Chapter Thirteen: The Problem and the Answer

3 days have passed since Kara last layed eyes on Gabriel. And while she was hurt and felt betrayed, she also felt a sense of independence. With Gabriel being out of her life, she would be able to finally start doing things on her own which is something she had honestly always wanted to be. Strong, independent, and smart with how she approached things. Having Gabriel in her life made her feel safe though. She did feel like he brought out a side of her that she was becoming fond of rather quickly. An aggressive side. A side that would punch Victoria and make her pay for what she did.

"Kara Darling, come on. We have to get started" Aurora called out to Kara from outside her bedroom door. This had happened every morning since she asked Aurora to train her. And the training was going very well so far. Up until this point, they had been working on her form, and proper posture which Kara had finally gotten the hang of. Some spells would release an immense amount of force and if she did not having her footing perfect, she would more than likely hurt herself. There was so much that went into the sheer act of preparing yourself to cast that she was surprised. It felt like it was an immense amount to remember and yet everything stuck with her.

Though today was going to be different. Aurora had promised Kara that she would teach her to harness here energy and how to cast for the first time today. This left Kara thrilled. She had been waiting this. " Fireballs, here I come" she smirked proudly as she gathered her things and headed out of her bed room and down the hall, making at left at the end which led into a giant Courtyard. It was surrounded by beautiful flowers with some cherry blossom trees sprinkled around the edges. It was actually quite lovely and peaceful.

This is where she had been training for the past 3 days and she was more than eager to get started. Kara began doing her daily stretches, wearing a black tank top and gym shorts which Aurora had custom made for her. Her hair was up in ponytail and Kara was more than ready for action.

" Okay. So to start, I want you to calm yourself as best as you can. Once you have, I want you to imagine your energy flowing through you. I want you to picture in your mind. And as you do so, focus on that energy coming to one circular point within your chest. From there, slowly channel the energy through your arms and down to your hands" Aurora explains.

" But don't rush it. This is not a race. You have all the time in the world" Aurora reassures Kara who does as she is told. Inside, Kara can feel a warm sensation building. Burning hotter and hotter by the second. She takes a deep breathe and pushes that warmth down her arms and out to her hands. Allowing it to flow, but also making sure to maintain absolute control over it. Control was super important. If you can't control what you cast then you shouldn't cast it.

"Good Darling..now release it" Aurora encourages as Kara nods as Green Flames blast from her hands into a giant flame tunnel stretching out a few hundred feet. And if Aurora had not side stepped this as quickly as she did, she would've been incinerated.

" Close it off " Aurora calls out and Kara closes here eyes which makes the flames extinguish. Kara proceed to jump up and down in the air with joy. " I DID IT! I FREAKING DID IT! I FUCKING MADE FIRE. THAT WAS AWESOME " Kara runs to Aurora and almost tackles her to the ground, hugging her tightly which made Aurora smile.

" I'm so proud of you" She hugs back tightly. " You did so well. I knew you were going to be a fast learner. You definitely learned quicker than I did. Fire was always difficult for me. I was so scared that I would burn myself " Queen Aurora explained. " Luckily, I only burned myself..a few times" they both laughed.

Meanwhile, Gabriel and Victoria are reaching the Lycan Kingdoms lands. Gabriel has a hard time recognizing it from the sight but the smell is all too familiar. " I've missed this place so much" he thinks to himself. He hasn't spoken to Victoria at all the entire trip and has no plans to do so. Everything had gotten so complicated so quickly and he still wasn't sure what he should do about the way Victoria acted. She was always prideful but she was also out of line for the things she did.

The Castle is in the distance and that is all Gabriel wants to focus on. His head hurts as well as his heart. There is an emptiness there that he was not quite sure how to fix. He missed his parents. He missed his home. And most of all, he missed Kara. Be this long without her was eating him alive and yet it had only been three days.

It doesn't take long before they arrive at the castle but when they do arrive, Gabriel is welcomed to a sight that he had never expected. His people, the people he loved so dearly. The people whom his parents died for...were sparse. There were very few if any at all around. And those that were in the line of sight, looked like nothing but skin and bones. " This is worse than I imagined" he said as even more sadness and despair entered his heart.

The town that surrounded the castle smelled of filth and excrement. The streets were dark and muddy brown, and smoke from lone fires choked out the bit of clean air that was not stained with the wretched oder.

As they make their way to the castle, it seemed to only get worse. More and more people looked sick and on the verge of death.

The Castle was tall and made from thick Grey bricks. It was not as shiny as the Witches castle but it was strong and firm. Just like the people the castle was meant for. Thick carved dark wood doors led into the massive throne room where a roundtable sat that Gabriel does not remember being there from his childhood. 7 men and one woman sat in the chairs at the table and stood up to greet him.

