The Devil's Cursed Witch

The two men talked for a while on what to do next and walked out of the study. Just as they stepped out of the hallway, Draven's and Logan's ears caught the noise of wings flapping.

"They are here," Draven spoke as they looked in the direction of the garden where the two eagle shapeshifters landed.

Noticing their presence, Morpheus and Aureus approached them. Draven was the King of Agartha, so it was only proper for them to greet him, and it applied more to Aureus who was an envoy from another kingdom.

The entire time, Logan's eyes were fixed at Aureus. Unknown to him, his fists were clenched at his sides. It was difficult to deny that this young eagle was related to Myra as he could clearly see Myra's image in him. He looked young but dignified and capable. Such a handsome and divine being could only be Myra's son.

Aureus properly greeted Draven while Morpheus didn't bother to pay any heed to that, and instead, introduced Aureus to Logan.

"Aureus, meet Logan. He is the next leader of the White Tiger clan and one of the greatest warriors of Agartha. He is also one of the old acquaintances of your mother."

Aureus admired the strong appearance of the white-haired man who looked to be the same age as his uncle. He offered him a light bow to greet him which Logan accepted with a complicated heart. However, his face showed none of his emotions, and his response was short but civil. "Nice to meet you, Divine Eagle Aureus."

"Nice to meet you too, Mister Logan."

"Are you here after hearing that Myra's son is here?" Morpheus asked Logan.

"Hmm, something like that," Logan replied curtly.

Draven changed the subject. "Aureus, you must be tired after being outside the entire day. You should rest."

Aureus nodded and Erlos appeared there as if he already got Draven's message.

The King of Agartha continued, "Erlos, escort the guest back to his room."

"Just in time, I had the kitchen prepare a hearty meal for our eagle friend."

It was almost evening, and since Aureus arrived, he had only a single meal before leaving the palace with Morpheus.

The young elf then guided the young eagle's way inside the palace, leaving the three old acquaintances behind.

"Shall we go somewhere?" Logan offered and the other two agreed.

The next moment, all three disappeared from there, only to appear at the top of a random mountain, away from others in order to have a private conversation.

A Dragon, a Divine Eagle and a White Tiger.

Among these three men, none of them had a carefree expression on his face.

"Had fun with your nephew?" Logan asked after a bout of silence.

"I did, but it would have been even better if my sister was there with us," Morpheus said and he was glaring at Draven when he spoke the next words. "Thanks to someone, I lost her."

Draven as usual ignored his remark and looked away towards the sky. The sun had descended to the point the sky was starting to show a hint of orange. His action, of course, provoked Morpheus even more. "See, the guilty one doesn't want to hear the truth."

"We are not here to do the blame game, Morph," Logan commented. "We need to have a serious discussion--"

"Serious discussion? How my sister had to bear all that, is that not something serious to discuss about?" Morpheus crossed his arms over his chest as his hand was itching to throw a punch towards someone's face. "No one talks about it as everyone is scared to offend our great king but I am not scared of him. See that? He keeps quiet because he knows he was at fault. Everything happened because of him." He sneered towards Draven. "Look at me, or will you still ignore what I am saying?"

Draven turned to look at him. "I cannot turn back time."

"What? There is something the Almighty Dragon can't do? Impossible!" Morpheus mocked.

"What we can do is to fix what would come in our way."

"Fix? Will that bring back the dead? Will that make up for the heartbreak of all who suffered? You. Can. Do. Nothing."

"Morph, stop it." Logan moved to intervene, but Morpheus continued to glare at Draven.

"If you were even just a bit thoughtful before, you would have considered my sister's feelings for you. That idiot fell for someone like you, I still can't believe it. Didn't she know you don't have a heart? It was all your fault! If you had accepted her and had given her the opportunity to be your mate, she would not have fallen for that human's trap. She would not be blamed for what happened back then! She would not have blamed herself and left this kingdom! In the end, this all comes down to you hurting my sister!"

"Morph--"

"Let me speak, Logan," Morpheus snapped.

He was enraged, truly enraged. The entire time he was touring around with his nephew, he might have been smiling, looking all carefree, but deep inside, the wounds of the past that didn't heal started bleeding again. The old pain resurfaced and he could not help but take his anger out on Draven, the source of this all.

However, Logan did not back down and held him in the shoulders. "We know at that time Draven has no intention to--"

The furious Morpheus knocked his hands away. "Exactly." He then turned his eyes back on the expressionless Draven. "At that time, you were acting like you were not interested in any female, like you would never have a mate worthy of you...but why do you have a mate now? What made you change your mind suddenly? If you only gave my sister a chance...

"Was my sister not worthy in your eyes? What she had not done for this kingdom, for you, for every one of us? In return, she got unrequited love. She never showed it but she was hurt--

"My kind sister, she was hurt. She was hurt but what did she do? She accepted the truth and still stood by your side, but you! You did nothing but be heartless to her!"

Draven opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he chose to close it. He, of all people, knew the blame was truly his. He continued to listen silently despite knowing what was going to come next would remind of his sins.

"And I know, I know that one cannot force emotions. It was fine if you didn't accept her but...why...why did you trust that human piece of trash? Because of that, she was tricked and used. If not for you--if not for you!"

Morpheus raised his hand, wanting to hold the other man in the throat, but in the end, he didn't let his anger completely take over him. He lowered his trembling fists to his side.

"Even if she returns one day, I am sure she would never stop blaming herself and would never forgive herself though it was all just because of your mistake of trusting humans. And now, she is once again trapped by that Black Witch. My sister, my poor little sister, what has she done so wrong that she's being punished to live her life by getting used by power-hungry people like you and that Black Witch?"

Draven emotionlessly stared at him, but inside, he was terribly shaken. This morning, it was about Aldis, and now, it was about Myra. He was reminded once more of two of the closest people he had in his life who suffered as a result of his mistake.

Silence enveloped the mountain as neither of the three spoke for some time. Logan warily watched the two, Morpheus took that chance to calm himself, while Draven briefly closed his eyes to remind himself he must look forward and not be dragged down by his guilt.

"I will bring her back," Draven told them with conviction.

"Now, sure you can," Morpheus scoffed, "after making her suffer for decades. I wonder how much that Black Witch must have used my sister and how weak she must have turned? I cannot leave her with that witch longer, plan something fast or I will have to take things into my hands. I am simply being patient this time because I don't want to put her life in danger due to any unplanned reckless thing, but know that I still don't trust you. Talk to that human king as soon as possible and let's get my sister back."

"This is what we want to do that's why we're here," Logan replied instead of Draven. "If you are done ranting, we can talk business."

Morpheus took a deep breath as he turned to face the sky and let out a large exhale, as if he's trying to push out his negative emotions along with his breath. The three men started talking about how to deal with the Black Witch without letting her harm Myra.

"...If Evanthe was here, this plan would work better. Back then, she was the one who defeated that mass-destruction spell," Logan spoke.

"But she paid a heavy price for it. I don't want Evanthe to be involved with her again. I don't want her to face the same thing again," Morpheus commented.

Draven sided with Morpheus. "Evanthe had done enough on her side. I will never allow her to sacrifice herself once again because of that Black Witch."

Logan could not help but agree to it. "I hope wherever she is, she is living well."