"You can see it!?"
"You don't?"
He unleashes his claws to fight the reaper I cannot see and I do my best to protect my sleepy twins. I've found only a handkerchief in the drawers and this will do. I enchanted it into a bigger cloth like a blanket and covered us underneath it.
Hessuel is stronger now against the invisible reaper, he succeeded to kick it away from the room before I called him to cover underneath, too. Then after a few moments of waiting and silence, I lifted the blanket when we teleported safely into the refugees' hall.
Lanasia immediately offers assistance to my twins. There's a mattress where her baby is lying.
"I leave them to you for the meantime," I said.
"Do you have a solution for this catastrophe?" she asks eagerly.
"... I have but I can't underestimate Haiban anymore. If we succeed, we can bring back all the lives he had taken away."
Zaeramil overheard what I said. "Allow me to help! If there's a chance to save them, I will give you my assistance!" He’s firmly standing beside Sherizzah to fight against his desperate despair. But...
"Stay here to maintain the protection of this palace. Your mother is weary. You're the only enchanter they can rely on," I replied to his disappointment. I manifest my spellbook to bless the protection to amplify it tenfold. "The moon surely hears your cry so beseech her. That's the best everyone can do." Because Haiban can kill them in a snap if they fight alongside me and carrying the blame will weigh me down—similar to the death of the two Alphas.
"It's because of my father," Hessuel mourns, "and I will take responsibility for this too. Do you have a plan?"
"Remember the first time we worked together?"
"Against Mraz? Sounds nostalgic~" he draws a playful smirk.
"The main objective will be to immobilize your father from killing the werewolves and you, as the son, will convince him to change his mind. We can't defeat him by strength but we can damage him emotionally."
"Wow... Then I'm gonna have to think of impactful lines to change his mind. That's exciting but slightly. Countless lives depend on this."
"It's just you and me against the esteemed Eldar. Are you still willing to be a hero?"
"That was me six months ago. Not anymore," he denies like a sulking dog. "You're the heroine and always have been. I am the villain."
I pinch his nose. "The kind villain~" I teased. It at least lightens up the mood. I kiss my sleeping twins. I slid the tie of my hair along with an enchantment that automatically braided my hair.
"Whoa..."
I grab his hand and put the tie on his wrist. "That's the replacement of the ankle bracelet you lost so I can talk to you in your beast."
"Now, that's exciting~" He shifts into his wolf and I fail to resist cuddling him for how big he is again! I hopped on behind and left the hall quickly.
His agility saves lots of time, but in the middle of the green hills, I figured out that the passage to Plandreas is already closed. We halt midway as I think of another passage. But I was startled when Hessuel leapt quickly to a far distance which almost caused my fall!
["The ghost is here again."]
Without any second thought, I enchanted Hessuel's armor, "Do your thing!" I instructed, then hopped out from his back. Although Hessuel is attacking the reaper, I still can't see the whole thing. What does Hessuel have that everyone else doesn't? I touch my eyes to navigate another enchantment which resulted in me having the silver wolf's eyes. "Now I see you," I mumbled. It really is a terrifying—tall and skinny reaper without a face.
Its scythe almost got Hessuel. Looking up in the direction of the blizzard, "Tackle with the wind!" I said. The second he maintains a stance on the ground, I blow in the air to change its direction, where Hessuel is facing. So when he jumps, the wind is to his advantage and he catches the reaper to the ground with his claws, biting its scruff. "Hold it!" I ran to snatch its scythe while it's trapped, however, the scythe passed through my hand and I consequently stumbled!
["Are you alright?"]
I can't touch it! But Hessuel can. The reaper hits him by the tip of the handle and hurls him away. I became its target. I formed an enchast shield against the reaper's wielding of the scythe but the blade is only passing through! I crawled farther to escape until Hessuel drags it down while I'm beneath it! "How dare you make me look dumb!?" I scolded the reaper. My enchantment doesn't affect it, so I enchanted Hessuel instead to make him mightier.
He engulfs the reaper's head and rips it apart from its body, so as for the arms and back before he throws it away from me. Good thing, the reaper doesn't have flesh and blood, only a cluster of clays that are now scattered. Hessuel gets rid of it until it's motionless. He shifts into his intelligence and smashes the scythe. "Thanks!" he said to me. All I could do was support him! Having a dog alongside is a real help.
"Good wolf." I drew a straight enchast in the air and grabbed it like a rod, stamped it beside the torn reaper, and the soil sagged until it created a hole that swallowed the reaper's body. "I messed up a little because of this creature."
"That was a smart move. Without the ghost, the refugees will be much safer."
"But..." I beheld the closed passage again. We're trapped here unless we cross dimensions. Suddenly, the ground shook! The splitting sound of the ground dropped our jaws in chill especially when we witnessed how the ground opens its wide mouth!
"Is this your little mess, too—?"
