(Alnilam)

After the disaster that has just taken place, I am losing my mind. Hours have gone by and dawn is upon us.

Amaia’s real identity had been revealed in front of my brothers and Saiph. I would have worried about the Reavers but Amaia took care of them. Not that I was going to let them walk away freely.

But they were very prominent members of the Dread Army. Reduced to nothing but molecules and even those we couldn’t find.

That was one deadly power Amaia possessed. The energy surge she used would have been felt by every Enforcer if we hadn’t lined the palace grounds with containment crystals.

Still, I am not sure how much of her magic remained contained and how much of it was felt by the Enforcers.

And yet the breach didn’t make sense? Was any crystal faulty? Cracked? Contained less energy? How did the breach even happen?

I needed a foolproof plan to explain how the two Reavers just disappeared on palace ground. Blaming them on the monsters would be the most viable option but they were the ones who were controlling them in the first place, like puppet masters.

We are going to act as if we never saw any Reavers in the first place.

"Clean up the grounds. If anyone finds a necklace, with a purple crystal, bring that to me." I give instructions to the sentinels. They nod and get to work.

I have sent the twins back to Orion along with Saiph. Making my way back to the palace. I know Father will be calling an emergency meeting to brief everyone and demand answers on how the breach happened at two places.

Could it be an inside job?

How am I going to explain everything to my parents? Should I tell them the truth about Reavers? That somehow they were controlling the Chittering but how will I explain their deaths?

None of us has such brutal powers to atomise someone.

If I don’t tell them, they will not know the ugly truth. I have to be smart about it.

So many lies I am about to tell. Anything to keep Amaia safe. I promised her and nothing can make me break that promise.

Entering the palace, I hurry over to my room to change into my uniform.

My parents along with their top brass will be inspecting the grounds in the time being.

Once they are done, I head over to the conference room.

The sentinels push open the metal door for me. Different weapons are embossed on it.

I enter to find that my parents, along with General Bakshi Haiz and Beta Hamian Diez; Rahria’s father.

My father sits at the oval marble conference table with his elbows pushed upon the shiny surface and his hands steepled. Mama stands just behind me, a picture of worry.

General Bakshi is the commander-in-chief of Orion Forces. All enforcers, sentinels, hunters, and trainers come under his command.

Hamian Diez is second in command. In case of my father’s absence, unavailability due to a visit to some other continent or state or untimely death, Beta Diez is to act as the temporary replacement.

"My light, you are here." Mama rushes to be by my side, hugging me. "Are you hurt?" She questions, her hands feeling my arms and inspecting my face.

"I am fine, just depleted."

"I am sorry, we didn’t even detect a breach here in the palace," she regretfully says and I give her a small smile.

"Where are your brothers?" Father questions, his jaw set.

"I sent them back to Orion. Saiph is with them." Mama relaxes hearing that Saiph accompanied them.

"That’s a relief."

"We closed a colossal breach at the southern border but we were able to detect it. But the one here. How did it go undetected?" General Bakshi asks with a grunt.

I shake my head because that is indeed a mystery to me.

He is a stern-looking man with a huge cut on his left cheek that runs down to his chin. He is a warlock werewolf hybrid and one of the most powerful men in our kingdom. His blue and gold uniform exudes authority and demands respect.

"I have sealed the breach and fed the crystals with my magic. But we will need our ’Farians’ to solidify and strengthen the crystals," Mama whispers, still holding my arm.

Farians are specially trained witches and warlocks who specialise in shield magic and feed it into the crystals to keep the boundaries intact. They have a different training institute and come under my mother. She trains them, along with some other powerful witches and warlocks.

"Yes, we saw the damage in the ground. So many creatures passed through. You guys did a tremendous job of killing them," Beta Diez praises us but I know the truth.

I take a deep breath and move to stand on the other side of the table. Placing my palms on it, I press my weight down and face my father.

"There were at least seven Chitterings. Not only that, these creatures suddenly appeared out of nowhere, as if someone had opened a portal and rained them down on us," I explain.

General Bakshi’s eyes narrow at the details. Mama gasps while father is thrown into a deep thought.

"The creatures acted strangely too." I level my gaze with my father. "Almost like someone was controlling them. They weren’t acting like wild creatures. That makes me wonder why it specifically happened when two Reavers were in Orion."

Father lets out a frustrated breath at my words. "Alnilam, be very careful about these allegations. What you are trying to say can land us in trouble."

I lean further down.

"We are already in trouble. What happened today could have been catastrophic, had we not fought these monsters off."

General Bakshi resumes his agitated walk, his index finger knocking at his temple.

"I don’t like the meddling of the dread army in our affairs. Alnilam does make a sound point."

"I find it weird too that the moment we invite our sons to dinner, the breach happens near our palace. It appears to me, someone knew and purposely opened a breach and let these creatures in. They wanted to harm our children," Mama adds and I completely agree with her.

"I don’t know if the Reavers were involved or not but this is hella big coincidence to ignore. We need to investigate deeply," Beta Diez says, standing beside my father.