Chapter 47: Kendrick's POV
1991 Words
Anha was the world's worst travel companion. The woman was just scowling at us the whole time and refused to talk to me and the warriors in the car. Her demeanour was honestly just as bad as Mathew's so I made the conclusion that, like Mathew, she was probably also forced to stay away from someone she loved.
The ancient looking compass in her hand kept getting brighter as we drove. I asked if we could atleast touch it since it looked so cool, but she refused. She was definitely no fun.
Awful travel companion aside, I was still grateful that she and King Maxwell agreed to let us use the thing. Mathew and I have been looking for the Kelpie kingdom for years and now we're finally going to find it.
I always thought Mathew and I would see the Kelpie kingdom together for the first time. It's an underwater kingdom so it would be cool to see something like that together. However, I was actually glad that he wasn't here because he was finally going to get Elizabeth.
When Keyon told him that he found her, a smile appeared on Mathew's face for the first time in three years. It looked like the man could finally breathe again. He even jokingly punched me; something that surprised both Keyon and I. The second he found out she wasn't being cloacked anymore, it's like something inside him shifted and came alive; something I was starting to think was no longer there.
He may not want to admit it, but he's been hanging on by a thread for the past three years. I was even starting to wonder if being the Werewolf king was worth it if the man just ended up being that miserable all the time. But now things were hopefully going to change. By Selene's will, my best friend and brother was going to be happy again.
"We're here", Anha said as she got out the car.
We were standing infront of a very ordinary looking and very unsuspecting large river. At first glance, it didn’t look like anyone was here but upon further inspection, we saw footprints and long curves in the sand that looked like they had been made by a creature with a tail. We also saw some hoofprints, indicating that the kelpies had been here recently or were still here.
"Okay, guys", I yelled to the twenty warriors that came with me, " I need ten of you to wear your diving gear and the rest of you will stand guard here. Got it?"
"Got it, Ken!", they yelled out in unison.
I started getting into my diving gear when suddenly I saw the biggest wave forming infront of me. The wave stretched across the entire river and would definitely wreck our cars and equipment the moment it crashed on the ground.
I tried yelling for everyone to get back into the cars and drive away, but it was too late. The wave crashed on the ground within seconds and wrecked everything. We wouldn't be able to use any of our equipment and a few of the cars were probably no longer fit for driving condition.
If my warriors were not werewolves, I'm sure that they would have been swept away by the water or would have had broken bones due to the impact of the water.
Before I could ask if everyone was alright, a young woman with light pink hair and pink eyes came running out of the water. Her pink clothes were torn and she was even bleeding. She was clearly running from something or someone.
When she saw us, an indescribable fear and shock filled her pink eyes.
"You're not supposed to be have found me yet!", the girl said through ragged breaths. "Leave right now or they will kill you!"
I was very confused by what she had just said, but there was no time to mull over it. "We can help you", I said to the girl. "Who are you running from?"
She kept running towards us with a very annoyed look on her face. "I'm running from Raphael and the witches. You are not supposed to be here. Not yet!"
"I can only hold them off for a few minutes", the girl continued. "You guys need to run!"
I was impressed with the girl's bravery and selflessness, but I wasn't going to leave her. If she was willing to risk her life for us, then the least we could do is do the samefor her.
She came to stand next to me and assumed a fighting stance. I looked at the rest of my men and they immediately started spreading out in formation to prepare for an attack. We had warriors on both offense and defense.
Everything seemed to be moving at super speed; too fast for me to even wrap my mind around everything.
In the blink of an eye, the entire river froze into a block of ice and large spikes of ice came raining down on us. Despite the air now being covered in a thick mist, my warriors and I somehow ducked most of the ice spikes. Those that were injured would heal soon.
Again, in the blink of an eyes, dozens and dozens of witches appeared on the ice together with other people who smelled very much like the girl who was now fighting beside us.
"My, my", a creepy voice travelled through the cold air, "the Werewolf king has sent his own beta to fight me. I guess I should give you a proper welcome."
The air around us became so cold that breathing it felt like we were dousing our lungs in ice. My warriors and I couldn't breathe and before I knew it, at least half of my warriors just turned into ashes right before my eyes. They had been drained of their magic.
