As Yet Untitled
Chapter 43

Pillars of flame shot up around me as I felt my feet touch the ground. A few people scrambled to get away from the fire. I waited, looking as powerful and menacing as I could. As soon as I saw him, I felt my eyes shine with joy at the look of pure horror on my adoptive father’s face.

“You!” I pointed at him as he fumbled out of the pack house. “You sent your best warrior alone to destroy her only living family and instead allowed her to die at the hands of rogues. You sent me to die! You do not deserve to be called an Alpha. You do not deserve these peoples’ loyalty.” My voice boomed through the clearing where the pack house stood. I almost felt like a god.

He sputtered trying to get words out. The feelings of fear and shock rolling off the people around me were almost suffocating. I let the flames dance across my body. I was enjoying the reactions from my old pack mates far more than I thought I would. I wanted them to think I had been resurrected as this powerful being with eyes as red as hell-fire.

“You should have let me die in peace!” I called to my adoptive father, trying not to laugh at the scene before me. “You have started a war you cannot hope to win. We will come for all of you. I can sense death all around me here!” I snarled. For good measure I added, “Any who stand with you under the light of the next full moon, will surely die, by my hand or another’s.”

I sent the flames higher and made sure I was completely blocked from view. I felt Luci’s hand on my shoulder and the ground briefly disappeared from beneath my feet. I dropped to my knees laughing like crazy. That felt amazing.

“O-Oh by the gods! Luci, did you see the look on his face!” I wheezed, playing it over and over in my mind.

“Didn’t I tell you I’m the best at delivering a threat? He should do what you want now, and with any luck, some of his loyal followers will be scared enough to piss off.” He responded smugly.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re the best at everything.” I dismissed. Nothing could ruin my great mood today after that.

James came rushing towards us as soon as we reappeared in the camp. “Ana! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He was frantic as he slid across the ground to check me over.

“I’m fine.” I playfully pushed him away. “Goddess I think my face is going to break if I keep thinking about that. Oh, you should have been there. The look of pure horror on everyone’s face was potentially the single greatest thing I’ve ever seen!” I responded still revelling in the memory as I played it back in my head.

When I eventually came down from my high, I trained a little with James and Solus, while I did my best to paint a picture in their minds of the chaos I had caused. I told just about anyone who would listen. This was the greatest experience of my life and I wanted to share my joy with others.

Later that afternoon many of us sat around the campfire chatting and sharing stories while we waited for dinner to cook. In that moment I felt like any other wolf. I wasn’t one to be feared or shunned, I was just like everyone else. I had interesting stories of battles and hunts just like all the other warrior wolves. I was really starting to feel like I fit in with these people.

It was getting dark very quickly. I hadn’t even noticed it was getting late, yet something was setting me on edge. I looked up into the darkening sky only to notice that the moon seemed dimmer than usual. Not only that, but there was another round and somewhat bright object in the sky, not yet touching the horizon.

I jammed my elbow into James as he was sat beside me. “Look at the sky.” I told him in a low voice. I watched the confusion settle on his face as he too noticed that despite the encroaching darkness, the sun had yet to set.

‘Everyone be alert but don’t be too obvious about it. I think there’s a witch nearby.’ I mind linked everyone that I could nearby. Multiple eyes shot to look at me and I discretely pointed up to the sky. I didn’t know if the witch was close enough to see us, but I didn’t want it to look like we had noticed their presence.

I casually stood and made a show of stretching my limbs. I pat James on the shoulder and told him I needed to stretch my legs before heading off into the forest towards the southern border. One of the other warriors who was sat with us got up to follow me.

“Mind if I join you on your walk?” Cayde’s gravelly voice asked just as I entered the tree-line.

“Be my guest.” I replied. We made meaningless small talk as we walked towards the border both of us scanning our surroundings in search of the threat. For a spell like this the witch casting it would likely need to be at the epicentre.

Everyone at the border was on high alert but nothing else seemed to happen for over an hour. It was hard to tell if the spell was even still being cast, since the sun had definitely set by now and the thick canopy of the trees blocked the light of the moon. I kept in contact with everyone in the pack to be sure we would know if there was an attack.

“We should send a scouting party to try find the source of this magic.” Cayde suggested under his breath.

I nodded in agreement “Fancy joining me for another walk?” I asked.

“It’s hardly a party with just two people.” He responded. His tone was serious but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes.

I shook my head and asked two nearby warriors to join us. Just about every available warrior had joined us at the borders by now. I sent a mental message to Jack and my dad to tell them about the four-man scouting party I had formed, before we crossed the borders to approach enemy territory.

It felt like we had walked for hours without finding the source of the darkness. The spell seemed to have stopped, since I could now see the light of the almost full moon shining in the dark sky above.

This was useless. There was no way we could find the scent of a witch amongst so many wolves; even the rotting stench of one who uses dark magic could easily be hidden by the smell of a pack. Whatever spell they had been casting was clearly over now and I guessed that since no one had attacked it must have just been a defensive spell. Likely it was just in response to my threat this morning. Though I wouldn’t have thought the darkness from a simple defensive spell would reach out so far.

Come to think of it, are there even any defensive spells used in dark magic? I always thought dark witches were more about causing chaos and destruction to darken the world and disrupt the balance between the Sun God and the Moon Goddess. Unfortunately, witches have never been my strong suit so perhaps my first thought was right; it’s just a defensive spell and nothing more sinister.

A/N- Hey guys! So sorry for the delay with this chapter my laptop screen gave up on life so I had to send it off to be fixed which took a while. But, I got it back yesterday so now it should be good for at least another year till I can afford to buy a new laptop!

Enough about that though, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! What do you think is going on with the dark magic? Is it going to disrupt the plans for battle?

I loved all your comments on the last chapter!! Leave another comment to let me know what you think of this one! Also leave a like or a review if you are enjoying this story! x

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