Chapter 246

246 Chapter Two Hundred Forty Six

Katie was briefed by Marie on what was going on in Lycaon based on what they had been told on their way to Sirius. The woman had come with the feeling that something terribly wrong was going on in Sirius... and she’d been right.

.......

Not long before the invasion of the reserve in Sirius....

“You don’t have to keep pacing, you know,” Marie told his impatient husband, “This is the fastest mode of transportation after all. We will get there in time.”

“That still doesn’t put my feelings at ease. Katie promised she wouldn’t get herself in trouble. I can’t help but think there is something more to this. We didn’t raise a reckless girl, you know.”

“Oh, honey, you can never predict how a child will turn out. You, of all people, know that. Just look at Micah. None of us ever thought he would get a Prometheus gift and yet, he got it eventually. His heart was in the right place despite how lazy he’d always been. Katie caught on with everything we taught her with next to no resistance. She was bound to have a flaw somewhere,” the woman tried.

“I know and that’s what’s putting me on edge. Her constant need to protect everyone leads her to make irrational decisions. I know she has proven that she can think rationally from time to time, but when she really thought it mattered, she flew completely off the handle. She can’t stand it when someone’s life is in danger and she ends up forgetting her life matters as well...”

The woman sighed, “Can’t argue with that logic. You’re completely correct.” Silence fell between the two of them. Tom resumed his pacing about the length of the plane drawing a deeper sigh from his wife, “This is going to be a long flight.”

Just then, the phone at the table began to buzz. The woman looked at the number on it... It was from one of the higher-ups. The ones who never even got to fight at all, but dictated the actions of the hunters and where they were to be stationed based on the information they received. It had been a while since these two had been summoned by them and the organization had even given up considering how much they did everything on their own.

.....

The two of them eyed each other and the phone, none of them wanting to answer it, “What do you think they want?” Tom whispered.

His wife narrowed her eyes at him, “I haven’t answered it yet. Why are you whispering?” When the man only smiled sheepishly at her, she hit the answer button and greeted the person on the other side, voicing her name as well as that of her husband.

“It’s good the two of you are together. We need to ask a favour of you,” the man on the other side asked. Out of all the hunters in the world, these were among the only few that the higher-ups had to beg to handle a job. They usually did what they wanted and told them off, claiming they were doing something that was far more important which was usually true. After being told off so many times, they received fewer calls from them.

“Well, we are headed to Sirius. Unless this favour is in line with what we are trying to achieve, I don’t see a reason to help you out,” the woman replied.

The man on the other side of the phone coughed at the reply before regaining his composure, “You know one of these days, we might just clip your wings.”

“If this is one of the threats you’ve been practising all these days, Councilman, you are getting even worse than you used to be,” the woman replied.

“Well, gladly, I don’t have to threaten you this time. You happen to be going to meet the very person we want to talk to,” the man said to her.

“What is that supposed to mean, Councilman?”

“Well, it’s about the war in Lycaon. I will take you through our findings and why it is important that you get to your adoptive daughter as soon as possible,” without much resistance from the couple, the man on the other side began to go through the events and findings they’d made. There were many questions that came up along the way, but the couple tried to keep them to a minimum until the Councilman was done speaking.

“Well, that definitely makes our reunion a lot more important than I would have thought it to be,” Tom groaned.

“Exactly... the two of you are to find Katie and get her through to communicate with Lycaon. If the information of her being marked can reach the rogues, their formations will crumble. They don’t have reason to attack the capital if their goals won’t be achieved,” the man said to them.

“What happens if we get to the girl too late? What if she’s not marked by the time we find her?” Marie asked them.

“Well, then... It’s all a race against time now, isn’t it?” the councilman said to her, “Find her and make sure she gets marked as soon as you can. This means you also have to find the prince of Lycaon as well.”

“We understand,” Marie confirmed. She was just about to turn the phone off before the man’s voice came through from the other side.

“And Marie... Welcome back. The world has been missing its pillar in the time you’ve been gone. It’s good to see you back,” the man said to her.

“It’s good to be back, Councilman Henry. You have no idea,” the woman replied with a smile on her face. When she turned the phone off, she turned to face her husband, “Well, it seems Katie didn’t get herself in trouble after all...”

“Yeah, trouble seems to have found her instead,” Tom finished her suspicions.

..............

The plane reached Sirius deep into the night, a time that none of them had planned to arrive. However, upon looking down on the capital, their senses confirmed that they were not going to find their daughter down there. Instead, they had the pilot fly the plane according to their instructions. “A game reserve... What is Katie doing this far from the capital?”

“I don’t know, but something smells very fishy about this all. Not to mention, I detect another person of interest,” Tom spoke up.

“Yeah, I can detect that too. We are going to have to split up at the moment. I will go after Katie and get her to communicate with the Lycaon while you can...” the woman froze in her words. She could tell something was wrong on the ground they were going to.

“Don’t worry, honey. She will be just fine,” Tom tried to calm her down. They both faced the forest below them, the back door of the plane opened and the wind began whipping through their hair, uninvited. It was an experience they hadn’t come to do in a long time. More than eighteen years to be honest, “Good luck, Tom said to her right before she let herself fall from the plane.

The male used the handrails to go back to the pilot against the roaring wind from the open door, directing him to fly over the forest in a direction unknown to him either. He knew where he was going albeit completely by instinct. “Sir, are you sure this is where you want to go?” the pilot asked him.

“Yes, it is... Why, what do you see?” Tom asked, budging into the pilot’s room.

“Well, it’s all thick forest and there is barely a sign of life. Not to mention it’s no man’s land outside the reserve. The dangers in that forest are bound to be more than the dangers in the reserve combined,” the man said to him.

'

“I’m a hunter. I’m not sure there is a lot on this planet that can hurt me. Most of the creatures that can hurt me are already in Lycaon, so I’m quite sure I’ll be fine,” Tom replied, heading back to the back door and leaping out as well.

..............

Katie listened without batting an eyelash at the tale her adoptive mother laid out to her. She barely asked any questions... Mostly because she didn’t have any... Her mind was all but mesmerized by the fact that the woman spoke before her. The two of them hadn’t seen each other in such a long time that she only wanted to spend time with her. This part of her intentions she kept to herself, even though she was sure Cole had already read through them like she was an open book.

“By the time I landed, the fight in the forest had ended and you were headed here with your friends. I knew you were going to get into a fight with the wolf at the cell phone tower. You heading out here is what told me there was something wrong with communications. I wasn’t sure if I was to help you... Your enemy was quite strong indeed, but the moment he saw your mark, he did exactly what the council thought would happen. He lost his will to fight. You fought him whilst he only had the interest of protecting himself.”

“If that was the case, then why didn’t he run while he had the chance?” the girl asked her.

“He had to wear you out first so that you wouldn’t follow him. He would have never thought you would be able to best him in a duel even if you put had your mind to it. With the entire plan on the verge of collapse, he couldn’t find a way out of his situation. He could have also wanted you to defeat him. Telling his king of this discovery was bound to bring the rogue king into a similar state which would then cause him to get captured. To put it bluntly, there was nothing he could do about it...”

“It’s like you were thinking out loud before you gave me that answer,” Katie grumbled before speaking aloud, leaving no chance for the woman to counter, “So just because Cole marked me in time... the rogues have completely lost the war?” Katie asked, passing her hand on the mark on her shoulder.

“Yes, that’s exactly true. The Moon Goddess came up with the same plan eighteen years ago that was sure to bring the rogues down. If the chosen were allowed to live, it would mean the end of everything they stood for. That’s why she sacrificed so much to keep you safe and away from the rogues,” Aunt Marie explained.