Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Avengers.

Authors note: Thank you to those of you who reviewed and welcome to the new followers and favourites.

Chapter 28

The following day, Dahlia was surprised at breakfast when her father, sister and brother-in-law were missing. They soon discovered that they were in an urgent council meeting that was called before the sun had risen and not only that but Akio had left Niflheim with ships and soldiers before the council was even brought together. No one was willing to say anything as it seemed like no one knew more. The only people who seemed to know what was going on were the council and they were locked up behind closed doors in session.

It was hard to ignore the fact that more guards were placed throughout the city and it didn't draw much attention from the citizens as they didn't know something was happening behind closed doors. Dahlia refused to stay behind closed doors as it was Micah's last day and she intended to spend the day with him outside of the palace compounds.

Leaving the palace, the young royals spent most of their day in the city. They went shopping, buying mementos and gifts for Micah to take back to Durilia, while Dahlia picked up a few things for herself. They went to the ice cream parlour and shared a deluxe mixture, flavours from across the realms and bumped into a few of the orphans from one of the orphanages and spent an hour with them, playing and watching an old puppet show happening in the middle of the market street.

They later took what they bought back to the castle and went riding on Thestrals. It seemed that during Micah's stay, Eclipse had warmed up to him. She didn't like him or trust him completely, there were very few the Thestral did as she seemed to have the same trust issues as her rider but Micah was no longer someone she would screech at or dig her hooves into the ground in disapproval. She would even let him stroke her but she still wouldn't let Dahlia out of her sight when she was alone with Micah.

They flew to the ice lands of the west and went ice skating and played in the snow. Dahlia laughed at how cold Micah was as she forgot that his world had a desert climate and the only time he ever saw snow was if he travelled to other worlds. He seemed to cheer up though after she used a little spell to make his clothing much warmer and she taught him how to make a snowman and explained that every child made one on Midgard as soon as it snowed enough.

Once they left the west lands, they flew straight for the city but they didn't land there. Instead, they landed on the hills near the city. They had spent all day out; the sun was starting to set so they decided to have one last moment alone watching the sunset. Micah had dismounted the Thestral quickly, becoming familiar with the beings now and not falling as he once did; he then moved quickly to Dahlia to help her dismount. She didn't need help of course but throughout the day, she noticed that he was acting much more like a gentleman towards her and treating her as a lady. She usually would have told him to stop and just treat her like as he normally would, as a friend, an equal, and have fun but she understood this was his way of acting in their secret courtship, showing her how he would treat her as a lady and not just a friend.

He helped her down, his hands on her waist and even when her feet touched the ground, his hands lingered for a moment. The Thestrals walked away to stretch their legs and wings but stayed close by. Dahlia couldn't help but blush as his hands lingered and he soon noticed and moved his hands and instead took one of her hands and walked to a better position to watch the sunset.

"This must be all so strange for you," Dahlia spoke first.

"In what way?"

"Being away from home for so long, it must feel weird to be going back." She then shrugged. "Then again, you've travelled to others places, you've been alive for 870 years…all that time, the almost seven months you've been here probably feels like a blink of an eye to you."

"Not really. You have a long life now too, let me give you an insight. Lengths of time don't hold as much in your mind as you believe, you can spend a few days in a place and they can hold a stronger place in your mind than spending centuries somewhere. It all depends on what makes that place so special. You remember important events so no, this won't just be the blink of an eye, I will remember every second of my time here," he said with a smile.

She laughed and almost rolled her eyes. "Nice flirting."

"I wasn't," he tried to say and give an innocent smile but she clearly wasn't believing it. "Okay, maybe I was a little."

She hummed. "Thought so."

"But only partially, it is the truth," he said and turned so they faced each other. "I know it upsets you sometimes to talk about her but look at your mother. She only spent a few years with your father and sister and the impact she had on their lives will never fade and they've lived so much longer than I…so, no, I wasn't just flirting. When I leave here tomorrow, I will certainly remember all two hundred and three days that I have spent here."

