CHAPTER 149: KNOCK... KNOCK

Kieran and Velor shoved each other away.

Simultaneous.

Not an ounce of grace in it.Kieran snarled and stepped back. Velor staggered, baring his fangs but not retaliating.

Their fight was definitely not over... but it was interrupted by something bigger.Whatever the hell was above them... took precedence.

Their eyes remained glued to the sky!

They both stood still, bodies battered and bloodied, chests still heaving too fast.

The air grew thicker.

Ominous.

Cold.

Then the fluttering began.

Cawww!!

Cawww!!

One screeched.

Then another.

Then dozens.

A wave of wings swept across the sky above the castle.

Kieran’s ears flicked back, his orange slits narrowing. Velor’s tail twitched once, his muzzle lifting in a silent snarl.

Both Alphas slowly turned their heads to follow the motion of the ravens.

They had started circling slowly. Cawing louder and louder by the seconds.

Kieran and Velor stared upward in perfect silence, muscles coiled like bows...about to spring any moment but holding back. Their breath steamed in the air, tension radiating off them like heat from a geyser.

The ravens started circling the perimeter. It didn’t seem random at all. Once, twice... They kept counting till the raven stopped. It was seven.

Exactly seven times.

Their formation tightened. As if measuring something. Judging maybe. Maybe calibrating.

The guards didn’t dare move.

No one fucking blinked.

And then...One raven broke formation.

It dipped head first, wings snapping against the air like blades.

Straight towards Kieran.

Velor’s eyes widened just a little. Kieran didn’t move.

The raven darted faster.

Too fast.

Too direct.

As if it would crash into him any second.

One of the maids screamed.

Velor half rose from his position, eyes narrowing.

But Kieran just stood there, chest out, jaw locked. One foot more. Just a few more inches... and then it would fracture Kieran’s snout...

But then... BOOM!

Flames erupted mid air.

Gasps erupted all around them as the raven combusted in a burst of golden fire...feathers turning to embers, screeches swallowed by heat.

And from within the inferno... like a Phoenix...An eagle burst forth.

Golden brown and black. Huge! Too majestic!!

Royal in a way that made even seasoned warriors feel like ants.Its wings cut through the air like twin sabers. Sunlight gleamed off its body as it soared ahead straight towards Kieran’s eyes.

Velor stared in disbelief, his voice breaking into a hoarse scoff. "Son of a bitch..."

The eagle didn’t cry out.It didn’t flap wildly or weave like the ravens had.

It flew like it was on a mission.Direct.

Sacred.

Kieran stood still and just watched.

Until, it braked midair elegantly, taking a curve before it actually hit Kieran. But it dropped something.

A small, tightly bound scroll with deep red thread. It looked ancient,old...fragile..but unmistakably powerful.

The eagle circled once above, then let out a single, bone rattling screech and then vanished...just vanished...into nothingness.

The ravens? Gone. All of them.

The sky? It was back to blue again. Blindingly blue.

As if none of it had happened.

Silence fell.

Not even the wind dared speak.

Kieran finally stepped forward, his wolf bones cracking and shifting as he returned to his human form. Blood slicked his torso, a claw gash still oozing down his back.

He reached down and picked up the scroll.

Velor’s lip curled. "What the hell was that?"

Kieran didn’t look at him.Didn’t look at anyone.

He unrolled the scroll slowly.

There were some rough symbols, runes...no language...but magic.

Kieran stared at the scroll in his hands.

His fingers ran over the threads. They were coarse. Stiff with time. The edges of the parchment felt old as well.

He furrowed his brows, turning the scroll slightly in the sunlight. It shimmered...not golden, not silver...just a flicker, like a shadow moving under skin.

Velor too had already shifted back. He was now standing beside Kieran.His own fingers trailed along the parchment, brushing against Kieran’s hand without apology.

"Ahh! This magic...it’s not like the ones we know." Velor muttered. "And I know you will trust me because I have studied all sorts." He even winked at a moment like that.

"Shut up, idiot." Kieran murmured. His voice was low, firm. But even he couldn’t hide the flicker of unease.

Velor folded his arms. "Well. This just got interesting."

Kieran’s jaw tensed. Then, suddenly he yelled. "Shut it ,I said. And get Mango."

His voice sliced through the silence between them.

Velor blinked."What the heck?"

Kieran didn’t repeat himself. He simply looked at Velor.

The look was enough.

Velor clenched his jaw. Then clapped...once, sharply.Two guards bolted without a word.

Within minutes, they returned...almost dragging her between them.

There was Mango!! Or... what was left of her.

Kieran’s breath caught.

