Deal With The Devil

The knock on her door caught Auroras attention and she was near the entrance at once. She opened the door to witness two buff men standing outside the door waiting to be welcomed inside. Aurora acknowledged both the men with a smile and gestured them to step in.

“I guess there is an emergency for you two to show up.” Aurora spoke as she followed the men inside her cottage.

Arthur and Garrick sat besides each other and exchanged worried looks before Garrick spoke “I don’t know what else to do?”

“We cannot handle the situation any longer.” Arthur added

“I know there are problems right now but we have to wait for the alpha to arrive.”

“But where is he? And why didn’t he tell anyone where he was going?”

“This question I cannot answer Arthur.”

“But at least you could tell us if they are safe and when they’ll return.”

“I tried to connect with Callan but he is not responding.”

All of a sudden Garrick was tensed. He looked bewildered and a bit angry “Why is Ashton with them?”

“He was called.”

“You know it isn’t a good idea.” He looked accusingly at the women in front of him. Aurora understood what the man was trying to imply but she kept her mum for this wasn’t the right time for arguments.

However Garrick wasn’t stopping his word bashing “The man is good for nothing. He is a burden to the entire convoy. He will put himself in trouble and disrupt the alpha and his mission. Had I known he was going to be involved in the mission I would have..”

“You would’ve what beta of the blue moon pack.”

Garrick was left astounded by the sudden interjection as he looked at the source of the sound behind the witch. Two beautiful ladies appeared from the inner room and stood besides Aurora. Garrick was pleased to see the face he missed over the past so many days. However Fayette on the other side looked pissed at the man in front of her. The bowl which she held in her hands was constricted by the pressure she put through her palms. She was angry beyond measure.

“Listen here you...” Aurora held Fayette’s arm and gestured her to not say anything right now. Fayette sighed and swallowed her anger. She focused her eyes on Arthur and bowed her head in acknowledgement. However the gamma looked completely captivated by the lady who stood besides Fayette.

The human giggled and waved her arm in front of Arthur “Staring is impolite.”

Arthur’s brain froze for a moment before he realized what he was doing. He quickly shut his mouth and embarrassingly looked at the roof. Aurora and the two ladies giggled at Arthur’s behavior.

Garrick looked apologetically at his mate for he realized he had hurt her “I never knew you were here.”

“What would have changed beta? You would have still hated my friend.”

Garrick was trying his best to keep his anger under check but when it came to his beloved his agitation soared. Garrick was always wary of the closeness the human had with his mate and he didn’t like it. More importantly his mate was trusting another instead of her destined. This wasn’t going too well with him

“What is it to you.” he scrunched his nose in frustration “Why do you care about him so much?”

The accusatory tone of the wolf made the environment tensed all of a sudden. Fayette’s expression mirrored the same that of Garrick’s and she was out of her patience. She couldn’t understand the intense dislike which Garrick harbored within him but she couldn’t bear to stand still when it came to Callan.

She opened her mouth to show the man his place but the mysterious girl beat her to that. “She doesn’t owe an explanation to you. The only thing you understand is hate. You will never know what the man means to us.”

“And who are you?” Garrick gritted his teeth in anger. He looked at the unknown face for quite some time, trying to decipher her identity. However it was Fayette who diverted the beats attention.

“She is my cousin Isadora.”

“I haven’t heard of her before.” Arthur whispered. As if in a daze he kept gawking at the long beautiful hair which were unbraided and shined through her shoulders. He looked at Fayette “You haven’t told me about her.” he knotted his eyebrows “I think I know her from somewhere..”

The three women exchanged looks of worry before Fayette laughed nervously at the gamma “For gods sake Arthur! Think about your mate.” She awkwardly pointed a finger to the women “Isadora has come to live with us for a few days. She gets the same reaction wherever she goes.” The ladies giggled with a withering confidence.

“We should go.” Isadora spoke in a jiffy “The men were here to discuss something important with the lady.” she looked at the wolves and bowed her head “We are sorry to disturb you.” she gestured Fayette to leave the place at once and said her final goodbyes to the witch.

As soon as the two ladies took a step ahead towards the door Garrick shouted “NO!” he stood in front of Fayette “Please stay. I need to talk to you about something important.”

“We have nothing to talk about beta.” she gritted her teeth “If it had been my way I would have never crossed paths with a person like you.”

The words were like a dagger through his heart. A still darkness seeped within him and Garrick lost all the happy memories he had in that instant. A small tear escaped through his eye “Don’t say this.” He pleaded “Give me a chance!”

Right at that moment the bowl held by Isadora slipped through her palms and its contents spilled all over the ground. The lady however kept looking straight at the door with nothingness. Her eyes darkened a little and she gasped in horror.

