Silvia watched Kopje training with the Sols and it was a bit painful to watch. It was never a competition. Either Kopje decimated the vampire or the vampire flattened him. What was good was that afterward they figured out why and worked together to fix the discrepancy in power or form. It had been slow starting because Kopje had been scared shitless of the Sol warriors when he'd started to train with Forest and Tide. Seeing his fellow mages work with the vampires made it easier for Kopje, and she was glad that he'd settled in.

They'd already done her training this morning and she was a lump now, sitting on a low rock in the heat and wondering if people could melt. How they trained in the desert was beyond her, and she was gross. Talamayas had sense enough to carve out a huge bath house in the lower caverns, remodeling them into a hidden resort they all plunged into like it was a public swimming pool. A place she planned to visit shortly.

"Are you ready?" Wren asked, plopping down next to her, sweat beading his brow. While he was a grand general, he didn't train with the others. Said it made his bones creak something horrible and instead lazed about in the castle.

For some reason, he was never far from Talamayas, and Silvia had yet to figure that one out. A year and a half ago, he'd been in the man's dungeons, brutally tortured every day of his life, and now he just palled around with the man like they were football buddies. Granted, they did have a blood writ that prohibited violence between them, but still, Silvia had expected more animosity between them considering.

"I'm not sure I'll ever be ready," Silvia answered, the oncoming battle drowning out her frivolous curiosity about Talamayas.

The date was set for two days from now, and they were all getting their last day of training in before a day of rest. For the humans, that meant sleeping at the appropriate time, giving their muscles a day to heal, and making sure all injuries were treated today so no one was low on magic.

"I've never fought anyone really," Silvia admitted, the nervousness showing on her face. "I've fought, you know, just not in a huge battle. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep track of it all."

"You needn't worry too much," Wren assured her with a kind smile. The man was so soft-spoken for a grand general, much different than she imagined he'd been fifty years ago when he'd slaughtered vampires one after the other. "Battles can get messy, but you have the vampires to protect you, and I know Tala and Neil will keep you flanked the entire time. The only real worry is if they fall, and then you are free to panic."

"Gee thanks," Silvia laughed, and they shared a nervous chuckle. "What about you? I hear you are going to be on the frontlines."

"Yes. There is a possibility that the vampires might back out of the fight if they are not sufficiently encouraged to stay. No one will walk away from a Song because to let me live is death to their entire race. I'm the finest cheese one can put in a mouse trap."

"Are you... fit to fight?" Silvia asked, and Wren rolled his eyes.

"Silvia, all I need do is stand still, and I've worked off any atrophy in my muscles in the last year. I think I can manage standing for a few hours if the battle drags out that long."

"But you'll be using your power the whole time. Are you sure you aren't rusty?"

"I've been... practicing to see how powerful I still am."

"Practicing?" Silvia asked, a sick feeling rolling in her stomach. From what she'd heard of Wren's abilities they were grotesque. "On who?"

Wren eyed her and let out a slow breath. "Tala."

"Holy shit, what?" Silvia gasped, and he fidgeted uncomfortably. Wren practicing his magic on Talamayas would not have been fun for either end.

The Songs were as their name implied, embodiments of sound magic that commanded their enemies to a tune of death. With it, they strung their magic into vampires and controlled them like puppets. It also wasn't some cutesy strings of magic attached to their joints. Their spells ripped light magic through their bodies and nearly gutted them from the inside out before reanimating them in a horror that had any vampire alive quaking in fear of them.

"Tala is the strongest vampire around here," Wren said. "The only one it would be safe to try my magic on without risking his demise. He is also a good reference point for how much strength I will need to command a house head."

"How did that go?" Shivers ran up her arms and down her spine.

"Depends on which point of view you're looking from. It only took me two times to get used to the magic at my fingertips again. The first time, Tala backhanded me across the face, and the second, he couldn't move at all. So, I am good to fight, but Tala might be a little pissed with me."

"I bet." Silvia stood, stretching her arms and cracking her back into place. "Do you want to show me down to the baths? Everyone is about to be heading there and I want to hangout under the least stalactites."

"I can show you the way," Wren chuckled as they headed out of the sun. "Really though, they won't fall on you. Even if they do, some vampire will move you. You worry too much."

"You say that, but they'll all be naked. Unless it's Neil, I don't want a naked vampire touching me. I'd rather take my chances with the death spike. Plus, Neil'd off whoever saved me too. Vampires are so protective of their mates. Sheesh."

"That is true. Imagine if Tala ever liked anyone." Wren chuckled but it waned into them both groaning in thought of that. Talamayas would be unstoppable if someone got in-between him and someone he held affection for. Silvia was actually trying to figure out if Tala knew what affection was as they reached the end of the training fields and headed down some stone steps to the caves.

