Chapter 178: Once and For All
Chapter 178: Once and For All
Thorne’s POV
My eyes immediately travel to the far back of the field, where Nyra is supposed to be controlling the magic from. Groaning and grunts from my guards struggling to move their limbs fill the field, but I am too busy using my eyes to search for Nyra. My heart starts to thump in my chest when I don’t find her in the position she was supposed to be in. In fact, I don’t see her at all.
My eyes find Carlos, only to see him struggling too, although he has the limb of the wolf he had tackled between his teeth and he is clamping down on it. Never caught lacking indeed.
“You must be a stranger to sorcery, Black wolf.” Hannes, whose name I suddenly recalled rolls off from beneath me with a snarl on his face, his already disfigured jaw hanging more loosely now.
“And you must be very lacking in your natural strength that you have to rely on magic to win a match.” I spit.
He laughs. “Well you have to use what you have to get what you want, don’t you?” His eyes travels over to the back of the field, where I had just been staring at a moment ago. “And I see you tried to indulge in a little sorcery as well… too bad. I could smell it as soon as I came here and I knew exactly where it was coming from”
I jerk forward, trying to reach for him, but his spell is holding me bound, making it difficult to move. I let out a strangled grunt. “I swear to God if you touch her—”
“Touch her? Oh no, Black wolf. That is not what we have in mind. If anything, we want to help the young lady polish her skills.” My teeth clench together as I struggle to break free from the spell. I need to be sure Nyra is safe. I would hate to have something happen to her on my account.
“Why don’t you end this magic bullshit so we can continue this the way it should be.” I taunt him. I see it before he hides it, even though he is quick. The slight falter in his smile. He starts to come closer to me and I try to hide my excitement at the fact, my eyes following his every move.
“Oh but this is the way it should be. Whoever said sorcery could not be used to win a war probably only said so because he couldn’t use it.”
I am about to respond to him when I am suddenly cut off by an intrusion. A thought that pops into my mind that is simply Carlos calling my name. “Alpha!” I try not to make it too obvious to Hannes that my mind is somewhere else, and still converse with him while I respond to Carlos in my thoughts. This is a skill that I realized only very few wolves possessed, but I learned that I could do this since when I was a child.
“Speak”. I order.
“Nyra is safe. But is being held down by a wolf. We need to get to her.”
And there is only one way to do it. Hannes is the main source of the magic. I can tell from the potency of the smell coming from him that he’s the one controlling the magic in the entire field. Which means that to free myself and my guards from his spell, all I need to do is kill him. I dart my tongue out to lick my nuzzle when he takes another step towards me.
“And if the Council agrees to the use of sorcery in brawls then who are you to oppose it?” He gloats, now in my face. He may not have realized it, but his spell only holds down my limbs. My torso and jaw are still very much flexible and free. Which is why, the moment he is within close proximity with me, I charge forward with all the strength in me and clamp my teeth down hard on his shoulder, wiggling my jaw violently to worsen the damage and fully bite through his bones. He growls, and immediately he does so, a sharp pain stings me from behind, causing me to fall forward unto my forelimbs.
Hannes staggers backwards his teeth bared as he tries to fight through the pain in his shoulder.
“You son of a bastard!” He roars, his body bent to one side.
“Enough with all the crap, Hannes. Let us end this once and for all.” I growl from my position on the ground, taunting him still.
“You are right. We might as well end it here”. He charges towards me immediately, about to smite me with his claws. I am immobilized on the floor with no way of movement, so I simply shut my eyes and await the impact and the sting from his claws against my face, but it never comes. Instead what follows is a ruffling sound, followed by a loud thud in the distance.
I open my eyes, surprised but relieved to find Carlos standing over me with a concerned look on his face.
“The spell weakened for a second when you bit him.” He tells me, helping me up and in the far distance, I see Hannes lying limp on the grass. I move out my limbs freely seeing as he is unconscious, and I look around to see all my guards free too. The fight resumes in full force, my guards pouncing on the little number of Hannes soldiers that remain.
“Nyra.” I immediately ask Carlos, who motions towards the back of the field.
“Safe and back to controlling the magic. Do the honors?” He juts his chin towards Hannes limp body and I shake my head.
“You go ahead with it. End the fight.” I make my way over to the back of the field where Nyra is, at the same time, Carlos’s loud voice booms, “End the fight!” to the guards as per my command. That immediately has the bodies of Hannes’s guards flying in the air like flies. I hear faintly the sound of Carlos ripping Hannes apart ferociously.
I find Nyra at the back, looking a bit disheveled but still intact. She relaxes as soon as she sees me. “I lost my guard and that was how he was able to tackle me.” She motions to the lifeless wolf lying next to her.
I turn to look at him, noticing with amusement at how his head is entirely dislocated from his body. “Did you do that?”
“Hm? Not intentionally. I was confused on whether to slit his throat or snap his neck. Then I ended up doing both at the same time.”
By now the fight is over, and my guards are returning to the grounds, and I move to do so too when a guard runs to me.
“Alpha! A guard from the Lady’s cell has come to see you.”
The lady’s cell. Thessa’s cell.
I order to have him brought to me immediately and when he is brought, his words completely suck the air out of me.