The Missing Guardian

Chapter 2 – So close, but yet so unreachable

Kiron (North)

The office is quiet, except for the crackle of the fireplace. I appreciate this time of night, when the pack house is asleep, and I am left to my work and my own thoughts.

I stare down at the report in front of me, the same report I have been staring at for the last twenty minutes. The images of the people in front of me stare back with no evidence as to their whereabouts.

Running my fingers through my hair and rolling the tension out of my shoulders, I get up and walk over to the cellarette and pour myself a whiskey. The first taste on my tongue burns and I feel my lips curl in a smile of satisfaction, at least I can still feel something.

Walking out to the balcony with my glass, drinking in the cold breeze that hits my face. A bitter winter is about to arrive.

Sipping my drink, allowing the burn of the alcohol on my lips, warming me. I look out over the pack land and the forest surrounding us. A few lights in the pack are still on, but darkness has cast a shadow over most. A slight drizzle that is all that's left after the earlier downpour.

A knock at the door distracts me from my pondering, turning I see my Beta standing at the door, a look of worry etched across his face.

“What is it?”

I ask, his troubled expression concerning me.

Asher steps into the office, his eyes red from the lack of sleep, his black hair a mess.

“Alpha, I am sorry to disturb you so late, but this couldn’t wait.”

His formality catching me off guard.

Studying his face, I realize we are both going to need a drink and head back into the office and go over and pour him a few shots of whiskey.

“What’s up Ash?”

I try keep my voice as even as possible, acknowledging to myself he is almost at breaking point. As are we all, exhaustion beginning to set into our bones. An exhaustion that sleep cannot quench.

“Another wolf was taken Alpha, but closer to our territory this time, dangerously close.”

His frustration evident in his voice. I notice his scar becoming more prominent the more run down and stressed he becomes. A silver line etched across his upper lip and cheek, a constant reminder of our arrogance and my ineptitude in protecting my pack, my family. I will never let that happen again.

“We need to find something, anything that can lead us to an inkling of understanding what the hell is happening.”

I growl into my glass before slumping into the chair behind my desk and glaring at the ceiling, wishing I could scream to the Gods, they would not care though. My pain falling upon deaf ears. I can see my best friend gulp down the liquid in his glass, remembering us stealing liquor from the liquor cabinet. How far we have come, I muse.

Asher yawns loudly, rubbing his wearied face with his tired hands.

“I have sent warriors to the incident; they will report back to me in the morning. Hopefully, they find something this time.”

His words hollow and desperate.

“Double the border patrol and place a curfew in place, to protect the pack, we must be ready.”

I say as confidently as I can.

“Ready for what?”

Confusion mingled in his words. Looking up at his intimidating size, even in his human form, I am grateful to be his Alpha and friend and not his enemy. Even in his broken, tired state, he is a formidable opponent.

My entire life I have been sure of one thing, and one thing alone, and that is to protect my pack and I am now faced with an invisible enemy who has no scent and leaves no trace, slowly eradicating my people. One by one. I take a breath, releasing the pent-up frustration and anger, desperate to reign in the situation. I stare at the door behind Asher, praying the enemy would kick down the door. But I am met with indignant silence as usual.

“I have no idea what to prepare for, we have no leads, no evidence, not even a scent to track.”

The truth spilling from me like a demoralizing wave.

Asher grunts a response of understanding while nodding his head.

“We then prepare for everything; I think it is time we contacted the Elders and possibly bring the coven in to do a sweep.”

I know he is right, we should have called in the Elders weeks ago, but my pride intertwined with my stubbornness had gotten the better of me. I thought I could handle this on my own, but now I see I was wrong.

I nod without making eye contact. Although I know he would never rub it in my face, the amount of joy he is experiencing at my expense right now is palpable. We discussed this weeks ago and I had used my Alpha tone to snub the idea. To concede now is torture.

Bowing his head, Asher slips back out the door and into the darkness.

I place my head in my hands as I rest my elbows on the wood of the desk. Desperate to rest my weary brain. I close my eyes for just a moment, but a moment too long and fatigue sets in.

*********************************************************************************************************

Ebony (West)

The chill in the air is evident as I trudge my way up the hill, my feet sinking into the waterlogged ground.

