Tezy
Power surged all over my body. It was different from when I sucked Dušan's powers. The life force of the gray wolf was strong and vicious. It was unpleasant; however, it was compelling. I could feel the change in my body, unlike what I felt in Dušan.
What was the meaning of this? Was it because the power was not pure, stained by the malevolent intent the wolf had on us?
No, I did not want this creature's atrocious powers to blemish my purity. On second thought, I was not unsullied anymore, since Kigga wanted to put me down and we had a fight. I just needed to control this substandard power. I had no choice but to somehow eliminate its maliciousness. The itch all over my body made my skin crawl. And literally, my skin shed off for the first time in my immortal life. My body grew longer and bigger. Now, that was... quite progress.
With this newfound power, I could feel myself energized. It was relatively satisfactory, given our current predicament. Hence, with lightning speed, I bit each of the gray wolves present in the dungeon, while Garridan recuperated from his wounds. Greenish white balls floated in the air, hovering above my head. My crown absorbed them all just like the first one earlier. My body glowed with greenish light from my head to tail. At the same time, all the gray wolves fell to the floor lifeless.
I hissed when I shed skin. My body changed accordingly. I was not as huge as Garridan's massive shifter body, but it was adequate to face our enemies, as more of them arrived.
"Tezy! Let's get out of here now!" Garridan told me with urgency.
There he went again. I wanted to oppose him, but it seemed that my body and will were owned by him. This was not right. He could not just control me as he wanted. Nonetheless, it was something I could not even fight against at the moment. I was certain that if I could just get all my powers back, he would not be able to command me like that.
I'm a deity! How dare he?
I shifted into my human form and put up a shield with one hand, when the gray wolves sprang into the air to attack us. They all bumped and bounced from the shield, shaking it and making it spark red and green. With my other hand, I summoned the portal to go back to Garridan's mother's place.
Using my powers, I pushed him towards the portal when he did not make a move.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
I followed him when he disappeared from the portal. He thought I would do something stupid again. I left the shield burning, before I entered the portal, leaving the wolves to go ablaze.
The portal closed. We were surrounded immediately by the werewolf prisoners I rescued, together with Dušan and her sister Zorica.
"You brought them here?" Garridan confronted me, shifting into his human form. His nose flared, and his eyes were fiery as he regarded me.
Dušan had to turn around and cover her sister's eyes. I waved a hand and put a white silk robe on Garridan's naked body.
"Calm down, Garridan. Where else could I have sent them? I don't know other places here," I pointed out, glancing at the prisoners that were still in their wolf forms.
Without thinking, I just waved my hand carelessly and realized that I had turned them into their human forms with their clothes on. The shock in their eyes was more than obvious. I was even surprised with myself for having done it.
"N-no one..." One of them started but trailed away, not knowing how to put it.
"You and I are going to talk later!" Garridan said to me firmly, waving a finger in front of my face. He then turned and went into his mother's house to check on her. I remembered to put the shield down, amazed that it was still up, so no one could leave and enter.
"Let's make this clear. I did not save you⸺"
I was cut off midsentence when Dušan and Zorica suddenly embraced me. My breath was caught, something that made me confused.
"Thank you, Snake Goddess!" Dušan exclaimed.
Zorica looked up at me with shining and adoring eyes. I just realized she does not speak at all. My eyes grew tender as I gazed at her. I slowly lifted a hand and lightly touched her head, smiling at her a little.
The prisoners knelt in front of me, bowing their heads. "We're in your debt, Snake Goddess!" they said in unison.
I stared at them, speechless.
"Let me introduce myself, Snake Goddess. I am Radomir." He had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and an oblong face. "We don't belong to Ultima Vasile's pack," one of them said. "In fact, we are from different packs under Ultima Danijel. We were just imprisoned by him to make us his hostages against our beloved ones, to make them do things for him."
"Why does he have to do that if you belong to the same pack?" I asked in confusion. "Isn't it a given that you're under his command and that you are to obey it?"
"Yes, we all are, but our beloved ones are not," said the second of the seven.
I invaded his thoughts, learning that his name was Budimir. He was Serbian like Radomir, who knew how to speak Romanian. I pored over his memories. Now, I understood. They fell in the same category as Dušan and her sister Zorica.
"So, you're saying that you all have a mate that can summon magic and Ultima Danijel is using them to defeat his enemies?" I slowly concluded, blinking thoughtfully.
"Yes, Snake Goddess," they answered in a chorus.
My brows knitted. "If that is the case, then... how come he has not won every battle yet?" I thought aloud.
They looked at each other. None could answer me.
"I think it's either they perished or... they are hidden somewhere else," Dušan chimed in.
I stared at her for a moment or two. "Perished?"
"My beloved was a water fairy, and... Ultima Danijel caused her death." The third shifter, Tomislav, choked. "I wanted to avenge her, but I could not do anything. I have been kept in prison for over two years now. Thanks to you, Snake Goddess. I may be able to do that in the near future." There was determination in his dark green eyes. I could see in his memories that he saw his beloved kill herself instead of doing what Ultima Danijel wanted. But instead of killing Tomislav, he was held captive in the dungeon with the others.
My heart went out to him. I had no idea if it was from the newly gained powers that I felt something like this for shifters that were not my kind, or it was merely because of this whole different dimension I was in altogether. Or Garridan had something to do with this?
I mentally shook my head. How could he have anything to do with this? I must be mad.
"Snake Goddess..." the fourth one, Omiljen, with ash-blond hair, muscular, and kind face, spoke. He had an air fae as a mate.
My eyes were dragged towards him. "Call me Tezy. It's weird when you call me that. I'm not in my realm with my worshippers."
They all looked at me with curiosity, but none asked, waiting for me to share more.
"We won't dare call you by your name, Snake Goddess!" they said again in unison, bowing their heads.
My lips parted. "I said, it's awkward. I'm not⸺"
"But⸺" They started to protest.
I held up my hands, saying, "Fine! What's the use of debating with you anyway? Now, what I'm trying to say is that you are free. You're not in a dark dungeon anymore. I can only advise you all to live in peace, not to go to different battles because of some territory. Is it not better to live without shedding blood? Is it not far better to just live without hate and be with your loved ones?" I winced at the last phrase I blurted out.
"Loved ones? Ultima Danijel took them away from us, so how can we live without hate?"
I gazed at Oblak, the fifth of the seven. He was tanned, fierce-looking, and so tall. From his memories I prodded, his mate was a beautiful, slender forest fae. He fought alongside her in a battle, but she died saving him. He then wanted to avenge her, by attempting to poison Ultima Danijel, believing that it was a trap to kill her kind.
Of course, there was a root to his hatred. Not only he, but all the others whose eyes were on me.
I looked at them one by one in return. The darkness was still around us. The rain had stopped, and the moon was still covered by a thick cloud⸺I learned it was the name of the floating thing in the sky, just as Smaranda told me.
"Your hatred pushes you to take revenge, yes. But that's never an answer. It will become a vicious cycle of hate and revenge. I'm sorry, I may sound cold-blooded and have no empathy, but I don't think it's right. What's done is done. What's in the past stays in the past. You can never change it, even if you avenge your loved ones tomorrow, the next day, or whenever in the future. What's better is for you to move on and to find another reason to live, but not any negativity."