I didn't hear any incantation or see any spell being thrown at them. They just turned into ashes.
Everything was happening too fast. It was like the witches were moving faster than us or maybe even stopping time to attack us.
My warriors and I were on the floor now; gasping for the tiniest bit of air that did not feel like crushed ice cutting through our lungs.
I always thought that even though those of us who lived at the seat of the werewolf kingdom were not immune against the witches' magic, we would still be able to put up a fight against the witches. I was horribly mistaken. We were sitting ducks.
That creepy voice burst out into a defeaning and hysterical laughter.
My warriors and I looked at each other as we realised that we were going to die today, and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it.
I saw the girl in pink raise her hands and a gigantic wall of water stood between us and the witches. The air was suddenly breathable again. The ice that had wrapped itself around my lungs was slowly melting.
"Run! I can't hold them for long", the girl yelled.
Her wall of water seems to have slowed time or stopped whatever the witches were doing to attack us so fast.
I only had half of my men left and Anha and the girl in pink.
I felt like prey; just like how I felt when the witches stormed the werewolf kingdom when I was 7 years old. I felt like that little boy who didn't understand what was happening. For the first time since that night, I was scared. I was scared that I was going to die.
I took one last gulp of fresh air and signalled for my men to take this chance to grab their shields and weapons. I may be scared, but I wasn't that little kid anymore. This time, I could fight, and if I was going to die, then I would die fighting not running or hiding.
Mathew had asked Agatha to put a spell on shields that we designed. If we stood behind them, the magic would bounce off of us and, in theory, hit the person who hurled any spell at us. The weapons were guns that were filled with bullets made of fire lillies. Had it not been for Agatha, we would never have found out that fire lillies are as deadly to witches as silver and wolfsbane is to werewolves.
The girl was shocked to see that we hadn't run away.
"We're not leaving you", I roared at her. "We're werewolves. We're protectors of the magical realm!"
The woman lost her strength and the wall of water came crashing down.
That deadly ice filled the air again, but this time it was bearable. The air was cold, but it was breathable.
I watched the witches from behind my shield. As suspected, they were somehow moving faster than us. However, due to the shields, we could see their movements now.
My warriors and I started shooting our weapons at the witches and we watched them fall to the ground one by one as they were hit with the bullets made of fire lillies.
There were still a lot of them left though and they continued hurdling frozen spikes at us. The moment the spikes connected with our shields, they melted into water.
We continued shooting and it looked like we might actually come out of this alive.
"Enough!", the dark and menacing voice said. The voice wasn't shouting and it didn't sound angry or even concerned. It just spoke matter of factly and sounded annoyed more than anything.
In a flash, my men and I were frozen in ice. I looked at Anha and the girl in pink and they were also frozen. Our entire lower bodies was trapped in ice and no matter how much we tried to move, we couldn't free ourselves.
"Keep your shields close, men", I shouted to everyone. "That's the only way to ensure we are not drained of our magic."
When I turned back around, a man started to materialise from the ice. His skin was as white as snow and he had long silver hair that reached his back. His eyes..looking at those eyes was like staring right into the soul of death. They were crystal blue and shone with an unholy light.
My whole body was telling me to look away, but I forced myself to keep looking him in the eyes. My wolf and I could sense the immense power radiating from him. His aura was coated in the blood of hundreds of magical creatures. This was Raphael. I didn't need to hear his name. I just knew it.
"Tell me your last words, Kendrick", the man snarled at me menacingly.
Asriel, my wolf, was trying to rip out of me and tear his head off, but this ice was preventing us from shifting somehow.
I blinked and felt a tear rolling down my eye. I was going to die. All I could think about was how stupid I have been for not going to see my dad. All those reasons I had seemed so pathetic right now. And my dear Esther and Ishmael. Esther would go through the pain of losing another fated mate. The pain would surely kill her this time and our little boy would be left all alone.
"Go to hell, Raphael", I spat out.
A menacing and amused smile appeared on his face before a knife made of ice started to slowly form in his hand. The tip of the knife was made entirely of silver.
"I will send your body to your king in pieces", he growled lowly in my ear.
He thrust the blade into my chest and I felt the ice holding me up melt as I fell to the ground.
I saw his menacing smile while I struggled to keep my eyes open on the ground.
- Writer
