The Lost Goddess, A War On Mates

Chapter 21

It was now early May and all the snow had finally melted. As Salem had promised he took Drake to his witch friend that he had mentioned before. It had to wait until the snow had melted completely here due to the terrains brutal blizzards that could arise at any moment. It was roughly four hours north from the castle by car.

After the long road trip Drake parked his car in front of a small shop. The sign was worn down and the outside looked abandoned. The sign faintly read Narcissa’s Tea. Drake looked over to Salem with a raised eyebrow,” This is the witch’s place?”  Salem smiled and quietly got out of the passenger seat.

Walking towards the front door Salem yells back, “Are you coming, or did you change your mind about finding her?” Drake sighed and quickly got out of the car and walked over to Salem. Salem smirked and opened the door for Drake. The jingle of a bell was heard tinkling throughout the tea shop. Drake looked on in awe at the shop. Books lined the walls along with organized herbs, roots, and tea leaves. A crystal table sat in the corner near an abundance of wind chimes. A white tea set sat in the center of the table used for tea leaf readings. A large stained-glass window sat on the back wall letting in a beautiful array of colors. It pictured a coven of witches holding hands praying together in a garden.

Many different elixirs and crystal shards were lined up behind the cashier’s counter on display. Bottles of every size littered the wall whilst stones, and crystals were neatly organized and divided by small cubbies. White, blue, and pink candles were lit throughout the store. White candles promoted serenity and peace. Blue candles help bring protection while also improving communication and mental clarity. Pink candles let in familial and comforting love. Along with the burning smell of dragon’s blood incense, the shop felt full of warmth and comfort. The air was permeated with the scent of orange, cinnamon, and cloves creating the perfect environment to seek for answers.

Salem sat down at the crystal table in the back while crossing one leg over the other. He smiled and took a deep breath relaxing into the chair. Just as he leaned back a short woman came crashing into shop from behind the counter.

Drake flinched at the sudden noise and Salem just busted out laughing. A small huff was heard from the figure. She brushed herself off and glared her brown eyes at Salem, “Now listen here little boy, I will not be laughed at when you seek my help.” Pouting she walks over removing her cloak and setting it onto the counter. Drake stared at her petite figure and found it odd that she called Salem little, if he was little, she was a midget.

She was wearing a beautiful blue top that fell off her shoulders and showed her midsection. She also had on a long white skirt that had a slit that ended near her upper thigh. She had her marron-colored hair in a braid and her nose scrunched making her features even softer.

Salem finally settled down and introduced us, “Drake this here is my little witch, Alita Narcissa. Alita, this is the vampire Prince Drake. He has been searching for something for a long time and I had mentioned your services to him.” A small smile graced his lips as he reached out for one of the white cups in front of him.

She sighed and sat down crossing her legs in the chair, “Now Salem, I have my limits on what I can find.”

I interjected, “Please, any assistance would be appreciated. I have been grasping at straws for the last few years.” Drake looked defeated and immediately regretted admitting how helpless he has been.

Sighing Alita smiled, “Alright come sit down. I have many questions so I can give you a clear picture of where to look for your item.” She stood up and walked over to her wall of crystals and happily summoned a pale pink stone. It was almost clear but had the softest tone of pink. It was beautiful. Floating down to her she walked back to us and sat it gently down onto a tiny pillow. Filling up two white cups she hands one to each of us and gently rubs her fingers across the crystal ball.

“Now, drink this tea while I concentrate and look for any extra answers in my crystal ball. But I need to know how long your item has been lost?”

Looking away and whispering, “Eight years, I feel like I have looked everywhere.”

She nodded solemnly, “It must be very important if you have not given up yet?”

Drake nodded slowly and sipped on his tea. Salem could see the distress Drake felt and put his hand on Drake’s thigh giving it a gently squeeze. Alita hummed to herself and sat staring into the ball. Five minutes passed as she groaned and shot out of her seat. It shocked both Drake and Salem as they exchanged a worried look.

Running back to her shelf of crystals she ran her fingers across each one with her eyes closed. Finally stopping at a lapis lazuli crystal in the shape of a pyramid. Quickly grabbing the crystal, she smiles and runs off deeper into the store. After a few moments she comes back with the small stone connected by the base on a steel necklace chain.

“I think this is best suited to leading you in your search. It is a pendulum; it will give you any yes or no answers you seek. It will swing a certain direction to give you a yes or no. It is very simple really; I am giving you lapis lazuli though because it will aide in honest answers and deeper knowledge. I could not find anything to guide me to your object in my crystal ball, but one thing stood out.”

