Piercing Silver

Chapter 2

As Abel ran through the woods, he couldn't get Alison's voice off his mind. He wondered why an innocent girl like that would come to work in the settlement. When he had come there, it was in payment of his father's debt. He had resented his father for this. People were usually born free, but because of the old bastard, he wasn't.

Knowing the kind of person Edna was, he couldn't let his curiosity towards the girl show. He hoped his advice was enough to make Edna stand down on the killing.

Edna would do anything to keep her kind and others alike safe and protected. It was her job, her calling, her only role. Nothing was above her people's protection. If truly the girl was a threat, Abel knew Edna wouldn't let her live.

Something strong had drawn Abel to Alison that even he couldn't explain. He felt the need to protect her. Although they had never met except for her voice that he heard while Edna was trying to have her sign a contract. Remembering Edna's method, he decided he would find a gentle way to have her tone it down.

Abel understood the importance of the contract. After all, he had signed one himself. He understood the need for binding the parchment. It was to protect their secrets, because humans could not be a hundred per cent loyal. He understood the need to isolate the human workers from the people. He was living proof of that. But the human curiosity was a strong trait. Humans were incapable of total obedience.

Abel remembered how he was turned. It had happened because he had disobeyed. He was to stay away from the people of the settlement, not ask questions, not snoop around and not annoy them. He had broken all the rules except spilling their secret to a human, and he would have done that if it weren't for the parchment contract that hindered the contractors from speaking about the settlement's people to humans. He tried but simply couldn't get the words out.

Abel had been snooping around, investigating one of the boys in the settlement. He heard them whispering about something. From what he was able to gather, some of the shifters were not happy with the management and wanted to do something about it. They believed their kind shouldn't be in hiding from humans as they were superior beings. They were forming a cult to overthrow Edna. Abel didn't know how sensitive the hearing of the beings was when he went in an attempt to eavesdrop on their conversation. The alpha wolf shifter had attacked him. Luckily for him, Edna was aware of the mutiny that was about to take place and had the woods surrounded. Edna and her people had swooped in on time to save Abel. The alpha wolf and his pack and some other shifters, including bears and feline beasts, were banished from the settlement and others alike. The rest of the wolves remained with no leader until Abel fully accepted his change.

Apart from his good looks, Edna kept Abel at her side for the sake of peace. When the pack and some of the shifters left, the settlement was vulnerable to attack from other settlements and rogues who might want to expand their reach. It was like losing their muscle. Edna was a dragon, and because of that, her kind had to fight in human form to keep them from being detected. They were very large creatures. Their world was to remain hidden, so dragons shifting to their true form was out of the question. They could only shift if they were sure they could remain unseen, and this was impossible because the settlements were either in a town or close to a town and thus had to remain in their human form.

Dragons weren't strong in their human form. Although they had magic and could fight, they were fewer than other shifters due to their mating requirements. Dragons in human form were no match for an army of supernatural beings consisting of small-sized shifters like wolves, bears, and feline beasts.

Edna had been diligent in her duties; although her methods were cruel, she was efficient. Alison was in danger. Abel knew Edna. He knew that her first response to a supposed threat would be death. Dragons were not patient. Patience was best practised by feline shifters and magical beings.

As Abel ran through the woods, he searched his mind for what to do. His wolf and his spirit were clear on one thing: the girl must not die.

Edna took Abel's advice to consult the mage. She went to the seers' quarters to find Magdalena.

Magdalena was the oldest mage in the settlement. Magdalena had lived for two hundred and fifty thousand years. She had maintained her youth for a while with human sacrifice. Each life bought her 50 years of youth. Sometimes it was baffling thinking about how many people Magdalena had sacrificed to remain young. It always amazed Edna how Magdalena had gotten away with it undetected. The mage was highly respected in her community and those alike.

"What brings the queen Dragon here?" Magdalena asked with sarcasm. Although they lived in the same community, they did not like each other much. What kept them was mutual respect. Both women were powerful and dangerous. They knew it was best to team up rather than fight each other. Although Edna was in charge, she knew better than to lord over Magdalena. The issue with the shifter community that was halved was there; she did not need more enemies.

The moment Edna heard Magdalena's voice, she knew it would have been easier to kill the girl. Dealing with Magdalena was never easy because she was a 'for-profit' person, and Edna had nothing to give her.

"Oh, nothing... Just here to chat with my bestie," Edna replied, returning the sarcasm with a smile.

"Oh, knock it off. What do you want?" Magdalena snapped, irritated by the dragon. Magdalena believed she was more qualified to run the settlement, but the community and council disagreed. She planned to wait until Edna messed up, then she would swoop in.

"I am just here to chat," Edna affirmed.

"I'm listening," Magdalena said, sounding uninterested.

"What being has a blue life core?" She asked, and Magdalena's eyes widened in fear, not believing what she had just heard.

"Did you say blue life core?" Magdalena clarified.

"Yes," She affirmed.

"Where is it?" Magdalena asked.

"You haven't answered my question yet. And just so you know, I do not have anything like that. I came across it while reading in my office, and it got me curious. For the three hundred years I have lived, I have never heard of a being with blue life core." Edna said, partially telling the truth. After all, she had come across the blue life core while reading her contract parchment in her office...

"What do I get for it?" Magdalena asked.

"You won't just answer the question?" Edna asked, frustrated by the mage.

"I don't give freebies," Magdalena replied.

"I see your vocabulary has expanded.." Edna pointed out, and they both smiled sarcastically.

"Please, Magdalena, just this once, please," Edna begged.

Magdalena paused to study her, contemplating whether or not to answer. Finally, she drew in a deep breath and exhaled with a sigh.

Magdalena knew that whatever it was must have been serious for proud Edna to come to her begging. Since the settlement was her home, too, she had a responsibility to help out if need be.

"There are three types of pure beings with primary colours for life core," she began. "The first and most common you already know are human beings with life core of red, the second we all commune with are ethereal beings consisting of angels, demon blah blah blah, their life core is yellow. The third is Supreme beings, consisting of gods and goddesses. They are few, hardly ever seen, good and evil, very dangerous, unpredictable, uncontrollable, and their life core is pure blue, undiluted and untainted." She completed with a glint in her eyes. She knew the information she had just given had made Edna unsettled. So much for freebies. Seeing the terror in Edna's eyes was reward enough.

Edna had been shaken by what she had heard and now scared of the wide-eyed innocent-looking girl she had welcomed into the settlement. She remembered the fear in her eyes while she was forced to sign the contract. Could it have been pretence? Or was the mage messing with her? She knew how much the mage disliked her, but the mage did not know that such a person was on the farm. Edna knew she had to act fast. There was no doubt the mage was telling the truth. The look in the old mage's eyes had said it all. The girl needed to die.