A Gift from the Goddess

Chapler Ninety–Eight 

Chapter Ninety–Eight 

“Aleric...,” I cried, feeling completely useless. 

This wasn‘t good. This was really, really not good. 

And worse, even on the small possibility that this wasn‘t Thea‘s doing, there was no chance she didn‘t already know by now. Either way, I was wasting time being stuck inside this vision. 

I needed to get out. Now. 

‘Wake up.’ 

| slapped at my cheeks, wishing more than anything to break out, but it was no use. I wasn‘t really ‘here‘s o there was no physical pain trigger. 

A snapping sound then came from somewhere in the distance, and I immediately looked up towards it. It sounded like someone had stepped on a branch further into the woods. 

I wasn‘t the only one who noticed either as Aleric also detected something, walking cautiously towards it. It didn‘t leave me many options in what I could do next... I had to follow him. 

We walked for maybe a few minutes, deathly silent the entire time, before a clearing came up ahead. I knew this had to be it. The place where it would happen. 

He took two steps, assessed the area and then 

*THUD.* 

A wolf tackled into Aleric, sending them both flying to the ground as the beast began to growl and bite at him. But it was more unfortunate for the wolf, if anything, since something like that wasn‘t nearly enough t o keep Aleric down... and he swiftly proved my point. 

Without much effort on Aleric‘s end, he managed to easily take care of the wolf, twisting its neck, and finishing him within seconds. He hadn‘t even broken a sweat by it, let alone exerted himself in any way. 

...But was that really it? That seemed a little... too easy. 

Not enough to warrant a vision anyway. 

Though, of course, I didn‘t need to wait long to find out. 

Aleric must have sensed whatever it was since he immediately prepared himself, looking around the area as if expecting something to jump out. 

But it wasn‘t just ‘someone‘. 

No, for lack of a better word, it was a small army. At least five or six dozen people suddenly emerged from the trees into the large clearing ahead; some shifted, some not. All of them either armed or ready to fight... against just Aleric. The odds were not in his favour. 

But, to my surprise, Aleric didn‘t even seem remotely phased. His face was completely calm as he assessed the situation, his eyes scanning the area as if taking internal notes of exactly where everyone was. And, with a final small sigh, he rolled his shoulders back and stretched his neck from side to side. 

The enemy was either taken aback by his collected manner or, at least, were waiting to see what he‘d do next. It meant they knew who he was, knew what he was capable of as they didn‘t dare rush in. But they wouldn‘t want to hold their breath if they were waiting for Aleric to blindly rush in and stan. He wasn‘t that stupid. 

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Cildple kuinely Light 

A minute or two passed with both sides still cautiously evaluating the other. It dragged on almost to the point of being ridiculous before, finally, Aleric reached down and grabbed a rock, lightly tossing it within his hand as he got a feel for its weight. And of the few who weren‘t shifted, I could see their expressions become tenser, as if expecting him to finally attack. 

...Only Aleric didn‘t need to use the rock as a close combat weapon. Instead, he promptly took a step back with one foot, twisted his body… and threw the rock with so much force it immediately hit the closest wolf. 

They bled out almost instantly, the rock cutting into the flesh by their neck. There hadn‘t been remotely enough time for the wolf to react to the impending projectile. 

Judging from the reaction of the crowd, none of them had anticipated Aleric to throw it with that* much speed and power. But it was apparently the final straw for them. Quickly, they all started to charge at him, the woods erupting in a chorus of cries and growls. 

Five wolves came at Aleric first from all sides, trying to impede his ability to dodge, but he swiftly kicked back three and took two out without any trouble, finishing the other three easily by the time they‘d recovered to charge him again. 

This must have enraged the group, having seen him just take out five of their men so effortlessly, and several more advanced on him. In fact, Aleric became almost a blur as he rapidly defended and attacked. 

Regardless of the direction or their approach, he was always ready and anticipating their next move. It was the exact reason Aleric and I were somewhat balanced when fighting now; where I could literally sense his next move from my ties to foresight, Aleric, on the other hand, was such a skilled fighter with insanely keen senses that he was able to predict the next moved based on body language alone. In such a large–scale event as this, it was easy to see just how powerful he was. *This* was his true ability, both natural and from his lineage. It made me wonder if he‘d just been going easy on me up until now. 

