You Must Have Faith

Chapter Twenty-Four

Thranduil's POV:

"Queen."

Queen?

Unbeknownst to Vera, I had recently started trying to learn her language, but the bestiality of it made it incredibly hard.  After only picking up the odd word or two from it, I quit and had turned to other things.  But I would be willing to swear on my life that her sister had just called her a queen.  My thoughts didn't stay that focused for long though, as I had other things to worry about than their conversation.  The orcs, goblins, and trolls were beginning to dwindle, but there was still a worrying amount that needed to be destroyed.  My men were holding up a bit better this time around, but I was still concerned.  Without Vera taking down her sister, we had little to no chance.

The sound of a screaming woman echoed through the forest, but when I turned to look all I saw was a blur of tawny fur latching on to a creature made of shadow.  I realized in shock that they had shifted forms, and were fighting for predatory dominance instead of the dance of a pair of warriors.  The battle stopped, with elves and orcs alike turning to watch in awe and terror at the sight of the two skin-changers battling.  Dark red blood was flying, spraying the people in the immediate vicinity.  Eventually, after a flurry of attacks, the two backed off and began circling each other.  Vera had a gash down her side and several deep claw marks on her back, whilst her sister was missing almost half a paw and had a deep bite in the shoulder. 

A series of coughing growls pulsed through the forest, being exchanged in a language that even I had no knowledge of.  The shadow bared her teeth, narrowing her bloodshot eyes and snarling back at Vera after a particularly harsh growl.  Vera stood tall, lifting her head and making eye contact with her sibling.  After a moment, both creatures began to whimper, weaving their heads in a serpentine movement and sinking their claws deep into the soft dirt beneath them.  Eye contact was never lost, however, and to my amazement, Vera managed to take a step forward through the obvious mental struggle.  The red eyes narrowed slightly in response, and she lifted her head, making Vera seem that much smaller in comparison.  

Vera planted herself, getting a solid grip on the ground before closing her eyes and tensing her body.  The other let out a horrible howling sound, and I watched in awe as Vera's eyes suddenly snapped open, revealing an intense luminosity to them that had previously been lacking.  They glowed, as if Yavanna herself was living with the body of the massive feline shifter, and the rest of her body seemed to give off a warming light, as if the sun glowed from her fur.  The light faded and was swallowed as soon as it got near to the larger skin-changer, and the shadowed form began to pace, slowly, as if in pain, towards Vera.  

The entire clearing seemed to be holding its breath as the twisted body of Vera's sister snarled and leaped.  With unnatural speed that hadn't been there before, Vera twisted out of the way and lashed out with a massive paw, catching her on the side of the head and nearly knocking her over.  Undaunted, her sister regained her balance and jumped up onto a tree, bouncing off and landing directly on Vera's back.  Furious screams hit my ears as the two wrestled on the ground, rolling around the clearing and leaving clumps of fur in their wake.  The savage anger was almost palpable, and the darkness that was emanating from Vera's sister made my skin crawl.

Minutes passed like hours, until finally the two backed off once again, looking haggard and weakened.  Huge gashes oozed blood, and there were chunks of flesh and fur missing from both creatures.  Vera was staggering, her glow considerably faded, while her sister seemed to grow stronger again as the two circled.  Calculating red and green eyes watched each others movements, and the deadly dance came back into play.  The feeling of helplessness had overtaken me as I had watched the two, and now in the moment of silence, it felt like a physical weight on my shoulders.  She may have been charged with protecting me and my realm, but my inability to help her was infuriating.  I could do nothing but stand by and watch as they halted, facing each other square on.

A nod passed between the two, and in the blink of an eye they were on each other.  As I watched, a sinking feeling came over me.  She's going to lose.  I knew it, I could feel it, and yet I couldn't bring myself to accept it.  She had always pulled through when she had to, and so I watched, and I had hope.  All elegance of motion was gone, they had stopped with the extravagance.  It was a cat fight, plain and simple.  With each movement, Vera grew weaker as her counterpart grew stronger.  Finally, with a harsh blow to the head, Vera dropped to her side.  Her sister shifted, standing over her and whispering something to her.  With a final hissed comment, she stood and began to walk away.  But before I could attack her, the unthinkable happened.  Vera, was possessed.

I don't think she literally was, but her body lifted up, standing on her four legs, seeming as if she wasn't doing it under her own power.  The power was back, her eyes glowing a deep golden color instead of green, and her fur looked to be mottled with brown as it glowed.  With a shriek, she leaped on her sister, and it happened so fast that even I wasn't sure what happened.  In the blink of an eye, her sister was beheaded on the ground, and Vera was trembling, her legs unable to support her properly.  What happened next, I would have thought that I was hallucinating if I didn't have the corroboration of my men.  A ghostly figure, her sister, I realized, was hovering above her own body.  But her eyes were a deep gold, like Vera's were at that moment.  Black hair was smooth and long, like Vera's.  Now, with the unnatural changes gone, I could see the family resemblance between the two.  As I watched, the figure placed both hands on her sister's head with a tearful smile, and murmured something that sounded like a blessing of sorts.

Vera looked up at the figure of her freed sister, and I could now see that the great cat was...crying, somehow.  She bowed her head, in a motion that reminded me of a human kneeling out of respect.  The figure smiled, and looked straight at me.  I felt vulnerable under the piercing gaze of the fallen shifter, but I held her eyes with mine.  She nodded in respect, I think, and then vanished from sight.  As soon as she was gone, Vera collapsed onto her side, chest heaving and blood pooling around her.  The glow had faded from her fur, and it was back to its original tawny color.  I sprinted, leaving my men to fend for themselves, and dropped to my knees beside her.   Blood was trickling out of the sides of her mouth, dark red and thick.  I ran my hand over the soft fur on the top of her head, feeling my throat close up with an emotion that I didn't recognize.

"Vera, please.  Please, Faith.  Don't leave me, not now."

A/N:  Welp.  That happened.  That's pretty much what has been in my head since this whole thing started lol, it's nice to have it out of my head.  I'm honestly really happy with how this turned out.  Next chapter will be Vera's POV, with a few things that our beloved Thranduil didn't pick up on ;)  I'm sorry this has been so long coming, I've been busy with a few things that have taken priority over my stories, unfortunately.  Anywho, I hope this lives up to your expectations.  Comment what you thought, vote if you liked it.  Love you guys!