ITHRA“Stand back,” Zadok said in a low voice.His eyes focused on the sleeping Boar while mine remained on the book. “I need to get the book. I’ll be quiet.” I said, and without waiting for a reply, walked towards the beast with steady steps. Before I could take one step, Zadok dragged me back by the arm. “Are you stupid?!” he whisper-yelled. “Or are you trying to get yourself killed?”“Leave me alone,” I replied in a hushed tone. “It’s asleep. I’ll just get the book, and we will be off.”I made to move, and he held me back, much to my frustration. “You know what?” He said, holding his forehead in an exasperated manner. “Just stay back. I will get it myself.”It was my turn to hold him back. “What do you mean?” I asked in a hushed tone, picking offence. “I am more than capable of handling it.”“We don’t have time for this, Ithra,” Zadok said in a slightly raised voice. “I’ll quickly get it, and we will be on our way.”I didn’t hear what he was saying. My eyes widened to the size
ZADOKI watched with horror as Ithra charged at the boar from behind, holding a sharpened wood. She was trying to kill herself!The boar noticed her as soon as she got closer and turned around with agility. Scared for her life, I charged at the boar from behind, hoping to get its attention away from Ithra to enable her to run away, but to no avail. They were far too gone to stop. Ithra went face to face with the boar, tightly holding a sharpened wood in her right hand. Her face was taut, and I could see determination coursing through her. It happened so fast. Within a second, Ithra jumped into the air and stuck the beast at the centre of the head using her makeshift knife. My eyes went wide when I saw blood pour from the head of the boar. It tumbled to the floor and breathed its last.I couldn’t believe it. Ithra did it. She took on the darned beast and won! My heart was relieved, and joy sprang instead of the horror I’d felt - one that knew no bounds. Ithra looked at the boar w
ITHRA“Don’t be silly,” I stated, pushing my hair to the back of my ear. I took in the dark waters before me and felt my heart shrink in fear. “Yes, you are,” Zadok said, scrutinising me with his eyes. “Is there a reason why?”“I said I am alright!” My words came out harsher than intended. He raised his hands in mock surrender and said, “No need to bite. I was only making sure.” Zadok walked ahead without sparing me a glance. I could tell he was offended. I couldn’t find it within me to care. As a child, they warned against getting close to water. The only thing that could neutralise a Celts witch’s power was water - water in its large body. Thankfully, I never experienced the horror of what water could do to a Celt’s witch, seeing I didn’t have powers. But I was no stranger to what it could do to a witch. I once watched a witch get traumatised by a mere hallucination of an ocean conjured by a witch as an attempt at a joke. There, my mother placed a ban on casting such a spell
ITHRA I relaxed on the tree and finished off the remains of my roasted meat. I couldn’t lie. Zadok was one hell of a cook. It made me wonder just how many things he excelled in. My eyes raked over his sturdy back as he stood watch a few metres away from me. He felt my gaze and said without glancing back, “Done having dinner?” He stated. “Yes, thank you.” I find myself replying. We shared a moment of silence before I spoke again. “Do you plan on staying there all night long?” “Someone’s got to keep watch.” He answered with a shrug. “You can go to bed.” I resist the urge to say something rude. “If you are staying awake, why can’t I?” A brief and tired sigh left Zadok’s lips. For the first time, I saw his shoulders sag. How tired was he? “I don’t have enough strength to bicker with you, Ithra.” He said, finally turning around. “Go to bed already. We have a long day ahead.”
ZADOKI sat in the throne room with my parents, playing with the hourglass I stole from the witch’s lair. “Daddy, how much time do I have before I begin training to be alpha?” I asked, genuinely interested in his answer. “Oh, Zadok, eager to displace your daddy, aren’t we?” Mum said with a soft smile. “He’ll make a perfect Alpha, love. I can tell just by looking at him.” Daddy said with a proud look on his face. “Gatria said I can begin my training after getting my wolf.” I pouted, “Why can’t I begin the training now so that when I transform into my wolf, I’ll have more power to control it.” That caused my parents to burst into a fit of laughter. “Oh, Zadok, you don’t control your wolf. You partner with him.” My mom said between laughs. “But you said I can only partner with my mate,” I dropped the hourglass on the floor and looked up, “Why do I need to partner with my wolf when I have my mate?” “Oh dear, he asks a lot of questions.” Father huffs, “I’ll leave you both to it, oka
ITHRAZadok took out his blade, ready to fight. “Get behind me.” He hissed, eyes focused on our newfound mutual enemy. I took out my blade and thanked God for Zadok, who thought it wise to pick them up earlier. I couldn’t imagine being in this situation with nothing to defend ourselves. “We need to go south,” Zadok said to my hearing, our backs touched as we prepared for the battle. “No matter what, make sure you don’t get hurt.” I nearly rolled my eyes at his insinuation. “I can take care of myself.” I brisked, “Just focus on getting us out of here.” “I don’t care what happens,” A slash of Zadok’s sword split a scorpion in half. “You must protect yourself first.” He said, “And that’s an order!”I didn’t bother to reply to that. I was too busy with the influx of scorpions that seemed to multiply by the minute. Maintaining close distance from Zadok, I killed every scorpion, leaving dead bodies in my wake. Zadok wasn’t doing too bad. He was doing beautifully. I almost got distract
ITHRAI rushed to Zadok with my heart beating fast. “Open your eyes!” I held him and placed his head on my lap. “Don’t even think about dying on me.”His eyes fluttered open, and blood gushed from his head down to his face. “Ithraa,” He said, breathing heavily. It was a struggle for him to breathe. “Shush,” I said, “Just stay with me. Let’s get you out of here.” His mouth was slightly open, and I could tell he wanted to say something, but I didn’t let him. Without further interference, I helped him up to his feet. Damn, he was heavy! He put his weight on me, and there I noticed something odd. His clothes were soaked. Instinctively, I raised his clothes and noticed a gash on his stomach. Blood dripped from the wound, and I contemplated putting him down and searching for some herbs to stop the blood. “Don’t. Find a place. Let’s get out of here.” Zadok wheezed, “You’re bleeding!” I spoke like it was news to him, panicking. “It’ll heal.” He said, “This place,” He coughed, “this fo
ITHRAI returned to a barely alive Zadok and immediately fed him the fruits. As I fed the fruits to him, I prayed to the heavens above that I wasn’t wrong with my administration. I remember watching my mother boil the fruits, pound them and administer the content after drawing out its nutrients using water. With our current predicament, we didn’t have such luxury. I gave Zadok the fruits raw and hoped that would help while I got to creating a fire to roast another batch. My snake bite burned like fire, but I didn’t let it distract me. I put some fruits in my mouth for the poisonous effects of the snake bite and went on to put on a fire in the cave. It took a while, and eventually, the fire burned. The cave glowed with a fiery red tone. I returned to Zadok, using my mediocre skills to assess the extent of damage. Thankfully, his breath evened and gone was his previous laboured breathing. He was still unconscious, but I hoped he wouldn’t die. While roasting the fruits, I thought a