Chapter 1
Trembling hearts

The light of a bloody red moon reflected into the abyssal black of Odessa's eyes. She gazed coolly over her reddish magical globe, while the chilly wind brushed harshly against her pale skin. Her sweet, yet serious Asian features softened as she sighed. She sat on the grass, near the tiny lake, which she loved so much. Soon, the cloudy sky released the drizzle of April.

"You did have a vision,didn't you?" asked the olive-green haired man behind the transparent blue barrier.
"Yes." she answered with her tone monotone.
"...What did you see?"he asked hesitantly.
"The true battle...is coming."
The young man sighed as he got out of the barrier.He walked through the dense rain and sat beside his only mistress.
"Are you going to get involved?" the man finally asked,after a short time of dead silence.
"Adrian...You know very well that I will not...Not until the princess will make a move. "she spoke as darkly as possible.
"There will be a pool of blood in only two months… Blood of the ones that try to gain their peace and freedom and the blood of those that fight against them."Adrian told her.
"Tell me,mistress,aren't you scared by your visions sometimes?"Adrian asked softly,putting his arm on her wet and delicate shoulders.
"Sometimes..."Odessa answered,without minding his arm on her.She knew he wouldn't go any further.
"But the thing that frightens me the most Adrian,is that they are not alone.We aren't the only ones that watch the war between the two speciees. Soon...other speciees will come to fight against both camps,for their own,selfish reasons. And the result would probably be the destruction of everything peaceful and good in this world…"she muttered coolly.

Why did she care about them so much? Whatever would happen to them wouldn't affect her with anything at all.She was still so weak...
Adrian did not speak,but only held her right hand that was as cold as ice,in his warm one.The raindrops fell quickly in the lake as the sound of their collapse filled the silence between the two.

"Your love for me...You know very well that it's artificial.You love me just because I have created you,Adrian."she spoke suddenly.
"It is not true,my dear mistress."Adrian smiled sweetly,looking at the lake."I have loved you before you created me."he continued as he took off his arm from her shoulders.
Odessa rose from the grass,as her left hand went through her silvery,wet hair.Drops of water fell from her white dress,that got to her knees.As she walked away from him,he heard her last words to him.
"You don't know what you are talking about,my dear."she spoke with her voice as harsh and cold as ice.

She left Adrian behind and soon enough,she entered the barrier that leaded to her own palace.
Adrian remained still on the grass.He rose hs head as he permitted the icy raindrops to fall on his face. He would have cried at that moment. He really would have. But he knew that he wasn't able to do that.This was one of the many things he had left behind in order to become Odessa's trusted one.
He was no longer a human.

The cold, October rain was falling harshly over the millions of ruins of New York. The countless tents were battered violently by the frozen wind while the sun was only a round, lifeless circle, behind the grey clouds in the endless sky, while the Hudson River was shaking without stopping any time soon.

