Lydia meets more

Barak was definitely the best steed any one could ask for. He was healthy, fine, loyal and most importantly, he was swift. It was already dark, the colour of the night matched his color. If it was not for the sound of his hoofs against the earth, you would not know something was moving. They got to the battlefield by midnight. Thankfully they made it before Cassius and his men.

She had a rope that she always attached to the side of the saddle. She looked down into the hole and realized that the rope she had would be too short to get her down to the hole.

But the gods be praised, the battlefield was still a mess, so she looked around for anything that could help her. She notices a rope it was at the edge of the hole, it was tied to a rock. She runs over to were it was but realizes it had been cut, even though she tied it together with the one she had, it would not still be long enough.

She was running out of time, Cassius and his men would be here very soon. She looks around again and this time, she spots a longer rope. She ties all the ropes she found together, made sure they were firmly tied around the crooked rock, and then tosses it down the hole.

She descends into the hole as quickly as she could. The rope still wasn't long enough to touch the ground but it was at least safer to climb down the walls of the hole from this height. She left the rope and carefully climbed down the walls of the hole until her feet hit the ground.

As her feet touched the ground she felt she was stepping on something, only to look down and see her boots stuck in a lifeless hand on the floor, she suddenly felt her heart skip with fear, but she had come this far, there was no way she was backing out now. For some reason, after the incident with Cassius she could see clearly at night, even without a torch.

She entered the place that looked like a Cave, and the horror was evident in her eyes. There were bodies everywhere. Most of them were decapitated, others had their hearts ripped out. While others were just in forms you could not understand, because they were smashed into walls with there brains out of their skull.

It was a horrible scene.

She looked at the place and thought 'there is no way anyone could have survived this'. Just as the thought came to her head, her eye caught a figure in the darkness, and then it moved. Not fast but slowly and gradually taking its time as it advanced towards her. She withdrew her steps a bit as she noticed that it was not just 'a' figure but four.

They walk up to her, and for a moment, she was scared, but she tried not to show it,... after all, it could not be worse than Cassius. They came closer to her, and the one in front looked terrifying but at the same time, even though he was a beast, he looked fine. The gaze from those brown eyes felt like he could see directly into her soul. For some reason, she was sure he was not going to hurt her.

"Who are you,.. And why do you smell like one of us? He finally speaks in a deep but enchanting voice. It would make you wonder what the man hidden behind this beast looks like.

His question meant they recognized their kind....

" I am Lydia, daughter of Zanna, I am one of you.....

"If you are like us then why are you human? one of them asks

"Because I can turn back..... I can be a beast and I can be a human" she answers them boldly.

"show us" the one in front said.. "yes, prove it" another said...

" I cannot" she replies "Why?? The first one asks

" because I have nothing to wear, and if I turn, my cloths would be ripped to shreds.....she says really embarrassed.... Look the man who did this to you is on his way here, he should be here any second...so please believe me I only want to help you" she tries desperately to convince them...

"why should we trust what you say?? The man in the front asks

" because I am not only like one of you, I am also a witch. I can make you humans again" these words caught their attention..."how can you do that"..... "just come with me to my cottage, I will help you. If I could make Cassius a human, how much more you??....they thought about it for awhile, then he spoke again.." we still cannot trust you. How would we know it is not just a trap, how would we know you are really one of us how....the questions were still coming when in the darkness of the night, they saw her transformation.

When they had first awoken, they saw themselves as hideous beasts. But seeing her in her beast form made them change their perspectives about their kind. She did not have brown or black fur like them, hers was white, and though she was huge, she was still beautifully slender.

She was marvelous.

" Do you believe me now,... We have to go now or else Cassius will be here soon?? She says, hoping that they would finally believe her...

Well her shredding her clothes was not in vain, for they finally believed her and decided to go with her. She was going to turn back but decided to stay that way instead. She just hoped that the rope would not break as they will all be climbing back up, using the rope.

But to her surprise, the four werewolves, as soon as they were out of the cave, took a huge leap and they just jumped out of the hole without stress, while she was still trying to climb the rope.

She left the rope and as they had done, she took a huge leap out of the hole, all the while thinking why she had not done this when she was going down. She runs into on of the tents, and she finds some men's clothing and then she turns into a woman again and wears what she saw. They had to hurry because Cassius was coming. She cut the rope she used in going into the whole so no one would know anybody was here.

But she had forgotten one piece of evidence...

She mounted Barak, and with that they were out of the battlefield.

When Cassius got to the battlefield, it was a little after midnight. He ordered the two werewolves to go down into the hole and bring out all the heads they found. So they go in and brought out every single piece of body they found. When they were sure they had brought out everything and everybody, Cassius did a headcount himself. There were fourteen heads on the ground...

"How many men did you send down there" Cassius asks

"fifteen sire" Ceteus replies.. "to be exact sire we were fifteen soldiers and five of those coarse Gorthans." one of the werewolves said. "so that makes twenty of you...but there are only fourteen heads, it means four are missing...

He angrily jumps into the hole to check for himself but he could not find anything. He was about going out of the cave when he saw it... It was a woman's corset. He picked it up and and jumped out of the hole..

"was there a women among your men??.." No Sire, they were all men" Ceteus replies

You could see the fury in his eyes,..

"it was her.., it was the witch...he said as he clenches the corset in his hands

" Burn what is left of these bodies,... We ride for the witches cottage."