Chapter 128 - 127. Forbidden Spell

Eden and Glen listened carefully to Alicia's words. The old witch looked grave, the two werewolves were aware of her sternness but they couldn't understand how serious the situation was. 

The younger werewolf glanced at his mate. The Servant of Talamh's strong reaction didn't reassure him but he needed to know more. He peeked at the alpha whose eyes were locked on the woman. A strange light shone in his mate's eyes. A glow the omega had never seen before.

"Are you saying that Light is trying to anger the Moon Goddess?" Glen finally said flatly.

Eden detailed the profile which betrayed no emotion. The alpha kept staring at the witch as he didn't want to miss any small changes in her features.

"I can't speak for this girl but I know tampering the aura of a God's proteges is the best way to anger the deity. Take it out on the Skinwalkers, take it out on you who is a Goddess' chosen being. She is trying to get the Moon Goddess' attention. She acts as if she has nothing left to lose."

"Or maybe she is just angry because she was cursed by the Moon Goddess?"

"Cursed?" Alicia repeated and Eden explained to her.

"We don't know exactly what happened but it's likely that Light was abducted and then tortured by some Blue Moon's enemies. Silphie explained to us that the tribe was attacked several times and that their enemies were after their ability to transform. They kidnapped Light so she could perform the ritual and allow those men to turn into wolves too, but the ritual didn't work as he wanted and Light was cursed by the Goddess…"

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"I told you…"

"Bullshit! Everything you're telling me is bullshit!" The witch's hand smashed the table startling everyone.

Alicia seemed angry and neither her granddaughter nor Eden could understand why. The male omega once again looked at his mate and this time he grasped a grasp of the emotion rising within him.

Glen's expression was similar to Alicia's. Cold anger was gnawing him away. Alicia spoke and the blond's face snapped back to her.

"What did I tell you when we started this conversation?"

"We talked about so many  things…" Eden stated which made the old Servant sigh loudly. Her index finger tapped on the table rhythmically.

"There are rules and magic rituals that prevent witches from spying on other clans. It's a protection that the Gods themselves have put in place and which cannot be overlooked by any clan." She looked at Eden and Glen.

The alpha had already figured out what the witch meant. Eden meanwhile weighed the information that Alicia had just given them. The omega refused to utter loudly what this implied. However, no matter how he put the new elements together, he came to the same conclusion.

A conclusion he had neither anticipated nor considered because it meant that Light wasn't unfairly exacting revenge against the pack and the tribe. This would mean that, contrary to the legend that has been passed down from generation to generation for millennia, the Skinwalkers and Bloodhood haven't done everything to find the girl and one of them is behind all this surge of hatred.

The young werewolf's lips parted slightly and, as he was finally ready to speak, Glen's voice rose in the room.

"There was a traitor among the children of the Moon Goddess. Someone from Bloodhood or Blue Moon gave the clan that abducted Light the information regarding the renewal ceremony. He changed position and stared straight at the old witch who returned his gaze with the same intensity.

"Light doesn't take blind revenge. She is angry and she desperately wants the Goddess to listen to her. Am I right?"

Eden opened his mouth but the words remained stuck in his throat. A traitor. There was a traitor in the pack or the tribe. Wait. Was there only one traitor? His heart skipped a beat. Just realizing how complicated the situation had become. Beside him, Glen continued.

"What can we do now? It's good to know why she is angry after so long, but there is nothing we can do about it, it was too long ago."

"Twenty years is not that long. The traitor could be still there, staying low. However, now that you pick it up, I'm quite attentive to news between clans and I've never heard of a Skinwalker being abducted by another clan. Whichever this clan is, their act is a violation of the peace treaty between the witches."

"Excuse me, but… Light's story happened thousands of years ago. Light was the daughter of Bloodhood's very first alpha."

Alicia got up abruptly from her chair which toppled and fell on the floor. Her eyes were full of absolute terror.

"Heresy! What you say is impossible! Are you telling me that this girl, this Light, has been alive for thousands of years?"

"Yes, well…"

"And nothing about this fact never seemed abnormal to you?" The old woman had screamed on top of her lungs which shocked everyone including Gabriella.

She no longer had anything of the bossy, arrogant old woman from the start. Her whole body was shaking the next moment, she pulled herself together and almost ran towards Glen. The woman grabbed the alpha by the front of his sweater and lifted him off his chair before throwing him to the floor.

"Caraid!"

The spirit materialized and immediately Eden prepared to attack the woman. Claws and fangs spread, he was about to jump when his mate sent him a link.

[Wait! Don't! She can't attack me in the dome! Look what she's doing!]

The omega's heart was beating in his chest, ready to burst out but he stopped and gritted his teeth. Unlike the other times, Alicia had called her spirit, it didn't have its eagle form. It had taken the form of a simple white will-o'-the-wisp which flight till the palm of its Servant's hand where a  white rune glowed.

Once it was in position, a wind blew from Alicia's hand where the rune was drawn. The power of the gust pinned Glen's body to the floor and soon a white halo surrounded the werewolf's body. Eden was too tense to understand the words the witch was uttering. He looked at the alpha who was gritting his teeth but forced himself to smile at him. A scent invaded the air and Eden realized that even in this situation, the dominant was trying to reassure him.

