Chapter Ten: The Departure.

Rendall stared blankly at the wooden door. He had not been eavesdropping. He just wanted to show Helia the chicken he had caught for her.

"I did not want her as my mate too. This is good. The feeling is mutual," he reassured himself and feigned a smile.

********************

"Checkmate," Alecto announced and Helia cheered. Rendall stared in disbelief at the chess board on the table. Alecto's black queen had checked his white king. This was like the hundredth time they had played the game but, at the end of each game, Alecto turned out to be the winner.

"Again," Rendall said wryly. For the past hours, that word had been his catchphrase while the word ‘checkmate’ had been Alecto's.

"I am tired, young wolf," Alecto whined. "Just face it. Even though you would be ruling a kingdom soon, you suck at the game of Kings."

"I won't give up easily. We will play the game again."

"Young wolf," Alecto called out with a smirk, "you would be leaving for the human world very soon and when you get there, you would have to make decisions that might build you or destroy you just like in the game of chess. The only difference between this game and the human world is that, unlike this game, you can not just shout ‘again’ and get another chance. So, before you make any decision, think. You are too impulsive and this can make you fail both in this game and in real life. You would soon rule a kingdom. You have to learn how to strategize. I will give you another chance but this will be the last so play this game with strategy. Think before you leap and predict my next move before I make the move and stop making me play again when you can't win."

Rendall nodded and they moved the chess pieces and began to play.

"Stalemate," Rendall announced after another long, intense game. Part of him was unhappy that he did not win and another part was happy that Alecto did not put his king in check again. At least he was able to avoid a checkmate from Alecto.

"A draw," Alecto said with a wry smile. "At least my small prep talk stopped you from losing even though everything ended in a draw."

Alecto shrugged nonchalantly, stood from his chair, and packed his chess pieces. "We will go up to the mountain when I come back," Alecto announced, and then he took his leave.

"I thought I was good at chess," Rendall said in a small voice and Helia chuckled.

"Don't beat yourself up too much," Helia said. "Even my father finds it difficult to beat Alecto in a game of chess."

Rendall nodded and he began to study Helia. She was making her elixir in large quantities. She was making it while he and Alecto played chess but he was too preoccupied with trying not to lose badly to Alecto that he did not notice what she was doing.

"A pinch of dead sea salt, one hundred and seven rose petals, a dandelion root, a pinch of moss, one water buffalo tooth." Rendall watched in awe as she chanted the ingredients while mixing them. What she was making was definitely not more or less than a magic potion. She should not call it an elixir but a magic potion. It made him wonder if the werewolves’ version of the story of Nyx's curse was the truth. What if Helia was truly conjured up by Nyx? This was more than enough to justify her ability to make a magic potion. Well, he also had a special ability. Perhaps, Nyx had decided to give them both a gift as compensation for causing much havoc on the day of their birth.

"Two---"

"Helia," he called out, interrupting her chant. His mind went back to what he had heard her say about rejecting him. He wanted to talk to her about it and tell her that he was also not interested in making her his mate.

"What?" Helia asked absentmindedly. She was focused on the potion she was making.

"I know---" 

"Time to go to the mountain with me," Alecto announced as he stepped into the room, interrupting Rendall. 

Rendall sighed in frustration. He would have to discuss it with her later. Probably when they've gotten to the human world already.

"I would have to make enough elixir so I won't be able to come with," Helia said sadly.

"You don't have to come little lioness," he said with a reassuring smile. "Stay and continue making your elixir till you're done."

Helia smiled back at him and continued chanting the ingredients of her elixir as she mixed them.

"Come with me," Alecto said, turning to Rendall who gave him a small nod and stood up to follow him.

After bidding Helia goodbye, they walked out of the house, went deep into the woods, and walked up a mountain.

When they finally reached the mountain top, Rendall looked down and he was marveled. He saw tall, evergreen, magnificent trees that reached the clouds stretching out to infinity.

He turned to the east and he could see Wulfe and Khron lying side by side with a slightly thick forest serving as a frontier, separating the two lands. 

When he turned around to the west, his mouth hung open. He saw a world he had never seen before. He could see metals that had wheels underneath of different colors and sizes moving about the tarred roads of the world. He saw how magnificent buildings that were taller than the trees of the forest dotted the world. Rendall was stunned.

