CHAPTER 38:

"Birds of prey? What does that mean?"

"I'll explain on the way…let's get our horses and saddle up" Imogen said nicely.

We went to the royal stables and saw all the beautiful horses they had.

The horses we rode when coming into this city were there as well and fed properly.

After picking out our horses, we casually rode them into the town.

"so…what are the birds of prey?" I asked again after riding for 20 minutes in silence.

"well as you know, our kingdom is filled with different types of people with different conditions. The Birds of Prey are our eyes in the sky and an elite unit of fighters-"

"but how did they get their wings?"

"well some of them were cursed others were experimented on"

"by who or what?"

"witches" Imogen answered.

"I thought there was no such thing as witches or magic" I looked down.

All my life, I had never witnessed anything magic related so I never believed such even existed.

"well they''re real and really bad. Like look at Alya she wasn't born with wings but cursed. She was all alone and hunted down…that's when we found her. It wasn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last" Imogen explained.

"so people that get cursed get wings?" Sam asked rolling his eyes.

"you'll see soon enough how bad curses can be" Jackie said, irritated as usual and Sam's confidence went away.

"but couldn't the curse be undone?"

"it's not easy to undo a curse especially if you're not the one that placed it"

"they can cure it temporarily but not 100%"

I began to feel bad for them.

Their lives had been changed forever and who knows how it could affect their children.

Why was the world so full of hate?

It didn't take too long before we were in town and the commoners greeted the royal family.

I saw different kinds of people that left me in shock.

There were people who had the ears of foxes and cats or antlers like a deer, some had tails, others had fangs; some had a different lower body all together.

And they were living happily amongst those who I considered normal.

"now you see why we have to protect our city and keep it hidden from the world. These people had nowhere to go and were exiled. Fortunately, they were close to our boarders and we took them in"

"do they only have to come through Redlake?" Eri asked.

"not exactly; there are hidden passage ways in the other dark kingdoms as well; the same way we found you. Scouts are placed there to monitor and see whoever that poses a threat to our lands" Jackie explained without looking at any of us.

"here everyone is happy and we use our differences to aid each other and not to make jest. We have created the perfect world where almost anyone is free to come. There are parts of our kingdom that are meant to host other creatures who don't feel brave enough to walk amongst those who aren't their kind"

"here everyone is happy" Imogen smiled while we kept on riding.

They really have created the perfect world.

Me-maw was right.

If only she was here to witness all this.

.........…

Throughout today I hadn't felt the presence of the hooded lady.

I knew I had upset her and needed to apologize but how?

She's the one who normally takes me to the void so it's not like I could get there myself.

If only I wasn't being so stubborn and selfish I wouldn't feel this lonely.

I tucked myself in and looked up to the ceiling allowing myself to be consumed by my thoughts.

Shortly after, I drifted off to sleep.

Surprisingly, I woke up in the void.

I didn't know how I had gotten here if it was by my own power or the hooded lady brought me here.

I looked around and I was truly alone until I noticed a figure far away.

"hooded lady? Is that you?" I called out.

The figure turned around and it WAS the hooded lady.

"please I need to talk to you" I tried moving forward but she took off running to where I had no idea of.

I had no other choice but to chase her.

"where are you going?" I was slightly faster here than in real life but I was no match for that of the hooded lady.

"come back! Please!"

The deeper we ran inside the void the less it became white.

I could see what looked like a forest from afar and that was where she was heading to.

"I really need to talk to you" if she enters the forest, it will be harder to keep up with her.

"stop!" I yelled about grabbing her cape when she vanished into thin air.

I looked around and was totally surrounded by trees and wildlife.

I turned around but there was nothing…not even the void.

Where was I?

"hello Lyra" the hooded lady said from behind me.

"hi….urmm I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I had no right to talk to you like that" I bowed my head with shame.

"I forgive you…and besides it's time you knew about your heritage"

........

The Jackal's POV:

The whole palace was quiet; everyone had gone to sleep.

Everyone except me.

Since the arrival of these 'outsiders' according to me, I havn't slept properly.

Especially Sam.

He stood out to me but I don't try to over think it because 'they' were all the same.

I've been having suspicions about them all and don't trust the fact that they brought back the ancient crystal of witches.

"it could be a fake" I tried to console myself late that night.

"but only the citizens of the lost city and the witches know about its existence!" I ran my fingers through my hair.

Then my ears heard something in the hallways.

It sounded like footsteps but they were flapping on the floor so the person in question was barefoot.

Sword in hand, I quietly opened the door to face my attacker but it was only Lyra thus raising my suspicions even more.

"what're you doing out by this time?" irritation laced in my voice as usual.

Lyra didn't answer her but just kept on moving.

There was something odd about her...something that was beyond me.

I was about to touch her and when I did, I felt noting I had ever felt before

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