"Help is fast approaching." Rey Reed repeated, wondering what Lord Rey meant.

Lord Rey exclaimed, "And here comes the magic!"

Suddenly, flames engulfed all the skeletons, burning them to ashes. A woman appeared amidst the chaos, holding a big book in her hand and murmuring some audible words.

The woman let go of the book, and it started floating in the air. She stretched her hand, drawing somatic spells, and blew air with her mouth. Instantly, a page from the book was forcefully removed, and it went flying in the air, rotating around dozens of skeletons. Before the blink of an eye, the earth parted and swallowed the skeletons.

"Magic indeed," Rey said, forcing his way out of the skeletons that surrounded him.

Rey watched as the woman brought out a wand from the inner pocket of her robe and flipped it. She swirled around, pointing the wand at a skeleton, and it shattered. She threw the wand in the air and whistled. The wand did surprising things by turning into a blade and cutting down skeletons. While the wand was doing this, the woman clapped her hand, and her book appeared in her hand.

She held the book with one hand and started flipping page after page with the other. After four seconds, she stopped in the middle of the page, removed a sheet, and tore it to pieces. She murmured different words inaudibly, and the sheet turned into locusts—more than hundreds of them.

"   κόκκαλο τους," she said, and she directed the locusts toward the skeletons that were holding the rest of the pack.

The locusts swarmed for the giant skeletons that were holding Gaius and Linda Boston, eating anything that stood in their path. They chewed all the giant skeleton's bones, reducing them to nothing.

"Lord Rey!" Rey called out. "Don't you think I deserve my power now?"

Lord Rey scoffed, "Not yet," and went silent.

Rey was busy trying to bring Lord Rey back when a warrior caught him off guard by swinging a flail at his head. A few inches away, Garry appeared in front of Rey and pushed him out of the way. Before Rey could blink, he was gone. He phased through the skeleton, shattering him to pieces.

"Thanks," Rey said, appreciating Garry as he appeared behind him. "You saved my life."

"You will have to do the same." Garry smiled. "Besides, that's what brothers do. They watch out for each other."

Garry vanished again and appeared again with two skeleton heads. "Something isn't right," he said, earning a frown from Rey.

"I searched the whole area thirty times, but I couldn't find Dylan," Garry explained.

Rey processed the information for a while, and his eyes widened as reality struck him. "They're probably heading to the king's palace."

"And with all the army of giants behind him, no one can stop him," Garry said. "We've got to return."

Rey said, "Let's meet at the gate in ten minutes."

Garry nodded his head and whooshed away while Rey threw himself into the heart of the battle again.

It was like a blur as Rey fought, slashed, and parried in all directions. Since he has no access to his hellhound or Lord Rey's power, he is left with no choice but to summon every ounce of his skills. He used everything he had to defend, attack, and watch out for his pack at the same time.

Rey instinctively called out all the endless days of training, of beings attacked from all sides by Sebastian's knight. He had a feeling that he had been training himself for a day like this. Even though he was a little scared, he still managed to control it, and he knew when to use it.

Rey keeps fighting his way towards the gate that leads them into this field. But the more he fought, the more he was outnumbered. He could feel his shoulder growing heavier, and Rey doubted his chances of making it to the gate on time.

Rey spotted a short, broad skeleton raising a spike and bringing it to his head. He was too weak to block it, and he couldn't move back. At the last second, he took a step aside, and the spike missed him by breath. The force of the attack blew air to his face.

Before the skeleton could attack again, locusts covered him, eating his bones. The painful shrieking of the skeletons followed as locusts descended on them, eating them non-stop.

Rey looked up to see the woman, and his jaw dropped as he recognized her. She was among the women that Rey freed from the kingpin's tavern. She was the one who blessed Rey with Lord Rey's name. She's the last key. The magic.

**********

Sebastian Stan marched out in front of his men on the frozen, hoarse mountain behind the king's court. He had divided his men into groups of hundreds and thousands. He had placed a commander in charge of each group, and he had given them instructions to protect the palace with their breath.

If there's anything Sebastian is perfect at, he could convince people. He had this ability to hypnotize people, convince them, and use them for his desires. Once they were done performing his job, he discarded them.

Sebastian Stan had sent Rey out to the front line, hoping that Dylan would be there. Sebastian had checked the future for different possibilities for his loss and the outcome of the war. From what he saw, there were more than four thousand and twenty ways he could fight Dylan, and only one would succeed.