"The Apocalypse… Such a curious word. Ah am sure that every single human bein' has asked themselves the most famous question eva': 'when will the end of the world come?'" Said the man of 47, scratching softly at his bald head. The blonde girl of 12 listened carefully with interest.
"Most of them answered themselves with that theory, which was sayin' that planet Earth was comin' nearer and nearer to the Sun, 'cause its rotation axis is a spiral. Or with the other theory, that was sayin' that a bloody meteorite will hit Earth in the next 3 hundred years… " the man said, getting slightly irritated.
"Weren't they right? I mean… It was the scientists that made those theories…" the young girl muttered slyly.
"To hell with them!" sanpped the man, "Everything they said was fucking lies! They've done all of that freakin' research only for money! They've done nothin' else but scarin' people to death!"
"Stop swearing and explain nicely to Claire, old Jade." Warned the amused blonde boy, with his eyes like the light blue of the sky, of 17 from the right of the tent.
"Oh, whateva, Sid." Jade answered, grinning brightly.
"Okay. So, lil' Claire… As Ah was sayin', they 'r lies. Ah dunno how… but 3 years ago… before all this madness began, a guy of Sid's age Ah guess, succeeded in publishing in newspapers about the actual mess… Unfortunately, nobody listened and they've got to pay wit' their lives for that." Jade Muttered sympathetically.
"Why didn't humans believe him?" Claire asked, concerned.
"It's quite simple… Ya' see… People were scared so many times by the so-called predictions, that they grew tired of believin' them in the future." He said while stroking his hand against the other.
"Does this guy still live?" she asked.
"He does. Or at least, that's what Ah hope for. Sadly, he is now one of Supernova's prisoners… if he still lives."
"I understand…" Claire said full of sympathy.
"It's better for ya to know that they're the enemy from a young age, so it would be easier for ya to deal with it when ya'll grow up." Jade smiled.
"But I am grown up! I am no child!" Claire barked.
"Ah never said ya were. Ah doubt that kids of your age are childish right now… You're one of the happy ending stories. Ya still have a livin' father and mother. Some of us don't have any relatives anymore."
"It's true… I wouldn't have thought that there could be such cold people that would be able to take everything we've ever cared for in a single second…" Claire muttered.
"Nobody in the entire history of the world has brought such a disaster as the ones from Supernova." Sidney said angrily.
"No wonder they were called the tools of death." Jade said.
"How many times have I told you to stop telling children horror stories, dad?" a females voice was heard outside the tent, before a young woman of 20 years stepped inside.
"How many times Ah've told ya to stop walking through the rain with your bare head?" Jade smirked, "Symin, sweet pancakes… Ah know you're not that lil' kid with those big green and round eyes, that could laugh and cry at the same time anymore, and Ah know that ya are now the boss of our beloved camp *Star*, but Ah'd appreciate it if you'd take care of yourself properly." acted Jade as the fairy godmother. He soon began to laugh, along with Claire and Sid when seeing Symin's confused face.
"Don't worry! I'm perfectly fine!" she said quickly.
"Sure you are!" Sid laughed.
"Sidney… You're dealing with the wrong person." She spoke darkly as her hand went through her wet black hair.
"Pancakes… Keep your temper cool." Jade advised softly.
"How can I keep my temper cool when you're talking about the death of 90% of Earth's population?!" she asked coldly.
"Ermmm… Sorry… I don't mean to get involved in this very nice daughter-father conversation, but Symin… didn't you have a meeting at 8 o'clock?" Sid asked.
"A meeting…" she repeated, confused, and raised her dark contoured eyebrow.
With the speed of lightning, Symin remembered that, indeed, she had a meeting with her trusty council at the third floor of the Building of Comets.
"Damn it!" Symin swore, getting out of her father's tent, in the chilly rain, making her way through the endless piles of debris to the Building of Comets.

The Building of Comets is the only building in which a human could stay, without worrying that it might collapse on them, in the entire New York. It was also known as World Financial Center. Unfortunately, the building wasn't as grand and beautiful as it was before the Apocalypse. The place in which Symin was about to have a meeting was the ruins of one of the most beautiful buildings ever created in New York. The Empire State Building. Bank of America Tower and New York Times Tower were the first building to collapse in the first day of the Apocalypse. In New York, all skyscrapers, buildings, museums, schools were destroyed, taking with them thousands of innocent lives. The famous Brooklyn Bridge has collapsed and sank in the East River along with dozens of vehicles and hundreds of lives. The Statue of Liberty has collapsed as well, with the only remaining part of it being the head.
The Rockefeller Center is no less important. It killed around one million of people with its collapse. Could you blame the constructors for it? Of course not. It's not like they knew that hell would come in New York in 2012.

However, after five minutes, Symin found herself at the ground floor. She had quickly climbed the stairs and soon she arrived in the hall of the bloody tears, staring at two people… kissing. They must not have noticed her because they didn't turn their heads to the corner in which she was standing. She was horrified when she realized who the two lovers were: one of her men and the healing witch. But then the girl separated her face from his, putting her tiny hands on his large shoulders, stroking them gently. She leaned her head down, her soft and angelic features expressing pain.

"I'm so sorry, Anthony… But I can't see you more than a close friend. I do love you with all my heart, as much as I love Teodore and Symin…" she said, caressing his right cheek as her violet eyes were locked with his dark silvery ones. Tears began to trickle down his cheeks. The girl was certainly in pain at that moment because she began to cry too. She wiped his tears from his charming face as she kissed his forehead. He took her right hand into his and kissed it softly. More tears flowed down her cheeks as she hugged him tightly, sobbing softly. Anthony kissed her head, as his hands played with her short, wavy beige hair.
If Symin didn't know them, she would have mocked them all their lives with this fact. The boss of camp Star couldn't bear such sadness and pain, so she looked away from the two people. She chose to stare at the dozens of red, glowing candles that were placed near the walls of that floor. Every single candle in there had the name of a deceased person on it. Those candles were glowing in the memory of the ones that died the day of the Apocalypse and the ones that died on the battle ground.
Soon, the girl left him, climbing the stairs to the next floor, where the meeting was about to start.
As soon as she was gone, Symin had left the corner in which she was hiding herself, getting near Anthony. She patted his left shoulder gently as she spoke:

