Chapter 504 - 504 Ashley’s Farewell

504 Ashley’s Farewell

Jeremiah stretched his arms, yawning while he did. There was a short period of silence as his eyes followed a wandering butterfly that was interested in the nectar of a moon lotus in full bloom.

Caden, on the other hand, was struggling to contain his nagging frustrations and battling impatience. ‘This brat just told his whole story without actually getting to the point.’

“Those two questions, believe it or not, are quite interconnected,” the hunter sighed, “The Bane of Cirrus has laid dormant for a very long time waiting… Waiting for the time to strike at the Rogue King.

Staying in the shadows is what made the organisation dangerous. There is nothing more frightening than an enemy whose true strength is unknown. And for a long time, they watched… and waited.

Searching for an opening in this long pointless war. And that opening had to be perfect… It had to be the way to bring this war completely to an end. Even the Hunter’s Flush-out plan didn’t provide that kind of opening,” Jeremiah explained.

“Then what opening did they find?” Caden asked, getting more curious.

“That’s quite simple. The opening was Katie Sirius. I could personally testify to the tenacious nature of the princess and to her fiery determination to bring down the Rogue King. I was one of the people that noticed how powerful she was bound to become after all.

The prophecy that announced the coming of the Moon goddess’s Chosen was an interesting one. It presented an opportunity to plan many more moves ahead.

Even with that kind of power entrusted to two people, it didn’t guarantee success unless they happened to have a will strong enough to pull it off. And that same kind of indomitable will is what they were looking for.

.....

Katie got the Bane moving from within the shadows. Why would the whole world have to depend on two miracle wolves when they could depend on an entire army of hunters?

They infiltrated the rogues that day and started the rumour of a sect of rogue hunters that worked with the Rogue King which was a deep cover to make the Rogue King lower his guard.

It was a gamble… a dangerous one but they were ready to die for the cause… and many of them did. With time, the Rogue King actually bought it.

There is no doubt that he’s noticed now though…

After all, nothing seemed to be going his way. It was as though every plan he came up with was conveniently put to a stop. What he didn’t realise was that his plans were doomed from the start. The Bane of Cirrus was always a step ahead.

Even now as we speak, numerous hunters under the Bane of Cirrus are working to stop the Rogue King’s vile plan from coming to fruition.”

“Forgive me if I find that hard to believe,” Caden shook his head.

All this sounded far-fetched.

“Hmm, proof would explain this better. How many packs does the world have?” Jeremiah asked.

“I don’t know… hundreds of them!”

“Well, dear Caden, they are three hundred and fifty-eight packs. And just like the capital, they too were attacked by rogues and many of their members were bitten.

The Great Arena is cut off completely from the outside world but that’s where most of the hunters in the world currently are. The Bane of Cirrus has been tasked with containing these attacks. Hunters have been dispatched to all these packs to help deal with the situation.

With Lady Ashley’s help, it’s easier to locate and isolate the affected civilians and even find the rogues that are hiding within the masses before irreparable damage has been dealt,” Jeremiah mentioned.

“Ah, see that’s the thing. You lost me there. What’s Ashley got to do with this?”

“The animals, Caden. We noticed two years ago that they were acting oddly. Right before Luna Katie vanished, the animals began to behave weirdly. It was soon apparent that they were acting on orders from someone else…”

“Someone else? Did you already know someone who could speak to animals?” Caden asked.

“You could say that. When we noticed their odd behaviour, we decided to investigate and that is when the weirdest thing happened. They took us to her… to Ashley. She only appears in fields of moon lotuses. You’re lucky to have found this one. I thought I was the only one that knew of its existence.”

“Yeah… Really lucky,” Caden struggled with this information. He turned back to Ashley, “You can speak to animals?”

“Well, yeah… It’s one of my abilities. They help me identify the rogues since they see a lot. That way, we can do a lot at the same time and cover much more ground,” Ashley explained.

“Ashley is dead!”

“You’re correct, Caden. While I am indeed Ashley, I’m not exactly the same Ashley you know. I bear the memories of the life she lived and I often revisit them… but when I return to my other half, I’ll lose them and she’ll awaken.”

This time, Caden didn’t ask the question that cropped into his mind.

It seemed every time he asked a question, they only left him with more questions.

But this time, hints came through as well. ‘One of her abilities… Other half… Appearing in only fields of moon lotuses… Speaking to animals.’

Everything he knew pointed in one direction though.

He didn’t want to believe what he was hearing but it was the only way anything made sense. The only person he knew that could control animals this well had shown that power a long time ago.

Katie had controlled a swarm of pigeons at Cole’s coronation just like the birds that had saved him earlier that evening, “Katie…?”

