The First King
Chapter 36

Fire rained from the sky as hundreds of arrows were shot into the air. Konrad watched as the flames illuminated faces while they made their descent toward the ground. Even with the extra light, it was hard to tell how many there were. And to make matters worse, he could not tell whether they were witches, humans, or vampires. There were no red eyes in the crowd, so there could be no vampires nearby. So where were they? As the question crossed his thoughts, the squeaks of bats sounded overhead.

Konrad turned toward Prew, the darkness still hiding most of her features. But he was able to smell her; the scent of blueberries and of her mark was strong. There was no mistaking where she was, even if it was pitch-black. He bit his lip, fighting back the urge to grab her, taking her away from the battle. With a scowl, he looked toward the ground, where a large, reddish wolf stood.

“Alder, stay by her side,” Konrad instructed with a growl. “Do not let her out of your sight! Werelia Inttum!”

Without wasting any more time, he shifted.

“Prew...” Nero whined as he tried to turn toward her, but Konrad controlled their wolf form.

“We can’t,” Konrad murmured as he fought back his own feelings. “If we tell her goodbye, if we touch her, you and I both know that we wouldn’t be useful to anyone.”

With a whimper, Nero conceded to Konrad. There was no denying the pain that was going through their heart and soul at this very moment. Both worried extensively over her, but they needed to push thoughts of her to the side, at least for now. They needed to concentrate on the fight that was brewing. At any moment, something would happen, and the bloodshed and slaughtering would begin.

“Rowan!” Konrad called out over mind link. “You and the other Wild Haer warriors on me!”

“What about Her Majesty?” The Beta questioned as he and the other wolves inched closer to the front line.

“The Frostpaws will protect her, but I need you by my side.”

“Of course, Konrad,” Rowan replied as he stopped beside his cousin. The two wolves looked at one another momentarily before looking back to the shadows that lay ahead of them.

Nero dug his back paws into the dirt, waiting for the right moment to attack. Just then, a lightning bolt fell from the clouds, striking the ground before him. Now was the time. Nero lunged forward, followed closely by other wolves and humans. As they ran across the field of darkness, lightning continued to strike the ground. It was random in where it hit, and Konrad could hear the screams of men as the electricity struck them. But there was no turning back; those that had fallen could not be helped, not by him.

“Alpha! Watch the bats above!” Someone shouted over mind link.

Nero lifted his eyes from the shadowed figures before him to the bats in the sky. Several flew down, shifting into vampires as they pounced on his people. As one bat approached him, a fire arrow flew over his head, hitting the bat. The vampire could not shift as his animal form was engulfed in flames. It fell to the ground with a thud as Nero ran past it.

“Leave the bats to Prew and the other archers! Only attack if a vampire is on the ground! Focus instead on what’s ahead!”

But what was ahead? Nero sniffed the air, but with the fog, it was hard to smell anything nearby. But it wouldn’t be much longer; the wolf was rapidly approaching the people that stood in the shadows. And as he neared them, he could make out the shape of swords and shields. As arrows flew by him, it finally dawned on Konrad that these were humans—vampires in the sky and humans on the ground. There were no witches out, at least none that could be seen.

Nero focused on one human holding a bow. He dodged an arrow before he jumped, lunging at the man. As the wolf pushed on the man’s chest, there was a burning sensation on his paws. Nero yelped as the pain intensified on the padding of his feet. This gave the human time to grab a dagger, but Rowan rushed over, biting into his throat before he could do anything with it. As Konrad’s wolf healed himself, he could see the faint hint of a shine coming from the man’s chest. It was chain mail, unlike anything he had seen before. He leaned over, giving it a quick sniff before backing up in disgust.

Silver…

“Watch the humans! They have silver clothing on!” Konrad warned his wolves over mind link. “They might have silver weapons and wolfsbane, too!”

But then, as a thought crossed his mind, Konrad growled to himself. He could only talk to his wolves; none of the others would have the same warning. As Nero’s paws finished healing, all he could do was hope they would realize it before serious harm came to one of them.

The sound of a wolf yelping caught Konrad’s attention. Though there were still blisters on his feet, Nero rushed over to the warrior who had been stabbed by a sword. He grabbed onto the back of the human’s leg, pulling him away from the wolf. The man yelled out, struggling to keep his balance as part of his calf was torn off. When he fell on his back, Nero jumped on him, ripping into his face. With insufficient light to illuminate their surroundings, Konrad and his wolf could not risk attacking any of the humans on their chests. But this left very few places where they could bite and kill their opponent.

