Adrianna looked around at her council members. Some of them shook their heads while others sat with fixed gazes. No one went against their queen. One of the ministers picked the latest document that was in front of him and started reading it.

At first, Adrianna could feel fury roiling inside her stomach. Her irritability increased and then she barked, "We need all the wizards and witches present in this realm to help the kingdom against this attack. Give them orders to create spells around their houses, streets, locality and then finally around their levels. The spells should be so strong and multi-layered that anyone passing through them should feel the ripple of the effect and should be fried by the time they move even two steps. No one would be allowed to move out of their houses. If anyone needs to come out, they would be given special passes and then you have to make sure that they can walk through that labyrinth of spells." She demanded immediate action. "Once you have created the spells, test them."

​​

"Yes, my Queen," murmured a few of them.

"We are expecting the war anytime now. So I want you all to alert the residents as of now. Ask every wizard who is out of the realm to transport back as soon as possible and tell those who cannot come that we won't be able to save them if anything happens to them. So it is a must that they come back."

"What about the spies?" asked Mihr.

Adrianna pursed her lips. Sometimes Mihr could really show signs of a thickhead. "They will continue to do their jobs," she replied, clenching her jaw.

"Yes, my Queen," he replied and shifted in his seat under her glare.

"Open the palace's armor and weapons unit for everyone," she ordered.

The meeting concluded and Adrianna flew back in her carriage to her palace. Suddenly Adrianna stumbled on her seat. The caravan stopped mid-air. Adrianna looked out of the window with wide eyes.

"What is wrong my queen?" asked Haldir with a grave expression.

"Nothing," she replied at first. Then her face became serious. "I can sense the presence of a huge serpent underground in a cave," she said. Goose bumps appeared on Adrianna's skin. Was that an attack? But one serpent?

"Allow me to go and find out?" said Haldir. "Do you know it's exact location?" he asked.

"I can feel it slithering in a cave somewhere just outside the Wizard Kingdom," she replied, her gaze fixed somewhere inside the carriage.

"What are your orders?"

"Get that serpent inside the kingdom under the veil of invisibility now!" she said and gave him the exact location.

In all things that followed, there was one thing everyone had forgotten about—Rhys.

"Yes, my Queen," said Haldir and directed his broom to the right.

Adrianna closed her fists tightly as her body tensed.

---

The town felt a small rumble in the ground and then somewhere in the far corner, near the military base, fiery balls of yellow flame, billowing out of the hanger filled the control room with thick smoke. The blast had reverberated over the town in the middle of the day like a thunder's clap on a rainy day. Police sirens wailed trying to find the source of the explosion.

"Are you mad?" shouted the General as he slapped a young lieutenant who was stationed right next to the tanks' hanger. "How did this occur?" He wanted to keep everything under wraps until the night fell and this was something that would garner unwanted attention.

The lieutenant was as shocked as the General. "I am not sure," he replied looking at his injured arm that was bleeding profusely. "I just came back after having lunch and this tank exploded."

Somewhere in distance, a Mozia disappeared into smoke brushing dirt off his hands.

"Douse the fire," he yelled. There was no way he would allow the authorities to see this mess.

From the corner of his eyes, the General saw Ziu walking out of thick smokes of the control room. His shoulders became tight and he gripped his holster so hard that his knuckles became tight.

Ziu took his wand out while walking towards the crowd that had gathered over there to douse the flames. He waved it and the sky was slowly covered with dense clouds. It started to rain heavily much to the relief of the soldiers. They all ran inside. Within a few minutes the burning tank was soaked in water. But the local police had come by that time.

It took a while for the General to talk to them and ward them off. "It was just a small accident by a young, freshly recruited soldier," he covered up. "No one has died."

The police were taken to the site. They questioned the lieutenant who was injured and when they left, they took him.

Ziu was shaking uncontrollably with rage. His face was red and there was fury in his eyes. "How did this happen?" he asked.

"I have no idea," came the shaky answer. "Everything looked fine…"

"Shut up!" roared Ziu. "We are attacking in four hours from now," he said looking at his watch. "I will be leading the war from the Human Realm."

The General was shocked. This was like a nightmare.

---

Haldir brought Rhys to the palace. He was rolling his shoulders and bouncing his foot when Adrianna came to meet him in the main hall.

"You said that you would help me," he hissed. "And yet you forgot me."

"I haven't forgotten you," she replied smartly.

"Then why didn't you contact me?" he asked, tension visible in the cords twanging in his neck.

"How do you think we would have contacted you? We had been busy preparing for a war your brother is raising against us. You should have contacted us," she gritted her teeth. Tension rose. She wanted to kill the serpent in front of him.

"It's not that I asked him to do so," spat Rhys.

"My Queen," came a soft mental voice. "Calm down," Haldir pleaded.