CHAPTER 9

Esther walked through the packed crowd, a cloak above her head in Night bliss town.
She'd told Alpha Killian a false message because she foresaw that he was going to betray her and out of all things, betrayal didn't sit well with her, so she plotted against him- It didn't take a lot of effort actually.
All she had to do was lie sternly and he easily bought her words.
She didn't expect him to buy her words. How could he have thought that drinking Alexander's blood would give him powers? That was just ridiculous.
Alpha Killian got what he deserved.
Esther didn't feel bad about his death at all. In order to live in the world, one would either choose to kill or be killed. She preferred the latter. Ever since she discovered that the people she thought were her family wanted her dead, her entire world changed and so did she.
When she was thrown down the cliff by her so-called family friend, she had hit a rock and she smelt death.
Next came numbness and coldness emitting from her organs that she felt were shattered.
The metallic scent had filled her nose and she didn't have to look to know that her body was a mess and she wasn't going to survive.
He had thought she would die but she didn't, thanks to a passerby who wasn't ordinary.
She shrugged the past out of her head and focused on the present.
The shops that sold food were opening and some food vendors choosed a spot by the side of the road and sold fried meat.
Esther was a bit impressed by their business strategies. Some of the vendors selling food on the streets had business buildings of their own but they decided to make buying and selling easy for the people. And it was easy selling in the open because the queue was so little or there wasn't any.
Up ahead was a storyteller who looked funny with a huge hat above his head.
"Everyone, the story I'm about to tell you is one that has never been told before. It is both magical and unique!" The storyteller grinned and removed his hat revealing his bald head. He must have thought he would be applauded but unfortunately, the crowd that had gathered dispersed. Only Esther stood still. Not that she was interested in what he had to say, she just had nothing more fun to do.
Even if she went back home, she did not have anything to contribute so she thought it would be best to roam aimlessly in the werewolves territories while pretending to be busy.
"Lady," The storyteller grinned, excited that a beautiful lady stayed behind.
Even though he could not clearly see her face, from her side profile and cheekbones, he could tell she was beautiful.
"Lady, would you like to hear a story?"
"Alright!" She gave him a chance and he giggled excitedly like a little boy even though he was well above his thirties.
"Once upon a time, Seven tribes lived within their territories but one of the tribe wanted to rule the other tribes.."
"Boring," She commented.
She had heard the story so many times it was becoming a nuisance to her.
She turned to leave and the storyteller stopped her, "I have another interesting story!"
She halted but did not look at the storyteller, "It's about a tree that grew out of Alexander the Great's remains and its called the Khoyata tree."
At this point, she could no longer wait and listen to the nuisance.
She strode off and ignored the man's call for her.
She was a witch, if such a phenomenon would happen, she would have sensed it right away when Alexander was thrown into her room.
Although she wasn't around Alpha Killian's residence when the bloody killings took place, she believed the rumours to be lies.
She forsaw Killian betraying her, if such a big thing as a tree growing out of person's remains would really happen, she would see it. She had faith in her capabilities.
However, as she strolled in the busy town, people kept saying the same story.
"The scene was both magical and haunting with the man that was singing. He couldn't stop singing even if he wanted to. He was totally out of it!" A man in roughly his fifties yelled loudly, "I saw the tree grow tall and beautiful and it even had fruits on it!"
"Old man, are you sure you did not see wrong? We were all there when the tree sprouted out of Alexander the Great remains. However, I did not see any fruits on it."
"I did!" Another elderly man yelled. "Why won't you youths believe us, the tree is not far from Alpha Killian's gate, it had fruits on it!"
Esther was surprised. What if they were telling the truth?
Did it matter though?
She sighed, overly curious now. She was only going to take a look to confirm her doubts and, their truth.
"Also, those story tellers are switching the words the moon goddess said. I clearly heard her say; Magic lies within the seven unified spirits.
The spirits that have left earth still linger.
What was the emotion behind his sweet dirge?
Find the answer to the Khoyata tree.
Her heart raced. What was that about?
The moon goddess?
"NO! YOU'RE WRONG!"
"I'm pretty sure I'm right, why are you so triggered?"
"You're an old man, your memory is failing so I won't blame you if you spew nonsense."
Esther didn't wait to listen to anymore bullshit, she ran as far as her legs could take to the location that was just pointed out to her.
She could've used magic but she didn't want to reveal her identity. It took her some time though, because the roads were now almost unidentifiable.
