Chapter 24: Chapter 24

I can’t help but appreciate all the love I am getting from you all. Thank you so much, guys!!!

Happiness is a beautiful thing

Family is a wonderful gift

And life can be so good,

That all thoughts of evil

Could evaporate.

However, while this family

Is celebrating

Chaos and Catastrophe

Lurk in the dark,

Waiting.

One thing does this teach us,

We cannot be too sure

Of what the next second could bring

Life truly is unpredictable.

- PenaciousShewa

“Happy, happy, happy, happy birthday; happy, happy, happy, happy birthday, we all wanna wish you a happy birthday!”

Kayola wakes up to the sound of her family wishing her a wonderful and enjoyable birthday. Although their singing voices are nothing to write home about, she can feel the love and pride in their voices. A tear tugs at the sides of her huge eyes as she speaks.

“Thank you, Papa, Mom, Aunt Petra, and Aunt Mira,” she sniffs.

“Aww…don’t cry, my darling,” Wanda says. “It’s your birthday”

Kayola nods with a huge smile on her face.

“Alright, you need to get ready for your special day. The ball will start by 4 pm, and you have to have your hair, makeup, and outfit ready before that time. It’s gonna be a blast, baby!” Petra says, hyper as ever.

Petra’s excitement spreads to Kayola, and she shoots out of her face and hugs all of them tightly, one after the other.

“Errrr…Aunt Petra, can I quickly go and see Keevan before my makeover starts?” She asks, pouting her beautiful lips.

“Of course, baby. It’s your birthday, you can do what you like, eat what you like and kiss who you like,” Petra finishes, winking expertly at her goddaughter.

Kayola blushes really hard and rushes into the bathroom to brush her teeth. The others leave her to be by herself. After freshening up, she goes to see Keevan, and they talk for a long time, professing their love to each other and whispering sweet nothings.

Awwwwwwwwww. I am rooting for them. Are you?

Soon, Kayola has to go back into the mansion, and into the dressing room. Here, she finds Petra and Mira armed to the teeth with hair extensions, dresses, makeup, shoes, clutch purses, hair clips, you name it.

“Thank you, Aunties,” Kayola says as she settles in front of the dressing chair.

Petra, Mira, and the younger makeover artist all get to work on Kayola, and in a few hours, she is set to go. Kayola’s long, black mane is styled above her head, accentuating her delicate neck. Her gown is the color of the sun, speckled with expensive stones, and showing off all her curves. Her shoes are white and flat, softly hugging her feet.

“Oh, my” Petra gasps, “You are exquisitely beautiful, my darling”

“Thank you so much, Aunt,” she says, as she stares at herself in the mirror. “I love my look”

There is a knock on the door. At Mira’s invitation, Keevan walks into the room and stops dead in his track, staring at Kayola.

Petra wiggles her eyebrows and says, “I know, Keevan; Kayola is looking like a snack right?”

*******************************************

The ballroom is breathtakingly beautiful. The chandeliers spiral down from the arching royal-blue ceiling, illuminating the glimmering golden walls and a floor so polished it looks like an iced-over lake. It is filled with the chatter of various wolves, and Kayola walks majestically into the room, taking in the scenery with her eyes.

The presenter, on sighting them, announces their presence, and the crowd rises up and gives them a standing ovation. Even her father, who is on the throne, stands and beams widely, very proud of her. As she walks down the aisle to her seat, she has a very bad feeling, and as much as she tries, she cannot shake it off.

What could be wrong?

She shakily walks to her designated seat, her arm locked in Keevan’s. Soon, the party is in full gear, and everyone is merry, congratulating her on her newest milestone. Milos is also beaming with pride, as his only seed is twenty-one. In four years, she will be marked by Keevan, and they will procreate, continuing the bloodline.

Or not.

Less than half a mile away from the Conscientious territory, is Devilio and his cohorts, and they are getting ready for the invasion of all times. Their plan is foolproof, and nothing can go wrong.

“Archers! Be in position!” He commands.

