With Wolves

The Gardens (5): Pursuit

The battlefield was horrible, Nero watched through the vision as wolves—both corrupted and normal—tore each other apart with savage ferocity, as lood stained the forest floor and as bodies lay scattered among the trees. The air was thick with the sounds of snarling, screaming, and the wet crunch of bone breaking under powerful jaws. Inside the magical barrier, Illuvia held her newborn son close, her body still trembling from the effort of childbirth, one of the mages who'd come to help knelt beside her, concern written across her face "can you move?" the mage asked urgently "we need to get you away from here" Illuvia gritted her teeth against the pain. "This is nothing, I can move" the other mage quickly stepped forward, her hands already weaving a spell pattern in the air "En Helis," she said clearly, and emerald light flowed from her palms to wash over Illuvia's body. Kassandra gasped softly beside Nero "that's high-level recovery magic, very few mages can cast it properly" the green light pulsed for several seconds before fading, and Illuvia visibly straightened, some of her strength returning, she adjusted her hold on baby Nero and nodded to the mages "I'm ready" other wolves—uncorrupted ones loyal to Illuvia—rushed into the area to form a protective circle "go!" one of them shouted in a voice that was half-human, half-growl "we'll hold them off! Run!" The group of five—Illuvia holding the baby, the two mages, and the two midwives—broke through the barrier and ran deeper into the forest, away from the c*****e behind them, but the demon standing beside the massive black wolf had seen them leave, he pointed one skeletal finger in their direction, and a dozen corrupted wolves immediately broke away from the main battle, their red eyes fixed on the fleeing group. Several of the reserve fighters also peeled off to join the pursuit, determined to protect Illuvia and the child at any cost, one of the midwives—an older woman with grey hair pulled back in a tight bun—stopped running "keep going," she said firmly "I'll join the others in stalling for time" the other midwife, younger with dark hair and frightened eyes, looked at her companion with barely contained grief "Marta—" "go," Marta repeated. Then she transformed, her body shifting and expanding into a huge wolf with silver-streaked fur, she turned to face the oncoming corrupted wolves with a fierce snarl as the group ran on, leaving Marta to her fate. One of the mages spoke quickly as they moved, her breath coming hard "we need to move faster, much faster" the other mage nodded and began casting a spell, her words barely audible under her breath as golden glow suddenly surrounded the entire group, and their speed increased dramatically. Kassandra leaned forward, her eyes widening "I know that spell, that's the Auric Enhancement—but it wasn't discovered until decades after its creator died, if that mage is using it now, then she must be..." Kassandra's voice trailed off in realization "she's the one who created it, we're watching the original caster" the golden glow pulsed brighter, and their speed increased by what looked like two hundred percent as trees blurred past them as they raced through the forest "we might actually make it to the ridge!" one of the mages said, hope creeping into her voice for the first time "we might escape this hell!" That's when they all heard it, a deep, agonized howl that cut through the night like a blade, the sound was full of pain and defiance and the knowledge of approaching death "no!" the younger midwife screamed "MARTA!" Before anyone could stop her, she transformed into a wolf—smaller than Marta had been but fast and desperate—and ran back toward the sound at full speed "wait!" Illuvia called out, but it was too late, the midwife was gone, separated from the group, racing back to aid her friend "we have to keep moving," Illuvia said, her voice tight with grief but determined, she adjusted her grip on the baby, who had begun to cry softly. That's when one of the mages noticed "you're bleeding," she said, pointing at the dark stain spreading across Illuvia's clothes "there's no time—" Illuvia started "you won't make it to the ridge if you keep bleeding like this," the mage interrupted "you'll die before we get halfway there, we need to at least stabilize you" Illuvia looked down at her son, then back at the mages, both of them looked apologetic "we can't do full healing," one explained "neither of us has that ability, but we can do recovery magic, first aid, It should help for a while" Illuvia thought of Arthem, wherever he was on this battlefield, fighting without knowing what had happened to his wife and newborn son, she wished desperately that he was here, that he could help them escape, but he was out there somewhere in the chaos, and she couldn't reach him. The best she could do was try to survive, try to get their baby to safety "alright," Illuvia agreed "but make it quick" while one mage worked the recovery spell on Illuvia, the other moved a short distance away to keep watch, she erected a barrier around them and her companion, then turned her attention outward, scanning for any sign of pursuit but she didn't notice the shadow that detached itself from a nearby tree. Inside the barrier, Illuvia suddenly stiffened, her head snapped up, her golden eyes going wide "something's wrong," she said urgently "we have to run, now" "what—" the mage casting the spell started "the demon," Illuvia interrupted, already moving "he's gotten to the other mage, he's here" the mage working on Illuvia looked up and saw her friend outside the barrier, she saw the shadow behind her, saw the moment the demon's influence took hold and her friend's body went rigid. Tears rolled down the mage's cheeks "go," she said to Illuvia, her voice breaking "I'll hold the demon here, I'll give you time" "I'm sorry—" Illuvia began "don't be" the mage looked down at baby Nero, and her expression softened despite her tears "thank you for showing me something as beautiful as him, now go!" Illuvia knew she couldn't run in her human form, not injured, not carrying a child, not fast enough to escape a demon. She needed to be faster, stronger, and so she transformed, Her body shifted and expanded into the beautiful silver-grey wolf from Nero's dreams, she carefully took the bag containing her infant son in her mouth, gripping the cloth gently but firmly, and then she ran, she ran faster than any human could, faster than most wolves, she shot through the forest heading for the ridge with everything she had. Watching this unfold, Kassandra felt tears streaming down her face, the sacrifice, the loss, the desperate love of a mother trying to save her child—it was overwhelming. Halflight had been observing silently, invisible to them within the vision, she noticed Kassandra's distress and decided she should get something to help, she floated out of the ritual room to find a handkerchief. As she moved through the halls, Halflight suddenly stopped, she felt a pull, a beckoning somewhere in these ancient corridors, an artifact was calling to her. The sensation was unmistakable, like a voice speaking directly to her essence, she hesitated for only a moment before following the call deeper into the building.

