The teams were quiet, Mya stood before them. Drinking hot chocolate while smiling at the teams and the three adults who were supposed to handle the teams. All were dripping wet and shuddering while they all waited for the clearly angry Mya to speak. She just sipped her chocolate, giving that creepy smile.

Alex really wanted to dry himself up but something told him that Mya would not let him, not until she was satisfied. He could handle it, but he worried for the witches in the teams. He glanced over at Blake only to freeze in place, his eyes going wide.

“Bloody hell!” Where Blake once had stood were now a pile of rabbits in every color imaginable. Coney stood at the top like a king giving orders to what seem to be his brothers and sisters to ensure what Alex assumed was Blake, would be kept warm.

“Are you okay in there, Blake?” Mya chippered, a hint of worry glinted in her eyes but it vanished as Blake waved his hands to signal he was okay. Her eyes turned to Elliott, Freya, and Kai who’s heads were drooping.

“What have you learned today?” Mya asked, her voice sharp despite the smile on her face.

“Bloody hell, she’s scary,” thought Alex, shivering from something other than the cold.

“To not cheat,” Elliott muttered.

“And?”

“And not act like kindergarteners,” Freya said, glancing at the side when Mya’s eyes turned to her.

“Good, now get into the tents and warm yourself up before you become ill. We have plenty of warm chocolate so don’t be shy,” Mya let them pass and all of them stumbled over each other to run into the tent.

She then turned to Blake, or what was supposed to be Blake, with a frown on her face. “Why are there so many rabbits here?”

Blake was finally able to get his head out from the pile of fur, his face red with the effort, and shrugged. “Before I knew that the principal had arranged the swift racing, I thought about opening a stand where you could pet rabbits. Coney was so excited that he invited half his family to participate.”

“Half?” Alex muttered staring at what must be at least hundreds of rabbits.

“Yeah, they are a tad overbearing,” Blake muttered trying to disengage from the pile of fur. “And now I don’t know what to do with them.”

“We can still arrange the stand if you are willing to attend to it. There are a lot of younger children here who would love to play with the rabbits,” Mya said helping Blake out by lifting some of the rabbits off him.

Blake let out a sigh of relief when finally free, Coney still sitting on his head though, before giving her a smile. “I would love to. They were very excited when they heard they would be petted. I didn’t want to disappoint them.”

Alex just shook his head, as he watched Mya help Blake inside a warm tent currently empty to help him set up his stand. Looking around, Alex noticed that most people had already settled down. Haley had found Hamish and was warming him up, while Aeron and Erin sat beside them laughing. Dale had found Leon and was blushing as Leon put a blanket around him. Someone is trying to cuddle up to their mentor.

Jaxon had rushed after Blake, while Elliott, Freya, and Kai were sitting bitterly under blankets with hot chocolate, pondering their mistakes.

Alex's eyes searched for his own warm blanket, but his Frenchman was nowhere to be seen.

“Joshua? Have you seen Hadrien?” Alex asked as Hadrien’s brother walked toward Elliott. Joshua looked around, his forehead frowning.

“Non… Stay here and get yourself some dry clothes. I will look for le sot,” Joshua gave Alex his chocolate and walked off, his nose clearly working overtime to catch the trace of his brother in the myriad of people.

Walking through the crowd restlessly, Alex felt his worrying growing as Joshua didn’t come back either. He couldn’t put his finger on why but something felt like it crawled under his skin and before he knew it, he had started to walk towards where Joshua had gone.

He soon entered the forest, hesitating for a while and turning around. Then a groan came out from the trees. Swirling around, Alex stared at Hadrien carrying his brother on his back. His face was covered in blood, while Joshua’s were white as a sheet.

Alex let out a shout and ran over to Hadrien who was about to fall over from exertion. Holding up his French dog, Alex held his body upright. People had started to buzz, running over to see what was happening.

“Who did this to you?”

“Witches,” Hadrien said grimly. He let the people pull Joshua off him. Joshua’s body was stiff, his eyes wide open but his eyes were covered in a white film. Dark magic sipped out of him.

“I thought I smelled some magic and decided to track it down. I was ambushed, my brother came to my aid but-” Hadrien teeth were clenched, and his fist slammed into a nearby tree making it squeak under the pressure. He kept shaking his head, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to speak. Then he leaned his forehead against the trunk of the tree. “They hit him with something. A spell of some kind.”

Alex frowned, “A spell?”

He wasn’t as sure. He recognized the scent of the dark arts. This wasn’t a spell, this was a curse, and the witches of Elan Coven exiled anyone who used it. Had some of them turned to dark magic out of desperation or had some people join up with Nemain. Nemain hadn’t shown his face, but Ahriman had promised that he was still here. Fueling the flames of war.

Elliott who had just come to the scene, let out a grown at the sight of Joshua. Rushing over and trying to get a response. Joshua didn’t even groan when he was shaken. “Someone get Pyramus Marshall.”

Harrison Gladstone came onto the scene with Lachlan Raine and his son Wallace at his heel. “The fucking witches dared enter our territory.”

