CHAPTER 6

Andrew and Luminous trudged the bushy pathway that led to the lair of the Witches Three. After mapping out a delicate pan, the duo decided to outsmart the Witches, somehow get into their cave and get answers to their unending questions. This they had carefully planned before setting out.

Walking ahead of Luminous, Andrew pondered in his mind everything she had told him about the Witches Three. Could it be true? Were the Witches Three indeed the villains of his story? All of these replayed in his mind as he alongside Luminous marched across the forest.

After walking the length and breadth of the forest, they finally arrived at the outer parts of The Witches Three's Lair. They stood outside the lair and surveyed the entire area. The cave entrance held a very mystical aura that could be felt all across the forest.

"So, we good?" Luminous spoke up, her eyes focused on the entrance of the cave.

"Yeah, we good." Andrew replied. "Just gimme a go ahead"

"Alright. The plan is for you to enter while I act as bait."

"Easy peesy."

"Great. Let's do this." Luminous said, and then she closed her eyes shut. She knew just the exact amount of energy she had to release to draw out the attention of her creators. As the seconds flew by, a bluish energy beam began to emit from her body. The energy warped itself all around her like a canopy, completely engulfing her entire body.

After about twenty seconds, Luminous eyes flung open, her irises completely covered in blue energy. In a deep and reverberating voice, she beamed, "NOW!"

As planned, Andrew activated his superhuman speed and zoomed into the cave, leaving a contrail of dust behind him. And the moment he sped off, Luminous reverted herself back to normal. She had already achieved her aim and had drawn out the Witches Three out. She could feel their presence.

Just as she has predicted, a dark smoke erupted from nothingness and began to form into a portal. The smoke portal morphed it's shape for some time before achieving a steady shape. Moments later, The Witches Three emerged from within the portal. And immediately they did, the portal disappeared.

"Been the longest, my dear witches." Luminous snickered.

"WE FELT YOUR PRESENCE FROM WITHIN OUR ABODE!" The ever thunderous voice of the Witches came. "WHAT BRINGS YOUR HIDEOUS SELF BEFORE US?"

"This no way to treat a guest like me."

"DO NOT BLASPHEME, CHILD!" The Witches roared. "WHAT WAS GIVEN CAN BE TAKEN."

"Was actually counting on that." Luminous replied. "Living as a supernatural has been tiring."

"YOU MAKE YOUR PRESENCE KNOWN AFTER MANY AGES AND DARE TO BLASPHEME BEFORE US?!"

"I didn't plan to run away. I just couldn't stand being a killing machine for anyone." Luminous retorted. "Vengeance on those who killed my family will never bring them back to life."

"WHAT YOU RAN AWAY FROM, ANOTHER HAS TAKEN YOUR PLACE!"

"Well, he's not me."

"HE NEVER WILL. HE WAS A GREAT LEVERAGE AGAINST THE LYCANS UNTIL YOU CROSSED PATHS WITH HIM. NOW HE IS OF NO USE TO US. THE VERY PLACE HE WAS REBORN, HE SHALL DIE!"

Raising her eyebrows, Luminous paused for a second.

"Shit!" Luminous realized Andrew had zoomed right into the Witches trap. Without waiting a second more, she homed her special powers and reawakened the bluish energy that engulfed her body. Her irises flashed blue and balls of energy beams danced around her palms. "This ends now!!!" She roared.

Luminous shot her palms forward and channeled her energy beams towards the Witches Three. The beams journeyed towards their targets, but halfway, the beams suddenly hung mid-air.

"WHAT WAS GIVEN CAN BE TAKEN!" The Witches Three beamed furiously. And then, with their telekinetic powers, they took control of Luminous' energy beams and redirected back to her. The beams shot through the air and then struck Luminous unto the ground. The impact made her let out a sharp painful grunt.

"YOUR BETRAYAL SHALL BE DEALT WITH WHEN IT IS TIME!" The Three Witches said in unison, their merged voices reverberating from every part of the forest. Right there and then, their cloaked bodies got engulfed by the dark smoke. And after few seconds, the darkness vanished, taking the three Witches along and leaving a weakened Luminous all alone at the cave's entrance.

Feeling weakened by the impact of the strike from her energy beams, Luminous lay on the ground writhing in pains. She felt immeasurable pains all over her body. She had channeled a massive load at the Witches but was struck down instead. She just had to lie down till the pain reduced.

"Andrew....." Luminous muttered weakly as she struggled to get back unto her feet. She successfully stood upright after a few attempts and slowly, she began to walk into the cave. As the seconds flew by, her energy began to return and so she picked up her pace and zoomed into the forest to help Andrew escape whatever the Witches had planned for him.

* * *

[Location: An abandoned Warehouse]

The warehouse had previously served as a storage facility for trucks until it became abandoned. The interior part was occupied by about two dozens of armed masked men. These masked men held riffles and were positioned in specific parts of the warehouse.

At the centre of the warehouse, a table was mounted, and untop of it was a briefcase. A short stout man dressed in a black suit and dark shades sat on a chair close to the table. Apparently, an illegal transaction was about to be made between them and a new party that hadn't arrived.

Seconds turned into minutes before a banging sound echoed from the entrance of the warehouse. All of the guns and rifles held by the masked men were swiftly focused straight at the entrance of the warehouse. Whoever or whatever the intruder was, the masked men were ready to open fire.

Few seconds passed before a female figure approached the centre of the warehouse. As she approached, the guns pointing at her followed her every steps. And as the figure approached, her appearance was revealed to be Kaira, dressed in a tight black overall outfit.

