For the Hate of God

War of Homeric proportions brewing between realms

-Three months later-

“Aralyn, that’s enough for today,” Merlius said. Thank God, I thought this tyrant would never say this. He is a pain in the ass with his strict training schedule, but I must say that I have improved my strength, stamina and combat skills to an exceptional standard. Nethanaiah taught me how to summon and control my mage and elemental abilities while Merlius was helping me with embracing my Lycan. Apparently, due to my mother’s lineage, I can control weather, earth, and water, whilst due to my father’s lineage, I can control the moon, wind and air. I can also paralyse the one in time and space as I did to Malleteagan when he chased me through the desert. Nethanaiah says that there is way more than that. Meena also became more attuned to me. We can now shift to human or Lycan form without pain or issues with taking control, and we become one body and soul. Her combat skills are more controlled, calculated and brutal.

“Soon, I will not be able to train you anymore,” he said while lending me a hand to stand up.

“Why?” I asked him, with slight panic in my voice.

“Well,” he scratched the back of his neck, “I don’t know, are you aware, Aralyn, but I am barely coping with your speed, skills and strength. You are way stronger Lycan than me already, and the day will come very soon when neither I nor any Lycan will be a match for you. Not even your father. Me…I am turned into a Lycan, and you are born as one. Not to mention that your father is the first Lycan ever. He is effectively a forefather of every Lycan and werewolf existing in the Soovaree and Earth realm. The origin of our species. You are, however, also naturally stronger than him, given the diverse deities, warlocks and Lycan mixture in your blood. With training, you will become the deadliest combat machine that walked through realms, deadlier than he ever was or will be. And, do believe me, he is one hell of a fighter, the best among us. He is the first original Lycan, after all. So, soon, I will not be able to train you because you, the student, will outperform me, the teacher.” I felt a swell of pride when he said that.

“You knew my father?” I asked. I had waited for a perfect moment to ask this question since that day when I overheard his conversation with Nethanaiah, and it finally came. He sighed and looked away.

“Yes, we were best friends. I was his beta for centuries, and we had known each other since toddlerhood. You see, when Selene gave birth to Malleteagan, she tried to hide him in the Aeolian tribe, the one in Elis, where Endymion is from, to protect newborn Malleteagan from the wrath of many who were angered by her relationship with Endymion. Chaister, the deity of chaos, Lertellan, the god of war and Nepenthern, the god of all gods, who is also Selene’s father, were just some of them. Malleteagan is, as you probably know, the grandson of Calice and Vendelle, a royal couple of Aeolian warlocks on his paternal side. Nepenthern was pissed off that someone dipped his wick in his favourite daughter-Selene. He had different plans for the firstborn daughter of God of all gods. He didn’t want her to end up with a mere warlock. He wanted to ground a strong bond with powerful gods, such as Chaisther, the divine embodiment of chaos, or Lertellan, the god of war. This bonding politics would have ensured that his rule and throne were secured, stable, strong and safe. He didn’t count that Selene would fall in love with the trivial semi-mortal prince, son of mere Aeolian royal couple of warlocks.” he said.

“How did Selene meet Endymion anyway?” I interrupted

“Well, as Malleteagan once told me, one night, Selene spotted Endymion while walking under the moonlight during one of his witchcraft training. Their attraction was momentary and impossible to resist. They were destined mates. After several months of meeting covertly, Selene fell pregnant with Endymion’s first child-Malleteagan. When she broke the news to her father, Nepenthern, his rage was so grave that he wanted Endymion’s and Selene’s child's blood. He also wanted Endymion to be punished. Nepenthern’s wife Yaava, the goddess of the future, foretelling and eyesight, managed to soften her husband and persuade him to allow the bond between mere warlock and Moon Goddess. Still, Selene knew that her father was one revengeful god. She, for a second, did not believe that her father forgave her or Endymion and decided to hide Malleteagan in our tribe, although it broke her heart. Endymion and Selene can see each other only in a moon realm during the night. During the day, Endymion is put into an eternal sleep state as his punishment. Selene gave Malleteagan to Endymion’s parents, King Vendelle and Queen Calice, as she was afraid of her father’s wrath. And she was very right not to believe him and to do so. Before she handed over her baby to Vendelle and Calice, Nepenthern went to ask his brother Hades to give him a venom filled with the rage of Cerberus. He poisoned baby Malleteagan with a potion made in the Wengarthria. He wanted to make him a beast humans would dread and kill out of fear. The beast will show up during the moonlight so Endymion can see the death of his son. Nepenthern’s idea was to kill Malleteagan without actually killing him and having blood on his hand. Nepenthern knew if he killed Malleteagan directly, Yaava and Selene would never forgive him. That is how Malleteagan became Lycan. Endymion’s parents, King Vendelle and Queen Calice raised Malleteagan. We were brought up together as my father was first in command in our tribe and Vendelle’s right hand.” Merlius recalled with traces of nostalgia on his face.

“When we were sixteen,” he continued.

“…the war broke between Aeolian and Thessalian warlocks. It is thought that Chaister and Lertellan were meddling, scheming and plotting between the tribes to cause the conflict to escalate.

Whatever the real reason behind this conflict, the truth is that war happened, and it was a long and heavy battle, bloodshed and c*****e between the tribes.

