"Vice Chancellor welcome" said a male witch who bowed and knelt down on one knee as he saw Stella approaching.
"Thank you" said Stella as she signaled that he stand up.
"Has the premises been patrolled?" asked Stella as she looked around.
"Yes my Chancellor, the premises has been patrolled and nothing seems to be out of place" replied the man, he had brown hair and brown eyes.
"Good" said Stella, she had decided to go to the Plain of Kadama alone, to scout if there was any foul play from Azazel, but so far everything seemed fine and their camp was heavily guarded, by both witches and Vampires, so it would be safe for Annie and the rest of join her.
"My Chancellor, we have news that Azazel has set up camp in the west plain" said the man.
"I see" replied Stella
"Yes My Chancellor" said the man.
"We have observed a mixture of witches and rouges in his camp" said the man
"As expected of Azazel" said Stella as she did not seem surprised.
"Have you seen Armand?" asked Stella
"No My Chancellor, he is yet to arrive" replied the man.
"Okay then" said Stella
"You and your team are in charge of escorting Annie and the rest here" said Stella
"Make sure that nothing, and I repeat Nothing happens to Annie, am I clear?" said Stella
"Yes My Chancellor, I will protect her with my life" said the man as he bowed.
"Good" said Stella as she walked away and she entered a tent.
It was just as she expected the bad witches had joined forces with Azazel, which would increase the number of allies he has, considering that all the rouges are on his side.
The bad witches were not bad per se, they just had a different view and opinion of how the Witch Realm should have been run, they believed that Witches were the superior race, and all other races should bow to them.
They believed that Witches created something out of nothing, while all the other races were only dependent on the special abilities that they were gifted with, which made them full of themselves.
The Witches pleaded their case to the King and Queen, they did not want to have to be forced to live in peace with the other realms, rather they wanted to start a rebellion, a rebellion that would allow the Witch race to come out victorious at the top.
But the King and Queen refused, they believed that peace and harmony was the right way to live with the other races, with this their decision they created enemies for themselves within their own race.
And then Azazel came into the mix. Azazel was neutral in all this, he was never in support of the King and Queen, and neither was he in support of the rebellion, he had his eyes only fixed on one particular family.
The rebellion knew this, and they also knew that he was one of the most powerful Witches that their Realm was blessed with, so they buttered him up, they called him master, knowing full well that he was using them, but they were using him too.
They thought that they could control him, but they made a mistake in underestimating him. Over the years Azazel's power grew, to the point that even they themselves were scared of him.
Azazel had put them all under his control, those who dared disobey him would be punished or even killed, but some who still remember the main reason why they started this rebellion in the first place, so they still attempted to fight the High Council.
No one knew what the outcome of this current battle that was about to start was going to be what what they did know was that Azazel was now more crazy than ever.
"My Chancellor welcome, I heard that you had arrived" said Mira as she walked into Stella's new office as she bowed.
"Rise Mira" said Stella
"Thank you my Chancellor" said Mira as she smiled and raised her head.
"Mira have you seen Armand?" asked Stella
"No My Chancellor I have not, but I saw him this morning during training" said Mira
" *Sigh* Where in the realm is that boy?" asked Stella to herself as she sighed.
"My Chancellor do you need him to do something for you? I would be more than happy to do it for you." said Mira
"That is very sweet of you Mira, but I just need him to be here" said Stella
"He is one of the most skilled fighters in the cauldron, no offence to you my dear" said Stella as she smiled at that last part as she looked at Mira.
"None taken my Chancellor" said Mira as she smiled back.
"It is true Armand is the most skilled fighter that I know" said Mira genuinely.
"But do not worry my Chancellor, he should arrive soon, he's too loyal to ever leave his comrades to fight alone" said Mira as she assured Stella
"Thank you my dear" said Stella as she smiled
"Yes, You are welcome my Chancellor" said Mira as she smiled.
"Ahh which reminds me I have a letter for you" said Mira as she brought out a black envelope with a gold seal on it.
"Oh really from who?" asked Stella
"It's from the higher ups, My Chancellor" said Mira as she gave the letter to Stella.
