As iron is eaten by rust, so are the envious consumed by envy.
- Antisthenes
" The solution to this problem is faciliated by the principle of superposition, which states that the interaction between any two charges is completely unaffected by the presence of others....." Tamsyn murmered to herself for what seemed like the hundredth time.
Tamsyn was reading from the first page of the chapter titled Electrostatics of the book: Introduction to Electrodynamics by David J. Griffiths. She had been staring at that page for almost an hour without taking anything in. Her attention constantly strayed from the content she had decided to learn that afternoon and went towards the thoughts about a certain werewolf.
" Done pretending? "
" Tobbs! "
" The one and only. " Tobias winked. " Let's go back. I'm starving. "
" Why did you wait for me? You could have gone back with the girls. Hold on, how did you reach here? "
" Yeah. Now she cares about me." Tobias rolled his eyes. " Couldn't you have left me a message? " He knocked her head lightly.
" Ouch! That hurts. " Syn shot an accusatory glare at her twin.
" Cry baby! Now, get up. I need some fuel in me. " Tobias picked up her books and dragged her out of the library.
" You are an overbearing idiot. " Syn scowled at him.
" And you are a crazy cutie. " Tobias ruffled her hair with a grin that was guaranteed to irritate her.
" Stop haunting me! "
" You are welcome to haunt me, handsome. " A girl passing by them winked at Tobias with a playful grin.
" Some other day, gorgeous. " He replied and sent a kiss flying her way.
" Tobbs!! " Syn pulled him away towards the direction of the entrance of the University. " Mind your actions, dear brother, I won't come to save you from some angry, possessive werewolf. "
" I can hold myself against any werewolf. " Tobias replied confidently.
" We aren't here to start fights. It's a risk to look for dates here at Rauland. These werewolves have something called mates, their own predestined partners. If you happen to flirt with anyone of the them, the male in question is bound to tear into you. They have an animal inside them. Keep that in mind. They tend to be super possessive. I wonder how the females bear with them. " Syn shuddered.
" Maybe the females are also overbearingly possessive. Well, I would have loved to use my muscles to fight, rather than wands. Alas, I have been robbed of such an opportunity. Fill me in about this mate business later. Now tell me about what is bothering you. "
" Well, Cassie has no new prophecy to offer. The Alpha is keeping information from everyone except the Beta. We haven't seen the Beta after he ate breakfast with us yesterday. I'm worried about Mom. The charm sort of heated up and I... " Syn went on in a droll voice.
" What? The charm sort of heated up? " Tobias interrupted her.
" Yes. No, it didn't glow. Chill. "
" I hope you are not wrong. "
" Anyway, it would have been alright, since I've been with a pack member and don't forget that I've got my wand with me. "
" Alright. So, is that it? Anything more to add to the list? " Tobias smiled.
" Nope. That's it. Why? Got any solutions to offer? " Syn asked sarcastically.
" Cassie received a prophecy not too long ago. You are aware of how each one drains her inner magic. She needs ample time to fill it up. So let's hope she'll not come by one soon. The Alpha's case is indeed easy. We'll see him today, no matter what. If that means we'll have to pay a visit to the borders, then we shall. Mom's worries are not yours to take care of. She can deal with it. See, you worry for nothing."
" You make it sound easy. " Syn shrugged. " Are we going to walk all the way back to the pack house? "
" Yes. No teleportation. It's your punishment for not leaving a message for me or atleast a map to this place. I took a ride! "
" You have gotten too used with the teleportation since you unlocked it last year. To experience the life of the normal people, once in a while is good. " Syn made a face at him.
" Walk on, dear. Adieu. " Tobias teleported himself to the pack house in the next moment.
" Tobias!!! " Syn yelled. The snow that had been displaced due to the sudden movement of the man, coming back to its initial position was all that remained to hear her enraged call.
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An hour ago:
" Great timing. When the Alpha decides to grace us with his presence, Syn and Tobias is absent. Can't we have everyone at once at a single site? " Cassie sounded exasperated.