When the human stopped moving, Konrad turned his attention to the wolf lying on its side. There was a long sword piercing the animal through its chest. Nero shifted, allowing for Konrad to pull out the blade. But, as he did this, arrows started to land on the ground beside them. Konrad covered the wolf’s head and body, protecting him from the onslaught. He closed his eyes tightly, preparing for the pain of an arrow landing into him, but instead, all he heard was arrows hitting against metal.

Konrad looked up, noticing several of his soldiers standing over him. They held out their shields, protecting him and the other wolf from the arrows raining down.

“We’ve got him, Your Majesty,” one of the men asserted. “We will guard him until he is done healing.”

“I’ll be fine, Alpha. I only need a minute, and I’ll be back on my feet,” the wolf added over mind link.

“Don’t push it, Michael,” Konrad commanded as he prepared to shift. “Werelia Inttum.”

After a few seconds, Nero jumped out from behind the barrier of shields, taking a brief moment to survey his surroundings. Though it was growing darker by the minute as the flames from their arrows began to die down, he could still see the outlines of people in the shadows. As he sniffed the air, the stench of iron filled his nose. But so did the smell of blueberries. Prew. She was nearby. Nero quickly turned around, attempting to locate her.

Through the darkness, not far from the fighting, was Prew. She had emptied her third quiver of arrows, and her supply was running low. One of her personal guards rushed over, placing the last of her arrows into the holder on her back. But even if she had an unlimited supply of arrows, it did not matter. She also noticed the darkness encroaching on them.

“What else can we do about light?” Prew questioned as she turned to the two fire witches. “We don’t have enough arrows to light up the field, and I can’t tell if any trees are in the vicinity.”

“It is also too risky to shoot fireballs,” one of the men added.

“What about a twister?” The other witch commented as he stared up toward the clouds. He couldn’t see anything, but he could feel the wind that blew around them.

“A fire twister? Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“Not if we keep it off the ground, Your Majesty,” the second witch responded as he and his companion held their hands up in the air. “It might get warm overhead, but it should help light up the area better than arrows.”

“Fine,” she conceded as she looked nervously ahead of her. Prew could not see much of what was happening, but she could hear it. The growls, the yelling, the anguished screams filled her ears, creating a heaviness that sat on her chest. “Just be careful not to form the twisters over our people.”

The witches’ hands moved around in a circle until fire appeared high in the sky. Their arms began to swirl, causing the flames to twist in the clouds. As the blaze grew into an inferno, it began to stretch out towards the ground. But the witches focused on their magic, willing their fire to stop before it could harm anyone below.

Everyone seemed to pause the fighting as the battlefield was illuminated. Though it was not as bright as the sun, the fire was able to show the extent of the armies, the damage, and the deaths. The ground was bathed in a mixture of black and red as soot and blood soaked the grass. As the twisters moved across the sky, they began to bathe the path to Thresnora with light. In the distance, between where the fighting took place and the volcano, sat dozens of witches. They were in a trance, chanting quiet spells as black clouds seeped from their bodies. The darkness that had shrouded the lands was coming from them.

“Konrad! The witches!” Prew called out as she nocked an arrow.

Nero looked at her, then in the direction that her bow pointed. In the distance, he could see the dark witches huddled together. Seeing them stirred something within him. Since Lorelei’s rejection, he had forgotten about the hatred that he once held for these people. When Lorelei left, it was as if every emotion had vacated his body, leaving him an empty husk of a man. Prew had helped to fill the void with passion, with adoration and love. But now, seeing the people who were responsible for taking away his family, it brought back the fury and rage.

The wolf sprinted away, rushing toward the volcano. Prew watched as Rowan and other wolves hurried after Konrad. She wanted to go after them, but a line of human soldiers blocked her path. A low growl came from Alder, who stood beside her. He and his pack had held back, staying next to their Queen, fighting off any vampires who happened to get near them. But now they were itching for a fight, and so was Prew.

“Go.”

She did not need to give any further instruction or words of encouragement. The Frostpaws listened without hesitation. All of the wolves ran toward the fighting, all but Alder. He stayed by Prew’s side as she stood still, her feet frozen to the ground. Her eyes were on Nero, watching as he jumped one of the dark witches. She held her breath, waiting for the other witches to turn on him, but none of them moved. They were still in a trance, creating the smoke and clouds.

