'Witch… they are looking for us…" he whispered in shock.
Avery shook his head with a frown twisted on his face. "no… they are looking for me. No one else knows you are a witch Nico. They are after me…."
"How do they even know? I only let people know just about a few hours ago?"
"I don't know.. …." Avery mumbled with a small shrug.
Nico once again focused on the leader of those men. The man's black eyes were narrowed and somehow cold. He felt unfeeling. As he was carefully observing the intruders he noticed something very peculiar. They all have a crest pinned to their collar. It was small and black. If it was anyone else, it would have gone unnoticed.
But the glare of the sun shone on it slightly, making it stand out.
Nico hurriedly drew the crest in the ground with his fingers. "it's shaped like a C. have you guys head of this group before?"
Avery shook his head. "we have not….. I have not….. I just know they hunt witches?"
The leader of the hunters glanced at him all of a sudden.. his narrow black eyes went wide. There was a subtle hint of fear in them.
'Why does he fear me? He doesn't even know I'm a witch so why….'
"you. so you were here too…send them both out." He said glancing at Dylan. "or will burn down your pack and all other werewolf packs."
Dylan just shrugged. "I'm not in a losing mood today,"
"you….." the man glared at him intensely. "you are consorting with a witch. Its against our law. They have to be condemned."
"huh? I can't hear you though all the shit coming from your mouth," Dylan said with a small smile. "Are we just going to talk or are we going to fight it out?"
The man seemed hesitant; his wide eyes fell on Nico again. "don't act haughty because you have him by your side. that scheming witch will backstab you any time you trust him,"
Nico pointed a finger at himself. "is he talking about me? He doesn't even know me yet. He is talking shit. Gods… someone really schemed all this against me. First the rogues now, this guy." He shook his head with a small sigh.
Avery looked up at him. "are you sure you don't know him? You might have met him while you had just woken up,"
"I'm pretty sure I have never seen his face before. Nor his men… I have been only in contact with a few people after I had woken up. The old couple raven and you guys. No one else. I definitely don't know who this guy is,"
Dylan who had his ears wide open heard this and nodded slightly. "why are you hurting him?"
The man suddenly let out a scornful laugh. "why you ask? That witch poisoned my men. Led them all into a crazed stupor that they stabbed each other and killed themselves. He deserves to die!! He will die."
Nico frowned deeply. 'looks like a witch poisoned them….. why is he after me though? He must have gone after whoever is the accused. What is the use in condemning all witches in general? It's stereotypical thinking.'
His narrowed eyes fell on the unconscious pack members still left behind. "Looks like he used his handiwork here again. give him to us and we will leave right away. He still hadn't done much harm. Save your pack Dylan."
Dylan just scoffed. "Ryan! He is a kid. I don't trade kids like that…"
"Kid? He is an ancient monster that should be put down." The man named Ryan looked away sighing loudly. "you of all people should have understood how destructive this person is. We need to cull him before he acts again. He will get unstoppable after he gets a certain number of sacrifices. We need to deal with him now! I'm sorry Dylan we will attack you if you stand in our way. Archers! On the ready!"
The vanguard of the team sauteed down with their bows and flaming arrows ready and docked.
Nico bit the inside of his cheeks. 'think.. what can I do to help… he really might kill Dylan if this goes on…'
He flipped through the book one page after another. He could not find any spell that could be of use. When all of a sudden a small piece of paper fell out of the book. It was full-on yellowed with a few age marks on it. This paper was probably in there for quite a while now.
"I never saw that." Avery whispered.
Nico picked it up to see a huge star sign on the paper. This was the spell to keep the object from aging rapidly. His mother might have left behind a message for him.
He swiftly opened it up.
Inside were only a few words.
{'my dear son. Use this wisely.} followed by a single word. {testudo}
Nico frowned. Testudo was in Latin meaning turtle shell. 'why is my mother talking about turtle shell. Its not a spell so what is it? Is it some magic artifact I must find or something….'