" It's alright. We can pass on the information to them later. Let's go and have that much awaited talk with the Alpha. Lorenzo had informed us that the Alpha and Beta knows about the instigator of the attacks. " Sarah reminded Joan.
" Yes. Let's go in. "
The three girls entered the pack house and saw a tall, handsome young man with raven-black hair. He was sitting on the sofa with Lorenzo and a man with a stylishly cut thick hair which had an attractive shade of bronze, on the right and left sides of him respectively. Another well-built guy was coming from the direction of the kitchen with his mouth stuffed like a squirrel's. Liam got up once they came in and Joan went into his outstretched arms without a pause.
" I'm KJ. The Alpha of the Rauland pack. I apologize for not welcoming you all personally and for not having met you sooner. As you already know, we've had a few problems to solve. It's a pleasure to meet you all. " The black haired guy stood and came to them with a polite smile. He shook hands with Sarah who replied with, " That's alright. We can understand. I'm Sarah. It's a pleasure to meet you too. "
"Yeah. Same here. " Cassie piped up from the side. " I'm Cassandra. Everyone calls me Cassie. " Cassie shook his hands with a grin.
" Alex. " The guy with bronze colored hair introduced himself and shook their hands. "The guy who is disgracing us by stuffing his mouth to the point that he can't even speak, is Oscar. " Alex introduced with a laugh while Oscar glared at him. That successfully broke the ice and girls grinned at them in amusement.
" Please, have a seat. " KJ spoke up.
The girls found themselves sitting down on the couches.
" Is he an emperor, or what? Ordering us about! " Cassandra murmured.
" In here, I think he's akin to the emperor. " Sarah whispered back.
" Hello everyone.!! " A tall girl with a pleasant face made an appearance just as they were settling down. " Luna Mama asked you all to go into the dining room, since her special dish is ready. ' You could have your discussion while you eat. ' Yup. That's exactly what she said. Word by word. "
" Alright, Kate. Thank you. So, shall we? " KJ gestured towards the dining room. Everyone nodded automatically.
They settled in and started to tuck into the delicious food and all thoughts about a serious discussion was forgotten till the dessert came in.
" As you may already know, Lorenzo is my Beta, Alex is my third-in-command and Oscar is the fourth-in-command. If you can't find me or Lorenzo, you can go to Alex or Oscar. They will be in charge in our absence. " KJ informed them about the ranks in his pack.
" Roger that. " Cassie showed a thumps up gesture.
" By the way, where is Syn? I was planning to ask you earlier, but got distracted by the food." Kate asked.
" How do you know her? Do you go to our university too? "
" Yes. She's in my class. Alex too. "
" Oh, that's great. She's at the library. She'll be back soon, we hope." Sarah replied.
" Wasn't there another wizard with you? " Oscar asked after sliding a 'I-love-to-create-trouble' glance at his Alpha
" He must be with Syn. Those two are always together. Joined at the hip." Cassie replied pleasantly. A deadly silence took hold of the gathering all of a sudden and the three girls looked at each other in confusion. Liam was busy watching the play of emotions on the face of the Alpha.
" I hope you will pass on the information to them. We can't afford to wait for them anymore. " Lorenzo smiled at the girls in a helpless manner.
" Oh, that's okay. So, what do you know about the mastermind behind the attacks? " Liam replied easily.
" Nothing's been confirmed yet, but from the style of attack that happened yesterday, we are afraid that it's the Rock Alpha. The vanadium was sprayed on the bodies of our brethren while they were in the wolf form. It's hundred times more lethal like that. But, what is his motive? That's still a question. " KJ answered.
" Who is this Rock Alpha? " Joan sounded confused while the other girls nodded their heads.
" We'll tell you later, Jo. "
" Cool. "
" What if someone is purposely imitating this method so as to push the blame onto the Rock Alpha? " Sarah asked with a contemplative expression.
" We've been thinking about that ourselves. But so far, our only suspect is the Rock Alpha. " Lorenzo replied.
" Let's leave it at that. You can concentrate on the investigation. We'll take care of the protection. " Liam suggested.
