Brewing War

My elder brother buried his head in the pillow for a while before speaking up, “Mother's handmaid once told me the same thing Father said before he died,” He muttered, the effect of his lips pressed against the pillow almost stealing his voice away with a muffle. I turned to look at him, just as he raised his head from the pillow.

“What was that?” I asked.

“He precisely said her words; there are no rules in this world…to determine the good and bad. It is left to one's choice to see which is,” Lucerne technically counted his words and I did not help but huff. He sniffed. I looked away.

I did not see how the current situation concerned what he just said. However, just as Father’s death seemed like a mystery to me, so did the disappearance of Mother’s handmaid, though I do not know the details of the things that happened then as I was just half a decade old. I would pass that.

We stayed in silence afterwards for what lingered to hours, everyone by himself. I had my thoughts running in my head; it was so not a coincidence that the witch appeared at the back of the Castle before this happened, as Father’s death by poison could be related to her.

I was beginning to be sure that the witch's mission of returning to Coral shore after four days was to take Father’s life. I was also certain that she was the same person who had been haunting me because the scent I perceived when I landed in the woods with Damien was the same as the one in my dreams.

Yet, why should a witch want to kill the Lord of the Demons, we had stayed out of their way for as long as centuries, so why would they want to brew a war now?

“Do you guys think what I am thinking?” Damien suddenly remarked, interrupting my thoughts. I craned my neck to look at him as he lifted his head from my shoulder, and I felt sharp pain course through it— the effect of having Damien's head resting on it for so long.

He stood up on his feet before he went to lean on the door to have a better sight of Lucerne and I. He folded his arms, regarding Lucerne, who closed his eyes; and I, who blankly stared back at him, with a scrutiny.

“The vanishing lady in the woods was indeed a witch and, as we are all aware, the witches are subjected to the Werewolf Alpha,” He said logically and Lucerne opened his eyes, those yet sad orbs flashing directly at Damien’s figure. “Therefore, she could have been here on the Alpha’s order,” The latter concluded.

It felt like something jerked up to my head at Damien’s word, and I cringed. I did not even think of what he said just now― I did not recall that the witches literally did not have their own choice or freedom, but were rather made to do whatever the Alpha told them.

It was therefore certain that the witch might not have barged into the shore for the sake of the beef her kind had with us. However, the same question yet came to my mind. Why would the Alpha want to eliminate the Demon Lord?

Although I could not still figure out why the witch suddenly killed my Father, this conversation could be that Damien was up to something. I was sure Lucerne also suspected it because the look on his face did not say otherwise.

I stood from the bed and approached Damien, my hands finding their way to his shoulders. “If the witch was, indeed, sent by the Alpha, then it is the more reason for us to be careful and bound to protect the Shore from a worse attack.”

“Do not lecture me, Wayne!” Damien snapped and potently shoved my hands off his shoulders. I instantly drew back at his reaction; he was getting furious. “This same witch had been coming to you at night for close to a decade! If you had taken action, maybe we would have avoided all these. Nevertheless, what did you do? Stay calm and enjoy as she feels your skin!”

“What was I to do? She did not show up physically until today!” I retorted. Sometimes Damien spoke without thinking! How was I supposed to fight back when all I could remember when awake was a piece of all that occurred in the dream? Even if I felt it was real, there was no guarantee until today that it truly was.

However, Damien was not even considering that. He abandoned me and went to squat beside Lucerne's Bed, he placed his hands on Lucerne's thigh; a move to buy the Latter’s favor. “Elder brother, please give me a pass out of the Shore. I promise to avenge the death of Father and protect the Shore from an attack.”

I turned to face them.

“You cannot leave. The Chiefs would soon announce me to the people as the new Lord of the Shore, and I need you two to stay by my side,” Lucerne replied casually, “Especially now that the Shore is likely to be under attack anytime soon.” ,

“And that is why I need to do this― to find my fellow vampires, train more demon warriors, and protect the Shore together,” Damien insisted persuasively, impelling me to butt in.

“The vampires have all been wiped out by the Alpha! Even if you find any, history will only repeat itself.”