Chapter Seven: A Clash With History

"Trouble is coming," Larissa the witch said, her voice mirroring the emotions on her face. Dread, shame, and anger. She abandoned her position by the window and came to stand before Xavier. "They have escaped," she whispered. The urgency in her voice caused confusion on the beta and gamma as they exchanged glances with a frown.

Xavier, unaffected by her sudden utterances went over to his desk to take a seat. He leaned back on his chair and watched the witch silently. 

"Meaning?" He asked.

Larissa sighed, deeply irritated with his calm demeanor. She turned to face him. "You know what I mean Xavier."

"That isn't an answer to my question, witch," he bit out, his eyes darkening in the process, "and it's alpha to you." A growl escaped from his throat by the time he was done talking. Zain shifted his weight in discomfort while Ezekiel looked away. Xavier was always good at controlling his emotions, especially when it came to dealing with someone like Larissa, but now, he couldn't even keep his annoyance hidden.

Larissa rolled her eyes and straightened up, her lips pursed and hair floating about her. "The witch coven," she began, "the one I'd been monitoring for the past centuries…suddenly disappeared. I can't find them." Her eyes dimmed significantly, shame swimming in between as she continued, "I didn't think it would be possible for them to migrate anywhere else, but I was wrong. Now they are free, the witch's community is tensed up and it's only a matter of time before word reaches the council of witches…"

"I don't get it. Aren't they regular witches like you?" Zain asked in confusion. He didn't understand how that could create a fuss.

"And couldn't you just find them? You're all witches, you vanish and appear all the time, it's kinda like your thing," he shrugged.

Larissa turned to face Zain, annoyed for being called regular.

"First of all, I'm not a regular witch, I'm more powerful. Second, the witch coven I'm talking about aren't regular ones either. Lastly, they cannot be found easily!" She glared at Zain and continued, "shentukas can only be found whenever they want to be found." Larissa watched Zain for a while, then concluding that he had no more stupid questions to bother her with, she turned back to Xavier.

"What are shentukas?" Zain asked before Larissa could say anything else. Larissa cursed mentally. She felt her irritation level rise as she turned and snapped at the gamma. 

"This isn't the time for stupid questions wolf!"

"I don't ask stupid questions witch! You just give stupid answers," Zain said in a crisp voice much to Larissa's annoyance. Ezekiel patted him on his back in a bid to calm him down. No one could really keep their emotions in check when dealing with the witch.

Larissa sighed as she rubbed her face in exhaustion, her lips forming a thin line. "The shentukas are a coven of witches of the highest level of evil and darkness. They are under no authority like the rest of us are under the witch's council, therefore, they are the most dangerous witches," she explained in a tired tone. 

"They are also called the soulless. They have no souls. They suck the souls of supernaturals not because they need it, but because they can. They were created centuries ago, during the dark era of Seelz. A group of witches defied the lockdown order and strayed away from the protective territory of the witches. They were eventually consumed by the excessive darkness and evil in the realm and became the Shentukas. Powerful and evil, and years after the dark era, I was appointed to watch over them," she concluded her narration. She glared fiercely at Zain, as if daring him to throw another question.

"So you lost sight of the most evil witches in the world? Some powerful witch you are," scoffed Zain. Larissa felt her left eye twitch involuntarily as she hissed, "watch it wolf! I am a powerful witch, but that doesn't mean I control whatever happens in this world!" Her fiery red hair had risen a few inches above the ground, a sure sign of her rising temper.

In an attempt to lessen the tension, Ezekiel quietly asked, "didn't these shentukas disappear more than five hundred years ago? Why are we hearing about them again?"

"They did from the rest of the supernatural world, but not from the witches. They never really died. They were just too weak to do anything…or so we thought."

"How do I not know any of this?" Zain asked, looking from Ezekiel to Larissa. Such a big and important history and he wasn't aware. "That's because you're a pup," replied Ezekiel, half mocking. "I'm more than four centuries old. I'm not a pup," he argued glaring at the beta, who looked passively at him. Grumbling, Zain moved away from the beta and leaned sulkily on the wall to his left.

Meanwhile, Larissa had returned her full attention to Xavier. He had been seating silently throughout their discussions. His thoughts were somewhere else as he ignored Larissa's presence.

She placed her palms flat on the desk and leaned forward to catch his attention, "we're all in danger." Alas, Xavier remained silent. His eyes seemed to look through the witch's form, like she was a frail piece of transparent film. He was obviously not interested in talking. "Do you not see the urgency in this?!" She frowned. "We have to figure out a way to find them…"

Xavier raised a brow at her words before asking, "they disappeared more than five centuries ago from my realm and now, they've escaped under the surveillance of the witches, haven't they? So how does this concern me?"

Larissa's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She watched Xavier for long seconds, trying to process the situation. Did she hear Xavier right? Did he really mean that he won't help? 

"What?" She asked in disbelief.

"They escaped under your watch, so that's your problem. You find them on your own, and take care of them on your own. You will not have me go on a fruitless search for dark entities, thereby risking my entire pack. We already have enough problems here to deal with, so I don't plan on having a witch hunt as one of them. This issue does not concern me," Xavier said with a tone of finality.

He got up to leave the study room, as his word was the end of the discussion for everyone.

Larissa shook her head severally, not accepting the situation, "you must be joking Xavier?" He must be. "You are, right?!!!"

Xavier stopped beside her and replied in a flat voice, "I don't do jokes." But Larissa moved to stand in his way, anger and stubbornness in her eyes. 

"What do you think you're doing?! This also concerns you. We're talking about the most dangerous witches in history! They couldn't have disappeared just like that. There has to be a reason, and that is to destroy anything that is connected to the supernatural realm. It's my fault I didn't see it sooner, I could be blamed for it, and I accept my mistake but I cannot find a solution alone!"

While she was talking, Xavier's temper was quickly rising. He didn't appreciate being blocked in his way, especially by this witch. His low growl cut off her next sentence and he bit out, "save your acknowledgment of mistakes for your witch council. If you want help, ask them for it and not me. Like I said, this does not concern me. Now get out of my way!" 

Xavier pushed her aside, knocking her to the ground, as he headed for the door. Ezekiel and Zain quickly following behind. 

Xavier's eyes were darker now and a vein throbbed in his head. He thought they were to discuss a major matter, but all they did was argue on pointless bits of history Xavier detested. History that he'd known all too well, and wished to forget. He was done entangling himself in matters of the rest of the supernatural world. All that mattered to him was his pack, so the rest of the world could burn to ashes.

A low, mocking chuckle rose from behind their backs, but Xavier ignored it as he headed for the door. The witch could see herself out.

"Well Xavier, it would concern you by the time those shentukas get here. It would be their first target. This pack you used your sweat and blood to build, would become a pack of soulless bodies. You will be punished for your mistakes as you watch them annihilate your only source of ego. Everything you've worked for would become a pile of rubble. They would wipe them off the supernatural world, and do you know the best part? They'll start with you!"