Adrianna sent Dmitri back to the Werewolf Realm.

Ziu was divided as to which side of the army he should lead—the serpent army that was ready for the attack from the lake or the human army that would launch the attack from the ground.

​​

After the meeting he flew to the lake to talk to his father. As usual he was extremely wary of entering the area. He cast an invisibility spell and walked to the lake. Other than the gentle lap of water hitting the shores and the buzz and whine of the winged insects, the surface appeared quiet—in fact too quiet. The wind rustled through the leaves of the trees that lined the lake making a creepy noise.

He knew that the spies were somewhere near and it was too risky to make a noise. Even if he was invisible, entering the water would create ripples and that would attract unwanted attention. So once again despite being tight on time, he flew several miles inside the forest and then entered the lake.

Sitting in his father's makeshift chamber beneath the surface of the lake, he weighed his pros and cons. He trusted his father and knew that he would help him to his best with very little instructions. It was not too complicated. The three spies that he had sent to the Werewolf Realm were more than enough to prove his race's supremacy over the werewolves. They would get crushed easily. And with thousands of serpents—they would cease to exist. That would automatically weaken Adrianna. He had heard from his spies that Dmitri was seen in his pack's territory.

He was very confident. He had planned this attack for a long time and slowly his dreams were coming to fruition. He had been so good with his planning that it was time for him to reap the rewards. Ziu felt proud of his careful planning, of his evil mind and beautiful integration of his plans. There was nothing that would stop him now. He roared with an evil laughter when he realized that he had planned this attack since the time so many years and if he had raised a suspicion that would be so miniscule. Adrianna must be wondering about his whereabouts while sitting in the noble court with that crown on her head. And here he was - planning to attack her the same night. He had hardly given Isidorus any time to think about his activities.

In the end he planned to attack the werewolves first. They were no match against him and it wouldn't take any time for them to be wiped off from the face of the earth. He imagined how it would be to control those wizards, those Mozias and their queen. She was pretty and powerful, and he might allow her to live, if she agreed to marry him. "After all she was the only woman who affected me," he admitted to himself with a scoff. He was about to give them the surprise of their life.

He decided to lead the humans because that needed more tactics and strategies as compared to simple attack on the werewolves. He called his father.

---

"Call all the Mozias and station half of them on the boundary wall of the entire south and east side of the realm," barked Adrianna at her General of Military.

Mihr nodded with a grave expression.

"The remaining Mozia will guard the north and west walls," she said.

Adrianna had called the ministry people for a meeting in the Ministry Block. Everyone was shocked to hear that a war was looming. They had just finished a war with Vikra. Not even two months had passed and there was another one.

"How much are we going to suffer, my Queen? This is simply preposterous. Why do you think that Ziu will attack us? There hasn't been any breach of conduct from his side," said the Minister of Relations. "Ziu is one of the most esteemed members of our realm."

"Being the Minister of Relations, submit me your report about other realms. I would like to know about each and every activity that is going on in other realms," demanded Adrianna as her gaze pierced the wizard in front of her.

The Minister was taken aback at this sudden demand of a report. "I- I have a report," he replied to his Queen fumbling with the folders in front of him. He dug out the latest document to read it.

Adrianna stopped the Minister of Relations. "You must be knowing about things in other realms on an everyday basis since maintaining relations with other realms is not easy. So I am sure you know about an incident that occurred in the Werewolf Realm a few days back. Without looking at that document, please tell me about that incident."

All other Ministry members gasped. This was weird.

"What do you mean?" the minister became defensive. "Are you testing me here?" he asked a little loudly.

Adrianna crossed her arms across her chest. She tilted her head and replied, "Yes."

There was a flurry of movement amongst all those who were present around the table.

The Minister of Relations had to reply. His dignity was in question. "There have been no reports of any disturbance from the packs. Everything is going well with the humans too," he replied with confidence. "In fact we have also identified students who we will exchange with the humans in our academy."

The Ministers of Defense and Magic and Isidorus closed their eyes and shook their heads.

"I want you to pick those documents, go to your home and read them in peace," said Adrianna in a menacing voice. Her face was red with anger. She turned to look at Mihr and continued, "Put him under house arrest."

"What? What have I done?" asked the Minister of Relations with a confused look on his face.

"You are not the minister to have fun or enjoy the powers associated with that title," Adrianna grunted.

"But this is unfair! You cannot misuse your title as the Queen to give biased judgments," shouted the Minister of Relations.

Every other minister shifted in his or her chairs.

Seeing the situation going out of control and considering the paucity of time, Isidorus waved his hands. The minister disappeared. What others didn't know was that the minister was being transported to the prison.

"Does anyone else have questions?" asked Adrianna.