Jalen gently hugged Karis’ body. Her heart rate slowed. Although Jalen had done all he could to heal her wound, Karis was too weak to heal properly. Whatever had happened to Karis over the last two months had weakened her too much. The stab wound would be fatal for her despite his efforts. The heat started to fade from Karis’ body. He could feel Rhys place her hands gently on his shoulders. There was nothing they could do, but wait for her heart to stop.

  “Jalen,” Dax said quietly.

  Jalen looked up at the guilt-ridden knight. The stupid human didn’t realize what he was doing in time to stop although Karis might have killed him had he not stabbed her. It was impossible to know for sure. He was mad at Dax, but deep down he knew it was a life or death decision for Dax. How could he stay mad when the stupid human was just trying to stay alive? He waited for Dax to continue.

  “I am so sorry. If I had known… Maybe, she would’ve survived this…” Dax apologized. Guilt was eating him up since Rhys had explained who the dusty gray wolf was to Aura, Jalen, and Ivy. He should have been more careful with a wolf shifter even if they had a history.

  “How were you going to know Dax? None of us were close enough to tell you, and we were in the heat of battle. I was mad about it, don’t get me wrong, but any wound could have been just as fatal for her. There is no way to know.” Jalen admitted. Anger still filled him as he felt Karis take her last breath. This was unnecessary. This beautiful meadow was bloody red and reeked of dead flesh. Everything was destroyed by a greedy person’s desires. It was useless. Senseless. Stupid.

  “Jalen,” Rhys’ voice hummed in Jalen’s ear. “I can feel your rage building, but you can’t give into it. We still need to stop whatever is going on with the royals and find Aura."

  "Fine. Where do you propose we start?" He gritted through his teeth.

  "First, you need to put down the she-wolf," Dax said.

  Jalen growled at him. "Her name is Karis!"

  Dax took a step back out of respect. He watched Jalen hug Karis' body as they sat on the smashed grass. Dead and unconscious bodies surrounded them, and the sun was beginning to lower to the horizon. The whole afternoon had been wasted on bloodshed. "Did Karis ever tell you the story of how a human nearly killed her?" He asked.

  Jalen's eyes darted to Dax. How would he know about Karis' near-death story? Was he there? "What do you know about it?"

  Rhys tightened her grip on Jalen. His rage was rising again. Was Dax stupid? Now wasn't the time for this! "Dax, perhaps this isn't the best time." She said as calmly as could muster.

  "You need to know why we didn't stop fighting, Rhys. Now is the right time." Dax sighed. "Some years ago, I was delivering medicine to a human village on the border of Apricus called Kris Town. A mother was frantically looking for her lost son in the woods. I helped her search the woods. You see, I came across Karis' dusty gray wolf form with a scared human child, screaming his head off. I didn't give it a second thought and tried to kill her. I thought I had when I walked away with the traumatized child. When we battled again today, we recognized each other, and we were both out for blood… I am sorry."

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Jalen gently placed Karis' body on the ground and towered over Dax. He whispered, "You were the human who shot her with lightning?"

  Rhys pushed herself between the two men. "Dax. Don't answer that." She commanded and turned to Jalen. "Jalen, we need to focus. Aura is still missing. Royals are recklessly fighting. You and Dax can have a proper duel later. Please. We need to do this together."

  Jalen's eyes softened. He had more to do before he could deal with the news Dax had given him. "Fine. Dax, I promise to rip you limb from limb later. Let's go stop a war between royals." With that Rhys relaxed, and they all walked over to the crowd of people.

  They heard the clashes of the blades and chanting of the crowd as they approached the remaining royal guards. Many voices cheered on their ruler in the duel, but two loud voices tried to tell the two royals to stop. One voice, Jalen recognized as he sensed his Alpha nearby. Jalen scanned the crowd when he saw a familiar orc being held back by royal guards. Alpha Enoch was here. He looked over the crowd again for his elusive sister, but she was nowhere to be seen.

  "My Alpha is here, but Ivy isn't. " Jalen said.

  "So, this just got more complicated," Rhys rolled her eyes.

  "But complicated can be more fun." A new voice joined their conversation.

  All three of them turned in disbelief to see a barely dressed, tired, and scarred version of Aura in her human form. Behind her, was Ivy, another elf, and a dead body Aura was dragging behind her.

  "You're okay!" The three of them cheered as they rushed to hug her.

  Aura was tackled by her friends and berated with questions. How was she here? Why did she have a dead body? Did Ivy rescue her? How did she heal so fast?

  "I killed the Grim Guild Master. Ivy and Stell found me and healed me. This dead guild master should stop the royals' fight. At least, I hope. I just need you all to part the crowd." Aura smiled at them warmly.

  "Ah. So, you stopped the shifters?" A new voice asked.

  Ivy and Stell recognized the disguised queen as she approached them. They had given Aura the highlights on the way to join their friends, but they didn't mention the queen’s disguise.

  "I hope so. I was trying to keep a promise to a friend to stop all this." Aura answered. "I know I was forced to start all this, so I need to end it."

  "Very good. I forgive you then amateur herbalist though I still have many questions." The disguised queen replied.

  "Queen Galadriel?" They asked, astonished.

  "Indeed. You can thank Ms. Stell for my appearance." The disguised queen smiled.

  "Any more surprises, Ivy?" Aura asked.

  "Alpha Enoch is here." She answered.

  "Okay. Is that it?" Aura looked around at everyone.

  "Your boyfriend killed Karis," Jalen announced, bitterly.

  Aura’s gaze flashed to Dax for confirmation. He gave a slight nod. Great, another complication, she thought. "Well, we can talk about that later. My queen can help me stop the duel while everyone clears a path?"

  "Sure." The disguised queen answered.

  "Stell, can you rescue the orc?" Ivy asked.

  "Of course. Remember Gala, all you need to do is take off the necklace to end the spell." Stell chimed in. Queen Galadriel nodded.

  "Gala?" Rhys whispered confusedly.

  "Who knows," Dax answered.

  "Great. Let's move." Aura said, dragging a dead Shadow behind her. The crowd of people were shoving and shouting around the clash of royals. Aura could see the tips of the blades and the clang of the metal as the royals were fighting. This truly was the worst week of her life so far. Although Stell had healed her, her exhausted body ached heavily. Only a little longer Aura chanted to herself. When this was over, she didn't want any more surprises or secrets. She was going to let herself live a simple life, or at least, she hoped she would.