Mage And Wolf
Chapter 252

Chapter 252: Chapter 252

Upstairs is basically destroyed. Empty bottles and debris everywhere, the door knocked off the hinges and numerous monster bodies on the floor, recently killed, going by the fresh blood.

I don’t hear anything moving nearby, and I don’t smell anything but death, spilled potions and old traces of black witches. I circle the room once, finding that the witch smells all exited the building at about the same time.

[It is safe to come up, but it’s a mess up here.] I send to Karl, who leads everyone else upstairs while I step outside to check for a trail. With as little luck, they headed for Alpha Conway and his pack, the nearest stable settlement. Yes, there their scents are, 5 Black Witches and one child went East towards werewolf territory.

But I also smell another human scent, that leads towards a nearby shed. That structure is demolished now, as if something big smashed through it, but I don’t smell blood, or a human trail leaving.

"Come help me with this debris. I think there’s a shelter under the shed that has a survivor inside." I call softly to the others, trying not to attract attention from any monsters in the vicinity.

In seconds we’ve cleaned enough to see the trap door set in the floor, from which I can smell witch. Not dark magic though, so this might have been a visiting white witch, or a very young one.

"Hello down there. We’re from Arcana, is anyone alive in there?" Karl calls down and a tapping sound answers. I’ll take that as a yes.

We carefully lift the door and shine a flashlight down into what was the witches root cellar. Mason jars of fruits and vegetables line the walls and one very mangled young woman sits in the middle, missing a leg. I don’t think that was recent, there’s no scent of blood coming from her. Every bit of skin I can see is scarred and her black hair is matted and caked in dirt. When she smiles in relief I can see she has no tongue.

What in the world happened here?

I pull out a grade 4 healing pill and drop it into her mouth, letting it work. From this close I can see she’s lost fingers as well that are growing back. All that’s needed is to wait patiently for her to heal.

After a few minutes she’s looking much better, so I bring out a breakfast burrito and a cup of coffee to help get her back into top shape. Perhaps I’ve been around Karl too much, but I seem to have packed quite a few breakfast burritos before we left Arcana. She doesn’t seem to mind though, she’s making her way though it in a great hurry, like she was starving despite being in a huge pantry of home canned foods.

"Can you tell us who you are, and how you ended up here?" I ask gently when she finishes the food and starts looking capable of coherent thought again.

"My name is Becca, a White Witch from the west coast. I was with a Task Force group just after the portals started opening, when we were ambushed. Humans with super powers. I now know they’re cultivators, but at the time they thought I was putting on an act and tortured me for information. A few weeks in, a portal opened in my cell and I escaped here, but everything had changed."

"Time flows differently on different worlds. I spent a year on another world and not even a month passed at home." I agree.

"The Black witches didn’t know that, they thought I was broken by the torture. It was so strange, the ones who captured me were certain I should know some people, like there aren’t billions of humans on the planet. They didn’t even know their names, just titles."

I’m not sure I like where this is headed. It’s sounding a lot like the Divine Transfer Cult.

"As much as I hate bringing back bad memories, do you recall what they called the ones that they were looking for?" Karl asks.

"They were desperate to catch someone called Black Lord and one called Young Miss. They said entire worlds would die if they failed." Becca tells him, shaking her head at what she thinks was insane behavior. They weren’t wrong though. At least one world has burned because they failed, and more will again. Because we will continue to root out the Divine Transfer Cult.

"You’re safe for now at least. We’re off to help a werewolf pack east of here. That might be where the other witches ran to as well. I take it they left you because you couldn’t walk?"

"That and because I’m a white witch. The two factions never really did get along well. Too many centuries of the white hunting down the black before they exposed us." Becca confirms.

[Karl, can you scan her memory? She is adjusting way too well for someone who shouldn’t know about healing pills. I think she’s under a hypnotic suggestion.] I mind link my mate.

[Done. You’re right, she broke. When she finds out we are who she’s looking for she will open a portal to the Cult.]

[That gives me an idea, prep the largest, most ridiculous nuke you can. When it’s ready I will tell her who we are. Then when the portal opens, you give their solar system a second sun.] I smile as I relay my own and Karl nods.

"My partner just has to prepare a spell before we go. Karl is from the Mage association." I explain as Karl starts gathering energy. Lelou catches on fast that something big is happening and helps build energy for the spell, not knowing what he’s going to do.

I pass Becca another coffee and she drinks in silence for a few minutes while Karl works.

When he nods that he’s ready I lean in close to Becca and whisper "you should know, I’m the Young Miss and he’s the Black Lord, but don’t worry, we can keep you safe from those crazy cultists. Don’t tell the others."

I turn away like I am going to talk to Hui’Jin and I feel the pull of magic being used and a new flow of energy with the signature feeling of the Immortal Plane.

"Master, they’re here. I found them." She calls before Karl finishes his spell and the Portal collapses in a flash of light.

Becca collapses with the portal and Karl moves to check her pulse. "The compulsion is broken. Either it was single use, or the caster is dead, making it impossible for the spell to continue."