I do not care though, my shoes getting ruined is the last thing on my mind. The wind whipping its way passed me has me more concerned than the mud.

I look over the gravestones, all lined up in neat rows, I read their inscriptions, as they lead the way to the top. Distracting myself from the bitter sting of the air as it wraps itself around my shoulders.

Names etched into stone, natures reclaiming. Names and dates, that is all that is left once they are gone. Names and dates etched into stone in a field of stones.

The morbidity not lost on me.

Each year, I make my way up this hill, up through the winding trail adorned by other people’s losses. Each year it does not get any easier, the weight of my loneliness crushing down on me, every step I take.

Another painful reminder that I am alone, utterly alone.

I eventually reach the top of the hill, overlooking the pack. I marvel at the view and watch as the sun begins to rise in the sky. I keep my eyes focused on the view in-front me, drawing out the inevitable before gradually lowering my eye line to focus on the headstone in front of me.

ESME BARYN

Never Forgotten

That is all they had put, and even that was a lie. The Alpha had insisted that since she had been missing for five years, that the likeliness of finding her alive was almost unheard of. He had the headstone created, I refused for them to put any dates. The Alpha had respected my wishes and the whole pack attended… Then they left, and no one except me ever comes back.

I chose the spot at least. She was nestled under a towering Tree, right at the threshold of the cemetery, her favourite place. She would have loved it if she were actually resting here.

The tree was one she spoke of often; she would bring me to this spot to picnic or to talk or any reason she could. I would think it was weird, since it is on the edge of a cemetery, but that never seemed to bother her. She loved to look over the pack, especially at sunset in the middle of summer, soaking in the last of the day. The grass lush under our feet as the tree above us burst with splashes of red, delicate tendril flowers. It was a beautiful view. As was she.

Looking up into the branches of the tree, I can already see splashes of red appearing on the tips. It is only early November, my mother would always say that if the tree bloomed early, it meant a hot, long summer was coming. I smile at the memory but then remember what happened and my heart breaks all over again.

It will be eight years to the date since I last saw my mother, before she was taken from me, ripped from my side in the night by Rogues. They left behind nothing to give any indication as to who they were and why they took her and two other women. We found one of the bodies, discarded along a highway out of town a few weeks after they went missing. She was barely recognizable, her body mangled and broken.

The fear in her face was forever sculptured onto her.

After that I would wake in the night screaming, sweat pouring out of my skin from the nightmares, of what they could be doing to her. I was not old enough to do anything, but old enough to understand that she could be in very real danger, and it left me helpless and hopeless.

She was all I had, my father had been long gone, so long I cannot remember his face. I have had no one since I was 15. I have learned to fend for myself and how to stay off everyone’s radar. Keeping my head down and behaving.

Preparing behind the scenes to find a way out and find a way to find out what happened to her. I train and learn as much as I am allowed.

I am grateful to the Alpha for his kindness, giving me a home in the pack-house, and an after-school chore to give back, until i was old enough to move out on my own.

He let me train and tried his best to understand my pain. But the lack of closure ate at my soul, leaving me cracked and different. Most people avoid me, either out of pity or cautiousness, I prefer they avoid me, their eyes give them away. Big pools of inquisitive pity.

When I finished school, I found a job to save money, in order to leave. I am three hundred coins till I reach my goal, and then I can begin my search. I touch the stone in front of me, trying to visualize her face. I would find the truth, no matter what, I had to, I owed it to her, if not myself.

The wind has subsided for a moment and there seems to be a calm over the area. I relish in the moment without even realizing. Clinging to memories that flood to the surface in this place, the quiet giving me a fraction of the comfort I once felt.

A buzz distracts me from my self-pity, I look around me trying to pinpoint the location of the growing sound. A humming that radiated with an unknown power.

Ivory begins to gnaw at me from the inside, cautioning me, as I finally comprehend that the noise is coming from the tree itself. I shush her gently and step back as the buzzing intensifies, creating a sound similar to a thousand hives all buzzing as one. I can feel the intensity of the sound in my bones almost, its potency flowing through me.

I clasp my hands over my ears as it pushes passed me. The wind has swooned in and grasped the sound as it swaddles my skin, a warm feeling surrounding my body, vibrating off me and echoing out further. Ivory is howling to be released but the buzzing will not relent in its hold on me.

