Chapter 59 - Hel’Khar: Death or Surrender.

"I invoke Hel’Khar."

The statement still hovered in the air and so did the silence that came with it.

The words sank into the room as the atmosphere changed. Everyone in the room understood why except for Dean.

He blinked while he stayed eerily quiet. Not because he was caught by surprise by Marcus’s challenge.

He had no clue what Hel’Khar was, but right now, it didn’t matter.

If he showed hesitation here, he would lose ground and he wasn’t having that.

With eyes still locked with Marcus, Dean gave him a condescending look instead of confusion.

Marcus’s jaw clenched. The room around him suddenly felt smaller under Dean’s emotionless gaze.

"Didn’t you hear me?" Marcus snapped. "Say something. Why are you sitting there like an idiot."

Tilting his head slowly like he was thinking about it. Dean patted the expanding Ash to calm it down.

"...What do you want me to say?" Dean finally responded. "That I don’t understand what the fuck that is?"

There was an immediate shift in the room again. Some of the on-looking students stood. While others had their gazes darting between Dean and Marcus as if they were waiting for an explosion to go off.

Dean at this point was the man with a million enemies and funny enough, he didn’t seem to mind.

Marcus bit hard on his lower lip, enough to draw blood. "You’re kidding, right?"

With a slow and wary head shake, Dean sighed. "What gave me away?"

"Tsk" Marcus’s tongue clicked in visible annoyance. "Even in her pres–"

Marcus seemed to have had enough. He stretched out his right hand and with a sharp clicking sound, his fingers elongated into powerful transparent white claws in the blink of an eye.

"Maybe you’ll take this seriously now," he barked as his left hand reached for the claws of his transformed hand.

But in that interval, Ymir moved. One second, she was sitting down and spectating.

The next? She was holding down the wrist of Marcus’s left hand firmly, not allowing the boy to move further with his intention, whatever it was.

"...Are you stupid?" Ymir cursed.

But it wasn’t just Ymir. The other Argent werewolves beside Marcus had grabbed him as well.

One held his shoulder while the other pulled his right hand aside. They acted like the boy was about to make the biggest mistake of his life. Or maybe perhaps he was.

"It’s not worth it," one of the boys said.

Marcus tried yanking his arm but Ymir didn’t budge, it was as if he was locked in a clamp.

His fingers retreated as he looked at Ymir. "I hear you, now let me go,"

But even while he spoke, his eyes were still on Dean. They didn’t waver for a second and Dean understood from his own experience.

Those were the eyes of someone who felt humiliated and angry. Very angry.

Leaning back, Dean rubbed on Ash’s gelatinous form. "So when are you going to explain what all this drama is about?" His tone was casual as he left a bait on the line.

And just as expected. Marcus bit on it hard. "You think this is a joke, Gray. I’ll rip that smugness off your face. I swear it."

Murmurs spread around the cafeteria like wild fire. With the noise rising quickly.

Dean remained quiet which infuriated Marcus even more, but as angry as he got, Ymir’s grip on his arm tightened.

"Hahahaha," Marcus let out a bitter laugh. The jewel of the Argent pack protecting a human against her own.

"Just accept the challenge already," Marcus urged.

"Challenge? So you and me, one on one?" Dean asked as he tapped his hand on the table.

Marcus looked at him, he didn’t know whether to be angry or confused.

’So that’s a yes.’ Dean thought. It was now time to really press the boy’s buttons.

"Or is this one of those fights where your succubus babysits you?"

A laugh slipped out from somewhere in the room. Someone else choked trying to suppress it.

Even as Ymir’s lips twitched. She wasn’t smiling yet but she was close.

Astrea closed her eyes as she finished her drink. And Ash, it was completely still.

Marcus on the other hand planted his feet hard. He was going to kill Dean then and there if it wasn’t the three other werewolves holding him back.

"I accept," Dean said. He already understood aspects of the challenge that would have been detrimental to him.

Immediately after Dean accepts, Marcus withdraws his hand as his lips curl into a devilish grin.

He gestured and pulled his arms free, which Astrea and the other boys obliged as his claws retracted.