The dark-haired girl nodded in response, “I am Katie Sirius’s wolf. I was tasked with bonding with her during her first shift to keep her from going feral and allow a smooth transition to the life she was meant to live. Since she already had a connection to my past self, she didn’t fight the changes that were happening to her.”

“So you’re the reason her wolf didn’t go on a rampage,” Caden sighed, remembering the events of the first time Katie had ever shifted.

The princess had hunted Kyle down as though being a werewolf came naturally to her. Now this made more sense… Well, almost.

“How?”

“A little bit of divine intervention,” Ashley replied warmly.

Caden nodded… piecing everything together, “Let me get this straight. Ashley found the Bane of Cirrus and the two of you just decided to start working together to put an end to the Rogue King’s plans.”

“Yes, that is true.”

“Does that also mean you have a plan that will end this once and for all?” Caden asked, “If you haven’t noticed, I initiated a worldwide lockdown to contain the current problem. Resources are limited and without knowing where the Rogue King will strike, all packs are unprotected.

I can’t be in over three hundred places at once,” Caden complained.

Ashley giggled, “You worry too much, Caden. We’re not asking you to protect all packs at once. You forget that I’m using my ability to keep track of nearly everything. The Bane of Cirrus will handle the protection of the other packs. You also have Jeremiah here to help you.”

Jeremiah stood abruptly, his face turning white with shock, “What?! No, I’m supposed to be going back to Brigadia. I said I would be going there.”

“I’ve decided to assign that task to Brunhilde, Jeremiah. I’ve already given everyone their assignments,” Ashley sighed.

“No… I was supposed to be there for the Awakening. I can protect her better than that hammer-wielding brute,” Jeremiah was now yelling at the girl, almost pleadingly.

“I know you want to do this but I need you here. I want you to help Caden,” Ashley replied, disregarding everything Jeremiah had just said.

The hunter clenched his fists in frustration, “That’s not fair.”

“How come? Who else am I supposed to trust with something as important as this?” Ashley floated closer to the ground dejectedly.

“What’s that supposed to mean? This place is safe enough as it is. You can just switch me out with anyone you see fit. The Bane is under your control after all,” Jeremiah’s tone softened and he wouldn’t meet the spirit’s eyes.

“Well, I can’t find anyone else I can trust with this. Protect Caden for me,” Ashley asked him, pouting.

“I don’t need protecting,” Caden intervened but the girl was not listening.

“Please, Jeremiah. I don’t have much time and you know it. Don’t make me spend the time I have left begging your stubborn head to help me,” the girl argued.

“Fine… I’ll help Caden, only because he’s already useless without me. Just don’t cry,” Jeremiah turned away with his hand covering his face, “Sheesh… When will you ever learn to change your mind for me?”

“Thank you very much, Jeremiah. I couldn’t change my mind about this. Caden is really special to the king and in turn, special to me. I wouldn’t just leave him to just about any—” the wind suddenly picked up, muffling her words. It seemed as though she still had a lot to say but Caden stood up and approached her. A small twister was surrounding her body and wrapping her presence with divine blue mist.

It was nothing the beta alpha had ever seen before. Then again, he’d never seen a ghost before either, “What’s happening to you?”

His voice was drowned out by the roaring of the wind. It was strong… but oddly enough, it didn’t carry anything, almost like it was meant to blow anything other than matter.

The wind was focused solely on Ashley and the calm resigned smile on the girl’s face translated to her knowledge of this.

Caden reached out to her only to freeze when a hand touched his shoulder. Looking back, he noticed Jeremiah holding onto his shoulder with an emotionless expression on his face.

His facade broke quickly, showing a tinge of sadness, “She’s out of time, Caden. This is just how the world gets rid of her presence.”

Caden turned back and watched in silence as the blue tornado engulfed her body completely before exploding outward at once, leaving nothing in its wake.

Still, within the chaos of the blue wind, Caden had been able to discern a movement of her lips as she mouthed the words:

“Farewell, Caden.”

Now, all that was left was the empty peacefully quiet field of luminescent moon lotuses.

“What does this mean for her?”

“A better question would be: ‘What does that mean for all of us?'” Jeremiah chuckled.

“I’m not sure I follow… Or at least, I don’t want to believe what it is that you’re insinuating,” Caden sighed, holding his breath. The possibility was almost suffocating.

It had been so long.

“Very well then. I’ll spell it out for you. With the disappearance of the spirit that’s guided the Bane of Cirrus for the past two years will come the Awakening of the Rogue King Cirrus’ Bane, Katie Chase Sirius,” the hunter announced with a proud smile.

.......

Several hundreds of miles away from the capital of Lycaon, in a remote town that was home to the legend of the Rogue Killer, a pair of incandescent blue eyes belonging to a great white wolf fluttered open in a field of brilliant moon lotuses.