Chapter 58; Invasion of the House of Ræm!
When Kurt received the order to move in, he threw out a silver plate disk used for inscribing magic spells.
Instantly, a blue light surged out of the plate and covered the castle and its grounds before disappearing.
Now, the house of Ræm was on lockdown and the only people who could walk out of it were those from the house of Kulan and with a special tattoo on their bodies.
"Ready?" Kurt asked Ryan.
"Yes." Ryan nodded and the father and son invaded the Ræm's Castle side by side while Megan and Bella stayed at the door.
Alice, on the other hand, went to the back of the house and stood guard. Her job was to capture the core members of the house who may want to escape into the night.
Their orders were clear; Get Ainar out of there and capture everyone. From the oldest to the youngest, and kill whoever resists.
As they moved in, side by side, Kurt and Ryan worked tactically. While Kurt did the overpowering, Ryan did the compulsion.
Once a vampire was under Ryan's compulsion, the vampire would voluntarily go outside, where they would stand docile as Megan and Bella tied them up.
Maybe if Kurt was the only one around, maybe the Ræm family would have stood a chance. But with Ryan, a half Turakie in the mix, their most powerful Family elders didn't stand a chance, not to talk of the younger generations.
Raiding the Ræm's castle was like a walk in the park…
When Ainar jumped out of the castle, she stealthily landed on the ground without making a single sound but instantly, everyone who had her enchanted hair knew that she had made it out of the house.
"Tell Megan to find her and bring her away!" Kurt said to Ryan.
"Okay." Ryan nodded and slowed down his natural speed as he tried to create a mind link with his wife while fighting.
Kurt could have done it himself but he was still scared of Megan. What if she ignores him or snaps at him?
On receiving Ryan's orders, Megan brought out Ainar's hair strain and held it in her hand as she tried to find her and connect with her. Her mind followed the golden glow the hair was emitting and soon, she found Ainar in a corner of the castle, tearing vampires apart with relish.
Megan stood aside and watched for a couple of minutes. This was the first time she would see any of her kids fighting a life-and-death battle.
Even though it was a life-and-death battle, the only people who stood the chance of losing their lives were the opposition vampires.
The image of her kids running around in meadows, exclaiming at the serenity of winter's first snow, sliding off high mountains, and diving in deep waters in the summer. All those happy moments they lived back in the human realm…
For a moment, as she watched her kid tear vampires to pieces, those days felt so far away.
But when she heard Ainar's familiar chuckle, her heart trembled. Megan realized she didn't want those days to be far away. She wanted them to last forever.
Despite how chaotic their lives were supposed to be, they have lived it in peace until now. Why can't they keep living it in peace? Why should her kids lose their innocence? Why should Ainar have to stain her hands with blood?
But then, Megan remembered KuLaa's words just now and she became sadder.
Some things are inevitable.
I better follow instructions and avoid any trouble from now on, she muttered to herself then connected her mind to Ainar's.
"It's enough Kid. Your Grandma wants all of them alive." She transmitted.
Ainar had actually spotted her Mum the moment she appeared but seeing as the woman was watching her with pride, she also decided to show off a little.
"Mum!" What are you doing here?" Ainar asked but kept fighting.
None of the vampires here was her match. If she wanted, she would compel all of them just like Ryan was doing, but Ainar wanted to vent her anger by killing.
"Grandma received your SOS and sent us to lock the place down. She wants everyone alive so you need to stop killing."
"Where is Amoux? I can't feel him."
Since jumping out, Ainar kept trying to connect with Amoux to no avail.
"He is not here. Let's go back first. I will fill you in on the way."
Something in Megan's tone warned Ainar to follow her order. She frowned and stopped fighting. She then sent out her energy which suppressed several vampires at once. They all looked at her and once their eyes met hers, they fell into her compulsion spell.
Soon, all the vampires and humans around her were sitting on the ground and looking as if their spirit had left them.
"Let's go, Amoux needs us." Megan reminded her.
The moment the two of them left the castle grounds, Megan informed Ryan.
That was when the real invasion started.
With Ainar out of the way, Kurt, Ryan, Bella, and Alice withdrew from the castle ground, which was already in chaos.
Kulan emerged from the darkness of the night and flew to the highest point of the castle's roof.
She was draped in her purple wizard cloak and her purple serpentine eyes were blazing with hatred and evil.
With her hands placed in a crisscross over her chest and the motes lights of magic swirling around her body like a tornado, Kulan started muttering under her breath.
The wind stopped blowing and a dark cloud submerged the stars in the sky.
The moon found its way to Kulan and shone directly on her.
Harnessing the power of the Moon, Kulan channeled magic from her soul into a silver wand hidden under her sleeve.