The interior of the house was traversed by gusts of wind since the witch hadn't bothered to pose protections to limit the action of her spell. Suddenly, a drop of blood fell from Alicia's nose which had started bleeding.

"Grandma! Stop it, if you can't do it, it means the spell is too powerful for you to analyze it..."

The old witch coughed and spat blood. The spell ended and the house regained its calm. At least in appearance. Each of the occupants was tense. Alicia was curled up on the floor.

After her spell broke, Gabriella rushed to her side for support. The old witch was shaking but, this time, it was because of the backlash of the magic she had used. Glen, who had nothing besides the discomfort caused by the wind which had pressed his body against the ground, rose to join his mate who was still worried despite the comfort pheromones he had spread.

"It's...the forbidden spell..." Alicia gasped. "She cast the forbidden spell, that's why your aura and hers practically merged when she cast her curse. That's why this magic is so similar to that of Skinwalkers! Damn it! Why did she have to turn to him? To think that he has been wandering among us for millennia. Who knows how powerful he is now. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" She slapped her hand on the floor then put her arm around Gabriella's shoulder.

"Help me up."

The young woman complied and supported her grandmother so that she got up from the ground where she was to accompany her to the table.

"What is that spell and who are you talking about?" Glen asked immediately.

"Black. The evilest spirit ever. A spirit that has only one ambition. He wants to become a God. Black is an arrogant and hateful entity that takes advantage of people's moments of despair because it is his only way to come into our world.

When that girl you told me about was abducted, they probably tortured her. They probably put her through enough to drive her to despair.

Anyway, at one point or another, this poor girl must have broken down because she found out that her people betrayed her and the Moon Goddess abandoned her. I think Black used that moment to spread hatred and darkness in her heart. Now, he's by her side and this devilish shit has all he needs to put the Skinwalkers at his feet."

Still restless, Alicia was already getting up from the table muttering to herself. "We need to stop him before he starts a real bloodbath."

"You talk about a forbidden spell but what is it?" Eden said and Alicia paused.

"That girl. She offered her blessing as a sacrifice to escape death. Now Black's power merged with Light's aura and, if all the Skinwalkers and Werewolves comply with him, he will reach his goal. He will become a god."

_________

"I'm here! Help me!" Light was pushing his weak, strangled voice to the max. "Come! Please! Help me!" The cry she finally wanted to utter had escaped her lips, pushed out of her trench by her sole will to survive at all costs. It broke the silence and Light gasped. She had felt a force entering her and in front of her eyes, blurry and distant, a dark, moonless sky.

Her eyelids blinked and her vision sharpened. The sky. The sky was in front of her eyes. She lowered her head to look around and froze. His eyes widened at the sight of horror.

All around her, lit by torches, thousands of dark energy canals ran through the enemy village that had taken her prisoner. Hundreds of bodies were impaled on the canals which stretched like deadly lines.

They had all died without distinction. Men, women, children, old people. Their corpses riddled with the whips made of dark energy were connected to the girl who turned her head. The tears that had barely stopped started to slide down her cheeks and her body shook again. She got up painfully and stumbled.

Her movements made the energy canals move. Several bodies changed position and collapsed. Once again, a gag caused bile to rise in the girl's throat.

"Stop. No! Stop!"

As if she had spoken an absolute command, the thousands of canals all retracted at once, reentering her body. The shock of the influx of dark energy into her body left her staggering, but feeling overwhelmed.

Light fell to the ground and as she fell unconscious, a thought crossed her mind. They didn't come after all. They didn't come for her.

It was the second time she lost consciousness and regained her senses. The horror sight around her was still the same. A village whose ground was strewn with bodies. The rain must have fallen while she was passed out because the ground was muddy and the dirty water had mixed with the blood and other filth that covered the ground.

Again, Light forced her aching body to straighten up but only managed to sit up. She turned her head to look around. Suddenly, she spotted a figure standing in the middle of this scene of desolation and death. Her heart squeezed with joy. They had come, finally. They hadn't abandoned her. A smile tugged at her cheeks and despite the pain, she stood up and limped towards the figure.

She didn't have the strength to speak anymore so she just trudged. When she was only a few steps away, her strength left her body.

With an abnormal speed, the man was next to her. He caught her and hugged her tight. Light looked up and the man smiled at her tenderly. She had never seen him before. Black's fingers brushed her skin and his smile widened.

"They didn't come for you… But I did."

"Who are…" A grimace prevent her from speaking and Black tightened his grip.

"Shh… don't use your strength. You need to recover. I got rid of those men for you, but you're still in a mess. Can you stand up for a moment?"

Without waiting for her answer, the man loosened his grip. He slightly pulled away from Light, then crouched on the ground.

"I'll carry you. Come on, get on my back."

With no strength to argue, protest or even think, Light just dropped onto the stranger's back. She had just let her weight pull her towards the man's body. Black grabbed Light's arms that hung over his shoulders and straightened her up. When he was satisfied with her position, a thick black mist enveloped the man's body which turned into a black wolf.. He checked that Light's body was on its back, then the animal rushed towards the forest.