“Yes, Alpha” the archers, over a thousand of them chorus.

“When you hear the horn, fire your arrows of fire at the gate, and the rest will be done by me and those with me”

“Yes, Alpha” they chorus again, and stand perfectly in position, waiting to hear the horn go off.

With this, Devilio marches towards the Conscientious Territory with over five hundred soldiers. They are armed with bows and arrows, spears, swords, javelins, axes, daggers, maces, shotel, you name it. They reach the territory and surround it on the right, left, and back. They stay away from the front gate so that they will not be hurt by the arrows of fire proceeding from the bows of the archers standing afar off.

At Devilio’s silent command, the soldier assigned to the Horn blows it as loudly as he can. Almost immediately, thousands of arrows fly at the gate of the Territory, trying so hard to set it on fire. The gate, at first, is able to repel most of the arrows, but soon enough, it is weakened by the consistency of the enemy archers. Soon, the gate catches fire and begins to burn slowly, but surely.

However, the powerful sprinklers positioned at the gate are immediately activated, and liquid pours on the gate, dousing the fire.

Phew. What a relief.

Unfortunately, this is also part of the strategy of the attackers, as the water in the faucets has been replaced by petrol, and I’m sure you can guess who did this.

The one-legged Sebastian.

To the utter dismay of the soldiers in the Territory, the gate erupts in a very huge fire, fueled by the contents of the sprinklers. Already, Milos has been notified of the attack, and the ball is in disarray, and the wolves are in fear. Milos quickly mobilizes his soldiers, and they prepare to launch an attack at every Rogue who comes into the territory. What they fail to realize is that they are surrounded by Rogues. Thus, even before the Territory gate falls flat on its feet, Milos’ soldiers begin to fall, as spears, arrows, javelins hit them from every angle.

Milos whispers to his Beta, Adonis, and asks him to get Kayola, Petra, and his beloved Wanda to safety. He covers his Beta and the latter quickly locates the trio and takes them through the tunnel and into the thick forest. He goes back to the battlefield only to see that Milos is the last man standing. Adonis does all he can, and fights right beside his Alpha, but soon, he is overpowered by the Rogues and is brutally murdered.

Devilio comes face to face with Milos and sneers at him. “Look at you, alone and afraid. The territory which you built with your blood has been reduced to nothing”

“I am not afraid of you, you Rogue bastard!” Milos spits.

“I do not care whether or not you are mortified by me; all I want is your sword” Devilio states clearly.

“The Vanatian sword will never fall into the hands of a Rogue,” Milos asserts firmly, and even if he is scared, he doesn’t show it.

“We’ll see about that,” Devilio replies with meaning. He signals to one of his soldiers and they bring a little child to him. Devilio places a sword on the neck of the terrified child and speaks slowly and calmly.

“Give me that sword, or the child dies.”

“You Rogues cannot be trusted, and how do I know that you will not still kill her after I relinquish the sword?.”

“You are at my mercy, so shut the hell up!” He howls at Milos.

Milos looks into the eyes of the little child and slowly drops his sword, knowing that this will be the end of him. Only the Vanatian sword can kill an Alpha, Rogue, or otherwise. He looks up into the skies and in a flash, sees his late father smiling at him, and mouthing these words, “We will win in the end”. This gives him so much joy that even when Devilio quickly plunges the sword into his heart, he hardly feels the pain, as all he wants to do is join his progenitors.

Milos falls on his knees and closes his eyes in death. Soon, he is home.

Upon the death of the Alpha, the Rogues, led by Devilio, massacre the male wolves of the Territory and take the females and the children captive. They plunder the Territory and take all their gold, musical instruments, and of course, weapons. It is indeed a field day for the Rogues.

However, Devilio is looking for something or someone, and he is getting angrier with each passing minute because he can’t find who or what he is searching for.

Can you guess what he is searching for? Please, let me know in the Comments/Reviews section.

Also, please tell me what you feel about this chapter. I shed a few tears, though.

Thank you for the constant love and support. I love you all!!