I looked around, no one was watching me.
Leave! my instincts roared. Without wasting a second, I slipped away through the side of the hut, not knowing where I was going.
I passed a few huts, each marked with strange drawings, but they were all empty. Everyone must have run out when the fierce wind hit.
Ahead, I saw one last hut, and beyond it, a stretch of forest. If I could reach it, maybe, I'd be out of this cursed clan.
My steps quickened. I reached the final hut. Like the others, it was empty. I moved past it and finally saw an arch, one that looked just like the one we entered through the day before.
If that was the entrance, then this had to be the exit.
Freedom was just ahead.
I broke into a jog, rushing toward the arch. But just as my foot crossed the threshold, a violent wind slammed into me, strong enough to knock me off balance.
I braced myself, feet rooted firmly to the ground. Dust swirled everywhere, I had to shut my eyes to keep it out.
"Drake Campbell, you must leave here," I told myself firmly.
"Durango!" I called out to my wolf through the mind link.
But even Durango was struggling, trying to stay steady in the raging wind.
"Durango!" I called louder, fiercer. "We must leave!"
I pushed, trying to summon the strength of my wolf, to move, to break through this storm, but then something clutched me, like a hand of force, pulling me back.
"Durango!" I roared.
This time, his power burst out, hot, wild, fierce. Flames surged through us. The wind around us bent and cracked, pushed back by his strength.
"Yes! We're leaving," I smiled through the chaos.
Together, with Durango's new power, we surged forward. We were almost through.
But just when I thought we had made it, I felt my feet lift off the ground. Something unseen gripped me, lifting me high into the air.
I fought with all my strength, and Durango fought too. But the force was stronger.
Just as I was lifted off the ground, I suddenly felt my feet touch solid earth again. The wind vanished as quickly as it came. My breathing was ragged, my chest rising and falling. I looked around, and froze.
I was standing right in front of the same hut where I had faced the elders moments ago.
Fiery eyes glared at me from every direction, sharp and accusing, as if they could burn me to ash. I spotted Millicent among the crowd. Her gaze was fixed on me, filled with sorrow and fear.
The villagers surrounded me, and I finally understood. This truly was an all-female clan. Not a single male in sight.
"You desecrate our land, and then try to flee!" a furious voice thundered.
I spun around, and my heart nearly stopped.
Behind me stood creatures unlike any I had seen. They were not like the bird-women I had encountered since yesterday. These were different.
Their heads were human. Their upper bodies were bird, with wide, powerful wings that stretched several feet. But their lower halves were human again.
Across their feathered chests were thorn-like structures, sharp and glowing, like tiny swords, emitting colored mists that shimmered in the air.
These had to be the supreme warriors, the ones Millicent had spoken of. The ones said to wield magic strong enough to wither other magics.
"Did you truly think you could escape?" one of them growled, stepping forward.
She was fiercer than the rest. Two twisted horns jutted from her human forehead, and her eyes glowed like molten embers.
My heart raced. My veins throbbed with panic. There was no mistaking it, they were the force that pulled me back. They had stopped me.
"I... I..." I tried to speak, but the words stuck to my throat.
They were stronger, than anything my wolf and I had faced.
"I mean no harm," I finally forced the words out.
"Silence!" she roared.
"You say you mean no harm, yet you nearly broke the power balance of our land! You would leave us vulnerable!"
Power balance? What was she talking about? I hadn't destroyed anything, if really I did, then they had forced everything on me!
"I didn't—" I began, but she cut me off again.
"Quiet!" she shouted, louder, more dangerous.
"This sacrilege will not be allowed to continue. You are evil, and you must be stopped!" she thundered.
At once, they moved. Their hands lifted, wings spread wide, and from their throats came a sound, chilling, unnatural. It wasn't a scream, nor a song, but something in between. Something unholy.
The air thickened, like syrup. I tried to move, my instinct screamed at me to fight, but my legs refused. A crushing pressure slammed down on me, pinning me in place. I dropped to one knee. Then the other.
I gritted my teeth, straining, muscles burning, but it was no use.
Their mystical power coiled around me, invisible but heavy as chains. It squeezed my chest, pressed against my back, crushed my limbs as though the air itself had turned to stone.
My bones groaned. My ribs threatened to crack. Gasps echoed around me. Villagers stepped back in fear, others simply stared with wide, horrified eyes.
"See how easily he falls," the elder woman sneered. "He is a danger."
"Stop! You don't understand—" Millicent's voice rang out, desperate.
"Silence!" the elders boomed in unison, brutally cutting off her words.
"Do you stand with evil now?" one of them growled, eyes glowing as she turned to Millicent.
"I'm sorry, my powers," Millicent whispered, bowing her head and stepping back in submission.
I lay there, face nearly buried in the dirt, heart pounding so hard it echoed in my ears.
I should've listened to Millicent. She told me to leave quietly, warned me not to test them. But I was arrogant. I believed in my power too much. Believed nothing could stop me.
But now I understood. The voice from before had been right. Power wasn't enough. Not without wisdom. Not without truth. And maybe I'd already failed the first test.
Whispers slithered through the air like blades.
"He's cursed."
"He's dangerous."
"Throw him out."
"Kill him."
The pressure intensified. My vision dimmed, even though dawn had begun to break over the horizon. I closed my eyes, trying to hold on to the last of my strength.
Then it came, a deep, bone-rattling roar from the distance. The ground beneath me trembled. The air itself shivered. Even the elders halted their chant. Silence fell over the crowd like a curtain.
Another roar came. Closer, louder, and fiercer. It wasn't the roar of an animal. It was something worse. Something ancient. Something filled with rage, and grief.
Then I saw a black cloud surged over the horizon, swirling like a living beast. It twisted and spiraled, darker than night, moving faster than any storm, faster than any winged creature.
I heard screams, high, sharp screams came from within, men, women, children. Not voices of the present, but echoes of the past. Of fear, agony, and death.
The villagers screamed in terror. Some turned and ran. Some fell to their knees, crying, praying, clutching the earth as if it could save them. Others stood paralyzed, eyes wide, bodies trembling.
The elders' faces lost all color. Whatever authority they once carried faded.
The half-bird, half-human warriors, the mighty ones who I thought held the magic of unmaking, fell to their knees, one by one.
Even the horned one, who had thundered judgments just moments before, bowed her head low, hands clasped tightly together.
"Supreme warriors!" she shrieked.