The Call of The Crescent

Chapter 6

We had walked for a while, Jake and King in deep conversation trying to figure out why Riven looked the way he did, and more importantly why he had tried to kill us.

I had said very little on the topic, trapped in my thoughts on the matter, the only thing that made sense was that Jesse had sent him here, not thinking that we would ever find him in Flora.

“I am sure that my mother will be able to tell you what the reason is. But I am assuming that he was sold to the trolls or perhaps one of the other sorcerers, and they changed him into what he currently is. They would have done an amnesia spell too if he doesn’t recognize you.” Minnaloushe said as she glanced back at me briefly.

“If you’re right, how do we change him back?”

Minnaloushe shrugged, “I don’t know, he would need an antidote but you would need to get close enough to get it to him, and by the looks of things that’s going to be a suicide mission. Maybe mom can help with another way. She knows much more than I do.”

I bit my thumbnail, “How long until we get to your mom? If she can create an antidote, I will give it to him.”

King frowned, “We would need to find him first, and it’s dangerous, what if he hurts you?”

“I don’t care, King, I need to have him back.”

Jake gave me an encouraging smile, “We will get it done, Minx. No matter how hard it is, I will do whatever it takes to bring him back to you.”

I offered him a small smile, appreciating his willingness to help, but worrying that he may not understand how hard it would be.

I knew Riven so well, better than anyone else, and yet when I looked at him today, I no longer knew anything.

He was willing to kill me today, and that knowledge alone left me feeling as though a knife had been twisted into my heart.

***

We had arrived at our destination; a beautiful home that had looked rather small on the outside, but once we stepped in I realized how deceiving that had been.

It had beautiful wooden floors and matching furniture, jars hung from the ceiling and plants grew in every space.

Minnaloushe introduced us to her mother, a beautiful woman with hair as red as her daughters tied atop her head; she wore layers of green and just looking at her you could tell she held power.

We recounted everything to her and she sat listening intently before getting to her feet and choosing a jar.

“This will not be an easy task, I can make you an antidote with herbs but magic is needed. I will need a sacrifice from one of you, something that means everything to you. A sacrifice of love to save love.”

I felt my heart drop, I had nothing to give; the only love I felt was for Riven and my children, and I could not give up any of them.

I shook my head and walked out, completely defeated.

Minnaloushe joined me, sitting on the steps beside me, “You don’t have anything to sacrifice and the spell demands it. But it doesn’t have to be your sacrifice, it can be any sacrifice which holds enough love and loss to drive the spell.”

“None of us have anything that matches that description.”

“I have something,” she glanced up at the sky, “I have my magic.”

“What? I can’t expect you to give up your entire world for me.”

She smiled, “You do not expect it, Harley, I know. But I am offering it. I am a sucker for a heart-warming love story, and I want to do this for you.”

“No, Minnaloushe, there has to be another way. We will think of something.”

“How about I let you sleep on it? We can decide tomorrow.”

I nodded, “Thank you, but I will think of something.”

She took one of my hands in hers and squeezed, “Harley, I have been here, living this life for twenty-seven years and I have never found the kind of love you have, and maybe if I give all of this up I will be able to find it. There are others here who can take over my place as the guardian of Flora.”

I glanced back in the house at Jake who was currently sitting talking with the Queen, “You may not have to give anything up to find that kind of love. Jake would do anything for the one he loves.”

Minnaloushe blushed, a sweet smile on her face, “Oh, I don’t know, we’ve only just met.”

“I’ve known him forever, he likes you,” I said, ignoring my inner wolf’s angst.

“I guess we will see what happens.”

I nodded, “That’s a good plan. Do you mind if I get some sleep now, it’s getting late and today has been so exhausting?”

“Of course, let me show you to your room.

Laying in bed I tossed and turned, my mind on Riven and my heart aching at the thought of never getting him back.

I had lived two years of my life thinking that he was dead and that had been almost unbearable, but knowing that he was alive and I was still losing him was even worse, it hurt more than I had ever imagined; it was more painful than I had ever thought possible.

Could I live without him when he was right there?

***

Waking up, I instantly felt something missing, but I couldn’t tell what it was.

There was simply something that was no longer there.

I frowned as I got up, trying to understand what was missing; I hadn’t brought anything with me, so what could I have lost?

