Blood Luna

Invasion

There was a refreshing crispness to the morning air as the first sun of autumn began to rise. Warblers and cardinals had arose from their slumber, singing the first song of fall. Warm beams of light peaked through the branches of the trees surrounding the clearing where Liv and Njal rested in one another's arms, still naked from their shift with the pack the night before. Exhausted from the previous day and night, they were completely and blissfully unaware of the approaching vanguard. The morning song of the forest stopped, causing an unsettling stillness to the air. A shadow fell over them as the foreign visitors came to a halt; Njal was the first to open his eyes and they widened at what he saw.

"Liv, Liv! Wake up." The words left his lips in a hushed whisper as he simultaneously shook her next to him.

Liv hesitantly opened her eyes, almost ready to scold Njal for disturbing her rest, but before the words could leave her mouth, she froze. They were surrounded by a group of five, fully armored knights. Their armor was like nothing she had ever seen. It was onyx in color and extremely ornate; adorned with silver filigree and each had a large silver cross on the cuirass. All were wearing helms that concealed their faces. In their hands were javelins with polished silver blades and all were pointed directly at the newlyweds.

"Captain, we found two more!" One of them called out.

Liv noticed that the approaching footsteps sounded impossibly light for one wearing a full suit of heavy armor. She realized that it would take incredible strength and dexterity for such a feat to be possible. Strength and dexterity that no average human possesses. The two soldiers that were directly in front of them parted ways as the apparentcaptainn of their party approached. Their armor mirrored that of the other soldiers except the helm had a long trail of raven feathers going down the center. Liv had heard of the influence of the Church in territories across the sea and knew that the symbol of the cross belonged to them. Why were they here?

"Get up." The voice resounded from the new being standing before them. The couple hesitated, still in shock from the unexpected encounter with the invaders. The soldier standing directly behind Njal pressed the blade of his spear into the back of his shoulder. A hissing sound was made as the silver burned his flesh, causing him to let out a pained grunt. "Next one goes into your heart. Now get up." The captain spoke again.

Liv couldn't believe this was happening. Not only did a vanguard of five heavily armored beings manage to sneak up on them, but they had the knowledge to use silver against them as well. Had they not spent all their energy on the shift during the full moon, they might have had a fighting chance. She knew that there was no choice but to comply with the strangers and sighed deeply as she made it up onto her feet. As soon as her and Njal had stood up, the soldiers that her behind them grabbed their wrists and bound them behind them with ropes enlaced with silver wires. Liv gritted her teeth as the wiring made contact with her skin; there was definitely no fighting back now.

Not another word was spoken from anyone as they made their way out of the woods and through the grass plains. Liv knew the path they were on and that it was heading back towards their village. Her heart began to race when she saw the rising smoke over the hill as the echoes of screams were carried to her ears on the wind. She looked over at Njal and saw a look on his face that she had never witnessed; fear. It was not the same as fear a coward would possess. His fear was buried beneath layers of anger and disdain, and Liv could feel it as if it were her own. The connection that a mated lycan pair has made it so he could never hide his true feelings from her and her him.

They continued forward, and Liv could feel her heart beating in her throat. As they crested the hill her eyes began to well with tears as she saw the waste that was laid upon their once perfect village. Many of the homes were burnt to the ground. The great hall and a few other buildings were the only ones still standing. Even the bridal hut, where she spent hours readying herself and laughing with her mother and close friends, was nothing but a pile of ash and embers. Her mother. Her friends. Her father. Where were they? Her eyes darted around desperately trying to find any hints of their whereabouts. She found herself focusing on a strange looking pile that was smoking. What building was that? She wondered to herself. Then the horror struck her. It wasn't a pile of burned logs. It was people. Not just people in her eyes though, members of their pack. Members of their family. All were unrecognizable. Now they were only husks of the formidable members of the Ulfhednar that they once were. Were her closest loved ones in there? Are they already gone? How did this happen so fast? Am I next? These were all thoughts that were racing through Liv's mind.

As they walked through the village all she still desperately searched the chaos for a familiar face. The foreign soldiers were everywhere but not a single pack member was in sight. The group approached the guarded doors of the great hall. One of the soldiers that was standing out front with a ring holding a single key on their waist stepped toward the door. The intricately carved handles of the door had been fitted with a silver chain and padlock. The soldier removed the lock and two members vanguard brought the couple inside while the others stayed behind. The building that had hosted all of their celebrations, a place of nothing but fond memories, had been turned into a prison. Makeshift pens had been made to create a place where pack members, including the children, could be crowded inside of them like cattle. Most were bound with the same silver laced rope on their wrists and ankles. They were more exhausted than Liv and Njal. The couple shifting back into human form early along with their Alpha bloodlines is the only reason why they have any strength at all in this moment.

Once the door was closed Liv noticed that the only light present was emitted from torches and lanterns. The windows had been boarded up, allowing no outside light to enter the hall. Liv became aware of the strong, metallic scent of blood and her eyes looked over and her mouth was agape at what she saw. Two soldiers, not wearing helmets, were feeding on a naked woman with long, dark hair. One was gnawing on her neck and the other was lapping the blood out of a wound on her inner thigh. A scream escaped Liv's mouth as she made eye contact with the the woman and realized it was her beloved friend, Freya.

"Freya!!! No!!!!" She screamed as she watched the light drain from Freya's ocean blue eyes. She now had no doubts about who it was that they were dealing with and the answer was Vampires.