" Gabriel!! " One man called out. He was tall, rather plump in his build and had a long fuzzy brown beard with next to no hair on the top of his head. This was Othgar, the oldest adviser to Gabriel's parents. He was almost like an uncle to Gabriel and so Gabriel Greeted him with respect. " Hello Othgar, I have missed you"

Othgar smiled and embraced Gabriel for a hug to which Gabriel responded by hugging him back. Amongst the Lycans. Hugs were reserved for the closest of family and allies. It was a symbol of lowering your guard and you would only do so with people you trust the most.

" Othgar. I don't mean to break up the moment but..what the hell happened to our people. Everyone out there looks as though they are dying" Gabriel points to the doors leading into the town.

It is with this Gesture that Othgar's happy expression changes into a more sad one. He motions for Gabriel to follow him and offers him a seat at the roundtable which Gabriel takes.

" To answer your question Gabriel. We don't really know. At first we were suffering because the woodlands were no longer offering us meals. But we did survive by hunting outside of the territory. We know it was against your parents wishes but we had no choice. You have to understand" Othgar pauses and the others at the table nod.

" But then we started realizing something. We had not been eating anymore than usual. So why were the woodland creatures not showing up? There is no way we over hunted. And then that is when we realized, something was very wrong" Gabriel listened on and crossed his arms.

" And so we started doing some digging. And discovered that not too far from here but also just outside of our territory. Animals..by the thousands were piled atop one another. Infested with a disease the likes of which we have never seen before. And judging from the fact that they were stacked...someone infested them on purpose. We know this is a direct attack on the kingdom but from whom we can't be certain" Othgar answered.

" Perhaps the same people that killed my parents.." Gabriel answered which many at the table, whilst not speaking it, seemed to be of the same opinion.

" Yes but we can't be sure of that. We don't know who killed you parents and we don't know who did this. But what we do know is that the infestation is now affecting our people. And we aren't sure what to do about it. We of course, Consulted Queen Aurora about it but she said that this doesn't seem to be any form of magic. She said that it seems like a special type of poison hybrid could have caused this. If we are being honest..we don't believe her. Something is just off to us about it.

This has been going on for months and we knew you'd be returning soon so we tried to hold out as best as we could. But it's growing more and more difficult as you can see"

Gabriel looks around the room and debates on what to say. Is it possible that Queen Aurora knows something? And if so, why would she not give answers or aid? Is she protecting someone?

" Well..all I can say for now is that I want time to think on the matter. I think I may have a couple of solutions but I can't promise anything. But we will find a way to fix this..somehow" Gabriel stands up from the chair as the rest of the council nods and leaves the room. Othgar stays and heads closer to Gabriel.

" I know, this is not what you would've wanted to come home to. But we have been trying our best in your absence.." Othgar clears his throat. " I hope you managed to get the Princess home safely and for what it's worth. I don't blame you for any of this. I know that alot was put on you at such an early age. And I did speak out on your behalf"

Gabriel nods and pats him on the shoulder as Victoria steps foward. " Come on Gabriel..I'll show you to your room"

Back at the Witch Kingdom, Kara and Aurora are resting in the courtyard. They had been training for hours and the day was almost over. Kara had made so much progress in such a short time that in a few months, she would be a well experienced Witch.

" I have a question..." Kara asks as she wipes the sweat from her forehead. Aurora nods in acceptance of the question so Kara continues. " Margerat. She was human. And she raised me my whole life. To me, she is my mother. But I have to ask. Why would you put her in charge of me? It seems like such a random choice. Not a bad one..just..random".

Queen Aurora laughed and then let out a long sigh. " When I first met Margaret. She was just a young girl, about the same age as you. She was a human. A strange human who at one time, was just about as curious as you are. I'm not sure entirely how she did it, but she managed to open a portal here which she said was through the use of some books she found at a library. Some damn powerful books if you ask me " Aurora laughed.

" Anyway, I was a young Witch myself and loved going out on adventures. Going through he woodlands. Chasing Glubkens and just having fun. Being cooped up in the castle was not the idea of fun i had in mind at the time. Anyway, I was walking through the woods one day when I saw a shiny light coming from behind a tree. I rushed over to it, and found a portal coming out of the back of the tree. And me being me, I walked through it. No questions asked. Could've been walking right into my own doom and would've never been the wiser. And guess whose house I stumbled into when I came out the other side"

Kara smiled and looked over at Aurora. " Margeret was shocked to see me just as I was shocked to see her. But after talking for what must've been hours. We became friends. I had never been to Earth before and this was actually the first time I learned of its existence. Margert took me around to different places and showed me as much as she could fill the day with before I had to return. And every so often I would come back to visit her. I knew you would be safe with her."

Kara was shocked to learn that Margerat even knew any form of magic and fact that Aurora had been to earth. " So what did you think of Earth?" Kara asked as she looked back down at the ground. " I...well I hated it at first but after going there more often and meeting the people. I came to love it. That is why I swore to protect it as much as I could. It seemed to precious to lose. Just like you" Aurora nudged the arm of Kara who laughed.