Gia heard the bars of her cell opening and she jerked up. Finally, someone other than a servant bringing food had come. She was very enraged that after meeting with the Master of The Vrek Cult and talking with him, she wasn't given a comfortable room to stay in. Not even a room with a bed but was thrown back into the cell. How atrocious!After days now, the cell was finally being opened.“Your audience is needed in the Grand Chamber,” the man uttered and stood by the open cell. Gia almost spit at him but she composed herself and got on the floor. She was dizzy, but this time it was because she sat in dim light for so long and now was standing in bright light.She followed the guard out the now familiar route until they reached the Grand Chamber. But as soon as the doors were opened, Gia could sense something was very wrong with the place.It was nighttime again, and the Grand Chamber was only lit by a few torches hanging on the walls. But why did the darkness seem thicker today? The f
After the cult lady was executed, Mufasa was called upon to examine Wayne and note what the poison could be. Mufasa checked the vial and the coffee mug , and examined Wayne too.“It's called Touch-me-not. A very lethal poison that is effective only within the first five minutes it's exposed from its vial. But it doesn't affect or cause any harm until the second portion of it is also taken. Then, the two would combine and cause havoc within the body of the recipient. Whomever planned this poisoning doesn't want to kill you immediately. But if the second dose enters the blood, there is no known antidote to save that person.”Olive's eyes widened.“What? What if he gets poisoned with the second dose?”Mufasa bristled.“The poison was intended for you, Olive. Let's keep hoping that the second dose doesn't find its way to you and not the Alpha instead. Or they'll be no saving him then,” Mufasa answered.“That's not going to happen. No one is getting poisoned again. Not me, not my mate. We
Alpha Knight ordered for them to form a circle so everyone could face the dozen rogue wolves all around them. There was something about these wolves. Their clothes were tattered, moldy and stained in places. Their eyes were red and distant, yet held cruelty. They all were Japanese by the looks of it and smelled like wolves. But there was something else. Something none of them could pinpoint yet.‘Olive, you be careful,’ Wayne warned in their mindlink. She was facing the other way, her fists already bared ready in defense.‘You should be worried about them, not me,’ she replied with gritted teeth.‘No fire, Olive. We don't wanna burn down the forest.’Olive smirked.‘Don't count on it.’The rogue wolves were not attacking but growling and circling them. As if they were waiting for the signal by a referee.“What the hell are they waiting for?” Shem yelled amidst the loud growling.“Maybe we should attack first?” Terry asked, flexing his fists.“No. They attack. We defend. Just wait for
Olive got on her feet and crossed away from the dead rogue. Wayne grabbed her arm and pulled her abruptly, landing his lips on hers and sighing in relief like body contact with her just calmed his raging self.The kiss was short and he dug his nose in her neck, inhaling her deeply.“I felt the pain when you got injured. Both on your arm and back,” he whispered. Olive placed her hand on his back.“I'm fine. Look, I'm already healing.”He looked at her arm and she was almost healed. He turned her around and saw her back too was sealing. He kissed her tenderly, directly on it.“I'm fine,” Olive assured again.“What are we gonna do with all the bodies?” Crusoe asked as he went around inspecting them.“Gather them around. Olive, can we make a small fire to burn them all?”“No longer afraid I'd burn down the forest?” she teased with a smile.“Let's just say I have faith in you.”They gathered all the icky body parts in a heap, and Olive set a tiny fire on them. Just enough to slowly break t
“Mufasa, you gotta be kidding,” Shem spoke up, his face a mix of emotions. Everyone else's face also held a mix of emotions. Shock, fear, confusion to say the least. Even the Alpha looked a bit pale.Mufasa shook his head, his fingers shaking as he set down a white pill bottle on his giant desk.“Centuries have passed since people have been trying to get a cure. There isn't any yet as far as I know.”Alpha Knight took a gulp and an exhale. He sat upright, his colour back to his face.“How long do I have?” he asked and all his men shot him a look.“Alpha,” Jericho even reprimanded but Wayne's jaw was set, his gaze piercing as he laid it on Mufasa.“How long do I have, Mufasa?” he repeated, ignoring his men.“To be honest, I can't predict. For some, they dropped down dead the moment the second dose entered their bodies. For others, an hour and they were gone. But you've been alive for hours now. Maybe you might have a chance at staying...like a day.”Shem huffed, his glare cold and dark
