Calcia E-Book

Sofie Melchart

• Herausgeber: novum premium Verlag
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 379

Beschreibung

First-time author, Sofie Melchart, at the tender age of sixteen has given you a piece of science fiction, fantasy writing that fantasy lovers, werewolf fans, and lovers of magic in all its forms will delight in. She has revealed a fascinating world of magical beings in all its complexity, with marvellous feats of magic, warfare and intrigue. The scenes depicting the battles are graphic, bloodthirsty and even cruel at times. What is fascinating is the realisation that werewolves are very much like humans in the way they mislead others, delight in wielding their magical powers and even more surprisingly, greatly enjoy family life and are extremely romantic. The crazy antics of the baby werewolves are quite enchanting. This is perfect holiday reading so grab yourself a copy.

Leseprobe

Imprint

All rights of distribution, also through movies, radio and television, photomechanical reproduction, sound carrier, electronic medium and reprinting in excerpts are reserved.

© 2023 novum publishing

ISBN print edition: 978-3-99130-178-3

ISBN e-book: 978-3-99130-179-0

Editor: Hugo Chandler

Cover images: Elena Schweitzer, Andreiuc88, Fernando Galan | Dreamstime.com

Cover design, layout & typesetting: novum publishing

www.novum-publishing.co.uk

Foreword

Calcia

Calcia is a quiet, peaceful kingdom ruled by Queen Sheila, who’s also the goddess of nature, Lady Fauna. Everything runs well until a traitor is unmasked and reveals the actual flaws of the realm.

Introduction

Calcia is a quiet, peaceful kingdom ruled by Queen Sheila, who’s alsothe goddess of nature, Lady Fauna. Everything runs well until Luca, a traitor, runs off to other lands to set up his organization. The question is, who will join him, and what else will happen?

Wait and see!

Now, onto the story, my friends.

Chapter One – Traitor Among Us

I had always felt there was something a little off about Luca.

He was always attracted to power and didn’t seem loyal at all. Out of curiosity, I gave him the post as my chief guard to see what would happen, and today would answer all my doubts. I didn’t know what would happen yet. I wandered around, and some kids stopped me to kiss me on both cheeks and give me a hat they had made, which I loved.

I heard my wife scream. “Someone help me! Get off me, you monster!” she yelled.

“Once you are dead, the throne will be mine,” a familiar male voice taunted.

More screams followed by silence as I ran to my wife’s aid. I couldn’t find the attacker, but I could add two and two together. Once I reached my wife, I saw her lying on the ground, and her hair was saturated in blood, which had come from a wound in her arm. I stood there shaking for a second before calling my friend, who was like a brother to me, to ask for his help.

“Finn! Help! Chiara is almost dead!” I yelled.

Within seconds, my gray-eyed fellow werewolf arrived, scanning my wife’s wounds with concern before working his magic to heal her.

“Do you know who did this to her?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Nope, nothing concrete, but I have a hunch that it was Luca. As we know, he was there when other people in the cities died.”

Finn nodded.

“Finally, you put two and two together, Alpha. We had our doubts about Luca’s innocence.”

Chris Bennett, Luca’s older brother, arrived. The brown-haired male shook his head, chuckling in disbelief. “I know my brother’s work when I see it.”

“Hey, Chris!” I greeted him. “When did you get here? And what makes you say I don’t believe you? Just curious.”

“We need to bust him,” he replied bluntly.

I agreed, still astonished by how calm he remained about his brother being an asshole. I trusted Chris; he was one of my best guards and a good friend, although he was hard on people at times.

“We should try to catch him red-handed. I know he’s after me,” I stated.

Both guys immediately understood what I meant, and they tried to argue with me on this, but I was persistent. First, I would have to endure Luca’s presence on a trip to Valkur, a city in my kingdom, without him thinking that we suspected him in any way.

Chiara had finally woken up and cleared up any misunderstanding we might have had, and then she kissed me passionately. I laughed. Her hazel eyes enchanted me every time. My heartbeat rose every time we kissed, giggled or touched. I growled playfully, making her crazy.

“Alpha … you’re making me crazy …,” she said softly.

“And this is your way of saying that Alpha drives you mad, my Queen,” I replied, giggling.

“You smell so good; did you bathe in badass perfume? Oh my, yes! I want some for myself, so I can always know how you smell when I travel,” she pouted, her ears and tail twitching in unison with mine.

I might be a goddess of nature and hell, but I was still a werewolf, and my passion was higher than the guard’s tower. Unfortunately, it was time to head to the gate, where Luca would be waiting for me. His duty was to follow me, but I’m grateful he didn’t. He is a creep, after all. I already had the shivers from just thinking about him. It was good that no one liked him. On the way, I was greeted by Nichole, our other head guard. I waved at the strong, purple-haired woman. No time to talk yet. Little did I know what she was planning back then.

