CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE: WHAT KIND OF TRICKERY IS THIS?
Kiera –
I stood there watching Malcolm taunt and laugh at me. No Denison can laugh at me and stay alive because I'm a royal alpha wolf. It is beyond my comprehension why this obnoxious human would stand there laughing. The fear of my wrath should have him shaking.
Groar –
“Attempt to kill Malcolm if you dare, he's a formidable opponent. He will kill you little wolf, if I haven’t killed you first.”
Kiera –
With a growl, I charged towards Malcolm, aiming for his neck. What kind of trickery is this? When I bite into his neck, it fades like the mist of fog hovering above the lake in the morning. I hear Groar roar with laughter as if he was watching slapstick comedy.
Anger welled up from the fire pit that was boiling from deep inside of my gut. I started chewing on the hardened scales of the black dragon. I would dig my way to his heart and eat it. I could feel Ashina pulling through trying to shift. I needed to kill this dragon. It cannot think of living after disrespecting me.
Ashina would not pull back and reluctantly I knew I had to give in, as Malcolm was not here to kill, and that was our ultimate goal.
Ashina –
“Kiera give me back control NOW! That is not Malcolm! It is just a hologram of him. Give me back control or when this war is over, I will not shift for a month! Do you understand me, Kiera!’
Kiera – “Alright, don’t be so touchy! I just wanted to eat dragon heart for dinner is all.”
Ashina –
The moment Kiera leapt into the air; she shifted back into my human form. Without thinking, I jumped off Groar once more, falling headfirst into awaiting death if I did not possess magic. In other words, Groar's illusion was a decoy of Malcolm, not Malcolm himself. There was no point in wasting my time.
It was as if the air changed as Groar flew quickly after me. By creating a cushion of air below, I created a landing platform. Taking these precautions was to prevent my wolf and I from dying or being seriously injured. In the distance, I saw my mother and several witches shooting electric bolts at Groar. A stench of burnt dragon talons filled the air as they continued to hit Groar. My pursuers were not deterred by this. Without the witches below helping me, I am sure I would have been a very unsatisfactory snack for Groar.
The eyesight of wolves is something humans could only envy if they knew about it. Thus, I could see far below with a hurting heart. My cheeks were stained with tears as I watched the dragon, I once loved to cry over his mate.
No longer did I love Cadma like a mate would. The pain in his heart was evident, as he hoped his mate would survive. Before now, I had never understood what love was. I now realize the pain I caused my mate by wanting to reject him, leaving him behind. Now I want him by my side, and if we die, we will die in each other's arms, meeting the moon goddess hand in hand.
Cadma shields Olivia from the chaos around us all with his wings. It was urgent for the dragon medics to mend Olivia's wing, as otherwise she might not be able to fly again. That could kill a dragon's mentality, causing it to fall into a depression cavern. This would also weaken the dragon physically if a battle occurred.
Softly upon the air cushion I land on two feet. Turning my attention to Groar, anger overwhelming me as I see the illusion of Malcolm taunting us, ridiculing us below. What a coward to not be here to fight us in person.
Pop, Pop, Pop, BANG!! As if my hands were automatic rifles, my hands continuously produced fireballs. As I shout to the other witches, “Let us together disintegrate this dragon once and for all!”
With our combined energies, we burst like lightning striking a target, and the dragon turned into a storm of black hail that pelted us. Suddenly, we were surrounded by tiny fragments of groar falling to the ground.
There was a strong smell of blood and ash in my nose from my poor pack, my allies. It was so tragic to see so many people die.
Yelling into my earpiece, “get some warriors to pick up the dead and bring the dead to a central location out of the way of the war. We will be giving these warriors funerals for a king once we take back the kingdom!”
Dean –
Following Ashina's command, I sent several pack members caught up in t
he wars from this kingdom to collect the dead. "Come here, you are over there. During the process of collecting the dead, we will shield you from harm." A group of burly bearded men ran to pick up the bodies, clearing them from the battlefield so they could be buried later.
Ashina -
As I watched necks being bitten and bled from invisible sources, I became increasingly alarmed. My chant went: “All those who cannot be seen, let the leaves paint you green, so the invisible will appear and fight us visibly, not like cowards in fear!” I didn’t state I was good at chanting, but this worked. Vampires and other invisible creatures can now be killed. There were witches and vampires from the allied side attacking the rebel forces, and they were now winning the day.
Turning as I felt a tap on my shoulder, I was startled and jumped slightly. Only to see my mother handing me a warty green frog.
“Mother? What is this?” I looked at my mother trying not to take the frog.
“Ashina it is your mate, I thought I would return him to you.”
Ashina –
Do you ever feel like you are part of a sick comedy, like Bewitched with Samantha's mother constantly picking on her husband Darren? In that moment, I felt the same way. Why does she continue to torment my mate?
“Mother! Turn him back now!”
“Ashina couldn’t we just leave him this way a little longer? I so like your mate like this.”
“NO! Mother we are at war, and his skills are greatly valued at this point! Besides you need to respect Andor, he is my mate! Now TURN HIM BACK!”
In a grimace and a pout, my mother looked like a child. My mother's ability to run a kingdom was beyond my comprehension. As I growled at my mother for her sluggishness, my mother huffed and with just a snap of her fingers, Andor was back, naked as ever. My gaze only focused on him as he stood before me growling. During that time, I discovered that I had been naked since my last shift. Without any thought, I had been fighting naked. Since shifters are beasts, it's not uncommon to see them naked.
Alpha males are more possessive than the regular wolf and they would kill someone for looking at what is theirs. With the snap of my fingers, I had Andor, and I both freshly dressed.
A guttural roar caught my attention, as it belonged to a male child. His golden hair rivaled the sun if it had been shining. Fear took over my being, it was Gandor my kid brother and he had just been stabbed with a sword. Time slowed as I ran watching him fall to the ground drenched in his own blood.