The burst through everyone back a step or two and Atara noticed that everyone shielded their eyes like she did. Atara lowered her arm to see the person she had been dreading to see for a month. Cyrus. However, he was there in an ethereal form created by Raven’s magic. He was variant shades of blue magic so it could look as though he was standing there in front of everyone. Zara, Xander, and Sophia growled. Tobias put his arm around Zara to keep her in place. Atara stared at the magical rendition of the man who raised her. She thought she would feel like she did before she came here, and her memories were locked away. Before she knew that this man had ordered to have her parents, sister and herself killed. Atara was wrong. She felt nothing. “What? No kneeling before your king? Pitiful. I should have ordered this whole pack’s death.” Atara felt Zara’s magic surged forward from across the room and Tobias had to whisper to her to calm her down.
“Are you going to explain why you have the High Priestess using her magic to send us a message magically instead of coming here yourself? Talk about a coward.” Zara said in a tone of disgust.
“I see you still have a mouth on you. I’ll be sure to make sure you never speak out of that pretty mouth again when I see you.”
Tobias growled as if he was a wolf. “You will NOT threaten my mate.”
“Ah, King Tobias. Slumming it with a wolf, I see. Here I thought you Elementals did your best to preserve your species.”
Tobias lifted his hand and fire formed. Zara grabbed his hand before he made a move. “He is here only by Raven’s magic. There is no point in wasting your energy.”
Xander spoke up. “Tell us your message.”
“You know better than to speak to me, Xander. Especially since you closed off your territory so I cannot come here. How did you manage that one? Oh yeah, you convinced that magical bitch to do your bidding.”
“I will end this spell, Cyrus, and then poof back over there and magically rip you apart. Tell them your damn message before I cut off your air supply from here!” Raven said angrily.
Atara could tell Raven managed to do something even miles away while also performing this spell as Cyrus winced. She also noticed that Raven was starting to stagger. This spell is draining her magic. “Say what you have to say, Cyrus.” Atara snapped. He turned to Atara. “I am not even going to waste my breath insulting you. Should’ve known you would not have been worth saving.” Atara envisioned her magic choking the life out of Cyrus and he winced again. Did I cause him to do that? “I came to give you a chance to surrender yourselves, so you did not die a brutal death on the battlefield in three days. I should just come to you now, especially since I now know you are all together. However, that ward of yours will not drop until the full moon. I will never know how that disgusting witch managed to pull off that spell without using blood or black magic” That caused Atara to think over what Cyrus had said. He was not referring to Raven.
“Are you saying our mother created the ward around this territory? I thought the Coven was reinforcing it with their magic?” Atara had asked.
“Of course, you did not figure that part out, yet. See, you still disappoint me. Yes, your mother’s magic managed to create the ward around this territory. Not the Coven. They were investigating it for me to see if they could break it for me. Oh? That look on all your faces tells me that she did not tell you that. I guess you can’t even trust your own family, pup.”
“Gives us your damn message. Or was it just surrender yourself? If you want to instill fear in us, you need to do better than that.” Atara spat.
Cyrus was angry. She could feel it. But Atara knew she had to get Cyrus angry, so he ended this pitiful speech before Raven collapsed from the amount of magic she was using.
“I’m going to take that as you are rejecting my offer to surrender. I will see you in three days. I cannot wait to spill your blood across that battlefield and begin my journey in taking over these realms.”
With that Raven slammed her hands together, ceasing the spell with a word. It was easier to breathe now that the magic in the room dissipated. Raven was staggering and Atara got to her in time before she collapsed. Sophia ran to them and ushered Atara to a room so Raven could rest. Atara looked to Sophia once she noticed that Raven’s eyes were closed. “What did he mean our mother’s magic created that ward?” Sophia looked at Atara and she could tell that Sophia knew.
Sophia brought Atara back into the room and had the girls sit down on the couch. She took a deep breath and looked at her mate. He came to stand next to her. Tobias walked over and sat next to Zara and took her hand in his.
“Girls, I want you to understand something. We were not fully sure how this all worked. Not even your aunt. However, when Cyrus said it, Raven understood it after all these years. Your mother made a dying declaration spell. With this spell, she created the ward around our territory. Cyrus was unable to cross into this territory even though he had the power of the Alpha. When a witch conjures a spell before death, it creates a power unlike anything any witch could ever produce. This was her way of ensuring your safety.”
“How did it protect me?” Atara asked.
“Did Cyrus ever touch you? Even a hug?”
“Not really, why?”
“We think that is because if he did, it would cause the Sorcerer’s spell to drain. Then his ability to be Alpha would begin to disappear.”
That left the girls stunned, especially Atara. It explained so much of her childhood. Why Cyrus would never hug her or even give her a high five. She recalled maybe one of each in her lifetime and on both incidents, Cyrus became incredibly agitated afterward. He also would not come near her or any of the others in the pack for a few days afterwards.
Atara walked outside for some air and looked to the sky.
Wow. Way to go, Mom. Thank you.
