Chapter 25 - Answers
1905 Words
Chapter 25 - Answers
Xavier POV
- Present time -
I wake up to Austin kicking the side of my leg. "It's time to go, Alpha."
I had dozed off last night thinking that if there was any place where Alex would be safe, it would be with Dameon. Which would explain why my dreams were about my memories of my friendship with him.
I shake the leaves and drift stuck under my sleeping bag before rolling it up. Austin and I have been traveling further up north through the deep forest. It will be a week by tomorrow. I’ve blocked off my mind-link with Alex in the first days of the journey; Austin complained that it slowed us down.
The first part was a hard assault up a mountainous path and I needed my focus. This area was not safe for my kind and I need all my focus on the journey.
"How much further?" I ask Austin as I take a sip of coffee.
"Not that far. About another day of hiking. When we reach the edge of the border it should be there." He squints his eyes as the sun rose behind the mountain peak he was pointing at. Austin has never sounded so unsure. We were both running on a hunch addled with some werewolf folklore.
Neither of us have ever met a witch, so we aren’t even sure they exist, let alone an Elder Witch. But Austin has been following whatever lead he had from all his research, from lost werewolf legends to texts buried in long forgotten books; and he was convinced they were real, and he was convinced he knew where to find them.
I shrugged at the thought of this whole magical thing. I wasn’t out looking for atonement for my bad behavior. I was ready to lose Alex that night she left. Heck I was even ready to lose her to Dameon when I saw them kissing.
If I lost Alex, I deserved it.
I believed that everything that I did to her, I did at my own volition. The guilt was enough to stop me from pursuing her again.
It was Austin who believed that I was violent towards Alex because of some mystical force that was somehow controlling me. He believed that I can still redeem myself, and the first step in doing so was to find answers.
That hope for redemption was enough for me to allow him to win me over with his argument. Austin was taking a chance on me, not because I was his Alpha, but because I was family. He was my closest cousin. I trust him with my life.
He got me hoping that our marriage can be saved, hoping that I can do something to fix myself and get another chance to prove myself to her, that I deserve to be with her again. If I need to believe in witches and traverse mountains to get there then so be it. I would give anything to have her back.
The next day we made good progress. The terrain was more forgiving now; a lot of rolling hills all around, easy to traverse but the low vegetation leaves us exposed. We were trekking out in the open. Being this close to the border; our destination, we didn't bother with taking breaks. It was imperative that we get there while there was still light. Werewolves are mistakenly branded as "creatures of the night," which is a little offensive, because we walk in the daylight just fine. Witches, on the other hand—well, let's just say they call what they do "practice of the dark arts" for a reason.
My thoughts get interrupted by Austin’s hand, which was suddenly on my chest. He motions me closer and whispers, "I think we're being followed. But keep moving like we don't know it."
I use my peripheral vision to look behind us and true enough I could see movement in the brush, and several more in the grass field beyond. I look at Justin and nod, confirming his fears. The hairs behind my neck stand on end, as my senses tell me there are more. They weren't just behind us, there were signs of movement from all sides; and they were all converging towards our location.
I quickly establish a mind-link with Justin: My senses tell me these things aren't the welcoming committee. I couldn't tell exactly what, but from what little I know I think they're demonic in nature. We can stand and fight, but I want us to save our energy for the Elder Witch. I'm not sure we can outrun them, but we're faster if we shift.
Justin nods his agreement. He shares the image of the clearing we should go to in the mind-link, and what path we should take getting there. It's quite a distance away but it could give us the chance to lose them if we're fast enough. I nod back. Now, Justin!
At the speed of thought we leap forward; stripping our clothes, leaving our gear. We were already in wolf form by the time we hit the ground, already at a sprint.
It doesn't take long for our stalkers to catch up. Side by side in our run, Justin tells me what I'm already thinking, They're fast, Alpha. Really fast.
Yeah? We're not slouches either. Running in the wilderness comes easy for natural-born werewolves. We've been running since we were kids.
We crest the top of a hill and use the downhill momentum to double our speed. Surely we'll outrun them soon.
I push my legs hard as I could, Austin right beside me. We accelerate from the downhill but that doesn't seem to stop their advance on us. We could hear the demonic snarls this time.
They're almost on top of us, Alpha.
A blinding ball of fire trailed by black smoke almost hit me from my left, I twist in the air, barely enough to evade being hit. I sense another fireball, this time headed straight for Austin.
