ITHRAI couldn't forget the look in his eyes when he dropped me off. Disappointment, frustration and something I couldn't quite lay my hands on. For the past three days, I've been here. Locked up in the dark and starved of food or water. For some reason, despite being badly wounded and empty, I was still alive and breathing through it all. Did I regret what I did? Not the littlest bit. If Zadok was anything like Sollel described him to be, he would agree with me too. I doubt he was anything like the poor girl described, seeing I was still here, serving punishment for something that was not my fault. “I can hear your brain wheels turning, what on god's name are you thinking, witch?” I heard the voice of my prison mate and nearly let out a sigh. As if getting locked up and starved wasn't enough, I ended up with a talkative wolf roommate. “I wonder why you are not dead yet.” he continued, “Has Alpha Zadok gone slack on his life's goal to eradicate every witch on earth or is he ta
ZADOK“I’ll give you another chance to tell me who you are, Ithra.” I said into her ears, enjoying the look of horror in her eyes.“Not that I do not know, but I'd like to hear you say it…” I spun the witch band in my pinkie finger. “Who are you and what is your real motive for entering my territory?” Ithra gulped and it was the most attractive thing I've ever seen in my life. Focus, Zadok. Focus. I shook my head, trying to get the odd thoughts away. Ithra remained silent, an act that didn't go down well with me. I thought that by now, she would have learned her lesson about crossing me.“You must feel very confident.” She croaked, surprising me.Her voice wasn't the sweet and sultry one I'd come to know her for. It sounded parched, broken and overused. Why did she sound like that? “Unlocking that band has got to be the stupidest thing you've done since the beginning of your existence, Zadok” She said, eyeing me warily. I saw through her act. Behind the tough girl persona, was
ITHRAI could count the ribs on my stomach. That's about how much I lost weight since my sentence one week ago. “Keep moving, witch!” A guard said from behind me, harshly poking me with a stick, “we don't have all day.”What he meant to say was that he didn't have all day. Because I clearly wasn't in a hurry to return to that godforsaken farm.I moved my feet faster, ready to return to the farmland I had been working for the past one week. Every day since the last time Zadok visited me, I was escorted by a wolf guard to the pack farm where I laboured all day, picking out weeds in the hot sun.For a pack that eats a lot of meat, I wondered why they had a farm. And a very big one at that. Everyday, people came from the kitchen to pick out their produce for the day, not forgetting to send me a nasty snarl every single time. When we got to the farm, the guard left me to the hands of another, who immediately urged me to begin my duty, while keeping an eye on me. I proceeded to my job,
ITHRA Not a day passed without a dream about the dark forest. Ever since the caped lady visited the farm, every waking moment was spent with thoughts of the dark forest.So much so that I felt a part of me was there, waiting for me to come. With the alarming increase of my dreams about the dark forest, I became a shadow of myself. If I was looking bad before, then I looked terrible at the moment. Dragging myself to the farm, I contemplated how to get to the dark forest. I didn't know where it was located, neither did I know how to leave this place. I didn't even have powers to help myself out there if peradventure, I left on my own. It was an impossible mission. I toiled on the farm, calculating my odds if I was to get an opportunity to leave this deserted place. The dark forest didn't scare me anymore. Infact, I was certain nothing would happen if I stepped foot in the forest. Call it an intuition, but I was convinced that the dark forest wouldn't harm me. Infact, I develope
ITHRA Her smile widened and my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Enchantress Sarai!” I got on my knees, and she placed a palm on my shoulder, urging me up. “Get up, Ithra. You have a long journey ahead of you.” She said, and I got up. Sarai was the most powerful enchantress to have crossed the earth. She was the witch who created the Celts forcefield and according to legend, she wasn't found after she conjured the spell.Some said she was defeated by the powerful spell while others said she was cast into abyss for conjuring such great magic.I couldn't believe I was seeing her.“Sarai, what happened? How are you here? Have you been here all along?”“Listen to me,” her voice was desperate. “ I don't have much time. You must not allow them to win. You must stay true to who you are.”Her voice faded as she spoke, as well as her body.“Sarai! What is going on?” I panicked, I couldn't see her anymore.“Just LISTEN!” Her voice echoed. “No matter what, you must go to the dark for
ITHRA “The dark forest mountains retain the power to give and restore a witch's power.”I reread those lines with shock, cleaning my eyes every now and then. This must be a set up too. I turned around, checking for the odd herbalist who thought it wise to play tricks on me. However, she was nowhere to be found. I looked around the hut, turning out back in search for her all to no avail. I was left alone. With a new found determination, I shut the door behind me and return to the book with fresh eyes. This time around, one thing stood out to me. Everything written on the page remained on the ancient witch's code safe for the last paragraph. Which read, “the dark forest mountains retain the power to give and restore a witch's power.”Goosebumps wash over my body as I recite the line in my head. I could feel my spirit connect to the book. It felt like the line was written just for me. ‘Legend says it's been locked by the ancient witches and can only be read by one they permit…’S
ZADOK It's been two weeks. Two weeks of defending my territory and killing every rogue that forgot what awaited anyone that crossed me or my territory. I returned to my office with Azriel after taking a pit stop at Shilhi's in order to restock my potions. Due to the recent events, I allowed my wolf to have total control of my body, and as expected, he rained carnage on everything that threatened his dominance. Now however, we were in the pack lands, and the last thing I wanted was my people getting hurt by the Alpha that ought to protect them.I felt Kir growl at my words but I didn't care. Without hesitation, I threw back two bottles of my potion, and waited for it to take effect.“I just reached Athaliah. Morgan has been discharged and is back in shape.” Azriel reported, “That's good.” I nod in approval, “and Ithra?” “You mean the witch?” I rolled my eyes, “get her in front of me by dinner. It's about time we wrapped things up.” “Yes Alpha.”******I sat in the throne room
ZADOK “Is this a joke? What do you mean I attacked her?” Ithra spoke immediately, causing Sollel to shrink. “Fix your tone, Ithra.” I warned, not enjoying the sight of Sollel looking scared of her. “She is lying!” She pointed at Sollel, “why would you lie against me?”“Enough.” I muttered, already feeling an headache.“Why on earth would I charge at a wolf in such a public place? I might be anything, but I'm not stupid to curse you out in the face of your people, Zadok.” The entire room got three times hotter than normal. I knew she didn't just address me by my name, and that in front of my subjects. “ENOUGH.” I hit the handle of my throne, causing a reverberating sound to fill the air. “Henceforth, you only talk when you are spoken to. And this is the last time you utter my name with such disregard. Am I clear?” Silence. Oh this witch wanted to test me. Kir was at the brink of my skin, ready to take over at the slightest provocation. “Yes Alpha.” She finally said, breathing h