“As much as we dared to enter theirs,” Elliott answered, clearly not in the mood for his bullshit at the moment. Frankly, neither was Alex. Especially at the sight of Raine. The man had only caused trouble since he came here and doesn’t seem to show any obvious goal outside of that. He didn’t look like someone who didn’t have a plan so his presence made Alex very nervous.

“We should gather the pack to hunt down the witches,” Harrison said, almost shouting it to the stressed crowd.

“We aren’t doing anything that will potentially get more of us hurt,” Elliott said grimly, looking up at Pyramus who didn’t even spare Raine a glance as he walked over to Joshua. Blake followed him with Jaxon, hugging Coney close.

“What is that feeling?” Blake asked, visually shuddering like he was cold.

“Dark magic. He has been hit by a curse,” Pyramus said after inspecting Joshua for a while.

“The damn witches have turned to dark magic,” Harrison snorted.

“Don’t be stupid. The coven detests dark magic. They would not turn so easily. Besides-“ Pyramus frowned as he pulled out a needle, and draw blood from Joshua. “There is no sign of any residue dark magic in his blood. No dark spots.”

Alex felt his skin prickle and turn cold.

“What does that suppose to mean?” Harrison asked, clearly still wanting the witches to be blamed. Surprisingly, or maybe it shouldn’t be, Raine was the one who answered.

“That means that it wasn’t cast naturally. This curse was cast by using an artifact. One made or tainted by dark magic.”

“The Elan coven has an entire vault filled with such objects,” Harrison said, pointing at Leon like he was the accused. Leon looked pale, gritting his teeth before he answered.

“He is right but we don’t know much about them. For anyone to enter the vault and know what object to use is-“

“They don’t have to know what it does. They just might grab some random object and-“ Harrison was not allowed to finish as Elliott turned to him. His face was cold and unrelenting.

“Do you actually have proof for your claims or are you just randomly spouting theories?”

“Do you have a better explanation?”

“We have more than one enemy. Frank Lloyd happens to be an expert at dark artifacts and I would think that it makes sense that he would go after the boy closes to his son. Especially since he seems to want to catch him. Forcing Alex to turn himself over by threatening Hadrien makes sense,” Elliott turned to Hadrien and then Blake. “Which is why you two need to be careful.”

“This is ridiculous,” Harrison snorted, looking around to search for support in the crowd but looking away when Owen’s cold gaze met his. “Frank is a minor character. Our enemy is the witches. They are waging war against us.”

“A war that is started and fueled by his employer the archon Nemain,” Elliott said. Harrison looked like he wanted to laugh, clearly not believing Elliott’s words. “Speak to anyone here. Plenty has seen the archon. Seen the danger he poses.”

“And if not-“ Ahriman showed up among the crowned. A smile came across his pale face. The flames dancing in his eyes as black smoke engulfed his body. A burned hand reached out and grabbed Harrison, Pulling him closer to the smoke while the Alpha wasn’t able to even move. “I can certainly convince you.”

Ahriman threw Harrison to the ground before turning back. His smiling face stood there once more. Harrison scrambled to his feet, his face shifting between pale and red, not sure if he should be terrified or angry.

What interest Alex though wasn’t the old man’s reaction. It was Raine’s. His eyes went wide, jaw clenched but a faint smile adorned his face. That’s when it hit Alex.

“You aren’t here for my father. You are here for the archons.”

Everyone turned to look at Alex before their gazes fell upon the one to whom he was speaking. Raine’s expression was once again blank. “My organization was interested when the rumors of archons surfaced in the old world. We have only heard whispers of the powerful creatures that are above gods but never encountered one. I was sent to see if I could flush him out and learn more about them. My organization prefers to be ready for any potential threats.”

“I didn’t think there would be two archons though,” Raine admitted, his eyes inspecting Ahriman like he was a piece of rare meat.

Ahriman just glanced at the witch hunter, not really seeming to care, “I am a bit over your paygrade, honey. Better flirt with someone a bit more in the dirt.”

“Two archons why would-“ Harrison’s eyes narrowed turning to Blake. “This is your fault.”

“What? How is this-“ Blake silenced. “Fine.”

He gestured to the grinning Ahriman who had walked closer to him. “He is my fault. But I don’t know Nemain and I am still not sure why Ahriman is hanging around me.”

“Fine,” Ahriman sighed as everyone stared at him with intensity. “I will tell you. You see, seventeen years ago a met this beautiful young man. We fell in love and I became pregnant but my father didn’t agree with the match since he was a mortal and I had to give up the child, and abandon him by the church one winter night and-“

“That is the plot of the drama you keep watching!” Blake hit Ahriman on the arm, which only made Ahriman look more pleased with himself.

“How about Blake is the runaway prince of a kingdom taken over by his uncle who killed his father?”

“That is the Lion King!”

Ahriman rolled his eyes. “The story was used by Shakespeare first in Hamlet. Kids nowadays have no culture!”

“Listening to you two gives me a headache,” Elliott muttered, rubbing his temples. “Please, ensure that both Mr. Dufort gets the attention they need.  All other of you, split up into groups and search the areas. Be careful but we need to ensure that the area is safe. No one should be alone at the moment.”