Chapter 353: _Not Going To Be Silent
"We’re under attack!"
"Evacuate the outer city district now!"
My eyes shot right open when I heard the shouts and yells piercing through the night outside the manor.
I was cuddled close to Kaelos who had his arms wrapped around my naked body in bed. But the second I heard those panicked voices, I shifted under his hold.
He woke up as well, sitting up and barely withdrawing his hands from me.
"An attack?" He asked, his eyes dimmed as he turned his head around the room.
I parted my lips to say something when suddenly, it happened.
BOOM!
A powerful explosion rocked the building, causing dust and debris to rain from the ceiling.
I gasped when the dust hit my nose, covering my eyes while Kaelos shielded me with his body.
When the dust cleared and the building stopped shaking, we both exchanged a knowing glance.
"Magic," I whispered and he nodded, getting off the bed and grabbing his shirt.
My eyes fell on the silk white robe I flung on the ground earlier. With a simple wiggle of my fingers, the robe levitated into my palm.
"Are you seriously going to wear that out there when we’re under attack?" Kaelos asked, already buttoning up his shirt.
Just when I was about to say something, a knock sounded on the door outside, causing my heart to skip a beat.
I clutched the bed sheets, pulling them close to my chest while Kaelos took a defensive stance.
Until...
"Odessa? Alpha king Kaelos?" My aunt Althea’s voice echoed from the other side, filled with urgency. "We’re under attack. It’s Ryker’s artificial hybrids."
I furrowed my brows, my eyes flicking to Kaelos who seemed just as confused.
"How were they able to bypass the city’s protection wards?" I asked with suspicion, my jaw tightening as the commotion outside only seemed to increase.
There were no more large explosions rocking the building, but smaller explosions echoed in the distance, and so did the terrified screams of innocents.
"They must’ve used some kind of cloaking ritual." Althea chimed outside. "No time to explain, Odessa. If you aren’t coming outside, keep yourselves protected."
I turned my head to Kaelos again but this time we both gave each other a knowing nod.
We weren’t going to be silent.
"Oh, we’re definitely coming outside..."
.
.
I ended up wearing a simple white dress and had my hair tied into a ponytail.
When Kaelos and I stepped outside with Althea taking the lead in front of us, I gasped when I glanced back at the manor and saw the devastation.
The left wing had a large hole blown into it but the entire building glowed with the power of multiple protection runes.
Up ahead, beyond the manor gates, the city was on fire.
Literally.
Humans ran for safety while witches stayed back, creating force shields to protect them and casting all sorts of elemental spells.
And the attackers?
A group of artificial hybrids all donned in black and huddled together. Each artificial hybrid served a purpose, working with a precision only found in a group that had worked for years.
"Where are the coven elders?" Kaelos barked at Althea, cracking his knuckles and seeming like he was already ready to charge.
The second he said that, like some divine sign, a huge bolt of yellow lightning tore through the night skies, crackling with so much power that the air rumbled.
I raised my head, staring with awe at the spectacle happening above the city.
A man coated in dark energy levitated hundreds of meters above, like a god of death.
But despite his fierce appearance, the two figures flanking him made his presence seem mediocre.
Coven head Arachne was in front of him, surrounded by several bright yellow runes each larger than a duplex.
Her black robes flapped rapidly around her as she moved her fingers with swift gestures, sending a plethora of attacks at the man.
As for elder Nimue, she levitated at the man’s left side, wielding her staff and yelling out incantations, each one brimming with more power than the last.
Each clash from their spells rippled with power that sent gales of wind and bursts of flames, each seeming like they could consume the entire city if left unattended.
"I guess they’re occupied..." Kaelos muttered, grabbing my hand just then.
I turned my gaze to him and saw the conviction in his silver eyes.
"Their attack isn’t coincidental." Althea blurted just then, stretching out her arms. "Ryker must have gotten word of your arrival here and figured out you want to strike an alliance."
Kaelos sneered. "Which brings us back to the question of why your wards weren’t able to detect the appearance of these artificial hybrids."
Althea didn’t respond to him; instead, she murmured a spell under her breath.
My eyes trailed past her and went outside the manor, locking on a woman and her two little boys trying desperately to flee from the spell bursts above.
From the looks of things, they were running in this direction.
They weren’t going to make it to the manor on time.
Without a second thought, I withdrew my hand from Kaelos and stormed forward.
My gaze went above just in time to witness the artificial hybrid the elders were fighting go all out with his most powerful spell yet.
With a clenched fist raised to the heavens, the sky crackled and the wind picked up speed.
"In the name of the lord of the North... I’ll raze the Luminari to the ground!" He declared defiantly, his voice booming like thunder.
Suddenly, the air burned hotter than an oven and the clouds twisted unnaturally for hundreds of meters across.
"No..." I muttered, fixing my eyes on the woman and her children.
The roads were almost completely empty of people, save for the human hunters and warrior witches battling the organised group of artificial hybrids.
"Odessa, watch out!" Kaelos yelled out behind me at the same moment that it finally happened.
Balls of fire, each twice the size of a golf ball, dropped from the sky like hail. They hurtled toward the city and began making contact within seconds.
"Ahhh!" The woman screamed when a fireball fell in front of her, forcing her to stop alongside her children.
The flames dropped around me as well, surging with a prickling heat.
But I didn’t give up, stretching my right hand toward the woman and clenching it into a fist.
A spell was activated, creating a force bubble blazing with a bright violet light around her and her children.
I smiled, breathing out with relief... Until all the hair on my body stood on end and my instincts screamed danger.
My head whipped to the sky above me just in time to spot a blazing fireball, this one almost as large as a building. It was hundreds of meters above the city but the heat it exuded was already burning the ground around me.
And it was heading for me. Fast.