Chapter 390

390 Separate Entity

After Artemis’s explanation, King Hamedale calmed down. They’d both been fighting in honour of their goddess with only their different opinions to blame, “I don’t mean to be a bother, but the whole purpose of this curse that brought my kind was to wipe out humanity. Without that purpose, what happens to us then?”

The goddess smiled, “I’ve been thinking of something. Humans are flawed in so many ways, but every once in a while... once in a blue moon, there is a union amongst them that’s so perfect that even the gods in the heavens above watch in awe. I want that to be the case for my wolves albeit more frequently.

Perhaps there can be happiness born from the darkness that brought this curse upon the world of mortals. I want to pair them the right way so that they never have to go through the pain humans go through when pursuing what they keep mistaking for love,” she explained.

“That feels totally beside the point, but please, do go on,” the king replied, sighing.

“I’ve decided that whenever a wolf reaches the age of eighteen, they will receive a mate that they must seek out. There will be no happiness otherwise should they choose to mate with one other than the one I have chosen for them,” the goddess replied with a grin.

“You’re giving us quite a lot to think about this time, aren’t you, my Lady?” Jeanie giggled, sitting in the field cross-legged, “A mate that every one of us looks forward to meeting. One that you’re fated to be with till the end. If you don’t mind me asking, what happens when your mate dies after the two of you have met or if your mate dies before the two of you ever meet? I have so many questions now. What happens if you don’t find your mate? And how does one find their mates anyway?”

Hamedale was stunned by the woman’s enthusiasm towards the idea the goddess had just brought upon them. ‘Isn’t she supposed to be thinking of things like... What happens to the war now? What will I do with my War Council? What happens if the humans attack us again? What happens if they betray us and try to take revenge on the werewolves?’ The vines restraining him weakened and shed away, letting him drop to the ground.

“Oh, I can answer all your questions. Like I said, I’ve been thinking a lot about life after the war...” the goddess piped up, getting closer to the Sirius Queen.

‘I guess we are not talking about the possibilities of a civil war or human uprising then...’ the king mentally groaned, ‘Maybe I’m just being paranoid... Maybe...’

.....

In silence, he listened to the two females’ exchange and learned all that he could about the goddess’s new intentions. In the end, she didn’t seem like she wanted to discuss anything military at all. In fact, she spoke like a completely different person. So much that he couldn’t keep his mouth shut, “Goddess, you’re different. Where is your bow?”

The goddess smile fell from her face the instant he’d asked, “How can I say this? Hmm, I think it would be better if you did not refer to me as Artemis and only as Celeste from now on. The two of us... aren’t exactly the same anymore. I am the goddess of the Moon and the patron goddess of the werewolves.”

“That’s how much you’ve put this war behind you, huh?” he asked. The goddess merely nodded in response.

“Well, in that case then, we shall carry out your orders to the letter and reconcile with the humans. There will be no more bloodshed from either of the two sides and we shall strive to build a peaceful world where the two species can live together in peace and harmony,” the man bowed to the goddess. In the end, Hamedale wasn’t a fan of war either. Not after everything he’d seen so far.

The goddess before him smiled warmly at the two royals, the standing direct descendants of Sirius and Lycaon. When Lycaon was one to follow her orders to the letter and without much resistance, Sirius had always been the free spirit who questioned all her decisions. For Sirius, she had to make sure she’d understood the order given. Celeste was glad when Jeanie reacted positively towards her abrupt change.

This change in her behaviour had not been sudden though. Celeste had just taken her time to show it. She’d been watching the blind gladiator for a while and every now and then, his pure heart had chipped away at her darkness, allowing room for something new to emerge, “I’m glad. Now depart from the Origin and bring forth a new era of peace.”

The two werewolves shifted before their goddess, a large but slender white wolf and a large bulky black wolf. Before they could leave, however, the white wolf’s feminine voice rang through their minds. Jeanie stared at the man on the ground while she asked, “Oh, by the way, I remember you saying something about him being called, ‘The Blind Gladiator.’ What did you mean by that?” Jeanie asked.

“Oh yeah... He needed some way to hide the colour of his eyes, so he would cover his eyes with a cloth wrapped around his head, sealing away his vision. His sister was actually the one that would help him tie it on every morning. His other senses were sharp enough for him to perceive his surroundings well enough. For a time, he was an enigma and a very entertaining fighter to watch. Defeating your opponents without sight is quite entertaining.

But then again, that’s also where the suspicions started later on. And when the humans found out about him, neither he nor his sister was spared,” the goddess responded sadly.

'

“That’s so cruel... Why?”

“They could risk him getting a command from an alpha. He was simply too dangerous. At least, that’s what I tell myself of their reasoning... It doesn’t matter anymore. He’ll be fine now. Now go. Tend to your people and make sure something like this never happens again,” she urged them with a bright smile.

‘There it is again. The image of the goddess smiling,’ Jeanie whispered into Hamedale’s mind.

‘I know, Jeanie. It’s new, but I think it suits her better than the scowl of anger she wore back then,’ Hamedale replied, noticing the significant change in his goddess’s demeanour. To the two werewolves, she’d transformed into a completely different person in such a short time.

The two royals didn’t need much persuasion to leave the Origin. After receiving their dismissal, they vanished in the next moment to carry out the goddess’s bidding. Katie couldn’t believe her eyes as she watched the slender wolf vanish seconds before the king’s wolf, raising a mini-tornado in her wake. The colour of the wolf, the speed and the attitude were almost an exact match with someone else deep within her memory.

She grasped for the memory but found she was unable to do much in this deep unconscious state. Her memory wasn’t as accessible as she would have liked. Finally deciding it was a problem for another time, she returned her attention to the goddess who’d now floated back to the sleeping man on the ground.

Celeste gently stroked his hair with a smile on her face. It seemed like the goddess was going to wait for Seth to wake up. The reason he was asleep in the first place eluded Katie’s mind, so she looked around in search of another detail of more interest, but found nothing.

‘Isn’t something supposed to be happening right about now? Well, other than watching the goddess fawn over Seth like he’s a diamond the size of an apple,’ the girl asked herself. She’d seen the two of them before, but she didn’t know how much the goddess thought of her mate. Just when she thought there was nothing more to watch from this scene, a sudden rustle of grass reached the girl’s ears. There was no draft of wind that could cause it and she was sure there were no animals in this part of the world because of the intense divine energy.

Her eyes or better, her focus darted about in search of the source of the sound. Something was obscured by the darkness created by the cover of trees. Someone else was out there. Someone else had come to the Origin that day... Katie wanted to believe that one of the two monarchs had returned with more questions, but something deep in her gut told her this was not the case...

And this gut feeling only turned worse... It was the same feeling she got whenever something evil was about to happen. The same feeling she had many months ago when the King of Rogues had shown up in Brigadia. She shivered at the thought of this evil and strained to pierce the darkness obscuring this image.

If Katie could choose one word to describe this feeling, it would be ‘ominous.’