"The world of humans," he heard Alecto say and his eyes bulged in excitement. "That's the world you would leave for tomorrow."

"The human world is stunning," Rendall confessed and Alecto smiled.

"It sure is but there used to be a world more stunning. That world used to be there." Alecto pointed to the north, where trees stretched to infinity and Rendall turned to the direction Alecto pointed to.

"There used to be groups of werewolves scattered around this place," Alecto said in low spirits. "When you stand up the mountain, you would see werewolves displaying their beauty. Then, I would watch and see the stories of many werewolves. I would watch as Alphas battle each other for more power."

"There used to be more than one Alpha?" Rendall asked and Alecto nodded.

"At that time, even your grandfather was not born. Those were the days I loved werewolves. I used to enjoy watching them shift to their wolf. Ah! I'd see beautiful furs everywhere. Oh! I enjoyed the days wolf packs existed but now, no werewolf knows that they once existed including your father. It's sad. Slowly, the beauty of being a werewolf is fading."

"Wolf packs? What's that?" Rendall was lost but Alecto have him a faint smile as a reply.

"Let's go home. The sun is beginning to set. If we remain here for more than a few minutes, we would reach home at midnight. We have to go back early so you and Helia can leave for the human world early."

Having said these words, Alecto turned around and began to walk away. Rendall followed him and they walked down the mountain quietly, without saying any word to each other. They were both too preoccupied with their thoughts to fill up the silence.

When they got home, they saw that Helia had fallen asleep on the table. The well-swept ground which was once littered with Helia's elixir ingredients when they had left showed that Helia had finished making her elixirs and had tidied up everywhere before falling asleep. 

Rendall saw three backpacks seated on the floor next to the table and he went over to check what she had packed. He opened the first backpack and he saw containers of Helia's elixir arranged to the brim of the backpack. The second backpack contained Helia's clothes, pieces of jewelry, and supplies. He smiled when he checked the third backpack. It contained male clothes which he assumed had belonged to her father. Rendall knew she had packed them for him. It was very thoughtful of her.

He helped Alecto carry her to her room. Alecto made her lie on her mat and covered her with her blanket. He smiled gently at her and after stroking her raven black hair for a while, he kissed her goodnight on the forehead. As Rendall watched, he realized how fatherly the man he had termed ‘grumpy’ at the beginning could be.

After a long night, dawn finally broke. Helia and Rendall were already on the path to the human world with Alecto escorting them.

"When you both get to the human world," Alecto said breaking the lingering silence that existed since they had left the house. "You both would have to find a spirit medium that can help you communicate with Nyx. Sadly, only one spirit medium can do that. Orenda is her name. She used to be Nyx's best friend and once worked at Wilkinson's company. You both should be extra careful since Mr. Wilkinson is a were-creature hunter."

Alecto reached into the belt that was around the waist of his long robes and brought out dollar notes. He took some of them and placed them in Helia's hands. He eyed Rendall for a while, took his hands, smiled, and slapped the rest of the notes into his palm.

"I gave the both of you two hundred and fifty dollars each. If you get stranded," he turned to Rendall. "You can sell your Jade necklace or your ring. If I were you, I'd take them off so I won't become the target of thieves and kidnappers. Your red diamond ring is rare and its worth is over a million dollars."

Alecto heaved a sigh and stopped walking. Rendall and Helia did the same and looked at him. "I think I have said enough. Having said all these, I think it is time to take my leave."

Before he could walk away, Rendall and Helia dropped their backpack and engulfed him in a tight hug. Alecto smiled broadly.

"You both should go now," he said warmly, using two of his hands to stroke their hair. After a while, they finally released him.

"Go," Alecto persuaded and they both picked up the backpacks they had dropped before hugging Alecto. They waved at him and began to walk away. After covering a distance of a few meters, they turned to see that Alecto was watching them leave. Alecto smiled at them and waved at them. They smiled back at him and turned around to continue their journey

From where they were, they could see the tarred roads of the human world and could even see colored metals with wheels moving about the tarred road. They just needed to take a few steps and they would step their foot on the ground of the world.

Rendall and Helia exchanged glances, took a deep breath, and began to walk toward a world they had never been to before.

It was time to begin what they were born to do.