Drake sucked in a breath and waited patiently as she paused, “I kept seeing wolves. Wherever your item maybe it is surrounded by wolves.” She handed Drake the pendulum sadly and it suddenly pulsed out a light blue glow. “That will be the indicator that your object is very close by. If it glows once it is within ten miles, two pulses means it is within five miles, three pulses means you are within one mile, and a constant and steady glow means you are right next to the item. I hope this was helpful for you both.”

“Yes, thank you so much Alita. What do I owe you?” Drake scrambled to give her money as she put her hand up sipping on her tea.

“No payment is necessary, you already paid me dear.” She gave a sweet smile, but her eyes narrowed and were glinting with a mischievous energy. In the moment she looked like a viper ready to strike.

“Drake we should get going, the sun will be up soon. It is a long drive back to the castle.” Salem pulled on Drake’s arm gently leading him out of the shop. Getting back into their car both let out a heavy sigh. Salem looked at Drake, “So, you think you can find her with that rock?”

Drake stared at the pendulum in front of him and sighed, “What other choices do I have? If I cannot find her with this, I think she will be lost forever…” Salem nodded as they drove back to the castle in comfortable silence while holding hands the whole way.

Alita smiled looking down at the empty teacups. Looking first at Salem’s she grinned happily for her friend, he has finally found love and would have good fortunes this year. Setting down his cup she reached for Drake’s cup. She bit her lip excited; he would find his item within the year, but he also had a large sense of doom looming over his cup. It was not the clearest form of divination, but it did the trick in finding immediate answers. For now, Alita was satisfied with her payment, their tea leaf readings. Focusing her energy, she cleansed the cups and then cleaned them in the sink. It always made her happy to know if her clients would be alright. After finishing up she locked the shop and headed off to bed.

Basil woke up early that morning once again and ran through the valley excited. His morning routine had consisted of waking up in a pool of sweat from nightmares and running till dawn, then going to the gym to weight lift until noon, and finally he would spar for the rest of the day. At this point though Basil was ready to go back home to Aeris, hoping she could forgive him for leaving.

The snow had finally melted all the way and Jake, Adrian, and him could leave training early if they saw fit. Jake kept trying to convince him and Adrian before the winter, but they had been stubborn. Now I wanted to go back and see her, mark her, and take her away from that treacherous pack. His wolf Dominic howled out happily at the idea and they finally made it back to the tent.

Adrian was out next to the fire cleaning his gun while disassembling and reassembling it. He had become the best weapons specialist in the camp. He seemed to take leaving Aeris the hardest once we were stuck here for the winter. He had been worried about her health while we were away. While I excelled in my strength training but still could not take on those dragons. I found myself being able to take down weaker Betas now alongside Jake. My technique had improved greatly as well. Then Jake was one of the top tiered trackers now at the camp. I beamed with pride at our achievements, and it all felt worth it now that we could protect Aeris better no matter what territory we stumbled upon.

Thinking back to Aeris made me smile and remember that we still had no idea what species she was. We had a chance to read some documents from a local town about fifteen minutes from the camp, but they turned out to be useless. She was not any of the creatures they had described. It still felt surreal to imagine her eyes and hair glowing, she was something breathtaking for sure.

Walking into the tent I rip the blanket off Jake, he groans, “Wake up, we have to have a meeting.” With that I went back to the fire and started to drink some diluted coffee waiting on Jake’s slow ass to get out here.

Ten minutes later he walked out with his shirt unbuttoned and his pant legs rolled up to his knees. We had become accustomed to being bare foot and his hair had looked like a tornado had ran through it. “Alright Basil, what’s this meeting about?” Jake plopped down grumbling.

Basil smiled, “Well, I was thinking we could leave the training camp early and go back to Aeris. We all miss her, and we are pretty much the best at our specialized skills now.”

Adrian scoffed, “We might as well stay here, she’s going to hate us anyway…” he stopped cleaning his gun and dropped his head. His hair covered his face but both Basil and Jake could feel the fear radiating off Adrian.

“Adrian, we do not know for a fact that she hates us. Maybe she is waiting for us, do you want to leave our mate hanging like that forever?” Basil reached out and hugged his friend. Adrian hugged him back and sighed.

Jake nodded and coaxed Adrian some more,” Even if she does hate us, do you really want to stay here and miss out on her cooking anymore then we already have?”

Adrian chuckled and shook his head, “Okay, we should head back.” He smiled at Jake and Basil as they all nodded in agreement. Shifting into their wolves, they all started to run the long journey home.