"I pity whoever that might be someday," Silvia said as they reached the bottom of the baths and found Alec undressing with a group of other mages. A few waved to her and thankfully she wasn't the only woman here. No one cared enough to separate the baths by gender because there weren't a ton of female vampires.

"Silvia!" Alec greeted her excitedly, and she went to her cousin's side. The poor guy had a tan on his face and hands that had likely been sunburn before someone had healed him. Silvia had more Cascade genes, so her skin was a few increments darker and took sun better. Like Forest, Alec had the lighter pallor of the Copses.

"Hey General," Silvia teased him, and he stopping his undressing as he blushed and looked away. "I'm not sure how you all do this public bath thing. It's a little weird when I'm used to my apartment shower and solitude. How do you not stare at everyone naked?"

Alec covered his mouth as he and even Wren laughed.

"I admit it takes some getting used to," Wren said as he removed his outer cloaks. The man looked so skinny in his button up undershirt and fluffy desert pants. "That being said, there aren't many females vampires with their lower rate of successful change and their protected nature. Most of the Sol's mates are attached to their other half and don't come down here but when they're mostly empty."

"Am I not allowed to bathe?" Silvia asked, wondering just how far Neil would take his possessive vampire nature. It wasn't like there weren't other chicks hopping into the pool closest to them, but Neil had blinders for things concerning her.

"I don't see why that would matter much," Alec said as he dropped his trousers without much thought. Silvia and he had bathed together as children, so neither really cared. "The mages in the Copse territory all bathed together too. Battleground Complexes aren't ideal for having a hundred bathrooms, so they used the falls and the lake right by it."

"Well, Neil better not get all weird on me. I'll be under the water in embarrassment anyway." Silvia blushed as she lost her shirt and pants, yanking a towel over to cover herself self-consciously.

"Why are you embarrassed?" Alec asked, directing her to an absolutely lovely fall of water outside of the baths that pooled and ran off into the caves further. There, he grabbed his hand towel and soap and worked the grime off before they headed into the baths.

"Well, you know." Silvia growled as she begrudgingly set her towel aside to clean herself as well. The cool water on her back was so nice that she forgot about all the other naked people as she answered Alec. "This is the Sol territory, and I have a nice pair of Tala's hand prints on my sides, not to mention the whip scars on my back. It's just weird having everyone see them."

Wren snorted, and Silvia tried her best to glare at him but it was impossible as her eyes wandered over his exposed skin. There were so many scars and nicks in his flesh, and she knew his fingers had been broken so many times that they didn't fully line up right anymore. It was rude to stare at him naked, and she yanked her gaze back to the water. And here she was whining about one scar. The man still had his junk at least, and Silvia's face heated.

"At least no one will bother you," Wren said as he untied his red hair and washed the sand out. It was longer now and trailed his shoulder blades in such a bright sheen of fire. "Every time I get into the baths, another vampire tries to find the marks they left on me. I swear they want to sign them or something. Tala was too busy to personally torture me every day so they rotated."

"That's awful," Silvia cringed, but Wren chuckled as they rinsed off and finally dipped their legs into a pool. It was near the opening in the far side of the cavern that let sun in, but also fall off out of the cave in a waterfall beyond the final wall that kept the baths in.

"It's not so bad," Wren said as he settled in. "It's actually therapeutic."

"Reliving your torture?" Alec asked as he dunked himself under, plopping back up to pull his blond hair back behind his face.

"No, not that." Wren chuckled, stretching his arms out to either side on the ledge and relaxing against a flow of water that pushed past them, over a rock ledge behind, and careened off the edge of a cliff outside the baths. "For so long, I was a prisoner, someone the Sol vampires saw as nothing but a future corpse, and now that I live among them, they struggle to communicate with me.

"Shan started it when he came up to me in the baths and pointed out a lovely pair of gashes on my back. At first, I thought he was trying to frighten me or torment me at least, but he just wanted to talk and didn't have anything to start with. I know it's strange, but having the vampires speak to me about my scars to form a connection dulls the painful memories I used to associate with them."

"Well at least they're being nice," Silvia said, rolling in the cool water and splashing her face. "I was wondering about why you seem so at home here."

"It's new for me, but also rather nice to just relax here," Wren said with a comfortable sigh. "When they know I can't harm them, and I'm not fearful of attack myself, it opens up an avenue for learning about each other that I never knew existed. I imagine working close with the Arcs on peaceful terms has been enlightening for you as well, Alec?"

"Yeah, a little," Alec blushed. "I'm still super skittish around vampires I don't know, but being with Idus constantly has eased me up around the Arcs. Idus is well liked and respected as one of Ares' generals, so the other Arcs treat me with the same–"

The rest of Alec's words were swallowed by water as he was yanked under by one of his legs. Silvia pulled herself to the edge nearest Wren out of fear as Alec resurfaced, coughing and wheezing with Idus wrapped around his shoulders.

"I heard my name," Idus murmured into Alec's neck, flashing his fangs like shark teeth, and Alec grabbed his head and shoved him back in the water as he finished hacking.