Chapter Two – Setting a Plan in Motion

As I had figured, the blonde guard in a blue and silver uniform awaited me with his usual nod and a dagger in his paw. Something in his eyes scared me; they had something insane and unholy about them. Nevertheless, I responded to his rough “My Lady” with a smile, and we started walking. As usual, he talked about what happened and what awaited us in Valkur.

“In Valkur, there have been a couple more deaths and, to no one’s surprise, even more drama. The mayor wanted to show you something else but forgot what that was until late yesterday evening …,” he paused as we were almost there.

I thought about what he’d said and what his brother, Chris, had said the day before … “He’s always been there for mass killings.”

In Valkur, there were even more murders when he was there. ‘This cannot be a coincidence!’ I thought.

We passed through the gates, and the mayor awaited us.

Luca stayed a bit back, staring at me from behind. It creeped me out.

“My Lady, how good of you to get here so quickly,” the mayor said, and I grinned.

“No problem at all. I was told there were even more killings, and all left a fingerprint?” I questioned, hearing Luca scoff behind me.

“That’s right, My Queen. More tragedies struck, and we don’t know much about them.”

“How awful.”

“But maybe you could help?” the old man begged.

I nodded and waited for Luca to disappear wherever he went when he was supposed to accompany me, so today was as usual, with no warning. The mayor noticed.

“Ma’am, so your guard is supposed to disappear into nothing?” he asked. As I read his mind, he was pretty nervous.

Usually, I hated him vanishing, but today, it was perfect. Setting the plan in motion – part one.

“Let me tell you something about the murders. We have a suspect, and it’s Luca. Think about it; he’s always there when it happens, but not when you call him for help. That’s surely quite odd, eh?” I said.

At first, the sweet older man seemed shocked, but then he understood.

Luca finally returned, pulling me out of the gates by the arm.

“Gotta go – now!” he demanded.

“What! Why? I was in mid-conversation!” I snapped back furiously.

The blonde angrily shook his head, taking on a Shadow Knight form; I, the underworld ruler, didn’t know that he was a Shadow Knight!

“No time!” Luca barked, his hand tightly clutching my wrist, tearing a bit at my Shadow Soul.

It was painful, but one look clarified that this was on purpose.

Once in bed that night, I fell asleep quickly but awoke to an intense pain in my chest. I heard voices, so I kept pretending I was sleeping.

“Did she wake up?” a male angrily questioned, half-whis pering – Luca.

“No, she didn’t, only a rapid movement,” a female voice responded, a voice I couldn’t identify with all the background noise.

“Good. I’ll finish her. I think she has been suspecting me recently,” Luca scoffed.

I could have screamed in pain, but I used telepathy to call the guard and my childhood friend, Seb, for help.

‘Seb! Seb! Help!’

‘What’s wrong, Fauna?’

‘I’m being stabbed in my bedroom by Luca and a female, and they have no clue I’m awake.’

‘Be there in a minute.’

***

As soon as I stopped the connection, steps came running. “Fuck, the guards are coming. You’re on your own, babe,” the female whispered, shattering a window by jumping out.

I could hear a sword being pulled from its sheath and Luca whispering urgently, “Get back here! Traitor!”

The guards busted down my door, and immediately I felt a blade against my neck. Whoever it was didn’t know not to mess with an immortal being.

“Put that knife down, Bennet! It was you all along, wasn’t it?” barked a voice I recognized as Seb.

Luca scoffed, his head above mine.

“Huh. It took you dumbasses long enough to get here. That poison will kill her and revive the true ruler of the shadows in her place. There’s no way a woman can hold honor,” he spat.

The guards pulled their swords out all at once, but Luca followed the female’s advice and jumped out the window, using his Shadow Knight’s ability to not die, even though a fall couldn’t kill a Shadow Knight anyway. They tried to run after him but gave up. He had crossed borders, and I was at the top of their list in importance. Seeing that I was almost crying from the pain of the Shadow Torture was a good thing.

The last thing I heard before falling unconscious was, “Her Shadow Soul is damaged. Fucking Luca Bennet! No worries, we’ll fix you up.”

Then it all went black.

Chapter Three – A Bit of Normality

Luca had always stood out among the guards due to his demeanor over others. He’d always do whatever he could to get power, no matter what. His armor also didn’t match our usual black-green clothing. His was silver and blue. His betrayal wasn’t surprising at all.

A few days after I fully healed and Chris became my new main guard, Nichole and I visited another small city in Calcia. The goddess of the wild (untamable things) and the underworld had to check in on her folks occasionally. The strong female guard was already waiting at the gate, and my dear friend and I quickly chatted.

“Oh, dear. Have you heard of the attacks in Warroh, My Lady? I heard the traitor is back!” she gasped, curling her hair with a finger.

“No way! By the way, what’s with your sword, Nichole? It looks so bloody!” I observed.