My eyes snap to the tree as it begins to creek and bend in the wind. The cracking of wood catches my breathe as I watch in awe and utter disbelief as the tree fractures and splits in half right down the middle. My mind searching desperately for a reason, an explanation. Lightning, the tree must have been hit by lightning. It is the only reasonable explanation. But there is not a cloud in the sky as the sun’s rays start to eliminate the view of the night sky.

But as quickly as it appeared the buzz stops, and the wind is now a gentle breeze, nudging me forward. The tree seems stuck, cracked open, the trunk in half as the branches slumped over on each side, but not disconnected.

Dangling in the air by a threads of bark.

Curiosity grows in the pit of my stomach, and eventually wins the argument against Ivory, who is now seething at my stupid decision, on the edge of gaining control and ripping through me. I push forward, desperate to see the aftermath, terrified it will push me over the edge emotionally.

This tree is all I have left of her. The moment the tree cracked; my heart splintered.

As I get closer, I notice a glow coming from within the tree, ever so faint against the darkening sky. My curiosity now insatiable as I lean in closer, over the broken stump, peering into the tree’s inner core, where there should be wood, there is nothing, a hole illuminated ever so slightly by the faint glow that drew me closer.

I can feel a warm gust of air escaping into the evening chill. I stand there, dumb struck when I see a figure in the hole, something being propelled upwards.

“It’s coming too fast; we are going to get hit in the face!”

Ivory growls out to me as it shoots toward me.

**********************************************************************************

Nightshade: (South)

I have been pacing this stretch of dirt for the last two hours, over and over, as I inspect every tiny speck of dust that covers the area. I have worn a path in the brush grass, exposing the dehydrated clay.

Everyone behind her had said that Twig had fallen into a hole. They watched her fall, but as they approached there was nothing but solid ground. Like the earth had swallowed her whole. Sixteen people had seen it, and yet it made no sense. The only semblance of evidence that I could find is a crack in the baked mud, undisturbed and insignificant.

It has been almost thirteen hours since she vanished and my anguish is having an effect on me. I didn't notice that she was missing until it was too late, a regret I will always live with.

I have had every species within range I can think of to come to the sight and inspect it. Nothing has been found, even Ophelia said she could not feel any spells or lingering magic. I have run every possible scenario through my mind, but I am at a loss. My pride seething at my own ignorance.

I kneel and touch the earth with my palms as I close my eyes. Silently praying to the Sun God to protect her and begging him to bring her home, when I hear footsteps behind me, I lift my head with a sigh as I give up on my imploring pleas to the ground to release her.

The footsteps stop right behind me, I can immediately feel her essence and power, exuding from her, over me and rippling out across the barren valley.

“It is time to convene my brother,”

her voice trying not to stumble.

“We have recovered the dead, sent the injured to healers across the territory and begun to burn our enemies’ bodies.”

She was filled with raw determination, but I could hear she was beginning to crack, I could feel her tension slowly gnawing away at her.

I look around to her, facing her with as much strength as I can muster. Her platinum blonde hair in curls over her shoulders, framing her slender face. I can see her resolve slipping.

Empress Consort cannot lose her resolve, she must face this with utmost certainty. I am relieved to not be in her situation. I am well aware that I am not in a state to judge, I haven’t even washed off the blood from my skin, I am still in the same uniform, and I must look like a dying man.

“There is more to this Nightshade than meets the eye, we must convene with the Council and evaluate the extent of the damage, we will find her, but we must first figure out how this happened and why.”

I know she is right, and I know that we must be rational but I am battling my inner rage and exhaustion. Wrestling with my body to find the strength to get off my knees. My sister steps around me to the front before reaching for my hand.

Obviously understanding my body language. I take her hand in mine and push my body upward with her help.

I can see her gaze burning into me, so I look away, ashamed.

I turn and walk away from her, toward the palace, my legs now beginning to burn from fatigue, but I push forward before I notice Spring floating above me. I am too tired to fly, I have no will power, my body breaking from the inside.

How could I have let her disappear? I kept replaying the last 24 hours over and over in my mind, working out the exact moments of every wrong decision, but there were so many factors to consider that I was losing track of my estimations. The questions growing instead of being answered.

