Chapter Twelve
1973 Words
Axel’s POV
We were already alert and in battle mode.
“They are really fast.”
“Do you think they took another route?”
“ I heard that this was the fastest route.”
I was surprised to see two of the rescued centaurs, who seemed to be following us.
“Maya’s father?” I asked and stepped out of my hiding position.
“Thank goodness you are still here” he said when he saw me and my men.
“What are you both doing here?” I asked.
“We wanted to join you and fight alongside you” he answered seriously.
“What of your daughter?” I asked him while scrutinizing him with my eyes.
“She is in safe hands and I know she will be very happy there” he replied, then walked up to me with the other and placed his hand on his chest. So did the other centaur.
“I, Zane Golivasin, pledge my life to Gamma Axel of Darkwood. Wherever you go, I will go, your fight will be my fight till the day I die”, he pledged.
“I, Nurain Pasymic, pledge my life to Gamma Axel of Darkwood. Wherever you go, I will go. Your fight will be my fight till the day I die”, the other pledged too.
I looked at them speechlessly, too dumbfounded to say anything.
“We sought the King's permission before coming” he said, while giving me a hopeful gaze.
“Things can get really messy on this journey, so no matter what happens, your life should be your top priority. I don't need you to sacrifice your lives for me. Are we clear?” I asked and they nodded happily.
“The king asked me to give you this”, Zane said, while handing me a water bottle.
I wondered why the king would send us water and could also see the confused looks on the faces of my men.
“It is not water, it is the disguise unveiling potion the elderly man used at the capital gate” he explained.
I accepted it and gave it to Wells, one of my warriors.
“His highness is really generous” he said, and placed the water bottle in his bag for safe keeping.
We continued the journey to Celesterra. We got there in the evening and headed straight to the Queen's Palace.
Unlike the other kingdoms, the witches' kingdom is relatively small as they live in covens. There are eight covens in total and each coven possess a different power from the others.
“Gamma Axel, you are all welcome”, Queen Ursula welcomed us warmly.
“You look as beautiful as ever, your highness”, I complimented her and she laughed.
“Okay, let's drop the formalities” she said with a laugh and gave me a hug.
“It is good to see you again, Susu”, I said while hugging her back.
“I didn't see you at the annual banquet” she said as we made our way into the palace.
“I had something to take care of at the time” I replied.
“How is he so close to the queen?” Iheard Nurain ask curiously with a whisper.
“She used to come to Darkwood a lot and is a good friend of his, King Grayson and Beta Raymond”, Wells answered him.
“Please take your seats, let's eat”, she invited, and we all complied.
We sat down on the mat with our bags still on our shoulders, then washed our hands. A servant placed a low table in front of us.I was sitting directly opposite the queen. A few minutes later, the servants brought in the food and placed each person's own in front of him.
I suddenly caught a whiff of a scent that I know very well. During training, we were made to observe and find out the smells of many poisonous leaves and herbs.
‘Don't eat, the food is poisoned’ I said through the mind link.
I made a signal with my eyes to Zane and Nurain, and they immediately understood.
“Susu, do you remember the time you put a singing spell on me? I asked, while observing her carefully.
“Of course, I remember, you sang the whole day” she answered, and that was all the confirmation I needed.
I just made up the question, and she fell for it. Susu had never put a singing spell on me.
I stealthily moved my hands towards Wells’s bag and took out the water bottle.
‘Be prepared to fight’, I commanded through the mind link. The warrior close to Zane signaled him.
“Is there something wrong? Don't you like the food?” She asked and I just gave her a smile.
Without wasting time, I poured some of the potion on my palm and swiftly sprinkled it on her face.
“Ahhhhhh” she screamed.
We all got up and took our fighting stance. Five wizards rush in and are shocked by the scene. The fake queen's disguise had melted away to reveal her true face, which was black, scaly and very hideous.
“There are dark witches in the coven” I announced to them, but it seemed to take them a while to process what was happening.
“There could be more out there who have taken the face of your loved ones” I said to them.
“Incanami mukuna hosh midukin..” I knew she was trying to alert the others and half shifted to claw out her heart.
“What do you suggest we do?” One of the wizards asked.
“You can prepare a lot of the disguise exposing potion, then we will do a house to house check on the people” I suggested.