She shrugged it off, then touched my arm, showing affection.

“I also heard that Bennet has his group! Westins or something? It’s fascinating how he can manipulate things!” she exclaimed, a little too happy for my taste, but there was no way Nichole would betray us.

“Yeah, it is. Westins, you said? I’m assuming they fight like he does?” I asked.

She nodded, shooting an arrow into the bushes ahead, where a bandit stumbled out with two arrows in his shoulder. Quickly he made a run for it, or at least he tried, as one last arrow pierced through the man’s chest. Poor guy, but he shouldn’t have messed with Nichole.

“Anyway. Seen anything suspicious lately, Fauna?” my guard now asked, tightening her bowstring, which had become loose.

“No, except those pumpkins, of all things, keep getting smashed. Odd, huh?” I replied.

She nodded, pushing me behind her as white-dressed people stormed toward us.

“Die! You go the same way as our boss; you deserve punishment!” they screamed.

Nichole pulled her bowstring, and I threw my double-bladed dagger. With quick movements, the attackers, who had only stared at her, now disarmed my guard without harming her. ‘Why wouldn’t they harm her?’ I thought.

I swung my blade, which wounded two of the eight attackers in the stomach and, a few seconds later, in the chest. Although I dodged most of the attacks, two blades did hit me in the leg, and I leaped into a tree before healing myself.

“They sure know how to fight. You trained them well, Luca,” I mumbled to myself.

Meanwhile, the Westins kept yelling, “You poor excuse for a Queen! Our Experior, Lord Shad, will bring back the true ruler of the Shadowlands!” one shouted.

Another shushed him. “You can’t say his name! The Experior will punish us! Shut up!”

“You’re right,” the first speaker replied.

Nichole fought weakly against the white-dressed intruders and was unharmed, except for one scratch.

‘Maybe the enemy was after only me? That couldn’t be possible either, seeing that Seb and Mille, Seb’s twin sister with turquoise hair, had joined in and already had more wounds than Nichole. Could she be?’ No! I couldn’t even finish the thought. ‘Nichole would never betray us! Never!’

Instead of my sword, I switched to my goddess’s bow and arrow, praying to Irene that it would hit them all, then shoot. I didn’t need to worry, as the attackers fled after about ten arrows, begging their “Experior” for forgiveness in advance. I jumped down from the tree to join Nichole and the two others, whom I had to heal in contrast to the purple-haired warrior.

I chose not to mention that detail, though.

“Are you, Fauna?” Millie asked, panting.

I nodded, scanning to see where the enemy could have come from in the first place; if even our best sworders were exhausted, that would be hard!

“Hey, Millie, any clue how they got in here?” I asked, still focused on the landscape, awaiting her reply.

“There was a big-ass hole in the wall, although I have no idea how they broke in. They can fight, although we have a guard shortage right now,” she explained, smiling. She was always in a good mood, which is important for a cursed Knight, as anger could push them to lose control.

Finally, we arrived in Warroh. By ‘we,’ I meant Nichole and I, who protectively put her hand on my arm again. We wandered through the streets. Kids ran up to me to hug me or play a game they called ‘the flying game,’ better known as me controlling the air to help them fly and to catch and cuddle with them. I loved playing with the kids so much; being loved by kids was my greatest gift. I just caught a set of twins, both four years old, in my arms while sitting on the grass and holding them.

“You are so soft, Fauna,” the little girl whispered.

“Thank you, and so are you,” I replied, stroking her back.

She cuddled closer for a while until their mother called: “Erica! Louis! Time to go now!”

The kids looked up at me, kissed me, laughing, and left, waving. I was left with that familiar feeling of pure heaven in my chest and a silly smile.

Finn, Ethan, and Justin, who were all members of my pack, had followed us, and so we sat down together without the twins making a joke about my smile. Oh man, I loved my best friends.

“Hey! You should see your smile, missy; you seem high on something! Is it happiness?” they joked, and I burst into laughter, bending over to hold my stomach from laughing so much, which caused them to crack a new joke, which I had a comeback to for once. My mud-scented werewolf friends had it coming.

“Yooo! I didn’t know birch trees could bend over! We should ask our favorite witch how to do that; that’s one hella piece of magic right there!” the gray-eared Justin commented.

“And I didn’t know mud balls could talk, either! We should talk to our witchy friend about this!” I shot back, preparing a joke for Finn, who sat there, barely holding back a laugh.

I could always make him crack up; I knew exactly how. “Eh! Have you guys heard of a speaking chimney before? It’s also walking. It seems like our witch did the trick there. Oh well, it’s a warning, sure as hell,” I said in a rather loud tone.

The joke fulfilled its goal, as I heard my best friend laugh like I did since I had almost burst from Finn’s and my shared emotions. If I didn’t let them out, I’d freak out, and my body would find a way to lose itself. A little later, we finally had a chance to chat with the mayor of the village, a sweet young lady named Miranda.