Chapter Thirty-Three: Zara
Raven slept in Xander’s home for three days. It was the morning of the full moon and everyone was antsy in the pack. Zara and Atara did not leave Raven’s side, afraid that their aunt would not wake up. It was reaching noon when Raven’s eyes fluttered awake.
Sophia came into the room and kept Raven calm and relaxed. After Raven drank some water, she explained what led to her appearing to them with her clothes torn and having to create the spell which gave Cyrus the ability to contact them. Cyrus had contacted Raven and demanded for her to come to the castle to speak with him. Raven obliged due to wanting to keep appearances that she was working for him. When she had entered the throne room Cyrus and a large red wolf with gold eyes was at his feet. Atara identified that it was Axel, official fourth in the pack. Cyrus had asked if she was still loyal to the throne. Raven answered that she was and will always be loyal to the throne. Cyrus laughed and had Axel attack her. He managed to get a few scrapes and one bite in before Raven put Axel against the wall with magic. That is when she learned Cyrus’s real plan. Axel was distracting her as he managed to get behind her and held a knife to her throat. He demanded her to give Zara, Atara and the Midwest pack a message by performing the spell she had completed. Raven had told them that even a witch of her caliber would not be able to hold the spell for as long as he wanted. He told her that she would complete the spell and hold it until he was done talking, otherwise he would use his Hunters on retainer to kill her. That is when she rounded everyone up and performed the spell.
Cyrus knew he could not cross the barrier that Danni had created twenty years ago. He had tried right after he killed Danni, Michael, and Bryce when he noticed that Zara and Atara had run in that direction. He also knew that Xander was close with Michael. When he tried to cross the barrier that night, he was thrown backwards and sliced up on the parts of the body that touched it.
Raven had rested for a few more hours and contacted the Coven to bring a potion to ensure that she would be fully recovered for that night and to bring the potion that she had planned for each of them to take to ensure that Zara and the rest of the Coven members who will be using ample amounts of power for their
show before the fight.
No one was truly ready for this night. It became emotional as the day went on when everyone said their possible goodbyes. Deck hugged Zara too tight, kissed her forehead and told her to stay close to Tobias if she could. Then he looked to Tobias and told him to keep his sister safe at all costs. He glanced over at Atara and did the same with her, then looked at Zara and Tobias and told them to look out for her as well, but he would also stick close. Lucus did something similar but did not hug her too tight. He told her he would do his best to influence those in the Kingdom pack to stay calmer than normal within a fight to help persuade them to not fight to their fullest abilities. Sam begged Zara to let him fight, but she told him no. He tried to sneak out so he could later join, but Xander had caught him. Zara used an Alpha command on him to make him listen. It was interesting to Zara to see how dominant her thirteen-year-old pack mate was when usually wolves did not show these signs until they were older. Weston and Gemma agreed to stay behind with him due to them being submissives and not being the greatest fighters.
Xander and Sophia said their goodbyes. They told Zara how much they loved her, how they never would choose the option of not taking her in if given the chance again, and how proud of the woman that she had become over the last few months. Xander told her that he was certain that once the fight was over, he would be celebrating her and Atara’s victory. It took everything in Zara to not cry from the moment they stepped in front of her.
Zara had walked over to Atara and stood next to her as they watched the sun begin to set behind the trees in the backyard. Atara inhaled a deep breath and turned to face Zara. Before she could say a word, Zara hugged her sister. She held on tight and could not seem to let go.
Zara knew that this would not be easy for her sister. She was going into a battle with those that she had grown up with over the last twenty years. It was going to be difficult to attack the ones who helped her train, who looked out for her, and even had to face off with the one person who truly was a parental figure in her life: Marcus. Over the last month, Atara had given Zara details of her life before they found each other again. Marcus was the only one who cared for her sister in a parental way. If Atara would have to face off with Marcus within the battle, Zara was unsure if Atara would be able to. Zara hoped that if that would happen, Marcus would not be able to attack the young woman who he had raised as his own despite Cyrus claiming that he was her actual father.
Cyrus. That was another problem to Zara. How would Atara react to Cyrus? He was the one who had raised her. He may not have been nurturing, but he pushed her to be the person that she was today. Zara had thought about that a lot over the last week as the battle neared. Would Atara be able to kill Cyrus? Or would she freeze?
Atara had let go of the hug first. She had smiled at Zara and held onto the obsidian necklace that she had made for herself and Zara had the matching one in white gold.
“Are you ready for this?” She asked.
“On the outside? Yes. On the inside? No.” Zara answered.
Atara nodded in agreement. “Let’s end this once and for all.”
Zara smiled at her sister. “Yeah. Let us end this…for Mom and Dad.”
Cyrus:
It was the night of the full moon. The night that he had feared for twenty years. He rallied the pack together, forcing most of them to shift. He had concocted a plan to ensure his victory and then led his pack to march toward the Midwest Pack territory. If they manage to reach the territory by midnight, the barrier will fall. That bitch’s magic will finally fall and cannot protect her disgusting hybrid children anymore. He thought to himself.
They came to an opening within the woods around one hundred yards long. He noticed that the hybrid girls were on the other side immediately, and it appeared that they had come alone. He began to sniff the air to ensure that magic was not being used. He could not smell anything. FOOLS!
