Twenty eight.

Iris's POV.

I teleported myself and the guardians to the outskirts of the village.

" So what's the plan?" Aoife asked and I sighed.

" Honestly, I have nothing. Any ideas?"

We thought hard trying to come up with a plan and Bryan finally spoke up.

" Since they have no idea we're coming, why don't we keep it that way. Instead of attacking at once, why don't you go up against them. Then we attack from the sides."

" That way all their focus would be on me while you take them out from behind."

" Exactly." He said and I smiled.

" That's a great idea. The shifters shift into birds and they fly above-"

" What about us?" Russell asked cutting me off.

" I'll cast an invisibility spell on you. But you'll stay suspended above. I doubt they'll bring their dogs since they're just about 30 fighters but let's just play it safe." I said and they nodded.

" You guys ready?"

They nodded and I grinned.

Time to kick magician butt.

***

I stood near the entrance of the village but far from the village itself as the magicians marched forward.

" Leave." I said in a bored tone.

The front line fighters sent balls of magic towards me but I flew up right on time. I landed on my feet and chuckled.

" What?, No pleasantries?" I asked. I let out a high pitched whistle and I felt my canines protrude and smirked.

" Attack." The commander yelled as they ran towards me. I waited till they were close enough before I stomped my foot on the ground causing the ground to shake violently.

They were so focused on me that they didn't notice my fighters attacking from behind.

A magician tried to attack me and I stabbed him with the spike on the side of my bow. Another one came from behind and and I used the spike at the other side to stab him. I yanked the bow out ripping the wound even further. They fell on the floor their blood pooling at my feet.

" Iris behind you!" Bryan yelled. I turned and saw a magician running towards me at full speed with a sword in his hands. By now I had run out of arrows and my bow and dagger were nowhere to be found.

Bryan tossed me one of his Katana blades and I caught it. I blocked the magicians hit with the blade and knocked his sword out of his hand. I sliced his right arm off cleanly.

Blood spluttered out and splashed on me. I wiped my mask and face cringing. I spat out the blood that had gotten into my mouth and shuddered.

" That the last one?" I asked Bryan as he knocked out a magician and he nodded

" Iris!" Russell called as he held the injured commander by his collar.

" Good." I stated. I brought me phone out of the compact pocket of my suit and tossed it to Aoife.

" Call the Outcasts. I'm going to have a little chat with the commander."

I dragged the commander by the collar and threw him against a rock. He groaned but snarled when he saw me.

Cute!

" I might let you live if you co-operate." I stated and he snarled again.

" I just have one question."

" Never!" He snarled once again and I rolled my eyes.

He was getting on my nerves.

" How do you reverse the orcus incantatio?"

" The mighty Elysian doesn't know how to reverse a spell?!" He taunted.

I moved closer and snapped his neck wiping his blood on my suit.

He obviously knew nothing about it.

And I hated when people wasted my time.

I walked back to the guardians and saw that the Outcasts had arrived to clear the mess.

Bryan and Tiara were laughing about something and Aoife and Russell were also chuckling.

" What's so funny?" I asked as I approached the group.

" Okay so when we were up there, Tiara decided to also shift into an Eagle. And we saw a real eagle approach us. I swear I saw Its eyes widen!" Bryan managed to wheeze out.

" It was so freaked out by our size he had to turn around." Tiara said laughing and I chuckled.

Shifter animals were naturally bigger, stronger faster, smarter-in short, shifter animals were better than regular animals. Especially shifters that come from a pure bloodline.

" Come on." I said to my guardians as I entered the village.

I was surprised to see the villagers still walking around going about their daily activities.

A man approached us and bowed.

" Elysian." He said and I nodded in acknowledgement.

" What's going on here?, Why aren't you all in the safehouse?" I asked and he had a look of confusion on his face.

" Safehouse?, Elysian I don't understand, is there an attack coming?"

" There was but it has been stopped. Didn't the council inform you?"

" They usually tell the magistrate. But he didn't say anything about an attack."

" And where is this magistrate?" I asked.

The man was about to reply when a couple ran over to him.

" Emer!, You have to help us!, Our daughter is missing!" The woman said.