I need to close my eyes, I know this, but I must fight the exhaustion until I can figure out what to do now. The unknown abrasive against my consciousness. I am aware that my grip on reality is slipping due to lack of sleep, so I simply stare at the ground, one foot in front of the other as I walk behind Spring.

“Where are you Twig”

I plead in a whisper to the darkness, desperation dripping from my words.

After what felt like an eternity of walking on my already exhausted legs, we finally reached the giant Baobab tree that encapsulates our home, a colossal landmark surrounded by it's sleeping sisters that formed a protective guard around it.

Shrinking down to my Fae size, I take flight, following Spring through the entrance, a crack in the external bark. As we enter, I look down and notice that the village is crowded, Fae are buzzing around everywhere, almost in a panic.

"What have I missed?" I question.

"I told you there was more to this than a random attack."

Her answer is reserved, almost afraid.

For the first time since she approached me, I notice an edge to her, an uneasiness that is hard to understand. Spring is usually distant and reserved, but she is even more withdrawn than usual. Maybe it's the fact that Twig is missing, she must be concerned.

We land near the entrance to the Palace on the upper level of the inner tree. It hangs like a limb, as do all the buildings inside the tree, created by the magic held in the roots. Tiny homes and rooms all created to line the inside walls of the hollow interior. Cocoons made of the inner plant itself, all suspended. Woven homes create a bustling village.

At the bottom a reservoir of water that has been collected over the last few rains. I look to the entrance of the palace, the largest creation. The wooden exterior closed off by large netted doors that intertwine into each other like branches reaching for the sun. Detailed interwoven patterns that speak of the history held inside the tree.

As we approached, the doors open by themselves, revealing my father, his dark hair dripping down his face which looks tired beyond his years. He lifts his distressed gaze and settles upon us, it takes a moment for his tired mind to react, but when he does, he grabs Spring into his arms, clutching her closely to him, breathing in her hair as his nose digs into the top of her head.

"I am so relieved to see you are alright."

He whispers to her before looking up to me.

"Any updates my boy?"

he asks me, his eyes desperately begging me for something I cannot give him. Instead, I lower my head in shame.

I can hear footsteps behind him, and I silently beg for the earth to swallow me now like it did Twig hours ago. I know it's my mother, her presence can be felt, power radiating from her essence. I can feel her eyes burrow into me, and I can do nothing but feel the guilt that is thrashes inside of me.

Suddenly her arms are around me in an embrace, which takes me off guard. I was expecting the full extent of her wrath to be unleashed on me for losing her daughter. I think that might have been better, it's what I deserve. But she is crushing herself into me, her grip getting tighter and tighter.

"It's not your fault, do you understand me Nightshade, this is not your fault!"

I can feel her words against my chest as I try to hold onto the last fragments of composure I have. My body melting into her soft exterior, a feeling of comfort and home engulfs me and I ball my fingers in a fist, fighting the urge to break down and let my mothers comfort allow my feeling to break free.

"I will not rest until I find her, I promise, I will search every inch of the earth until she is home."

My voice cracks as I say this, and my mother’s embrace loosens until she is looking up at me with my shoulders in her hands.

"We will find her, but in order to do that, you must rest."

Her piercing green eyes staring into my soul. Her hair similar to Springs, except instead of blonde curls, she has straight hair, cut short into a bob that traces her jaw line. Her round face is smiling at me, and I cannot help but smile weakly back at her.

"You will go to your room, clean up and sleep for the rest of the day."

Her voice now commanding and before I can protest, she starts again.

"Your father and I must go see the Sage while you rest, when we return, we will all convene and discuss a path forward, but we can do nothing now, especially when you are in a state of exhaustion, you need to have your faculties intact in order to face this."

I can only nod in agreement, even if I don't want to, she is our Empress and I dare not disobey her.

"Spring, take him to his room, ensure that he sleeps, and if he doesn't call the healer for something to help ease his mind in order to get him to sleep."

My mother says to my sister, still in my fathers arms before looking me over once more, concern written all over her usually jovial face.

Spring untangles herself from my father and steps up to me, taking my arm in her own and leads us away from our parents.

As we walk through the passageway toward my chamber, I place my arms around Spring for support as I feel my body slowly start to give out. She doesn’t push me away but gently holds onto me, until we reach the door.

