The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Vera-

"Noah..." I interrupt their conversation and place the binoculars down. They both stop talking and turn to look at me, "he has a witch with him."

They both pause for a moment.

"What?!" Eli reacts and takes the binoculars from me, looking for the witch frantically in the crowd moving towards us.

"You won't be able to see her... or him. I felt it."

He puts down the binoculars and looks at me, waiting for an explanation.

"The... ringing in my... ears. Listen, it's hard to explain, but that asshole found a witch and it's her magic I'm sensing."

"Vera," he steps closer to me, placing his hands on my shoulders to make emphasis, "on a scale of one to ten, how *certain* are you that it's magic we're dealing with here?" "Ten," I say with no hesitation.

"For fuck's sake." Eli says under his breath, making his way to the staircase, but suddenly he stops, "oh, Your Highness, I might have to raid the war room for some very special weapons, may I?" He's turned towards Noah. "Be my guest," Noah says, but he's focused on me.

When Eli is gone, he comes to stand in front of me, caressing my arms with his hands.

"Vera..." he's thinking very hard on what he's about to say, but I already know.

"Don't even think about it."

"I haven't said anything."

"You don't have to. I'm not hiding, Noah. That witch or warlock is mine. Nobody else here stands a chance against magic."

Noah claps his hands and everyone disperses and takes up their posts. Eli approaches me, handing me my spear and a sword from the war room.

"I thought you might need this," he says as he hands me the weapons.

I nod at him and he nods back, retreating to his post.

Now, we just wait.

Noah and I stay close to the main entrance, which is likely to be the first place they attempt to come in through.

After what feels like an eternity, we hear banging on the large, wooden doors.

"Warrior Noah!" A voice calls, "our King seeks a private audience with you!"

Noah turns to look at me and everyone else, placing his finger on his lips, signaling for everyone to stay quiet.

"Tell your King if he wishes an audience, he shouldn't have come with an army!" He shouts back.

"This is not an army, these are just the King's people showing our support for the one true ruler of this kingdom!"

I frown.

"Does that voice sound normal to you?" I whisper to Noah.

Noah is also frowning as he shakes his head.

"Stay here," he whispers to me.

He quietly goes up the stairs to the tower we were previously in, returning quickly back down.

"They're not moving," he informs me, "it makes no f*****g sense. They're just standing there."

"What's going on?" Eli comes up behind us.

"They're not making any move to attack. They're standing outside like statues. I can barely even sense them breathing, it's the weirdest shit I've ever seen." "But what if they find out what you are? It might be even more dangerous in the long run."

"Noah, first we have to survive today."

"But -"

"Tell me, who here has a better chance than me? If you can come up with one single name, I'll

go hide with Elden and Caleb in the library."

He purses his lips but comes up with nothing.

"Exactly. Noah, I will never forgive myself if something happens to you and I wasn't here."

I look into his eyes and don't back down. He doesn't push the topic further, although he's still caressing my arms, at war with himself.

When we turn to look at the army again, they are definitely getting closer. We don't have much time prepare for whatever that witch has prepared.

"Ok. The war room has some weapons that were used during the age of witches, let's go help Eli out."

We hurry downstairs and just as Noah said. Eli is already distributing all sorts of swords and daggers from the war room.

"Ok fellas, you know what to do. If you encounter anything that remotely resembles magic, stab first, ask questions later," Eli is saying as he hands everyone the weapons.

They're all looking at him questioningly and Noah steps in,

"We know a witch is coming with them, it may explain his numbers and how Alistair disappeared in the first place. Just be careful and as Eli says, stab first, ask questions later. Our best plan of action is to keep them outside the castle until we can zero in on Alistair's location. I bet the witch is with him. If we can take care of both of them, this will be over before it starts."

"Do we know how many witches are coming with him?" One of the warriors asks.

"Just one," I say, and I have a feeling I know exactly who it is.

"Ok then, everyone knows what to do. Let's go!"

Noah claps his hands and everyone disperses and takes up their posts. Eli approaches me, handing me my spear and a sword from the war room.

