Adrianna's confidence boosted and she entered the portal. Haldir followed her. There was no time to ponder and think about the portal's appearance. The two of them stepped through it and appeared right next to where Ziu was buried. It was very quiet.

"Do you want me to create a crater of fire here? It would burn him," asked Haldir.

​​

Adrianna shook her head. Something was odd. From the corner of her eye, there was a suggestion of movement. It was as if some snow shifted. There was nothing above the ground. It was faint. Something squirmed, slithered like a piece of shadow. It moved deep inside. Adrianna retreated a few steps. She warned Haldir, "Go twenty feet away, up over there," pointing up to the slope.

"Why?" he argued.

"Just do as I say," she snarled.

Haldir gritted his teeth and using his wand, he swooshed higher up.

More ice from the upper crust moved.

Adrianna extended her right hand to the side. Her broom swooshed from far like a bolt and came right there. She gripped it hard and mounted it immediately.

And then something that she anticipated happened. All of a sudden the ground cracked and burst open.

The giant serpent that was lying unconscious under the ground came out of it with a hiss and tongue forking out. Ziu had shape shifted the moment he noticed that this was an avalanche that could kill him. He had dug a hole and slithered inside as the ice kept pouring on him building the pressure on his body. Soon he had lost consciousness.

Adrianna flew far from it. Haldir was shocked. He should have created the crater of fire, he thought with regret. Anger cruised through his body.

The serpent rose some fifteen feet above the ground. Its stone-like green eyes watched every movement of Adrianna. His bright green body looked like overgrown moss on the white background. His sheath scales susurrated and stood up. Ziu slinked his way towards Adrianna, towards the scent of his enemy, its prey. He was armed with his most lethal weapon—the venomous fangs. All he had to do was to hook his teeth in his prey and wound his body of nothing but pure scales and muscles to constrict and choke her. He couldn't wait for it. As the sun's rays fell on him, he could feel the warmth on his otherwise numb scales. He was dying to swallow her. He tilted his large face as he watched her move with unblinking eyes.

Adrianna was on her broom several meters away from him. Her doubt that Ziu had shape shifted confirmed. As expected the serpent lunged at her and attacked.

Furious as hell, Haldir came from behind and taking his sword out of its sheath, he landed right on his back. The scales on Ziu's body were cold as the ice, hard and pointed. Haldir caught hold of them and tried to make his way to the top of his body, holding the scales and using them to jump forward. He tried to make his way through that mesh. But Ziu detected his presence and swayed violently throwing his tail on the ground. Haldir lost his balance and was hurled in the air. Ziu turned his body and stretched his sword like claws to hold Haldir, but Adrianna flew by and Haldir caught her broom. He held it until Adrianna was at least forty feet away from the serpent. She lowered the broom and commended, "Stay here." Haldir jumped off to the ground. She had saved him just in time. Although he shuddered a little, his anger built up. He swallowed it down the throat but it only made him worse.

As for Adrianna, the anger that had boiled up inside her came out as rage that was as lethal as fresh magma pouring out of the volcanic crater to destroy the world. It consumed her. Her finger curled around her wand. She flew towards the serpent again. "This time you are mine to kill!" she said under her breath.

The serpent swished its tail and attacked her again with its bare fangs. Adrianna shot up evading the blow. Then she closed her eyes. Bringing the wand higher up in the air, she focused on all energy that she could muster in herself—every little speck of sun's energy, every gush of chilly wind, entered her wand. She opened her eyes that were a slit of golden yellow.

The serpent lurched for the next strike but—

Adrianna brought her wand forward and directed the spell on him, "Ponos!" she whispered.

The wand emitted a fatal beam of white and purple light and started circling around the long body of the serpent. Within a few seconds the light had spiraled around it.

Ziu noticed the beam. He tried to shape shift in order to escape it but it was too late.

Adrianna pulled the wand back as though she was pulling a leash with a jerk. The light penetrated the serpent's body and sliced it into a number of pieces. A loud blood curdling scream echoed in the mountains as the mutilated body of Ziu who had shape shifted lied everywhere. His head had rolled down the slope. His legs were thrown somewhere.

Haldir quivered when he saw Adrianna. The Queen had single-handedly taken down the most powerful enemy of the Kingdom. He looked at her awe-struck. He could never imagine a witch with such powerful magic. She was indeed the supreme witch of her supreme Alpha. He looked at Ziu. He couldn't envisage a better and fitting end for him.

He remembered Dr. Tanaka's threat. There were seals that needed to be opened in Ziu's cell but that was the least of his concerns now.

He noticed that she was still in the air with her broom hovering in that position. The wand was still emitting the beam. She seemed to be in a trance. "Adrianna," he yelled from his place, not daring to go to her.

Adrianna's reverie broke. She gave a dangerous look to him through her bloodshot eyes. "Pick his head," she ordered.

The beams that were still coming out of her wand started to thin down and eventually disappeared. Adrianna gasped and bent forward on her broom to breathe in a large amount of air. Her lungs needed to be filled with oxygen, her mind was screaming for the want of it. The gargantuan task was finally over. Sensing her emotions, her broom slowly came down. Adrianna alighted it and knelt on the ground before Ziu's dismembered head.

His face was a void and his eyes were still open as if filled with fear—fear of death. She gazed into those eyes and closed them with her hands, which were as steady as the rocks. Haldir came next to her. The silence hung in the air.

Adrianna leaned forward to grab the head with its golden hair. She picked it up from the ground and held it high in the air. Power oozed out from her as she collected some blood in her palm and poured it over her wand, over her leather jacket. She looked as if she had again gone into a trance. "This is my prize," was all she managed to say in a hoarse voice.