By the time he‘d taken out approximately twenty enemies, I could tell he was finally starting to properly try. Not to say he was getting tired, but I knew it would probably become difficult to finish off the remaining fifty or so enemies still waiting to have their go. 

On... and on… and on the battle went. Twenty... twenty–five... thirty... forty. He worked through each opponent methodically and never slowed... but when there were finally only around fifteen enemies remaining, I could see he was reaching his limit. 

He looked... exhausted. Now covered in dust, blood and sweat, he heaved at the air as he awaited the next attack. But his eyes were still as sharp and focused as when the fight had started. He might have been tired, but he was still ready to keep going regardless. 

I knew he would probably shift soon. Now the numbers had lowered, he would be able to take advantage o f his wolf to manage the open space better and conserve strength, utilising the extra stealth to pick off 

remaining enemies and kill any who tried to run. It was something the opposition probably realised too as they paused for a minute to reassess the situation. 

vas SC 

stalemate

to continue and yet Aleric was still standing with barely

then that I

fight that

that meant there would be no happy ending here,

screamed at myself, wanting more than anything to

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Chapter Ninety–Eight 

a man

didn‘t cower or act cautious... No, the only way to describe him was

A man possessed in how he moved. Was it from witnessing all his comrades mercilessly

him, watching carefully for when

right. Something about

wake up, wake up.‘

grabbing something from

c‘mon already!”

the area look at him confused; even his fellow allies. None of us apparently had ever

‘ WAKE UP 

it up, pointing it directly towards Aleric...

*Click.* 

‘WAKE UP ALREADY.’ 

*BAAANNGGGGG.* 

sounding off a deafening noise in its wake. The birds in the area immediately flew off, fleeing as fast as possible. It was loud enough to make me fall backwards to the ground in surprise, along with several of the enemies too.

silence

hear a pin drop.

stared in shock, wondering what

then suddenly groaned... and

got back up to my feet and ran toward him... only I couldn‘t touch him. I wasn‘t really here. This

seen any knife or weapon thrown towards him. Yet there was so

is wrong with you?” one of the other enemies yelled.

just yelled had grabbed the crazy

hunt us? What would

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weapon? So this was... this was something banned from our species. This was the highest offence he could have committed; a crime that jeopardised our way of life and the entire country. This went beyond pack wars and petty disputes, but was something deemed to be taboo by our kind as a whole; a

of it as he watched Aleric suffer

witch more than I do the Goddess,” he said. “It was her will that I wield this weapon. This is the only

thanks to what you‘ve just done. You‘re delusional if you

all I could to survive this

US.” 

Even for someone planning to hurt Aleric moments ago, it was abundantly clear

orders were to ‘capture‘ him. Capture. Not

orders, all of them were arguing whilst Aleric

of them finally chimed in.

a silver bullet,” the insane man explained. “The

it was Thea‘s idea. Of course. Only she would be brazen enough to bend the very morals of our kind. And who could say what she‘d even done to the man? She could have easily preyed on a weaker willed mind and turned them into this*. Made them see what she wanted them to. Was this who she had been manipulating whilst

Goddess...” one man said, beginning

this,” the second man snapped. “Regardless of the means, we‘ve got him now. We can‘t

the other one? The girl?”

particularly feel like fighting the Saintess who, up until recently, was

Aleric

as he gritted his teeth, applying pressure to his

if you see this, don‘t come for

up from shock. Was it just sheer luck or did he actually correctly guess I would

wanted me to leave him. As if such a thing was possible. The very second this vision was over, I would make it to him in time... with two

needed one and to focus on the male. Grab him and let‘s get the hell

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Chapter Ninety Eight 

it through clearly.”

grabbed at Aleric and pulled him to his feet, wasting no time to badly bandage the wound and

UP ALREADY. WAKE UP. WAKE

UP. WAKE

‘WAKE UP 

... *Snap.* 

the

weakened… but not enough that I would be completely useless in a fight. I had become strong enough to withstand the energy it stole from me, though that didn‘t make it any easier.

instantly shifting mid–air into my wolf form, and started bee lining it towards where Aleric was. His scent was unmistakable as I followed it, pushing myself to go faster and faster....

as quickly as I could, all the while focusing on nothing else except getting to him. Making it there

*BAAANNGGGGG.*