“So good to see you, Fauna. Can I share some news with you?” Miranda asked shyly, while nervously playing with her amazing blonde hair.

“Of course, Miranda. You’re a friend of mine; tell me what’s up,” I said, leaning against Finn, who was texting his fiancé, Jacob. She sat five feet from us, revealing Luna, her silver-haired daughter with beautiful blue eyes. The little one stuttered before walking over to me and cuddling against me. I stroked her while waiting for Miranda. Kids liked to play with me, although some didn’t want to or were shy.

“OK, so now for the fun part: Luna is finally going to have a second Momma because I’m engaged!” she excitedly exclaimed. I squealed silently; my friend was getting married!

“Congrats! Who’s the lucky lady? Hopefully, she knows how awesome you are!” I replied, pretending to pout.

“Her name’s Emily. We’ve been together since Luna was born. Now we’ll put a ring on it! She also keeps telling me I’m awesome. Thanks for the compliment, Fauna,” he said, blushing at the mention of his new love.

I chuckled; it was terrific helping friends find a partner, at least to me. Sometime later, Nichole was bored, so she asked to go home earlier while I stayed the night at the Warroh Motel, which we ensured was highly comfortable.

The unique thing about this motel was that it was free to anyone – it was a charity motel, and paying was a choice.

As I left the following morning, I made sure to leave a donation of 50.000 Guma, Calcian currency. We technically had our spoken language, and it is used in certain sales situations. However, telepathy was used for private conversations since every Calcian knew that, which made things simpler.

Chapter Four – New Drama and Joy

A couple of days later, back at Calcia’s capital, I wandered around barefoot in the forest – nature was welcoming its mother warmly. I then found myself on the ground with a big ball of fluff on top of me, wolf fluff, more specifically Akira, a.k.a. Akira Vea ej – Calcian for Akira, the Protector. Akira Vea ej was on top of me. He was one of my godly animals and best wolf friends.

‘Finally, I found you!’ the wolf barked in my mind.

‘Aki! Where were you?’ I asked, managing to sit up a bit, tickling Akira with my fingers, which caused him to sneeze.

I laughed, which attracted some wild horses, who bewilderedly asked, ‘What’s so funny, Fauna?’ Then they came closer and lowered their beautiful necks. I petted them, replying, ‘Nothing. I’m in an amazing mood today.’ I simplified the answer a bit, but eventually, my eagle, Ava, landed on my shoulder, playfully biting my ear, her sign of affection.

‘Faunaaa … I missed youuu,’ the beautiful eagle sang in my mind. I turned my head and kissed her beak.

‘I missed you too, Ava. Where were you? Please tell me something exciting happened!’ I said.

‘I saw a big fight! People in white clothes, fighting others in silver! I carried a soldier on my back!’ my loving eagle beamed.

The horses behind me were softly kissing my neck with their lips, and automatically, I grew carrots out of the grass, which they turned to eat. Aki rested on my lap, surrounded by his pack, mostly his kids and mate, Leto. The Luna of the pack lovingly licked my toes and then put her head on my foot.

‘You are so comfortable, so nice. I like you.’ Her comforting, strong voice resounded in my head.

‘Thank you, Leto. You smell amazing as well … ouch!’ I playfully yelped the last bit as some pups pulled my werewolf tail. So, I let it twitch for them to try and catch it. Eventually, I got up since it was already late, and I wanted to spend this night outside for sure, although I thought I might nap now.

I stood up, walking around until I found a high enough tree to watch the stars from. Still barefoot, in my green overthrow hoodie and soft leather pants, I stretched on the branches, Aki right by my side, just like when we were pups. I stroked his back while humming a tune I didn’t realize was a Calcian melody. Aki joined in, and we watched the stars in silence. I heard Seb come by, talking to another guard.

“She’s spending the night up in the tree with Akira, ain’t she?” the guard I identified as my lovely Nichole asked.

“Yup, on the other hand, nature is her territory. You can’t blame her,” Seb replied calmly.

“Isn’t it unsafe? Like unguarded?” Nichole asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

“Yeah, technically, but it’s her element, and we should trust her more. Come on, Nichole, if you want, you can stay on watch!” Seb suggested, and Nichole must have nodded because I heard what sounded like a quick hug, and then only one pair of feet walk away. I always forgot that those two were close friends, and it just didn’t seem likely, but they were.

‘She can’t give you a break, can she?’ Akira commented, and I could only agree.

Filled by the warmth of my furry friend’s body, with the green eyes and the ‘V’ shape on his head, I drifted off to sleep, not for long, though. After what felt like only two hours, I awoke to a terrible pain in my chest, feeling a blade inside it. I also realized that Aki was gone, although I knew he preferred caves to sleep in, so I wasn’t surprised.