Olive's face burst into the brightest of smiles when she sighted the round circle of smooth pebbled stone ground in a place without the trees. It was obviously the entryway to Senshi Temple other than the fast throbbing of her heart and the strong emotion of certainty flooding her from her Ignis chain.“Okay...okay. I'm here. I found it,” she breathed out and approached it gently. She stepped on the stone circle and treaded gently, not knowing what else to do. Her mother had said she'd know what to do but she was clueless at the moment.She was so tired so she literally laid down, heaving deeply and gaping at the sky which was opened for once for the lack of trees.She could see the top of Mount Fuji here, as it was also located in the Aokigahara Forest.After resting for more than ten minutes, she sat up and looked around the stone floor. It was etched in a perfect circled pattern, with each level of stone identical to the one beside it and smaller than the one before it. The pattern
Gia grabbed the space over her heart and tried to rein in her groan again. Her chest was squeezing in, tightening her heart, pressing her lungs, shortening her breath. It had been a month since she started getting these symptoms and had kept it a secret from Cynthia or The Vrek Cult. She could never trust those snakes and always kept to herself. She was sure that if she was not useful to The Baron, she would have been long kicked out. Or worse...killed.But why was she getting this pains? She had lended her blood to the spy they sent, so she could access the borders of Balendin Pack. But she wasn't supposed to be affected if the receiver didn't return. It was supposed to be the receiver who would be blood corrupted. Or did she not know enough about blood letting?She stifled a groan again, clutching and hitting her heart region. A knock sounded on her door and she glared at it.“What is it? I don't want dinner if that's what you're here with,” she snarled.“Open up, bitch!” Cynthia's
Olive quickly settled in at the Senshi Temple like it was a second home to her. She loved the serenity of the temple that spanned thousands of acres, and had gotten lost a few times trying to find her next lesson ground. The temple was like a university in size and purpose, with students teaming about. But each of them kept to themselves, especially as they were from different parts of the world and even different times. They were there for different purposes too, and it was shocking to find some students had no idea there were at Senshi but had a different name for it.Koushi and Lutz were always around her, helping her to settle down, to find her way around, or get study materials from the library which was so big Olive could be lost in it and never found.They trained with her too and taught her skills they had learned themselves after living in Senshi for 200 years, waiting for her.The men were really helpful, though Lutz wouldn't do anything without grumbling about it at first.
The camp was empty safe for a massive building that was like a stone tower. There was a huge field surrounding it, cleared clean of trees, shrubs and plants. Calor could smell it.“Damn, it that's foul!” Olive sneered and gagged. “The Unbidden Army. They smell dead,” Astra explained. “But where are they?” Wayne asked, looking at the camp through Astra's vision too.“Underground, in that building. Laying low,” she replied. A few men with thick leather hoods were stationed outside, and there was an occasional movement of other people to and from the tower. A few tents were pitched on the field and they contained a few people.“How can we attack and besiege this place? It doesn't look impossible but...I kinda feel like there's more to this place than any we see,” Olive noted.“You shouldn't even be seeing this place in the first place,” Calor communicated. “Why?”“Because it's warded. Heavily warded to be simply invisible. No one should see or access it. But we can. And by that, I me
The van parked in front of the castle and they alighted. The fresh air hit their faces and Olive took in a deep breath. She was home. Oh, she missed home so much. She couldn't wait to see the guys. Alpha Knight came around her and sneaked his arm around her waist.“How does it feel?” she asked, looking up into his face as he gazed at his magnificent castle. The sun was setting already and the glow illuminated the building.“Feels like peace,” he answered and looked down at her.“I thought you felt at peace wherever I was?” Wayne chuckled.“I feel at home wherever you are. But I feel at peace when you're home with me.”Olive rolled her eyes.“You're just good with words,” she muttered and he laughed. “Are we heading in or gazing at the castle like it's a new building?” Jake asked as he made his way towards the entrance. Olive chuckled and followed after Jake, with Wayne right beside her. Her Guard followed behind them and they entered the castle together. Guards nodded pleasantly at
“You know where we're to go?” Olive asked, even though she learned back at Senshi Temple that the dragon always knew where his rider was headed. “Crystal clear,” Calor answered. They had been flying for two hours straight and each one of them was tired already. Olive's back personally felt like it could break into two any moment now from all that stuff, straight back riding. She needed to lie down for a full day before she could regain herself. “How far are we now?” she asked. “How about you just talk to me through the bond instead of shouting over the noise of the wind?” Olive furrowed her brows. “I can do that?” “Of course you can. What do they teach you at Senshi Temple now?” “Let's try it then.” “It'll be just like talking to your mate. Come one.” Olive chuckled and searched for the newest bond addition within her. She did know that she could talk with her dragon, she just didn't think it would snap into place the very second she met him. ’It's been hours since we met.