He reached up to move a piece of hair out of her face and then leaned down to kiss her. The kiss only lasted a few moments, his hands coming to rest on her hips while hers went to his chest. "We talked about kisses," she said not moving their hands or stepping away from each other, his face still close to hers.

"I know," he almost mumbled. "Kisses can get me killed. No one is around, however, and I'll be returning home tomorrow. I know I'll see you at my brother's wedding but I don't know when after that. Forgive me for wanting to kiss the lady who is constantly in my thoughts."

"Well, when you put it like that," she said and went onto her tiptoes to kiss him again.

When they pulled away, he kept a hand on her hip but took her hand from his chest and kissed her hand before holding it. "Dance with me."

"We don't have any music," she said but they were already swaying.

"We don't need music," he said but then she stopped and he was confused.

"You need to teach me how to dance on Durilia. I can't show up for the future king's wedding and not know at least one traditional dance of your world."

He pulled away from her and smiled. "Well, we can't have that."

He taught her a traditional dance that was guaranteed to be done at the wedding. It was rather similar to the first dance at Hela and Falcon's wedding with little touching to begin with but the dance had a lot more footwork, twirls and his arms constantly being wrapped around her and her being brought up tightly against him at some points of the dance. She picked it up rather quickly and when the dance ended, her back was against his chest as his arm was around her waist and the two looked to each other over her shoulder.

"You're a quick learner," he said.

"Thanks. Let's just hope I remember it when it comes to the wedding," she said slightly out of breath from the quick dancing.

"I'm sure you will. Besides, I'll be right there and if you're dancing with me, I'll guide you and if you're not, I'll do something foolish to draw attention away from you. It wouldn't surprise them."

"That I can believe," she said as she spun out of his arms and he pulled her back but their attention was soon drawn elsewhere.

BOOM!

A loud boom parted them, the two stepped away from one another and looked to the sky. The sound was like a distant thunder but as they looked up, they saw that it wasn't thunder they were being greeted with but ships coming through the barrier. Five ships all bearing the crest of Niflheim but one ship was practically falling to pieces, it would surely fall out of the sky if not for the other four ships that were using beams of light to help levitate the ship to keep it steady.

They were flying in the direction to the entrance to the underground tunnels and they could both see the scorch marks on all the ships, the clear signs that they had come from battle.

"We must get home, now," Dahlia said urgently and ran to Eclipse and mounted her and set off before Micah had even gotten to his Thestral.

Dahlia knew now why there was urgency for the council to meet and Akio leaving, perhaps they had a lead on Voldemort, Angrboda, and Thanos, perhaps they had managed to defeat them but Dahlia didn't hold much hope in it. She knew the power the army of the dead held but she also heard the rumours and stories of Angrboda and the destruction and fear that Thanos had across the universe. With the army he was rumoured to have, she doubted a few ships could stop him, even if those ships held the best of Niflheim's forces.

When they arrived, they landed in the courtyard and the stable hands quickly took possession of the Thestrals after they dismounted and quickly made their way up the steps. They made their way to the command centre beneath the palace itself and saw that members of Dahlia's family were already there along with the leaders of each community, the head of defence for each community and the healers. The ships had already landed and soldiers were already leaving the ship, many of them injured but it seemed like everyone's focus was on the ship that was barely holding itself together.

People were entering the ship as Dahlia and Micah were coming down the stairs and as they passed, no one bowed or acknowledged them and that's when Dahlia knew just how serious the situation was. They boarded the broken ship and went up to the flight deck, passing walls that were blown off, sparks from wires from what little power the ship seemed to have left but there were also scorch marks on the walls, in the shape of people and Dahlia could hardly breathe thinking about what happened to the men on board.

Appearing on the flight deck, they finally found bodies of the crew. All were burnt, some already burnt to ash while others held little skin that wasn't charred, yet it was weird as the rest of the ship didn't look like it had been burnt to a certain temperature to kill even fire demons and what weapon outside of Niflheim could kill the dead? Everyone was stood near the controls where they saw Akio sat in one chair, his left hand burnt, his clothes burnt to his arm and his upper shoulder and part of his neck and face were too. A healer was tending to him while the co-pilot next to him, a fire demon, was burnt and despite the fiery and rocky texture of his being, the fire demon seemed to have been hurt by something that held such high temperatures that even he was not resistant to and it was killing him.