Aurora was on her side the next instant “Are you alright?”

Isadora shook her head in despair “Master!” she looked at Fayette “He is in danger! I need to leave.”

The ladies nodded at once. Isadora ran in a hurry towards the door leaving the wolfs puzzled and the ladies worried. Arthur looked at Aurora with concern “What was she talking about? And where did she leave?”

“Something important came up.”

“I hope she reaches there on time.” Fayette whispered to the witch.

“I hope so too.”

****

The entrance of the hut mesmerized Callan. He was invited by the small gravels intricately decorated on the four sides of the opening. The small pebbles were colored in contrast to the still darkness which loomed inside of the hut. When he stepped foot inside, the pebbles glowed and threw light to its surroundings. The room was lit in an instant as the pebbles which lay stationary on the door detached itself and floated in mid air to disperse all around the room.

Callan was intrigued by the number of items which overfilled the shelfs and the tables. The things were in a disorderly fashion but everywhere he roamed his eyes the artifacts looked expensive. It was the kind of things which you see with people in power, especially the royalty. He looked all around and stepped forward but as soon as his foot touched the mug lying on the floor, it levitated in the air. Callan gasped for one by one every single thing in the room uplifted itself from the ground and floated in mid air.

“You seem overly curious Elemental supreme.”

Callan was taken by surprise and he looked at the source of the sound. A man almost of the same age and height as him, was standing on the entrance looking strangely at the handsome man. Callan found his composure and bowed in acknowledgment “You must be Arkin, the lord.. I am Callan.”

“I know.”

“Of course.” Callan raised a brow “I need to know why I was called here.”

The seer went past the man and slowly sat on the empty space on the cushion near a table. He gestured Callan to take the place across him but the handsome man denied “Are you not here to know about your future Elemental?”

“I am.” Callan snickered “But I doubt if you could be of any help with that.”

The seer sighed a long breath “I see you had access to some of the knowledge but what about the things you don’t know. I can help you with that.”

“Like your people who helped me and my mate out there.”

The seer’s lips moved but he couldn’t form a word. His wisdom failed to measure the insight and intelligence the handsome man possessed.

The seer whispered angrily “He is not right for you!”

“I will decide that.” He knitted his brows and looked sternly at the seer “However I am highly agitated by the fact that you wanted to kill Einar.. I am so angry right now that I feel like burning this place to ashes. Maybe I should do that.”

“You can do that but you shouldn’t.” The seer took a pregnant pause as a bead of precipitation flew freely though his forehead “There are innocents out there. The wolves wont be spared by your wrath either.”

“Maybe I should kill you instead.” Callan circled his thumb and instantly the chunk of land which seated the seer was sundered from the rest of the ground. The seer looked in trepidation all around and gulped in fear. He hovered in mid air while there looked no place to escape.

“Killing me wont help you Elemental.”

“I will decide for that. Shall we begin.” the seer hesitatingly bowed his head once “No more hiding things from me Arkin.”

“Its a deal.”

“Why do you want the both of us to be killed?”

“Its a necessity.”

Callan looked puzzled “We haven’t done anything to you.”

“Not as of now.” he paused “But who knows what the future holds when the two of you join forces.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There are people who are as competent as you are. Every species has a powerful being of their own. The lions, the bears, the dragons, the warlords even we the seers.. Then there is Einar!” The seer twisted his face “Who possesses a shifter spirit which is stronger than you can imagine and an ancient wolf who stands tall with the demon. Both your forces combined would only create a recipe for destruction.”

Callan looked disturbed by the knowledge “You want to punish us for something that we haven’t done! How is it fair? What if we don’t turn destructive?”

“Then you would have the desire to rule everyone.”

Callan snorted “These are only your assumptions. I cant believe that you attacked us on the pretext of what we could do. This is insane!”

“You may not understand the gravity of the matter Elemental but both of you when combined will have limitless powers. Though the Elementals have a pure heart but who knows what you could do in the influence of the bond.”

Callan shook his head “The bond doesn’t affect me.” he gritted his teeth and moved his thumb a little. The action caused the chunk of land to tremble and the seer feared for his life “Do you think I’m a fool! You may know Callan very well but you are unaware of the Elemental in me.”

The seer all of a sudden inhaled a lot of air while his eyes rolled to the back of his head “What’s wrong?” Callan asked in confusion.

“Digdoh. She saw something.” the seer looked into the eyes of the Elemental “A dark future.” he snickered “Perhaps if we wait for sometime we will get what we are hoping for.”

“To kill the both of us?”

“It doesn’t have to be the wolf..”

“Me..” Callan whispered in shock.

One end of the seer’s lips curved into a sinister smile “Your death will eventually lead to the wolf’s self destruction.”