“I don’t like this,” Prew murmured as she aimed her bow away from the witches and back to the fighting before her. She only had twenty arrows left, so she needed to make every shot count. After exhaling the breath that she held, she released the string, shooting the arrow forward. It flew through the air, landing into a man’s chest.

Prew shot off three more arrows, each one killing its target quickly. With each kill, she took a few steps forward. Her goal was to slowly make her way closer to Konrad, to back him up should he need it. But from what she could see, he and the wolves from the Wild Haer pack were killing witches without much of a fight.

After shooting off another arrow, a cold nose pushed against her hip. Prew looked down at Alder, who turned his gaze to the distance, away from the fighting. At first, she did not notice what he was seeing, but then it dawned on her. There was a ray of light shining in through the clouds.

“A hole in the darkness!” She exclaimed at the realization. Her head snapped back to Konrad and at the witches that he was attacking. With each kill, it meant one less person was adding to the darkness.

“Tell your wolves to watch for any vampire that might try to escape as light seeps in!” Prew instructed Alder as she drew another arrow. “We can’t have anyone escaping!”

With a surge of hope coursing through her veins, Prew went forward, getting closer to the fighting. After every arrow, she would glance up at the clouds, and each time, there was more light coming through. At this point, it was enough that others began noticing what was happening. As expected, vampires attempted to rush back to the volcano, but to her surprise, so were some of the humans. There was no reason for them to retreat, no reason except… Konrad. They would stop him before he unraveled the darkness that the witches were creating.

“Stop them!” Prew commanded as she pointed toward those who were going to the volcano. “Don’t let them get near your King!”

Howls went through the air as wolves rushed forward, but before they could reach the humans, a wall of fire dropped to the ground. The fire witches had taken their twisters and used them to create a barrier to stop people from reaching Thresnora. The humans and vampires that had attempted to escape were cornered with their backs against the fire. Some of the vampires shifted into bats as they tried to fly away, but Prew and a few archers were quick to shoot them down. But, without fire on their arrows, the vampires did not die when they were shot. Instead, they fell back to the ground, where the wolves were able to finish them off.

While her army fought against those that were cornered, Prew took a moment to count the arrows in her quiver. Five. All she had left were five arrows. After replacing the quiver on her back, Prew began to look on the ground for a sword. Though it was not her ideal choice for a weapon, it was better than being defenseless on the battlefield. As she searched through the dead and dying bodies, she spotted Sofia standing frozen on the field. Prew sighed to herself, thinking that the witch was overwhelmed by all of the fighting. Sofia was not trained for war, and she was not accustomed to so much violence and gore. But even if she was shocked by all that was happening, it was not safe to stand aimlessly in the middle. Prew rushed over and grabbed Sofia’s arm, attempting to drag her away.

“It’s not safe for you to be standing here,” Prew stated firmly.

“Evie and Thayer are out there,” Sofia murmured, her feet glued to the ground.

Prew’s head shot up, looking past the fire wall toward Thresnora. Witches were fighting back against Konrad and the wolves. Amongst the dark witches were the high priest and priestess of The Coven of Stardust. Sofia was familiar with these two and with their power. Knowing that they were there frightened her.

“Where is Jude?” Prew questioned without looking away from the fighting.

“He and a few of our witches went around the fire,” Sofia answered as her mouth went dry. “He left the moment he saw Evie and Thayer.”

“Then let’s go! We need to help them!”

“How?! I cannot fight!” Sofia yelled as she pulled away from Prew. “I’m not like you. I can only heal people. I can’t create a shield or a weapon of any kind.”

“You don’t need magic to fight,” Prew argued as she grabbed a sword from the ground and held it out to the witch. “I don’t use it, nor does half of our army. Now take this blade and follow me.”

Sofia’s hands trembled as she reached for the weapon. The leather handle was rough on her hands as she grasped it. When Prew released it, Sofia gasped at how heavy the sword was. It took all of her strength to hold it up, and she did not think that she could even replace the power to swing it, let alone kill anyone.

Before Sofia could voice her concerns, Prew took off, heading toward the fighting. The witch had no choice but to chase after her, dragging the sword along as she went. But Prew was not interested in fighting the humans. She avoided the violence and bloodied fields as she ran along the outskirts. Her goal was to get to Konrad, to help him fight against the dark witches.

As she approached the fire wall, Prew came to a sudden stop. The fire had grown drastically, stretching further across the land. There was no way around it, not for as far as she could see. She turned around, quickly replaceing the fire witches from the Lode Star.

