Sous

At the age of seventy-one, Hacate stood in her office looking out the window. She was completely covered in seals with the exception of her face. One of her eyes completely black as a result of seal potentially going wrong, causing Hacate to become corrupted by the other magae's magic. She was able to gain control again but it left a mark on her via her eye.

Hacate school was now deemed a success by society. The campus was able to hold about 8000 students, and there were talks of creating a university for higher learning. Hacate was also helping other scholars create schools in their own districts. These new schools may not hold up to the reputation of Hacate but it was important to give students a chance at an education regardless of where they were in Nadia.

Her ear twitched, a new trait she gained by draining that of a werewolf some time ago. Her ears were now sensitive compared to before. Sealing was probably one of her favorite techniques. It allowed her to access abilities and growth she wouldn't get being a sole witch.

She looked to her side over by her desk. On the wall behind her desk were shelves with consumption potions. Entities she had killed to obtain their ashes.

Hacate walked to her desk. She was writing her first manuscript on the dark arts. At her age, she had already published about twenty books but none of which spoke of the dark and black magic she has come to love.

She looked at the analog clock on her wall. She sighed. She was to have a meeting with the current Alpha of Apex. He was upset none of his wolves were being accepted into Hacate. She had politely told him via a wolf messenger that his students were not Nadians and there were no sponsors willing to take then on. Plus the Apex pack believed in supremacy, with wolves at the top of the hierarchy. That was not something that was believed at at Hacate. She had advised him in the same letter to create their own schools if they believed in such hogwash. Obviously the letter didn't go too well or he wouldn't have arranged a meeting with her.

She walked around her desk and sat down. She closed her writings and tapped it, allowing it to disappear into thin air until she called upon it once more later in the evening.

Hacate could smell the wolves when they came within the vicinity of the school. The Alpha in particular had a very strong scent. She simply bowed her head in her office as she awaited for them.

A light knock came upon her door, her assistant, an elf, had opened it, guiding the Alpha toward the seat that sat in front of Hacate.

Hacate did not stand up to show respect to this Alpha. She just waved her hand to show him the chair to sit down in.

It was the year 1302 and it showed by wear of the Alpha. His dark hair was slit back and the suit he wore was a suit from a brand that was recently made. He kept up with the times, it seemed when it came to apparel. She even bet he had his shoes shined prior to stepping on campus.

"Welcome, Alpha."

"Am I really welcome?" He asked.

She was truthful in her response. "Of course not. What do you want?"

"My wolves are very strong and powerful. They deserved to come to this school."

"Tsk, when I was sixteen, I traveled to Red Woods. I know how your pack is. You look down on everyone. You believe them to be inferior. There is no doubt I can tear you from limb to limb yet its you who has the confidence to think you can kill me."

She watched the wolf smirk at her.

"Are you challenging me? A hoodlums with all those tattoos, you are. Seventy, you are."

"Do not let my age delude you." She allowed him to remain ignorant on her seals. Her hand raised, opening the door to her office. "You wasted all that time coming here only to be told to leave. If you wish to spar me then do so but if you lose, I will lead your pack."

The Alpha found himself laughing uncontrollably. "A witch leading a pack of wolves. You've lost your damn mind!"

Hacate shrugged at the man. He got up, still laughing, even straightening his tie before exiting her office. With her assistant closing the door behind him.

It took about a couple of days before Hacate got a message from a wolf that she was to appear at the sparring arena in two weeks to battle with the Alpha. If the Alpha won, he would be headmaster of the school. If she won, she won his pack.

A purple electric sphere appeared in the center of Red Woods wolf community. Hacate stepped out of the portal wearing all black with the exception of her hair which had turned gray with age. Her dress went to her ankles which held a slit on the side, allowing her to showcase her knee high boots with a heel. Hacate also wore an over coat opened except for one button, and just for style, she placed her wand behind her ear even though it had been ages since she used a wand.

She was guided into the sparring arena, the stands filled with the members of the community. She had seen the wolves were growing in number. When she had first arrived in Red Woods, they were maybe in the mid hundreds, now, they were in the late hundreds, maybe even 1000 members now. If she did her calculations right, by 2025 they should be around 10000 members, maybe 20000. As she thought back to those numbers, they seemed relatively low. Ideally a wolf community would be in at least the 1 million by 2025.

"Hmm," she thought. She didn't understand why she was being so pessimistic on their numbers. Maybe something would happen to the pack that would cause their numbers to decline to the point where they would have to basically start all over. She shrugged. It wasn't her problem.

An elite Alpha took her by the hand and led her into the center of the sparring circle. She waited some time until the Alpha appeared, nude. Confused, she raised an eyebrow. Then remembered, wolves can from one transformation to another. When they transformed into their werewolf form, their clothes didn't change with them. He had a nice body so-

"Not bad," she acknowledged, "not bad."

He stood with his arms outstretched, yelling to the members of his pack, giving them a lengthy speech that Hacate hadn't any desire to hear. Although it made her wish that Clarence was with her but he was hosting an alchemy conference in The Witching Salons.

"Let's start!" The Alpha yelled out, the crowd cheering. He charged at her, his movements quick and blunt. His claws extracted and sharp, he slashed at her neck, causing her head to fall off. That was it. He and the crowd thought it was over but as Hacate laid with her head on the floor, she rolled her eyes. She had a seal she drained from a goblin that allowed her to regenerate any form of her body.

The cheers and screams diminished when they saw the veins, the muscle, and tissue crawling its way back to the head of Hacate. They gasped, never seeing anything like it. The Alpha looked down, stepping back.

"What magic is this?"

When Hacate came back together again, with a smile, she answered, "Black magic." She turned into a black wolf howling into the stadium. She turned back into herself with her seals burning red and orange like a flame. They bubbled and broke open like open wounds, drawing white puss. Hacate's body began to distort and morph, her bones snapping and cracking as they broke to accommodate whatever form she was transitioning to.

It may looked like she had open every seal but no, one seal remained closed. She didn't know why but opening all seals at once was a death sentence. And though she was old, she wasn't old enough to die yet.

She grew into a giant monster with the eyed and heads of many, the tails of others, the wings of some, the teeth of all, the hands of them, the feet of us- she was...was something that hadn't a name.

The stadium was quiet.

Hacate, as big as she was, as mutilated and grotesque as she was, her movements were instant. When her hand reached out and took the Alpha in her grasp, he had no ability to out run her. She laughed in his face, crushing him in her fist, breaking his bones, begging for his life, blood spilling from his nose. She took her other hand and covered the other portion of his body. She raised him high and then...broke him in half.

She threw his two havles onto the floor. He never even had the chance to transform. Hacate turned back into her normal self, her eyes scanning the crowd as they looked on to see their Alpha crumbled before them.

The sad part that she felt bad about was he was still alive. He was conscious and felt the pain of his body being torn into two. His pack members cried for him, shed tears for him. He moved his arms to try and crawl himself to his other half but even when he managed to crawl to himself, he lacked the means to put himself together again. He died trying to piece himself, trying to connect his midsections together with just his hands...