The fire demon struggled to breathe as everyone gathered around him. Lord Brokith, leader of the fire demons, kneeled and held the fire demon's hand as if to offer some comfort. Everyone knew from the reactions of the healers and the slight shake of the head from Healer Bekozoth, that he would not survive.

Fenrir was the first to notice her and he patted their father on the arm and Loki looked back and held out his hand. The two moved forward and Dahlia took his hand and stayed by his side.

"I failed," the fire demon gasped. "I'm dying."

"No," Lord Brokith said. "You did your duty as a warrior of Niflheim and you shall be remembered, Zigrod."

"Your majesty," Zigrod croaked and Hela moved to be beside Lord Brokith and kneeled.

She gave the fire demon a small comforting smile. "I'm here. You did so well, Zigrod, I will make sure all know of your bravery."

"They're coming," Zigrod gasped, needing to tell his queen. "The creature…the creat…they wanted it…we could not see the weapon…burning, burning so much…they're waiting…hiding."

His final breath left him, his body froze and the healer holding his arm put it down as his eyes stilled and they all knew he was gone. Hela stood and placed a kiss to the fire demon's forehead before she spoke a vow. "We will have our revenge, I give you my word," as she spoke the last words, she lifted her hand to close his eyes. No one knew truly what was beyond Niflheim, men speculated it was a great darkness or that it was like going to sleep and never waking. Whatever was truly beyond for someone like Zigrod, Hela could only hope he was at peace.

Hela then turned to look at Akio and the healers that were now surrounding him, trying to help him as he took deep breaths and hissed as the healers touched at his skin with different ointments and healing equipment as his hand seemed to be fused to the steering controls.

"Will he be okay?" Hela asked healer Saida worryingly, not wanting to lose someone so close to her as Akio had always been there for her.

"I'm fine," he said trying to breathe and speak normally but it was clear that he was in pain.

"She was not talking to you," Healer Saida said sharply as she seemed angry with her patient. She was much more patient and soft spoken when speaking with Hela. "I don't know what caused these burns and until I do, I can only treat them as ordinary burns. But these are far more severe than any burns any fire demon could accomplish and the fact that they have managed to kill members of the dead, well that brings about a whole other problem, your majesty. He shall live but until I know what caused the burns, I do not believe he shall fully recover from the burns. There shall be scars."

"Akio," Hela mumbled feeling guilty as she sent him away.

"Don't you dare blame yourself, Hela," he commanded, not talking to his queen but to the little girl he helped guide and raise and protect. "We may be dead and invulnerable to almost everything but your warriors take the same vow as any, to protect and serve even if it costs us our souls. Every member of the council helped prepare you for this, for a war to come that held weapons that could harm even the dead. You know what to do."

Hela glanced at all the members of the council before looking to her family and she took a deep breath as she stood straight and looked more like a regal queen than a worried young woman. "Tell me everything."

"When Zigrod sent the message that he had found Angrboda and the others, you sent me and four other ships to assist and Zigrod sent word to the other ships for backup. I ordered him to stay back, to not get close enough to be seen or tracked and he followed orders, as did the others. They were led to the planet of Ninkao. Thanos and the others killed them all, not just the beings that live there but all the animals and wildlife too."

"All?" Hela questioned, shocked. Thanos made a point of only ever killing half of a population, if not more, but he always left survivors.

"They unleashed creatures I have never seen before. Creatures so bloodthirsty and hungry for the hunt that they killed everything in sight and nothing seemed to stop them. Zigrod and his men managed to capture one, they had to kill it but it is in the containment cell. Thanos discovered they were there and attacked just as we arrived…43 ships fell, your majesty. The numbers are not yet known but I would estimate that with those ships, along with the crew on this one, about 20 thousand souls fell. I knew something was on this ship when the others started to protect it so I teleported onto the ship and took control as Zigrod told me what happened. Then the light came."

