[Third Person].
At the sa ti, a new presence entered the battlefield.
It did not arrive loudly or tear through the chaos with force. But those closest to it felt the shift imdiately—a familiarity that did not belong to the war.
Rosalie stepped onto the battlefield. She moved without urgency, yet nothing obstructed her path.
The chaos seed to part around her out of instinct. Her gaze was fixed ahead, unwavering, as though everything else around her simply did not matter.
And then, she called out, "Estella." Her voice carried weight, enough to cut through the noise, through the fighting, and through everything.
Estella stilled. Her body went rigid for a brief mont. Then, slowly, she turned. For the first ti since the war began, sothing unguarded—shock—flickered across her face.
"...Mother?"
The word ca out quieter than anything she had spoken that day.
Around them, the battlefield did not fully slow, the tension shifting as attention began to pull toward the two figures now facing each other.
Confusion crossed both redith’s and Draven’s faces as they saw the woman who was supposed to be at ho, crying her eyes out.
Wasn’t that what the old lady had told them?
"How did she—" redith began, her voice low.
On the other side, Draven was also curious as his gaze followed his mother.
Rosalie calmly stepped closer, her gaze steady despite everything surrounding them. "That’s enough," she said. "End this."
Estella stared at her, sothing unreadable moving beneath her expression. "You are alive."
"I am, daughter, so this war has to end now," Rosalie replied.
A faint, almost disbelieving laugh escaped Estella, and she shook her head slowly. "Do you even know why I started this?"
"I do. You wanted revenge for ... for what I endured in Randall’s hands," Rosalie said gently.
Estella’s expression flickered as silence stretched between them for a brief mont.
Then Estella spoke. "He is dead." Her tone grew colder as she continued. "My n found him outside Stormveil’s borders and brought him to . I killed him myself."
The words settled heavily in the air.
redith’s eyes widened slightly while Draven’s expression hardened before shifting to indifference.
Rosalie closed her eyes briefly, as though absorbing the weight of it, then opened them again.
"Then it’s over. There is nothing left to fight for," she said quietly.
Estella’s gaze darkened. "No, it isn’t," she said.
Her eyes shifted briefly to redith, then back to her mother. "This doesn’t end until they’re gone. Every last one of them," she added, her voice sharp with finality.
"Estella, please stop this," Rosalie said, a warning now threading through her tone.
"Then, co with ," Estella said suddenly. "Leave this place and co back ho with . That’s all I want."
Rosalie’s expression softened slightly, but only for a mont. "No. Stormveil is my ho now," she said. "I must enjoy everything Randall took from for years."
Sothing in Estella’s expression snapped. Her face hardened, all softness vanishing in an instant.
"Then you leave no choice... mother."
Then, she turned sharply and commanded, "Continue the attack!"
---
The battlefield surged back to life the mont Estella’s command rang out, carrying a more personal weight this ti.
Vampires advanced with renewed aggression, their movents sharper, more deliberate, driven not just by command but by fury.
The Human soldiers who were disard fell on the field, one after the other, as the battle caught up with them.
anwhile, attention continued snapping toward redith from all directions. The shield ford instinctively this ti as the first wave reached her.
Draven saw this and wanted to rush towards her, but Estella didn’t let him. How could she?
"You think this ends with you?" Estella said, her voice edged with sothing darker as she drove forward.
"You are just a complete waste of breath," Draven replied, his tone steady as he forced her back a step.
Her gaze darkened. The next second, they clashed again.
All these unfolded before Rosalie’s very eyes as her gaze remained fixed on Estella.
Even as the war raged around her, even as bodies fell and power surged, she did not intervene yet.
There was hesitation in the space between what she knew had to be done and what it would cost.
Her fingers curled slightly at her sides. Then, slowly, she moved.
---
The battle between Draven and Estella reached its peak.
They moved too fast for most to follow, their strikes colliding again and again, neither yielding ground for long.
Estella’s attacks grew sharper, more desperate, her frustration beginning to show as Draven matched her at every turn.
And more than anything, that infuriated her the most.
Just then, she broke away briefly, her gaze flicking past him towards redith. Her intention shifted, but she never made it.
Because in that mont, her mother appeared behind her without warning, only precision.
Her hand moved with deadly accuracy, striking where it needed to, ending what had begun long before this war ever started.
Estella’s body went still. And the war stopped.
For a brief second, the battlefield seed to fall silent. Then Estella staggered. Her strength faltered, her balance giving way as she fell forward, but she never hit the ground.
Rosalie caught her carefully, as if she had not just ended her life, as if she were cradling sothing fragile and precious.
redith and Draven stilled.
Around them, the war faltered as the shift rippled outward. Vampires hesitated, their movents breaking, their focus lost as the reality of what had just happened began to settle.
Estella’s breathing was shallow and fading. Her eyes, once sharp and unyielding, softened as they rose towards Rosalie.
"...Mother..."
Rosalie held her closer as her composure broke.
Tears slipped freely now, falling onto Estella’s face as she struggled to hold onto what was already slipping away.
"I’m here," she whispered.
Estella’s lips parted slightly, as though she wanted to say sothing more. But nothing ca.
Just then, her body stilled completely.
Rosalie didn’t move. She remained there, holding her, her shoulders trembling as the weight of it finally crashed over her.
—
Around them, the battlefield quieted.
The vampires began to retreat, their formation broken, their purpose gone. Without Estella, the war had lost its centre, its command, its reason to continue.
On the other hand, the werewolves held, but no one cheered or celebrated.
Draven stood where he was, his chest rising steadily, his gaze fixed on the scene before him. redith moved to stand beside him, her presence calm but heavy, her eyes reflecting the sa understanding.
The war was over. They had won, but not without cost and consequences.
Ahead of them, Rosalie still knelt on the battlefield, her arms wrapped around Estella, her grief unrestrained, her voice breaking in quiet, uneven breaths.
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