Mega Dragon: Harbinger of Death

THE LYKAN

The rest of the journey would have been silent if Ara hadn’t said anything. The tension that Alex Renoff; the Renoff Manor’s head was yet to clear out. Letting things remain as it was, felt like giving Alex some sort of victory. And Ara despised him too much to give him that sort of satisfaction. But even Vela was silent. And Aroha the angry bird was solemn. How weird was it? What would he say to clear the air that wouldn’t make things worse? It was tough. The girls were strong enough to not flip when they discovered what Alex had done. They were a lot more matured than Ara had thought. And Aroha, she was a lot prettier than he remembered. Seeing her so calm strengthened that thought. Her purple eyes flashed every once in a while. Her lips looked soft too. And her body… wait, what the hell was he thinking? Ara quickly shook off the scary thoughts that threatened to invade his mind. Aroha was pretty alright, but he had met so many pretty girls. They were all the same. Before long, they all frolicked over him. They weren’t to blame though. He was as attractive as he was good-looking.

Ara got so carried away in his reverie that he didn’t realize that he was grinning with his hand beneath his chin. Aroha’s creeped-out face snapped him back to reality though. So much for trying to clear out the awkwardness. But at least Zhiyi and Vela found it amusing, even if it was at his expense. “So, angry bird, what have you heard about me back at the outskirts… Juza? What stories of me fill those lands? I’m sure they wouldn’t be quite so different from the ones here in the capital,” Ara gloated. He made them smile at his expense but it was time to recoup his lost pride. There was no way the girls weren’t talking at him, whether at not they were in the capital. He had even heard some interesting talks about himself when he visited other kingdoms. He and Zenon; his best friend and the third prince from the Lo kingdom were easily the most sought-after princes in all of Maori. But he was sure he was more attractive than Zenon, as he was stronger as well.

“Let me see… that you’re pompous, weak, and annoying,” Aroha goaded. No way she was going to let him have the satisfaction of hearing about all the swooning girls back at Juza. Absolutely no way.

Ara knew she was teasing. In all his time of being the awesome Ara, which was always, by the way, he had never once received a negative remark from a woman. Not once. “Ha, you can let it all out angry bird. Don’t be embarrassed about it,” he said.

“Embarrassed? Me? You’re supposed to be the embarrassed one, not me. If you want to get any positive comments from anyone, ask Zhiyi. She’s the one I hear all your rumors from,” Aroha said. Zhiyi went red. Aroha knew that she had stolen the spotlight for most of the time. Zhiyi was the one who wanted to meet the prince, not her. She had no interest in him whatsoever. If she wasn’t interested in seeing the Croft Laboratorium, she would have abandoned them a long time ago. Staying around people for that long was exhausting. She was surprised that she could even last this long.

“Oh, is that right, Zhiyi?” Ara teased. He got so close to Zhiyi that she could barely speak. Most girls would swoon whenever he pulled that move. Getting so close to them that quickly. They found it difficult to react. Zhiyi was just seconds away from being one of those girls. But she was a Renoff. Quickly, she regulated her own blood flow and took a very deep breath. She was out of that loop very quickly much to Ara’s surprise.

“Oh, you’re still standing? Impressive,” Ara teased. He was certain she would fall. Unlike Aroha, Zhiyi carried all the traits of the girls that swooned over him. She was able to talk to him without blushing. It would have been a lot more fun if Aroha was like that too. Or maybe he only paid that much attention to her because she wasn’t.

“Get away from her you p*****t,” Aroha snapped as she pulled him by his collar. His guards would have struck her down on that spot if she were not Gero Renoff’s daughter. Ara’s gesture to calm down helped them to be at ease. Still, the only that treated the prince like that other than Zenon was actually Vela. But for some reason, she just stopped. There was a time that they were inseparable and everyone in the capital thought that they had an affair. And suddenly, out of nowhere, they became distant. Of course, more rumors ran through the capital about their relationship ending because of the king’s disapproval. She was older than him by four years! There was no way the king would have been okay with something like that. To the others who had a different opinion and they formed the minority, Vela was more like the sister Ara never had, like Zenon was the brother he never had as well. The three were pretty close. But it was mostly either Ara and Vela or Ara and Zenon. The three were rarely together because of their schedules. Ara was an only child, so Vela treated him like a little brother. While that was also plausible, it was by far the more unpopular opinion. It was less exciting after all.

Ara was surprised as to how strong Aroha was. She didn’t even look like she was exerting so much strength. From the number of women he had been with, he knew it wasn’t normal for a woman to be that strong. Vela on the other hand was impressed to see how good Zhiyi’s mana control was. Being a high-class healer, she noticed what Zhiyi did. As amusing as Aroha and Ara’s performances were, it brought back too many memories. So much that it was difficult to smile at them. But she did anyway.