“I wont let that happen.”

“You may be late for that.”

Callan fisted his left palm and was about to crush the chunk of land where the seer was seated when all of a sudden his breaths came in short gasps. His hand froze and the thumb which was holding the land above the ground could not control the weight of it and the land mass collapsed.

“What is happening?” Callan’s vision was blurred in intervals while his face was contorted due to the unimaginable pain he felt in his gut. He could feel the surge of fire within him. It was as if with every of his breath the fire in him was being fueled.

The seer stood on his feet and dusted the small amount of dirt from his clothes. He closed the distance with the man and gripped his throat by his hands “Not so powerful now are you!” He smirked “It is true that Elementals are untouched by every supernatural contrivances or artifacts but if we keep your powers aside you are still a human. A pathetic. Weak. Human..”

His smile widened “You don’t have the physical strength of a shifter neither the resistance to fight even a common disease. You are nothing without your powers.”

The seer thrashed the man hard on the ground “I knew that killing you wont be easy. So I had to plan your death systematically. I realized that you haven’t completed the procedure for your awakening and so I found my opening. Signing you up for the sessions was a part of the deal. The moment you touched the letter a small but effective enchantment leached on you.”

Callan was trying hard to use his powers but all he could feel was the heat bulging through his entire system. He was trying to resist but he couldn’t will his muscles to move. It was too much for him.

“Yes..” The seer stomped his leg to the face of the man “Yes Elemental.” The seer nodded with a wicked smile “The heat you are feeling inside of you is nothing but the fire which you so resisted up until now. You have trouble using it cause you don’t know how and now this fire will be your doom.”

Callan’s vision was not keeping up with him. However the rumbling of the roof was what caught his urgent attention. The few spaces between the bamboo arrangement which made visible the colorful sky was taken over by the small butterflies. The insects had covered the entire roof and were entering through every open space available.

“They smell it.” the seer giggled with pride and lifted his leg from Callan’s head “They smell your unused Element; your weakness. They feed on power and you have ample of it.”

Few of the butterflies surrounded the seer and the man looked lovingly at the insects while kissing them lightly “Meet my lovely children; my creation.” He said with a smug look on his face “These are the reason which keeps us guarded Elemental.”

Callan was struggling to breathe while the seer laughed at his vulnerability “Alas! It wasn’t that hard to get rid of the Elemental it seems.. Your death will be followed by the death of your beloved mate. I will tap on the vulnerability of that wolf and kill him in the opportune moment and then the world will bow to me.” he raised his voice and laughed maniacally.

Callan tried to speak but his mouth wasn’t moving. It was as if every part of his body was incapable and helpless. Soon the ocean of small butterflies filled the room and hovered above the man. The thin appendages on the heads of the insects elongated and pierced through the body of the man. Callan’s body was uplifted from the ground and he hovered with the swarm of butterflies

“Sleep well Elemental, for this will be your final rest..” the seer laughed hysterically. He pushed forward his hand through the thick wall of insects and grabbed the handsome man’s chin with force. “They say what we see is bound to happen. I hope you are an exception to even this rule. I want to color my hands with your blood. I should be the one responsible for your death.”

He tilted his head and lowered his voice “I am being merciful here Elemental for the death I am giving you is more worth than the future Digdoh saw. Just do me a favor and don’t come back alive.”

He retreated his hand and flapped them in disgust “I guess this is where I return to the normal world. After all I have to spread the news of you being in danger only then will that idiot of a wolf will follow you.” the man snickered in intervals and waved his hand at Callan “Have a nice afterlife.”

The seer rushed out of the hut with a dramatic change of his expressions while the roof of the hut was exploded all of a sudden. The handsome man was being taken by the swarm of insects covering all of his body. The antennae was sucking the life from him. The insects floated through the air for some more time before arriving at a distance away from the land of the seers. Callan was rested to the ground while more of the insects gathered from all directions hovering in the sky, sensing the immense power which radiated through the body of the Elemental.

When Einar arrived at the scene his eyes were wide with trepidation. He felt the anger within him rising and he thundered his roar. The butterflies in the sky diverted their trajectory and moved in the direction of the muscular man.

Einar held the locket in his neck firmly and let his beasts take control of his body. Soon a mysterious fog engulfed the man and he was surrounded all over by black clouds. However even before the demon could fully take over the body, the insects attacked him. They pierced their antennae through the skin of the man and Daragor faltered in his stance. It was something he had never felt before. He realized that at this moment he wasn’t of any help and soon gave up his control to the wolf so that he could rescue their mate.

The black clouds were suddenly replaced by the red mist surrounding the man. Einar growled as his claws elongated and his canines were taking shape. His efforts to transform were put to waste when the swarm of butterflies were attracted to the red mist around Einar. The man growled and fought all he could but he couldn’t surpass the dogged determination of the insects.

