Chapter 93 Silence Visitation
Chapter 93
Lyra's POV
The window suddenly and violently opened.
My hair brushed across my face, no thanks to the wind that hurriedly pushed passed me.
The city frightened me a bit but I tried to stomach it.
I stepped in quickly I couldn't decipher the strange smell I was perceiving. But I still manage to force myself to take more steps.
The smell hit me first. Burnt herbs mixed with something sour and rotten. My nose wrinkled. I pressed my hand over my mouth and nose, forcing myself to take another step forward.
There he was.
Alpha Vexhood lay sprawled across his bed, his chest rising and falling like ocean waves. His snores rumbled through the room, so loud the floor seemed to shake beneath my feet. With each breath, his belly pushed up toward the ceiling, then sank back down.
His lips flapped with every snore making a sound like wet leather. His long mustache danced and quivered, moving in time with the awful noise coming from his throat.
I stared at him. Here lies the alpha who had everyone's life in Stormfang Pack a living hell?
He snores like a pig. A quickly painted a picture in my brain. To me he was rather like a lazy uncle than a cruel alpha.
My eyes darted round the room like someone who had gotten into the room to claim something important.
Papers covered every surface. Scrolls lay scattered across the wooden table like someone had thrown them there. A golden scepter rested against the wall, its jeweled handle catching the dim light. Beside it sat three round mirrors that reflected nothing but darkness.
His purple robe hung from a hook in the corner, swaying back and forth in the breeze. The fabric twisted and turned like it was trying to escape.
In the far corner, candles stood in pools of their own wax. Some were still smoking, their flames snuffed out the moment I'd entered. Dark stains marked the floor around them, spilled oil or wine, I couldn't tell which. The whole area looked like a place where bad things happened.
Evil lived in this room. I could feel it crawling on my skin.
The walls were covered with faces. Paintings and drawings of wolves and people I'd never seen before. Each picture had blood across it like mission that had been accompanied. Some looked like scratches. Others looked like... I turned away. My stomach twisted.
A fly buzzed past my ear.
Then another.
Three fat flies crawled across Alpha Vexhood's right cheek, their tiny legs tickling his skin. Even in his sleep, his hand shot up and slapped at his face.
Smack!
The flies lifted off, circled once, then landed on his forehead.
Smack!
They moved to his nose.
Smack!
His hand kept swinging, but the flies were faster. They hopped from spot to spot, feasting on the sweat that covered his skin.
I almost laughed. Almost. But nothing about this room was funny.
My gaze swept across the space one more time, searching. That's when I saw it.
The totem.
It leaned against the wall near his bed, half-hidden in shadow. Green light glowed around it, so faint I'd almost missed it. Gray smoke curled upward from its base, winding and twisting like a snake climbing toward the ceiling.
My heart pounded. That was it. That was the thing I'd come for.
Alpha Vexhood's most powerful weapon. Other warriors carried swords and axes into battle. Not him. He only needed his totem. With that wooden staff, he could kill dozens of wolves with a single word. With it, he'd destroyed families. Made children into orphans. Turned wives into widows.
I lifted my hand and pointed at the totem.
Come to me.
My fingers stretched toward it, and something invisible pulled the staff across the room. It flew through the air and landed in my palm with a soft thump.
The wood felt hot. Not warm, hot, like metal left in the sun. It hissed against my skin, but I held on tight. Steam rose from where my fingers gripped it.
The humming stopped.
Outside, beyond these walls, I knew what was happening. All across Stormfang Pack, that terrible humming sound that had filled everyone's ears suddenly went quiet. Pack members everywhere would be looking around, confused, wondering what changed.
I stared at the totem in my hand.
This thing had killed more innoxent lives than I could count. Innocent lives that just want to live. It had burned homes. Destroyed lives. Taken fathers from their children and left mothers alone and crying.
I lifted the totem high above my head.
Then I swung it down.
CRACK!
The totem hit the stone floor. The impact shot up through my arms, rattling my teeth. The whole room shook. Dust fell from the ceiling. The scrolls on the table jumped and scattered. The mirrors rattled against the wall.
Alpha Vexhood's snoring intensity increased more than before.
I blinked. How? How was he still asleep?
Something was wrong. Alpha Vexhood never slept this deeply. Everyone in the pack knew he barely slept at all. His eyes were always open, always watching. Always hunting.
But here he was, snoring like a bear in winter.
I glanced around the room, looking for bottles of strong drink. Had he been drinking? No Alpha Vexhood only taste drink when he want to visit the shrine for adulations. Only when he want to speak to the gods or made his dark offerings.
My fingers tightened around the totem.
The gods. Had they done this? Had they put him to sleep so I could slip inside?
I raised the totem again and smashed it against floor.
I brought it down harder this time. The room didn't just shake, it exploded with noise. The table tipped over. Scrolls flew everywhere. Metal cups rolled across the floor, clanging and ringing like bells.
Alpha Vexhood's eyes snapped open.
The light bulbs flickered.
The one hanging from the ceiling swung back and forth, its dim glow getting dimmer. The lamp in the corner sputtered once, twice, then went dark.
Darkness swallowed the room.
I couldn't see my own hands. Couldn't see the totem. Couldn't see anything except the faint outline of the bed and the shape of Alpha Vexhood sitting up.
His breathing changed. No more snoring. Just quick, sharp breaths.
In. Out. In. Out.
"W...who is that?"
His voice cut through the darkness like a blade.
I didn't move.
I didn't breathe.
I held the totem close to my chest and waited.