Zhiyi was actually surprised to see Aroha talk to someone that well. Prince Ara was just as amazing as she imagined, as he was attractive. But he seemed more interested in Aroha than he was in her. Well, there was always prince Zenon. Seeing how well Aroha and Ara got along, she was tempted to help that ship sail. But it was too early to add input of her own. Ara and Aroha would be a bigger dream than anyone she had ever fantasized about. And like Ara, she didn’t know when she started rubbing her chin. And also like Ara, Aroha’s creeped-out face brought her back, but so did Ara’s.

“Hey girl, you picked up all of my bad habits, didn’t you?” Ara teased. It wasn’t unusual for his fangirls. But that was mostly for the ones in the capital. But it shouldn’t be that surprising. He was just that awesome.

It didn’t take too long for them to reach the Croft Laboratorium. It was in the inner parts of the capital but it was secluded as well. not many people wanted to be around that place. And for good reason. Some of the empire’s most dreaded creatures resided there. While it was theoretically impossible for them to break out of the Laboratorium because of the sorcerer’s barrier, the people were too skeptical to reside around there. The king was party to them moving further from the area. It was safer that way.

The Laboratorium was a lot noisier than Aroha and Zhiyi expected. Howling and growling were the music that filled the atmosphere. The girls didn’t feel too comfortable with their conditions. But as Ara said, it was for a noble cause. They were led to a more secure chamber. That was where the Lykan was kept. The Lykan was a humanoid wolf. Its inordinately large muscles gave it quite a grotesque appearance and its fur did little to cover its body either.

“I have to say, they are a lot more noisy than usual,” Vela said. She had been there several times but this was the noisiest she had known them to be.

“I could say because they are glad to see you, but I don’t speak growl,” Ara teased.

“Funny.”

The Lykan struggled with his chains. Had it not been enchanted, it might have broken out of its b*****e a long time ago. Their strength was fueled by their emotions after all. The Lykan shrugged when he noticed Ara. Ara gave him quite the beating after all. But his reaction when he saw Aroha was completely different. Utter fear!

The Lykan scurried to the edge of the room in an attempt to escape from Aroha’s sight. They were all perplexed by its reaction. That was certainly a first. “Oh come on, she’s not that hideous,” Ara goaded. But even he knew that was an unusual reaction from the Lykan. It was one thing to be wary of those stronger than it, like Ara for example, but to be so frightened by a girl. That was quite the shocker.

Aroha didn’t respond to Ara’s taunt. She was by far too captivated by the Lykan. Not by its reaction but its appearance. She stared at it as if she could see into its soul. The Lykan trembled as Aroha took a step closer, but Ara grabbed her hand. “Forget the fact that it's acting scared, that thing is dangerous,” Ara warned. This time, he was serious. Vela agreed with him as well, but Aroha ignored his warnings.

She moved forward towards the Lykan. It was calling her. Zhiyi stood watch as she felt a heavy throb in her heart. Suddenly, she could see it. Aroha’s energy had changed again. It was no longer purple, it was closer to white. It happened one time when they were still at Juza. Aroha was acting strangely and that throb she felt just now kicked in for the first time. After that, she had an inner view of the mana that the people and creatures around her possessed. Prince Ara and Vela’s manas were ridiculous. Especially Ara’s. The Crofts was a family that descended from the first human beast. Just like the Renoffs, they had strong ties with the beasts. Ara was one of the few ever to possess that much beast mana. Zhiyi could see why he was so revered in battle. If he were to let his mana roam free, there wasn’t a mythical creature alive that could stand up to him. Aroha’s mana was serene as it was terrifying. Like the calm before the storm. Zhiyi knew that no good would come about letting Aroha approach the Lykan, but she was unable to speak. The last time this happened, their father Gero had to stop her. But he wasn’t there. And they all couldn’t see it. But the Lykan could. That was why it was so terrifying. But what triggered that state again?

Aroha moved towards the Lykan, disregarding Ara and Vela’s warnings. Ara followed her closely just in case the Lykan tried anything funny. He would be able to react to it at that proximity. The Lykan’s shivering intensified as Aroha got closer. It howled in panic and all the other creatures in the Laboratorium reacted to it. They howled at the top of their voices. Ara couldn’t understand why they were reacting that way. He could feel their fears, but was it really because of Aroha?

“Hey, be quiet,” Aroha said coldly. The Lykan froze up. It was so terrified that it couldn’t move and seconds later, it passed out.

They were all so shocked. It was nothing like they had ever seen. “Hey, how did you do that?” Ara asked, but reflexively, he jumped back by a step when he saw Aroha’s cold eyes. What did he just sense that made him react that way? He could tell that that was the same thing the Lykan felt. A truly menacing aura.

“That’s enough, Aroha,” Vela said with a chop on Aroha’s consciousness that saw her lose consciousness. “You’re just as terrifying as the grand healer said you’d be.”