Chapter 302: Dawn

"Good!" Zyren told her even as he remained standing where he stood, his posture straight and unyielding, while Aira wondered what the oath he wanted could possibly be."It’s a deal then!" He said to her his gaze fixed ahead of him.

Meanwhile Aria’s heart beat steadily but uneasily in her chest as she stood before him, trying not to let her thoughts wander too far ahead.

Time slowly ticked by, marked only by the occasional movement of people and the shifting of feet against stone, and soon night fell. Even then there were still a couple of people left to round up, their numbers far greater than Aira had initially expected.

But by then Aira had slowly begun to use her ability, surrounded closely by King Jared and King Zyren as she focused herself. One by one, she used her ability on the people before her, ensuring that they were human and not Zygon beasts hiding behind stolen flesh.

Her eyes glowed faintly each time she reached out, a subtle shimmer that never failed to draw attention.

But barely had they begun when some people started to shuffle back, their movements hesitant, almost like they would rather not go closer to Aira. Fear spread through the crowd like an infection, whispers breaking out in hushed tones.

Without asking any questions, King Jared instantly ordered for the trouble makers to be killed, more as a warning to everyone there—especially since with such a large crowd of people it was harder to control. His decision was immediate and brutal.

The bodies fell quickly, blood staining the ground as screams rang out. The werewolves begged but what else could they do but die when their Alpha had clearly ordered for their death.

Their family memeber could only watch in horror unable to go against their alpha since that was the way of the pack.

"We have other places to be! If you linger back, I’ll kill you myself!" King Jared announced, his voice carrying through the night even as Luna Clara stood right next to him, her expression hard and unyielding, clearly in agreement with whatever he said.

No one doubted him.

Aira also worked faster than usual, pushing herself beyond her normal pace. She began going through multiple people at once, something that came easily to her without her having to stress about it, though the strain quietly built beneath the surface.

Sweat beaded at her temples, her breathing slowing as she forced herself into focus.

But it did take longer than she expected, and hours later she was mostly done apart from a small group of people. Her limbs felt heavy, her head throbbing faintly.

She needed to rest their abilities, and people also murmured that they were tired of standing for so long and would like to rest in their houses. Murmurs of exhaustion rippled out a bit more collectively this time around.

Almost like if they all spoke then Jared won’t be able to single out someone and it wasn’t like he could kill them all.

But barely had a couple of complaints reached King Jared’s ears before he went ahead, dashing forward with terrifying speed and ripping off a young werewolf’s head without any hesitation.

His blood was red, and it was clear that he wasn’t a Zygon, but King Jared didn’t care as he gave another warning, his hands already soaked.

"Anyone that isn’t cleared to not be a Zygon beast will be treated like a Zygon beast—even if that means I have to kill you all!" He announced, hushing the crowd in an instant.

It didn’t help that they had already seen more than twenty Zygons who had snuck among them and managed to kill others the moment they were exposed. Fear silenced every remaining complaint.

Aira took a break for a while, leaning against a wall as she tried to steady herself before she went back to focusing her ability on them one after the other until everyone was checked.

By then it was well past midnight, and the only source of light was the lamps that had been hung around the streets and in front of the houses, their flames flickering weakly in the night breeze.

"We should head to the next town!" King Jared said to Zyren, his tone sharp with urgency.

Zyren instantly shook his head in response.

Aira, however, could feel her heart leap in her chest. The single glance from Clara was enough to tell her that the "Kill Zyren plan" was about to start.

"Aira needs to rest! She has been using her ability for too long!" Zyren said, his voice calm but firm.

Aira instantly shook her head, having already hardened her heart to whatever was going to happen.

"I’m fine! I have no problems continuing," Aira pointed out, even as King Jared nodded his head, coupled with other werewolves who seemed very eager to finish what they had started.

Their eyes burned with anticipation.

Zyren turned to look at them collectively, and instead of kicking against it with an order—one that the vampires and Aira would have no choice but to follow—he simply nodded his head.

A faint smile lingered on the side of his face as he gave permission, just before everyone instantly set out for the nearby towns.

One after the other they went from town to town, with Aira taking breaks in between as they killed Zygons that popped up unexpectedly, sometimes from homes, sometimes from the shadows themselves.

The werewolves worked relentlessly, but the vampires also worked just as hard throughout the night, blades flashing, movements precise.

Aira had no choice but to take short naps, her body forcing rest upon her even as she noticed that the vampires didn’t. Though it was clear that some of them were tired, they pushed on without complaint.

They had been up from dawn, traveling during the day when they should have been resting, and it was clear that most of the werewolves seemed well rested, almost like they could keep going indefinitely.

’Does it have something to do with the moon?’ Aira wondered as she stared up at the glowing moon, letting out a deep sigh as she rubbed her tired eyes.

The journey continued all through the night until finally they were done, and they slowly headed back to the cities in the carriages they had taken.

Aira slept in the carriage with Zyren, her head slumped to the side as exhaustion claimed her. His lords followed behind him with other vampires, maintaining formation even in retreat.

King Jared and Luna Clara sat in another carriage, speaking with deep expressions on their faces, their voices low but intense.

Right beside them was the young Lord Arun Duskbane, who was in charge of the hunters that had been deployed for the plan.

His expression was even more severe as he balled his hands together on his lap, tension radiating from him.

More hunters had arrived back at the main city, which they would see the moment they arrived by dawn.

"You look worried!" Clara pointed out to Arun, who couldn’t help but tighten his fists even more than usual.

"How confident are you in that artifact of yours? You are aware that he drank silver and easily recovered!" He reminded them.

Jared frowned, annoyance written all over his face.

The only reason he allowed Arun to ride with them was because they needed him in case things went south. The hunters were very powerful, and they had weapons that were dangerous to vampires.

They had also undergone some rituals that made them stronger—secrets they would rather die with than make known.

"The artifact is more than enough! Just make sure your men are ready to kill all the vampires!" Jared responded coldly, already aware that the moment they were no longer useful, vampire hunters would be the first people he wiped out.

"The dawn would weaken his shadow abilities and there’s absolutely no way he can use it on all of us!" Jared declared, pointing out that all the werewolf soldiers and even the strong citizens would join the fight.

"Aira would also be taken as his weakness! He should surrender!" Clara added. "We can seriously hurt her! That should make him—"

But she was still speaking when Jared firmly shook his head.

"No! Zyren is cold! He does not care for Aira! Moreover she’s useful! We can’t put her life in danger!" He pointed out sharply.

"She can heal! We can cut off a few limbs and she’ll—" her voice hardened with anger, but she was still speaking when she was interrupted.

"No! We will leave her out of it and that is final!" Jared snapped.

Clara’s eyes widened as she met his angry gaze. She nodded her head and bowed in submission as the carriage settled into silence.

Meanwhile, deep in her heart, Clara had already come to a conclusion.

’She’ll die even if I have to put myself on the line to do it!’ she thought to herself as she leaned back, turning her gaze to the window where she could already see the sun rising.