The First King
Chapter 26

Over Sella Castle, the skies were clear. There was a wind that blew warm air from the south, keeping winter and its frigid weather at bay. Sitting outside, under the warmth of the sun, was Prew. She was reading a book while sitting upon the manicured lawn in front of the castle. Rowan stepped out of the forest, his eyes instantly replaceing her. For a moment, he was frozen. Prew looked radiant as she sat under the rays of the sun. Her hair was loose, shimmering against the light as it blew in the wind.

With a sigh, he continued to walk to her. The smell of blueberries filled his nose, but he could not allow it to affect him. Rowan could not let himself to drown in his desire for her. As he approached Prew, he cleared his throat, allowing for her to know that he was there.

“Oh, hey, Rowan,” she greeted with a smile as she glanced up from her book.

“I’m surprised to see you out here relaxing,” he stated as he sat on the ground near her.

“I have been making arrows for eight days straight,” Prew scowled with a flick of her wrist. “If I have to make one more, I might go cross-eyed.”

“I can understand that,” he chuckled as he looked at the cover of her book. It was of a little girl standing in front of a large, white wolf. “What are you reading?”

“It is a romance story about this she-wolf who has powers, similar to witches,” Prew explained as she ran her fingertips along the edges of the pages. “She has this grand destiny that she has to fulfill, but at the moment, she doesn’t know what it is. Based on one of her gifts, I have an idea of what it might be, but nothing has been revealed yet.”

“You read books about wolves?” Rowan teased with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a guilty pleasure of mine,” she retorted as she glared at him. “It isn’t often that I get to read anyway. But when I do, yes, I like to read romance books with a strong female lead. Sometimes, it is a wolf, sometimes a human.”

“I’m not judging,” he insisted as he held his hands up defensively. “I just haven’t seen you reading before. And hearing that you’re reading romance books is just intriguing.”

“You know, Rowan, the human blacksmiths did ask me to lend them some assistance in moving all of the scrap metal that they’ve gathered,” Prew smirked as she looked down at the page she was reading. “And as your Luna, I could just command you to help them. Especially if you continue to sit here and tease me.”

“Do not make me help the blacksmiths again,” he begged. “The humans are arrogant, and they smell of-”

Rowan’s body stiffened as the sounds of howls filled the air. Prew sat up and watched as his eyes glazed over as he mind linked to someone. She held her breath as all the color left his face.

“Witches,” he whispered as his eyes returned to normal. “Witches are attacking the pack from the west.”

“Go!” Prew ordered as she rushed to her feet. She let out a high-pitched whistle as she tossed her book to the ground. “I’ll catch up!”

”Werelia Inttum!” Rowan shouted just before shifting. He sprinted toward the woods as Prew ran toward the castle. She kept whistling, hoping that Meeka could hear her. Thankfully, her horse was not far away, and he quickly galloped up to her. Standing in the middle of the lawn, she struggled to climb onto her horse without anything to assist her. It did not help that her heart was racing or her hands were trembling. Prew had been in fights before, but this was the first time that she had to defend people that she knew, people that she loved. She pushed Meeka to gallop toward a nearby guard tower.

“Witches are attacking!” She yelled at the guards as she approached. “In the woods!”

Men scrambled out of the tower, rushing out to the pack. One of the guards brought Prew a quiver full of arrows and a bow that she had stashed away in a chest within the tower. Her heels jabbed into Meeka, urging him to charge forward. The sound of his hooves filled the air as he raced through the trees. With each kick, his feet moved faster and faster. It was rare that Prew pushed Meeka this hard, and he seemed to sense the urgency in her emotions. As they neared the clearing, she could hear the yelping of wolves mixed with the sounds of thundering magic.

Prew pulled on Meeka’s mane as they exited the tree line. Before he came to a stop, she slid off his back, quickly replaceing cover behind a pile of logs. She grabbed an arrow, nocking it onto the string of her bow. Prew took a moment to relax her breathing. Her mind needed to be calm, to be focused when she shot her arrows. With a deep exhale, she pulled back the arrow and walked from behind the logs.

