Chapter 137 137. The Real Risk

Chapter 137 137. The Real Risk
The Wriaths slowly returned to Thorne Castle. Not all came back. Malachi was pacing; he himself had not thought this would happen. He needed to talk to Drake and Isoldes, as they had told Cassius they needed to speak with him. But right now they were in a guest room with Lydia. She was alive but very injured.  

She had not been burned, nor had she been at her home when the attack happened. The blood coating her when she arrived with Cassius wasn't just hers; she had tried to help one of the friends she had made, a mundane woman who was very much an inspiration to Lydia.  

From her, Isolde and Drake learned that the attack on the mundanes had not been limited to the border but had spread throughout the city. Dragons made both Isolde and Drake worried that there was more than one creature out there. No wielders, just dragons and a few other creatures. It worried them.  

"Come now!" Malachi yelled into Isolde's mind. "You stay here, Lydia; we will be back," Isolde said to her friend, but Lydia grabbed her hand. "Elliot was in the city, Isolde; you have to find him." She said. Isolde couldn't do that; she was now in something so much deeper, and she couldn't just find her best friend's boyfriend. "Please, Isolde."  

"Lydia, I can't now, but trust me, his family is wealthy; they will remove him from the city for no other reason than his safety." She didn't tell Lydia that would only be the case if he was alive or not injured. If Elliot were injured, they would pay whatever remaining medical officials there were to heal him. But if he was dead already, which chances were about fifty-fifty, then Isolde couldn't do anything.  

Lydia said she only survived the attack because she could wield craft; mundane couldn't do that, and Isolde didn't know what to make of it. "NOW!" Malachi yelled in her mind. "Come on, Drake. Malachi needs our report." She said, taking Drake's hand, and the two of them went to the dining room. They saw the holes at the table; some Wraiths were gone, either dead or captured.  

The majority had either survived or escaped today, but some hadn't. They both took their seats. "What do you know, Cassius said. You two went to the mundane world; what was the news?" Drake was the one who explained and brought up what Lydia said. Malachi looked positively evil upon hearing it was creatures. When Isolde explained that it was probably creatures that had snuck into the nexus building, Malachi banged on the table in rage.
"Isolde, come, we need to speak." He stood and left the others at the table. Isolde hesitated for a moment, looking at Drake, who nodded. Once alone, Malachi turned to her. She didn't understand why he needed to talk to her about anything in private. After all, she had been in a coma for the last year.  

"Did you know I can't mind-control creatures?" He said, looking at her.  

"I don't know if it's because I can't speak their language once they're creatures and more beast than man, or if they are immune. We need to find out if you can."  

"I don't understand?"  

"You and Drake are split tongue, and you can mind manipulate; you might be able to."  

"I need you to take Drake and capture one of the creatures and find out if you can. We can fight Nexus all day, probably win even, but against creatures, if they have the numbers..." He shook his head, then added: "We could all die."  

"But I mean, sir, aren't they all kind of loaners, I mean..."  

Malachi cut her off. "No, they were not just hunted to keep our society a secret from the mundanes. That is a lie; this is one of the things I hate the Nexus has done. They are a threat to everyone and were hunted because of it. Of course, the public couldn't know it would cause chaos, which you yourself said was bad, and so the lie was spread that, while they were not so dangerous, they risked our exposure to the mundanes. It made it easy for people to back the hiring of hunters."  

Isolde stood there confused but also surprised by the news. She still didn't know how Ashford, or if it was him, was pushing the creatures; it still didn't make sense- his objective. Malachi clearly wanted power, and more freedom without restrictions from the Nexus, which she could understand, but what were Ashford's motives? Why attack the mundanes at all?  

Not to mention, if he was in league with creatures that were supposed to be extinct, how and why? What purpose did they serve besides being dangerous and deadly? "Creatures are inherently dark, Isolde. They are dark beings born from darkness and the worst traits; they are especially dangerous to those who can't fight them with dark craft because regular craft doesn't compute with their nature."  

Isolde nodded but didn't understand what she could really do. She was just one person. "I need you to find a creature, bring it back here, and we need to see what your mind manipulation can do to it. I need to see what you can do. That is your objective. Take Drake with you, but you need to bring it back here. We are in limited time here. You can go first thing in the morning, but you have to get one so we can see if there is a way to control them; if not, we need to rethink everything."  

Isolde was stunned; Malachi actually seemed scared, and that scared her more than anything. He was a power-hungry maniac, yet he was now scarred. "If we can't figure out a way to control them, this fight won't be to take over the Nexus and gain power; it will be a fight to survive for every wielder, and the mundanes, well, they will be extinct most likely."  

Isolde gulped at the words. This was bad, worse than bad. "Now we are going to go back to the meeting. You will not look scared or concerned. Tomorrow you will leave and bring any creature you can back here as soon as possible." Isolde nodded, listening to her old teacher.