Sous, Abigal, Faye, and Makala waited patiently in Faye's living room for Kara to teleport to them so as to take Sous and Abigal to Tany.
Sous stared at Makala's stomach and opened her mouth widely. "You are pregnant!" She yelled out. "That's like the sixth one. You have five grown kids and you just think you wanna have another go at it?"
Faye's laughed. "Oui," she said. "She likes being pregnant."
Makala shrugged her shoulders. "We're in our early forties. We're still young," she exclaimed. "Maybe you'll have more."
Sous shook her head. "Nah, six is enough for me and twelve is enough for Kara."
"TWELVE!" Faye, Makala, and eveb Abigal yelled out.
"Wow, you got yourself a basketball team plus substitutes," Faye said scratching her head. She looked at Makala. "We have a basketball team but only one substitute."
Makala rolled her eyes. "This one is it. I promise," apparently traumatized at the thought of having twelve kids in total.
An Omega that was able to pop out so many offspring, no wonder Zhiliary wanted her. Maybe she could sense that Kara had such genetics.
Kara appeared in the living room, causing the other four to rise to their feet to green her.
"Bonjure, madame!" Faye and Makala said to her.
Kara smiled and reached out her hand to the two. In all of these years, they had never met one another.
"I gotta have you meet my kids," Sous said to her best friend. "Not sure why I haven't sooner."
Faye waved her off. "I'll be here along with Makala."
Sniff, sniff!
While Sous was talking with her friends, Kara could smell the scent of another Omega. One who was apparently starting to be in heat. She looked up at Sous but wasn't able to conclude what she had done with the Omega.
Now wasn't the time to ask. They needed to get going to help Shadow. Her, Sous, and Abigal wrapped their arms around one another and teleported to the throne room of Tany.
Their footsteps echoed on the marble four as the three women looked around.
"Hmm," the medium began to speak. "I guess she's on a lunch break maybe," Abigal chuckled.
Sous sighed, the Alpha unsure where Tany was or the other witches, or even Shadow.
The throne room, empty, had a weird smell, like something had just been there. Kara sniffed the air, her nostrils flaring slightly as she caught the faint, lingering traces of ozone and something else, something sharp and metallic, like old blood mixed with damp earth.
Abigal shifted nervously beside her, her fingers brushing against the smooth, cold marble of a nearby column, her fingers sliding across mantels slightly as she scanned the darkness pooling beneath the high, arched windows.
The only sound was the soft whisper of their own breathing and the distant, unsettling drip of water echoing from somewhere deeper within the palace. Sous felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle, a primal awareness that they were not alone, that unseen eyes watched them from the gloom beyond the grand, empty dais where Tany's throne stood silhouetted against the weak light filtering through stained glass.
This silence wasn't peaceful; it felt thick, expectant, charged with an energy that made Kara's inner wolf bristle under her skin.
Tany sat on a barrel in a dungeon carving herself apple peels. She ate a slice and looked at Shadow as he hung with his wrist bound onto a wall.
Crunch!
Another apple peel popped into her mouth. "Want to see something cool?" She asked. She spread her palm out, the apple floated upward, and then was cut into several different slices. Tany laughed as she took each slice and ate it one by one. "Apples are Icarus' favorite food. When he turned back into a human, I didn't think he'd be so handsome."
"He's very loyal to you," Shadow mumbled out, remembering how the bird man was when they were in the unground city.
"Sous is back and she brought a friend," she announced, standing up from the barrel and making her way out of the dungeon.
Her heels were the first things Sous was able to hear followed by her antennas giving way to Tany's lighthouse. The Alpha turned to face Tany as she came into view.
"Where's Shadow?" Sous yelled.
"Where's the medium?"
"Here I am!" Abigal stepped forward, her shoes stepping into view from the darkness. Tany looked at the woman and flipped her hair.
The witch walked to the woman, the two standing rather close to one another. Tany planted a kiss on Abigail's cheek and with that a circle began to form of the other witches in the covenant. They appeared out of no where with only white gust of wind giving away their prescense.
Sous and Kara watched as the witches continued to appear, many of them wearing dark clothing, robes, and gowns. They exchanged looks and just waited.
Tany stepped back from Abigal and snapped her fingers. Shadow fell down from the air and onto the ground.
Thud!
She grabbed him by the collar and used her magae to punch Shadow in the heart. Her fist entered into a void, a dimension in which Shadow screamed and wrapped his hands around Tany's wrist, trying to pull her out.
Kara stepped forward, knowing exactly what Tany was doing while Sous was in shock of it all.
Finally, Tany's fist began to pull out and with it came the relic she had been searching for. Shadow collapsed onto the ground with Sous running to his side.
Kara watched as Tany held the relic in her hand, a small golden compass that seemed to hum with ancient energy. The air around it shimmered, distorting the light like heat rising from desert sand. Tany's eyes gleamed with triumph, her fingers tightening around the artifact as if it were a living thing.
Kara walked to Sous and knelt beside her and together they rolled his body over. His eyes were wide open, his mouth slightly agap, but his body was cold. Sous stood up and walked to Tany. She grabbed the witch by the dress.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!" Her canines baring, her claws extracting. Her patience was gone.
Tany smirked up at Sous as she stood on her toes since Sous held her in the air. "You're going to fight the mother of your children now-"
SLAP!
Sous back handed the witch, over and over and over again, but the witches of the covenant did nothing. They watched, like they were waiting for something. And then it came.
SLAP!
Sous had slapped Tany so hard, it drew blood, and it fell, it fell onto the relic, onto the floor.
Sous stopped her hand in mid air when she felt Tany's body go limp. She looked down, the blood covering her face. Her breathing shallow. Tany had the power to stop Sous but-
Sous sat on the ground cross legged with Tany in her arms. Not caring when a witch came by and took the relic from Tany's hands. Sous wasn't sure what happened besides for a bright white light that caused everyone in the throne room to become temporary blind.