"Shut that fart hole you call a mouth!" Rendall snarled and the burlyman closed his mouth immediately.Brient shot a worried look at both Rendall and Helia."We would make her help us," Helia said with a straight face. "Whether she likes it or not, Olivia must help us.""Open the door," Helia ordered and the burlyman's eyes widened in terror."But—""She told you to open the door," Rendall snarled, waving his container of ants at him and he gulped. He stared at the door and back to Rendall's container of ants and pondered on which he should be more afraid of. Was it the wrath of one of the most valuable individuals in the community? Or the wrath of vengeful individuals who are determined to save their friend with life-threatening ants."I won't repeat myself, open the door!" Rendall ordered and without thinking any much further, the burlyman rushed to the door and pushed the heavy doors open.As he did, the picture of Olivia sitting on the ground in a yoga position with her eyes close

"Do you think he'd be able to bring her here?" Helia asked Rendall who was pacing in front of her. They were at the city gate of the spirituals of Ocean Ville."Selene! Brient!" Rendall shrieked excitedly. He stopped pacing as soon as he saw Brient and Selene running toward them."Run!" Selene screamed. "They'd soon be here. Run!""We're running behind you," Brient added. "Run!"Rendall took Helia's hand and they both ran out of the gate. They checked back at Selene and Rendall at intervals. They all ran as fast as their feet could carry them until they got to the beach."Stop!" Rendall and Helia stopped running to catch their breath as they heard Selene's instruction to stop."Selene," Helia beamed as she raised her head. Selene took her hand out of Brient's and ran into Helia's widely opened arms."Helia," Selene whispered as they both hugged. "I've missed you.""Me too," Helia said in a brittle voice as they disengaged from the hug. A few tears flowed from their eyes down their chi

"What did you just say?" Selene asked. She was stunned at what age has heard Rendall mutter.Rendall glanced at her, pointing in the direction he had seen the man."I— I saw my father," Rendall cried out. Selene looked in the direction in which he had pointed."Where?" Rendall looked back and froze. The man was nowhere to be found. It was like he had disappeared into thin air all of a sudden."But I thought I saw him," Rendall muttered with a confused expression on his face."Forget it," Selene hissed. "It must have been an illusion. Seems like you're beginning to miss your father.""Miss my father my foot," Rendall scoffed. "No normal person can ever miss my father. I can never miss that man.""Perhaps, you had seen someone that looked like him.""I guess so," Rendall droned and he looked around to see if he could still see the man."Just forget it," Selene said casually. He looked away and turned back to her."So," Rendall set out to change the topic. "Do you know how I can change

"War?" Rendall and Helia asked in unison."Darn it!" Rendall hit the table hard with his palm. He stood up and began to pace around the room. "I told the old man. War shouldn't be an option. The lives of the low-ranked were-creatures are being threatened.""This is a disaster," Helia said, digging her hands deep into her hair. "How did the war begin?""Both kingdoms had begun a search for their heirs since both of you disappeared. A Few weeks after your departure, a letter from Brient was sent to Alpha Leander, assuring him of the safety of Helia. Alpha Leander's mind was put to rest but there was nobody to reassure Alpha Janus of his heir's safety. Later on, Alpha Janus somehow got to know that the heir of Khron had disappeared too. So, Alpha Janus began a war against Khron. He claimed that the heir of Khron was conjured up by a witch and had bewitched his heir and trapped him.""It's all a facade," Rendall snorted. "He had always wanted to war with Khron." Helia remembered what sh

Helia stared through her window at the starry sky, expecting her mood to be lifted like it always does whenever she stared at it.Her face was wet with tears. She was mourning her mother's death— her mother's undeserved death. Helia sighed. Who would have thought that the woman she had hated all her life was her mother? Who would have thought she would mourn Nyx's death like she was doing? Who would have thought that Nyx was the victim in the whole plot? The person was not Helia.Looking at the starry sky, she still found it hard to believe that it was all true. Perhaps, everything was a weird and scary dream that she would wake from one day. She hoped that the day was soon. She had always seen Luna Ariela as her mother. She treated her like a daughter too and was very good at it. Helia wondered if the love she had received from the woman was fake too.‘What a weird twist of fate,’ Helia thought to herself. The woman she had loved so much was the one she hated so much now and she had