Chapter 4 | The Fugitive's Escape

Werewolves from the same pack had something in common – a moon anklet. It was made to distinguish the different packs from the Kingdom of Zaldigore, where werewolves live among themselves. The alpha rubbed his eyes; he did not want to believe what he was seeing – a blue moon anklet with a Roman capital B marked on it. However, he could not lie to himself. His mind was filled with questions as he finally recognized who the familiar wolf was. It was the beta of his pack.

 “Clarence!” the alpha shouted, but the wolf named Clarence ignored him and continued to destroy the whole cabin. “No, stop! Don’t hurt her!” Cliden yelled when the wolf’s eyes landed on Viansel who was still unconscious and oblivious of the situation.

“Tworgcriticas!” Elise yelled out of the blue.

The wolf was about to launch on the unconscious princess when Elise unexpectedly charmed him with her wand which she just found lying under the small bed where Viansel was laid. The charm caused the werewolf to transform into its non-wolf form. Elise’s eyes widen in realization as she recognized who the werewolf was. His identity frightened her so much that she could not even utter his name.

The hairs at the back of Elise’s neck stood up when Clarence let out a dire and deep spine-chilling laughter. His eyes were as blue as the ocean and as perilous as the monsters beneath the sea that if one stared at his beguiling set of deep eyes for too long, one may die from the sharpness of his lethal glares. Though he had an attractive face like the alpha, the threat lingering his existence made him look deadly and unwanted. Clarence’s aura emitted a dark and wicked atmosphere to which Elise found dangerous and terrifying. Nonetheless, she stood there with all bravery in order to protect the princess behind her.

“So tell me, alpha,” Clarence stated as the silence grew suffocating. “Why must I help you at this moment of crisis? And what can you do for me in return?” he taunted.

“What are you on about, Clarence? It’s your duty to help me. I never asked you for a favor before, but as your alpha, I command you to keep this secret to yourself. You have no right to disobey,” Alpha Cliden stated in a stern and authoritative voice.

“Have I told you how much I hate that line? Though, I do want to say it too most of the time.” Clarence clicked his tongue in distaste as he waved his index finger in a disagreeing manner. Cliden only stood there with an annoyed expression while he pondered about his brother’s change of treatment towards him. Clarence glanced at Elise who was still guarding the poor princess behind her. “I heard that a witch’s weakness is what she hides in her cauldron.” He walked over to where the cauldron was and traced its lid with a taunting smirk plastered on his face. He lifted it up a bit to tease her, but Elise thought he was going to fully uncover the cauldron and so she launched at him using a teleporting spell. Tall trees and vast mountains surrounded the two and above them was a bright, moonlit night yet a starless sky where gray thunderclouds began to form for the coming storm. They teleported outside the cabin as both of them were still at each other’s throats.

Meanwhile, the cauldron’s lid fell and all the souls escaped to freedom. Cliden rushed over the cauldron to close it, but a blinding streak of white light suddenly escaped the cauldron’s mouth. The light was too bright, and it emitted a strong and powerful aura which caused Cliden to take a step back. He suddenly felt weaker, his wounds felt a thousand times more painful, his heart began to pound slower, his bones felt brittle, and his chest felt tighter. Despite the unusual pain he was feeling, he mustered up all the strength left in him to walk towards Viansel. He sat beside her and kissed the back of her hand with one final tear rolling down his scarred cheeks, disappointed for not seeing Viansel smile at him for the last time before he close his moon-like eyes – not knowing when to open them again.

Viansel stirred awake as she felt a stinging and burning pain on her wrist. She found Cliden beside her, yet the alpha was no longer breathing. She screamed out of confusion and agony. She sat right up and tried waking the alpha, but she was in too much pain to even call his name. The burning sensation she felt had spread all over her skin like she was a metal being melted in extreme heat; like a forest dying from wildfire. She held onto Cliden’s cold and pale hands while staring into his dreamy yet lifeless face. The last tears that escaped her hazel eyes before she permanently closed them was not enough to wash out the fire-like pain that was burning her like a paper slowly turning into ashes.

Wounded and incapacitated, Elise was about to enter her cabin; feeling half victorious that she won the fight against Clarence. She turned the knob open but as she was about to step inside with her injured foot, the blinding streak of white light emitted by the cauldron’s mouth sent her flying backwards. She quickly got up on her feet and mustered all her strength to come inside the cabin in order to close the cauldron, hoping to reverse the situation. However, the powerful, bright light turned darker and darker until it became a black streak of darkness which emitted a scary and dangerous ambience. Elise took a step back, afraid of her own creation. Although, she had no idea how the human souls she took from mortals turned into a terrifying darkness.

Injured Clarence was about to attack baffled Elise, but he, too, stopped on his tracks when he saw the bedazzling darkness in front of them. What stupefied them more was when the band of darkness slowly drained the souls of Cliden and Viansel whose bodies were unconscious beside each other. With a tint of brotherly love left in his heart, Clarence rushed over to the lifeless alpha; worried that he might be actually dead. However, just inches before he could touch Cliden, Elise once again casted a teleporting spell and teleported both of them outside the cabin. She did it to save the beta from having his soul drained by the darkness, because once he touched even the tip of the alpha’s hair, he, too, would have been soulless.

