Chapter 118: Deserter

Chapter 118: Deserter


Cara pov

I shook my head, too stunned to speak. The masked figure was offering me a strange vial. I was speechless.

“Your abilities” she repeated. This time, there was an urgent tone in her voice. But I was still skeptical about accepting the strange gift. I racked my head to know why she looked so familiar, but it came out blank.

I took a step back instinctively, weary of the content in the vial. I am not a fan of secret substances that's in a vial. But looking at the figure who just stood there, staring at me intensely, I didn't perceive any animosity from her. Besides the fight, she was so powerful that if she wanted, she would just force the vial down my throat without seeking any consent.

Taking a deep breath, I accepted the gift.

“Good,” she said, then like how she had come. She disappear into the bushes, making me as confused as I could ever be. But my mind was already made up. I sniffed the substance, but it had no smell. It was just a colorless liquid, the size of the drop of water. My instincts didn't detect any toxins or say that it might be harmful. Even without my powers, I could detect poison, just from a sniff. I had nothing to lose. Closing my eyes, I poured the content in my mouth.

I felt it slide down my throat, down to my stomach. Closing my eyes, I expected the reaction to start, but there was nothing. I opened my eyes in surprise. 

Have I been fooled?

I ask myself, looking around for any sign that my abilities have been unlocked, but what greeted me was the cold realization that it wasn't. I am suddenly tired of this world. I have lost my parents. Hardly ever knowing them, then Brian, my mate, followed by Debby, who was barely hanging on. All the people that are close to me, one way or the other, are not alive now.

Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let it fall. Sitting on a tree trunk, I wallowed in my unshed tears. Until an unusual darkness claimed me.



I blinked, trying to focus on my surroundings. I realised with a gasp that I had dozed off in the middle of the forest, where rogues and monsters roam around. “What if rogues had seen me, defenseless.” I cringed at the thought of what would have happened.

I remembered getting fooled by a stranger. I had taken the vial , and it had caused me to doze up in the midst of danger without a care in the world. I scuried up in a hurry, looking for my bags, that was when it dawned on me that I couldn't find my bags and supplies that had been close to me before I had slept.

‘Just great’

I sighed to myself, wondering where or what animal could have taken my supplies.

“Are you looking for this beautiful” a voice sounded suddenly, making me tremble in fear. “You could be a little more careful next time”.

A man in a mask walked out of the bush. In his hands were my supplies, but he was not alone. It took me a while to realise that I was surrounded by all directions with no chance to escape.

I hesitated, my eyes scanning their masked faces. “Who are you?” I finally managed to ask.

They didn’t answer immediately. Instead, they helped me to my feet and took a step back, their eyes,dark and piercing, studying me.

“What do you want from me” 

“You are a deserter” the man spoke again, this time his tone carrying an accusing tone.

“I…I don't know what you are saying” I stammered, looking for a way out.

“You’re not safe here,” he said after a moment. “Come with me.”

His tone left no room for argument, but I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling in the back of my mind. There was something familiar about them, something I couldn’t quite place.

“Why did you help me?” I asked, my voice trembling.

They hesitated as if weighing their words. “Let’s just say… I have a vested interest in your survival.”

That cryptic answer only made me more uneasy, but before I could press further, they turned and started walking.

As I followed them through the forest, my thoughts raced. Who was this person? Why did I feel like I’d met them before? And why did their presence remind me so much of Debby?

I wanted to ask, but the weight of the night’s events left me drained. For now, I would follow her lead and hope that she had answers. It wasn’t until much later, when the moonlight caught the faint insignia on their cloak, a symbol I’d seen before in the book, Debby had shown me, that realization struck me like a bolt of lightning. 

“Wait…” I stopped suddenly, 

I wanted to ask them who they were. but the following event that happened made my words stuck in my throat. 

Before me laid thick bushe, and all of a sudden, a ripple spread through the air before the area transformed from a thick forest to a clearing. The most serene and beautiful place I have ever seen laid before me. Mixture of rocks and nature, all around were people with happy expressions. It was a typical happy home, just like the former mafian wolf pack.

“Where is this place…” 

“Welcome deserter, to our small community” the man who I guessed is their leader, said, turning to me.