He noticed that the one was wearing Elemental traditional clothes. Of course, she is wearing their clothes and showing off her mark. Cyrus growled in repulsion. Then he noticed that both girls began to shimmer with a magical aura. Zara illuminated with a pearlish white hue with an electric blue laced within it. Upon focusing more closely, the bolts of blood red, golden yellow, forest green, and royal blue began to shine through. Her three magics are at full power. He then glanced at Atara. Even though it was dark, the moon was above them illuminating the entire clearing so he could see her clearly. Her magic was obsidian black and she had faint gray and gold laced within. What does the gold mean?
Cyrus had no time to think anything further. The girls began to raise their hands and he could feel their power from across the clearing. There was rumbling in the sky above them, but he could not see a storm cloud coming. Zara and Atara clapped their hands above their head and lightning crashed on the ground that surrounded the girls. He noticed that smoke was covering the clearing as the lightning rained down around the girls. Once the lightning ceased, the girls emerged, fully shifted in their wolves with their magical aura still around them. Their auras were flaring, making their wolves look even more menacing. Zara’s white wolf was standing slightly before Atara, which told Cyrus that she was the one more powerful of the two. There was a mark on her forehead glowing the electric blue that was laced within her aura. It was a crescent moon, a full moon, and another crescent moon. The Mark of the Goddess!
Within seconds, Cyrus smelled the bitter scent of magic. Behind and all around the girls were members of the Midwest pack and all the members of the Lunar Coven. They hid their troops behind an invisible barrier. Just how powerful are these two?
Cyrus realized that this fight was not going to play out the way how he planned. The two girls are more powerful than prophesied, they had the backing of the Midwest pack who are ranked just under the Kingdom pack. Not to mention, had the backing of the most powerful coven in their world. He thought the Lunar Coven were his allies, but this betrayal proved otherwise. This was truly going to be a battle.
Let the battle commence. Cyrus ran toward the girls at full speed. The pack began their charge toward the other side of the clearing to begin the battle of prophecy.
Chapter Thirty-Four: Zara
As Cyrus took the first step into battle, Zara’s wolf threw her head back and howled a battle cry. She dug her claws into the ground and launched herself. Her magic was spread across the battlefield and could feel everyone’s presence. Those of the pack that shifted were right on her heels. As they closed the gap, Zara noticed that each one of Cyrus’s wolves’ eyes were blood red. What the hell?
She did not have time to think more into it. Both sides collided in a frenzy of teeth and claws. Zara clashed against a gray wolf. He threw his shoulder to hit Zara’s in hopes of knocking her down. It did not work. Zara clasped her jaw onto his neck as his shoulder met hers and the momentum pushed her back but did not manage to knock her down. The wolf was viciously biting at her and Zara noticed he smelled of death. The snapping of the wolf’s jaws kept coming, but Zara dodged each time. It appeared that the wolf was not fighting like it had years of training as Atara claimed was common in the Kingdom Pack but was instead going feral. What is going on? She thought. ZARA! They are under a hex! Raven said within her mind. Her wolf let go of her magic and blasted the wolf a few feet away. When he landed, she heard the thud and he did not move.
Zara looked around the battle. There was not a wolf who was not engaged in fighting. Cyrus somehow managed to be in the back with the other wolves fighting off the pack so no one could get to him. Tobias was engaged with an older man. The older man was using a sword, but Tobias was holding his own with his bow staff. They took swipes at each other blocking, parrying, and swinging their weapons at one another. The man raised the sword above his head and swung downward as Tobias pushed him back with a gust of wind and rolled backwards out of the way. When Tobias got back onto his feet, he jumped up using a gust of wind to get higher in the air. As he came down, he prepared to strike the man wit
h his staff which the man countered. It was clear they were both evenly matched. Zara was going to assist Tobias with his opponent, but she saw that Atara was closer and also engaged.
Atara was engaged with a wolf and Zara noticed another was running at her to tackle her from the side. This wolf was cinnamon red and with his eyes glowing red, it looked sadistic. She could not warn Atara, but felt her magic reaching out and connecting with those around her. Zara felt Raven’s magic and her teleporting ability. Her magic responded to it, grasped onto it, and Zara appeared just before the wolf as he was three feet away from the wolf coming to charge Atara. The wolf dug his claws into the ground from the shock of Zara appearing before him. Check that out… I can mirror…just like Mom.
She lowered her head and growled. The eyes of the wolf glowed brighter and then the wolf charged at her. Zara jumped to the side at the last second and then clamped down on the wolf’s tail. He turned his head to snap at Zara’s snout, she let go before he did. The wolf snarled and then yelped. Zara looked and noticed Atara had knocked out the wolf she was fighting and just bit down on this wolf’s back left leg. Zara shifted and flicked her wrist at the wolf. Her magic flashed out of her hand and the wolf breathed it in as she hoped. The wolf flopped over and was out cold. Atara shifted and stood next to her.
“Thanks for the clothes, sis. Can you teach me that?”
“Later. Did you notice that all of the wolves have glowing red eyes?”
Wolf Unleashed (Hybrid Prophecies Book 1) Page 21