"I haven't thought for a moment that… you could have been in love with her… Despite her nature..."
"It's okay, boss… I knew that she'd reject me anyway… but even so I wanted to relieve my heart by an extra weight…" he muttered with a bitter smile.
"I am truly sorry, Anthony." She said, rubbing his back.
She could sense that he was grateful that she called him by his name. Symin couldn't just call him by his nickname right now.  She used to make fun of him by calling him Tony, but now wasn't the right time to do that.
"You must feel miserable…" Symin muttered softly and sympathetically. She could feel the tense of his muscles under her hand. She could feel the pain he was going through. She could only hope that she wouldn't have to endure the same thing too.
"It's a feeling mixed with relief and depression… It's not the best combination, but I presume it could have been much worse. Georgie was kind enough to tell me what she truly felt in her heart for me. I couldn't have bared the pain if she told me that she loves me when she does not." He said.
His words shook her really bad. They were messing up all her plans with her best friend.
"I… I see… Come on! We need to get up there! Quickly!" she said pointing with her index finger to the stairs that lead to the hall of the hurricane, in which the meeting was being held.
"Understood, boss!" said Anthony as he ran up the stairs before her.

The room of the hurricane was the point where all the madness began. The windows' glass was painted with black, to keep all the unwanted eyes away.
Anthony entered the great hall, apologizing quickly for his late arrival, scratching gently at his blonde head. As he sat on the chair next to her, Alica gave him an irritated look as if she wanted to say "Couldn't you have come in time at least for today?" Her staring started to feel creepy, forcing Anthony to move his chair to his left.
When Symin entered, all eyes turned curiously on her tall figure, waiting with patience for the meeting to begin.
Symin made herself comfortable on her fine chair, leaning her elbows on the desk.

