Chapter 71 — ALLY.
Amara still knew nothing about the Zathkanan Palace or about Ethan being an alpha. All she knew was that he was not a human and he and she were entangled in some sort of supernatural drama. Ethan too already knew that Amara already knew that he was not human, so he didn’t care to hide most activities from her.
It had been several weeks after the incident with Nathan, and Ethan and Amara were closer than they ever were. Everywhere in Silverwood was more peaceful than before, almost like they had nothing else to worry about. Amara took their relationship seriously, promising herself that she would not go seeking information about Ethan’s whole being. She trusted him fully.
Meanwhile, Ethan grew weaker day by day, but was very good at hiding it. Alrond however, wasn’t in support of this. He told Ethan continuously to make a plan that would make the supernatural beings side the Zathkanan Palace. Alrond worried about his brother’s well-being, as much as he worried about the future of their pack, the Zathkanan Palace.
One faithful evening, when Alrond was with Ethan, he brought up his plan for eliminating the beef between them and the other packs.
“Why don’t we make an ally with the remaining packs? We could do this now that they suspect nothing,” he said.
Ethan shook his head, “the remaining packs are useless anyway, what would they contribute.”
“Exactly my point Ethan,” Alrond said, “look, if we ally with the strongest of the three, it would only make them stronger. People will fear them when they hear that Zathkanan Palace is with them. They’ll pledge their undying loyalty so that if this war the rogue immortal was talking about, the repeat of history, we would have majority on our side.”
Ethan sighed, “are you trying to say Zathkanan Palace is weak? That we cannot stand alone?”
Alrond immediately shook his head, afraid that he might have offended his brother. Ethan was indeed looking pale and weaker than usual, but his voice still held so much power and authority.
“I just meant that, if history must to repeat itself, we should think wisely and be diplomatic,” Alrond said.
“Hmm, I know that if I had never given Amara more than half of my life source, that wouldn’t have come out from your mouth, right? Do you now look down on me?” Ethan asked.
Alrond immediately shook his head, “no, you are always great and forever will be great, but I meant, we need to focus now on Zathkanan Palace’s future. The rogue immortal is still out there. If he tells people about Amara then I’m afraid Silverwood would be in great chaos.”
“Alright, so the problem is the rogue immortal right?”
“Yes,” Alrond answered.
“Good,” Ethan said, “I have a new mission for you. Find him and kill him, problem solved.”
Alrond was taken aback by this, he scratched his head for awhile before answering, “he tapped some of Amara’s powers, with that he could fine a place to hide and focus of recovery. It is almost difficult to find him.”
“How so?” Ethan asked.
“Ehm because even as he was right in front of us, we couldn’t sense that it was him and he had low powers then, is it when he is kind of recharged that we would find him?”
Ethan didn’t answer. In fact he looked uninterested in what Alrond was saying. Instead he was looking out the window, anticipating the dinner he was going to have with Amara in a few hours time.
Ethan’s mind was preoccupied with thoughts of his upcoming dinner with Amara. He couldn’t help but smile as he imagined spending time with her, forgetting for a moment the weight of his weakening condition.
Alrond, on the other hand, continued to worry about the rogue immortal and the potential threat he posed to Silverwood and Zathkanan Palace. He knew that tracking down someone like that would be no easy task, especially if the rogue had managed to tap into a little bit of Amara’s powers. Alrond frowned at his brother’s lack of attention. He would do anything to get Ethan back, the Ethan he once knew, right before that mortal came into his life.
“Ethan,” Alrond called, trying to regain his brother’s attention, “we can’t underestimate the rogue immortal. He may have low powers now, but he’s proven to be elusive and cunning. We need a plan to locate and deal with him before he becomes a greater threat.”
Ethan finally tore his gaze away from the window and turned his attention back to Alrond. His expression was serious, a stark contrast to the distant look he had moments ago. Ethan was known for that, his face changed as fast as lightening.
“You’re right, Alrond,” Ethan conceded. “We can’t afford to let this rogue run loose, especially with the knowledge he possesses. I’ll help you devise a plan to track him down. That way, we catch and kill him.”
Alrond nodded in agreement, relieved that his brother was now fully engaged in the discussion.
“Any information on the spy here in Zathkanan Palace still?” Ethan asked. They have been looking for that spy for months now, yet he remained perfectly hidden from their noses. This was completely worrisome.
Alrond shook his head, “sadly no, but if the spy is still here? Then we need to be extra careful about your current condition. Once the rogue immortal finds out. He would not hesitate to rain down the information on every street in Silverwood.”
Ethan sighed at this. Maybe the spy wasn’t in Zathkanan Palace again. Although no news about a spy for the rogue immortal was told, still the spy might have caught something and fled as far away as they could. Ethan thought that this was the case, but then again, he didn’t know what to think, or rather didn’t want to come to any conclusion. He was stubborn to accept that he was completely weak, but still he could not play with such a vital information about himself. So he nodded gently at Alrond’s words.
“I will leave you to it though, I need to meet up with someone soon,” Ethan said.
Alrond frowned. He knew very well who that someone was. Amara had taken Ethan’s whole heart that he thought of her every single passing second. This annoyed Alrond. He thought that she would only bring her brother more harm. He had already made himself weak and vulnerable by transfer more than half of his life source to her and this troubled Alrond greatly.
“You are going to see Amara again?” he said and Ethan nodded, not acknowledging the fact that Alrond’s voice carried so much anger.
“You are always with her,” Alrond said under his breath, but loud enough for Ethan to hear.
Ethan responded, “I told you to stay out of this alright? Everything that has happened was my choice and my doing, so if you have any questions throw them at me. If you need anyone to blame, blame me and not Amara, or her siblings, Sarah and Frank. They all had no hand in all of this. We were bounded by the gem of Fate and Destiny, so you have to accept them.”
“The gem of Fate and Destiny is not suppose to make victims fall in love, I have never heard that before,” Alrond said.
“There are still mysteries to anything that has to do with Arcata remember? Thousands of years ago all these were buried along with Arcata’s death, but now we have her reincarnation right before us and you push her away? You push a lady filled with knowledge that even the gods would kill to get? Ah!” Ethan asked.
“Even so, her mortal body cannot withstand such. If eventually she regains her memory and powers it would be useless because she would disintegrate,” Alrond said.
Ethan smiled, “another reason why I need to go to the temple of flames.”
Every time Ethan brought up the topic about him going to the temple of flames, he would become furious. It was madness alone that Ethan’s weak self would want to go there, but whenever Alrond insisted on going himself, Ethan would refuse.
“You are just impossible,” Alrond could only grunt in frustration and storm out of Ethan’s room.