Some blocks were broken in other to create more space to burn the corpses from the recent bloodshed. The place smelt like death and it irritated her guts. There were just too many people that died.
Esther's nose squeezed up in disgust as she walked through the bodies that were covered properly with sand.
Soon, she saw a tree from a distance. She looked around and when she noticed that they was no one around, she used her magic to teleport to the trees location.
The old men were right. The trees bore fruits.
Her heart rammed in her chest, how did she not predict this? She felt stupid.
Were her magic wearing thin?
Like Alpha Killian said before he died, her vampire side was not completely dormant. Was that what was bothering her powers? Were her powers clashing?
She sighed.
This was the first time she was unable to predict things accurately.
"What is going on with you?" She cursed at herself.
Why didn't she see this coming?
Was she losing her powers?
And what did the moon goddess say?
Did she really descend?
If that were true then.. The goddess decided on a new fate for the werewolves.
Magic lies within the seven unified spirits.
The spirits that have left earth still linger.
What was the emotion behind his sweet dirge?
Find the answer to the Khoyata tree.
What did that even mean?
The seven unified spirits? Was she referring to the seven tribes being united because they wanted to get rid of Alexander Firdaurs?
At the end, he wasn't a powerful god. He fell to his death.
Even a broken bone that tugged from the side of the root of the tree was proof. He died. Although he made magic in his lifetime, a tree grew out of his body.
That was something worth celebrating but he wasn't even alive to celebrate.
Esther chuckled at her own twisted humour.
She repeated the goddess words out loud.
"Magic lies within the seven unified spirits.
The spirits that have left earth still linger.
What was the emotion behind his sweet dirge?
Find the answer to the Khoyata tree."
If she were a goddess what riddle would she give the people to solve.
Why contemplating, the fruits of the tree called out to her and without hesitation she plucked from the tree.
She looked at the fruit and scanned it with her magic but it looked quite normal, so she took a bite of it.
Immediately, her eyes brightened from how sweet it tasted.
She took another bite of the fruit and enjoyed it. It was supple and tasty.. Better than what she was anticipating.
However, something was off. She felt as though she had grown differently.
Something had changed inside of her, she felt more purified and flexible. She inhaled and finished the fruit before sitting in front of the tree.
She sat cross-legged in meditation and set her intentions clear.
She wanted to travel out of her body to see the whole of the town.
Her body was protected by herself and she felt herself leave her body.
The whole of the town became visible to hear and she could perceive it even without body.
The noises, the smell of the foods that were cooked by the roadside.
Before she had trouble smelling things when she was travelling in form of her spirit but now..
She opened her eyes and was back in her body.
Her eyes brightened as she realized what was going on, the fruit could enhance powers or give people more powers. She smiled and decided to test it out.
She raised her hands into the sky and closed her eyes.
"Magic lies within the seven unified spirits.
The spirits that have left earth still linger.
What was the emotion behind his sweet dirge?
Find the answer to the Khoyata tree."
She repeated the words of the goddess and lightning struck against the sky. What did the goddess words mean?
She racked her brain and chuckled as she felt herself influence the sky to produce the weather she wanted.
She cackled and decided to do something fun.
The weather was normally chilly so she made it get really sunny even though it was evening. She didn't know getting powers as incredible as this could he be so thrilling.
She continued, and her laughter increased as he realized how flawless she could control the weather.
From rain, she made the sky clear and sunny. Soon, she got bored of it and tried her magic on other things.
Like the useless trees around, she flawlessly uprooted them from their roots without feeling a single weight in her hands.
She teleported and did travelled many places in matters of seconds. Things she could never do so easily became a piece of came for her. She wondered what would happen if she told her people about the wonder fruit.
If they all ate from it, then they would become the most powerful in the history of supernatural.
They would rule the entire realms.
Also, she would get her people's approval and she wouldn't be deemed a burden and useless. She would also make her saviour proud of her.
And she couldn't wait to see the look of excitement and happiness in every single one of their faces.
She imagined being accepted and loved by everyone in the clan. After getting rejected and almost killed by her adoptive parents, she never wanted anything more than to be accepted by a group.
It had been years and she didn't feel like she was fully accepted.
She knew she wasn't but this was a good chance to redeem herself. But before she went to tell them the good news, she had to confirm that what was happening to her was authentic and not an illusion.
She was a witch, she knew universal laws and she couldn't tell if she was hallucinating or not because the physical realm and spiritual realm were closely inter-related.
After comfirming that she was going through something real and the khoyata tree could really give powers, she would tell her people.