Louisa's POV
"Darren, you know that you can tell me everything," I sat next to Darren and said. "You're like a brother to me and you just don't know how lucky I am to have you with me. I know you're worried about me and you wanted to protect me. But I really wish you could let me know what's going on?"
Darren sighed and covered his face. Then, he said, "Mana and Mata were waiting for someone to throw a package at them last night when you found them. They were actually waiting for me."
"What?!" I frowned.
"I was supposed to get something from Alpha Zackery's tent and pass it to them," Darren said.
"But... Why?!" I asked.
Darren held his head with both of his hands and said, "Louisa, it's all my fault. I really wish I could see you earlier in my life. But I didn't. Instead, I met them. They came to me when I was most vulnerable. They promised to bring my brother back to life. So I listened to them... I really shouldn't have listened to them. Maser will find out about this and he will kill me for betraying him..."
"Darren, what do you mean by 'they'? Do you mean those traveling druids?" I asked.
Darren nodded.
"They reached me first. I didn't want to have anything to do with them. They came to me and they told me that they could bring my brother back to life by using a special type of material in the Underground City."
"Underground City?"
"Yes. The Azula Ruins. The hidden burial place for King Czar the Great," Darren whispered. I could see flames of fire in his hazelnut-colored eyes waxing and waning.
Alpha Zackery mentioned Azula Ruins to me when he gave me the ring. I touched the ring on my finger and said, "But King Czar the Great died thousands of years ago. His tomb was just a legend. Nobody has ever seen it in the past thousands of years."
"Those druids never forget. They pass down what happened to the Gifted Ones from generation to generation through ballads and poems. King Czar's burial ground is never supposed to be known by anyone, but a few hundred years ago, there was a man-made earthquake that shook the entire Kingdom, from Kanz Mountain, into Tatra Mountains, all the way across the Radagast Plain. That was the explosion in Kanz Mountain. You saw the Seven Maiden dance the other day and Alpha Zackery must have told you about the explosion."
I nodded and said, "Some people wanted to get the precious Moonstones. Alpha Shay from the Aberrant Canines decided to put an end to everything by destroying the mountain."
"Yes, he made it. And that explosion triggered an earthquake. And after that earthquake, three ancient relics from the Azula Ruins appeared on the mainland. The first one is Czar's Ring, which is the ring you're wearing. It was traded by several dealers and eventually attained by Alpha Zackery's mother, the Late Queen Daliah. After Alpha Zackery killed his mother, he got this ring. It possesses tremendous power, which is yet to be discovered."
Darren took a pause and said, "The second relic is called Clemency Ring, which is the ring the druids got several decades ago. King Czar the Great used to wear it when he pardoned the sin of the guilty ones. So it has a great power to exempt. The druids were cast because they betrayed King Czar the Great. Have you heard of the King's First Ruling?"
I nodded and said, "A druid can never step on the mainland without being reduced to ashes."
Darren continued, "They can never get back without the King's pardon. So, they used the power of Clemency Ring to exempt themselves. They lifted the curse of King's First Ruling and got back to the mainland."
"What are they going to do?" I asked.
"They want one thing and one thing only," Darren said. "They want revenge."
"What is their plan? They can't just come to the mainland and kill every werewolf!" I exclaimed in a whisper.
"They have their own agenda, which I know nothing about. But one thing is for sure, they desperately want to find Azula Ruins because the Underground City is hidden beneath it. That's why they needed to get access to the third relic, Wray Fay's Statue. It's a statue made of moonstones, which broke into two pieces when it was found after the earthquake. Throughout the years, the two pieces had been possessed by different owners. No one had ever possessed two pieces at the same time. Rumor has it, Alpha Zackery got one piece of this statue long ago."
"Is that why he wanted to get the second half during the auction?" I asked.
"Yes. And the druids didn't want him to get both of them at the same time, because Wray Fay's Statue isn't just a statue. It's also a key to the Underground City."
"Why do they want to get into the Underground City? Why did Lucas want to get the statue as well?" I whispered and looked at my ring. "And why? Why did Alpha Zackery give me this precious ring? It doesn't make any sense at all! I mean..."
Darren looked up and put a finger over my lips. At the same time, I heard the steps coming from outside the tent.
"I want to see Louisa! Let me in!"
It was Leo's voice.
"You can't get inside, young master."
"Let me see her! Is she hurt?!"
I walked out of the tent.
"Leo..."
"Louisa!" He hugged me tightly in his arms, looking at me up and down.
I realized that he was checking on me to see if I was alright.
"What happened, Leo? Why are you so nervous?" I asked.
He looked up at me and then buried his head in my arms without saying a word.
His eyes were full of grievance and fear.
He witnessed Lucas slashing a man's throat open last night. He must be terrified right now.
Lucas was really an idiot to do such a cruel and violent thing in front of a teenage boy.
"I'm fine, Leo." I stroked his head and said. "Where's your brother?"
"He went out with Lucas this morning," Leo answered in a muffled voice.
"Leo, why are you trembling like this?" I asked. "Are you having a temperature? Do you need to lie down a bit?"
He lifted his head and I saw his eyes were filled with popped blood vessels in his eyes.
"Louisa," he asked. "Is Lucas going to kill you?"