Chapter 144 - After Ritual - Part 2

Did we make it?

The number of the never-ending snakes seemed to be decreasing, while the number of headless snakes wriggling on the ground increased. It has been roughly ten minutes since they came out, and I could finally see the end of them.

Are these snakes made with black magic too? There were too many of them, fifty—or more—I believe, so a few bites were inevitable. I've gotten a few bites here and there, and none of them have healed yet.

[I think this is the last of them], said Jack, panting and gasping for air as he continued to sever the heads of the snakes.

[Did I just hear our little Gamma panting for air?] came a response from Andrew, ready for his teasing even in the midst of a fight. [Oh, Jack. Don't tell me these worms are giving you a hard time.]

Jack ignored him for a few long moments, biting and crushing snakes in half until he got fed up with Andrew's constant taunts.

[Didn't I tell you? You're still light years away from taking my position as the Be—]

[Shut up before I cut you in half], he growled, definitely annoyed, but Andrew only took his words as a joke. He never took Jack seriously—but Jack always meant what he said.

Sometimes I wonder if I chose the wrong Beta, but whenever I saw Andrew in a fight, he never failed to chase my doubts away. No one could beat him in a spar—except me. His quick thinking and situational awareness made him one of the best fighters, and it was one of the reasons why I chose Andrew over Jack, despite his damned personality.

Jack, on the other hand, is much more reserved and serious than Andrew. He's also an amazing fighter, but he's easily swayed by his emotions. Doesn't look it, does he? Although nothing really showed from his expressions, the way his body moved gave it all away.

Just like now, he's biting and crushing snakes—a lot more harshly than before because of Andrew's taunting. He took almost all the snakes away from us, which is quite a good thing in this situation. But what if the situation was different? Things can really take a turn for the worse whenever there's an emotion involved—especially in a fight.

Although Jack had gotten a little better at controlling his emotions, Andrew was especially skilled at pulling his strings. It was almost like his hidden talent—annoying the Gamma. Perhaps always losing to Andrew in a spar was one of the reasons why Jack was so irritated with him, and also one of the reasons why Andrew was getting more and more pompous.

With Andrew, who cleverly brought the best out of our Gamma, the snakes' attack soon came to an end. We were too busied with the snakes that we failed to see our surroundings—to see that our Luna had gone missing. 

[Where is Violet?] I asked, but neither of the two knew the answer. 

Shit. 

I looked around and saw that the people were still there, but the little girl—Doris—had vanished. Violet and Doris were nowhere to be seen.

The people remained in the same condition, as did the sigil drawn in the middle. But what was different was that all of them were as still as statues, no longer singing and smiling. They looked hollow.

I quickly shifted back to my human form, took a pair of pants from one of the villagers, and walked towards the last place I saw Violet. I found blood—a lot of blood on the ground. I crouched down and touched the blood, only to notice that it was still wet. The pool of blood then turned into droplets of blood, going in an unknown direction. 

This is bad. 

Whose blood is this? I don't think it's possible to even stay alive after losing this much blood. If this is Violet's, I swear I'm going to turn this whole place upside down. I'm going to kill each of the black witches involved in this shit. 

[Search the whole village!! Our Luna is missing] I mind-linked every one of the warriors present, using everything I had to search for Violet. What the hell happened? 

By the look of it, Violet had successfully stopped the ritual. But again, nothing changed with the people. They still looked like they were under control, only that no one was controlling them. There must be something we have to do to return them to their normal state.

Did the black witches take her away?

I followed where the blood was going, getting even more anxious as more time went by. What if the black witches really took her away? Given that they had been after her for a long time, it's not out of the question.

Damn it! How can I not notice she went missing? I should have paid more attention to my surroundings rather than those snakes. I've known for a long time that I hate snakes, and now I have even more reason to hate them.

Stupid snakes.

I looked around, trying to catch any sign of my mate, but all I found were several people lying on the ground. I assumed that these people were the puppets who had given my warriors quite a hard time. It's nice to see them sleeping like babies instead of going beast-mode.

I could see my warriors checking every house, trying their hardest to find their Luna. I tried to smell the air, but there was too much smell to even distinguish one from another. Though I can definitely smell the blood. It was a bit too overwhelming compared to the other smell. It was a smell one can never forget once you learn about it.

I continued to follow the blood which seemed to be going towards the village's gate, then stopped when I finally saw my mate. She had her back to me as she sat on the snow, holding something I could yet see.

Relief immediately washed over me, feeling rest assured now that she's under my sight. Things don't really go well when we're apart—speaking from experience. I don't want to put myself or Violet in any further danger by staying away from each other.

Just as I was about to walk towards her, I suddenly felt a stinging pain in my head. It felt like something was strangling my head—stabbing my skull, and the pain was so intense that I fell to my knees. 

What the hell is happening?

Everything turned blurry as the world spun around, the pain getting increasingly worse as more time went by. Wolfie, who also felt the pain inside me, whimpered and curled his body. It was the first time he felt the same physical pain I was experiencing, and it definitely meant something was very wrong.

Did I perhaps inhale something bad?

[SNAKES!!] Wolfie growled, giving me the most probable answer to my question.

Yes, those damn snakes. I raised my hand with great difficulty, seeing a few bite marks were still visible. Is this perhaps the poison working its magic? However, Maggie told me that most people would have three days before the poison took effect, and I'm only on the second day. Did the new snake-bites accelerate the poison? If so, then I'm doomed.

It felt like someone was pounding at my skull while also prickling it with numerous needles at the same time. One minute I felt it on the back of my head, then on the sides, then somewhere between my eyes. It felt as if the pain was trying to push its way out through my eyes, gnawing on my brain with rusty razor teeth. So that old black witch didn't lie. This shit hurts like hell. I don't have the time for this.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing rather than the pain, hoping to chase it away. Though I'd been through worse, this was definitely up there with the worst. Maggie wasn't lying when she said the poison of those guardian snakes was extremely lethal. At this rate, I might really die.

I needed to find the antidote.

I opened my eyes when I finally felt the pain gradually getting better, regaining strength in my legs. Those black witches weren't playing, huh? They really tried to kill anyone who went past those guardian snakes. I should really return the favor once I get my hands on the antidote. 

With the pain that was going away, everything started to return to its normal state, and I could finally see my surroundings again. The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was a shadow of a person, wearing all-black from top to bottom.

I couldn't recognize who the person was as she had her face covered with a mask and her hood, but it was definitely a she.. At first, she appeared to be like a normal person—which is quite weird in this village—until then I found her running towards Violet, knife raised high.