“Drop that fire!” She ordered the two men. “We need to get through!

“We aren’t controlling it anymore!” One of the witches replied as he looked at his hands. “We tried to stop it from growing, but someone else took over.”

Prew’s heart stopped as she glanced over the fire wall. In the distance, the witches now began to outnumber the wolves. But what worried her the most was that Konrad had been separated from the others. She bit her lip, watching as he avoided clouds of magic and weapons. Prew drew an arrow, shooting it over the fire toward the witches. Though the distance was far, her arrow was able to land into the back of a woman. Prew shot off two more arrows, each one hitting a witch, but none were fatal. She cursed under her breath as she reached for her quiver, feeling that she only had two arrows left.

“There’s Jude!” Sofia called out as she pointed across the fire.

Prew glanced up, noticing a golden spear fly through the air, piercing two witches with its sharp point. Several more quickly followed, killing some of the people who surrounded Konrad. Jude, along with a few of his witches, were making their way to him. But before they could get close enough, a tall witch intercepted them. A cloud of black magic shot out from him, pushing everyone that stood nearby backward. The tall witch, who wore long, black robes, was Thayer. He smiled wickedly as he approached Jude, grabbing him by the throat.

“I wondered how long it would take me to replace you,” Thayer hissed as his grip tightened.

“Thay…er…” Jude gasped as he struggled to escape from his grasp. But as it became harder to breathe, Jude could feel himself being lifted from the ground.

“Ah… Jude. Tell me, why do the Gods forsake these people? Why does Labraid not care about their cursed souls? I wonder, when I have killed you, will the witch of death show herself?”

“N…n…no…”

“Then I guess I shall have to kill Sofia, too.”

“N… pl…”

Thayer chuckled as Jude’s attempt at speaking turned to gurgling. He found it amusing to watch as the High Priest of the Lode Star struggled against him. From Thayer’s free hand, an inky smoke seeped from his fingertips. It snaked its way through the air until it found its way into Jude’s mouth and nose. It went deep within the witch, pulling out his life, his essence and soul. As the shadows took hold of what remained of Jude, it pulled it out, allowing Thayer to absorb it.

From behind the wall of fire, Sofia screamed, watching as her partner’s lifeless body was tossed to the ground. It all happened so fast that she barely had time to react. As she attempted to rush toward the fire, Prew grabbed her, keeping her from jumping through the flames.

From the other side of the wall, Thayer watched as Sofia tried to get to him. A toothy grin stretched across his face as he looked from her to Jude’s lifeless body.

“Or perhaps I won’t wait for the witch of death to show herself,” Thayer stated to the corpse at his feet. A surge of power flowed through his veins, urging him to take the essence of another. As the inky shadows leaked from his body, he looked back at Sofia. “I’ll just kill her now.”

Thayer began to walk toward the fire, ignoring everyone around him. His eyes were on the High Priestess of the Lode Star, and he would feed upon the magic that flowed within her soul. But before he could get close to the wall, a wolf slammed against him, knocking him to the ground. Thayer instinctually created a cloud of smoke, pushing back against his attacker.

Nero slid against the ground, using his claws to keep himself upright. As he came to a stop, he panted as he stared at the large dark witch. The wolf’s body was scarred, and some of the wounds were still bleeding as he healed. Konrad had fought through several witches, doing his best to reach Jude, but he was too late. As Thayer stood to his feet, Nero lunged toward him.

The wolf slashed and bit at the witch, ignoring the pain from the witch’s attacks. But then it felt like something hard slammed against Nero, pushing him to the ground. He glanced up, seeing that it was only Thayer’s hand against his side. He attempted to break free, but every part of the wolf felt heavy. Konrad called out for help over mind link, but no one was able to get past the barrier of witches that protected the High Priest. Thayer hissed as he grabbed onto Nero’s neck, squeezing through the fur and choking off his airway.

“You’re an ant compared to me,” Thayer asserted as he leaned over the wolf. “You were only allowed to live this long because your life served a purpose. You’ve brought the largest gathering of living souls together that this world has ever seen. All of these souls and beings that my master will feast upon, just as he did your mate. And as thanks for that, I shall grant you a swift, honorable death.”

*Author’s Note*

I don’t know why, but this chapter took me forever to write (over a week). I typically can cook up a chapter in 3 days or less, but something about this one I kept getting stuck on. Hopefully it reads well and makes sense! 🥰