RETURN OF THE HYBRID (Book III)

Chapter 10

**Zeli's realm***

"Why her?" Ariella asked joining her brother by the window.

"Who? The girl or the queen?" He asked.

"The queen you kill people for no reason I can't ask about that but don’t kill children"

Zeli looked at her closely. He knew she was just as ruthless as he was but there was thins soft spot she had for children that he did not understand. It was not like she was going to ever have those of her own.

“What is this you have with children?” he asked.

“I never got a chance to grow up like a normal child I cherish what they have but seriously why the queen?”

"I could feel the hate she has for him"

"There you go, recruiting another person to do your dirty work, grow some balls brother"

She touched a nerve this time and a wrong one in this case. The look on Zeli's face said it all. He was not happy at all.

"If I could I would he there right now creating a safe future for all of us"

"So you can't go kill him why?"

"I can't survive in a normal host I need an alpha male"

"But I can survive in anything, use me brother he is my problem too you know. Let me secure our future"

"You cross me..."

"I know better besides you can put me to sleep just like the other girls now"

"Don't be planning something fishy here little sister, I will go to any lengths to make your life miserable..."

"Enough with the threats let's get to work shall we?"

Zeli was surprised at her meekness. He was that kind of a man who didn't trust anyone sometimes including himself. Everyone was an enemy to him. They were capable of betraying him. He changed their surrounding into a spell room. Ariella knew the spell herself, she had started to make the ingredients. Lucky for her despite being powerless in that realm she had her own physical body meaning she could feel and touch.

"The spell is a secret I will have to..."

She hit her head on the nearby slab and dropped inside the magical circle Zeli bend to confirm if she was out, palpating her heartbeat with the middle and forefingers. She was out.

Instead of moving her he moved the circle towards her and the static slab away from her. He cut his palm and fed her his blood. That was not part of the plan but he was not convinced about her loyalty. Unlike other witches and wizards he didn't need an anchor to cast a spell of that magnitude he snapped his forefinger to the thumb, the candles lit up and the circle caught on fire, a whirling wind was followed by a portal opening. He raised her body and send it through the portal. Before it closed he looked through it. He could see Clivestone kingdom the year 1823 but he could not cross to it. All his hopes were in his stubborn little sister.

*******

They were facing close to three hundred men. Clearly general Osteen had lied about sending a scout and if he did they lied to him. Leon did not know who to trust in that case but they were there already. They had to finish the mission, he had to. It was like a strong urge to do it. His life depended on it. That's how compulsion worked, and it sucked for him. He came back to find his men engaged in a humorous banter. Others were drinking wine and eating meat, testing their strength in an arm wrestling contest. Johannes was being trained. For a minute he observed them unnoticed. If he were an enemy he would have killed them there. He cleared his throat.

The reaction was funny. There was a guy almost winning the arm wrestling contest he lost out of fear. The other with wine threw his wineskin away.

"You really are rookies aren't you? I know it's a small camp but you need to have at least two guys on the lookout you are exposed" He said moving closer to them.

They made a straight line.

"We are ten men against three hundred, to win this war and drive the enemy away so that our merchants can sell and buy we have to be smart"

The only thing they heard in his entire statement was "there hundred men" that one scared the s**t out of all of them. There was no way they could survive that yet they had vowed to fight for their country and swore their allegiance to the prince of Clivestone.

"Your majesty we can't win that war" Johannes said.

"Exactly we can't win, what we need to do is lose slowly until general Osteen can send us more men. For now they are relaxed in their camps we can sneak in and destroy their weapons plant dynamite and create a distraction"

"Who will district them?"

"Me" Leon said.

"But your majesty..."

"No buts, we do that I need some gasoline and a lighter, smokers please!"

One of them came coward with a lighter and a can of gasoline. Leon dipped all the twenty arrows he had in his quiver. The others did not want him to be the one to distract them if he was caught and killed they had nowhere to go back to. The king would have ordered their hanging. That was what happened to those accompanied his last born son to war.

"Any last words, you know we might die. We need something people" he said psyched up.

"We can make a shrine, write our names on a tree so that we can forever be remembered" the eldest in the group said.

"Exactly, with your permission your majesty..."

"We ate a family call me Adonis" Leon interrupted.

"Okay, Adonis I would like us to use the big tree in the middle, with your name on top" He said pointing to a large oak tree.

"Agreed"

The lined up behind him then one after the other they imprinted their names on that tree so that in case they died while keeping their families and friends safe they would never be forgotten. When they were done their leader, prince Adonis the son of Rhode took a wineskin, they had a calabash each and he poured for them, sign of a humble leader serving a noble course. They raised up in the air.

