Chapter 110 Scholae Pythinissam

Nikolai

"Yes?" A ginger opened the door with confusion on his face. He didn't look over twenty. He had freckles peppering the bridge of his nose and his skin was paler than most people here which made his blue eyes pop. In a single glance, I could tell that he was a skittish person.

"Who is it Lloyd?" A female shouted from the inside and then I heard footsteps. The female's— who was also a redhead—eyes widened and she pushed the boy aside with her elbow. "It's the King, you idiot!" She whispered harshly and the redhead's eyes widened.

Both of them bowed.

"Rise." For some reason, the pair amused me.

"Apologises, King Nikolai." The Lloyd said fearfully.

"Oh god." The girl groaned. "Apologies, Alpha King Nikolai." She corrected.

"Apologies, Alpha King." Lloyd bowed again, blush rising on his cheeks. I heard a muffled laughter behind me. Max.

"It's alright." I told them.

"Please come in." The girl said and the pair lead us inside.

The house was well furnished but didn't looked lived very lived in. Maybe they just moved here.

"We would like to meet Arrow." Lady Bea spoke.

"Oh," the girl said, "he isn't here. He's out"—a thump came from the ceiling above— "shit."

And then a part of the ceiling gave out and a heavy chest fell down and fell on the floor with a deep thump. A boy poofed besides it and groaned looking at the broken ceiling, "oh man."

The girl—Anna groaned and slapped her face. "I live with idiots."

"Arrow, I would like to introduce you to Alpha King Nikolai, Prince Maximilian, Princess Natalia and Lady Bea." Anna motioned towards us.

Arrow turned around and his eyes widened and then blush rose his cheeks out of embarrassment before he hastily bowed.

"Rise." I smiled.

"Please have a seat, there will hopefully not be any more problems." Anna smiled, discreetly giving the boys a pointed glare as we all took a seat in the spacious living room.

I sensed that Arrow, Lloyd and Anna were witches so then why did Lady Bea only tell us about Arrow?

"I wanted to ask about black magic and witch sacrifices." I jumped in.

Now that shocked all of them.

"Black magic, including sacrifices is forbidden, Alpha King." Anna said slowly.

"I know, but there are some problems in Soare-Luna and I need to gather as much information as I can about it."

"Can you tell us more?" Arrow leaned forward. He knows something.

I showed them the recording. "The three people being killed are witches and so is that old lady in the black cloak. And there are many more who are killed this way. It is the reason so many witches are disappearing all over Jivan."

The three of them looked pissed as they heard that and saw the entire video carefully till the end.

"From the look of the dagger, you can tell is enchanted." He noticed.

"We believe that the one who kills with the dagger is able to control the witches after they come alive again," I said.

"We haven't been taught about this." Arrow mumbled. "The library at my school is very vast, I'll see if I can get anything. The only books we are allowed to see about black magic are the ones that tell us the meaning of different sacrifices, I won't be able to tell you the spells or how to do it."

"But we can't go to there." Anna frowned.

"Yes but we need to do this." Arrow said. And I knew that he understood the gravity of the situation better than the other two kids. "Or else chaos will unleash."

Anna and Lloyd remained silent.

"Will the books tell us how to stop it or reverse it?" I asked.

"I'm not sure." Arrow looked uncertain. "May I know who is performing black magic?"

"I don't know who the old woman is but everything is happening according the orders of Alpha Adrik of Mystic Lupus Pack." I replied.

Silence ensued at that but the tension among the three was evident.

"We shouldn't mess with Mystic Lupus." Lloyd looked at his feet.

"But what they did was wrong! We have to help Alpha King so we can free them." Anna said.

"Free whom?" Max asked.

"Arrow's parents." Lloyd answered silently. "His entire coven was abducted by Adrik when he was a kid. They have many more covens too." Which means all of them are zombie witches now.

"They keep attacking Scholae Pythonissam too—which is the School of Witchery by the way, and kidnap graduated students." Anna scowled.

"If this is not stopped, every single race in Jivan will be in mortal danger." I told all of them.

"I'm in." Anna immediately said.

"You're not going anywhere Anna." Arrow told her firmly.

"But I ca—" Arrow shut her up with a look. I thought Anna was the one who called the shots here.

"You haven't even finished school and you are not allowed to practice magic outside of Pythonissam." He told Anna. "Both of you," he gave Lloyd a look who looked worried.  So that's why Lady Bea hadn't considered them.

"We can't let you do this alone." Lloyd argued softly.

"I can send guards with you who will ensure your safety." I told Arrow.

"Only witches are allowed to enter Scholae Pythonissam. And no offence, but we have kept it's location a secret from everyone but witches. It has obviously gotten out but I'd rather not everyone know it," he told me, his words firm but respectful. "And I can't let you come with me. Headmaster Malone will not allow it." Arrow shook his head at Anna and Lloyd and looked at me. "I will get the necessary information from Pythonissam and come back as quickly as I can." Arrow told me.

"I'm not staying here. A day, at the most. Come to Soare-Luna directly." I told him.

"I will." He bowed before the started chanting something and then a circle opened up and disappeared after he walked inside of it.

"Thank you for your time, have a good day." I told them and with that, we took our leave.

"At least something good came out of this." Nat muttered.

"I wouldn't say that before we get some real answers." Max said.

After we reached the palace, Max and I headed to his office and he handed me a file.

I read through his report about the army. Damn.

"There is a high probability that Ovzdusia will attack if we take a major chunk of army with us when we go return home. The two countries haven't fought for centuries but King Xillian might attack just because it's under your rule now." Max sighed. "We can't leave the country unprotected."

"Of course." I replied. People should safeguard their own land first, before protecting other land. "What do you suggest?"