The blade in my chest seemed to have been put into me by a ghostly figure, a ghostly female one! I screamed, and the ghost jumped off me, leaving me with the blade and unbearable pain. The pain felt like my Shadow Soul was draining from my body, a punishment we knew as Shadow Torture, never killing the victim, just letting them feel awful pain since their soul regenerates after every painful process through their screams.

I heard Nichole screaming, “My Lady,” with too little concern for her survival, running toward me. She leaped into the tree and pulled the blade out of me with a movement I had watched the Westins do, but she could have picked it up and found it helpful. There was no way she could be a traitor, no way in hell. “Thanks, Nichole!” I gasped.

“No problem. Did you see who it was?” she asked while cleaning the blade. What was she doing with that? She didn’t have a sword when she hopped up here, so maybe she planned to use that one instead.

“Maybe you shouldn’t clean the blades, dear; we have one of their blades so that you could use it for fingerprints,” I reminded her, smiling gently at her forgetfulness. The poor soul seemed so distracted these past few days, but I cared about her too much, so I let it slide.

A blushing Nichole stuttered, “You-you’re right!” before putting it into her bag, while wearing the usual green gloves only she wore.

The purple-haired guard helped me from the tree because my ankle was broken.

‘How would she know that if I hadn’t told her?’

Without meaning to, I caught a glimpse into her mind. ‘Stupid me! I almost busted myself! Tell her you could see the turned ankle!’

She couldn’t know that I could read minds or that I might know what had happened. Embarrassed, I popped out of her thoughts, although I was interested to know what she meant. She’d probably just read my mind and seen that I was in pain.

“Come on, Fauna, let’s get you healed,” she said calmly. I immediately felt relaxed in her grip. Little did I know what was going on!

Chapter Five – A Performance and a Plan

I relaxed in Nichole’s arms and hummed as she brought me to our healer, a nice old witch called Mariah. Mariah opened her door, saw me, and spoke quietly.

“Oh, my Irene or Fauna, what happened?” she asked, seeing that I couldn’t heal myself with whatever metal had been put into me. Before I could talk, Nichole answered for me.

“Our lady was attacked again. I was to guard her, but I took a bathroom break,” she explained as Mariah took care of the pretty big stab wound.

“Oh my, this wound is hella big. You’re lucky Nichole was there,” the redheaded witch exclaimed, her brown eyes full of concern.

“I was lucky. Thanks a lot, Nichole.”

“A little criticism here when you’re guarding someone … try to pee in a bush or something, and that makes it easier.”

“Did you see where Aki went, by the way?” I asked the loyal warrior.

“Sorry, No. He ran off into the woods. No clue, sorry, but no problem. That’s my job,” she declared, chuckling slightly. I smiled at her before falling asleep.

The following day, I woke up in my bed at the castle. I had either been teleported or had done it myself by accident. I threw on my overcoat and heated the air outside up one degree, creating rain clouds over the fields to help them grow. I ran over the fields, grabbing an apple for breakfast, as I wasn’t very hungry. The dew was still on the grass from the rain the night before.

It was now two nights after the last attack. I sat down on a tree branch, stroking the dew-wet leaves with my hands, making them curl up. The wind played with my hair, letting it fly behind me like a curtain. I spread the wings I barely showed and listened to the cows complain to each other about who would get the bull next or about who had a pregnancy problem. I giggled at their words even more after cute squirrels tickled my nose. I fed them nuts and discussed the morning with them. That was a routine I liked.

‘Mhmm, the bears are sooo hungry for some of us because today I lost my boy, no biggie,’ one of the two said, mumbling while eating its nut.

I stroked its back, saying, ‘Yeah … but since when do bears eat squirrels?’ I asked, genuinely curious. I felt for this little creature. Dew dripped on my bare toes, gently washing them; I giggled at the soft feeling.

‘No clue; felt like it, I assume,’ the blonde squirrel replied, and they ran off with their food to their families. I was left at the tree, enjoying the peace, hearing the birds singing their songs without any lyrics, but the melodies were comforting.

I stroked the tree as its branches tickled me.

An hour later, Aki joined me on the tree branch, cuddling beside me. ‘Good morning,’ his booming voice resounded through my head.

‘Morning, Aki. Did you eat already?’ I asked, thinking of a delicious piece of chicken.

‘I waited with the hunt just to do it with you,’ he boomed, one eye lazily open, as I petted him, specifically between his ears, which made him growl in pure pleasure.

‘You shouldn’t have waited. Wanna go now?’ I asked, answering his awaited question.

Without warning, and after turning into my werewolf form, I ran after him. We ran side by side, ready to slay a chicken but eventually found a turkey – even better!

We cornered it, and on Aki’s command, ‘Now! Kill it!’

I clawed at it, delivering the final blow. After burying organs, feathers, and the head to help this awesome turkey be reborn, we dug into the delicious raw meat.

