A Gift from the Goddess by Dawn Rosewood novel Chapter 98

Chapler Ninety–Eight 

Chapter Ninety–Eight 

“Aleric...,” I cried, feeling completely useless. 

This wasn‘t good. This was really, really not good. 

And worse, even on the small possibility that this wasn‘t Thea‘s doing, there was no chance she didn‘t already know by now. Either way, I was wasting time being stuck inside this vision. 

I needed to get out. Now. 

‘Wake up.’ 

| slapped at my cheeks, wishing more than anything to break out, but it was no use. I wasn‘t really ‘here‘s o there was no physical pain trigger. 

A snapping sound then came from somewhere in the distance, and I immediately looked up towards it. It sounded like someone had stepped on a branch further into the woods. 

I wasn‘t the only one who noticed either as Aleric also detected something, walking cautiously towards it. It didn‘t leave me many options in what I could do next... I had to follow him. 

We walked for maybe a few minutes, deathly silent the entire time, before a clearing came up ahead. I knew this had to be it. The place where it would happen. 

He took two steps, assessed the area and then 

*THUD.* 

A wolf tackled into Aleric, sending them both flying to the ground as the beast began to growl and bite at him. But it was more unfortunate for the wolf, if anything, since something like that wasn‘t nearly enough t o keep Aleric down... and he swiftly proved my point. 

Without much effort on Aleric‘s end, he managed to easily take care of the wolf, twisting its neck, and finishing him within seconds. He hadn‘t even broken a sweat by it, let alone exerted himself in any way. 

...But was that really it? That seemed a little... too easy. 

Not enough to warrant a vision anyway. 

Though, of course, I didn‘t need to wait long to find out. 

Aleric must have sensed whatever it was since he immediately prepared himself, looking around the area as if expecting something to jump out. 

But it wasn‘t just ‘someone‘. 

No, for lack of a better word, it was a small army. At least five or six dozen people suddenly emerged from the trees into the large clearing ahead; some shifted, some not. All of them either armed or ready to fight... against just Aleric. The odds were not in his favour. 

But, to my surprise, Aleric didn‘t even seem remotely phased. His face was completely calm as he assessed the situation, his eyes scanning the area as if taking internal notes of exactly where everyone was. And, with a final small sigh, he rolled his shoulders back and stretched his neck from side to side. 

The enemy was either taken aback by his collected manner or, at least, were waiting to see what he‘d do next. It meant they knew who he was, knew what he was capable of as they didn‘t dare rush in. But they wouldn‘t want to hold their breath if they were waiting for Aleric to blindly rush in and stan. He wasn‘t that stupid. 

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A minute or two passed with both sides still cautiously evaluating the other. It dragged on almost to the point of being ridiculous before, finally, Aleric reached down and grabbed a rock, lightly tossing it within his hand as he got a feel for its weight. And of the few who weren‘t shifted, I could see their expressions become tenser, as if expecting him to finally attack. 

...Only Aleric didn‘t need to use the rock as a close combat weapon. Instead, he promptly took a step back with one foot, twisted his body… and threw the rock with so much force it immediately hit the closest wolf. 

They bled out almost instantly, the rock cutting into the flesh by their neck. There hadn‘t been remotely enough time for the wolf to react to the impending projectile. 

Judging from the reaction of the crowd, none of them had anticipated Aleric to throw it with that* much speed and power. But it was apparently the final straw for them. Quickly, they all started to charge at him, the woods erupting in a chorus of cries and growls. 

Five wolves came at Aleric first from all sides, trying to impede his ability to dodge, but he swiftly kicked back three and took two out without any trouble, finishing the other three easily by the time they‘d recovered to charge him again. 

This must have enraged the group, having seen him just take out five of their men so effortlessly, and several more advanced on him. In fact, Aleric became almost a blur as he rapidly defended and attacked. 

Regardless of the direction or their approach, he was always ready and anticipating their next move. It was the exact reason Aleric and I were somewhat balanced when fighting now; where I could literally sense his next move from my ties to foresight, Aleric, on the other hand, was such a skilled fighter with insanely keen senses that he was able to predict the next moved based on body language alone. In such a large–scale event as this, it was easy to see just how powerful he was. *This* was his true ability, both natural and from his lineage. It made me wonder if he‘d just been going easy on me up until now. 

By the time he‘d taken out approximately twenty enemies, I could tell he was finally starting to properly try. Not to say he was getting tired, but I knew it would probably become difficult to finish off the remaining fifty or so enemies still waiting to have their go. 