The mistake he made was sending Rey and his pack to the front line, thinking that Dylan would be there. He should've known that Dylan wouldn't have made such a mistake. He should've guessed that Dylan would have another plan since Rey foiled his plan in the cave.

Yes, he knew about Dylan's attack from the beginning. He had seen everything in his ancient mirror. He knew when Dylan was raiding Moab and every territory nearby. He intentionally stayed behind and let him raid, so Dylan would think his plan was proceeding. He was using the lives of humans to gamble.

Sebastian Stan didn't care how many of them were killed for his course. The only thing he cared about was his reign, the king's court, his daughters, and his faithful pack. The rest are just pawns in his game. They can die, and he still won't give them a proper burial. They were slaves to him after all.

Nonetheless, Sebastian couldn't help but compliment Dylan for his wisdom. He had used a great strategy to counter his future vision and prediction. He was in awe. No one had done that except Rey.

Now, Dylan had outsmarted him, and it was troubling his mind. He was wondering if Dylan had another plan in stock for him. And surprisingly, Sebastian found himself praying for Rey's return. He was hoping that Dylan hadn't set a death trap for him and the pack.

For the first time, Sebastian doubts his chance of winning this war. For Dylan to outsmart him, he wondered what he had in stock.

As Sebastian kept riding in front of his men, he thought he saw someone in the distance beside Dylan. It's the witch, Caliste. He could now guess the reason behind Dylan's wisdom. It was the ancient witch.

Sebastian fumed with anger. Rage clouded his sense of thinking, and he wanted nothing more than to kill that witch, end Dylan's men, and kill Dylan himself.

"Men of war!" Sebastian screamed, and the soldiers, both werewolves and humans, screamed in response. "Today, we're not fighting for ourselves but for the future. We are fighting for the future of our country, our children, and our generation. Imagine what Dylan will do to them if he wins the war. He was back to take revenge because of the death of the late Alpha, Xavier Knoll, the man who cursed our land."

Sebastian paused and stared at his men with determination. "As you marched out there today, you would kill and be killed. I don't even guarantee the chance that any of you will return alive. But whatever you do, it will all become a legend tomorrow."

Sebastian drew his blade and stood in front of his men. "Those with claws amongst you—the horse rider and spear handler—should aim for the head while the foot soldiers, humans, and blade wielder should go for their legs." By doing this, we stand a chance."

"Let's ride out! For valor!" he shouted and galloped out.

"For valor!" The soldiers screamed and rode after him.

Sebastian Stan leads the war with the wind blowing his hair backward, and he looks like a god. As he was thirty paces away, he brought out a throwing hammer, leaned back, and threw it. The hammer went flying in the air and impaled itself in the skull of a giant. As it lunged into its skull, the giant fell, and those behind him trampled him to death.

Sebastian grabbed two javelins from his horse's chariot and aimed. He threw the javelin, and it struck the giant's chest, and the force threw them off their horse. By now, he was three paces away from colliding with the army at the front line.

"My blade," Sebastian requested from his armor-bearer. The young lad on his chariot unsheathed a glinting blade and threw it toward him.

Sebastian Stan snatched the blade midway, slashed a skeleton's head, and stabbed another in the chest, pinning him to the horse.

He left the blade with the last giant he sat on and shouted, "More blade, lad."

The armor bearer unsheathed two long blades and threw them.

Sebastian snatched the blade midway again and threw one. It struck a skeleton in the chest, the force carrying him away, and stabbed another skeleton. Sebastian turned around on his horse, swung his blade, and brought down a skeleton's head.

"Take control of the horse!" Sebastian ordered the boy beside him.

He grabbed a shield that was strapped beside his horse's chariot and leaped down from his horse. He rolled on the earth and stabbed a giant in the leg. The giant came down to examine the wound, and Sebastian slammed his shield on his face before he stabbed him in the gut.

He ducked on instinct, and a flail whistled past his face. Before he could act, one of his men threw a hammer, and it lunged into the man's forehead.

"Thanks," Sebastian said, appreciating him.

The soldier said, "You're welcome, my..." The soldier couldn't complete his statement when a spear protruded out of his belle. He was stabbed from behind.

"No!" Sebastian screamed, rushing toward him. "Lucas, No! Stay with me."

He grabbed the soldier's body and shook it. But he was gone.

Angrily, Sebastian dropped his shield and blade and then brought out two short knives from his boot. In a flash, he throws himself into the heart of the battle.

t.b.c