"I thought you might need this," he says as he hands me the weapons.

I nod at him and he nods back, retreating to his post.

Now, we just wait.

Noah and I stay close to the main entrance, which is likely to be the first place they attempt to come in through.

After what feels like an eternity, we hear banging on the large, wooden doors.

"Warrior Noah!" A voice calls, "our King seeks a private audience with you!"

Noah turns to look at me and everyone else, placing his finger on his lips, signaling for everyone to stay quiet.

"Tell your King if he wishes an audience, he shouldn't have come with an army!" He shouts back.

"This is not an army, these are just the King's people showing our support for the one true ruler of this kingdom!"

I frown.

"Does that voice sound normal to you?" I whisper to Noah.

Noah is also frowning as he shakes his head.

"Stay here," he whispers to me.

He quietly goes up the stairs to the tower we were previously in, returning quickly back down.

"They're not moving," he informs me, "it makes no fucking sense. They're just standing there."

"What's going on?" Eli comes up behind us.

"They're not making any move to attack. They're standing outside like statues. I can barely even sense them breathing, it's the weirdest shit I've ever seen." "Do you think maybe they *are* coming from the south and they're just buying time here."

"No." I say confidently, "this is it."

Eli scoffs.

"Very anticlimactic if you ask me."

I roll my eyes.

The banging on the main door resumes abruptly drawing our attention, only this time, it's multiplied.

It gets so loud it's evident that there are several soldiers now banging on the thick wood; it's deafening. Then, without warning, we hear a commotion outside.NôvelDrama.Org: owner of this content.

Eli, Noah and I hurry up the tower to see what is happening and Noah was right, it makes absolutely no sense.

The soldiers are attempting to climb the walls and the gate, some are even trampling each other in order to climb on them.

We are all perplexed but don't have time to wonder on their strategy. The numbers are such that they actually have a real possibility of climbing over by amassing bodies beneath them.

We run back down to inform everyone that they should be ready, but just as we get there, Alistair's army breaches through the secondary entrance Eli mentioned.

There is no time to think. We are being attacked in large numbers and we have to do everything we can to kill as many soldiers now as we can. As they come through the door, they turn into their lycan forms; but yet, something doesn't sit right with me. Their actions are sluggish and monotone; It's difficult to remember that their sheer number alone can overwhelm us at any moment.

Eli and Noah quickly turn into their lycan forms, taking on two attackers at a time. Soon, the courtyard is filled with bodies, both ours and theirs.

One of the lycans comes for me at full speed, growling and aiming his claws at my throat. I jump up, dodging his attack to land on his back, where I quickly unsheathe the sword Eli gave me to sever his spine.

The next one comes up behind me, but Lucas is right beside me, tackling him to the ground. Next, a human comes up to me, sword in hand, ready to kill me. I stop his sword only inches away from my face, close enough for me to notice something. It takes me a moment, but from up close it's very clear that his eyes are glazed over in an unnatural way. I quickly separate from him, using my spear to puncture his neck at a distance. He gurgles on his own blood before falling to the floor and dying.

I retrieve my spear and make my way to the secondary entrance where our people are being overwhelmed, killing one attacker after another. I kill attacker after attacker, lycan and human, with both my spear and sword. My clothes have been soiled with blood from our enemies; so much so that they're beginning to weigh me down.

"Noah! We have to find him!" I yell back as Noah is finishing off one of the lycans with a quick bite to the throat. His fur is full of blood as it drips from his mouth. It's an incredibly unpleasant sight, but I have no time to ponder on it. Noah nods at me but is distracted yet again by an attacking lycan.

It was clear that Alistair had thousands of soldiers outside, but now that we are facing them head on, I'm afraid we have taken up more than we can handle.

Just them pouring in from this secondary entrance is tiring us out, but if they manage to enter through the main gate we will be inevitably overrun.

I take on another lycan head on. He manages to tumble me to the floor and I use my spear to jam it in between his teeth before he gets close too close to my throat. From up close, I notice his eyes are also glazed over, just like the humans. As I'm looking into his eyes, the ringing in my ears get louder and louder with every passing second.