Thank you so much Tee💋. Much love❤️.
CHAPTER 36Ophelia walked through several aisles in the library looking for a clue, hoping an item would trigger something or at least see something that looked like an ancient record-keeping book, hopefully with portraits. She needed to confirm she had not lost her mind.Was there maybe a hidden compartment in the library? She wondered as she broadened her search. She needed to move fast. She snuck out of the house and needed to sneak back in quickly before anyone noticed she was gone.She had grown frustrated as she took a seat and sighed. Living life in constant fear was tiring, and she was lost. She did not know what to do anymore. She hated being a liability and just wanted to be able to look out for herself“The answers you seek are not here,” Ophelia heard. She turned around, confused. Ophelia was all alone in the library. She did not hear anyone come in. It would be impossible to sneak into the library through those massive doors and not get noticed. She shrugged as she cont
CHAPTER 37“Who is Irene?” These three words turned his short moment of bliss into turmoil. “Who is Irene?” He subconsciously mouthed as he fell into a daze. That was the most unexpected question, and he could not think of an appropriate response.He had just placated her and promised not to keep things from her. And the next thing she does is ask a question he could not answer. He was conflicted.“What would be the right response to that question?” Aaron wondered as his thoughts wandered. “Did she remember? Well if she did, she would already know who Irene was, or is, whatever. Which means she does not remember. If that was the case, how much information was safe to share with her? I have to play it safe otherwise, I risk telling her, and if I do, she will not have her full powers when she shifts. Goodness, this is so complicated. What should I do?“Where did you hear that name?” He queried. That was the only plausible thing he could think of to do. At least when she answered, he
CHAPTER 38Wakey! Wakey! Sleepyhead. The cloaked figure said to a still drowsy Ethan. You are going on a little trip outside, my dearest and most esteemed guest. “Where are you taking me to?” Ethan asked as he rubbed his eyes groggily.“To see your men,” the cloaked man replied curtly. Several men walked in and hurled him out of his cell as soon as the cloaked man said that. They went through several flights of stairs before they reached their destination. It did not seem like they took him outside of the premises he was captive in, but then, he was in a cockpit. “Was he under this all along?” he thought as he shuddered. “Why am I here?” he queried but was met with silence as the shackles that bound him were released. Low snarls and growls reverberated through the walls surrounding the arena as another door opened, revealing the faces of his council members. All the members of the Eastern Council lined up as they marched toward the center of the arena.“What was going on?” He won
CHAPTER 39The streets on the outskirts of the West were desolate and deserted. Most of the survivors abandoned their homes and went deeper in. Their properties and their goods lay around in shambles. There were dried bloodstains on the ground, and although there were no bodies, the property damage bore testament to the destruction that had occurred. The state of things looked worse than in the reports. But then again, reports could never hold the weight of their suffering. Reading about it or hearing about it was a lot better than seeing or experiencing it firsthand. I will return your homes and livelihoods, Richard swore. The men Aaron dispatched to the West had arrived, and it was the empty streets and destroyed buildings that welcomed them. So far, there was no proof of life, just the empty, blood-stained streets. “We need to go further into the territory,” Richard said to the warriors.After walking for an unknown period, they got closer to pack lands, thank the gods. It was a
CHAPTET40If what you say is true, I believe the feral attack was a test for them to see how or if they could control them and was also a diversion to throw us off when they started taking them. It would be a perfect coverup for the missing rogues. The council handled it. Smart. How come nobody tried to find out why all the rogues vanished? The last I heard, there were a lot of rogues. We need to investigate everything that has happened from a few decades back, right from before the incident of the feral wolves to this day. Someone must have been covering up for the incidents. But who? It most definitely was from the inside. We have a traitor in our midst.Getting ferals to work together? How? The biggest question hanging over their heads seemed to have an origin. But how could something like this have been on for several years, and they caught no wind of it? It was happening right under our noses. Our structure for handling things has needed reformation for a long time. “Where do t
CHAPTER 41Aaron had buried himself with work right after his argument with Ophelia. His office had returned to its former glory. Other than the fact that the furniture looked brand new, there was no glass shard, broken table, or shelf in sight. It was as if the mess earlier in the day never happened. The cleaners did an exceptional job. “Any news of Richard?” Aaron asked Marcus, who came into the office.“Not yet, Your Highness. The last time he contacted me was when he arrived in the West. He will contact us when he concludes with the mission he will contact us,” Marcus said. “You have buried yourself with work all day. You normally spend this time of day with Ophelia. So, why are you still here? I am sure she must be waiting for you,” Marcus said.The air around Aaron grew uncomfortable. He was visibly agitated. “I am probably the last person she wants to see or be around right now,” Aaron said dejectedly.“Haha, that is impossible,” Marcus said. He halted his laughter as soon as