"What light?" Falcon questioned.

"A burning light. It did us no harm at first but then it felt like our skin was on fire, it affected everyone differently, some turned to ash, others were gone in the blink of an eye," Akio said and grunted as the healers slowly began to move bits of his hand from the controls. "It was as if we were on fire from the inside and that's when their ships attacked us, we barely managed to get away as we are now," he grunted then an unusual sound escaped Akio's lips. He screamed. A mighty screamed filled with pain and Dahlia gripped her father's hand tightly and stepped closer to his side, never having seen the strong Niflheim soldier in such a way.

Hela could see the anger on everyone's faces but the clenching fists of her defence council members was even more clear. They wished for battle, they wished for blood, they wished for revenge, they wished to seek retribution for their fallen comrades and Hela was willing to give it to them. But not yet.

"I know you want war," Hela said glancing around. "I know you want revenge; I want it too but we cannot do that yet. Our men have to heal and rest, our ships have to be repaired and above all else we have to find out what truly attacked our citizens. The damage done to these ships, the remains and injuries of our people can help us identify the weapons they have that can be used against us. We can discover and build defences which will help protect our people from this weapon. Until it has been identified, I want all of our ships, all of our citizens returning home. I don't want anyone leaving Niflheim without my express consent, no more souls shall be lost in this chase…now, let's see about this bloodthirsty creature, shall we?"

Hela cast a quick glance to Saida to make sure Akio was truly going to be okay and when she could see he was, Hela made her way through the ship and the others followed her to the lower decks.

Dahlia hung back a moment, letting go of her father's hand who gave her a small smile as he knew she would be okay. She moved to stand beside Akio and came into his line of sight. Her trainer tried to put on a brave front. "Does this mean I get out of training?" she teased.

Akio gave a slight smirk as he replied. "No, it does not. I shall make sure you have a teacher."

"Damn," she said in displeasure but then looked to Saida. "Is there anything I can do? You know how good I am at healing magic."

All the healers looked to Saida as she was most familiar with Dahlia and her powers but the royal healer seemed cautious. "I do not know how your magic may affect the injuries caused by an unknown weapon, it is best if you do not attempt healing magic on his injuries," Saida said but then a thought popped into her mind as she knew the princess just wanted to help. "Perhaps you can help," she said and Dahlia smiled, hopeful. "It would be much easier on Akio if he were unconscious as we took him inside."

Akio opened his mouth to quickly protest but Saida beat him to it.

"Don't you start," she said as she glared and put her hands on her hips. "I told you to be careful and you weren't so now this is your punishment. If you will, Dahlia."

Dahlia looked to Akio who had accepted defeat and Dahlia mumbled quietly, knowing he could hear. "You know, I never realised how scary she could be."

Akio gave a slight nod and Dahlia could tell he was in pain so she raised her hand to his forehead and allowed her hand to glow for a moment, thinking of a spell. His body almost instantly became limp.

Dahlia then left the healers to their business to treat Akio and get him back inside while she went in search of the others. As she made her way through the ship, Dahlia allowed her hands to glide along the walls, hoping to get visions of the past and what happened but all she saw were the men on the ship talking and when she heard a whisper of them having a lead on Thanos, Angrboda and Voldemort, the visions went blank. She saw nothing until she saw a flash of the ship getting away from the attack, the men already dead. It seemed the harder she tried to see what happened, the less she saw. Even when she put her hand on the scorch marks, which were all that was left of the soldiers, she saw nothing.

Making her way down to the containment cells, she was about to turn the corner to where the cells were when she bumped into her eldest brother. He wasn't the same though, his eyes were red and his claws sharp, he didn't have his sharp teeth, showing he had some control but Dahlia doubted he had much.

"Brother," she said.

"I have to get back to Isolda," he said and walked quickly past her and made his way out of the ship.