"Idus, you can't yank me under actual water. Your magic in my lungs is not the same." Alec rasped as he calmed back into the bath, bubbles coming up from Idus' submerged head. "I am half Cascade, not merman."

"Bummer," Idus said as he returned to the surface, stretched, and flopped back in like a whale breaching. Water splashed everywhere as he sank back in before resurfacing near Silvia. "You should have told Neil before you came down here and took your clothes off around men."

"Piss off, Idus. There are other female mages here," Silvia said, roaming her eyes around the baths as more mages continued to fill them along with the vampires who'd been training this afternoon.

"Yeah, but none of them have overprotective vampire mates," Idus said, swimming himself to the other side of their pool near Alec. "I'll be over here ogling Alec so Neil doesn't gouge my eyes out. I'd keep your distance, Wren."

"Please, Tala'd burn my eyes out himself if they wandered." Wren groaned. "I'm frightened of getting attached to anyone with how he clings to me. The man would ignite them if they got too close, and I have zero interest in stealing his best friend's mate."

"That means little to a mated vampire," Talamayas rough voice sounded behind her, and Silvia shoved herself over to Alec's side faster than a torpedo. With a dark chuckle, Tala took her place and motioned back up to the cave behind her. "I had to hold him under the falls to clean him off before he rushed over here all possessively, so he's a bit miffed."

Silvia looked up to Neil, and he had his arms crossed and his eyebrows crunched down, but it was hard for her to take him seriously with how he looked like a drowned rat. His hair was so thin soaking wet, and it was hard to be imposing with your thing hanging out. Crimson burned into her as he slipped into the pool and crunched into her side with a low purr of possession.

"You should have woken me," Neil grumbled, but Silvia wrapping her arm around his shoulders and nuzzling his face dampened it significantly.

"It was hot, okay. Besides, it was just me and Wren over here before Idus showed up. Alec looks at more men than women, and I'm not sure if Wren's stuff even works after all his torture."

"I beg your pardon," Wren's voice broke in a squeak that had her chuckling against Neil.

"I take offense to that too," Tala responded, snaking his arm around Wren and pulling him to his chest. The way Wren's pallor dimmed showed just how he felt about lying on a naked wet vampire, and Silvia pitied him. "I am not so deranged that I would mess with a man's stuff." Talamayas settled on the word after a bit of contemplation. Circled around him, Tala's long black hair was tied at the end but still rolled around like stray seaweed.

"How considerate of you." Silvia retorted, jumping awkwardly when Neil's hand wandered down her back and settled on her ass. "Hey, hands off, I am relaxing," Silvia splashed Neil in the face and returned his hands to himself to get his hair out of his face.

"Give your mate a break," Tala chuckled with his arm comfortably around Wren's shoulders.

"When are you going to give Wren a break?" Silvia asked. A few Sols mumbled things Silvia couldn't make out, and Wren just rolled his eyes.

"I'm actually not sure," Talamayas said honestly, and Silvia craned an eyebrow. "I find myself unhealthily attached to him and it gives me a nervous itch when he's too far away. I guess I'm a little possessive when I know there isn't a cell to keep him from fleeing."

"Like I can leave," Wren argued but he had already relaxed back into the side of the pool, seemingly unbothered by the muscled arm behind him.

"But you will be leaving," Tala growled, and they all quieted in understanding. Was Talamayas clinging to him because he was worried about him fighting alone? That was awfully protective of someone who used to be his enemy.

"Tala, I don't need you to babysit me. I'm a grand general, which is the highest rank you can have as a mage. I won't fall so easily, and I'll have other mages and the Fleurs with me."

"Knowing you're fighting with those flower bastards doesn't make me feel any better," Talamayas grumbled, resting his hand on Wren's head in a strange gesture. It look half like he wanted to touch him and half like Wren's head was about to be a squished grapefruit. After a moment, Talamayas turned Wren toward him and leaned down to speak directly into his face. "No one kills you but me, you got that?"

"Should I take that as a threat or well-wishes for the fight, Tala?" Wren asked, lifting his hand to remove Tala's. It was abnormally timid how Talamayas retreated from Wren's touch and a low growl vibrated from his throat. The poor guy didn't know how to be protective without seeming like he was hostile, but no one here doubted what Tala had meant.

"You heard the man, Neil. No dying unless I kill you," Silvia said to lighten the mood, and Neil snorted so hard that he inhaled water and coughed it back out of his mouth.

"Silvia, if that's the case, I'm going to live forever," Neil retorted.

They shared in a round of laughter and more splashing that eased everyone, but it was impossible to erase the underlying tone of fear and anticipation for the fights. Everyone was worried about their loved ones, Talamayas included, and they were all dealing with a bit differently. All they could do was take this short moment of peace before everything came to head and they were forced to fight for their world and their lives.

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Word Count: 3176