Her arms dangled over their shoulders,almost limp. Legs dragging like dead weight. Her hair was matted,too many silvers. Her face gaunt.

She looked like she hadn’t seen the sun or a soul in weeks.

Maybe months. But that wasn’t possible.

The veins along her temples pulsed faintly, like her magic was still burning... but buried.Starved.

Her lips were cracked. She licked them a couple of times as they dragged her forward.

Kieran’s wolf surged again.

"What the hell did you do to Mango?!" he roared, his hand flying to Velor’s throat, slamming him against the stone pillar behind them.

The guards flinched.

Velor grunted, not resisting, even as his feet lifted slightly off the ground. "Kieran I..."

"How fucking dare you torture her when...!"

But then, a weak voice...barely audible...cut through the air.

" Kieran! Stop."

Kieran froze.

Mango... lifted her head. Just barely.

"It’s not what he did, Kieran..." she rasped. "My condition... It’s not his fault. He just... arrested me and kept me in the dungeon. Nothing else. It’s... it’s my own mess...I will explain later...let him go..."

Kieran’s hand loosened from Velor’s throat.

Velor dropped back down, coughing once and rubbing the bruise blooming under his jaw.

Kieran didn’t even spare him another glance.

He rushed to Mango and took her from the guards, one arm under her knees, the other cradling her back. She weighed nothing.Practically no weight.

It tore something inside him.

"Let’s get you home," he whispered, starting towards the outer gate. They reached the shaded archway of the castle when her trembling hand reached out...grabbing his wrist.

The wrist with the scroll.

She didn’t speak. Just took it from him with slow, shaking fingers.

Velor and Kieran both watched as she set her feet down...barely able to stand...but refused to move.

So Kieran helped her sit on one of the benches nearby.

With slow reverence, Mango opened the scroll. The runes still glinted like oil on water.

From the corridor steps behind them,Niva emerged hurriedly.

Her hair was loose, lips still smeared with flour and dried blood... she didn’t even get time to clean up when the scuffle started. She had been watching it all along with her co-wives.

She crossed the rubble and wreckage and moved to Velor’s side, pulling the corner of her apron to dab at a still bleeding cut on his cheek.

But her gaze didn’t leave Mango.

None of them moved.

Mango closed her eyes. Took one slow breath. Then lifted one hand.She swept her palm over the scroll once.

Nothing happened.

The scroll remained as it was.

She did it again.

Still nothing.

Kieran’s brows drew in. "Is it sealed?"

Mango didn’t answer.Her hand hovered one more time, trembling, as she muttered something under her breath. Blood started flowing from her nose.

" Mango! What are you doing? Stop! You don’t have to do this! You... you are so... let’s go home. We will call the other witches... "

But Mango wasn’t listening. " I wish the other witches could help you, Kieran. But they can’t. Let me do this... one last time for you... son... "

Something shifted inside Kieran’s heart. It had been decades since she last called him that. He used to love it when she did.It was calming. It was grounding.But she had stopped... after... after Karl was gone and Kieran wasn’t Kieran anymore...( but that is another story for another day)

" Kieran, give me your hand! "

He did. She held his pulse point...

And this time...on the third sweep...

FWWSSHHHHH!!!

The top layer of the scroll burst into flames. Silent flames.

No heat. No smoke. Just fire that devoured the top layer of the page in a spiral and vanished in an instant.

Everyone leaned in.

Beneath the burned layer... was a flag.

Unmistakably an Old world flag.

Inked in blood.

Skarthheim!!!

A pin could have dropped in the courtyard and everyone would have heard.

The silence stretched.

Velor was the first to speak.

He let out a low whistle and stepped back with a crooked smile. "Well, shit..."

Kieran’s eyes narrowed.

Velor’s smirk widened. "That... is definitely going to be a big problem."

Niva leaned closer. Her voice was almost a whisper. "That’s...that’s Thorgar’s mark..." She was literally shaking, looking around like a timid rabbit... as if looking for a hole to hide .

Mango nodded slowly, her hand still trembling. "Skarthheim... the Northbound bloodline of the Old world. The most notorious of the line.They mostly don’t involve themselves in anything. Not unless it’s personal."

Velor gave a low chuckle. Dark. Wry. "Looks like your little expedition pissed off the big wolf, Blackmoon."

Kieran didn’t respond.

He was still staring at the flag.

Velor clapped him once on the back, ignoring Kieran’s cold, death glare.

"Well, well. Thorgar sent you a direct warning, my friend." His grin twisted. "And it means that it’s not just you. Now we are all royally, epically...fucked.FUCK! GOD DAMMIT!"