Her eyes scanned the area until they landed on a female witch. She stood off to the side, gathering smoke in her hands. Prew took aim and shot off the arrow. It flew through the air, piercing the witch in the throat. The woman turned toward Prew with wide eyes as she fell to the ground with a thud. Blood poured from her mouth as she struggled to gather enough magic to shoot at Prew. Clouds swirled in her hands before dissipating as the witch died, drowning in her own blood.

Prew quickly turned her attention to the right as children cried out for their mothers. Thankfully, several of the human soldiers were carrying them into the woods, toward the direction of the castle. It was a relief to know that many of the little ones were out of harm’s way. The tightness she felt in her chest was loosening as she watched them disappear beyond the trees.

With a deep exhale, Prew grabbed an arrow from her quiver and took aim toward another witch. This time, though, the man saw her and the arrow coming. He swung his arm, throwing a wall of fire up to block the arrow. Prew scowled as she shot off a few more arrows, hoping that one pierced through his fire. But none went through; all disintegrated into ash before reaching the witch.

As Prew ran to get eyes on the man, fireballs began to shoot off towards her. She quickly slid on the ground, ducking underneath a few of the balls. Prew scrambled to her feet as she ran in the opposite direction, dodging the barrage of magic as best as she could. Her hand reached over her shoulder, grabbing another arrow as she took cover behind one of the tents. It would not be able to protect her for long, but it allowed her to take a second to catch her breath.

Prew took a moment to look around, eyeing out her next move. There was a large tree that stood about twenty feet away, and to get to it, she would be exposed. But the tree was safer than the tent. If it caught fire, it would not instantly get to her. Prew drew her arrow back as far as the string would allow her. She stepped out from behind the tent and shot off her arrow, hoping that the witch would be too preoccupied with it than with her running off. Once the arrow went flying, she hurried toward the tree, but as she ran, she could hear the whoosh of fire as it flew behind her.

Prew screamed in pain as flames hit her left arm, singing her clothes and burning her skin. She stumbled to the ground, hissing as the pain radiated up to her shoulder. More fire was being shot at her, and all Prew could do was try to make herself as small as possible. She wrapped her right arm over her face, doing her best to protect herself, but then she felt fur brush against her skin. She looked up, noticing Rowan’s wolf standing over her. He was protecting her as other wolves went for the fire witch.

“Go fight!” Prew yelled at him as she attempted to shove him off her. “Go protect the others!”

Rowan snapped his head to her with a threatening growl. His body lowered over her, pinning her to the ground. Even as her right hand kept hitting him, he would not budge. Prew bit back tears of anger as she glared at him. They broke eye contact as three wolves pounced on the fire witch, tearing him apart.

“Get off of me!” Prew commanded as she dug her right elbow into his side.

Rowan reluctantly moved, but he kept his eyes on her wound. Her left arm was a mixture of blisters and charred skin, and by the way she was wincing, he knew that it was painful. This was not something that she was going to recover from quickly. But it did not stop her. Prew bent over, scooping up her bow with her left hand. A grimace washed across her face as she tried to raise her arm, but with the burns, she would not be able to shoot.

With an angry scowl, she tossed her weapon to the ground. Her right hand pulled out the dagger that she had tucked away. She was going to keep fighting until everyone was safe. But then her eyes glanced down to the wolf beside her. Rowan was watching her, and she could see the worry in his eyes.

“Flank my left side,” she instructed. Though she was stubborn, she was not stupid. Her left arm was useless, and it took everything within her to push past the pain.

Prew hurried back toward the fighting as Rowan followed her closely. There was a witch that stood in the center of the small village. They were in a frenzy, shooting off lightning in any and every direction. She had to crouch down to avoid being hit. As a thought popped into her mind, she looked down at Rowan.

“Run around and catch their attention,” she instructed as she gripped the handle of her dagger tightly. “Keep their back to me.”