She turned the corner and found the containment cell open and saw that everyone was gathered inside or around the door. The closer she got, a scent hit her senses, the sweet scent of blood and rot, the scent of death. Dahlia walked to the door and looked past some members of the council to see others, including Falcon, Micah, Hela, Loki and Jörmungandr examining the dead creature in the centre of the cell.

The creature was large, it had leathery black skin with small little hairs across its body and six small eyes, almost hidden beneath folds of the skin. It had two rows of sharp teeth and its arms and legs were almost the size of Dahlia. She knew the creature must have been strong and hard to take down. Its abdomen was slit open and orange blood covered the creature and the floor of the cell.

"What is that?" Dahlia asked as she almost had to cover her nose at the smell of the creature.

"Grolnit. At least it's supposed to be," Lord Zalri, the dark elf defence lord, said.

"What do you mean supposed to be?" Dahlia asked confused.

"It's changed," Micah said.

Loki picked up one of its arms and pointed to the claws which were almost as long as Dahlia's hand. "They are vicious beings," Falcon said. "But they don't normally look this big."

"It's claws, the hair, the size of its muscle growth," Loki said examining the claws. "They are mindless creatures, filled with nothing but bloodlust and will only ever follow the simplest of orders as long as those orders don't interfere with them getting to blood. This being has been changed, we thought it was modified genetically to be a fiercer killer…that was until the doors opened and Fenrir smelled its blood."

"The smell of its blood," Dahlia repeated as she thought for only a moment as the reaction of her brother now finally made sense. "The village, the werewolves. The creature has werewolf venom in its blood."

"We never managed to track Fenrir Greyback down, we didn't think he caused a great risk when we couldn't find him with him not being a true Death Eater and just being an ally of Voldemort and not a close one" Hela said. "He must have gone with Voldemort. It wouldn't surprise me if Angrboda knew how the wolves change, how the werewolves came to be and requested he be taken with them. It was our family's power that made them, no doubt she is fascinated by that."

"But werewolves are bound by the lunar cycle, what use would they make?" Dahlia questioned.

"Not if they are able to manipulate the change," Jörmungandr said. "The villagers were created with magic to change into wolves. Magic and Isolda's sacrifice turned the dark wizards into werewolves, it is quite possible that Greyback could be biting people on Voldemort's orders or Angrboda's or Thanos'. They could then use magic to alter the spell, use genetic manipulation to trick the bodies into changing and there is also the possibility of it affecting those of other planets differently."

"They made them more effective killers," Loki said as he stood after kneeling beside the creature. "More bloodthirsty, more in need to kill. No wonder they destroyed the population of Ninkao, it was likely a test run to see just how bloodthirsty these beings would be."

"It's fascinating," Lady Meransie, leader of the dark elves, said as she kneeled to the ground and began looking at the creature closer. "The skeletal structure has changed to accommodate for the change in biology. The healers will no doubt examine the body, perform tests to find how it has changed exactly and to find its weaknesses. The body should be left here with the door closed, or at least moved to another containment cell that is airtight. The creature's body is being compromised every second it is exposed to air and in its current state, it may be able to tell us answers on its condition and where it has been."

"We should all leave," Hela said. "The room can be sealed and made airtight; the controls are still working for now." She looked to her council members. "The soldiers have all been sent to the hospital wing and told to remain there, the ones not injured have been told to go to the throne room until they are free to leave. I want each and every one of them interviewed, I want to know exactly what they saw, even if they think they saw something and it was a trick of the light, I want to know everything they saw and heard. I also want you to remind them to remain silent on this matter, I don't want to worry the citizens about creatures such as this and the threat of war, this shall remain a council matter only. Due to that, only the healers on the council will examine the creature and perform the autopsy necessary to discover its weakness. The council will reconvene tomorrow morning to discuss what we have found. Right now, we all have jobs to be getting on with."

They all then walked out of the cell, the council members and Micah leaving first as Dahlia's family held back. Dahlia watched as Hela was tapping at the control panel outside the cell door. The door slid shut and she watched as the air was visibly sucked from the cell.

