King Malleus' P. O. V

Parched lips rivalled with an increasingly dry mouth and a throat that threatens to close up has me taking a sudden step back. The person's eyes peering at me rending both myself and my wolf speechless.

My wolf at a lack of words mostly because he's confused, not quite understanding what is going and even though I feel the exact same way; I'm left speechless for another reason all together.

"I know I said I wanted us to get closer but I meant in like a 'bro' way. You're looking at me as if you want to devour me and I mean in the kinky way." The voice I find incredibly annoying almost has me wanting to clamp my ears shut but what stops me is the intermingled voice of someone I'm deeply in love with.

I take a deep breath, trying to collect my thoughts but even that ends up as a terrible mistake since the uncanny scent of Fie invades the entirety of my being. It's almost as if I'm wrapped up in her arms with my nose in the crook of her neck.

Count to ten. Clear your mind.

Following the tedious actions of my own, I rip my eyes away from Ezra and over to the others, wondering if this is only happening with me and the man in front of me or if the others are subjected to this torture as well.

"Malleus. What is happening?" Another voice to my left speaks up, a cautious as always Wolf tilting his head at me from underneath his hood. The signs of skin visible but only the fluid movements of his cloak moving with his own actions.

"I think since I was so focused on making sure their minds were clear," I begin slowly, licking my lips while focusing my sight on Wolf and Wolf only, not daring to glance at Ezra, "I didn't barricade my own mind well enough." The admittance is like poison to my tongue and I have to stop myself from cringing back as the voice I'm trying to block out speaks up.

"What does that mean? What's happening to you?"

My wolf whines lowly in the back of my head, not liking the delicate sound of our mate intertwined so confusingly with someone even the other half of my being considers an annoying pest.

"You're Fie." Is all I get out, turning to look at the man in question but stopping myself from doing so.

It's too weird.

It feels wrong.

"I'm sorry your Majesty, but what?" Thaddeus asks, stepping cautiously away from the gate and venturing closer to me.

"This magic tries to play with your mind even if you're aware of the fact. Right now it's trying to confuse me over the presence of Fie." I inhale deeply, trying my best to not let any scents get to me in any way possible, "Every time I look at him, it's as if Fie and his essence are interspersed. It's difficult to explain." I give up, yanking a hand through me hair and nearly pulling out my hair at its roots.

Silence reigns for a few moments, everyone lapsing into confusing thoughts and I'm sure not even Keir understands exactly what is happening.

"Fie?" The chorus that raises up from around us makes me want to smack every person within this vicinity. The frustration of the current chain of events getting to me and putting me more so on edge than I was when I left Fie to enter this God forsaken forest.

"This must be a tactic by the witches. They must know we're coming and they're trying to throw the King off his senses." A guard a few feet away from me whispers to his comrade, most likely unaware that I can hear him even at the so called discernible level.

"Are you calling me incompetent?" My gaze is directed at the soldier who spoke up moments ago, making him aware of the fact that I heard him and want a serious answer. I ignore the harsh inhale followed by the miniscule sound which erupts as the man shivers in his place, the air shifting around him almost as if that too wants to flee this weird animosity filled condense area.

"N-no-" The guard continues to stumble along his words, taking precious moments in trying to come up with a coherent sentence. The whole debacle starts to grate on my nerves, even though I'm the one who asked him in the first place.

Is it possible to be annoyed at everyone and everything, including yourself?

"Lets just continue up ahead. We should be reaching our destination soon enough. I simply need to clear my head of the magic. I'll do that as we walk." I announce curtly, taking up the lead and trying my hardest to not look at the man who possesses every detail which has me wrapped around my mate's finger. I'm sure this is some sort of a ploy by the witches, even if they are unaware of our whereabouts, it is still a safeguard in order to make their defensive position stronger. Not that it will help us.

Not if I have anything to do about it.

The silence in the surrounding forest is enough to send a shiver down anyone's spine. It's the lack of animal's and insects rivalled with only the snapping of twigs underneath our feet which adds to the creepy essence. Once you add the added factor of the still and almost stale that hangs heavy and low almost like rain clouds ready to wreak havoc on us tiny beings from their great heights.

Just like Fie, I too have a great affinity for rain. The weather bringing some sort of inner peace to me, which is why the Kingdom is always submerged in some sort of sprinkling of water from a slight drizzle to a rapid torrent. The moments before and after the rain which falls from the darkening sky feeling like a second home to me. If only I could say the same to the storm raging above us in this hell hole of a place. Instead of the calming smell of damp soil, there's a strong pungent smell of mold, almost as if the bark of the trees itself are rotting from the inside out, flora and fauna alike diseased and trying to cling on to the remainder of their lives. The once comforting grey sky now a thickening black which brings only apprehension and the fear of a greater evil unknown to us all.