Liv fell to her knees only to be ripped back up to her feet when the soldier behind her grabbed onto a clump of her hair and yanked her up. It was an action that broke Njal out of his state of shock. With inhuman speed and strength he spun around and kicked the guard that had harmed his mate square in the chest causing them to stumble back into a post. Even in his weakened state, he was a force to be reckoned with and would do anything to protect Liv. He continued after the soldier and before he could land another blow a silver collar was placed around his neck by another soldier and he fell to the ground, the flesh on his neck melting into the metal as it burned him.

"Easy, big guy." The soldier that placed it on him taunted him. "We're not ready to put you down just yet."

With Njal subdued the couple was brought to the gate of one of the makeshift pens and their wrists were rebound with the same rope so their hands were in front of them instead of behind their backs. Liv noticed upon closer inspection the wood used was from some of the homes that had been destroyed. After they were forced inside the pen she turned to Njal and began to tend to him as best as she . The wound that the silver was creating was being healed almost as soon as it was made, another perk to being a Lycan, but she knew it would slow as Njal ran out of strength. He raised his bound hands to her face and brushed the side of her cheek with the backs of one of his hands.

"It will be okay, my love, we will be okay." He did his best to assure her... and himself.

"Freya, they slaughtered Freya. Did you see?!" her brows furrowed and tears that were already welled in her eyes began to roll down her cheeks.

Then she realized, this was her pack she was among. A pack that she was destined to be Luna of. She needed to remain strong to grant her people the resilience they would need to endure what's to come. Quickly, she brought her hands to her face and dried her tears. A piece of the silver wire from the rope had brushed against her cheek when she did it and she didn't even wince.

"Has anyone seen my father? Has anyone seen the Alpha?" she questioned the others inside the pen with her, keeping her voice low.

"They took him and Njal's father, along with your mother to a different building." someone from the crowd said. Njal's mother was killed by the Alpha of a rival pack when he was young. The vampires had separated the Alphas and the Lunas from the rest for a reason and Liv shuddered at the thought of what it could mean.

"They're going to slaughter us all!!!!" another was heard screaming in the back which caused one of the guards to approach.

"Just you for now, love!" The guard said laughing as he entered the pen and grabbed the woman who had called out her own fate by her hair and drug her out of the corral kicking and screaming. Liv could hear the sound of the woman's flesh tearing as they sunk their teeth into her and devoured her.

The couple sequestered themselves against one of the back corners of the pen and quietly communicated with one another. Afraid to speak too loud, they used their shared empathic wavelength created by their bond to convey feelings and try to come up with some sort of plan. With the current Alphas and Luna sharing an unknown fate, it was up to them to assume their role as leaders of the pack. The shock that the rest of the pack was experiencing may wear off eventually and people will soon be looking to them for answers.

Hours passed and one by one pack members were taken from the pens and consumed. Liv and Njal had gathered that this attack was planned by the invaders. They had caught wind that a major celebration would be taking place and a formidable pack was about to take hold in the North. They knew that Lycans were exhausted by energy that was spent on a big shift during a full moon and would not be able to fight back against an invasion so soon. The vampires had attacked at first light, their armor shielding them from the usually deadly rays of sunlight, another thing that was completely unexpected by the pack. They came to shut down the Ulfhednar under the guise of the Christian church. To mortals it would look like just another Saxxon skirmish with the Danes.

Hours started passing as they helplessly watched their friends and acquaintances being drug out from the various corrals to be consumed. It was apparent when a guard entered a pen to choose their next victim; the noice lulled and the thick blanket of fear was heavier in the air. Occasionally one of the soldiers would grab a child. Their parents would wail and beg to be taken in their stead and the soldiers would sometimes oblige and then others would not. Liv felt thoroughly sick to her stomach during these moments, her mouth watering as she tried to contain her nausea.

Liv, like the others, could feel that the moon had risen and knew that it was now night. She had been working out the details of an uprising with Njal and the others. Slowly getting word out on when the time would be to strike. Most of the soldiers walked around without helms on at this point and some even removed their armor entirely. The only protection the vampires gained from their armor was from the sun. A guard entered where the couple was contained and approached an older man that was next to Njal.

"Alpha!! Alpha save me!" the man pleaded as he began groveling at Njal's feet.

"I need backup over here! We found the son!" the guard called out, prompting two others to approach.

"You've been a tough guy to single out, but now that I see you I can see it's obvious... big guy." A blonde vampire said smirking. He was the one that had put the silver collar on Njal.

That was all it took. Liv was completely bewildered as she watched the hopes of their plan come crashing down. All due to the words of a coward who could not face his own death in honor. That old man had squandered the packs hope for escape and now him and Njal were being drug from the pen. Liv desperately wanted to chase after him until his steely eyes met hers and the look her gave her stopped her in her tracks. She knew it would be hopeless if she tried to save him and she would die in the process. If she died all hope for the Ulfhednar would be truly lost and Njal desperately wanted her to live. She was the love of his life and watching her die trying to save him was not what he wanted. She helplessly watched as he was taken through the large double doors to the outside of the hall, knowing it was the last she would see of her beloved mate. The one she had loved since she was a child.

Liv did not see them kill Njal, instead she experienced something much worse; she felt it. Not long after he was removed from the great hall she felt a deep, sharp pain in her chest. It brought her to her knees and she felt as though the wind was knocked out of her. She began to lament when she realized exactly what it was, there was no more room for denial, Njal was dead.