Shaking my head, I wondered if it was about Riven? But no, I could still feel the bond.

Walking out, I found the Queen in the kitchen.

She smiled warmly, “Good morning, how are you feeling today?”

“Strange, like something, is missing, but I don’t know what.”

She glanced towards the open door, “Yes, I suspected you would notice. I have some great news, your antidote should be ready by tomorrow morning.”

“Oh no, Did Minnaloushe-” I broke off, turning to see Jake outside, and suddenly I knew exactly what was missing, I looked at him and the only love I felt was that of a dear friend.

The mate bond between us was gone.

“He gave up the bond the two of you share for the spell.” The Queen spoke.

“Excuse me.”

I walked out, going over to Jake, he smiled as I reached him.

“You gave up the bond? How is that even possible?”

“She’s a pretty strong witch, we used a spell,” he pulled me into a tight hug, “I told you that I would do anything to help you get Riv back and I meant it.”

“Thank you, Jake.” With anyone else, the words would not have held enough volume to fully express how thankful I was, but with Jake, he knew me well enough to know how much his sacrifice meant to me.

I stepped back and smiled, “I spoke to Minnaloushe last night.”

“The mate bond is gone, Minx, but you need to remember that I loved you regardless of the bond. It will take me some time to get through that, maybe once I am over you she and I can have a chance at something.”

“You deserve to be happy, Jake. And you deserve to be someone’s first choice.”

Minnaloushe came over to join us, “I was thinking, why don’t the two of you join Midnight and me on our patrol today?”

“We would love that,” I answered quickly, “Why is Flora under attack?”

“Well, my mother has been Queen for around sixty years, and there are a lot of creatures that want that power, they want to overthrow us and take over. I can’t allow that, darkness will take over Flora and destroy everything if that happens.”

“Well for as long as we’re here we will help you keep Flora safe,” I nudged Jake, “Right, Jake?”

He nodded, “Of course.”

“Thank you both. I was thinking about visiting the troll king today, to find out where they got Riven from and also in an attempt to make some sort of a truce between us.”

“Great, but first, I need a shower and some clean clothes.”

Minnaloushe chuckled, “Of course, come on, I think my clothes should fit.”

After showering I had changed into something Minnaloushe had given me, she may have been a warrior but she was still a princess and for some odd reason she didn’t seem to own anything other than beautiful dresses.

She had given me a beautiful flowy dress that reached my knees, it was a gorgeous red colour with a plunging neckline, and I wondered how she was able to fight in this.

Walking out I found her with Jake, “Where’s King?” I asked.

I nodded, that made sense, and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought of that.

While we were here in Flora trying to save Riven, Jesse was probably still running with his plan of world domination.

I wondered if we could get Jesse to Flora if it would be easier to kill him, not being on his turf may very well have been an advantage for us and a disadvantage for him.

All we needed was one right moment to put an end to him and save the world.

But then again, if Riven was here, it was safe to assume that Jesse had connections in Flora which annoyed me, yesterday had been the first time I had learned of Flora; once again giving Jesse one up on me.

Jake raised a brow in my direction, “What’s going on in that head of yours, Minx?”

“Well, I was just thinking...” I began explaining my plan to them, hoping that Minnaloushe would be able to shed some light on whether it was a good idea or not, after all, she knew Flora the best.

Minnaloushe nodded, “I think this is a good idea. I’m going to assume that there must be some of us from Flora that he’s pissed off, if we can find those people, we will have their help.

“Knowing Jesse, he has pissed off a few. He doesn’t go anywhere without pissing people off that’s for sure.”

Minnaloushe stood, “Okay, let’s get going, it sounds like we have a big day ahead. Luckily it’s just the three of us so Midnight should be able to carry all of us.”

I began to feel a little better about everything once we began our journey, there was once again some sort of hope to cling to.

I would have the antidote for Riven and I knew it would be no easy task to administer it, but I was hopeful that I could get it done.

And if our plan for Jesse worked, we would soon be rid of him and able to go on with our lives as normal.

Once Riven was back, I planned to speak to him about going back to run our Pack, we had been gone for too long and we had strayed a bit too far from our roots, and perhaps if we hadn’t none of this would have happened; we would have had the help of the entire Pack when Jesse had attacked.