"Please forgive me for my delay. I hope that I haven't delayed too much." She spoke, her voice being as authoritative as ever.
"Indeed, you haven't delayed more than 15 minutes…" Rey whispered sarcastically, his warm breath trickling her ear.
"I really appreciate your lack of manners, Mr. Potter." She whispered in his ear and smirked, knowing that this nickname irritated him.
Rey cleaned his neck and fixed the glasses on his nose as he spoke:
"So… I and the boss thought that it would be wiser to take decisions with all of you. According to our spies…" he started, looking at the dark red owl with ocean blue eyes and the black cat with orange eyes next to Georgie.
"…Supernova is planning to attack us." Rey finished, and loud gasps were heard from different corners of the hall.
"What are you suggesting?" Symin asked softly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear her.
"Avoiding and accepting a battle in a open field would be the same thing…" Alica muttered, feeling a ball in her throat.
Symin sighed, putting her face into her hands. "She's right… And yet, we need to avoid a direct fight as much as possible!" she thought, alarmed.
Rey figured out what she was thinking and put his hand on her shoulder, stroking it gently. He wanted her to relax, even if he knew that the stress will come to her again. Symin appreciated his gesture with a tired smile.
"Georgie… Could you help us, please?" Rey asked.
At the sound of the girl's name, Symin raised her head immediately to look at Geogie, her green eyes meeting her violet ones.
"There might be a way to avoid a fight… but you won't like it…" she said, putting a lock of her hair behind her ear.
"Any advice or ideas could help us a lot, Georgie. Please, what have you been thinking of?" Symin urged.
"The first and main place they will search for you is right here." She said.
"And what can we do on this matter?" Rey asked. Georgie could read fear in his icy blue eyes.
"You need to leave this place as soon as possible. It'd be wiser if you would change your location from week to week, so it would be harder for them to find you. If you do this, you can sleep more peacefully at night." Georgie said mildly.
"Hmmmm… It's a good idea... but we found out that they plan to attack us tomorrow at daybreak." Rey muttered stressfully.
"There is a place in which they won't search for you… No… It'd be impossible for him to think of this place."
"If he wants to play tough, then so be it. He won't know what will hit him." Georgie thought.
"And where is that place?" Symin asked.
"I know I haven't told you and I'm sorry …but 5 miles from here, there's a cave, in which there are some of their spies."
Symin and Rey were probably the only ones in the entire hall that didn't react negatively to her words.
"You have nothing to be sorry of, Georgie. You are a witch and they are your family. I am sure it is hard for you betray them, and yet, I am in no position to ask you to tell me everything you know. Nobody in this camp has the right to do that. That's why, Georgie Arsen, I thank you for helping us these two years you have been here." Rey thanked warmly, with a bright smile on his face.
"There is no need for you to do that." Georgie smiled and blushed lightly.
"Georgie… If we leave in 2 hours, do you think we'll get there before dark?" Symin asked her.
"Absolutely. You have time to get back here in the same day." Georgie giggled, "I think I know a shortcut… Marcos once told me about it…"
"It seems that you really know Marcos Neovoles tactics… How can that be?" Alica asked her suspiciously.
"Alica!" the brown haired girl to her right exclaimed, with her dark blue eyes angry, while Anthony glanced at Alica.
"Its okay, Teodore." Georgie smiled. "I was to be married to Marcos when I was 18… He commanded me to do things such as making love to him, lying to my mother and brother, or killing his younger brother. I refused and that's why he violated me and tortured me, lying to my entire family and friends that I was killed by one of you. He threw me in the forest, and left me bleeding, without any water, food or clothes. That's how Anthony found me and brought me here 2 years ago." She spoke without feeling ashamed of her past, looking at Anthony's horrified face.
"I don't regret my decisions back then… I couldn't have done any of the things he wanted me to do. I didn't want to. He stole a big part of my power, leaving me numb. The other wizards and witches have nothing to do with this war. They are just following orders because, if they don't, they'll be killed and have their loved ones killed too." Georgie muttered, with her voice teary.
Alica stood up and she made her way to Georgie, who began to sob loudly. She knelt in front of her, pulling her to her chest. She caressed her head and rubbed her back gently.
"I am so sorry, Georgie. I can tell that you've been through a lot of pain… But you're safe now… You're free from that sadist." Alica spoke as she cuddled her.
"I… I am sorry… I really shouldn't be crying at a time like this…" Georgie muttered, wiping her wet cheeks.
At that moment Symin, Rey, Teodore and Anthony rose from their chairs and surrounded Alica and Georgie, obviously wanting to make their friend feel better.
"It's okay to cry if that makes the pain go away, Georgie." Teodore said, patting her shoulder.
"That's right, Georgie. Let everything out." Anthony said to his beloved one while she sobbed more.
"Forget that bastard, Georgie. He's not worth your attention." Rey muttered.
"It's okay, sweet heart. As long as you're here you'll be okay." Symin said mildly.
"As long as you're with us, we won't let anything happen to you. I promise" Alica said, cuddling her.
"Th-Thank you s-so much, my f-friends." Georgie thanked through hiccups of breath.
Everyone in the hall smiled, sympathy filling their hearts.
Ten minutes later, everyone got back to their seats, waiting for their leader's commands.
"I want everyone to pack their tents and their bags. You are now dismissed." Symin spoke.
"Alica, Georgie, Anthony and Teodore, please stay." Rey said while the other people walked out into the hall.
As soon as the doors were closed, Symin spoke once again:
"Teodore, I want you and Sidney to make sure that every weapon and ammunition is placed in the correct cart. And you, Georgie, please make sure that you take bandages and the medicines with you."
"Understood." Teodore replied while she caught her hair into a perfect ponytail.
"You needn't worry about that." Georgie smiled.
They soon stood up and left the hall.
"Okay… Now, Alica and Anthony, I want you two to take care of food, the wood for fire, the cooking pots and the dishes in which our people will eat. No comments!" Symin said quickly when she saw Anthony open his mouth to protest. The only thing he could do was to close his mouth, crossing his arms like a child. The others couldn't refrain themselves from laughing.
"Oh, spare me!" Anthony laughed along.

An hour and 30 minutes later, Symin found herself in the hall of the bloody tears, lighting two red candles. Then placed them in a red box on which was written the names of Martha and Francesca.
A heavy hand touched her right shoulder and took her by surprise. She turned around to see good old Jade staring with pain at the candles.
Symin placed the box carefully, near the bouquet of wild red roses, which she put together earlier in the morning, when she went into the forest.
"I miss them a lot, dad." Symin said, doing her best to stop herself from crying.
"I miss them too, pancakes…" Jade admitted as he embraced his daughter, kissing her forehead.
"Symin… We are ready." Rey announced from the stairs.
"OK. We're coming!" Symin said to him.
After a last glance to the red box, she took her sword, muttering:
"Farewell mom and Frankie…"
When she got out of the building and saw a beautiful rainbow, hope filled her heart.
"We can do this!" she thought, smiling as she headed to Rey, who was caressing her beautiful white horse, Allie.
"Are you ready?" Rey asked as he put Allie's reins in her gloved hand.
"As I'll ever be." She replied, smiling brightly.

Will they get there in time?
Without question.
Will they survive an ambush?
Always.