"We should break the werewolf curse," Dahlia said. "That's the only way to stop these creatures from being created."

"We've tried," her father replied. "It's on the list of what seems to be a million things we are trying to uncover and find a way to solve. Trust us, sweetheart, we are trying to find a way to break the curse."

"But we already know a way. Isolda-"

Dahlia couldn't say more as her sister spoke. "No. We've talked about this before, Isolda is too fragile to commit to the ceremony. We would need a werewolf willing and present, Isolda would have to be there and she shouldn't have to face the beings which she helped to curse to walk Midgard and be in pain once a month and be outcasts of society".

"But that's the problem, they are no longer walking on Midgard. They're out there throughout the stars and their venom is being put in creatures and beings much worse than those on Midgard. I love Isolda, I do, she's family now, she's my niece, but Hela, I think you underestimate just how strong she is. Isolda is stronger than you think, she knows werewolves aren't the same monsters she cursed all those years ago, she knows many of them are innocent men, women and children. With all the progress she has made, I think she'll be able to do it."

Dahlia looked to her father for support but even he seemed to agree with Hela. "We can't ask that of her," he said. "She has made tremendous progress but she is still haunted by what happened and if she was to face a living werewolf, she could very well relapse and become scared and withdrawn again."

Dahlia then looked to her brother and Falcon and could see that they agreed too so she left.

Dahlia walked past the control centre and up to the steps leading to the castle. As she walked into the castle, she walked right by Micah who was stood by the exit.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned, sensing something was wrong.

"I'm fine," she said as she walked further into the castle and Micah followed.

"No, you're not. Dahlia, what happened after I left the ship with the council members?"

Dahlia stopped walking and looked around to see they weren't alone in the corridors but with servants and guards. She reached out and took his hand before leading him into a small empty sitting room. Once the door was closed, she let go of his hand and paced for a moment before she froze and turned to him.

"The creature downstairs is infected with werewolf venom, that's why it's so different. My family created the wolves, used their magic and blood in order to change men into wolves. After my family was torn apart by Odin, the village was slaughtered by a dark wizard and he took Isolda and experimented on her, tortured her to the very brink of death and used magic to make sure she couldn't die just so they could do it all over again. All because they wanted to know how to turn into wolves like those in the village."

"Gods," he mumbled only knowing a little. "So that's why she is the way she is."

"Yes. They made her an anchor and injected themselves with her blood. They were successful and the wizard turned along with his followers. They managed to change into wolves but it brought unimaginable pain to Isolda and took its toll on her. They even punished her for screaming through the pain and that's why she can't talk because when she does, she expects pain even after almost nine hundred years. The pain took over her every moment and she eventually became used to it. She's smart though and over her time with them, she learned what they were doing and how they were changing. She knew if she died the spell would break and it would become a curse so she killed herself under the full moon which is why the werewolves change under the full moon, it became the anchor behind the curse. The werewolves were her vengeance on them, knowing they would feel every ounce of pain she felt every time they turned."

"I feel sorry for her, truly I do, but what does this have to do with the change to the Grolnit?"

"The original spell that my family performed to make the village turn to wolves can be undone. With the help of Isolda, they can undo the curse of the werewolves. They haven't done it because of how vulnerable Isolda is but…but I think she isn't as vulnerable as they believe. She's strong and to break the curse, we need a werewolf and I think Isolda is strong enough to face one but everyone else seems to disapprove. It was okay before when they were just on Midgard but now the werewolf curse is spreading across species of other worlds and they're becoming bloodthirsty killers, worse than they were before. Angrboda, Voldemort and Thanos already have a weapon that can kill the dead, having creatures that can kill a whole population isn't something more that we need. I suggested breaking the curse now Isolda is stronger and more confident but they all disagree…What do you think?"