CHAPTER 42Clutching a sliver dagger, Ophelia matched stealthily up several flights of steps. Taking the two sentries guarding the massive doors that could lead to her freedom off guard, she stabbed them with the silver dagger she held firmly within her grasp. It seems her training was paying off. The last thing she remembered was her argument with Aaron. “That scoundrel,” and leaving the place. The next thing she knew, she was tied up like a criminal. How dare they do something like that to her. She was furious and had only one mission. That was to escape wherever the hell she was. As if her captors were aware of the fact that she was awake, they came in and revealed their pathetic selves to her. She was not the least bit surprised by who her assailants were.It was the asshole that did not deem her worthy of being mates with the monarch. He wanted his daughter to be the queen and not her, some weak wolf. And some other unfamiliar faces that left immediately.“Good to see you are a
CHAPTER 43Aaron was still conversing with Marcus when a sharp pain assaulted him. “What the hell!” he exclaimed as he was momentarily confused. Where is Ophelia? He asked as he stood up abruptly from his seat.Aaron and Ophelia were still linked, which meant he could feel her pain, and right now, she was in a lot of trouble. What in the world was causing his mate pain?” He rushed to the Pierce manor with Marcus in tow.“Where is she?” Aaron asked as he stormed into the house. “I sent Nick to find her so she could join us for dinner. She has been out all day,” Olivia, who was setting the table, responded. “Is something wrong?” She added, noting the look of worry on his fizzog. Where does she often go when she is not home? He queried. “She’s normally with you when she’s out,” Olivia responded. What is going on?“I looked everywhere, and I couldn’t find her. Maybe she’s with her mate,” Nick said as he walked into the house.“We need to find her,” Aaron snarled as he dashed out of th
CHAPTER 63The mist was sudden. One moment, Cayla was with the warriors and the next, everything just vanished. There was a mist that came, and it swallowed everything in its path. It was so silent and pale, blending into the floor and the walls around them as though a spectral fog swallowed sounds, light, and sensations and obscured their senses.Now, she was all alone in unfamiliar territory. Dealing with everything the cave had thrown at them as a group was hard, now she had to do it alone. Could she cope? Where was she?Cayla felt a sharp sting in her chest when she coughed. It was as though her innards were being rattled by something. There was a sharp metallic scent that stung her nose assaulting her senses and making her tongue bitter as though she had tasted something foul, bitter.Her limbs felt heavy as her heartbeat slowed. It was like poison was infiltrating her bloodstream and corroding her organs.“General Cade,” she called, spinning, “Raven? Theo?!” She was searching fo
CHAPTER 62The warriors stood panting, silence wrapped around them like a shroud. The corridor twisted again, the walls closer, and the ceilings lower. If anything were to fall from above this time, they would be unable to dodge in time.The stones beneath their feet felt different. It was like the rough floors in the cave's entrance, not the chambers they were walking in, as stalagmites protruded from underfoot. The floors dipped and buckled beneath them.They reached a new chamber and this time, nobody was willing to move first. They stared at it from a distance with furrowed brows. Unlike the other chambers which had only one direction, this moved in two directions, and they could choose which chamber to enter, Cayla stared contemplatively and suggested, “Maybe we should split up. One half should go to the left and the other to the right.”Emperor Wudivra stared at her with a scowl, “There will be no splitting up. We’re not here to explore, we're here to find something, so we stic
CHAPTER 61The ground had caved inwards, taking them with it as shrieks of horror filled the air, and the only other sound was the grinding of distant gears.They fell for an unknown period before they finally landed on hard ground. Their figures were caked in dust as they coughed and heaved. Their eyes soon adjusted to their new environment. The lights lit up in this chamber, and they did not need to carry torches.The corridors were wide, and beyond them were bronze statues. Dozens of them, knight figures carved, each holding a weapon. At first, they looked decorative, but Cayla knew better. “Trap statues,” she whispered, “Probably motion triggered.” “That’s not possible. We just left the chamber of physical traps. We have never faced the same thing twice,” a warrior scoffed.“We did not leave the chamber of traps. We fell below the chamber we were in, so it is safe to assume that Cayla may be right,” General Cade interjected. Another warrior scoffed and moved forward, “They are
