The Shadow Howlers

“Seize him,” Polly said as she and Trisha covered Helios in glitter. Everyone stared in shock. Helios was too stunned to move.

“Nyx said she doesn’t have any kids, so you’re lying. You have to be a bad guy,” Trisha said as she and Polly stood protectively in front of Selena. The adults tried to hide their laughter as the god of the sun tried to figure out what to do.

“Wow, what did he do? Let me guess, he flirted with the queen,” Nyx said, as she and Lachlan joined them after their fun in the shower.

“He said that Achlys is your daughter and we know you don’t have kids so he’s lying,” Polly explained as she and Trisha held their hands up again, ready to cover Helios in more glitter. Nyx looked from the pups to Helios.

“Why on Earth would you bring up that woman?” She asked him.

“She’s the one who poisoned Bianca and Alani. Helios told them that she’s your daughter.” Andrew explained. Nyx chuckled lightly.

“It’s true, she’s technically my daughter.” Everyone gasped. Lachlan felt like he’d been punched in the gut. When Nyx noticed his reaction, she shook her head.

“It’s not like that. Let’s go sit down, and I’ll explain.” Nyx said. Everyone, including the glitter-covered Helios, followed Selena and Zaiden into one of the large sitting rooms. Once everyone was settled, Nyx took a deep breath. Lachlan took her hand. No matter what she said, she was still his mate, and he’d support her.

“Please bear with me as I tell you a little story about where I come from. My father or creator is Chaos. He’s the ruler of the area between the heavens and the Earth. Me and his other offspring can travel to all the realms because we have no one area we’re tied to. I am the goddess of darkness and night, so I stay in the deepest part of the underworld. When gods and goddesses create someone, it’s not the same as you do it here on Earth. There’s no need for a man and woman to have a child. We have a lot of power and magic and many use that to create other gods and goddesses from our own image. I have several what you would consider to be my children, but I didn’t give birth to them in the traditional way. I created them. Achlys is one of those I created. Many consider her the first true witch. She is one of my biggest regrets. For many centuries, I was in a dark place and I’m not talking about the underworld. It was dark in my mind. I was lonely and tired of being feared by everyone. I created Achlys and her siblings to stop the loneliness, but they left me, too. Most of them were more evil than I had planned. I stopped after I saw what Achlys was. She was the evilest of them all. Her dark magic makes even Zeus run and hide. She can go between all realms. If she’s helping Aglaura and Cidippe, then she has an ulterior motive because she doesn’t help anyone if there isn’t something in it for her.”

No one said anything as they tried to process everything that Nyx said. Not only were the evil sisters after them but now they were on the radar of the evilest witch who happened to be Nyx’s daughter or creation.

“We’re sorry Helios, we thought you were lying,” Polly said, breaking the silence. When he saw the tears welling up in hers and Trisha’s eyes, he chuckled.

“That’s okay. I needed a little color. Besides, it’s nice to know we have such powerful guards at the palace. I think we need some pups like you where I come from.” They both relaxed when they saw he wasn’t mad.

“We have Achyls, Eris, and the sisters after us, so what do we do now?” Bianca asked. She was having second thoughts about having Trisha and Polly with them now that they knew there was so much evil around them. She knew they would be devastated if they sent them home to their grandparents, but Bianca didn’t want something happening to them when things started to go sideways.

“Eris is a trickster, but most likely harmless. She will scare and terrify you but won’t actually hurt anyone, so I’m not as concerned about her. Achyls will be coming after me. That may be why she agreed to help them. She has been trying to kill me for years.” Nyx explained. Everyone looked at her in surprise.

“Why would she want to kill you?” Lachlan asked while tightening his grip on her hand.

“She wants to kill me because I’m the only one who can stop her. I created her so my magic rivals hers. With me out of the way, she will be even more powerful. I have tried to kill her many times, but she always slips away. When the time comes, it will be a fight between me and Achyls and only one of us will survive.”

Achyls listened in on the conversation Nyx was having with everyone else. No one could see her because she was nothing more than a mist outside one of the windows. Her magic allowed her to transform into many forms. After she had heard everything she needed to hear, she let the breeze take her away toward her own home. She lived in a realm that she created herself. Many witches had begun making their own realms to have control. Achyls was the mother of all witches, and she decided it was almost time to call her children home.

When she reached her realm, she turned back to her human form. She had several human forms, but the one she used the most made her look like a young woman with long blonde hair and dark green eyes. That’s the one she used to seduce men. The one she used to terrify children, and some adults made her look like something out of a horror movie. Her skin was grey and her hair white. She had red horns coming from her head and warts all over her body. When she screamed, it was high-pitched, making those who heard it paralyzed with fear.

“So, my dear mother thinks she’s going to get the upper hand on me. I will show her that her magic is no rival to my own. Once I kill her, then I can kill Aglaura and Cidippe. After that, all the realms will be mine.” Achyls spoke out loud, even though no one was there to hear her.

She closed her eyes and screamed internally. That was her call out to all the witches she had created over the centuries. They would come to her and do whatever she wanted. Right now, she wanted them to kill everyone in the palace so she could get to her mother. She knew the perfect pair for them to start with. Trisha and Polly.