"Even though we may be separate on the field we must be in unison if we are to defeat the Nitehardts."

"I agree, have any of the witches discussed the plan with you?" Avalonna asked.

"No, although Lydia has discussed it at length."

"Let's go see then what they want from us. If we don't like their plan we may need to contribute to changing it." She added. She and Connor got on their horses, one a white mare one a black stallion, and rode over towards where the others were almost done preparing their supplies and magical items.

"I seem to remember you telling me that I was the one who took too long to get ready, Drow." Avalonna said with a smile as she approached.

"I have many more things to keep track of than usual," he replied with a grin,
"Do you still have the dragon and falcon statues I gave you?" He asked.

"Yes, of course." Avalonna said and patted her robes softly.

"As do I, he helped me defeat Lydia as a matter of fact." Connor added. Lydia cast a friendly glare at him.

"Good, you'll need their help while we are fighting. We may be strong, but there's no telling how many Red Guard the Nitehardt's have or how large their army is. If you can figure out your animal's name it will make them even stronger in battle." Drow stated.

"I noticed that, I called my falcon by his name out of instinct and it seemed to strengthen him and enhance his talents." Connor said with a nod of agreement.

"That is impressive, Connor, be sure to use him well." Drow smiled and then walked over to Avalonna.
"Your pseudo-dragon's name will come to you when you need it, just be careful with that one. She can be unpredictable." He grinned.

"I shall keep that in mind, darling." She replied with a smile of her own.

"There. Everything is ready." Nera stated as she approached and the horses came over.

"Don't forget, not all of us know where we will be riding to." Diamandra said and took command of her red mare.

"Yes, Aurora and I have decided what we think is the best strategy. I apologize for not including all of you but there was not time." She replied.

The bishops nodded and everyone got on their own horse and gathered closer. Aurora rode a large horse of white with a horn on it's head, and Lydia on a horse that was pure black and appeared to breathe smoke.

"What horses are those?" Connor asked Lydia.

"My mother had to use extra magic to conjure these, but we figured it was worth it. Her's is known as a unicorn and mine a nightmare." She replied and pet her horse softly. Connor nodded and was quite impressed.

"We have figured out that an attack on two sides of the castle will be best." Nera started.
"Connor, Lydia, Aurora, and Diamandra will branch off and attack the south. We have contacted the elves and they will join you there. The Dwarven army will be on the north side of the compound and will meet Avalonna, Drow, Cyril, and myself. We get through quickly and meet in the center. Any objections?"

Connor and Avalonna looked at each other and nodded in agreement. The plan seemed as solid as possible. Somehow they knew it would come down to one of them to defeat the Nitehartds. The others nodded and nobody objected. Lydia slid an object into Connor's hand, but Avalonna was unable to see what it was. Drow rode next to Avalonna and his presence was comforting.

"Good, let us begin. Good luck to us all." Nera said and they all rode away from the Council's home.