[Viewer Discretion Is Advised]
In a sudden quake, thunderous rumbles reverberated through the atmosphere as the planet's plates groaned and fractured beneath them.
The large city trembled in violent tremors, shaking it off its once-sturdy foundation.
Bell towers crashed down, casting a grim shadow over the unfolding chaos. Majestic buildings tumbled like sandcastles, crushing thousands beneath the weight of their debris.
People fled in terror while their defensive walls crumbled into heaps of rubble and their once castle-like buildings fragmented into chunks of rocks, burying thousands more beneath the toppling debris.
But the worst was yet to come.
Ivan and the other vampires pulled their hands back before thrusting them forward, drifting the entire city to glide into the raging sea. An enormous surge engulfed the city, swallowing everything in its path.
"How is murder considered justifiable?" Troy murmured, amidst the jarring cacophony, his words got lost over the rippling rumbles. "Mom wouldn't approve."
"Remember what I've taught you about always being honest with your mother and me when you were little?" Chester responded calmly, fixing his gaze on the city sinking into the watery abyss.
The deafening rumbles drowned out the screams of those entrapped in the surging vortex.
"Yes, I remember," Troy softly replied with a grave expression, helplessly watching as the plate from the planet's crust lifted.
"Lie to your Mother about this part," Chester advised, remaining unaffected by the unfolding catastrophe.
Shoulder to shoulder, in mere tears, Rome and Glenn watched in despair as the planet's crust dipped into the sea from a slant position. Buildings collapsed and crumpled from their platforms, cascading into the roiling water. Like a sinking vessel, the plate submerged into the unforgiving surge of water, taking the entire city with it.
Shockwaves rippled beneath their feet from the aftermath of the destruction vibrating through the ground. Echoes from the shifted plates roared beyond the distance of the sandy valley. Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating red-colored funnel clouds accumulating ominously above them. Illumine fires erupted an eerie glow in the distance, foreshadowing the mayhem unleashed on the entire planet.
Without a backward glance, Kai declared, surveying the raging tides filling the bowl below. "You and Glenn are here to handle them."
"Handle who?" Rome asked, confusion tinging his voice until he and Glenn turned to see the looming threat behind them.
Their eyes widened in disbelief at what they saw. A Rebellion army of vampires swooped through the air and thundered across the ground to defend their home planet.
Beautiful yet deadly Wing vampires ascended like angelic angels within the sky, while Nightshifters soared as formidable creatures prevailing the night. Slithers and dozens of other species mobilized a massive ground army as they drew closer.
"Don't look in their eyes!" Chester's reminder resonated among the younger warriors as they braced for battle.
"Take out the Rebellion!" Zach's directive rang out amidst Orlando's forces.
In a synchronized maneuver, the Wings, aligned with the Allegiance, outspread their wings and soared to the sky.
"ATTACK!" ordered the Second Command Alphas, amassing their tremendous ground armies to attack the Rebellion.
From this vantage point, the Alphas observed the clash of the two opposing forces, resembling a titanic wave crashing below or above the steep terrain. Beside Kai, Chester and Troy stood ready, vigilantly awaiting their counterattack from the Rebellion Alphas.
"Prepare yourselves," Evan cautioned his ten young sons. "They'll be coming."
Inexperienced young vampires from across the Allegiance's Covens found themselves petrified into stone on the battleground below. Troy's heart ached as he witnessed his best friend being detained by a vampire his dad's age. Portals opened as the vampiresses whisked away their young ones to safety while they could. Warrioresses stayed behind, defending their home planet alongside the males.
Flying over the battlefield, an enormous swarm of Rebellion Alphas descended upon them, prepared to strike their lethal blows.
"Get ready!" Orlando's voice rang out amidst his family.
Down beneath the sandy slope, Chester's gift manifested brown thorny vines that emerged from the sand, webbing them around ten younger Alphas. Swift in his maneuver, he twisted his fingers, rendering them unconscious with a snap of their necks.
Meanwhile, Orlando and Kai raised their hands, forming a fist as eight Alphas soared to strike them. Unleashing their second gifts, the eight Alphas plummeted amid the air, writhing to the ground as intense pain surged through their bodies. By the final force of their gifts, flames erupted from within the Alphas' stomachs, instantly incapacitating them to a crisp. Victory stood short as more Rebellion Alphas descended from the sky, seeking vengeance for their detained family members.
Amidst the battle, a Slither Alpha viciously collided with Kai, sending them both tumbling down the slope in a tumultuous ongoing roll.
"Kai!" Chester's urgent cry echoed away as he grappled with another Alpha, striking him with his claws.
Below the steep on a patch of sand that had yet to be flooded out by the floodwaters, Kai found himself sprawled out on his back with the Alpha pinning him down. With the use of his first gift, the Alpha sliced Kai's chest, seeping poison into his opened flesh from his claws.
"Your mate will die!" he spat, tearing his poisonous claws into Kai's face."All this for a stupid girl!"
As the Alpha's claws slashed across Kai's abdominals, Kai clenched his jaw in pain from the toxin and tightly shut his eyes.
"She's my mate!" Kai retorted, enduring the barrage of strikes, each blow sending waves of pain coursing through him as the Alpha's first gift seeped the poison from his claws into Kai's torn flesh.
"Look at me, Kai!" the Slither Alpha taunted, continuing his relentless assault on Kai's body. "You coward! Face me like a true Alpha!"
Despite the taunting, Kai kept his eyes shut tight, knowing that even the slightest peek could petrify him to stone. Instead, he relied on his other senses by feeling the rhythm of the Alpha's movements and the sound of his heartbeat amidst the continuous assault of his toxic claws.
"Look at the legendary Alpha warrior now!" the Alpha scorned, digging his poisonous claws even deeper into the flesh of Kai's gut. "You aren't as tough as they say!"
Blood heavily seeped from his gut, each drop eliciting a grunt of severe pain from Kai. Yet, he remained motionless to bid his time, all the while focusing on the telltale drumming of the Alpha's heartbeat.
The Alpha removed his venomous claws and hoisted Kai's limp body by the neck, preparing to detain him, but Kai had other plans. Seizing this opportunity, Kai forcefully impaled his fist through the Alpha's chest, grasping his heart and wrenching it out through his back. Instantly, the Alpha gasped, feeling the power of his gifts dissipating.
While losing his heart wouldn't detain him, it would render him incapable of using his gifts. The mind controlled the gifts, but the source of power originated from the heart. Remove the heart and the connection was severed until the heart was reconnected to the body. Hence, the toxin-eating Kai's flesh had dissolved into a harmless vapor.
"If you ever reawaken again, good luck finding your heart," Kai snickered into the Alpha's ear before brutally puncturing his fangs into his neck, draining his blood as he yanked his arm out of the Alpha's chest while withdrawing the heart.
As the Slither Alpha desiccated into a mummified corpse, Kai's wounds began to heal.
Successfully detained, Kai arose to his feet, chucking the Alpha's body into the water while clutching the heart in his hand. From glowing with a stain ruby tint, the heart's light dimmed out and shriveled up. With all his strength, Kai flung the heart far out into the sea.
In the unlikely circumstance that the Alpha was reawakened, he would remain powerless from being able to use those gifts until he retrieved his heart. For any Alpha to lose their heart was a brutal fate. Most would prefer detainment over such torment if they were mateless. Having a mate was valued above their gifts, despite the agony it brought.
"Now you know how I earned my title as a ruthless brute!" Kai spat at the water.
In one leap, he flew up the steep and rejoined the battle.