CHAPTER 68 : A DANGEROUS PLAN

*1000 years Earlier : Continued*

"How do you plan to stop her?" The second leader asked, his brow furrowed in doubt. They could not afford to make any mistake, whatsoever. "How?" He asked again and leaned forward, his hands gripping the edges of the table. "We have all tried before. Dahlia is too powerful, and we are just mere mortals, we stand no chance." 

 "We do!" The first leader said, his face hard. "I have been thinking," he began, his voice lower than before. "Have any of you ever wondered why she only takes the children, and why she only takes them during the full moon? It's always the full moon, always."

The other leaders exchanged confused glances, but none of them had an answer to that, until one spoke.

"Because she is evil," the fourth leader replied, shaking his head. "That is the nature of these creatures, she is even worse than most."

"No." The first leader said and shook his head sharply. "No. It is not just that. Now hear me," he said to them as he began to share his newfound information. "I kept thinking about this a lot and finally sent one of my men to spy on her. He barely survived, but what he learned could be our key. He said that on every full moon, she is weak and that is why she takes the children to renew her powers."

The third leader laughed immediately after hearing what the first leader had to say. "You are not believing that, are you? When have we ever seen her weak?"

"I believe that, and I need you all to believe that too, unless we will never be able to break this chain of terror. This mission was given to my most trusted man, and I am very certain that it is true!" The first leader said strongly, his voice not wavering a bit.

"So, what you are saying is… she is vulnerable during the full moon?" The second leader asked with a frown as he tapped his fingers nervously on the table. "And we should attack her then? Mind you, this woman we speak of is still a witch and not just any ordinary witch. Even weakened, she is stronger than any one of us."

 

"No, not just one of us. All of us," the first leader pressed on, his expression remaining steely. He needed them to see it the way he saw it. This was Hope. "If we strike together at the moment when her powers are weakest, we might stand a chance."

"We have always attacked her at the wrong time. What if that was why we never won," he continued. "And to come to think of it, we have never gone after her during the full moon itself, which can be when she is exposed, vulnerable and weak. I assure you, she won't expect us to strike, especially when she knows how much fear she has put in us."

"And you think we can catch her off guard?" The fourth leader said and sat back, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't just think it," the first leader leaned forward, his eyes locking with each of the other leaders, "I know it. If we strike before she can do the ritual or whatever it is that she does with the children, we can stop her from regaining her full strength and put an end to her existence. She may still be dangerous, but she is not invincible."

There was a long silence as the other leaders started thinking about what the first leader had said. It was really a dangerous plan and none of them knew whether they would come out victorious or not. 

But after much thinking, Finally the second leader nodded, his expression hardening. "Alright, I am in. We can't stand by any longer while she takes our children, sooner or later, this has to stop and why not now? I will gather my men."

"Me too, we are in," the third leader said after hesitating for a moment. "But we will need to be ready. If we fail, there won't be another chance."

"I am in too," the fourth leader finally uttered. "This is for our children!"

"Very well, then," the first leader said, his lips curling into a grim smile. "We attack at night on the next full moon. Be ready. This time, we end it."

The night of the full moon had finally arrived, the villagers in their homes and their hearts pounding as they waited. No one was asleep that night, not a single soul, and they had also hidden the children well this time, praying and hoping that Dahlia would not find them.

Dahlia, who they prayed against, had come out from her home and was now moving to hunt for more children with a slow cruel smile that spread across her face as she reached the first village.

Reaching the first village, she scanned the dark houses and reached out with her magic to feel the presence of the children… a little trick she had learned. But there was nothing, and it made her frown, her fingers curling into fists.

Moving quickly, she decided not to use her magic and search for them herself, it was nothing new. She searched the houses, breezing in and out but no children. Dahlia was getting very frustrated and left the first village, going to the second, but same thing… No children. Then she searched the third, then the fourth, all to no avail. She could not even find a single child in any of the villages.

"They think they can hide them from me," she whispered to herself when she stopped for a minute, laughing darkly. "I will find them, no matter what it takes."

As she continued her search, she finally sensed something with her magic… a small group of children. This was not all the children but just enough for the night and their soft breathing was like music to her ears. Despite the fact she was frustrated by the children being hidden, Dahlia loved the hunt, especially knowing she would eventually find them.

"They could not even do a better job at hiding them, but I will give it to them for hiding the children separately and not all in one place," she said to herself as she walked into the house which was located in a part of the forest.

Inside, she found the children lying asleep. They looked so cute and peaceful. Dahlia felt a surge of pride, knowing they were all hers to take. But as she stepped forward to start her whole procedure, something whistled through the air. A sharp pain pierced her back.

She gasped, staggering forward as she felt the arrow deep between her shoulder blades. The pain flared through her body, but her anger was greater.

She turned slowly, her eyes blazing with rage. The man who shot the arrow stood behind her, trembling and with a flick of her wrist, she wrapped her magic around his neck, lifting him into the air as he clawed at his neck, gasping for breath, which only made her squeeze tighter.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Dahlia snarled.