Luna Dea

32) In Death We Are Equal

Peace, peace! He is not dead, he doth not sleep,
He hath awaken'd from the dream of life;
'Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep with phantoms an unprofitable strife,
And in mad trance, strike with our spirit's knife
Invulnerable nothings. We decay
Like corpses in a charnel; fear and grief
Convulse us and consume us day by day,
And cold hopes swarm like worms within our living clay.
- Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Jaycob pov

I turn away from Ava and walk across the field to the rest of my pack. I can feel her fear through our bond. She is afraid for me, for the pack.

I didn't tell her the truth, about the vision. I told her that I saw the Gaffer, nothing else. But I also saw something else, something that I am powerless against. My own death.

She said that the future isn't set in stone, this is. That's what she told me. I don't know who she is, but it was her who gave me the vision.

I watched Avalon look in to the clearing beyond the bushes. I look at her with love clear in my eyes. The last thing I remember is her long black hair cascading down her back before I am pulled out, in to the darkness.

The darkness didn't stay long. It cleared for long enough for me to see the shape of a vile creature sat atop a throne of dead flowers.

"This is where you will find what you are looking for." a voice said, it was clearly feminine, but I couldn't see who said it.

"Who's there?" I manage to call out before the darkness finds me again.

This time I am brought out in to a different scene. It is a battle field. I can see members of my pack fighting rogues. I can see myself fighting them too. It was like I was there, but not really there. Like I was a ghost, seeing, but not being.

It is still quite blury, as if it isn't set yet.

"There are two possible outcomes for tonight's battle." the voice speaks again.

"Who are you?" I question.

The voice laughs.

"That does not concern you right now." it says.

"If you do not get the faeries in your side, your entire pack will be slaughtered by the Fates."

The image turns to an image of my entire pack getting slaughtered by rogues. Including Avalon, in the midst of her heat, no idea what destruction lays out in front of her.

"Including you."

The image shifts to one of me being held down by two rogues. I have wolfsbane in my system, making me weak. I see one of the three fates cut my throat. I see my own blood pouring out on to the floor as my body collapses. I see Ava screaming as she is forced to watch me die.

"If you get the faeries to help you, your pack will survive."

The image changes yet again to one of my pack, and some of the Faerie knights forcing the rogues and the Fates back in to the woods, I see us all rejoicing, but I am not there.

"The same can not, however, be said about you."

For the last time, the image changes. I see myself battling rogues, killing everyone and anyone that threatens to get in my way. I see myself charge at the three fates and stopping them in the middle of one of their spells. I see them throw me off and advance towards me. I see myself die for the second time, yet again, my throat slit and my blood decorating the floor.