The butterflies were too much for him to handle.

He looked painfully at Callan and moved his legs heavily to be near him. However his energy gave up mid way and he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Every winged insect was taking turns to feed on the men and devouring them. They were extracting the very life source from them till there was none left.

The insects were alert all of a sudden when a sickly caw burned their ears. The ink stained wings floated all around and cawed at the insects, warning them to leave the man in peace. With a swift movement of its feathers it landed on the ground just near the Elemental and cawed again. The insects were devoured by the lust to feed on their prey and ignored the warning signs by the Raven.

The Raven bobbed its head up and down and spread its wings to the maximum of its length. It flapped its wings with ferocity and soon the environment changed. With every movement of the wings the bird duplicated itself and another Raven stood right besides it. It flapped its wing again and again until a large army of dark feathered birds filled the ground. Soon the sea of birds left the ground and cawed unanimously. They hovered above the ground and attacked the butterflies to feed on them. The insects were wary of the attacks but were still stubborn to leave the men. The fluttering wings made a loud noise as the birds made a quick job of their prey and went for the next one.

The swarm of dark feathers soon cleaned the area of the colorful winged creatures and stood besides the handsome man. One bird among them walked ahead and bounced on the chest of Callan. It nudged its beak to the handsome man trying to wake him up. Callan sensed the slight irritation in his chest and felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. His heavily closed eyes were forcing itself to open while his head hurt the most. He lifted his body up and looked all around him. He was amazed to see the number of black birds surrounding him and looking at him intently. He smiled at them and bowed in gratitude.

The birds cawed again and fled to the sky before disappearing mid air. The one bird which stayed behind, flapped its wings to cry in a strange voice. It raised itself above the ground and moved towards the sleeping man.

“Einar!”

The handsome man was near his mate in the next instant and carefully held his head. He checked him all over and cradled him to his lap.

“Einar! Einar! Please wake up..”

Callan’s attention was diverted by the sickly caw and he looked at the bird at once “You need to go. Make sure no one sees you.” The bird bobbed its head once again and levitated high in the sky. Callan was disturbed by the pathetic state in which Einar was.

The muscular man looked tormented while his face was pale. The dried tears colored his face while his eyes though constricted looked as if they were in pain.

“Einar!”

The muscular man groaned and flipped his eyelids. He carefully opened his eyes and the distorted image of the man holding him was becoming clearer and clearer. The brim of water couldn’t hold itself and Einar cried out of happiness when he saw the smiling face of his mate.

“I-I thought I lost you.” he whispered in amazement and a slight disbelief in his voice. He lifted his hand and lovingly caressed the cheeks of the man with his palm. His mind was buzzed and he couldn’t think straight. He slowly lifted his body and sat face to face with the beautiful man. He sniveled while his lips trembled at the sight of Callan. The flurry of emotions were storming inside of his head.

“I thought so too.” Callan smiled while his eyes cried at the relief and happiness his heart felt. He quickly closed the distance between them and embraced the man in a tight hug. it wasn’t just any hug, it was the embrace of a promise to hold onto to the man for a lifetime. It was an embrace to enlighten the fact that both the men were each others protective cocoon. Their body, brain and soul shielded all the rationale thoughts which could have flooded their minds right now.

Callan slowly retracted his arms and looked at the distraught state of Einar. He looked at the loving face of his man and the sudden rise in his heart beat. It wasn’t the worry in his face but the agony which was now suddenly replaced by the longing Einar felt for him.

Einar on the other side wasn’t thinking straight. There wasn’t anyone around who could see him, who could judge him, who could stop him. He didn’t care about the world. All he saw was his beautiful man. The dark disheveled hair, his mesmerizing green eyes and the fluffy crimson lips. His eyes riveted on Callan’s mouth.

When Einar’s eyes landed on the lips of Callan his gaze stationed itself to it. His lips were pure, his lips were inviting.

There was something in Callan which was attracting Einar towards him.

Without giving a care, without thinking about the consequences; the muscular man smashed his lips onto the lips of the handsome man!

Callan was shocked initially but he gave in to his senses and let his mate devour his mouth. He couldn’t think or breathe. He wrapped his arms to the body of his mate to clutch him in his binds whereas Einar plundered the mouth of the handsome man in a more rapturous way. Their lips moved in a rhythm while their souls were reeling from the effect of the bond.

The kiss was out of the world.

It was as if their lips were sealing their fate as one. The sun on the horizon shied away from the intimate moment while the moon on the other side glowed fiercely, welcoming the love between the men. Callan and Einar didn’t care about the world as both the men melted into each others arm and kissed for eternity.

********