With the devilish grin still on his face, he looked at Dean again.

"We meet at the student festivals," he said before turning to walk out of the cafeteria alongside his friends.

Even after Marcus left, Astrea remained quiet. Her eyes moved between Dean, Ash and Ymir.

She could care less about Marcus, it was more about what he hoped to achieve by doing all this and how Dean, who she was supposed to be watching, seemed to be a magnet for problems.

At this point, her next letter to the family would be an entire textbook or maybe an autobiography of how problematic he was.

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After what seemed like forever, the cafeteria slowly came back to life. Conversations restarted and people moved again.

Dean stayed quiet for a few minutes before he turned to face both Astrea and Ymir.

"So," Dean said, leaning back.

"Does anyone want to explain what I just agreed to?"

Astrea nearly facepalmed even as Ymir just stared at him so long, it felt uncomfortable.

She dragged her palm across her face and groaned quietly into her palms.

"You are insane."

"That’s not new," Dean shrugged.

"That’s not the point," Ymir tried to keep a straight face as she leaned forward with her elbow on the table.

"You don’t accept a Hel’Khar without knowing the terms."

"My family has our own traditions," Dean said without hesitation. Lying from his teeth without wavering for a second.

Then he looked directly at Ymir. "You’re a werewolf, so what am I dealing with against Marcus?"

Ymir was about to speak when Astrea cut in after listening to Dean’s heartbeat.

"You shouldn’t lie.. this is serious," she said with a stern tone.

"You keep saying that," Dean said. The tension was now annoying. Did he sell his soul to the devil or what?

"The rite of Hel’Khar is older than any institution in Zhrea," Astrea said even as Ymir nodded in agreement.

"Hel’Khar is a binding duel between houses." Astrea continued.

"...And their fighters. No interference. But once it starts, it doesn’t end without blood or death" Ymir cut in.

"So... No summons?" Dean asked.

"Depends," Astrea spoke over Ymir. "Terms have to be determined between species. Channeling can be agreed."

"And battle between same species demands weapons and fists," Astrea finished.

Dean nodded. So he could use channeling. That was understandable, anything else would have been a beat down on his ass.

His mind drifted back to something. "Marcus was trying to do something. Why did you stop him?" Dean looked at Ymir.

Ymir sighed as she leaned back. "If Marcus had ripped out his claws then this would have been more serious."

"How serious?" Dean picked up Ash who was just observing and glowing.

Ymir raised her hand. Her claws slid out like black daggers.

"These?" she said quietly. "They’re our honour."

She looked at him. "If a werewolf rips them out..."

"They’re choosing death," Ymir finished.

A silent realization hit everyone at that moment.

"A death match?" Astrea blurted curiously before Dean could ask.

"Yes," Ymir nodded with a darkened expression. "That would have been war..."

Calmness spread across the trio even as Dean processed the information.

"Good thing you stopped him." Dean said, as he watched Ash.

The slime was shifting and stretching. Like it was learning, growing and understanding behaviours.

Just when he thought the drama had finally come to an end. The speakers in the cafeteria blared like an alarm.

"DEAN GRAY, COME TO THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY."

"Of course it’s me," Dean blurted. "And I was having a good day too."

Astrea shook her head as she looked at him. This boy was indeed a magnet for trouble.

Dean looked at her. "I didn’t do anything.."

"Of course, you did," Ymir patted his shoulder as she stood up with him.

They walked out together with Astrea staying behind, going back to her notes.

Once outside, Ymir looked at Dean and patted his back. "I’ll see you around, noodle hands."

Dean nodded with a small smile. "If Mr Richard doesn’t kill me first."

"You’ll be fine," Ymir waved as she walked away, Dean eyes followed her till she disappeared into the other end of the hallway.

"She’s an interesting one, right?" Dean looked at Ash who was now on his shoulder.

Dean took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally. After all, meeting Richard was like entering a game of chess with a grandmaster and psychic in one go.

A/N: Sorry it’s just a Chapter today, I am currently working a hectic shift. An Author has to eat till this pays ...hahaha.

I promise to make it up in the next few Chapters.

Thank you for understanding... As always.. Null.