Chapter Fifteen

A soft groan of pain left Annalia as her head lolled to the side while she slowly and with difficulty returned to consciousness. She nearly arched up as a lance of pain traveled from her lower half throughout her body and woke her fully. Memories of what had happened crashed over her as she gasped through her contraction. She tried to curl up to ease the pain and discovered that she was tied down, which caused panic and terror to race throughout her as she struggled to free herself. The sounds of chanting and hissing broke through her panic and she looked around frantically in an effort to see where she was.

Her eyes widened as she saw the weather beaten stone pillars of Stonehenge surrounding her and shivered as she took in the sight of dozens upon dozens of black cloaked figures mingling amongst the ancient stones. She whimpered in pain as another contraction traveled through her, causing her to writhe in agony. She clenched her eyes shut tightly and shook as she panted erratically for control while ignoring the hot tears that rolled down her face as she bit her lip hard.

She opened her eyes as a cold hand brushed away some of her tears and looked up to see the Shadow Lord standing over her. He leered at her just before he slapped her face, taking away the semblance of comfort that he had just been giving to her. She whimpered again as she looked away, but then was forced to watch as he turned to join two others that stood out from the crowd. They towered above the gathered, one dressed in white, one dressed in black, and one dressed in scarlet red. Behind them stood nine smaller figures dressed the same as them, three in red, three in white, and three in black. The three leaders stood in a triangle formation surrounding the stone slab that Annalia was tied to with the black clad Shadow Lord standing at the pinnacle while the white clad Shadow Lord took a position at one corner, opposite to the scarlet dressed Shadow Lord. The nine took up positions as three smaller triangles between the main three mingling black, white, and red while the rest of the lesser followers surrounded all of them in two circles.

Shaking as the chanting grew in power around her while she labored, Annalia fought to break free from the binding ropes while sobbing and pleading with them to stop as she tried to regain her freedom. But they turned a blind ear to her as they began their ritual while lightening and thunder flashing across the sky. The chanting stopped abruptly when the Shadow Trio raised their arms as one to the sky.

“Darkness rise! Take to the skies! Bring forth destruction and agony to all!” the Scarlet Lord cried out and his voice hissed with venom and power as he spoke his spell and the skies answered. Lightening streaked the sky before crashing to the ground around them and heating the air with electricity as it gouged the ground in black streaks.

“Darkness come! Make all succumb! Bring forth chaos and despair to all!” the White Lord called forth as her voice scratched the air around them in an almost shrieking pitch as she cast her spell. The ground trembled around them and broke open the earth before sending hot geysers of steam into the air.

“Darkness appear! Shower down fear! Bring forth death and annihilation to all!” the Black Lord completed the casting as the wind whipped around them and ripped up chunks of the broken ground as ice lashed down from the roiling skies.

Annalia screamed in agony as a contraction hit her just as the spell did as well. She felt icy knives stabbing into her body as she thrashed and writhed as she tried to escape to protect herself and her child. Her voice was rough with her cries of pain as her pleas were ripped away by the merciless wind as it lashed her. She could only watch through tear blurred eyes as the three began to move in with identical daggers visible in their hands as they chanted. She arched suddenly with a harsh gasp as piercing heat traveled through her and filled her with strength. Her mouth opened, but instead of a scream, she cried, “Let all of nature obey the one who carries the Pendragon!”

Bright warm light flared up suddenly around her, blinding her captors and causing them to stumble back and away as they shielded their eyes protectively from the pure light. Her bonds loosened and she pulled herself free then rolled off of the slab before searching frantically for an escape as the light dimmed slowly. Her eyes widened in triumph as she saw a pathway open up before her as the gathered stumbled and fumbled into each other while crying out in panic as they tried to see after being blinded. Careful of the ice, she scrambled away from the stone table and darted through the opening while dodging the servants as they crashed into each other and fell all over the place.

“Get her! Bring her back at once! The Pendragon must not live!” the White Lord shrieked as she rubbed at her eyes frantically along with the other two Lords. Her order caused more chaos to erupt as her servants rushed to do as they had been bid in their sightlessness and ended up knocking each other over in their confusion.

Gasping for air as she ran, Annalia managed to ignore her pain as she staggered jaggedly through the melting snow banks and into the safety of the trees once more. She stopped briefly and leaned against a tree trunk while panting raggedly as she looked back at the despoiled sanctuary of Stonehenge. She felt despair roll through her as she felt its agony at being so violated and vowed to heal that place before she began to flee again. She stumbled through the dark enshrouded forest, then sobbed in relief as she found a hollowed out tree that had low branches covering the entranceway, which she stumbled inside and thanked the tree for being there when she needed it most. She slid to the ground and curled up around her stomach as she shuddered in pain and adrenaline as her heart pounded in her chest in time to her aching muscles.