"I see" said Stella as she took the envelope from Mira.
"Thank you Mira, you may return to your duty post" said Stella
"Thank you My Chancellor" said Mira as she bowed and left Stella's office.
"Confractus" said Stella and the seal on the letter opened.
...
"Annie are you sure you are alright?" asked Mrs. Grey touched Annie's hair.
"Yes Mom, I am good, I am fine" said Annie
"Annie, your mother and I are just making sure you are okay" said Mr. Grey
"Yes dad, I know" said Annie
"And what about you Maddie, how are you doing?" asked Mrs. Grey as she turned to look at Maddie
"I am good Aunt" said Maddie as she smiled.
"Okay dear" said Mrs. Grey as she smiled back.
"And you Matt?" asked Mrs. Grey as she was making sure that everyone was alright, she herself was a grown woman and she was all nervous and getting scared, not to talk about these young teenagers, they must be very scared as well.
"Haha Aunt I am good as well" said Matt
"Of course you are" said Mr. Grey as he looked at Matt weirdly.
"Stop it John" said Lisa as she whispered to him and hit him.
"That's good dear" she said as she smiled at Matt.
No matter what he did, Matt was sure that he would never get Mr. Grey to like him, for some reason the guy just seemed to dislike him, like he offended him in his past life or something.
"*Ahem* We are ready to transport you now" said a man, it was not the same man that Stella talked to earlier, rather it was a different one.
Transport??, why does it sounds like he was referring to them as luggage, thought Maddie to herself.
"Please follow me" he said, and they all followed behind him.
After a while, they had finally arrived in the hot and sunny Plain of Kadama, and they were escorted by another Witch who took them to a tent to wait for Stella.
"The thought that Azazel is very nearby just scares me" said Maddie in Annie's head as they all sat in silence waiting for Stella.
"Maddie relax, Aunt Stella would not bring us here, if it was not safe" said Annie as she tried to reassure Maddie that she would be fine.
"I know but-" said Maddie
"And if you still don't feel at ease, then just go back to the Palace" said Annie
"No no, I don't want to be there all alone" said Maddie
"You see, then calm down, I am sure that if Aunt Stella finds out that you are feeling scared, she will not hesitate to take you back, even if you refuse" said Annie
"Fine you are right, gosh" said Maddie.
"Matt can you please tell Maddie that she should relax" said Annie as she linked Matt to her and Maddie.
"What is it?" asked Matt
"Nothing she's just overreacting again" said Annie
"Well then Maddie, Annie is right, you should relax" said Matt
"Yeah yeah, of course you support her" said Maddie
"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Matt
"Oh of course you know what it means" said Maddie
"Okay okay stop it" said Annie
"Fine" said Maddie
Meanwhile in the other camp
"What do you want?" asked Clove with a look of hostility as she watched Selene enter her tent.
"Relax woman, I just come with some news" said Selene as she smiled wickedly.
"Well whatever it is, I do not want to know, so just leave" said Clove as she was not ready to deal with another one of Selene's tantrums.
"Are you sure? because what I have to tell you is very important to you" said Selene as she smiled.
"Just go" said Clove
"I have news that your useless daughter has finally arrived along with the Grey girl" said Selene as she smiled.
"Oh, is that all?" said Clove as she pretended not to be surprised.
"You are not going to say anything?" asked Selene as she thought that she had finally found a way to upset Clove.
"So you barged into my tent, just to tell me some irrelevant nonsense" said Clove coldly.
"I thought you would react differently" said Selene
"*Tisk" said Clove as she chuckled.
"Get out" said Clove
"Huh?" asked Selene as she was shocked, she never knew that this woman could act like this.
"Do you need me to repeat? I said Get Out" said Clove as she stood up and walked closer to Selene which made her back away. Selene did not know when she was already out of the tent.
"Who knew that woman could be so vile?" thought Selene to herself as she finally regained her self.
"Ugh" she said as she walked away angrily.
Back in Clove's tent. Clove sat back down on her bed and she had a sad look in her eyes.