Olive shifted a little way off, so all the fire could be for her Wayne alone. She felt hot tears stinging her eyes and she let them fall. Wayne had to make it. Her Wayne had to come back to her.The Ignis Fatuus had no heat at all, so she wasn't afraid of him being burnt because of the way he was engulfed. “He'll be fine now, Flamera,” Lutz whispered to her. Her Guard had come to stand firmly behind her to show their support. A few minutes after Calor began administering his Ignis Fatuus, he stopped. Wayne was revealed there on the black soot ground. He was motionless. And would have looked lifeless if not for the gentle thudding of his heart and the colour of his face. He looked peaceful, whole, alive. Olive gently walked to him and knelt. She cradled his face in her palms and felt his skin. She broke into happy tears. He was safe. She could feel it deep within herself that he was safe. And best of all, their bond tumbled back into place. It felt so peaceful to feel her mate again
Alpha Knight had a dragon? No way. No freaking way. How could that be?“Impossible,” Lutz exclaimed, his face as pale as his hair.“This is a joke, right?” Olive asked, looking from her dragon to the new dragon.“I know we just met, but you should already know I'm not the type to joke around,” her dragon groaned and huffed. “But how is this possible? Never...and I repeat, never has this been heard of. Only the Firewolf of a generation is gifted a dragon. One dragon per Firewolf of a generation!” Lutz argued, his tone filled with disbelief and shock. This was simply not possible. He had studied the books for years. He was the most learned historian. He did not know this. This was simply unheard of.“No Firewolf is like her,” the male dragon brought down his voice to say. Olive felt him look at her with adoration and pride. She jerked her head to look at him immediately. He adored her? Since when?“I saw what you did. We both did,” he stated. “What did I do?” Olive questioned.“For th
The dragon had not lifted its mouth to speak but Olive heard it clearly in her head. It was like she was thinking in a different, deep and animalistic voice. ‘I can hear your thoughts. That cocky mate of yours never thought you how to put up your mind shield?’ he spoke again, his irritation clear in his voice. Olive stood dazed just staring at the magnificent creature. It was so huge, like a building and yet so alive. It raised its left front limb and shifted it on the ground. Black dust rose up and covered her from the mere casual action. She broke into a fit of coughs that were inaudible.‘Fragile. Humph,’ it said. ‘Stop referring to me as it! I'm a male dragon.’He shifted his whole body when he said that, made some guttural sounds and flapped his wings. More dust this time accompanied by wind had Olive almost falling to the floor. She felt an emotion rush at her. Of facepalming. Or eye rolling. Or mock gagging. She looked up. Was her dragon already tired of her in just a few s
He gently let them land on the rock directly beneath them, but before Olive could wince at the temperature of the rock, she was controlled back into the air. And in a second, was tearing through the wind towards her mate.Alpha Knight pulled her to himself in a quick zap. She was in his arms two seconds later and he was squeezing the life out of her.“Wayne...Wayynee, I can't bre-eathee,” she drawled before he released her. He looked her over frantically, his arms firmly pressed unto her shoulders.“You almost didn't breathe for real. I almost lost you. What if I hadn't heard? What if I was even a minute late?” he panicked. Olive smiled.“Thank you for saving us,” she said and hugged him. He kissed her ear and rubbed her gently on the back.“If I don't rush to your rescue, then I don't exist,” he muttered and her ear again. Then they unlocked. He took her arm and grimaced at the sight of her open palm. It was a bloody gash that wasn't healing.“It's not healing and it hurts ten times
Olive gathered her strength and rose from the black sand. She dusted the grains off her body and hair the best she could and took in a deep breath. The hot air burned her nostrils and she let out a cough. She could still feel the chill of the ocean water against her skin even while standing in a place about 60 degrees hot.Olive looked around again and could not find her bag anywhere. She had thought her bag would be strapped to her back like it was before the drowning illusion. The bag required a lot of straps and lock-in, and would take her at least a minute to take it down from her back. But it was no longer on her, and it had disappeared altogether.Even as worry for her mate and Guard ate at her, she knew she had to start moving. The dragon was waiting for her and she couldn't show any weakness. Her mate and Guard would find their way. They'd be fine.And so the Firewolf began her trek towards the looming black mountains. Waves of heat blew at her, and she thought on plenty of oc
They grabbed onto their bags, which were still firmly strapped around their backs, and began to run.“They aren't even coming at us yet!” Lutz shouted, looking back at the birds who were just peaceful and innocent.“Don't you wait until they are!” Koushi responded. Olive looked at him.“You too, scared of them ostriches?” she laughed.“Like your mate said...naked-necked nightmares!”Olive's laugh was the only thing heard now as they raced through the savannah. Alpha Knight looked back and took a sharp intake of breath.“Here they come!!”Simultaneously, they all looked back to see the birds now flexing their long legs and covering the distance between them in just a few minutes.“This is their damn savannah,” Olive stated as they cut through knee-length dry grasses. “I'm shifting everyone. Grab hold to me,” Wayne announced.“Why didn't you shift earlier?!” Lutz nagged. He was getting weak, out of breath, and red-faced.“So you could run a bit, Lutz,” Wayne answered with a wicked gri