3. Elding Gala

‘Hell is empty and all the devils are here.’ -William Shakspeare

King Soren

   Elding Gala is the city and castle that I built at the beginning of my rebellion. The whole city and the whole castle were made of large slabs of dark gray stone that my closest witches had moved into place for me with their magic. All over the castle, there were hundreds of large stained glass windows that let in a large amount of light during the day. We had a large wooden drawbridge that led into the city as the only way in, but there were several secret ways to get out.

   The city was split into three different sections to keep the different factions separate so fights among them would be low. To the east were the vampires, the center of the city was for the witches and the west was for the werewolves. My castle was to the north and that’s where I lived with my commander, Ulric, and the elementals that were loyal to me.  

   When I was eighteen, my father threw me out of our pack and marked me as a rogue with a brand on my chest. I was the second child that he had and the one that cost him his mate as she gave birth to me. It’s really no surprise that he hated me for it. 

   Once my father rejected me as his son, I shifted into the Alpha wolf he never knew I would have. I murdered him in front of my older brother, Lazerus. Unfortunately, my brother is still alive to this day and leading his pack in every battle that I waged with them. Before this all ended, I vowed that I would kill him myself.

   It’s been twelve years since my father’s untimely demise and I started my search for greatness, recruiting other rogue wolves to help me take down anyone and everyone we could. Some of the covens started joining me, along with the vampires and five elementals. Most of them I had based on fear, others came to my side because it was the winning side. Very few believed in my cause, the cause to rule the world under one being.   

   I was currently walking to the dining hall for lunch after spending my morning looking over battle plans. I stepped into the room and everyone went quiet until I had a seat at the head of the table. To my right was Commander Ulric. He was a Beta wolf that I had found as a rogue a few months after I started looking for others to help me. He’s as tall as me at six feet and just as muscular. He has light skin with silver eyes and black hair. He’s a vicious warrior, but all the women fawn over him.  

   We were served lunch while I listened to the chatter that was going on around me. I was the first one served as usual and took a bite first so the rest of my people could eat. 

   “After lunch, do you have a moment to talk about war business?” Ulric asked. 

   “Always. What else do I have to do with my time?”

   “I suppose that’s fair, sir.” 

   We finished eating our lunch and left the table. I led Ulric into my study and closed the door behind us. I walked over to my desk and faced Ulric while leaning against it.

   “So what did you need to talk to me about?” I asked. 

   “The unit that we sent to the Timber Coven has retreated. The witches portaled the survivors back right before lunch,” he told me. 

   “Wow, it didn't take long for them to run. Why?” I asked in confusion. 

   “The coven used its four elementals against the unit. The fire elemental showed more of her power this time.”

   “Tell me more about it,” I said to him. 

   “How about I bring someone in that saw it,” he offered. 

   I nodded my head in agreement and he left the room. Moments later, he came back with a chaos witch that had been with us since the beginning. They were interesting creatures and this one was very pretty.

   “Tell me what you saw, Bianca,” I told her. 

   “They have been holding their fire elemental back, sir. Before, we have only ever seen her fight as a warrior or with fireballs from her hands. Something was different this time though. She caught on fire completely and was burning like the sun. She burned dead bodies and caught others on fire as they tried to flee,” Bianca said in horror.  

   “Damn, that's impressive,” I told my wolf Hyde. 

   “It is. A display of power like that could rule this world.”

   “I agree.” 

   Hyde fell to the back of my mind to let me continue the meeting. 

   “What else did you notice this time?” I asked her.

   “There were two wolves fighting alongside them, sir.”           

   “So they have an alliance with a pack. Thank you, Bianca.” 

   “You’re welcome, sir,” she said.  

   She bowed low and left the room. Ulric closed the door behind her and I walked over to my table which held a map of the area. Elding Gala was at the top of the map as it was in the far north of the only continent on the planet. I had drawn red x’s on the five covens we had taken over and destroyed, six werewolf packs and the thirteen vampire broods. There were no more sorcerers in our world. They had two cities that I had wiped out years ago. They were my first targets. There were now only three vampire broods left, seven covens and six other werewolf packs to take over.

   I looked to see where the Timber Coven was and saw it was down close to the edge of the continent. The closest werewolf pack was Nightshade, so that was the only logical pack to make an alliance with them. 

   “What would you like to do, sir?” Ulric asked me. 

   “I want our divination witch to get into contact with the agent that we have in place in the Timber Coven and the Nightshade pack. I want more information about these groups.”

   “Yes, sir.” 

   “Once we have the information I’m looking for, I will have you launch an attack and seizure. I want the fire elemental.”   

   “Ok.” 

   Ulric left me in my study. He was good at his job, that's why I had him around. He was my plan man and if I found it useful, we used it. Sometimes I tweaked plans to make them simply perfect. 

   I stood there hovering over the map while thinking. This elemental was powerful and I couldn’t wait to meet her. I wonder if I could turn her to my side in this war and if I could make something so powerful into my queen.      

~

Commander Ulric

   Once I left Soren’s study, I walked through the halls of the castle to the library where the one divination witch spent her time. I walked inside and up to Levana. She looked up at me with her white eyes and held her hand out. I placed my hand in hers and let her see what I had recently and what I needed her to do.