At her command, the wand shot out and traveled at speed invisible to the naked eyes.
It went through the roof, into the castle, and kept moving until it got to an enchanted golden door. This was where the protective formations of the house of Ræm were located…
This protective formation was a type of spell itched into the grounds to channel magic powerful enough to block specified levels of attacks. Such formations were common and found in every powerful household in the three realms of Eplica.
The disadvantage of this formation was that the wider the range it covers the weaker the power it can harness.
Therefore to get the best out of it, one can only make it cover a limited space or range within the household.
And when in trouble, this space would be the escape route of the most prominent members of a family.
As long as it is active, the people within its area of coverage will be safe until help comes.
That is if the formation is at least a level stronger than the attackers.
Unfortunately, for the Ræms, that wasn't the case…
A few minutes ago, when Madam Becca left Lykie's room with Ainar's blood, she went to the secret chamber of her master; Lykie's mother. This chamber was within the range of the protective formation.
In the secret room, she activated a magic circle, quickly wrote a note detailing everything that had happened earlier, and then placed this note in the center of the magic circle. After that, she placed the tube of blood on the note and made some hand signs. The magic circle lit up and a blinding white light shrouded the note and the tube. By the time the light dissipated, the magic circle was empty.
Madam Becca huffed in contentment, then she left the secret chamber. After that, she went to her quarters where she entered her lab and started working on the cotton wool soaked with Ainar's blood.
She first placed the cotton wool in a testing tube and then added some blue liquid chemicals to it. After doing this, she waited for all the blood from the cottonwood to dissolve into the liquid before removing the now super-white cotton wool and throwing it into a dustbin.
She picked up the test tube and took it to a hanging pot that was boiling without a fire pit or stove.
Madam Becca wrapped the test tube in a magical aura and controlled it into sinking into the boiling pot. She had just finished this when she felt a seal locking down on the house.
Alarmed, Madam Becca hurried out of her courtyard and looked into the sky. She formed a ball of fire in her hand and threw it into the air. The ball of fire hit the invisible wall that was sealing the castle ground and scattered.
Madam Becca's eyes grew dark.
This could only mean one thing. Lord Kulan knew of their action and was already here to fight.
Remembering how she had wanted to delay sending the tube of blood to her master, Madam Becca praised herself for her self-restraint.
She had previously wanted to first start her experiment on the blood before sending the tube but her sense of service and loyalty had won over her curiosity. If she had delayed, that blood would never have gotten to her master's hands.
Coming back to her senses, Madam Becca remembered that she was the most powerful witch on earth presently. The rest had followed the lord on a mission to bring home an original witch from the human realm.
She immediately ran to the guard post and ordered them to sound the alarm.
By then, Kurt and Ryan had already made their first move and were in the outer section of the massive castle.
Luckily for the real members of the Ræm's house, they lived deep within the castle while their workers, slaves, and relatives lived in the outer part.
Therefore, all the vampires and humans, Ryan and co. captured were of no relevance whatsoever.
The time Megan used in getting Ainar out of the castle provided these vampires the chance to hide away in the chambers within the protective formation's range…
Knowing KuLaa's ruthlessness in dealing with her own family years ago, the Vampires of Eplica warned their wards not to offend her for any reason. Everyone stayed out of her way and she had free reign wherever she went.
The only reason Becca decided to risk taking Ainar's blood was because she felt that it was a rare chance for them to achieve one of their goals.
From the little she was allowed to know, most vampire Lords in the realm were afraid of KuLaa's power.
While some hated her for it and kept their guard up against her, Lord Ræm was one of those who were sitting on the fence.
He asked his daughter to make friends with Ainar for three purposes.
The first one was so that if and when they needed to attack KuLaa, it would be easy to lure her grand kids out and use them as bait.
The second one was if, in case, Kulaa became more powerful than they all could handle, his family would have a way out since they would be considered friends of Ainar.
The last but very confusing one was that the Lord and Becca's madam believed that KuLaa's grand kids were not normal vampires.
They once asked Lykie to try to get a blood sample from Ainar but later asked her to drop the mission as it was too dangerous.
When she heard that Ainar was coming, she thought of how easy it would be to get the blood and made plans with Lykie. She believed that the portion she used would knock Ainar out and she wouldn't remember anything later.
Becca wasn't wrong.
But unfortunately for her and the house of Ræm, Ainar was more than a vampire, she was a Turakie, an existence even a witch as powerful as Becca knew nothing of.
At this point, she regretted convincing Lykie to drug Ainar and wanted to do whatever it took to safeguard the family until help arrived as she already sent an SOS to their allies within the realm.