Micah thought for a moment before he walked to her and stopped when he was within reach. "I believe everyone has their limit. Isolda may have had centuries to deal with the torment she suffered at the hands of that man and his followers but we all handle our problems in different ways. Isolda could have suppressed what happened to her all these years, she may never have truly accepted what happened to her or maybe she did, but accepting what happened to you mentally is different than facing the product of it. I saw your brother's reaction when he smelled that creature, he almost turned against his will, he couldn't control it. If Isolda was to be near someone who smelled like that creature…Well, I'd hate to think of the memories that might bring back to her."

She crossed her arms across her chest. "So you agree with them."

"Don't do that," he said as he reached out to uncross her arms and held her fingertips.

"Don't do what?"

"Cross your arms like that. You do it every time you have a disagreement with someone, you do it as a sign of defence. We're just talking, we both have opinions about the matter and we just talk through it, like ordinary people. We come to an agreement, or at least you see my view and perhaps your family's view on the matter and understand why we think this way and why you disagree."

She looked down to the floor for a moment before looking into his yellow eyes and sighed. "I don't want to argue. I just don't see why we can't at least talk to Isolda. I know she is a child but she's smart and if she thinks she's strong enough to be in the presence of a werewolf, we can at least try instead of hiding her from the truth."

"I understand the benefits of her being told, it could save worlds if they continue to use these creatures to kill but Isolda is now your family and if I know anything about your family, it's that you put each other before all else. Your brother reacted badly when he smelled the blood of that creature, it's blood with werewolf venom, I assume Isolda would be the same and for a little girl to have all those memories rushing back that are associated with that venom, well I know you don't want that for your niece."

"I'd never want to hurt her."

"I know. Maybe she is strong enough to face a werewolf but I can see where your family are coming from. If every time you had to face Voldemort, if you saw all the people you love that he killed rushing through your mind, I doubt you would want to lay eyes on him, let alone fight him."

"True," she mumbled, thinking about her mother's death as she had that memory but it wasn't as strong as it would be for Isolda if she had to smell the blood of the village and all the memories came back along with her senses, putting her mind back as if she was in the village again as it was being attacked.

"Dahlia, you have such a big heart and I understand you want to try and protect everyone but sometimes you can't. Either way, someone gets hurt. If you decided to go behind your family's back and talk to Isolda yourself, you might get the answer you want from Isolda but you'll risk your family's trust. I know Isolda has only recently started to recover and come into the city so maybe look into other ideas of fighting these beasts before going to her as a last resort and telling her the truth. No doubt your family is also looking and after you all look at every possibility, maybe then they will be open to the idea of talking to Isolda."

Micah was right. Perhaps Dahlia was thinking too quickly about the threat at hand and went for the simplest of options and she didn't truly think about the effect that it would have on her niece. Her family came first, always, and she trusted her father, brothers and sister to come up with a way to defeat the beings without Isolda's help. The werewolf curse will be broken but not quite yet and not at the expense of Isolda's mind.

After talking more with Micah and seeing both benefits and concerns of breaking the curse with Isolda, Dahlia admitted that she was too quick to react and maybe her family were thinking of Isolda and thinking of all the concerns and disadvantages breaking the curse would bring before Dahlia even questioned it. She had to apologise so that her family had nothing to worry about.

Walking through the castle, Dahlia quickly discovered that her father and Jörmungandr had gone to the Apex, Fenrir and Isolda had gone for a run in the woods to clear Fenrir's mind, Falcon had gone to collect souls as he had been in council meetings all day and had fallen behind so that just left Hela. She knew Hela cared for Isolda, she knew her sister had been working on giving Isolda the best life she could over the last nine centuries and she was thrilled by the progress the little girl had made since Fenrir's return. Hela cared for every soul and took their safety seriously, which is why Dahlia knew it would be hard to say sorry.

The last thing Dahlia expected to see when walking into her sister's office was Hela unconscious on the floor.

"HELA!" she shouted and ran to her sister, who was unconscious on her back. She tried to shake her awake but there was no response. "GUARDS, GUARDS!" she shouted and guards quickly arrived as Dahlia stroked Hela's head. "It's going to be okay, sister, help is here."

Authors note: Please review