Back in the regular garden, Roxy stood with Amy and Abigail, having ensured that everyone else had left, the search had been called off, the party-goers were returning to their festivities, and only her two closest friends remained "follow me," Roxy said, her voice tight with barely controlled anger "do you know where Kass is?" Amy asked as they walked deeper into the garden. Roxy took a breath and decided they deserved an explanation "there's a family rule—one of the most important ones, the Ravensongs have a secret garden hidden within this regular garden, it's where we keep our most valuable magical resources, our rarest artifacts, our deepest secrets. Only family members and explicitly approved individuals are allowed to enter" her friends stared at her in shock "there's a whole other garden?" Abigail breathed "inside this one?" "And Kassandra took Nero there," Roxy said, the words coming out harsh "she broke one of our most sacred rules for someone she met a few hours ago" as they walked deeper into the garden, past the areas where the party lights didn't reach, Roxy began humming, it wasn't quite a song—more like a spell woven into melody then the air in front of them shimmered, and a portal appeared, its edges glowing faintly with magical energy "wait," Abigail said, pointing back the way they'd come "norman said the traces disappeared near a great tree at the end of the garden, this isn't the same location" Roxy didn't answer, she had no time to explain right now, if Nero was part of the Shades, if he'd somehow manipulated Kassandra into revealing family secrets—then she needed the element of surprise, the back entrance would give her that advantage. They stepped through the portal one by one, as they crossed the threshold into the secret garden, Abigail felt something, a presence—keen and watchful, like something observing them from above, she spun around and looked up at the sky, searching, but there was nothing, just darkness and the faint glow of magical plants. She shook her head and followed her friends into the secret garden.

At the council chamber, Aretha had finally had enough of the bickering "silence," she said, and the word carried such weight that all three faction leaders immediately stopped talking. She looked at each of them in turn, her silver eyes glinting with amusement and disappointment in equal measure "I must admit, I find it amusing that you're so eager to understand what type of kiss would break the seal on the demon we all worked together to imprison, you've shown admirable determination—bringing out books and ancient scripts, sending your households searching for every possible interpretation of a kiss" she paused, letting that sink in "but I am disappointed," Aretha continued, "that none of you thought of the shadow kiss" her gaze fixed on Clement, the vampire representative. He bowed his head, shame clear on his pale features "the shadow kiss," Aretha explained, "is a form of connection used by vampires, it's a binding ritual where two beings share any ill fate that would befall one of them, becoming eternally tied together. It's far more intimate and powerful than any physical kiss" She turned her attention to Gillian "a shadow kiss with the King would increase one's power a thousandfold, it would grant them unimaginable and previously unattainable magic, but there's a problem" Aretha's expression grew grave "it's near impossible for a human mage or a werewolf to perform a shadow kiss as the only way it could work is if the King were a vampire" the words hung in the air for a moment. Then, as one, all eyes in the council turned toward Clement. The vampire's face went from pale to ashen as he stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the stone floor "this cannot be happening," he said, his carefully maintained composure finally cracking "not right now" he looked at the others, genuine distress on his features "the vampire households are already in a troubled state, we've been fighting over power, territory, influence—internal conflicts that have been barely contained for decades. If news gets out that there's a King, that one of our kind could grant this level of power through a shadow kiss..." Clement's hands gripped the edge of the table "it would turn into all-out war, every vampire house would be hunting for this King, trying to control him, use him for their own gain, and the fragile peace we've maintained would shatter completely" the implications settled over the council like a heavy blanket. Hutz leaned back in his chair, his expression grim "so we're not just talking about breaking a seal and freeing a demon, we're talking about potentially triggering a vampire civil war" "exactly," Clement said quietly. Aretha watched them all with those ageless silver eyes, and for the first time, she looked genuinely concerned about what was unfolding.