‘So, did anything happen today to the animals, Mr. Animal Protector?” I asked while chewing.

‘Not much. The bears were going crazy, that’s all. But that’s normal these past few days. So why aren’t you up to date suddenly, Transformer?” he joked, putting his head onto my furry black paws.

We cuddled for a while until I decided to turn back into the WereGoddess form, a goddess with the attributes of werewolves. I could turn into any animal. To get to my next destination faster, I switched to my eagle alter and flew straight toward the field; I was planning on chilling with my wife today. I flew at full speed, Akira running behind me. I transformed back and ran the last few feet up to my best redheads, who had surprisingly shown up near the castle.

‘It’s rarely that any guard sees our athletic show, so let’s show them!’ I thought.

I snuck up from behind, lifting Ethan and Justin into the air. The two were shocked for a second, then understood what was happening. We never planned these moves. It always happened on the spot, as that improved spontaneity. The twins used the fact that I held their feet to swing back, making them and I stand in a handstand. I let go of their feet, flipping myself around to stand straight up. Meanwhile, they did the same.

‘Bridge Sheila base, then backflip roll,’ I heard Justin say telepathically.

‘Yeah!’ we agreed, and then I suggested. ‘Maybe cross first?’

At first, they were skeptical. All we had done in that show till then was switching positions in our stand. Once I was back up, I grabbed onto the tree next to us, and the twins lifted the earth with their elemental powers a bit. My tail clung onto the branch as I grabbed Justin’s arms, swinging him around.

The citizens, mostly the guards, applauded, but we wanted to leave them shocked. “That’s nothing, Ladies and Gents! Save the claps till the end, please!” Ethan yelled, winking. He kept running around for a while, aimlessly, but it served the setup. I swung Justin onto Ethan’s hands, forming the big part of ‘The Cross.’ In perfect timing, my wife, Chiara, showed her skills in jumping from the tree closest to her to holding onto the twins for the next half. She then stretched completely, and now it was my turn. I swung and fell into position perfectly. The people clapped but were silenced by highly interested watchers.

‘Switched cross?’ Chiara suggested, and it was set in motion immediately. We let go of the twins’ hands, holding ours together instead. In that position, we flipped until we stood straight, then the twins hung onto our arms. I crouched for a second to regain balance while my wife’s awesomeness in person pulled off a perfect air split. We broke off, and she landed in my arms, swinging her legs around me. I was incredibly in love with this woman. It was insane. Her hazel eyes gazed into mine, spelling mischief. She bit her lip, letting me know something, while Ethan lifted us, no problem.

“You know … I always think I’m lucky enough already, but it turns out that today is the luckiest day of the year!” she exclaimed, pulling a four-leaf clover out of her pocket. She bent over briefly, picking up Justin and throwing him over to his twin brother, but with black ears instead of gray.

‘Where were we?’ the cuteness in-person asked, kissing my cheek, biting playfully, her ears twitching from enjoyment. I giggled, which caused her to whisper, ‘You make me want to eat you up … Alpha!’

And with that, the rest of our day was spent planning an amazing prank on the prankster brothers. My naughty wife had an excellent prank. Now how did we do it?

Chapter Six – A New Guard and Other Changes

A day after our amazing prank, which consisted of three buckets of iced water in their room, we all went to hang out with our friends, Miranda and the adorable Luna. In my case, we were accompanied by Nichole and Seb, who had always been great friends. I was already waiting at the gate when an excited child’s voice screamed with joy, and within seconds, a toddler with silver hair and blue eyes lay in my arms, closely followed by her Mom, who was chuckling at her daughter’s happiness.

“Luna … please slow down, baby, you’re scaring her,” Miranda warned.

“Sorry, Mommy! Fauna, Fauna! Warroh has more babies than ever! Sooo many new little ones for me to play with!” the silver-haired toddler rambled excitedly. I stroked her hair and got excited to see that her horns had started flashing out more since her dad was a nymph with horns and extreme powers.

“Your horns, Luna! Why are they out now? Please don’t tell me I missed it!” I said, curling her hair with my finger, feeling Miranda sit beside me. Nichole was a few feet away, having a chat with Seb.

“Uh-huh! I’m on the way to becoming a grown-up now!” the girl boasted, giggling.

“Now, now Luna … it will still take a bit longer,” said Miranda, jumping in and kissing her little girl, who immediately turned around, hugging her.

“I know, Mommy, but soon. Now, playyy!” she screamed.

I laughed, letting her fly through the air, which caused her giggle to intensify and for Nichole to come closer. Seb came to hug me and Nichole before looking for his twin.

I watched Nichole sit behind Miranda, listening to us and cleaning her sword. ‘Why had she kept that sword?’ I wondered. Maybe her old one broke? Yeah, that had to be it. Nichole came up from behind me, taking a seat, still staring at my back for no reason, but I couldn’t focus on the fact that Miranda had news.

