Down with the king! 6-1

I somewhat got very forgetful of the days I published. Probably because I'm just appreciating my artistic energy while I still have it 😅

Prologue  Chapter 1-1 Chapter 1-2 Chapter 2-1 Chapter 2-2 Chapter 3-1 Chapter 3-2 Chapter 4-1 Chapter 4-2 Chapter 5-1 Chapter 5-2

Chapter 6

The art of negotiating

Minutes passed and the smoke still hadn’t cleared up. With the silence, they thought they had won against the enemy witch but when the smoke vanished in an instant, they were easily disheartened to see the witch was still standing tall. Worst of all is that it seemed unaffected by all the explosives they had used on him. No scratch could be seen, he didn’t even seem disheveled by all of their joint attacks. 

“This is why we don’t associate with you foolish humans” As the witch raised his hand, the earth began to quake. And once he lowered his hand in one swift motion, spikes made out of stone started emerging from the ground. Some of the men got impaled. There didn’t seem to be any escape for them when the witch spread the range of his spikes to a few hundred meters. That was when Cooper and the others came into the scene. They had to do everything they could to stop the purist witch and his rampage over the defenseless humans. 

Camdyn tried to counter the earth magic with his own. Fleta tried to rescue as many survivors as she could by having her winds carry them as far away from the battlefield as she could manage. Winthrop also tried to use his overgrown branches to carry the humans away from the spikes. As for Beverly and Cooper, they did what they could to divert the purist witch’s attention away from the humans. 

“Hey! Your enemy is us! Not them!” Cooper all but shouted while he made use of his new ability to make ice from the air. Ice shards formed and he used those, hoping to deal enough damage against the purist. It made him grin when some of his shards managed to at least leave a few gashes over the witch’s skin and clothes.

Beverly summoned more birds and other animals to attack. She also summoned a few other creatures to help save the humans. While everyone was busy attacking, Alden was doing her best to heal those that were injured. It was harder on her now because of how severe the injuries were. 

While all of that happened, Audrey was still frozen from shock as everyone else was. It was not how their plan should have proceeded. Far from it. None of them ever imagined they would come face to face with one of the purist witches from the other side. What they wanted to achieve was awareness because any new findings always get reported to the leader. 

“Any new findings get reported to the leader…” She thought aloud. That was when the idea hit her. She noticed that those people who were saved, were trying to scurry back into Adroile, hopefully, some of them would be reporting to the leader. They needed to follow those men so she fired a red flare of smoke. They all agreed that they would only ever use it in the case the plan failed or if they ever needed attention on them. In this case, they needed to end this quickly so they could gather and revise their plan.

When the others saw that red flare, they quickly made their escape once they were sure that there were no more casualties around. Of course, they still tried to deal as much damage to the purist witch. They needed him off their trail so with one final strike, Fleta used all her remaining strength to create a strong gust that would blow the purist back to his side of the wall. After their unexpected battle, they all gathered to one side of the wall while Winthrop kept watch in case the purist witch ever returned and was ready to attack again.

“Was it Audrey who used the red smoke?!” Fleta asked in a panic, but as if on cue, they eyed Audrey, already making her way towards them with a larger bag she was dragging around.

“We need a change of plan- put these on quick!” She came running with a bag full of mechanical parts, and a few different clothes for them to wear “We have to follow the crowd to where the leader is while they’ll call for any witnesses they can settle for! Hurry! We haven’t much time!” She gestured for them to hurry before she turned around to allow them some form of privacy to change out of their clothes.

They wasted no time in changing their clothing. All of them seemed uncomfortable out of their traditional clothing, yet it was no time to be complaining. They did require some help with the mechanical accessories. When they got the hang of it and figured out how to put on each accessory, they all made a run towards Adroile’s town plaza. People affected by the commotion gathered there. A number of them still sustained some injuries which Alden was not able to heal. And overlooking them all was their leader, Edric Caldwelle, who was still in a panic over the turn of events. 

“People of Adroile! For the first time in the past few decades, we have been attacked by those evil witches! We must formulate a new plan to counter their attack! Who knows when their next attack would come!” Edric spoke firmly as he eyed each and every person who was gathered at the plaza. His gaze seemed downcasted when his gaze fell upon some of his men that didn’t manage to come back alive. 

The crowd cheered out to show their support towards the leader’s plans, some even went so far as to spite the witches they knew nothing about. Yet some of them just couldn’t bear to celebrate when some of their own perished in the unexpected battle.

“We cannot wait for the summer solstice any longer. We will make use of the time when the sun is at its highest. As for when that is, we will be consulting with our astronomists. For now, we would like to call upon those who are available to fight, and those that are of age to fight. I hope you’re already aware of who you people are, based on the riots. I shall be awaiting your presence in my office in an hour from now.” After the leader’s speech, he quickly rushed to the grounds to ask around what had happened while the riots were ongoing, that very night. He also tried to give his wishes and a few prayers towards those that perished.

“Come, we’ll sneak into his office before everyone else gets in” Audrey talked to them in a hushed tone while the crowd was in a frenzy trying to witness for the leader. “And Winthrop, this time I need you to just stay still and keep watch by that spot. Don’t get seen and make sure nobody sees you when you take the leader back to his office. Go in by the window, we’ll be barricading the door” She pointed to the large vase that had a few tall sprouts planted in it, it was the perfect place for Winthrop to hide “When Beverly gives you the signal, you’ll take the leader to his office, alright?” 

With the people crowding around the leader, it became easier for them to get into the office undetected and unseen. More like… the building was completely vacated so as to tend to the injured citizens. The only time they were ever blocked was when they were about to enter the office. Luckily Audrey’s reputation in the riots was enough to silence the guard so that he would return to his post when Audrey asked. 

Once they were all inside, they barricaded the door with the furniture in the room while Beverly kept a lookout by the balcony. They had to make sure that the leader would be alone. They needed his undivided attention just for this instance.

By the time the leader was done with his interviews and his talks, he made his way back up to the office. That was when Beverly sent out a small bird which acted as the signal Winthrop was waiting for. The very moment the leader passed by him, Winthrop wrapped him around the vines, and swiftly, he rushed the both of them to the office. He made sure to have the leader’s mouth covered so as to not cause noise.

“I have him!” Winthrop announced proudly as soon as he entered the room by the window. He immediately tied the leader to the chair by his desk before joining the others on one side of the room.

“What’s the meaning of this!” leader Edric twisted and struggled out of the constraints. He groaned in frustration until he finally calmed down after a while. It was still reassuring that none of his struggles would work against Winthrop’s vines. 

Audrey took a step forward. She removed her hood “We have something to tell you, leader” 

He looked up at Audrey in shock. He never imagined that the one that used to exclaim about her hatred towards witches so openly, would be the one who would be working side by side with them “A-Audrey?!? What’s the meaning of this?” He exclaimed. “What are you doing with these… these witches?!?”

Chapter 6-2