My wolf tries to push itself forward, urging me to clear my own tainted mind since it could cause issues if we have to battle. I can already imagine the embarrassment I'll be putting myself into if worst comes to worse. I'd rather stay here all my life than let that happen. The mere thought of throwing myself into Ezra at a momentary lapse of confusion, my instinct to protect my mate roaring to life coupled with the weird intermingling of Fie' and Ezra's essence together which is only apparent to me.

I try my hardest to ignore the blush raising at my cheeks just at the mere horrendous thought of it all.

Ew.

I crawl back into my headspace, my wolf taking up the front position as he practically sticks his nose high into the air, scenting his surroundings at a rapid space and trying to place anything out of the ordinary which is difficult to do since nothing is normal in this messed up place. It's like that place from Emily in Wonderland.

Emma?

Focus. Your priority at the moment is to get rid of this black magic swirling in your mind. It can't affect you like it did Fie's Luna and then herself, but this small amount can be imperative in this situation right now. I delve deep into my subconscious, almost as if I'm in some deep state of meditation as I try to feel every part of my body, finding out where the root of the magic is embedded. It takes time and almost begins to feel like hours as I tug at the squirming black vein visualised in my mind, the damned thing escaping my grasp multiple times till it finally finds itself ensnared in my grasp, unable to let itself free from the harsh grip I have on it. Subduing it takes even longer, the process being much more difficult now that its victim is me rather than someone else I can easily help out with my magic.

By the time I'm done dispelling the black magic out of me, my body feels lighter and tis almost as if I've started inhaling fresh air after days of inhaling nothing but secondhand oxygen. The strain is evident to me since even though I had pulled myself deep into my subconscious, my body had worked up a sweat as perspiration drips down my brow bone and my muscles ache with a fatigue which is rather unknown to me.

I nudge at my wolf to alert him to the fact the process is done, wanting to take charge of my own body which he does, finally giving me the reins after a gruelling few hours I have just gone through for the magic to leave me.

"How much farther now?" Ezra asks, the man thankfully remaining silent after we crossed through closer to the witches' lair. I guess he is sensible enough to know when to mess around and when not to, although it is very rare for him to realise such an occurrence.

"Just a little-" Thaddeus cuts himself off, his eyes zeroing in on the sight of his interruption, which all of us stare at in utter confusion.

"Is that a rabbit?" Ezra voices out to which my automatic response is a scoff.

"Does that look like a-,"

"Shh. You'll scare it away." I hiss in a low voice, cautious eyes trained on the animal that stares at us with dark eyes. A body wracking shiver runs through me at the eye contact, the pointy ears on its head twitching in our direction.

We're all taken by surprise, barely breathing so as to not let the critter run away. It's unnerving but suspicious at the same time.

How come there's an animal here when there hasn't been a sign of any living animal since we stepped foot into this forest?

It doesn't even look sick or diseased but actually incredibly healthy with a shiny coat and groomed to perfection. The tips of its twitching ears a smokey black but then dissipating into a vibrant orange coat on its top interspersed with splotches of brown. The underbelly and the underside of its jaw from the tip to its tail a fluffy clean white.

"That's not an ordinary fox." Thaddeus whispers ever so discreetly besides me which I answer by nodding my head just an inch.

"That's a familiar."

"I'm not familiar with it." Cue the eye roll from every person with a brain.

"A familiar as in a witches companion. They usually appear in different forms depending on what the witch favours." I inform Ezra who lets out a loud sound of exclamation that probably means it's clicked in that half formed brain of his.

"Isn't a fox a little cliché?"

"Shut up."

The fox stays still, one front paw in front of the other as it watches us with those keen dark eyes.

I'm half expecting it to run away but instead it settles down on its hind legs, ears still twitching in every direction.

"Do we just stand here? I think this means the witches are aware we're here." Thank goodness I've removed the magic from within me because I wouldn't like any part of Fie being hurt when my hands wrap around her cousins neck, squeezing his life essence from him.

The fox finally gets back up, maintaining eye contact with me as it turns around, flicking its tail in a taunting manner before glancing back at us over its shoulder.

"It wants us to follow it." Kier announces to which I hesitantly nod.

That it does.

I tentatively raise my right hand and motion towards it, feeling a bit awkward for having to talk to something that might not even understand me. Luckily for me, the fox doesn't think twice and runs without another look back, it's tiny legs letting it cross great lengths.