“OK, so … careful, Luna! I have good news, two kinds. One, my fiancé is finally back in Calcia and is ready to meet you, and, secondly, Luna will be a big sister soon!” she revealed as I squealed, hugging the mayor of Warroh. Nichole smiled warmly, putting her hand on my shoulder, her purple hair tied in a high ponytail. One thing that confused me a lot was the lack of a bow on her, which I tried to ignore for a while, but then I brought it up.

“Sorry for interrupting, Mira, but where’s your bow, Nichole?” I asked. My loyal guard looked around, then blushed, visibly in distress. “It’s no issue; I just noticed it and figured I’d ask,” I added, smiling at her.

Her eyes sparkled. “O-oh! I-I must have forgotten it; I’m sorry!” she stuttered.

At first, I nodded but then went still. Nichole was still stuttering. She usually didn’t get nervous, ever! She was always as cool as ice. Hmm, maybe my dear friend is in love. I knew she had a boyfriend, after all. I got distracted from that thought by a squealing Luna, who was full of happiness.

“Hey Luna, wanna land?” I asked. She nodded but made one final loop in the air. I let her loop and then caught her in midair. “Hey there, pilot, how was it?” I asked the beautiful girl.

Luna giggled, leaning her head against me to look in my face. “It … was … awesome! Again, please?” she begged. I shook my head, laughing, stroking her back.

“Luna … please wait, baby girl. Give her a bit of time, please,” Miranda asked.

“OK, Mommy,” the little girl agreed, still staring at me.

“Anything else new in Warroh?” I asked, playfully blowing air at Luna’s head.

“Actually, yeah. A new guard for Calcia passed through; he’s supposed to be good. His name is Leo.”

The brunette laughed, looking at her daughter while goofing off with my hair.

Just as she said that, I turned my head to look over to where Nichole was not sitting anymore but yelling at a silver-haired guy I couldn’t remember having seen before in Calcian armor.

“You can’t be here, Leo!” Nichole yelled.

“Nichole … I’m a new guard here; live with it. I gotta find Her Majesty now so we can meet,” Leo replied.

“Go away! I don’t want you here; I’m head guard! She’ll find out!” Nichole said. I shook my head; usually, she wasn’t this easy to piss off. What was happening with her? I stood up, putting a protesting Luna back with her Mom.

“Nichole! Leave this guard alone, please!” I demanded. Nichole turned toward me, her face red with anger and embarrassment. I signed her to back off, which she seemed skeptical about, but eventually, she obliged.

“Thank you, Nichole,” I said, smiling at her. That aggression came from stress; after all, she was one of the busiest guards.

“So, you must be Leo? I’m Fauna, but everyone switches between that name and Sheila. Good to meet a new guard,” I greeted the silver-haired young man.

He smiled. “You’re the Queen, then? I came from Lady Leila’s regime and joined as a guard after training there. Good to meet you, too,” he exclaimed, bowing.

I laughed. “OK, Leo … quick question, are you an archer or a swordsman?” I asked.

“Swordsman,” he replied, smiling at Luna, who had walked up behind me. He went past me, facing her while crouching down. “Hey, girl. It seems like we are both young silver foxes.” He commented and playfully winked. Luna giggled, replying shortly after.

“H-hi … you seem nice, but I never met you before?” Luna responded, her eyes as wide as saucers.

“Yeah, I’m Leo. Who are you?” the silver-haired male asked, smiling.

“Lunaa!” the girl yelled out. This continued for a while, so I switched focus to watching Nichole, who was looking for something.

“Can I help you find whatever you are searching for, Nichole?” I asked. She quickly turned around; I could tell that she wasn’t expecting to be seen.

“Uh … I’m not looking for anything. Thanks, though! J-just in deep thought!” Nichole replied, tumbling over her words. Her thoughts jumped out at me, though.

‘Stupid ass! I almost got caught! Stop stuttering! Sheila’s going to find out!’ I quickly popped out of her mind. It was none of my business, although I was sure she had a new lover then. I didn’t know it yet, but I was correct in that assumption. It was just more than I thought was happening behind my back.

Chapter Seven – What’s Going On?

A few days passed, and Leo was introduced and quickly felt at home in Calcia. He also proved strong, although not quite reaching the level that Seb, a.k.a. Sebastian Occers, is at, with whom he was now training. Both had huge smiles on their faces as their swords tested their strength.

“Is that all you can do, silver fox?” Seb teased, while falling over from a hit, leaving Leo laughing.

“Not really, not at my full potential, but work on not getting distracted, cursed Knight!” Leo shot back, delivering another blow. Seb barely dodged, but once his hands left the ground, his eyes scanned his opponent as he learned.

“Thanks for teaching me, Leo!” he shouted.