"Do your men know their guns are toys I play with?" Kaira asked in a sarcastic tone. The moment she got within close proximity with the short man, she halted.

"Where's the cash?" The short stout Man asked, his voice was tiny and almost feminine. He remained on his seat.

"Can I take a look at the package?" Kaira requested.

"Sure...." The short man stood unto his feet and unlocked the briefcase lying on the table. And once he had unlocked it, he spun it around for Kaira to glance at. The contents were neat arrays of golden bullets.

"How effective are these?" Kaira asked, her eyes fixated on the package before her.

"I assure you these bullets will put a permanent end to any supernatural." The short man assured, his expression portraying a sharp confidence.

"Then I will take it." Kaira said and reached out for the briefcase.

"Not so fast." The short man swiftly closed back the briefcase and dragged it away from Kaira's reach. "Where's the cash?"

Wearing a stern look, Kaira took two steps forward and placed her palms on the table the briefcase had previously been rested upon. She leaned entirely non the table so as to make sure she was within close proximity with the short stout man who now held the briefcase tightly in his grip.

"There's no cash for you. Just hand over the case and we all go home happy." Kaira warned.

"You have to rethink that." The man smirked. "You're surrounded by more than a dozen armed armed men."

"What Men?"

Revealingly, all of the armed men were all struck down at their very stationed positions either unconscious or dead. Their guns hung down from the bodies of the masked men mounting vantage positions. Sighting this, the short man swiftly bolted across the warehouse in a bid to escape.

"When will they ever learn?" Kaira sighed and shook her head. Just as the man was about to dash through the entrance of the warehouse, Kaira activated her inhuman speed and zoomed to the entrance of the warehouse, cutting off the escapist. Without demurring, Kaira grabbed the man by his collar and with little effort she flung him back to the centre of the warehouse.

Then slowly, she traced her steps back to him. When she got close enough, she bent a bit and grabbed him with both hands and then dragged him unto his feet. She showcased her sheer strength by lifting the man way above the floor of the warehouse and few metres on air.

"I will take the package and walk out of here without giving you a dime and there's nothing you or your superiors are gonna do about it!" Her voice was like a sharp knife that tore through the short man. His entire body was shaking violently.

"Ok...ok..... okay." The man shakily said.

"Nice doing business with you." Kaira smiled and let go of the Man who fell roughly unto the floor. Without another glance at the short Man, Kaira walked out of the warehouse, the briefcase held firmly in her grip.

* * *

[LOCATION: THE WITCHES LAIR]

It had been few minutes and Andrew was still inside the cave of the Witches, seeking for the desired answers he and Luminous sought. He hoped to find those answers within the walls of the cave. As he proceeded forward, he wondered what could be happening between the Witches and Luminous. He really hoped she'd stall them as planned.

With measured steps, he walked ahead. Soon enough, he arrived at the centre of the cave, the very place he had been given his powers ten years ago. The raised stone was still at the same position, the mysterious paintings on the walls and the ever burning torches that lined all over the walls.

Without wasting time, Andrew commenced a swift scrutiny of the room. Moving from one end to the other, he sought to catch sight of anything out of the usual. He moved swiftly because he had no idea how much time Luminous could buy him. Within him, he prayed be he found answers quick.

As he continued his search, a sudden outburst of wind formed from nothingness and propelled Andrew off his feet and unto the walls of the cave. Andrew's body slammed roughly against the cave walls and then plumped unto the ground. Andrew grunted in obvious pains.

Another powerful wind projected itself out of nothingness and shot itself at Andrew once again. But this time around, Andrew was prepared. Swiftly, he pushed himself off the ground and flipped himself rapidly on air in time to evade the destructive wind. He landed back on the ground in a dramatic way.

Panting hard, Andrew waited for his sudden attackers to reveal themselves. Deep down, he knew his plans with Luminous had failed and the Witches had been a step ahead of them. Andrew stood alerted in preparation for any other sudden attacks directed at him.

"NONE CAN TRICK THE WITCHES THREE." A merged trinity of voices suddenly erupted and echoed all over the cave. To this, Andrew did nothing but wait belligerently.

As anticipated, the Witches Three made their presence known before Andrew. They appeared few metres away from Andrew.

"I'm done with this blind acts of vengeance!" Andrew retorted blatantly, his eyes fixed sternly on the Witches Three. "Whatever evil your ageless selves are cooking, you better suck it up or it's gonna get rough for you lot?"

"THE DOG BARKS!" The voices of the Witches Three roared again. "WHAT WAS GIVEN CAN BE TAKEN!"

Andrew scoffed before speaking up. "These powers have become a part of me and if you don't stand down, nothing is gonna be left of you Three when I'm done."

"ENOUGH!!!"

"Okay, that's it. I'm taking you old selves down." Andrew sneered and then, he activated his inhuman speed and charged towards the Witches. Once he arrived before them, he launched his fist at them, aiming to knock them apart.

Swiftly, the Witches simultaneously shot their palms towards and Andrew, enchantments flying from their mouths. In reaction, Andrew felt himself being swept off his feet and flung across the room. His body crashed first untop of the raised stone before violently plumping unto the ground.

"WHAT WAS GIVEN SHALL NOW BE TAKEN!" The thunderous voices of the Witches came. And as they had decreed, Andrew felt himself being pulled apart by a strong force. It felt as if there was an invisible force erupting from the stretched palms of the Witches.

Andrew knelt on the ground, his entire body consumed completely by whatever spell the witches were casting on him. And being unable to physically bear the pains coursing through his body, Andrew screamed. His scream journeyed through the inner parts of the cave deep into the woods.