"testudo," Avery whispered. A small blue light arose from him. It formed a layer around his body. He gently poked it. The viscous liquid-like layer bounced slightly. "it's a shield! It's a shield spell! Oh my god, I have never seen a spell like this before. There has never been a one-word spell like this… Nico this grimoire is awesome…"
"yes it is," he tenderly caressed the paper and stuffed it back into the book. "hold onto this okay, ill be right back,"
"where are you going!" Avery grabbed him but Nico slipped out of his hold and out the door.
Dylan looked back with a warning gaze.
Nico strut close to him and stood with him looking at the black-haired man. The fear he had was very apparent. "Why do you fear me, hunter. I barely know you?"
The man looked confused. "Your memory must have been trashy in that regard,"
"my memory has been very good. You, on the other hand, have been insisting that I have killed your men. it's a false charge. what must ii do with you? should I punish you for trying to defame me? if you tell me who sent you and who informed you, I can spare you maybe…." he spoke with so much fake bravado. as of now, only the shield spell was with him. he had no attack power at all. but he was really curious who sent this man his way.
in his heart, he wanted to prove to Dylan that he was innocent...
The man gritted his teeth. "I saw you! I took you in! I helped you and you stabbed me in the back and gave me this mark! You think I'm stupid! Your words won't cheat me, stupid witch!! you will die today!! Along with your apprentice witch!!!!" he lowered his arms.
The archers shot the arrows at them.
Dylan shifted right in front of his eyes and hugged him, putting his whole body in front of the attacks.
Seeing this Nico was stunned for a second. "Dylan…. You silly person.. you think I cant take care of myself. Just watch," he held out one of his hands while hugging Dylan in the other. "{testudo!}"
A huge blue light shot at him and formed into a bright white shield that covered the entire pack house. The arrows that were coming at them in a rapid speed all froze midair as if they were shit into a viscous liquid. They all just levitated in the air.
The black-haired man started to tremble slightly. "Attack! Don't let him again leverage! Get him now!!!!"
Nico stepped back slightly. "Dylan it's your turn to shine. I'm not good at fighting much…"
Dylan came up to him and gently kissed his cheeks. "Leave this to me."
Even Nico was stunned by his action.
'There are people with arrows pointed at us and you have the mood to kiss! Yah!' he screamed in his mind but on the outside, he simply gave him a small glare. "you!"
"Got to take any opportunity I'm presented with." He said with a chuckled and ran off like an excited puppy.
Nico watched as his whole-body shift into his wolf form. A majestic blond wolf faced off the fifty men. he let out an ear-piercing howl that shook the whole earth for a second. The ground in front of them started to crack visibly and a huge crevice formed instantly. The archers who were set in their position all faltered and fell back into the crevice.
With a simple howl, he was able to topple down twenty of them.
Their ears started to bleed profusely.
The black-haired hunter who was enraged started to get frustrated. When Dylan was engaged in his fight, he slid through the crowd and got close to the shield. "you… you killed my family. He is your mate right. Watch how I will tear him apart,"
Nico's heart almost stopped hearing his threat. but on the outside, he still maintained a calm demeanor.
Nico just casually looked at him. "You serious bro? that guy is tossing around your men like a toy. You should be actually begging us to let you go."
The man just snickered. "You think we would only come to hunt you with arrows and muscles."
Nico's expression slightly shifted. This world did not have many guns left behind. Only a few of them were also in the pack. 'What made this man so confident. Does he have a gun too? Shit then Dylan might get hurt….'
Sensing his uneasiness, the man let out a loud laugh. "I really love watching you squirm…."
"you're irritating. I don't even know you yet. You come and claim that I hurt your family? Its absurd. Tell me who sent you. I'll see how I will deal with you when Dylan is done with you guys." He said, trying to drag the time.
He did not want this man to use his guns at all. Dylan might get hurt badly if so.