"Ovzdusia's numbers are greater than ours. But they can't attack without causing a significant harm to themselves too. So take a part of the army with you right now, just enough for Xillian to think twice before attacking and then when it's actually war time, we can call in reinforcements. But at any cost, at least half of the army has to remain to defend the country in case of invasion." Max replied.

"This will work for now. Until Arrow comes and we have some solid answers." I said.

"Did you talk to Javier?" He asked.

"I did. He said that things still aren't going too well with his parents but he is working on it. He said it will take some time but it'll be fine. He will also get the army."

"Did you tell him about the sacrifices?"

"Yes. He said he's doing his own research too. He will let me know if he finds something important. The number of witches have reduced drastically everywhere though." I hoped that Javier came through.

"Don't worry, it will work out," he said and took out a couple of glasses and a bottle of whiskey.

My lips twitched into a small smile.

He poured it for both of us and we clinked our glasses before we gulped down the entire liquid, as per tradition. He poured again and we drank slowly this time around, actually relishing it.

The door opened and Natalia walked in. "I had a word with Lord Zed. Arrangements to send the warriors are being made as we speak. They should arrive in Soare- Luna in a week's time. As for us, all the preparations are done and the plane is waiting for us."

"Good. Let's go."

It's time to go home.

Ava was still not feeling well and Andrei said she had been sleeping ever since we left. Not wanting to wake her up, I carried her throughout the journey.

I know Ava loved to sleep so I didn't even question how she slept through the car ride, the plane ride and the helicopter ride.

I was getting worried when the helicopter landed back in Soare-Luna, on top of the palace.

"Ava." I patted her cheek to wake her up. She's still warm.

When her eyes didn't move, I got worried. Her blood pressure and and her breathing was fine so that was good.

Werewolves don't really get sick. Our immune system is quite strong.

But she's not a werewolf. She hasn't been one since a long time.

We had just been avoiding it. I know for a fact that she hadn't shifted in a month. It wasn't normal. A normal wolf needs to shift once in every three days at the least to remain sane. Also, day by day, I could feel less and less of her wolf.

"Avalyn." I patted her cheek again.

"Is she okay?" Andrei, Max and Natalia looked worried. Eliyah and Tessa were standing quietly but tension radiated from them.

"Love, wake up." I used our mate bond to feel her.

Her presence was faint but her eyes fluttered open slowly.

"We're home, Love." I forced a smile on my face.

What the hell is happening?

"Oh." She mumbled and got off my lap and she staggered before standing straight again and then climbed off the helicopter.

I followed after her and caught her limp hand in mine as we walked side by side. "Are you okay?"

"My head aches, Nik. I don't feel good." She whispered.

I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to our bedroom. As soon as I placed her on the bed, her eyes fluttered close again.

I squatted down so my face was in level with her's. I pushed her hair off her face and caressed her warm cheek. She has a fever. "Love?"

"Hm?" She thankfully replied.

"Can you heal yourself?" I asked.

"I tried. Not working." She mumbled, taking a hold of my hand with both her hands and resting her head on it.

"I'm worried for you. I'm going to call a healer and a doctor."

Pack doctors are just normal werewolves or vampires who had studied medicine. They were only capable to tackle the sickness of human side of our bodies. It was because we had an education system only till high school. Further studies required them to go to human colleges who knew nothing about us. While healers were those who had the gift of healing powers given by Goddess Luna or God Sol. They had a lot of information about nature and possessed the powers to 'sense' the healing flora and fauna. Healers were rare, we had like only a handful of them in our kingdom. I decided to call both—a healer and a doctor, just in case.

"I'm just sleepy right now. Call one tomorrow if I'm not well by morning." She kissed my fingertips sleepily. "Now come cuddle," she demanded in a small voice.

Without moving my hand in her hold, I somehow managed to strip out of my pants and climb over her and on the other side of the bed. Ava immediately backed up till her back hit my chest and then she snuggled up in my hold. Her hair were in my face so I just lowered them. Her breathing evened out and then she was asleep.

'Talk to Nat and Max to fill you all in with everything.' I mind-linked my entire family.

'Dimitri, run stats on how much quantity of stones, animals and plants will be required for every person and every house. After that, Mikhail, call King Ciro and tell him to send everything Raela said in bulk, for our pack and for Red Moon Pack and Wintercrown Pack too. The raw forms will do and ask him to send the invoice along with it. I want everything delivered in under a week. Andrei, the army is working hard, take a look and begin setting ranks and the salaries of all. You and Nat will look after everyone's training from tomorrow.'

'Dimitri and Max, the Alphas are coming tomorrow in the evening. Prepare for their arrival and the meeting. And then all of you begin drawing up war strategies.' I said. 'I want a basic plan—a first draft ready for tomorrow's meeting, include the points I made earlier too. Also, tonight, I want those who have been selected as eligible to be a council member present in the Throne Room.'

Ava turned around and snuggled further, digging her nose in my neck and took a deep breath. I kissed her forehead.

'Mystic Lupus inhabits fifty percent of the werewolf population and I am sure that most of them don't know about Adrik's deviant behaviour. Our goal is not to kill the masses but to kill Adrik, the zombie witches and the high rankers. The rest of the army will surrender. But be prepared for the worst. If it comes down to it, the last resort plan should include total annihilation of Mystic Lupus.'

'Yes, King Nikolai.' Came their unanimous reply.

'How is Avalyn doing?' Nat asked, still keeping everyone in the loop. I guess all of them are very worried.

'A little better than before. She's sleeping right now and if she isn't okay by morning, I'll need to take her to the hospital.' I could feel their worry at this point.

'Stay with her, Nikolai. We will take care of everything.' Max replied and then severed the link.

I really am grateful to have such an understanding and caring family. I took a short nap and caught up a little on sleep before I had to wake up for today evening's meeting.