Chapter 14 - Markos.

=PART-1

Kol was having the time of his life with his two wives, and the time flew by like the drifting winds of the changing seasons.

Currently, one century had passed since Kol had started visiting the Other Side.

You learn more about your self as you interact with more people. Their opinions of you reflect on their behavior. Interacting with the same people for more than a century reveals things about you that even you, yourself never knew were there. Especially if these people are the ones you love the most in the world and wouldn't feel the need to hide from. Someone like your soulmates.

As such, Kol learned a lot about himself. He learned that he had no real talent for being a king or leader of any kind. He had his moments and he could be cunning when he needed to be, but he did not truly enjoy ruling the kingdom. He could always miss something if he tried to do something he was not enjoying.

After having to die and be reborn, Kol had gotten a new start. Now he had a family and life was not as meaningless and bleak like it used to. He loved learning magic and had a clear goal in mind. Kol finally considered himself somewhat 'normal'.

At the same time, considering his past life, he would never be completely 'normal'. He had the tendency to set things up and build them, but never to actually manage what he had built. In fact, he doubted if his kingdom could even ever work properly if not for Astrid's efforts.

Of course, it did not mean that Kol did not care. He would not have started something if he did not care.

In any case, as Kol became aware of his shortcomings, he found a solution. He did not decide to change himself since he would not be as talented in sorcery if he paid so much attention in trivial matters. Instead, he decided to find more such loyal subordinates who would follow through his plans for the future.

Kol was the strongest being on the planet and he did not need to fear that his own subordinates would betray him. Say even if they did, then what!? He had nothing to fear.

Not to mention, Kol was actually very crafty. He had made long term plans and ways to counter any unexpected situations based on the knowledge he had about the world.

=PART-2

On one fine evening, Kol was in the kitchen, cutting vegetables. Today was one of those days when he brought Astrid to the other side and then they all spent a nice day together.

It was nearly time for dinner and today was Kol's turn to cook.

Qetsiyah, on the other hand, had begun to see her as a little sister and usually never rebuked her. She was a dead spirit living in The Other Side for over a thousand years and subconsciously saw something like going outside the barrier as 'normal'. For the scenery she was so used to seeing, Qetsiyah believed that she could protect Astrid no matter which witch spirit wanted to possess her.

And so, Qetsiyah and Astrid, who were just supposed to go out in the garden had already left the barrier, unknown to Kol.

Inside the dimension of the other side, the distance was a relative term for the spirits. Since they could exist in their material form, they could interact with the material objects from the real world, like they would if they were in the real world.

On the other hand, the spirits inside The Other Side could still do everything that a spirit could usually do. Like levitating, possessing living things if they knew how to, crossing long distances in a blink of an eye and even turning invisible.

Qetsiyah was helping her satisfy her curiosity as she made it easier for Astrid to travel in this dimension. Not to mention, Astrid did not have any abilities whatsoever, besides being an original vampire. So it would be extremely dangerous for her to go out alone in a place where any spirit would want to possess her and could do so casually.

Qetsiyah was not considered one of the most powerful witches of all time for noting. Other spirits feared her presence. She was definitely one of the strongest beings in this dimension.

=PART-3

A worthy enemy is not the one who is stronger than you, because if you fight hard enough, you might overcome him one day. Neither is he the one who is smarter than you because if you try hard enough, you might outsmart him one day. Nor is he the one who has the ability to kill you, because once you die, the fight is over.

A worthy adversary is the one who strikes you when you least expect him and takes away the thing you hold most dear. Today, Kol might encounter an enemy like that.

Astrid and Qetsiyah were sitting by a lake in the forest somewhere.

Astrid was the one who was usually talking, while Qetsiyah was occasionally explaining some things as they talked. She was interjecting a word or two between the sentences as Astrid talked enthusiastically.

After getting over with the fighting, and the dissatisfaction at the beginning from when they first met, Qetsiyah had come to adore Astrid as her little sister.

Astrid was initially a happy adventurous spirit and after turning into a vampire, her emotions were only heightened further. She became even more cheerful, but at the same time, years of experience had made her character tough and she could be quite stubborn when she needed to be.

Qetsiyah liked how Astrid was so full of life. Just being around her made her want to live again, and see hope for life. Astrid reminded her how it was like to be alive.

As they were talking, Qetsiyah noticed a shadow approaching them from the front. They were currently in a forested area. The time before the sunset was not as bad for fishing, and they were going to try their luck, on Astrid's request.

At this time, the shadow had become clear and Qetsiyah's expression became somewhat strange as she vigilantly started looking around the area, but before she could notice anything, Astrid spoke from the side.

"Tess! Who is that? Is something wrong?", As the expression on Qetsiyah's face changed, Astrid had noticed something wrong, so she followed her gaze and found the approaching shadow. At the same time, she had also sensed danger with her vampire senses, so she asked Qetsiyah, vigilantly.

Qetsiyah was distracted by Astrid and she forgot to look around. Instead, she spoke to the person who was now standing a few paces from them.

"Yes! I remember! Not only are you that very reason why we have to live as outcasts and the scourge of society, but last time, you even declared yourself a traitor.", Markos made a repulsed and angry expression as he spoke, staring straight at Qetsiyah with a cold gaze.