"Long live Clivestone!" They said in a chorus.

It was no time to die and it was no time to believe in what the world could offer. From that minute on they were gambling with their lives. Leon took his horse.

"Come on buddy this one mission then we can go for that walk" He said to his horse hoping the spirit of his uncle Don was going to take over, but he was not dead or maybe he was.

He rode ahead of them. The remaining nine men were left to plant dynamite surrounding the entire camp. As Leon said they were in celebration, enjoying wine with women and music. Dance too. He realized the best tent to strike first was the one in the middle. It was were the general was.

"The one on the right is heavily guarded it could be carrying the weapons, the moment they ran after me attack it first" Leon whispered to Johannes before riding away.

He drew his sword and charged his horse at the entrance of the camp. The guards had their arrows pointed at him. A hood was drawn covering his face.

"Identify yourself!"

"Adonis the son of Rhode"

"Arrest him!" An order came from one of the guards he seemed to be the lead guard.

Before they could Leon send his sword though their throats and jumped over the barricade with his horse. One of them rushed to sound the alarm, he used his bow to knock him down then rode towards the tent in the middle. That one needed special treatment. He dipped the arrows smeared with gasoline in a nearby fire and lit it up. The smoke and smell of burning tents brought the enemy back to their senses meanwhile Johannes and the other men were planting dynamite all over the camp.

"Fire!" The shouts started.

"We are under attack!"

His hood was still covering him, when he saw Johannes leave the tent they thought was the armory he dipped a couple of arrows in the fire again and stylishly send them through the two guards at the front they fell on the tent then what happened next was like a fireworks show. He finally dropped his hood as his men retreated in the woods back to camp, they saw him.

"There he is!"

"Kill him!"

"Wait!” he said his hands up in the air, “Am looking for General Baxter”

They just looked at him angrily with their swords ready to pierce his skin. He was on top of his horse surrounded.

"Well look who is here? Prince Adonis" Baxter said.

"Came to tell you the last words from your brother Pollux before I took his head to my king"

You got some nerve son, seize him!"

It was a perfectly executed plan, with their weapons store turned into a fireworks house, the horses freed and left to run for their lives they stood no chance of catching him. And while their attention was focused on him his men got to disappear further in the woods back to the camp. He never rode a horse that fast with an angry crowd of a hundred plus men behind him craving for his blood. Leon led them further away to the mountains. Baxter had told them not to return without his head. He send them to their own deaths.

**********"

The queen finally came round after half an hour. Cassandra had asked her to be brought inside, she was lying on her bed with her guards by the door. Cassandra and Hector were seated by her bedside holding both of her hands. It was Hector who first realized her fingers were moving.

"She is back!" Hector said happily.

"Ooh thank the gods I was already imagining how angry Rhode was going to get, he would probably had me hanged"

"Your majesty?" Hector called staring at her in the face.

She opened her eyes. When she saw Hector she got up quickly and confused.

"What happened? Where am I?" She asked looking around.

"At the oracles you passed out your majesty" Cassandra said.

"Take me home" she said and got out of bed.

It was a breather for both of them. Cassandra just hoped she didn't pass out again in the palace or else she would have a case to answer. When they left she went to comfort the family of the girl who Zeli had possessed. A young innocent soul, seven seasons old of age. It was sad. If only she could find Zeli and kill him which was close to impossible. The only person who had an idea of how to find him was another mystery she was trying to solve.

"Am so sorry, I tried my best" she said to them.

"You almost lost your life trying to save her thank you" the father said.

As they carried her away it was the only time Cassandra ever regretted of never knowing the death spell. If there was one she would have used it on her. It was sad and even though they were just getting started she could feel Zeli was winning the fight.

"Are you okay mum?" Gaia asked.

"Yeah am alright" she assured going upstairs.

The three followed her obediently. Even without asking they knew she was not okay. She needed them as much as they needed her at all times. They went to the enchantment room. Cassandra sat on her bed with her head between her legs. Then tears started flowing, reality was starting to sink in. Zeli had warned her.

"Was the prince's life more valuable than the girls?" She asked.

"I think..."

"Don't answer that" Cassandra said.

"Take a shower and calm down" Helen suggested.

"You think that will help?"

"Yes" Helen and Dahlia said in unison.

She just forced a smile on her face. They had no idea what was eating her up, they had but they did not know how bad she felt about it. Now the picture of the girl was going to be eternally imprinted on her mind, it was going to be one of her ghosts and she could already hear her scream at him every time she tried to close her eyes form lack of sleep the previous night. And only one person was standing between her and getting her vengeance on Zeli. The only person that actually knew who and where he was.

"Maybe I should take the shower after all" she said leaving the girls.