"Watch out!!" I pulled him by his hand from the ground splitting—while it's a legitimate bad idea to run during an earthquake! I want to believe that it's best to be swallowed! Hessuel hangs me to his shoulder and leaps farther but the shaking makes him lose his balance and we both tumble and roll on the grass! I ended up above him. The splitting diverted in our direction until we fell for it! Hessuel wraps his arm on my waist and clings his claws with his other hand on the side.
The splitting ended and we found ourselves on the edge of hell! It's the deep pit of thorns! I created stairs stretched from the side where we can step and lean. "I don't like where this is going," I murmured.
"Father... He's down there."
"How did you know?"
"He's calling me..." he said, staring at the thorny chasm.
Of course, Haiban will take advantage of his territory. Being cunning won't stand a chance. This also means he's not fighting fair unless this is a trap. I reappeared an enchast in front of my face quietly while navigating the spell to possess Acro. What she sees is what I can see and she's inside the Plandreas palace at the moment. I made her alight on a balcony and discovered the commotion in the grand staircase: Haiban is fighting against Hessuel!
I closed the spell and uttered, "It's a trap, indeed." Surprisingly for him, I stepped on the levitating enchast and destroyed the stairs with my clap. He fell with the shreds but his scream flinched me in guilt. Lucky for him, his claws pin on a giant thorn yet his feet remain hanging.
"What're you doing!?"
"Are you an impostor!? Since when did you impersonate my mate!?" I yelled and prepared another enchantment to attack.
"Impersonate!? Dan, I've been with you ever since you reawakened me! What's going on!?"
He's good at acting innocently. I tossed an enchantment to him and forced him to shift into a pup, consequently, he fell while whining. I reversed his gravity and now he's falling upward. "Gotcha!" I uttered, then I smelt his fur scrupulously. "Hm, thankfully, the scent of mate is unchangeable." One of the effects of the mate-bond is to identify one's mate by smell—making the werewolf romance unique compared to humans.
Perhaps Acro's vision is the illusion and the trap itself. So if I thrust Hessuel into this chasm, I'll return to the palace alone. Puppy Hessuel is glaring at me. I cuddled him and said,
"I'm sorry! I saw an impersonation of you in the palace just now! I thought 'twas the real you!"
["We're being tricked."]
Haiban isn't just powerful, but a genius too. And hopefully, we both overcame it. My soles contain the enchantment to step in the air like hiking on invisible stairs. The tiredness when I got onto the surface told me that we'd fallen deep already! But this world won't leave me alone for once! The earth shakes again and the blared rumbling of the chasm automatically urges my feet to keep on running! It's expanding again, to be more accurate, it's chasing us!
Hessuel shifts into his Intelligence and gives me a ride on his back. Even with just two legs, he can run as quickly as his beast form, so I hold onto him tightly. "Where are we going?"
"I don't know."
I thought he had a plan in mind! We're coincidentally heading to the gate, wherefore I instructed him to go there. I hopped down and activated my enchantment of reversing time, to where the portal was open. It worked before the chasm caught up. The thick snow of Plandreas somewhat flounders our escape but we got out from Asfara and I closed the passage by canceling the time spell. I lean on my knees while chasing my breath!
I've never used consequent magic like this before! Debilitating. Hessuel is missing when I turned around. I thought I'd made a mistake by neglecting him in Asfara until I heard this bark. My shoulders failed. The wolf pup is happily diving and playing in the snow.
["It's my first time in this thick snow! I never knew it's exciting~"]
I fold my arms. "Exciting at first," I said. Dogs will be dogs. I cannot see the palace from this spot anymore because of the snowfall and mist. Corpses of werewolves are lying everywhere while this pup is dawdling around. "Come on, little woof-woof. We've got a werewolf race to save." I lead the way to the palace, sneaking and hiding cautiously. Meanwhile, Hessuel is walking casually straight to the palace!
I never doubted the silver wolves' confidence. Therefore, I follow his lead. We're in the middle of the snowy front yard when he halts. Silence occupied his lips.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"... How shall I convince my father to stop when I avenged my own justice? This place... was exactly where I harmed countless werewolves. I am no different from him."
"You're drowning your thoughts in despondency. You were the same as your father now. You've learned, and what you've learned is what you'll use to convince him. You are his son, so if he loves Lerouka very much, he might not downplay your message. Moon Goddess wants growth for her children and this is your father's tribulation right now. We will help him."
"His love for mother became his downfall." He glances at my hand before he holds it and resumes our walk. "Which means we can emotionally damage my father by showing how much we love each other. He will change his mind about annihilating every werewolf to maintain what we have, including the twins. He'll understand the joy we're looking forward to."
That's not the Haiban I knew in the future. He might as well tear us apart, on the other hand. I'm flattered when he kissed my hand in the manner of a gentleman.
"To make it short, we will make him envious. What do you think?"
I clicked the tip of his nose. "Silly~ We'll save him by teasing?" I laughed for the first time in a while in a cold situation. "Alright. If that's your idea, let's work together then."