The young gray-haired guard replied by aiming an arrowless bow at Seb with admittedly horrible aim. “You need to work on archery, my friend!” Seb commented, chuckling. Apparently, neither knew I was there, and I just enjoyed watching them train. That was until the Westins group showed up. Seb yelled over to Leo, who was on the other side of the field, as I jumped onto it, helping my friends and guards.

“Leo! Westins. Woah!” the brunette yelled as a sword pulled along his arm.

“F*ck!” he screamed. I quickly glanced across the field of attackers. There was no one with a complete helmet on, meaning no Luca. I used my bow to help Seb escape, pulling him behind me. When the enemies saw I was there, they left the others alone.

“Give yourself up, you poor excuse of a goddess!” one intruder yelled, his oddly unsharpened sword against my throat. I created a force field, pushing him away. I sighed, looking over toward Seb, who had collapsed.

Finally, what we prayed for happened. Nichole ran onto the field, screaming, “Leave Fauna alone!” with all the power of her lungs. She delivered a final blow to one of them, kicking him into a non-existent dimension. As soon as I saw Nichole, I felt more relaxed and focused. Her presence gave me a sense of safety, but after that one blow, she just stood there, blocking swords and swinging her sword in the Westins’ way. Maybe she had adapted to using it? Regardless, I had no time to think about that at that moment. Leo stormed to my side when he saw what Nichole was doing. He asked one question.

“She’s been acting out of character lately, hasn’t she? I know you won’t believe me but let’s just say I wouldn’t go on trusting Nichole without having some doubts,” he said, stabbing an attacker in the stomach. Before I could protest, he put up his free hand because his statement raised the rage within me.

“Don’t protest; I know you trust her. Just try to think about other things she’s doing or not doing,” he suggested, and something within me reminded me that I had had some doubts for the last few months and that there was a good chance that something was off. I nodded, creating one last force field to blast the enemies away. Nichole came closer, and Leo went to get Seb off the ground.

“Are you all right?” she asked, laughing at the flying Westins. It was still odd why she hadn’t been attacked once during the battle. It was all strange; maybe something was off about her.

Maybe? I couldn’t dare finish my thought. Nichole would never betray us; she was one of the most loyal guards I had ever met. On the other hand … No! She would never!

“Yeah, I’m OK, no worries. My barrier protected me, unlike their usual attacks for some reason,” I shrugged, smiling at her.

Later that day, I was chilling with Chiara in a tree, cuddling against each other with Aki.

“You said she didn’t get harmed? Perhaps she’s invincible?” Chiara suggested, stroking Aki, who was growling in pleasure.

“No, maybe she’s just an expert at lighting speed?” I suggested, tickling my wife.

“OK, let’s switch topics … are you also excited about Luna having a sibling soon?” Chiara asked.

“Ab-so-lutely!” I screamed back. Eventually, my wife landed on me, her body giving me extra warmth.

“I like this position,” I growled playfully.

“Me too, my boo … I don’t ever wanna move!” Chiara said, leaning her head on my chest and glancing at me with big eyes.

“You look extremely hot today, my love,” I complimented her. She blushed hard, and I brought out one of the twin’s jokes.

“If you blush any more, I could fry my next meal on you,” I joked, kissing her neck, only to glance back as her blushing intensified.

“Oh yeah? Then what would this immense blush on my face cook?” she sassed back, with mischief in her eyes. I was about to reply with something else until I heard a familiar female voice talking to another person.

“Yeah, I’ve got it, babe. It’ll end tonight! No worries.”

It was Nichole! What the hell was she planning? I wanted to wait until tonight, but instead, I informed Chris, Nichole’s ex, of what I had heard and suggested he stay on as a guard. Whatever was happening, he’d pretend he wasn’t guarding while secretly watching everything, although I wouldn’t like what I ended up discovering.

Chapter Eight – Lady Leia’s 1/2

Far away in Everglow, Leia had gotten a new guard around the same time as the many killings in Calcia. It was perfect timing for the scaredy cat, the Queen of these lands since her safety was paramount. Although he’d been there for a few days, she hadn’t learned his name yet. All she knew about him was his excellent strength. So, when the mostly masked young man with dashing blue eyes spoke, she took time to listen to him.

“Majesty, I have news,” he said, coldly staring into her eyes. She nodded, indicating that he should continue. She saw he kept moving his hands weirdly, but he hid them every time she looked. “In Calcia, there’s a crazy killer group going around. I’m afraid to say it, but you’ll only be safe with me,” he stated blankly.

Every nerve in her body wanted to shout. “I don’t know you!” but her inner self relaxed almost immediately in the stranger’s presence. “It’s better if I know your name – so what can I call you?” she finally asked.

He scanned her, lowering his voice. “It’s Luca, My Lady. Last names should have no importance,” he replied. She nodded, just accepting his unwillingness to share. Although everything told her not to, she trusted him. Together, they walked through the streets of Everglow; Luca was permanently close behind her, constantly mumbling to himself.