“What have you done?!” Clarence exclaimed in anger. Though he was being mean to the alpha earlier, he had no intention of killing him. “You killed them!” he snarled at her scornfully, unaware that Elise just saved his life.

Elise was about to deny the beta’s claims, but she could not think of any explanation to justify herself. Instead, she hurriedly went inside the cabin and the beta quickly followed her lead. A loud and deafening screech welcomed them; the band of darkness was no longer lingering the cauldron’s mouth.

The piercing cry grew louder as they entered the cabin. Clarence did not care about what the sound was, so he went over to the alpha and tried waking him up. Unfortunately, it was hopeless – Cliden was no longer breathing. Clarence, though he was envious of his brother’s position, cared for him. After all, Cliden was the only family he had left who was bold enough to accept his unfriendly nature despite of him being indifferent, and he regretted it – he regretted choosing envy over love.

Meanwhile, Elise discovered that the loud, screeching noise was from a crying baby lying naked inside the cauldron. She glanced at the lifeless princess as she recalled the latter’s command. She could not fathom how the baby survived when the spell failed. Nonetheless, she would raise the baby and keep her promise.

The beta’s loud howl interrupted her out of her thoughts. Just when she was about to take her leave with the baby whom she silenced using magic, a pack of wolves suddenly barged into her cabin along with giant bats, and griffins. Elise was then cornered by griffin guards, unable to move. She badly wanted to leave, but she could not reveal the baby inside the cauldron. Otherwise, it would die before she could even hold it in her arms.

The beings that arrived transformed into their non-animal form which was like that of a human, but with a powerful and dangerous aura. A tall vampire with a black cape and golden crown approached the lifeless princess which was his daughter. With horror written all over the king’s intimidating face, he let out an angry exclamation.

“Who dared harm my daughter?!” King Vernon snarled angrily. His hazel eyes turned red in fury as his gaze darted dangerously at the grieving beta whose hands were wrapped around the lifeless alpha.

Beta Clarence’s eyes masked the hatred he had towards vampires through staring back at the king’s almost blood-red eyes in order to gain his sympathy for the alpha’s demise. However, the king did not trust the deceitful aura Clarence had with him, nor did he care for the lifeless alpha that was lying dead beside his daughter. King Vernon loathed werewolves as much as Clarence despised vampires.

“Greetings, your majesty!” Clarence bowed in respect. “Though you might not believe me, it wasn’t me who harmed your daughter. Our pack’s alpha, my brother, is now lifeless too. If this cabin isn’t suspicious enough, then I suggest you investigate that witch.” He pointed at Elise who was cornered between two griffin guards in front of her cauldron. “It was her, your majesty. I only tried to save my brother when I followed him here. The princess, however, seemed to have had a deal with that witch. It is beyond my knowledge to expand further with that,” he lied. Though, the king did not seem to believe him.

“I agree with you, Beta Clarence,” Aphradon, one of the archons and king of Griffindelle, said. “I believe she was the outlaw who killed a vampire in the mortal world.”

“That is not true!” Elise countered in an offended tone as she is suddenly reminded of the death of her husband and daughter.

“An eagle’s memory is sharper than its eyes,” King Aphradon quoted defensively.

Convinced at Aphradon’s statements, King Vernon darted his piercing glare to Elise. “Capture the witch!” he demanded impatiently.

The griffin guards held both of Elise’s hands as she tried to tell the truth behind what really happened. But the Kings did not listen to her as Beta Clarence had created a more believable story. The griffin guards were about to take her away when a loud screeching noise suddenly emerged from the cauldron – it was the baby! Everyone was startled by the noise. Their expressions grew even more surprised when the cabin’s roof unexpectedly collapsed due to the loud cry. The starless sky above them parted and revealed a giant, red moon. The bloody moon’s light shone over them and turned them into their beast-like form. The werewolves howled like crazy, the vampires flew hysterically, and the griffins roared and screeched as if they were being hypnotized by the red moon’s peculiar appearance.

Consequently, Elise was released from the griffin guards’ grip and took the chance to escape. She whistled and her broom flew straight into her hand’s control. She carefully picked up the crying baby from the cauldron and she placed it gently on her arms as she got ready to fly her broom.

The bloody moon slowly changed back into its normal appearance, dark clouds began to appear, and the beings inside the cabin slowly began to transform back into their non-animal form. Elise then quickly maneuvered her broom out of the cabin. The moon was slowly disappearing as dark clouds began to pour tiny drops of rain while the griffin guards and vampire warriors went after her. She flew faster in order to catch up with the moon’s disappearing light for it was the only way to get out of the immortal realm. She closed her eyes as the baby continued to cry. A vampire warrior threw a spear towards Elise, but before it could struck her, she disappeared along with the moon.

A heavy rain began to pour, and both Elise and the moon was nowhere to be found.