CHAPTER 15

"Even if it's true, what can you do anyway?" Lucas turned his back on them and added, "Also, I'm not going to die."
"No," Trent said and closed his book, "You're not going to die because I won't let you go. Guys, are you with me?"
Lucas sighed, now he had to compete with his disciples before leaving.
He turned over his shoulder to look at his disciples but they were in attack mode.
"Listen," He started, "I don't want to fight with any of you."
The honest truth was that they've all grown and even him couldn't possibly beat all of them.
"Well, we want to fight you!" Aao broke into sobs.
Tao sighed and walked towards Lucas, "Good luck, Alpha." She placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'll wait for your return." With that, she walked out the door and the other disciples were surprised that she didn't try to stop him.
The truth was that she didn't want him to go but it was his own choice to make and besides, he wouldn't die easily and this thought consoled her.
Dead or Alive, she would always be proud of him.
"Thank you, Tao. I'll definitely come back." Lucas also walked out the door and his disciples raced after him with loud shouts.
Lucas took light steps towards the garden and his disciples surrounded him before he reached the side door.
He sighed.
"Come on!" Nara was the first to launch a move at him but he caught her by the wrist and struck his palm against a vulnerable spot in her neck. Immediately, she started to fall and he caught her with a single hand.
Landon let out a gasp. Even he couldn't beat Nara in a fight and their Alpha knocked her out. She wasn't even able to land a single punch of his face.
Lucas tossed Nara towards Landon and he caught her in his arms. While he left to take her away, the other three simultaneously attacked Lucas.
But none of them could seem to reach him.
Immediately they rushed towards him, he would slip right through their grasp.
Lucas was avoiding hurting them especially Aao as his body was weak and it took him some time to heal that was was Lucas recommended he learnt instruments instead of martial arts and now, he was landing weak punches into the air.
Christon and Trent looked at each other and nodded.
Just in time, Aao ran in front of Lucas and hugged him tightly, preventing him from leaving.
Christon and Trent jumped in the air, their white garments ripping off and their bones making crack sounds as they shifted into their wolves.
Lucas wasn't going to play around with them anymore, he had to finish this and get going.
Christon and Trent couldn't be underestimated in their wolf form.
He grabbed Aao by the neck and ripped him off his body. Then he flung him with a third of his strength.
Knowing the brotherly love between them, Christon diverted his attention towards Aao while Trent was left alone to deal with Luca.
Trent bared his teeth and jumped on Lucas, sending the both of them crashing down.
Lucas held Trent's paws and yelled out, "Trent stop being childish and get off me!"
Trent struggled to press down his paws on Lucas chest and Lucas sighed before exerting half of his strength into his arms. Then he lifted Trent off him and tossed him aside.
Trent's back hit the wall across the building and he was forced to shift back into his human form while spitting out blood.
Luca stood up and dusted off his robe while Christon growled and jumped towards Lucas. However, before he could reach Lucas. He felt a painful blow in his stomach, knocking the breath of his lungs. Mid-air, Christon shifted to his human form was about to land on the ground. Thankfully, Tao was around. She sped towards him and grabbed him before he hit the ground.
If he had fallen by himself, he could end up in a coma.
Lucas pushed away the feeling of guilt from his chest and started to walk towards Trent who was breathing heavily with blood gushing out of his mouth.
He removed his leadership token and crouched in front of Trent. He grabbed Trent's hand and placed the token in it before squeezing it shut.
"If anything happens to me and I'm unable to come back, you'll have to take care of the park and.."
"NO!" Trent cried out loud, "You can keep your useless token to yourself! I don't want it! If you want the pack to be good, fucking lead it by yourself you selfish man!"
Lucas sighed, he never knew Trent to be so childish and emotional.
"Get your act together!" Lucas yelled while Trent sobs only got louder.
Lucas removed his hands from around Trent's and stood on his feet.
He looked at his disciples individually, some of them bleeding, the others looked pained and sad.
He too didn't want their goodbyes to end like this but he had no choice, he was running out of time.
"Everyone, if I don't come back. Help Trent become Alpha of the pack." He looked at everyone's faces, trying to engrave it in his memory so he didn't forget any of them.
"Support him to lead the people of Crescent moon."
Trent angrily tossed the token aside, "I'm not going to be Alpha. You do all of the things you want by yourself!"
Lucas sighed and looked at Tao before speaking to her through the mind-link.
"Help me guide him if I don't come back and.. bring him back to his senses."
"Yes, Alpha."
"Take care of yourself too. Christon is the oldest among you disciples but you are more mature so I'm leaving this responsibility to you."
Tao looked at him without saying a word and the mindlink cut off. Without another word, he turned and started to leave, ignoring Trent's loud cries.
Immediately he left through the side door, he started his journey.
Getting to the witch realm wasn't easy as they had magic that could seal paths that led to their kingdom.
Thankfully, he was well versed in spirituality and could find remnants of illusive magic.
He had two locations in mind.