“We have enough potions already made, so we can start now” he replied.
“I will go get them”, the youngest among them volunteered and teleported away.
“Here is everything, I poured it into water bottles for easy use” the boy said as soon as he teleported back to us.
We all moved out of the dining room, and walked towards the servants' quarters. We met them eating their dinner. We poured the potion on the door, windows and floor. To prevent any dark witch from escaping.
“Start sprinkling”, I ordered, and we all started sprinkling the potion on the servants and, like I guessed, there were dark witches.
“Ahhh!”
“Ahhh”
“Ahhh”
Their screams filled the room as their fake faces melted to reveal their hideous true form.
“We are only catching the black witches so don't be afraid”. The ones that had nothing to hide weren't afraid, but the dark witches were.
After some minutes, the screams of the black witches stopped as their disguises were completely gone. There were a total of eight black witches disguised as servants.
We did the same thing to the warrior wizard's quarters before heading to the different homes of the witches.
With the help of the wizards, we were able to go round the entire kingdom before midnight.
“We found a total of twenty-five dark witches”, the wizards reported.
I walked up to one of the witches to interrogate her. Zane dragged her to a kneeling position while she just glared resentfully at him.
“Where is the queen?” I asked, but she kept mute.
“Kill one of them!” I ordered, and one of the dark witches' hearts was immediately ripped out.
“Where is the queen?” I asked again. She still kept mute, but I could see fear in her eyes.
I had been observing her and I noticed that she kept staring at a little dark witch girl.
“Kill the little girl!” I ordered.
Wells dragged the little girl forward and made her kneel in front of the woman.
“Mama, I am scared” the little girl said, and my guess was confirmed.
“If you don't speak now, I will rip out your daughter's little heart right in front of you”
“Please don't hurt her, she is just a child”. She finally opened her mouth.
“We never meant to hurt anyone, we are just victims of circumstances. I never did forbidden magic” she said with sobs.
“Everyone knows that it is only by doing forbidden magic and tapping energy from dark sources that one turns dark” one of the wizards said.
“No, you are wrong. The forbidden magic affects anyone that is close to the ritual grounds”, she argued back.
“ I never performed any rituals but still got affected by it. My neighbor performed the ritual for the ultimate power while I was pregnant with my daughter and I got affected, so did my child”, she explained.
“That's impossible!” One of the wizards yelled at her.
“She is telling the truth.”
We all turned to the source of the voice and saw Queen Ursula walking towards us.
“Your highness” we greeted in unison.
“Thanks a lot, Axel”, she said to me, and I just nodded in acknowledgment.
“For so long we have exiled innocent witches because we didn't know the truth. For hundreds of years, a lot of innocent people had to suffer because their skin turned black, but we never cared to find out if they performed any ritual or participated in any way.
Today I have come to realize the truth, and I am deeply regretful”, she addressed everyone with a befitting tone.
“Get up”, she ordered the woman, and she immediately got up with her daughter.
“While I was locked away, I was able to cultivate my powers and now my full power has been unlocked. I can tell a dark witch who performed or participated in the forbidden ritual, from the innocent ones that are unknowingly affected by the energy from the ritual”, she announced .
“Long live the queen!”
“Long live the queen!”
The witches and wizards cheered.
“Now, any of them I point out, were actively involved with the forbidden rituals” she announced, and the wizards immediately took threatening stands.
“The three in the middle”
“The old man and four old women behind”
“And the one that assumed my position.”
The ones she pointed out were killed instantly, and the rest were asked to return to their homes where we had taken them from.
“Thank you so much Axel” she thanked me again.
“What are friends for?” I replied with a smile.
“I know your journey to Moonshire has been delayed because of us, so why don't you and your men eat breakfast since it is already morning” she suggested, and I agreed, as we really needed to eat .
“Don't worry too much about it, I will make sure you get to Moonshire and back to Darkwood today” she said with a smile.
“I will have ten of our highly trained teleporters take you there and back to your kingdom. Don't worry, they can teleport up to a hundred people at a time”, she concluded while looking at me.
“Thanks Susu, that would be great”, I thanked her. I know how much she hates being indebted to someone else.
I guess we are going home earlier than planned.
- Writer
