Chapter 3 Her Rage

“My Armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, and my breath death! And people call me a BEAST.”

****************************************

Zarek managed to escape from her in about two seconds, when Crystal got distracted by the loud growl, coming from the dark forest.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Zarek was aware of the fact that why did he feel the connection with the redhead little girl. Yes, he definitely knew, but wanted someone else to point it out.

He decided that he probably would feel the connection- but later. Not now.

Instead, all he felt now was…. pure hatred. He was in enemy territory again. And he had lived too long in the shadows of the Aquislanada Empire, little did the king know his people who didn't watch their backs died a quick and painful death.

"Are you out of your mind?" Zarek's firsthand in command, his friend Adonis demanded to know again. But Zarek hardly heard him.

With two long strides he was at the side of a waterfall in the middle of the forest where he lived for the most of his life. The water always calmed him down whenever he felt agitated, it was the soothing element for the fire flowing in his veins.

Who was that little girl? Thought Zarek.

Maybe you should have killed her on the spot, said a nasty little voice in the back of his mind. That voice had often kept Zarek alive before. Now he didn't like the sound of it very much.

Didn't like it? No, he hated that voice right now. Anyway, what it said wasn't quite true. He may have managed to escape from her, but like her aura screamed royalty, Zarek could not hide forever from her.

"Theodore?!" Adonis yelled at him.

Zarek's eyes turned red when he heard him, snapping his head towards Adonis, he said, "Don't. It's Zarek until I avenge the death of our people, especially my family."

"Okay, I understand. But what in the mighty Lycan's name were you doing?" Adonis demanded, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I'm not in the habit of doing anything in the name of mighty Lycan," Zachary replied, absent-mindedly.

"You were going to shift; did you know about the risk you were willing to take? Exposing ourselves in the enemy's camp will bring us trouble and even death. " Adonis pressed, glaring at Zarek.

"No," Zarek snapped at him, "I wasn't."

"Then what was that shifting of your eyes? Your baffled state?"

The image flashed in front of Zarek's inner eye. Little girl's blood drifting down her neck.

"Her blood," he growled.

"That little girl's blood. When… when I saw her blood, it felt like a spark in my soul, like it was calling me. Everything blacked out, it was just her blood and me."

"And you know the meaning of it, right?"

"No, I don't! We Vouculias do not indulge with the Aquislanadas, our one standing enemy." Zarek declared.

The eyes of Adonis narrowed indignantly. "Yes, we don't. But it's you who have to. Because, the souls have identified one another, whether you like it or not."

"She's the fobbing witch, damn it!" Zarek's fists clenched as he turned away from Adonis.

"What?!" Adonis exclaimed; he couldn't believe his ears. "But… but that's impossible. You can't be paired with a witch."

Zarek chuckled darkly to himself. He was in quite a unique situation. Lycans never get paired with witches, they either get paired with humans or to the other Lycans.

With a bitter smile on his face, Zarek turned back and asked Adonis, "Did you do the task I gave you?"

Adonis smirked and said, "All done, my King."

*******************************************************

Meanwhile, when Crystal was returning towards the castle, ‘Why does my water elemental magic not work on him?’ Was the question that kept beating on the door of her mind like a battering ram.

Why in the name of the moon goddess, my spell didn't work on him?

There was only one thing she wanted to do-- having him out in the stocks and pelted with rotten cabbage for what he had done to her people. This was so confusing. She wanted him punished or maybe dead, but she also wanted to reveal his identity.

Frustration was piling up inside the mind of the Aquislanada princess, Crystal. After reaching the Aquislanada castle, she ran through the long corridors, towards the secret training garden that she along with her mother, Queen Ophelia developed in her training days.

No one noticed her distress-- they all had to deal with their routine work. The castle was busy as it was time when evening guards exchanged their duties with the morning guards. Maids were busy setting up the dinner table.

Thrusting the door, which leads to her secret garden, Crystal walked out of the castle into the backyard after closing the big wooden double doors behind her. It was the place where she could calm down.

While leaning against a tree, Crystal took a deep breath. She shook herself, but her lips, and managed to steady her breathing.

“In this garden we guard the den of nature, for here we bare our souls in such nurturing safety.” Crystal remembered the saying of her mother Ophelia when she was little.

Let's get started, shall we? A small voice in the back of her mind said.

Crystal stopped her thoughts right there and walked towards the waterfall, which always intrigued by calming her down. The garden was situated beside the highest waterfall in the Empire. The starting and ending of it was still a mystery to everyone.

Standing there, Crystal steadied her breathing, closed her eyes and focused her concentration on the sound of running water in front of her.

The flashbacks when her mother, Queen Ophelia used to train her started flashing inside her eyes.

“Remember my girl, water is the element of change. The moon is the source of power in water bending, and every water Bender has to learn to bend by observing how the moon pushes and pulls the tides. We deal with the flow of energy; we let our defense become our offence, turning our opponents' own forces against them. Do you understand, Crystal?"

Crystal opened her eyes, raised both of her hands and thrusted her palms away from her towards the waterfall, yelling, "Glacies!"

The running water froze, as if time had stopped. Crystal looked around her and saw the wind was still blowing, birds were still flying, but the water wasn't flowing. It meant that her spell had no effect on the invader, only. Else, she was doing fine.

"I know you'll be here." The crystal collects its energy.