   Levana was a powerful divination witch that couldn’t physically see but she could see and speak on so many other planes. 

   She let go of my hand and spoke, “I will get in touch with the agents and have someone come get you when I have the information you need, Ulric.”

   “Thank you.” 

   “Not a problem. Also, make sure you keep your head in the coming days.”  

   “Will do,” I said in a flat tone.

   I turned to leave, thinking that what she had said was cryptic but she always was. I either needed to keep my temper under control or something was going to happen that I was in a battle and could get my head chopped off. Either way, I would be smart.   

   I left the library and walked down the hall to the sitting room where the five elementals would keep to themselves. I needed to talk with them about this fire elemental, so I had a plan by the time we heard back from the agents at the coven and the pack down south. 

   I walked into the sitting room to find the leader of the elementals, Erebus, sitting at a table with his raven, Mischief, while reading a book. He was an elemental that controlled shadows, but he wasn’t very powerful. He would just consume light around you and make you fight in the dark. He was handy when we needed to block out the sun though. 

   I walked over and had a seat with him. He turned the page of the book he was reading, then looked up at me to see what I needed. 

   “What do you know about fire elementals?” I asked. 

   “They are unpredictable and extremely strong. Why?” he asked.  

   “King Soren has his sights set on capturing one.”

   “That’s going to be dangerous but you will need Vulcan’s help.” 

   Vulcan was the lava elemental that we had. He was all too willing to be a part of our crusade. He was loud, ugly and fat. His familiar was a rat named Cheeseball, which suited him. 

   “I’m guessing he’s the only one that can get close to her if she goes all fire demon on us,” I said, trying to play this off. 

   He put his book down and looked at me, then asked, “What do you know about this elemental already?” 

   “That she can consume her body in flames and burn as bright as the sun.”

   He shared a look with the others that were scattered around the room playing with cards or reading with their familiars close by. 

   “You might need more than just Vulcan for that task then. If she is seriously that powerful, then there’s no telling what she can really do.”        

   “You sound scared, Erebus,” I taunted him.  

   “Everyone should be scared with something like that against us. If she is unwilling to be captured or doesn’t want anything to do with our cause, she could kill thousands. She could kill an entire city in one go,” he said in a serious tone.  

   I kept a serious face and nodded my head, then asked, “So I would need all five of you to get this done?” 

   “Four of us. Lark would just be in danger if she went,” he said.  

   I nodded my head and looked over at Lark who was reading on the couch. She was a delicate yet angry little thing. She didn’t like that we had just sidelined her and it showed with the scowl that was on her face. Her element was sound and it could be tricky, but with something like heat on your side, her element could be manipulated by the fire elemental and she could die. We can’t have that. Her familiar, a little finch named Grace, seemed upset as she started chirping loudly.  

   The other two elementals that we had were Dimond, who controlled metal, and Iris, who controlled storms. Diamond was Lark’s best friend and was sitting with her on the couch reading with her black cat, Spooky, in her lap purring. Iris was sitting with Vulcan playing cards while her hawk, Aurora, was sitting on her shoulder. 

   All our elementals could be powerful, but if this fire elemental could burn that hot, not one of them would stand a chance against her alone.  

   “Alright, I’ll let you know what I come up with,” I told him. 

   Erebus nodded his head and I got up from my seat to leave the sitting room. Lark stood up from the couch she was on with a mad look on her face while she stared at Erebus. He was ignoring her. I left the room and started walking down the hall to go to my own office space. I could hear angry and determined footsteps after me and I had to smile. Was she really that angry? 

   I ducked into the shadows of a tunnel hallway and waited for her footsteps to follow. As soon as I saw her pass, I grabbed her by the hips and drug her into the tunnel and pressed her against the stone wall. I heard her gasp in surprise until she looked up at me and scowled once more. Grace started chirping loudly at me and I frowned at her until she stopped. 

   “I can’t believe you would sideline me like that,” she hissed out. 

   “It was his idea first and I agree with him. I’m not getting you killed over something stupid like this,” I told her. 

   Lark crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her. Her temper tantrums were hilarious to watch some days. I reached out and took the sides of her chin in between my thumb and index finger while staring into her dark brown eyes. This little elemental has become one of my favorite playthings over the past two years until she became my only plaything. We kept it secret though. King Soren didn’t approve of me fraternizing with the female warriors.             

   “I’m going to keep you safe,” I told her. 

   “But I know I can help.”

   “I’m not willing to take that chance.” 

   She huffed out and looked away from me while I still held her chin in between my fingers. 

   “Look at me,” I told her. 

   Her eyes slowly shifted back to mine. I could see the defeat in them and I honestly felt bad for that. I hated making her feel weak when I knew she was strong.  

   “I would sacrifice all four of those idiots in there to save you. To save the two of you. You will not put yourself at risk. Do you hear me,” I told her in a stern voice.  

   “Yes,” she said softly.  

   I leaned in and kissed her lips deeply, letting my tongue dip into her mouth as she placed her hands on my chest. I released her face and dropped my hand to rest on her belly, which was starting to grow with our child. I had to come up with a plan and quickly on how to hide the fact that she was pregnant. She was already three months along and we had done well so far. No one had noticed her belly but I knew it would start to show soon through her clothes. All I knew was that I loved her and I had to keep them both safe from everyone.