Chapter 5. ELLA

My abductor held me tight in his hairy arms that felt like they hadn't been shaved in years. Branches hit my body leaving tiny bruises on me. I looked closely at him and so that he was lupus. This was a backfire. I was half a creature of chaos. I won't go down without a fight. I concentrated my chaos ready to t-push him to the ground.

A burn went straight through my arm. It was my sigil. The one of Paricius. The symbol of a sun with a coil going to the middle. Why was it activating? Last I checked, they only activated if one was willingly going against a set plan. Was it the plan to allow me to get abducted by him? To not put up a fight. The plan was to allow them to take me straight to their hideout. What a twisted messed-up plan!

My head hit more branches and I took the chance. I pretended to faint. I kept on thinking of a way out. A female voice said, "I will allow you into the Archives." I knew this voice–Freya's. My conscience was transported to a big library made up of opaque dark blue quartz all around. The shelves were made of lapis lazuli-like crystals. I was in the place where all knowledge about Stella was kept. I hope they have information on what I want. I went straight to the librarian's desk. The desk was large and tall. Like it, its librarian was as tall and big as a giant. I was at the height of her ankle.

She had dark brown skin with long wavy black hair and pure white glowing eyes wearing a white female Greek chiton. Her eyes terrified me the 1st I saw them. She asked, "What brings you to the Archives, Ella?" I replied, "Greetings, Freya. I came to conduct some research on my current enemy, Lupi." She commented, "Those mixtures of hair and quills. They are like porcupines mixed with a wolf and human DNA. They have a whole book written about them. My minor will help you get the book aka the fragment." She pulled out a strand of her hair. She let it fall to the ground. Seconds later, a mini-version of her stands where the hair landed.

The Mini-Freya said, "Shall we get to it?" I nodded and she dashed through the shelves. We eventually reached one that left Mini-Freya holding a fingertip at the books reading each title. She reached out and pulled a book out of the shelf. It was grey with some brown on its cover. It was titled, "LUPI" She handed me the book and disappeared into thin air.

I put the book on a nearby table and sat down to watch. I placed my hand on the book and was immediately sucked into an illusion that graphically explained the Lupi. In summary, the Lupi are werewolf-like creatures with enhanced smell, speed, strength, and agility. They harbor two forms so they can easily pass as normal humans. They could also use some rare fruit to produce poisonous vapor.

I awoke in a metallic cage. I was in some sort of camp with tents and campfires everywhere. They were Lupi everywhere. All of them in their human forms. I lunged forward for the cage bars. I felt a burn on my hands. It felt like I touched hot iron. I quickly pulled my hands away. The cage bars were imbued with order.

2 people noticed that I had woken up and went straight to my cage. One was my abductor while the other was an Italian woman with brown eyes and black hair. She was wearing a brown t-shirt with a wolf paw designed on it, and black jeans. She looked about 40.

She asked, "Why did you bring her here, Luke?"  Luke replied, "She was following me around all day." She said, "So you bring her here of all places." Luke went in for the defensive, "I wanted to interrogate her, Victoria. I couldn't allow her to stalk me without any answers about why she is doing it. I know I am irresistible but still why did she do it." Time to put on an act. I said trying to sound as scared as possible, "Some guy on the street paid me to do it. I took the money because my family has been struggling lately and I wanted to help them out." He asked, "What did he look like?" I quickly thought and described the 1st thing that came to my mind, "He was wearing a long light brown jacket with a black facemask and a black hat." He didn't look convinced. He said angrily, "That sounds like you just made up." Victoria looked at Luke with disturbance in her eyes. She said, "What have you brought this innocent girl into? A war she has no involvement in."

I asked, "What war? The last war I heard of was between Russia and Ukraine." Victoria's eyes filled with sadness. She said, "We have been spotted enough by the villagers. If we let her go, she will inform them of this place and swarms of people will come for us." Luke said, "We can just kill them all." She said, "We are mostri, Luke. We are beings of order. We attack enigma, not humans. Remember that." Luke said, "Sorry I even suggested that but she can't be released. I still suspect she is a mystic. Prove me wrong, girl. Touch the bars." Eyes revolted to me.