This fox must be on steroids.

The rest of the group has to pretty much act lithe and run fast, the fox skimming through the undergrowth at a fast pace and gliding as if the forest is its second home.

Well it's probably it's first home considering it actually is a fox.

"Be quick on your feet and beware of your surroundings. I don't feel as if it's taking us into a trap but we're dealing with witches here." It's almost indiscernible but I swear the small fox threw me a glare over its shoulder after it heard the bitterness in my words at the mention of witches.

It's not like I was lying. Everyone knows witches are ready to stab you in the back at any given moment.

I mean my mom was a witch. I would know. Although I have to admit she is better than most of the witches of her day and age.

A sudden sharp scent hits me in the nose, full of spices and fresh herbs fill the air.

The fox pauses before the rest of us do, the aroma not taking us off guard but slightly startling since I know for a fact that the witches coven is up a few miles ahead and not nearly as close as it is.

"What's going on? I can only smell one scent. How powerful is this witch?" The uneasy tone in Ezra's voice is enough to make anyone nervous, the man deadly serious as he shifts from his casual stance into a stance I've seen before with Apollo. The latter of the two coming up from behind us and right next to me, solemn and silent as always.

"Do we attack, your Majesty?" The question is directed at me but I don't have a chance to answer as a high pitched growl starts up. My eyes darting to the small creature as it lowers itself onto its white tipped coloured paws, it's underbelly nearly touching the ground as it takes a defensive position. Ready to attack our party in order to protect its owner.

"We come in peace." A soft feminine voice filters through the air and practically envelopes us.

My eyes dart this way and that, trying to figure out where the voice is coming from although it sounds like it's surrounding us from every direction with the owner of the voice nowhere in sight.

"My familiar is a bit over protective of me but he means no harm." The voice filters through the forest once more. The detached aura giving me an even creepier vibe than our surroundings did in the first place with the animosity that clogs the air.

"Show yourself." Is all I say, not finding it necessary to make conversation with someone that's too busy hiding instead of showing their true selves.

Of course a witch will play sneakily. They always do

"Please give me your word first, your Majesty. I would rather not be put in harms way and I'm too tired to use any more magic than necessary. It is quite taxing after having spent hours bent over a cauldron."

"Witches actually have cauldrons?" Ezra breaks his serious façade for a brief moment, no one answering him anyways. I don't see why he keeps asking questions in the first place.

Glancing over my shoulder, I motion for the rest of my party to stand down. My signal enough to alert them to relax their fighting stances but not to be completely aloof to any signs of attack.

"You have my word. I promise none of us will attack you." Too focused on waiting for the so called witch to make her appearance, I don't take any regards to the men with me, in particular a man I should always have my eye on considering how uncharacteristic he is, which is why I nearly miss the unusual atmosphere surrounding him.

A quick glance is all I risk, my doubts turning into a clarity that is all too grim for me but nonetheless, I do not comment on it for fear of the other party finding it out for themselves.

True to my words and the witches; a figure appears in the distance as the fox trots over in a breezy manner, rubbing its head against its owner as she makes her way towards us in a dramatic manner.

Why do I feel like I'll have my hands full of this woman as well? Don't I have enough strange people hanging around me every waking moment.

"Welcome to my humble abode, your Majesty." I can now put the voice to its owner even though she is currently dressed in garb which makes it hard to see where she begins and where her clothes end. Tufts upon tufts of cloth cover her from her neck downwards and to the edges of her feet, the material brushing against the soil of the forest. "I apologise for my attire but I needed to protect myself. I get burned easily you see."

I barely have the chance to answer her, a bit taken aback by the youthful look she has to her. I will admit I expected her to look like a haggard old woman and not one bit like she does so now but she looks even younger than I am.

One glance to the side has all my worst doubts confirmed a second time, the witch entirely unaware but the other not at all. It makes somewhat sense I guess.

"We have a lot to discuss. It's up to you if you want to do it peacefully or not." Please say peacefully because I do not want to have a fight with more people than otherwise necessary.

"Of course. I have an inkling to what this is regarding." I nearly miss the slight sarcasm in her words but nod nonetheless, already eager to finish this and get back home to my mate.

I just hope this whole ordeal finishes sooner rather than later.

—————-

AN: Could you tell I had writers block and had no idea where I was going with this chapter? Could y'a? Anyways I have an exam tomorrow but I wanted to push out an update so here you go!

Question: What habit/ trait do you find annoying in people? (I really hate it when people talk to me as if I'm stupid. It makes so angry like ugh. I know I have barely 3 brain cells working but you have 2 so stfu).

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