She cried out softly as another contraction hit her hard and an overwhelming urge to push washed over her. She sobbed again as she shook her head. ‘This isn’t happening! Talin! Talin where are you?!’ she cried silently as she slipped her underwear and pants off. Whether she liked it or not, she was on her own for this birth. And she had to make sure the Shadow didn’t get them. Biting her lip on another cry of pain, she spread her legs which shook as she labored. She gasped for air as she breathed through the contraction with sweat rolling down her face and covering her body thickly as she relaxed, then set to work putting her clothes under her bottom so her son wouldn’t be born on cold ground completely.

She looked over in terror as she heard the sounds of shouting and trees crashing to the ground. ‘Oh Goddess protect me and this child!!’ she pleaded desperately before another contraction hit her and overwhelmed her with the urge to push. She grunted as she gave in to the urge and pushed as hard as she could while she placed her hand between her legs to guide the head as she experienced it traveling down her spasming passageway. She screamed in agony as she felt herself ripping while the head continued down, but she didn’t stop pushing and the sounds of battle left her awareness as she focused on her labor. She stopped as the contraction eased and gulped down air as her shaking arms braced her against the tree trunk that supported her.

Arching again just as a thunderclap of immense power swept through the forest and shook the ground, Annalia cried out again as her contraction slammed into her devastatingly hard and she pushed once more. She shrieked in pain as she felt with her fingertips as the baby crowned. With a final grunting yell, she pushed and guided the baby out as she gave birth. Weakly, she gathered the red and white ooze covered baby to her and patted him on the buttocks, causing a thin wail to emerge from the newborn as it took its first breath. She sobbed in relief as she relaxed and held the wailing baby to her as she leaned back against the tree. She pulled out her pocket knife, once more thanking all the good creatures that gave her brother Ryan the idea of giving her this for Christmas, then cut the umbilical cord before delivering her afterbirth. She closed her eyes and rested, feebly rocking her quieting child as she rested.

After a few minutes, she realized that she and the baby were shaking in cold and that the sounds had stopped outside of her tree. She put her son down and wrapped him in her pants before putting her panties on. She placed her child inside of her coat and zipped it up, hoping that her body heat would be enough until she got help. She slowly looked out of the entranceway and searched little by little for any signs of her pursuers.

“Annalia! Annalia answer me!”

Freezing in shock at the much desired sound of her boyfriend’s voice, Annalia wept in relief. “Talin!” She crawled out of the tree and leaned against it heavily as she cried in joy when she saw him rush out from behind some trees. She saw that his clothes were torn and his face was bruised, but he was the most beautiful sight to her at the moment, so she couldn’t care less. She fell against him as he ran over, shocked as he wept in elation while holding her near.

His sobs slowed as he heard a small wail come from inside her coat and he instantly loosened his hold and stared down at her in amazed shock. She smiled faintly up at him, and then carefully opened her coat to reveal their son as he cried in protest before sucking on his fist. She laughed as her boyfriend’s face broke into a joyful smile before he sat down with her on his lap. “Oh my brave Annalia! You are the most incredibly courageous woman that has ever walked this earth! Oh I love you!” he cried as he held her tightly to him, albeit carefully with the newborn.

“Oh Talin! I love you so much! Thank God you found me in time!” Annalia sobbed out as she nuzzled him before the hungry cries from their son brought her attention back down. She smiled as Talin carefully opened her shirt and bra before she guided their son to her breast, where he began to suckle ravenously.

Wonder colored Talin’s face as he brushed his hand over her own flushed face before they kissed deeply. “My love…I am so blessed that I found you in time. When I felt cold enter me, I knew that you were in danger and turned around immediately. I am so glad that I was able to track you down,” he whispered shakily and held them both close as he trembled.

“What about the Shadow? What happened? Did you get hurt by them?” Annalia asked softly as she laid her head on his shoulder while he massaged her back as both of their gazes focused on their feeding son. She shivered in cold and her legs turned blue as she sat on her boyfriend’s lap, but she was unwilling to say anything just yet in her exhaustion.

“I battled them, scattering them since many of them were weak humans. They will regroup most likely, but we are safe for now. I must take you to the hospital,” Talin murmured as he rubbed her cold legs in an effort to warm them up.

Nodding tiredly, Annalia buried her face in his neck as he lifted them up carefully and carried them to his car on the outskirts of the forest. She fell asleep on the way to the hospital as she was warmed up by the heater that was blasting on full for a while. She was worn out, but jubilant. Her baby was safe and Talin was with her. For now, that was all she needed.