Chapter 86 🐉

Dom led the rescue party into what they were all informed to be Y's hideout for over a year. Through Nora, they had learned about the old Mage who worked for Waai, who was the lead witch of the Capricorn Coven that was once banished from witches' magical society, ages before the first war.

Mage Master was the only sorcerer alive today who was present at the time of banishment, a young boy then, a formidable witch now. Once he knew what they were up against, he decided not to let Dom go in alone like on the island. Magical help was needed to fight this crazy coven of witches which had managed to survive all these centuries alone.

Thus, armed with ancient magic, accompanied by friends, family, and allies, Dominic McBlaze attacked the place where he was told to be the exit from where Y's deserters had run away. It was a trap for sure, but they had come prepared and had no idea how much time the hostages had. But they hadn't come to leave empty-handed or to get caught themselves.

Once the Mage Master had opened the passageway, the tunnels split into multiple forks.

Dom divided his rescue members into groups and everyone left according to the plan and instructions. As expected, many magical and werewolf traps were laid at every step. SHS was a common thing now, but Dom, with the help of his sub-deltas Edmond, Clara, and Nathaniel, had created a set of armor that protected the most vulnerable parts of the body, prone to SHS shots.

They fought their way, sometimes with power, sometimes with cunning. Often ending up at dead ends or traps, but the witches trained under Master Aikis had accompanied all groups and were just as formidable. So far, lots of werewolves were dead, and none of the rescue party was fatally injured, but they hadn't yet found the hostages either.

The tunnels were so intricately dug that it was hard to find a proper way, there were hidden ways upon ways. The walls seemed to shift and block ways or create new ones. But Dom wasn't going to give up and neither had his allies come to leave without their people.

On one path, Dom and Mage Master had gone together as it was clear he would be the main target. The dragons kept mind-linking and updating each other on the progress or lack thereof. It was getting frustrating how well the traps had been laid that they were sure they were going in circles as the puppeteer sat watching from somewhere. What they didn't know was that Y wasn't even on the location and he definitely wasn't the one pulling strings.

It all became clear when Dom and his team faced another y-fork among the tunnels. They were about to split up to cover more ground when, in the right tunnel, they saw an old lady walking towards them with a fire torch in one hand and a creepy smile, followed by many young witches, and from the left tunnel, a group of werewolves arrived, blocking each path.

That meant they were certainly close to the hostages.

The old witch took off her hood and revealed her eyes, shining with the same psycho mania as Waai. She spoke directly to the Mage Master, "I have waited a long long time for you, Mage Master!"

The old mage answered nonchalantly, "I don't even know who you are."

That seemed to enrage the witch, who exclaimed, "You don't have to know anything more than the fact that your demise came at the hands of a Capricorn, who were all punished for a crime they didn't commit!"

Master Aikis prepared himself for battle as he responded calmly, "I remember exactly what went down that day. And I might've been young, but the punishment wasn't unfair. If anything, it was unjust for the victims to leave their convicts alive at all!"

That was the final straw. Mage Ved'ma screamed, "All the witches who oppose us will pay!"

With that, the fight began. Shifters took on shifters and witches took on witches. Many miles underground, a battle was fought, one side fighting for the ones they loved and the other side, fighting for the ideology they believed to be true.

The ground above and below them shook with tremors as a result of magic being thrown violently and so many shifters shifting and trying to defeat the opponents. The dragons were prohibited from turning until the hostages were found and saved.

That is when Freddie, from the other group of the rescue party, mind-linked Dom to let him know that the hostages had been found. Some had died, notwithstanding Y's torture, but the kids and most of the adults were alive. He was immediately ordered to take them and inform them when the deed was done. Until then, all Dom had to do was keep this set of werewolves and witches from coming to Freddie's team and causing trouble.

Since the witches knew their magic was useless against the dragons, they had prepared potions that could do their bidding. SHS wasn't as commonly thrown as it could hit one of their own. During his combat with two wolves in the suffocating tunnel, Dom got picked up by the arm and thrown against the edge of the Y-fork of the tunnel. Instead of getting hit and falling, he ended up crossing the hidden path that led to a third tunnel. His attackers were getting busy with the rest of his team.

In the chaos, no one realized where Dom had suddenly disappeared to. Dom found himself surrounded by a witch's laboratory. He knew what it was because it looked similar to Mage Master's back at the castle and safe houses. Without giving much thought to it, he picked up a fire torch from the tunnel wall and began lighting everything that could be lit to fire. The drapes on the walls, the herbs in their little pots, the tablecloths, and weird ingredients. What he couldn't light up, he broke it. All the vials and beakers were full of potions and fluids of all colors, densities, and odors. Some were flammable and instantly caught fire. It was a blessing that fire could not hurt a dragon or Dom would be shifter toast by now.

Once the fire reached the ceiling, which started to cave in, Dom rushed out to get all of his people out to bury the rest of this labyrinth of horrors. Mage Ved'ma was hysterical as she threw spell upon spell towards the Mage Master, who seemed to be handling her just fine as he had been confronted by such crude dark magic in his youthful days when he was still mortal, thousands of years ago. The witch was getting frustrated but everything started shaking, making the battling parties realize the tunnels were about to bury them all.

Dom emerged out of the destroyed laboratory just as Freddie informed him that all the hostages had been rescued. Dom signaled to the Mage Master, who was more than happy to oblige. With a strong offensive spell from his left hand to prevent Mage Ved'ma's intrusion, he cast a teleportation spell with his other hand, taking everyone linked to it before coming, to be taken to the rendezvous point.

Once the wolves and witches realized what had just happened, everyone became frantic to find a way to survive out of the collapsing tunnels that had stood for many centuries but couldn't handle dragons. The switches teleported and selfishly left all wolves to get buried alive. They never had any care for the shifters from the start.

.

Y's army had raided the temple before he had followed. By the afternoon, lots of shifters were either dead or animal-less. It was a disaster. The little security force didn't stand a chance as Y made sure to take no more hostages. By evening, Y sat on the golden stool of the master of the temple, where his father had once sat, feeling elated.

Now all he needed was a couple more of his dosages before he could be a true immortal. Being there brought many memories, some good but most of them tainted with Iris' shadow. If he could, he would've burnt the whole immortal temple to the ground and rebuilt it in his image.

He hadn't left many alive, but the one he had, he knew was definitely going to be of much use. Before he could celebrate his victory, Mage Ved'ma arrived along with the rest of her coven of witches, bleeding and exhausted, some unconscious, and no werewolf in sight.

**Author's note:

Y has retaken the Temple but lost his test subjects. How will he take this news?**