Epilogue
Months passed in relative peace, allowing us to expand all over Wallachia and take over the sea. Still, I never thought about moving to a 'better' place. Castle Bran had everything we wanted, and Rasnov was able to house all the Human population, and even more.
The army had grown to double what it was before the battle. Upon hearing how Azdaha treated both Humans and Supernaturals, throngs of travelers arrived from all over, even beyond the borders. Spoils from the defeated Vatacan army were indispensable to the new situation. Thousands of weapons, pieces of armor and jewelry. Every single soldier was outfitted with the best what we had to offer, in a mix with the looted items.
Hundreds of acres of farmland had been prepared to grow grain, for raising cattle and grow grapes. People were no longer hungry or naked without a roof over their heads. Both Humans and Supernaturals lived in peace along each-other, though there was a slight hint at the underlying danger that loomed all over us. In the end, it was their Human nature to talk and hint at how the Supernaturals had too much power over them. Humans. It was always like this with them.
In the ninth month after the big battle, unrest stirred among the general populace. So much as that some faraway villages declared their independence from us, hoping their locations wouldn't be of enough significance for us to take action. Boris led his pack and destroyed every single one of them. It was a mistake, but there was no way we were giving up on what we created. At least not until one day a lone rider appeared before Castle Bran demanding to see me.
Loud footsteps echoed in the castle courtyard along with two screams and the neighing of a horse. I barely managed to turn to the double doors leading into the inner sanctum as they were almost blown off their hinges. The light of day flooded the room, bothering all those present.
Hana jumped up hissing with her blade out as a man wearing all black made his way inside. He stopped ten feet short of her with raised arms. The coat around his body raised with the gesture, revealing blades on either of his side.
"Lord Ivan, I presume?" he asked, staring right at my back. I stood in front of a large statue carved in stone. On the left stood Vera and Andrej, her hands on his small shoulders. Beside her stood Katya and Hana, me in the middle, and Tierney, Selene and Freya on the right. It served me as a daily remind how easy it was to lose someone.
With a sigh, I turned to the man just as he pulled the cowl down from his head.
"Depends who's asking," I replied mildly annoyed for the fact someone dared interrupt my time alone with the girls.
"It doesn't matter who I am, Lord Ivan. What matters is who I work for, and they, in turn, have summoned you. A month from now exactly in a city far to the north that's called Kyiv. What is your answer?"
A flood of anger rose deep inside, forcing me to lunge at the man with my spear pressed to his neck.
"What did you just say? I was summoned? By whom!"
To his merit, the man didn't even flinch. Instead, his eyes started glowing green as his arm shot up and pressed down on my hand. With tremendous strength, the man snapped my wrist but remained standing there motionless as if nothing happened. Caught off guard, I stepped back and drove the blade into his neck-- or at least I tried to. It wasn't moving.
"They said you might attack or threaten me, so I made sure you couldn't," the man said with the same cold and neutral voice as when he came barging in. "Now that I have your attention, let me add that lady Tierney will accompany you. Exactly thirty days to show up at the meeting in Kyiv. You will be expected to arrive latest at midnight at Castle Richard Lionheart. Goodbye."
Before I could even protest or ask the man who he was, he blinked out of existence, only leaving behind a whiff of smoke and ash. I stormed out into the courtyard thinking him there, but the horse he used still roamed freely slamming his hooves against the stone beneath its feet.
"You won't find him, Ivan," Tierney said, catching up with me. "That was a Homunculi, a puppet body that, for some reason, can't be damaged. The owner controls it over great distances and destroys it with a mere thought."
"So, what you're saying is--"
"That he was never here," she finished for me. I couldn't help but feel anxious. I knew nothing about them or why they wanted to see me, but it didn't bode well.
"What else do you know?"
"Not as much as Freya does. Speaking of which, where is she?"
"I don't know. She should have been back already. This doesn't feel right at all," I replied. "Tell me what you know, no matter that she's more familiar with them."
"Well, you might want to sit down for this," Tierney said, leading me out. Hana still stood there with her blade drawn and wasn't moving.
"Hana?" I asked as we stopped right in front of her. "What's wrong?"
Bloody tears started streaming down her cheeks.
"I can't move," she whispered. "I can't move my body!"
I cursed trying to push her arm down, but it wasn't budging. I turned to Tierney, who shook her head as if she had no idea what was going on.
"Who the fuck are they? Talk!"
"I told you once already! A long time ago, Ivan. They're the Supernatural council who rules the underworld. If it has anything to do with Supernaturals and is deemed a danger for them, they come looking. We're far in over our heads, Ivan. We can't fight them."
"Oh, yes, we can. Gamayun's been working on something special with Bruno. They said that sometimes this week their little project would be ready for a test run. If they do make it, we'll have enough time to get so much stronger than ever before."
"What are you having them do?" she asked, trying to force Hana's limbs back in place, but they weren't budging.
"It's a secret. For now, we have to figure out what the hell he did to Hana. Whatever they're working on right now, isn't important."
"You don't have to," Freya said as she appeared right at the door. "She was stung by a Basilisk. Its poison has paralyzed her whole body, and without the antidote, there's no way to cure her."
"Where do we find the antidote?" I hissed angrily. "And where the hell were you?"
"Doing something vital. In any case, the only way for us to heal her is to get some Basilisk blood, which can only be found in the North-East, far above Kyiv."
"Shit. As if we didn't have enough on our plate. Nos, Dominiq, Vatacan, and Vladimir. Now that strange council? Bah!" I growled kicking over the massive table. It flew right against the wall shattering into a thousand pieces and splinters. "Alright, then. I guess we'll have to go see what they want from us, and kill us some Basilisks while we're at it."
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