Chapter 64 Darkness Arising
Xander
Something's moving through here again.
The tugging behind my eyelids lets me know that the watcher wards have been activated once more. Things have been quiet for such a long time I almost forgot why we had them put in place at first.
I don't bolt out of my room immediately. I close my eyes and wait, trying to sense the new presence, and it's intent imprinting in my mind.
It's the same feeling as the before; evil, but passing through like it has the right to be here as much as any one of us.
A cold, creepy caress assaults my back, making goosebumps break on my skin, and I jolt, darting my eyes around to make sure I'm still the only one here.
Something is about to happen once again.
What is it this time?
My answer is confirmed in the next moment when I feel Max push through the mind-link. I open the connection, allowing his voice to filter through.
"Xander, we've got a problem at the eastern borders," he announces.
I don't wait for him to utter another word before I'm running through the pack on all fours, wanting to get there as soon as possible.
The sight that greets me is one that's devastating. I shift back into my human form and step closer. Max and a group of four men surround the body which is laid down on top of a wooden stretcher. They step away once they see me.
He was one of us.
What's even more disturbing are the black lines crisscrossing from all the visible parts of his body. His eyes are wide open, mouth agape like he died in a silent scream with no one to hear his cries.
I squat to take a closer look. There are no visible wounds present, no signs of struggling, just... lifelessness.
My jaw clenches so much when I stand over him, I almost break a tooth in the process.
"How did this happen?" I turn to ask, addressing Max directly.
He frowns. "We don't know the details yet but we had only found him like this minutes before you arrived."
I look towards the standing stones, and indeed their lights have dimmed also, but apart from that, they all still look...undisturbed.
I signal for the men to have his body taken away and to be ready for a proper goodbye by his family.
I watch them go until they're no longer in sight.
"This is getting out of hand. We need to do something about this," I say.
Two days later, we had yet to even brainstorm ideas on solutions before it happens again.
It's the same as before - no physical or residual magic traces, and within a week, we have lost about five pack members, and each one had served under my father almost all their lives. They'd been more like family than just serving pack members.
Fear spread through the pack like wildfire at the news, and all attempts to calm them down is almost futile.
I call a closed council meeting consisting of; Elda, Max, Vanessa and I. All other council members are absent due to related pack matters outside the borders.
Max rolls a wide map out on the table, securing each member's location with a red mark.
"This isn't some random attack. These all form a pattern here," Vanessa says and approaches slowly, her eyes fixed on the spots.
She's right. They surround the pack in a broken, circular pattern, each death leading to the next, as if carefully weaving their way into the middle where the mansion itself stands.
Elda stands abruptly, walking around the table, her eyes glow a little brighter as her eyes land on something on the pages.
Without warning, she slaps her palm on the map, and a dark wisp of smoke curls out from the sides, but she barely flinches, all her attention centered on what she's doing.
We all watch her in silence, not daring to look away and miss something crucial.
Time seems to tick by slowly and I'm almost tempted to lift her hand and make her tell us her findings right away.
Time is not on our side at the moment.
Finally, she opens her eyes, the whites now dimming even further.
"This killing isn't one for pure animosity, your Highness.There's a purpose and the reason may not be...good," she speaks.
"I would never expect anything better from this. What did you see, Elda?"
"They're herding, and nudging towards something they want from this territory, your Highness."
"What is it?" I ask impatiently. I don't have time to dance around suspense at the moment.
She hesitates, and slowly turns towards Vanessa. "You. They're waiting for you."
"W-hat? What the hell does that even mean?" Vanessa splutters.
"They've been watching you silently since you'd stepped foot into this territory, and now, they're here to collect what you owe them," Elda replies more cryptically.
A sharp feeling nicks me in my abdomen at the realization that this is something beyond my physical control. I can't lose her like this.
"That makes no sense!" Vanessa says, flapping her hands widely, while mine has gone ice cold, a sudden chill crawling down my spine.
Is this it? Is this what we've been waiting for all this time?
"Is there anything we can to do to prevent them from getting to her?" I ask, anxiously.
Elda shakes her head, a solemn look on her features. "I don't think there's anything can do to stop them at the moment. I'm afraid I can't push them because there will be too many more lives at stake."
"What do we do then? We can't just let them take her away."
Elda looks up at Vanessa. "We break the seal."
"The seal?" Vanessa and I echo.
Elda nods. "It's the only way."
"How do we even do that? Isn't the whole point of sealing it in the first place to get these 'evils' off my back, and not on it?"
Her lips flatten into a thin line. "I'm afraid that's all the options we have left."
I bow my head in defeat. If their purpose has been Vanessa, why go through so many hurdles just to get to this point? Why claim so many innocent lives?
I bang my fists on the table, my body shaking heavily with frustration.
"The Royal council will summon you for a meeting tomorrow. There's been a discussion."
We snap our heads up at the same time.
"Why?"
"After the partial reading the other day, I discovered something on my own. I didn't realize it at the time, but the signs are all clear now."
"Elda..." I trail off.
"Tomorrow, your Highness." She bows and then gone in the next second, leaving us in a more confused state further than we started.