Chapter 228: Secret room

Paccia looked around her as she followed Jose, who was walking in front of her. Behind her were Paxon and Riowins. Riowins was at the very back, whereas Paxon was in between, together with Paccia.

Before they had entered the den, Paccia had felt something ominous drifting from the inside but she couldn't put a finger to what it was. She noticed the stiffened and cautious way of how Jose was walking in front of her and knew that he must have noticed it as well.

However, the four of them continued to move forward while being careful. The smell of rotting leaves and moss grew stronger the deeper they walked in. To describe the place as a den was probably inaccurate since it looked more like a cave. It was quite dark inside and it was fortunate that they were still able to see what was inside. Water dripped down from the ceiling, indicating that there was water flowing above them.

Although it was only a few minutes since they had been inside, for the four of them, it felt like ages. Paxon, who was behind Paccia, moved closer to the wall, touching it as if to try to feel something. It was damp, hard and wet.

With his hand still on the wall, they continued to move forward when Paxon suddenly stopped. Paccia, too, stopped.

Jose, who was in front of them, stopped when he noticed the abnormal behavior they were showing. "What's wrong?" he asked, confused.

Paxon only looked at Paccia, without answering him.

Paccia gave them a look for them to keep quiet. She silently casted a spell, conjuring a small ball of light in her hand. She then flicked the ball of light in front of her, casting a low light around them. The ball of light started to jump around the den, bouncing against the wall before disappearing back in Paccia's hand.

The three shifters looked confused as they stared at her hand, which no longer held the ball of light.

Oblivious at the bewildered look on the three's faces, Paccia's face grew thoughtful. She looked around and then said softly, "Someone was here. Or rather… a group of shifters were here."

Jose and the other two looked surprised at her comment. "How come we could not detect them earlier?" he asked. Werewolves were known to have the best sense of scent. So it was quite shocking that they weren't able to scent anything at all.

Paccia shrugged. "It's either they were good at hiding their scent or because the smell here overpowers their scent, which I doubt," she said.

"Could it be that they have a witch in their group that helps cover their scent?" Jose asked again.

Paccia shook her head. "There's no sign or indication that there was a witch presence, other than myself," she disagreed. She then looked at the three shifters and told them to be more careful.

Few minutes later, the four of them continued their way in until they reached a wooden door. Paccia and the other two shifters turned to Jose, who was considered as the leader and the strongest among the four of them.

Jose nodded before trying the knob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. This made them become more wary. The former slowly opened the door.

Anticipating a surprise attack from inside, they were further surprised to find that there was none. They all walked in and saw that the inside was not what they expected.

The room they walked in was a living room. And it was quite… homey? There wasn't a single furniture overturn. It was as if the place wasn't ransacked before. Everything was in its place; the chairs, the coffee tables, the grandfather clock, the fireplace.

They all frowned in confusion. Didn't Bastian say the place was destroyed? That, not a single thing was left out in its destruction.

Paccia walked over to one of the armchairs. She warily touched the furniture. It was real.

"What's going on here?" Riowins asked as he walked over to Paccia's side.

"There's something strange here," Paccia murmured as she looked around her.

After a few minutes of walking around, the four of them meet up in the middle of the room and discuss amongst themselves.

Jose held up a strand of hair in front of him. "I found this underneath one of the chairs," he said.

Both Paxon and Riowins took a quick sniff at the hair. Their eyes widened when they realized what the scent was.

"Bear shifters?" Paxon said in surprise.

Jose nodded grimly.

"How did a strand of a bear shifter end up here?" Riowins asked aloud.

"That's what we're about to find out," Jose said.

Paccia looked up at Jose and said, "Show me which armchair it was."

Jose immediately pointed to one of the armchairs that was a bit further from them.

Paccia swiftly rushed over and started to chant a spell. She casted the spell over the chair and waited for a few seconds.

Soon after, a glow of green light covered the whole armchair. There was a sound of sizzle and sparkle coming from the light. And then the chair suddenly broke into smaller pieces.

"Wha---" the three shifters exclaimed in surprised.

Then something more surprising came out from the broken chair. The green light suddenly morphed into a form that looked like a bear. It is then divided into more bears.

From what Jose and the other two shifters understand, it seems like Paccia was trying to reenact what had happened before in the room using the strand of hair.

They continued to watch what the morphing lights were trying to do.

They were surprised to see that their surroundings suddenly changed into a place of destruction. It was then they realized that they were now in the illusion of the past.

The morphed bear lights started to clean the place, which confused the shifters even more. Once they had cleaned the place, one of the bears walked over to the grandfather clock and started to fix it. Although it was not fully repaired, it stood tall against the wall. The bear then reached for the pendulum and started to shake it along with the chain. A loud ringing reverberated throughout the room, making the four of them cover their ears from the noise.

And suddenly, the fireplace, which was the only one in the room that wasn't destroyed, began to emit a creaking sound.

The four of them looked over and were surprised to see there was a pathway that was revealed after the creaking sounds had ended.

Shortly after, the illusion ended and they were back to the current time where the furniture was all neatly arranged, even the grandfather clock.

Paccia nodded at Jose, who nodded back. The latter walked over to the clock and imitated what the bear had done.

Soon, the same thing happened.

Looking at the pathway, Jose turned to Paccia and the other two and said, "We should inform Elder Zyair and the others about this."