3
Stronger Together
“Enough!” Anya shouted as she came to stand before her epically dysfunctional family, putting power into her words and forcing everyone to take a step back. “Elyssia, you're right, the truth should have come out a long time ago. But shoulda, woulda, coulda is doing nothing to help the situation now. And before you open your mouth to say anything, Tia, you should've at least let us know you hadn't told Grimm. You may think it’s none of our business, but you know damned well that shit became our business the moment you got us into this mess twenty-five years ago.”
Tialanna looked at Anya, then quickly away, her mouth tight and gaze shifting upward, fighting back tears. Anya knew Tia could hear the truth in her words, but by no means wanted to. Anya continued, “As much as I love you guys, I couldn’t give a flying fuck how any of you feel right now. Our niece, your daughter, is missing; something else is swiftly approaching, and your own childhood guardians are lying in a crumbling heap at your feet. If the two of you would stop to think for one damned minute, you would realize it isn't too late to help them.”
“And how do you expect we do—” Elyssia was abruptly cut off as Anya wrapped a small tornado around her legs and feet, lifting her several feet off the ground.
In a take-no-bullshit tone, Anya none too politely let Elyssia have it. “Let me say this once, loud and clear so there are absolutely no misunderstandings. I know you have a lot of pent-up aggression in you from being stuck in this orphanage, hiding who and what you are, awaiting the inevitable to happen. But let us try to remember you were not stuck there alone. So was Darvyn, and so was I. And while I may appear to be calm and collected, just like the winds I control, I can as swiftly turn into a brutal, crushing storm. Let’s can the bullshit for a minute, little sister. Thank you.”
To bring her point home, Anya let her sister down, dropping her like a sack of bricks, rising into the air herself as Elyssia looked on as if wanting to retaliate. She continued, “What creates stone, my sisters? What elements do the three of us control? These gargoyles may have to remain in stasis for half a century, maybe less, but time is one thing they have going for them.”
That finally got their undivided attention. Though all the men had seemingly disappeared, probably a wise choice, Anya had a very bad feeling as to why. Things were progressing faster than she could have imagined, and they were swiftly running out of time. Tensions were rising within all Underlayes, just as they were right there. None of the many factions of species knew of the princess having been taken, since very few even knew of her existence. They did know their own children were also missing, a fact the Queen did not know, and the implications of which would probably be too much for her sister to take in. But she would find out sooner rather than later. And some of the most powerful beings worried about their own children, whom they considered no more than infants at the same age as Jelissa, seeing as most of the parents were more than a few centuries old. They would be out for blood, and the first person they would look to blame would be the Queen herself, having no idea she was experiencing the same soul-wrenching grief, worry, heartache, and bloodlust as them.
Anya turned towards the gargoyles, or what was left of them, and spoke in an authoritative tone. “Warriors of old who have kept my sisters safe, giving them a safe haven where they could grow up without ever realizing what true dangers lay in their wake, giving them a chance to have a regular childhood, a rebellious adolescence, and the opportunity to become the strong females they are today. Focus your thoughts on your bodies, the formation, every distinguishing factor that is the very make-up and essence of you, and let us give you back what was so brutally taken from you!”
Still hovering above, she turned towards her sisters as her eyes lost their pupils and became nothing more than dark swirling storm clouds. “Call upon your elements and throw them towards me!”
As Tialanna gathered her flames, looking like nothing short of a walking torch, and Elyssia drew within herself, becoming a walking, talking fountain of celestial waves, Anya began to pull in the surrounding winds.
“Air, many people believe you to be an ever-changing thing that is anything but predictable. You are the only constant I have had through some very difficult times in my life. Your importance to me is made even more so thanks to my mother. Take what my sisters offer, and turn what is now so much rubbish into the magnificent beings they once were!” With that Anya seemed to disappear, becoming no more than a giant, raging storm cloud, opening herself for what was to come.
Tia threw her head back in oblivion, screaming out with all her might as so much unleashed power coursed within her, adding to it some of her rage. Her flames grew until everyone within a thousand-mile radius began perspiring from the heat. Tialanna focused on gathering all her fire, lifting her hands until she could shape it into a giant ball of molten lava which she aimed towards her twin.
As she let it go, she began to collapse, but her mate was right there to catch her as she fell. Not surprising since he seemed to always be there when and where she needed him to be at all times. What was an unpleasant surprise, seeing as it heralded a conversation she had avoided for the past two decades, was the huge gray wolf who was also there at his side. Her last thought before everything went dark