Qetsiyah made an annoyed expression as she replied, "Markos! It seems you have forgotten your place. As your ancestor, now it is up to me to reeducate you.", she spoke the last few words with a raised tone and was just about to start chanting.

Markos's cold gaze flashed with a hint of anger when Qetsiyah declared herself his ancestor. He interrupted her before she could start her chanting, "Oh! You have always been impulsive, but today you can not save that little family of yours.", after that, he paused and continued as he shouted an order, "DO IT!".

As Markos shouted an order in the air, it seemed as if the air in the surrounding area started to fluctuate around Qetsiyah and Astrid and one by one people started to appear.

It did not even have to be mentioned that they might have been concealed with some kind of high-level clocking spell.

These people wore different clothes and had different ages and heights. When Markos shouted that order, they uncloaked themselves and started chanting a spell while holding each other's hands, as if to form a network.

There were quite a few of them. Around a few hundreds. and they were standing a few hundred meters around Qetsiyah and Astrid, to form a circle. Inside the circle, only Qetsiyah, Astrid and Markos were standing in confrontation.

As they started chanting their spell, Qetsiyah also started to chant hers, in order to intercept theirs. Unfortunately, even though she used to be a powerful witch when she was alive, but currently she was just a spirit, not much different from them, and they had a major numerical advantage.

That told, Qetsiyah still managed to blast away nearly fifty of the enemy spirits, but that number was not comparable to a few hundred. In the end, Qetsiyah could only resist for a few seconds before both the girls screamed and bent on their knees. They held their heads in pain. Battle was always difficult when you had to fight while protecting someone.

Astrid tried to resist, but her punches just passed right through him as his body became ethereal and illusionary.

In the end, Markos's body gradually melted into hers.

Qetsiyah could do nothing but watch in resentment as Astrid's body twitched on the ground.

Astrid was struggling hard to fight for the control of her own body from Markos.

At this moment, Qetsiyah felt powerless for the first time in her life. She was angry at herself and she wished that Kol was here.

------------Scene END-----------

Markos succeeded in possessing Astrid's body, but he still needed a way to get out of this dimension. The hard part was already over. After all, he had the perfect hostage.

=PART-3

Kol sitting on the dinner table and Qetsiyah and Astrid had not yet returned. He had just discovered that Qetsiyah and Astrid had left the barrier. He was furious but still decided to wait for ten minutes before casting the locator spell. The sun had already set and they should be coming soon. He was going to give them a piece of his mind after they returned.

After waiting for a while, Kol decided to cast the locator spell.

Just as he was about to get up, he sensed a huge magic fluctuation coming from the front of the house. It was followed by a huge bursting noise and fierce winds.

The glass windows had started to creak as if they were about to shatter at any moment by the huge wind pressure.

Kol was startled as he ran to the door. This was not supposed to happen. the environment inside the barrier was constant and could only be adjusted by either Qetsiyah, Esther or himself.

As he opened the soundproof door, he was stunned by the sight in front of his eyes.

The once beautiful garden was now in ruin and hundreds of people were chanting a spell while holding each other's hands, as if to form a network around the house.

The barrier was created in order to protect the environment around the house, and create a separate living space for Qetsiyah. It was a strong barrier that could still hold against even the strongest witch spirits, but still not strong enough to hold against hundreds of witches.

What was this concept of a few hundred witches!? If an ultra-strong witch, like Qetsiyah, had the power of a hundred strong a.d.u.l.t witches when she was alive, and she was able to create a dimension by herself, then a few hundred witches had at least twice that strength. How could a barrier created inside such an artificial dimension hold against that kind of power!? After all, the barrier could not be stronger than the dimension itself.

This was an unexpected situation since no witch coven was as large as this. Only the travelers, who could now be considered a new race by themselves had these numbers, and Kol had no reason to expect them to attack, considering the fact that Qetsiyah herself was a traveler. At one point, she was even the leader of the travelers.

Neither of them could speak as they struggled hard. Astrid's eyes were somewhat panicked, while Qetsiyah's eyes were full of resentment directed towards her captors. There was even a hex placed on her eyes so that she could not cast a spell through them.

As a dead soul, she did not have enough raw mana to break through the restrains forcefully. Like all the other dead witch spirits, she had to draw mana from outside in order to cast spells. No matter how strong she was when she was alive, she could not escape this fact, nor had she ever tried. Something else to regret, for her later.

When Kol looked at them, Qetsiyah tried to convey something to him through her eyes, but Kol was instantly blinded by the intense anger as he completely ignored whatever message she was trying to convey.

Kol's eyes glowed with red light as he roared in anger, "HOW DARE YOU!!".

Ever since coming to this world, this was the first time Kol was this angry. He was not only angry at his enemy, but also Qetsiyah and Astrid, and even himself for being too lazy.

------------Scene END-----------

This was the first time Kol had encountered travelers. This incident would remind him to not look down on his enemies.

Just because he knew a possible future, it did not mean that everything would happen according to what he knew. He was currently living in the real world and unexpected situations could always happen. He couldn't always even predict those closest to him.