CHAPTER 60The stone door closed behind them and echoed loudly through the cavern and down their bones. A dull thud reverberated through the cave walls, throwing a dull vibration under their feet. The dust settled like an ancient breath as the torchlight flickered against the stone. Emperor Wudivra stood at the forefront of the group with his torch held high, his silhouette outlined by the golden flames of the fire that blazed in the darkness. The chamber stretched out before them, vast, looming, and silent. This space felt empty without logic, structure, or pattern. It was not like the previous chamber where the warriors had solved puzzles.This room was without markings or engravement on the walls or stone statues. There was a massive boulder ahead that seemed to hold a mechanical tool. It looked like a lever. If they pulled it, they would cross over or at least have a direction in this vast space of nothingness. With that thought in mind, Emperor Wudivra took a step forward, an
CHAPTER 59Cave of the Gods: Cryptic Symbols.The heavy air inside the cave seemed to press down on Cayla and her group as they ventured deeper into the cavern. They had just finished with the riddles, and a path opened for them. They were curious about what the cave had in store for them. They had only survived the first round.Their footsteps echoed in the silent hallway as they avoided the stalagmites protruding from below the cave. Their steps were the only sound from the water dripping in soft puddles from the stalactites above. Their torches flickered against the cold stone walls, casting long shadows around them that seemed to stretch and move with life. The cave was vast, its chambers filled with various wonders and dangers. It was clear to Cayla that this place had been untouched for millennia, and they wondered how it looked when the gods were in this plane. The statues seemed ancient, each crack and crevice on the stone walls telling a story from a time past. But it wasn’
CHAPTER 58They stepped forward together, and as they did, the stone plaque illuminated, revealing the first riddle carved into its surface."I cannot talk, but I always reply when spoken to. I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have nobody, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?"The emperor’s mind raced. The answer was just beyond his reach, like a word on the tip of his tongue, but it wasn’t coming to him. He glanced at the general, whose gaze was fixed on the inscription, as his fingers tapped against his chin.“I know this one,” he said, his voice steady. “It’s an *echo*. It speaks without a mouth and hears without ears because it reflects sound. And it comes alive when the wind carries the sound to bounce off surfaces. Just like the waterfall echoes around this cave.”The emperor nodded, impressed by his swift deduction. The general recalled the words that eluded. “Echo. That’s the answer.”The general stepped forward, placing his hand on the plaque. The stone sh
CHAPTER 57THE CAVE OF GODS: RIDDLE OF PASSAGE The entrance to the Cave of the Gods loomed before the emperor and his group. The air had grown heavy with the scent of damp earth and ancient stone. Ahead was a distant echo of dripping water, a waterfall maybe, that was reverberating through the dark cavern. That should be the location of the herb they came searching for.The cave’s jagged mouth appeared like the gaping mouth of an ancient creature or extinct beast. It was too big to be a creature they knew. But that was to be expected. It was the cave of the gods. The cave entrance did not look like it had been a natural formation etched into the mountainside. However, it seemed like it had been molded and half-hidden by thick vines and moss. But over time, it molded perfectly with the scenery.They would call it beautiful if it did not threateningly loom over them. There was an edgy feeling. Beyond the mouth of the cave lay something eerie and dangerous. No one knew what awaited them
CHAPTER 56The moon gently bathed the warriors in its ethereal glow as they emerged from the desert and appeared above the foot of the mountain. It’s gentle light cascading down the canopy of trees.The warriors released ragged breaths they did not realize they were holding. The last few days had been tough, but now, they were tired and weary. They looked around them to confirm if they made it across that treacherous desert. Their armor was battered and worn. They were gaunt and weary from the horrors they had endured, their faces marked by the scars of the horrendous battle they had fought. Their numb arms felt the weight of their weapons. They had endured so much, and yet somehow, they survived.Was this real? Or was this the desert playing tricks on them? Were they really out of the woods, or was this another torture conjured by the gods?They looked around and panicked. There was a hint of fear and trepidation in their expressions. It was safe to say they had been mortified, and
CHAPTER 55 They had finally made it to the caves. The rest of the warriors, whose flesh was turning to sand, gradually became normal. Being on the sand was turning them into sandmen. The weight of the revelation was heavy and unsettling. How could they escape? It was no wonder the leader of the sandman said they would not leave without a toll. Now that their numbers had further reduced, they did not know what would happen next. The apprehension weighed deeply in their chest. Did they want to know what lay further out there? Cayla had expended a lot of energy and needed the reprieve. She found a corner at the corner of the cave and lay down to rest. The silence was hanging in the air as the remaining survivors replayed the day's happenings. Cayla curled up against the cold, damp stone wall of the cave. Trying to quiet her breath for an unknown period. The echoes of the desert battle still rang in her ears, the roar of the sandstorms, the shrill cries of the dying warriors, the