I complied at least in their eyes I did. To me, I left a little space - so little even I could barely see it. I use my chaos to assist me with the task. Luke looked dumbfounded. Victoria looked even angrier at him. She knelt to me. She said, "Am sorry young one but we can't let you go." She bit into a weird-looking fruit and breathed out a mist of purple vapor. It was the vapor the book informed me about. I wished I could control all states of matter but no I could only control solids. I couldn't t-push the purple vapor away. I had to just comply. Enigma did have a high tolerance to poison.

I took in some of it. My nostrils stung. My lungs felt like they were on fire. My body ached. My veins felt narrower. My eyes hurt. My body felt nauseous and weak. It fell to the ground. My vision blurred. My senses went down. The vapor had taken a toll on my human side. I stared at Victoria. Her gaze was apologetic, unlike the confused look on Luke's face. I heard a heartbeat of adrenaline. My mystic side activated resisting the vapor in my body. My senses slowly but surely returned. The pain reduced to a pinch of what it was. I was alive.

Luke smiled knowing he had just got proof. He said, "You see. She is a mystic. She survived. No human is supposed to survive that." Victoria said, "I guess we have to inform Alpha." A deep voice said, "That won't be necessary. The girl is to fight one of our teen wolves. She will act as a qualification challenge that will decide which teen wolf qualifies to fight for the position of the next alpha."

The source of the voice was a big brawny 40-year-old man who looked like Luke who was wearing a brown coat with a black shirt and jeans. Luke asked, "Whom do you have in mind?" Alpha replied, "Octaviet" Luke's face rejected the appointed name. Luke said, "You want that new refugee to take the opportunity from our children." Alpha said, "He has proven to be more capable than all of them combined and didn't ask for your opinion. So never again should you question my orders." Luke said, "Forgive me."

Alpha said, "Get Octaviet. We begin the ceremony now. It will be held at the pit."  Lupi lifted my cage. Seconds later, I was thrown into a deep dark ditch. I heard the chanting of a crowd. They chanted, "Octaviet" A howl was heard. A blonde umber brown-skinned boy with green eyes dropped into the cage. He looked 17. He was wearing a dark green t-shirt and light brown sweatpants lighter than his skin. I could barely see in this pitch-black pit.

Alpha said, "Today our teen wolf turns into the next successor for the alpha position." I could feel Luke's jealousy all the way down here. Fear peaked into my thoughts when Octaviet transformed into a massive humanoid brown wolf with quills running out his back. The odds were against me. I had no weapon and no sight of my enemy when he went to certain parts of the ditch. He also knew this and used it to his advantage.

He went into the shadows and attacked me. I didn't see him coming until he dug his claws into my arm. My blood ran out and fell to the floor painting it red. The pain burnt my eyes. I used it as my fuel. From this point forward, I will use "t-" to mean telepathically or telekinetically. I t-pushed him to the wall. He stood up and disappeared again. I had some footsteps that ended behind me. I quickly turned and wasn't quick enough.

He charged straight at me and hit me to the wall. He captured my neck and started strangling me. My mind ran wild – confused about how to react. I tried with all my might to t-push him off but he instead tightened his grip more. My heart was pounding with the fear of death. I felt the air in my lungs reduce to nothing. My consciousness ran thin. To make things worse, he started punching me hard in the gut. Each punch carried more strength than the other. The pain was so excruciating that I screamed with the little air present in my lungs.

Was this the pain of death? A figure came into view. It was a man in a green hoodie and a black mask. He stared straight into my dying eyes, "Your purpose has not expired, Ella Neurage. I will take that clog in your power maybe it can help you." He held out his hand releasing orange light from it. I felt free like a caged bird finally uncaged. I mouthed, "Thank you." Octaviet's arm broke on the spot. He released his grip on my neck. He retreated in pain. I didn't let him. He had hurt me badly. He deserved nothing but death. I t-broke his leg. He fell to the ground and tried to limp away. Before he could get far, I t-turned his neck. He fell to the ground lifeless. I felt an atom of remorse for him. He was nothing but a pawn in this war just like all of us. What made me deserve life more than him? He was also forced into this.

The audience was twinning with their jaws dropped. I could only see one person smiling at me. It was Luke–happy that I had taken care of his competition for alpha. Anger and sorrow were drawn on Alpha's face. He had bloodlust in his gaze. Before any of them could…, kaboom. An explosive went off followed by others. I smiled knowing he had done it. He had set the plan into motion.