" We would be glad to have your assistance. " KJ raised his glass in acknowledgement.
" So, how do you plan to...."
A sudden noise of someone knocking into the furniture interrupted the conversation. They rushed into the living room to see what all the ruckus was about.
" I'm so sorry people. I sort of miscalculated the destination and slipped. "
" Again . " Liam started to laugh.
" Where is Syn? "
" She preferred to walk. My poor little angel. "
" What a cock and bull story. " Sarah shook her head. " Are you alright? "
" Of course. "
" Yeah, he has such a hard head. " Liam shrugged. " Tobias, meet the Alpha of the Rauland pack, KJ. KJ, Tobias. " Liam introduced. Tobias stretched his hand out with a relaxed grin while KJ found it difficult to even crack a smile.
" Have we met before? " Tobias asked casually to let the latter know that he had noticed the strained smile.
" I don't think so. " KJ removed his hands from the clasp and replied easily.
" Let's go back and resume the conversation. " Lorenzo stepped in.
They went back to the dining room and the girls brought Tobias up with the latest info, while he tore his way into the food.
" Yes. I agree with Liam. We'll take care of the safety. Well, with your permission, of course. " Tobias looked at KJ meaningfully.
" How do you plan to do it efficiently? We would love to provide you with whatever you need. " KJ replied diplomatically.
" Well, we could secure the borders first. " Cassie voiced out.
" Yes. We could place defensive spells around the whole pack territory. There are enough of us to guarantee the strength of the spells. We are not saying that the werewolves patrolling the borders can relax completely. But, they'll be a lot safer. " Sarah informed.
" The enemy will have to go against the spells first. Each of us have different attributes when it comes to magic. We are taught all the spells that are common to everyone. Then we cultivate our own magic separately. We could use those as an extra layer of security. " Cassie continued.
" We could also make charms that will protect or give you extra time when necessary. Afterall, a miss is as good as a mile. We could also provide you with potions. But that will depend on the availability of the ingredients. I can't randomly use the materials I've stored. I can make use of it for a while, yes. But if an emergency crops up, I'll need them. " Joan filled in.
" What do these potions do? " Oscar asked curiously.
" There are different kinds of potions. Some could cure some wounds really fast. Some could boost up the healing nature of your body. Don't you werewolves heal faster than normal!? Boosting the already fast system will be almost akin to not getting affected by injuries at all. Some potions even help you boost the speed. The more complex ones require more difficult-to-acquire ingredients. That's the only problem. " Joan replied with a shrug.
" What was it that you mentioned about your own magic? " KJ asked contemplatively.
" It's sort of hard and easy at the same time to explain. For example, I am called a prophetess. I receive prophecies which comes in handy in sticky situations. It's sort of like seeing future events, but through a hazy window. I have to figure out what each image means, what each riddle signify. " Cassie replied seriously.
" I am a healer, as you already know. Cassie is like me. We received these gifts hereditarily. " Joan added.
" It's both a blessing as well as curse. Since our families know that we'll turn out to be like them, we receive training from the early stages of childhood, unlike the others, for whom the magic will manifest only in their late teens. The intense training can be so taxing and the childhood can turn out to be pretty horrendous. " Cassie went on.
" Mine is fire. " Sarah said with a soft smile.
' Fire? That's pretty surprising. Wish I could see her do her magic. I had expected her to be a healer too. Suits her calm, sweet and kind countenance. ' Lorenzo thought to himself with a jolt.
" Liam hasn't accessed his yet. Mine is teleportation. You just witnessed it. " Tobias said with a laugh after a quelling glance at Liam who was about to spill the beans about his 'brand' of magic. The girls were taken aback for a moment, but gained their composure real soon.
" Thank you for sharing with us about your abilities and strength. " KJ smiled with meaning at Tobias who returned an easy smile. " We'll try our best to gather the required materials as soon as possible after you provide with the names. "
" Therein lies the problem, KJ. The materials that could be found on earth alone is not enough to brew the potions. There are somethings that are beyond our control that stimulate the brewing of a successful potion. Luck plays a great role. "
" What are such things? "
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