" I will Kim but not right now. I have to show-"

" Since when has she been missing?" I asked.

The couple noticed me and bowed.

" For a few hours now. We've been searching everywhere for her." The man said.

" Are you sure she's not out playing?" I asked and the woman, Kim shook her head.

" No, our daughter, she-she doesn't go out much."

" Do you have anything of hers?" I asked and she brought out a small notebook.

" This-this is hers."

" Okay. Tiara?"

Tiara shifted into a beautiful brown wolf and sniffed the notebook in my hand. Her ears perked up as soon as she caught the scent. She led us towards a small building and shifted back.

" Good job T!" I said and she smiled.

" Elysian, this is the magistrate's office." Emer said and I raised an eyebrow.

I kicked the door open and it revealed the magistrate looming over a figure. I grabbed him and threw him against the desk.

He glared at me and I smiled.

He hasn't recognised me yet.

I retracted my half mask and made my lilac eyes glow. His eyes widened in fear and he cowered.

" What's going on here?" I asked.

" She-she-she, she came to me." He stuttered pointing at a girl curled up at the corner of the room. Her eyes narrowed at his statement.

" Is that true?" I asked and she shook her head frantically.

" He-he-he said he would withhold the council's donation to my family if I didn't-"

She couldn't seem to get the word out so I nodded for her to continue.

" My family really need the money. We're poor. We don't have much. My parents don't have enough to send me to a proper supernatural school. I just wanted to help them." She said as she broke down in tears.

Aoife and Tiara moved to comfort her and I shifted my gaze towards the magistrate.

" Is this true?" I asked but he shook her head.

" She's lying!" He exclaimed and I tutted.

" You see magistrate, there are 2 kinds of people I despise, Bryan?"

" People who take advantage of others and liars." Bryan said and I smiled.

" Correct. And you happen to fall in both categories."

I dragged him from the desk and held him up against the wall by his collar.

" Any last words?"

" No! Don't kill him!"

I turned and saw the girl behind me. I cocked my head to the side and stared at her. She was slender with fair skin and long black hair. She looked like someone of Asian descent. She couldn't be older than 15 probably 14.

" Why?"

" He made a mistake."

" And how am I so sure that it won't repeat itself?" I asked and she kept quiet.

" Everyone deserves a second chance." She said quietly as her parents pulled her away from the office.

I released the magistrate and he fell at my feet thanking me.

" Don't thank me, thank the girl. I'll let the council decide your fate." I said and he gulped.

I walked out of the office and saw the girl being scolded by her parents.

" You should never talk back to the Elysian. She could have punished you for that!" Her dad said.

Really?!,

I'm not that heartless!

They  bowed as they saw me approach and I rolled my eyes. I had warned people several times to stop bowing but no one ever listened.

" Come." I said to the girl and she approached me slowly.

" What's your name?"

" Ara Moon." She replied looking at her feet. I lifted her chin to look at me and she gulped.

" What you did back there was-"

" Very disrespectful. I'm sorry it will never happen again!" She apologized and I gave her an amused smile.

" I was going to say brave." I chuckled.

" Not many people have the courage to stand up to me. You did what you thought was right, you stood up for someone who didn't deserve it. I respect that." I said and she smiled.

I turned to her parents and spoke,

" Mr and Mrs Moon, with your permission I would like to take Ara back with me to enroll as a student of Crest Hill High."

" Elysian we can't possibly let you pay-"

" It's okay. Your daughter has a fire that I admire. And I would love to nurture that."

" Thank you." Ara said as tears rolled down her cheeks. I smiled at her and said,

" Grab whatever you may need and say goodbye to whoever you want to. Meet us by the entrance of the village."

She nodded her head as she ran to hug her parents.

She arrived at the entrance a while later with a worn out backpack.

She waved one last time to her parents and sighed.

" Don't worry, they can come visit anytime they want." I assured.

" You ready?" I asked and she nodded.

We held hands as we teleported back to school.

***

Сайн уу!🥰,

So I introduced a new character, Ara.

Lemme know what you think.

Stay safe 😷.

Bye!!