The General was too excited to meet Ziu—the man who would make him the hero of the Humans and a force to be feared, once the war was over. His name would go down in history. He couldn't even imagine what all this would bring him—fame, money, power and then some of his own hidden agendas that he never told anyone. His smile increased as he caught Ziu's hand. "Please sit!" he said. He wasn't hoping to meet Ziu but perhaps Dr. Tanaka had this surprise for him.

Everyone sat and all eyes were on Ziu. The General and Dr. Tanaka were the ones with a gleam in their eyes, while Niiya only watched him with hate and disappointment. His frustration only increased.

​​

Ziu looked at Niiya and scoffed. Niiya was in his hands. He couldn't do anything against him. Looking at the disturbance his mind was going through only made him feel better. Niiya's disappointment had become Ziu's food for fun.

"How are we going to proceed now?" asked the General. "Since you are already here, please let us know about your plans."

Ziu shifted his gaze to the General. He crossed his legs, brushed an invisible speck of dirt from his pants and replied, "My plans are very simple General but what are your plans?"

"My plans?" the General asked with a jerk of his head. It was as though his hidden intentions were caught. "I- I am waiting for you. We will do exactly the way you would want us to attack. All my men are standing at strategic locations. The moment you will give us the signal, we will start. But you must tell us where we should start from first?"

Ziu exhaled loudly and shook his heads. He waved his hand and the next moment the General found himself surrounded by three tanks each of which was facing him. He was in the center of a battlefield. There was gore, battle cries, injured men, corpses that were now meat for birds, smoke, smell of burnt flesh and crumpled forget-me-nots. The General was aghast. His face became pale white. He staggered and stumbled on his feet falling on the soft, bloody mud, which splashed on his starched white shirt and pants. He panicked.

"What is this?" he asked thinking that this was indeed magic and that he was being tricked.

"This is your mind," came a reply. Suddenly someone appeared in front of him through smoke.

"What have you done to me?" barked the General. He was a supreme living being amongst his people. How dare a man like Ziu play with him? "Get me back to the room we were in or get me out of here."

Ziu laughed and came near him. He towered over the General and said with a sinister smile, "You see currently I am in your mind—your cell. I am here to warn you."

General's eyes became wide with shock and then there was fear in them. "M- my mind?"

"Yes," said Ziu, turning his back. He went and stood in front of a tank. "On my cue, one of these tanks will fire their cannons and you will be exploded into pieces."

"But what have I done?" whined the General. "And nothing can happen to me. This only means that none of this is true. You have tricked me."

Ziu looked at his fingernails and brushed them with his thumb softly. "All this is in your mind. I can trick you into killing yourself. It's not that hard."

General's mind became numb. He was unable to respond. It was the first time he was in such a strange situation. The man in front of him was a powerful wizard.

"I just read all your devious plans that you have once the war is over. Trust me, once the war is over and you as much as move a finger against my realm or any other realm, I will find you even from the bottom of hell and kill you." Ziu sounded so dangerous that the General was shaky. "So do what you are asked to do and after that don't show me your face."

General nodded weakly. "You h- have my w- word," he stammered.

Ziu took a deep breath and waved his hand. The two of them were back in the room where Niiya and Dr. Tanaka was sitting watching intently the two men in front of them who had frozen for a moment.

The General was sweating profusely when he came back to senses and found himself in the room. If Ziu was like this, he couldn't imagine what other wizards would be like.

Ziu was merely watching him with a raised eyebrow. "Shall we begin?" asked Ziu very quietly like the dark moonless night outside.

"Yes," answered Dr. Tanaka.

Niiya sat back on his sofa, as the recipe of disaster was about to unfold in front of him.

"Tomorrow, you will station your men on the east of the wizard realm. I want ten fighter jets to be ready to fly over the kingdom on my command. They should be ready to drop bombs. The spells are weakest on the west side of the realm where it is most difficult to go. So you must command the pilots to fly there tomorrow, early morning at 3AM. I will give you the coordinates."

"Ok."

"What about your people?" asked Dr. Tanaka.

"They are ready. They will attack the werewolf realm first—the pesky creatures," sneered Ziu, as he looked outside the window.

Dr. Tanaka shifted in his seat. "I need a favor from you," he said gently.

Ziu laughed knowing fully well what he was about to say. He replied very coldly, "If you want Nate and Ookashi to live, you might as well get them here before the war begins because once my people attack, they wouldn't know whom to prioritize before killing."

Dr. Tanaka's breath was caught in the throat as his voice choked. Did he have to sacrifice his daughter? If he went to talk to her, she would ask the reason and that would mean that he would have to spill it out. He looked at Niiya with a helpless expression. Niiya bit his lip as though telling 'I had warned you.'

"I will try to bring them out," he said and hid the tear that was about to come out.