The first was in Crescent moon but he had a premonition that it was dangerous. However there was no time. In two hours, rumours of him going into the witch realm to see queen Jezebel would spread throughout the entire kingdom so he had to go now.
He raced to the forbidden forest in crescent moon. The forest was forbidden because of the secret of it leading to the witch realm. However, there were more secrets tied to it that he dared not think about.
He gently walked through the packed woods. For security reasons, he took out the saber in his backpack and unsheathed it. He then started destroying the overgrown branches that blocked his movements.
Thirty minutes later, he was in the forest but he was getting something now.
A premonition.
Soon, he arrived in front of a small lake. Something about it made him feel something strongly in his chest.
He pulled out the flute from his backpack and played a tune. It sounded a bit heavy and unclear unlike usual. That meant there was magic used to seal an opening leading to the witch realm.
Lucas continued playing the tune and he walked towards the sides where the music sounded heavy the most.
He continued walking towards the lake while contemplating if he was doing the right things. He lifted his knee to take a huge step into the lake only to find himself in a different location.
He stiffened as he found himself in front of a wide open lake where boats were crossing to the other side.
He was stunned, wasn't he supposed to enter a small lake. Why was there suddenly a big lake in a dark unfamiliar place?
Did he do it?
Did he cross to the witch realm?
Lucas heard someone yelling at him in a language he did not understand.
He focused on the scene in front of him and he saw that an haggard old man on top of a boat gesturing towards him.
He walked towards the lake and looked at the man without saying a word.
He didn't want to do anything that would give away that he wasn't from their realm so he pretended he couldn't hear or speak.
So he gestured towards his throat and she shook his head, he also gestured towards his ears and shook his head.
The boat-keeper looked at him pitifully and grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him onto the boat.
He was surprised but said nothing. The boatman pushed him down so he was sitting.
Lucas bowed his head gratefully and the man started rolling the boat.
Lucas had no idea where they were going. He could only pray for luck and hope he wasn't going to his demise.
He sighed and the boatman sat in front of him cross-legged.
"What do I do with you? You can't hear or speak?!"
Lucas eyes widened, "YOU CAN SPEAK ENGLISH?!" He blurted with huge eyes.
The boatman screeched in shock, "You can speak!"
"It's a miracle!" Lucas said and looked at the boatman to see if he bought his idea. Unfortunately, the boat man immediately backed away while pulling out something from his pocket. It was a freaking pistol.
Lucas raised his hands in surrender.
"Sir." He tried to say-
"You're not from here, are you?"
Lucas sighed, he would have to come clean then. "I'm actually a we-"
" -Con-artist, I knew it!" The boat keeper interrupted, "You look really handsome and there's a saber and a flute in your hands."
The goalkeeper shook his head and put the pistol back in his pocket. He sat back in front of Lucas and asked, "Where are you going? Who's your next victim now, and more importantly, how are you going pay me?"
Lucas thought about it shortly. To achieve his aim, he had to skip acting proper and prim. It won't get him the information he needs.
So he scooted closer to the boat keeper and said, "My next target is Queen Jezebel."
"HUH?" The gatekeeper smacked the small of Lucas back. "Are you mad?!"
Lucas let out what he thought was a sly smile and grinned, "Why? Its not like it's impossible to scam her."
"It's impossible, she has many people around her. They can tell by a glance if you are a fake or not."
"I don't care!" Lucas said like a whining child, "I'm going to try my luck anyways."
The goalkeeper looked at him and nodded, "Very well then, may your soul rest in peace."
"Old Man! Are you jinxing me? It's auspicious to tell a very well alive man to rest in peace! Just what are you planning!"
The boat sighed, "I shouldn't have bothered with you and just travelled alone."
Lucas was surprised, "Why?"
"You are a shameless talkative con-artist!"
Lucas simply sighed, "Whatever! We're going to the town where Queen Jezebel lives right?"
The boat keeper gave Lucas a confused stare, "Of course! This is the route to Tahm. Why are you asking such questions, have you never been here before?"
Lucas shook his head and quickly came up with a lie. "When I was younger, I was sick and couldn't move around so I stayed in a rural town growing up."
Even Lucas was shocked by the lies he came up with so easily and naturally.
He'd never lied before, this was his first time and it made him feel guilty towards the old man. If lying wasn't necessary, he wouldn't have.
All he wanted was to save the werewolf realm and redeem himself.
The boat crossed to the other and Lucas could now clearly see the palace Jezebel.
"It looks nearby but the palace is actually pretty far." The boatman informed them as they both got out of the boat before dragging it across the shore.
"By the way old man, can you tell me the routes I can take that'll lead me to the palace?"
The boat keeper sighed, then looked at Lucas. "You will never get to the palace."
"Why?"
"Because you'd be dead."
Lucas' eyes widened.
***
Lucas didn't mean to beat the old man but he did and eventually, he found his way into the palace and was able to seek an audience with queen Jezebel, her holiness.