Rowan growled, but he nodded his head. No matter how unwilling he was to leave her side, he was compelled to obey. With a huff, he sprinted out into the center. He howled, catching the attention of the lightning witch. The man looked at the wolf with an evil grin. With his fingers spread, the witch held his hand out. Tiny sparks emanated from the tips before shooting out as bolts toward the wolf. Rowan was careful to run in a zig-zag pattern, all while keeping the witch from turning around. As his wolf evaded the magic, Rowan did his best to keep an eye on Prew as she crept up on the witch.

As he watched her, his wolf stumbled over debris that littered the ground. The witch chuckled as he watched the wolf lose its balance. He shot lightning around the animal, deliberately missing. The man was toying with Rowan, like a cat with a mouse.

“Dance, mutt!” The witch laughed as he kept tormenting his prey.

“Hey!” Prew called out, startling the witch.

The man turned around in time to see a dagger being stabbed into his chest. It went through his sternum at an angle, with the tip of the dagger grazing his heart. As the man yelled in pain, Prew tried to pull the knife from his chest, but she couldn’t. With the blade stuck in the witch’s breastbone, she kicked at the back of his legs, causing him to fall to the ground.

Prew looked down at the witch, who stared back at her with wild eyes. She could hear the static that was crackling below her, but she would not move. Instead, she wanted to watch as the life drained from the man’s eyes. It was something that Prew had seen before, but this time was different. The men she had killed in the past had invaded the southwestern region of Guilford. They were fighting over land disputes, nothing that put the lives of innocents at risk. But these witches avoided other villages, packs, and kingdoms just to come here. They traveled all the way from Thresnora with the intention of attacking her people. This fight, this war against the witches, suddenly became personal for her.

Prew angrily yelled as she kicked the witch in his side. Even as the man summoned magic in his hands, she continued to kick him. Arms wrapped around Prew, pulling her away as two wolves pounced on the witch. She struggled to get free, shouting as the others killed the man.

“Stop it!” Rowan demanded as he continued to drag Prew away. “It is done!”

“Let me kill him!” She commanded.

“I already have to deal with Konrad being a homicidal maniac. I can’t have you acting like one, too,” Rowan stated as he reluctantly released her. “And the witch is dead! They are all dead!”

“Where are the others?” She questioned as she glared back at Rowan.

“Five are dead, but two ran off,” he answered with a scowl. “But don’t worry, I have wolves chasing after them.”

“It won’t do any good; they will just disappear into the darkness,” she sighed as she looked around. With the trees all around them, the witches had plenty of shadows to hide in. After a moment, she turned back to Rowan. “Gather everyone here and move them to the castle or the city. No one is to remain here.”

Prew looked behind Rowan, noticing the body of a dead wolf. Her breath hitched in her throat as she looked at the ground around her. From what she could see, there were three dead wolves. Three people that she knew, that she had spent time with.

“Mind link to Konrad,” she whispered with a wavering voice. “He should be here when we burn his people.”

“I already told him,” Rowan replied as he watched her eyes brim with tears. “Thankfully, the Alpha was not too far away. He should be here by tonight.”

“Alright,” she murmured as she wiped her eyes. “I’m going to go check the cabins for anyone hurt.”

“You’re hurt. You should go get your arm looked at.”

“I’ll be fine,” she asserted as she stepped away from Rowan. Her left arm was in horrendous pain, but it did not matter, not right now.

“Will you, at the very least, let the witch that is with Konrad take a look at it?” He questioned softly.

“If I say yes, will you stop bringing it up?”

“Yes, my Luna,” he promised with a nod of his head.

“Alright then. When the witch is here, I shall allow for her to heal me. But… only after she has looked at the children and human soldiers.”

Rowan rolled his eyes as she walked away. It was irritating how similar Prew and Konrad were. Both were headstrong; both put themselves last. Both were willing to die in the midst of battle if it meant they got a kill. A part of Rowan hated to admit that they were perfect for one another. Two souls, both reckless and selfless, paired together through some weird twist in fate.

Did anyone notice the little easter egg of Calliope's Wolf? Though these two stories don't take place in the same world or universe, I figured it would be nice to add the series here as actual books. In the future, I will do the same with this series, and on and on 😅