She pushes the door open and places me on my bed before heading into the bathroom and turning the water on in the shower. I push myself off the bed to follow her, determined to not require help.

“Thank you.”

Is all I can muster out as she smiles at me and heads out the door.

I discard my soiled uniform onto the bathroom floor and step into the hot water cascading down. My skin stings as the water touches sections where I have not healed completely, the heated liquid biting my open wounds. I hiss at the sting instinctively, and then laugh inwardly at the reaction.

I have been trained my whole life to not react to pain of any kind. A constant onslaught of different types of pain, gradually increased over time during training has desensitized my emotions and my pain receptors.

I can block very other kind of pain out, but when it comes to my siblings, I am weak, I always have been. This weakness is now seeping out and affecting my resilience.I slump down onto the floor with my knees up as I let the water burn my skin.

Reflecting on our history, flashes of our past as children come to mind. Twig running to the seal as a little girl, desperate to be let in as hundreds of humans chased her passed the tree.

Spring grabbing her and rushing toward the tree, her strength draining from being away from the tree but as I got to them I could see the look of terror in her eyes. The first war... The Dark war...

I turn the faucet off to stop my eyes from leaking, distracting me momentarily to get a grasp on my emotions. I climb out of the shower and wrap a towel round my waist, grabbing the extra one to dry off my hair.

I think back to the battlefield and seeing Twig without her weapon, trying to protect the young ones, the look of agitated rage swirling in her eyes. She is the bravest of us all, stubborn and reckless though, which drives me insane constantly.

And then Aliya stepping forward to take the children. I sigh heavily thinking of her, I will need to go to her, we need to discuss this new development. But first I must find my sister. I hope she will understand, but I will not begrudge her if she will not.

My mind is racing again, and nothing will quieten it, my raw emotions slinking through the cracks and pushing their way forward. I push through the door and back into my room to find Spring sitting quietly on my bed, her legs crossed in perfect sync with her poised posture. She smiles gently up at me before gesturing to the table next to my bed, where a cup of some sort of brew is sitting, steam drifting from its contents.

“I thought you might need some help; I asked the healer to make it for you.”

Spring explains.

“Thank you, my mind refuses to stop analyzing every moment.”

I can see her shoulders slump slightly at my words, and a look of remorse crosses her face at my words.

“At least you were allowed to fight, I was sealed inside, unable to help or protect.”

She quietly admits.

“You are important, we are here to ensure your safety.”

I try to explain, but I can only imagine if it were me. I would be a raging beast locked in a cage.

Spring knows better than to comment and merely nods her head, she knows there was no choice in the matter.

“What else is going on Spring?”

They keep telling me that there is more to this, I want answers, or I will never be able to sleep.

“Mother and father have gone to speak to the Sage, we will know more once they return.”

Her answer annoys me, she is speaking to me like I am merely someone from court, and not a prince, her protector and brother.

“Spring, stop doing that and tell me what is going on, my patience is wearing thin.”

My exhaustion is making me irritable, I need to know what else happened before I drive my myself insane.

“They attacked the Tree.”

Her voice tense as she begins to let the flow of information pour from her unwilling.

“They drew out the warriors to the East, as as…”

Before she can answer, I answer for her. I have already figured this bit out.

“Diversion”

‘Yes, a diversion, so while you were all out to the East fighting one group, two other descended upon the Tree, from the West and North.”

My rage is building, I can feel the poisonous emotion coursing through my veins releasing a burst of adrenaline at the thought of my sister, bound to the tree and unable to escape as our enemies slink their way into our territory. The thought sends an instinctual, blinding surge of hatred right to my core and I cannot help the snarl that rips from my throat.

Spring can see what my mind is making me picture and she quickly decides to quell my fears.

“They never tried to penetrate the inner sanctum of the tree, they instead began to dig into it’s roots, and headed straight to the storage's, Nightshade they knew exactly what they were doing, they have done something to the tree and have stolen the entire harvest.”

My world begins to spin around me as I try to process this information, but my mind has frozen, I am staring at her blankly, not able to comprehend anything.

My vision blurs as I reach out toward the bed. Spring rushes over and helps me to the mattress.

My body collapses and exhaustion finally wins, the last of my adrenaline burnt out in my system. I desperately cling onto what Spring has just told me as I lose myself to slumber.