On... and on… and on the battle went. Twenty... twenty–five... thirty... forty. He worked through each opponent methodically and never slowed... but when there were finally only around fifteen enemies remaining, I could see he was reaching his limit. 

He looked... exhausted. Now covered in dust, blood and sweat, he heaved at the air as he awaited the next attack. But his eyes were still as sharp and focused as when the fight had started. He might have been tired, but he was still ready to keep going regardless. 

I knew he would probably shift soon. Now the numbers had lowered, he would be able to take advantage o f his wolf to manage the open space better and conserve strength, utilising the extra stealth to pick off 

remaining enemies and kill any who tried to run. It was something the opposition probably realised too as they paused for a minute to reassess the situation. 

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...And another stalemate ensued. 

The majority of their numbers were now dead or too injured to continue and yet Aleric was still standing with barely more than a few surface scratches. Surely, they had to realise they weren‘t a match, right? 

Only... I remembered then that I wasn‘t watching this live. 

I‘d become so engrossed in watching the fight that I‘d almost forgotten what this was. A vision. 

And that meant there would be no happy ending here, 

‘Wake up,’ I internally screamed at myself, wanting more than anything to snap out of it already 

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Chapter Ninety–Eight 

But then a man walked forward. 

Unlike the others, he didn‘t look afraid. He didn‘t cower or act cautious... No, the only way to describe him was that he looked... unstable. 

With wide eyes and nose flaring, he approached Aleric, seeming completely out of it. A man possessed in how he moved. Was it from witnessing all his comrades mercilessly die or from something else? 

Aleric quickly focused in on him, watching carefully for when he‘d attack. 

But... something didn‘t feel right. Something about him, about how he was acting.... 

‘Wake up, wake up, wake up.‘ 

He slowly reached behind him, grabbing something from his pocket... 

‘Wake up, c‘mon already!” 

...Pulling out a metal looking object, something that made everyone in the area look at him confused; even his fellow allies. None of us apparently had ever seen it before… Which only made me more worried. 

‘ WAKE UP 

He lifted it up, pointing it directly towards Aleric... 

*Click.* 

‘WAKE UP ALREADY.’ 

*BAAANNGGGGG.* 

A small flash of light emitted from the device before sounding off a deafening noise in its wake. The birds in the area immediately flew off, fleeing as fast as possible. It was loud enough to make me fall backwards to the ground in surprise, along with several of the enemies too. Like me, they were taken off guard just as much as I was. 

...And then silence fell. 

Silent enough to hear a pin drop. 

“Not a single person moved as we all stared in shock, wondering what the hell had just happened…. 

...Something that was only broken as Aleric then suddenly groaned... and fell to his knees. 

I quickly got back up to my feet and ran toward him... only I couldn‘t touch him. I wasn‘t really here. This wasn‘t really real... not yet anyway. 

He was bleeding from his shoulder though I hadn‘t seen any knife or weapon thrown towards him. Yet there was so much blood. From just one tiny hole. What the hell could do something like that? 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” one of the other enemies yelled. 

I turned around to see that the man who‘d just yelled had grabbed the crazy one with the metal object, shoving him around. 

“Are you trying to have the Goddess smite us? Have the entire country hunt us? What would possess you t o wield a forbidden human weapon?” 

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...Human weapon? So this was... this was something banned from our species. This was the highest offence he could have committed; a crime that jeopardised our way of life and the entire country. This went beyond pack wars and petty disputes, but was something deemed to be taboo by our kind as a whole; a pact to remain hidden and safe from the outside human world. Regardless of whether he belonged to a pack or was a rogue... no one would ever dare to overstep that line. 

The crazed man began to laugh, clearly out of it as he watched Aleric suffer with amusement. 

“I fear that witch more than I do the Goddess,” he said. “It was her will that I wield this weapon. This is the only way to earn my redemption.” 

“Even if we survive this now, we will die anyway thanks to what you‘ve just done. You‘re delusional if you think the witch is going to protect you when people find out about this.” 

US.” 

“Enough, we don‘t have time for this,” the second man snapped. “Regardless of the means, we‘ve got him now. We can‘t change what‘s already happened.” 

“...Aria... if you see this, don‘t come for me.” 

“We‘re done. The witch said we only needed one and to focus on the male. Grab him and let‘s get the hell out of here already.” 

‘WAKE UP. WAKE UP: 

My eyes flew open and I gasped at the air, finally free from the horrific experience. 

*BAAANNGGGGG.*