I dig in my hind legs and spring forwards, leaping towards Austin and pushing him away from the incoming flames. We fall on the ground and get the breath knocked out from us from the fall. We leap back to our paws and all our combat training comes to the forefront.
Defensive stance, Beta. We stand back to back and shoulder to shoulder, each of us looking the opposite way, ready to defend the other's hind, moving in a circle. We had our teeth bared, growling at the demons in the shadows.
But that was all we were growling at—shadows. Even with my heightened senses I couldn’t make sense of where exactly from behind the brush those fireballs came from.
It may sound cynical that a werewolf doesn't believe in other mythical creatures, but first hand encounters aren't really a common thing. Call it arrogance, but like humans, werewolves hardly believe in myths. Everything about the world beyond and its creatures are folklore; and folklore is something we were taught by the elders for the sake of culture. Now how I wish I listened more during our classes. If not for the knowledge on how to stay alive and get away from these things, then at the very least I would know what's about to kill us is called.
Instead of burning death by fireballs, a chilling voice of an elderly woman calls out to us, “Dare you trespass my land, werewolves.” Her voice echos in the shadows, “Reveal yourselves in human form, come in peace you have to show me.”
Austin turns to me. It smells like a trap, Alpha.
But I've made it this far, and I have nothing to lose. You don't have to follow what I do next, Austin.
I change to my human form. From kneeling on the ground I pushed myself up.
Loyal to the end, Austin changes back, too.
“Such barbarians your kind are, Alpha.” A sick chuckle comes from the shadows. A cold breeze swirls around us, and magically, the clothes that we left behind materialize out of thin air around our bodies.
“We have revealed ourselves, now show yourself!” I answered the voice, my eyes darting from tree to tree, watching the shadows behind it.
The voice came from behind me, “No need for shouting when here Is what you seek.” Startled, I quickly turned around. Austin has already locked eyes with the woman walking towards us.
She had a pale complexion, porcelain-smooth skin, and her long dark hair that reached the ground seemed to be moving with a life of its own as she glides towards us. She was not how I expected a witch to look like; this one looked more like a goddess.
“We seek the Elder Witch,” Austin broke the silence.
“I know.” Her eyes were locked on mine, “I know you,” she points at me “I know your lineage, and your heart true desire. I know the mistake you want to erase.” She glides closer to me. “But answers come, price you must pay”
“We have no time for games, witch," I retort.
“Games I have none, Alpha.”
“If you know so much then you already know what I am here for, and you know that I am willing to pay any price.”
Austin takes a step towards me with concern in his eyes. The witch without breaking eye contact with me flutters her fingers, and as she did Austin paused mid-step. He was frozen in place.
“Stop you he will. Worry not, harmed he is not.” Her fingers fluttered again, and Austin takes a deep breath. “There. He breathes, he hears, but cannot speak, or move, bother he shall not do.”
The witch was suddenly inches from my face. Startled, I took a step back. “Price, I know you will pay.”
“Answers I give, only answers I have.” I take a step back each time she glides forward.
She flutters her fingers again, and I trip over a log which I swore wasn't there a minute ago.
In one motion she was sitting next to me on the log, and a huge bonfire was in front of us. I look around for Austin and he was still where he was, standing on the one foot.
“Do you mind releasing my friend? He won’t interfere, I promise. I would prefer if he wasn’t under your spell.” I paused, hoping that she's listening. Maybe I have to say the magic word. “Please?”
She flutters her fingers again, and Austin was suddenly beside me and her, sitting on the log.
“Are you ok?” I looked at Austin.
“I am now, thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
This witch was that powerful. She can bend reality to her whims. And here I thought that magic was all illusions behind sparkles.
What worries me is that I don't have the foggiest idea how we would get out of here. I may get my answers but I'm not sure what the consequences will be if I don't have what the witch wants in exchange.
How I wish I didn’t let Austin come with me. These are answers I needed to find for myself. Now he's in as much danger as I am.
“Shall I?” The witch was staring at me, like she was waiting for me to finish my thoughts. “Done, you are?” I nodded.
“Questions none, talk I shall. Still and quiet you must be. Talk I shall, understood?”
Austin and I both look at each other. “Wait, what is the price that you ask?”
“Later shall tell, both eyes on fire.”
- Writer