Our tribe was shattered at one point in the battle, and we were at the losing end. My parents, as well as Vendelle and Calice, were all killed by Thessalians. Although they also had losses, Thessalians seemed stronger mages and were winning. The battlefield was soaked in the blood of dead Aeolians. We were decimated. When Malleteagan, still a young and inexperienced warlock, saw the corpses of Vendelle, Calice, and those of my parents and caught a glimpse of destruction around him, he was beyond fury and despair. I think that was the first breaking point in his life. His rage forced his first shift. Having a Lycan in our battle force tipped the odds to our side, and we started to win the battle. He killed over 200 Thessalian warlocks in one bout of his rage. That was the force of your father’s rampage. At the final moments of the battle and as Thessalians were about to surrender, one of theirs caught me and slashed my neck with necromancy. I was breathing my last breaths when your father bit me. I fainted. What I have been told is that he turned me into Lycan with his venom while I was unconscious.” Merlius reiterated with a shudder.

“I, later on, asked him why and how he did that. He explained that he somehow knew what he needed to do. He said that he cut our palms after infecting me with his venom and mixed our blood in the ritual. He said that he had to do it as he couldn’t stand more loss of the lives of those dearest to him. That is how I became Lycan and his beta. But beyond everything, he was my friend, no, scratch that, he was more than that. He was like a brother I never had. He gave me this amazing gift and opportunity to live this extraordinary life and to meet my destined mate. But that was the beginning of my fallout with him.” Merlius said with pain in his voice.

“So, if you were almost as his brother, if you were his beta, how come he banished you?” I mustered the audacity to ask. However, I was actually fretting about hearing the answer. I had a gut feeling that I shouldn’t ask.

Merlius sighed heavily and paused for a long moment. He then said: “Before meeting your mother, Malleteagan forbade all the Lycans and Aeolians to mate with non-Lycans. I think the mating ban may be due to his grudge against the Thessalians following that battle.” Merlius recalled bitterly.

He then continued: “As soon as I laid my eyes on Nethanaiah, I knew that we were destined mates, and she felt the same. When Malleteagan found out, he gave me the option to renounce the mate bond and reject Nethanaiah or to be banished. I obviously chose the latter. He was heartbroken that I chose the mate bond over my alpha and brother. He said he would kill her if he ever saw her, as he would not allow another witch to hurt a Lycan. I have tried to reason with him and remind him that he is a warlock and seer but to no avail. He said that this is an even bigger reason he forbids interspecies bonding because he thinks the root of his plight underlies the fact that he is a product of interspecies breeding and bonding. He made me choose, which was never a matter of choice for me. If I were born in an infinite number of lives, I would always choose Nethanaiah. I told him that, and he gave me thirty minutes to reject her or leave Nerzelis. I mind-linked Nethanaiah, and she told me that faes had pretty much the same attitude towards our relationship and that we needed to find a place to hide. Given that we had no smarter idea then, we figured out it would be safer to hide here with a cloaking spell rather than in the fae realm. And we are here for the last 300 years, hiding more or less successfully,” he said.

“But he mated with my mother. How can he ask a pack to respect the command which he didn’t comply to himself?” I asked whilst cogs turned fiercely in my head.

Another heavy sigh escaped Merlius before he continued: “Your father was and still is, as you probably know, a man of attractive appearance. He looks exactly like Endymion, and Endymion was a man of such beauty that he managed to seduce the goddess, so you get my point, right? When he met Larrisa, they say that she was enthralled with him, firstly because of his appearance obviously, and secondly because of their mating bond, but I think even if they weren’t mates, they would still fall in love. Their attraction and love were magnetic and undeniable, regardless of the mating bond. Don’t doubt it for a second. Malleteagan was, is and probably will always be a man of many women, and he broke the hearts of many. Some of them were enthralled by his beauty, some by his power, but none of them touched his heart the way Larissa did. It didn’t matter whether he was in the phase of loving her or hating her. One element was always there: passion. Whether he hated or loved her, he always gave in to feelings towards her with an unparalleled passion. So, I think when he met her, and you have to know that this was shortly before you were conceived, he felt the mate bond pull, and he couldn’t resist it even if that meant that he would step over his own rules. And don’t get me wrong, I am quite resentful about that, as you can imagine, as he had not been a man of his word. I have lost my brother and pack for what? For a rule that even he is not able to keep up to? A few centuries after banishing me for mating with non-Lycan, he did the same thing. How is that fair?” he ended up bitterly.

“OK, guys, it’s getting dark. Shall we go in? I had a movie night and popcorn on my mind,” Nethanaiah said.

We went in, and in half of the movie, Nethanaiah dozed off, slobbering and snoring softly. I was still restless and still had so many questions.

I turned to Merlius:

“Can I ask you something? I was thinking of this for some time now. Given that you and Malleteagan were so close and regardless of your differences, why have you decided to help me? Why did you not turn me to Malleteagan and ask him to get you back with your mate in a pack as a reward? Since my mother died, no one helped me without some expectations. All those who helped me to hide had their personal interest to do so, some ulterior motive or even revenge like Marcellus on their mind. So let me ask you bluntly: why are you and Nethenaiah helping me hide here? And for how long do you think I will have to live like this?” I said it all in one breath.

“Well, I still think of Malleteagan as my brother. Therefore, you are my brother’s daughter, and with that I consider you my own child. The one Nethanaiah and I decided not to have until we have this pickle…” he waived his hands in the air as if looking for the word”…of the fugitive status resolved.”

“…And another thing is,” he said after a pause “,…you are somewhat aware of the war between the realms brewing, which will be of Homeric proportions. We want to ensure we are on the right and, more importantly, righteous side when that happens.