The Missing Guardian

Chapter 8 - A Prophecy foretold (South)

Nightshade (South)

All eyes are on Alpha Blake as he thinks about the question asked. The question that had been asked by The Sage when we had our own questions that rightfully needed answers.

"How much of your birth do you know about?"

What does his birth have to do with anything, how does this even remotely have anything to do with why we were under attack and what to do now... The Tree has been poisoned!! All this political, cultural babble that The Sage spins is losing us time, losing me time.

Why can we never just get to the point? Why must we have a full charade before we can make any decisions, even the full display before of what happened during the dark war? I understand why we needed to know in detail but we are all veterans, we all could have kept up if explained. But no, we must have the visuals as well, a spectacle, when that was the last thing Blake needed to be reminded of in such a visual manner.

The slaughter of his family brought to life. Fae can be emotionally misguided at times, calculating all outcomes except for the emotional. Growing up with the wolves has given me a slight sense of empathy, a skill Fae can lack.

We seem to be guided more by the beauty of life rather than how that beauty makes us feel.

"I know that there were complications. I can't really remember what they used to tell me, but I do remember them saying that we nearly lost my mother."

The Sage nods while he listens to Blake's answer. He then thinks about his response. His shriveled face looks like it has turned to stone. He stands so still as he thinks. My patience hanging on by a thread as I watch him intently, determined to find the right answers regardless.

"When your mother went into labor, we realized very quickly that something was wrong, she was hemorrhaging and we couldn't find the source of the bleeding. We delivered you as quickly and as safely as possible, but by then..."

The Sage stops, reliving a moment in his mind, his face contorts into a look of sympathy, but before he can continue, Blake interjects with his own question.

"You were there when my mother had me?"

This exact question was floating through my mind as I listened, hoping to find the point of why we are discussing matters that predate our current problem. As far as I know, Blake's mother was Luna and a werewolf. Why was The Sage involved in the birth of a werewolf, unless things were different in the past?

"Yes, I was there at your birth, as was the Empress and Emperor."

The Sage answers as if it were completely normal, not reading the confusion on either the Alpha's face or mine.

Why would that be? Were they all close as neighbors?

"But why?"

Alpha Blake finally asks, much to my relief. This is why we are friends. He needs the facts laid out before him, vague answers will drive both of us insane.

"Do you not know what your mother was before you were born?"

The Sage asks as he turns to face the young Alpha, confusion written plainly on his features.

"What do you mean, what she was?"

Blake's astonishment at The Sage's words thickly covered his question.

My father decides to answer as he looks at us and then The Sage. It seems everyone except Spring looks perplexed. Spring, as usual, looks as though we had discussed this already and was staring out into space, in her own world again.

"When your mother arrived here, she was of Fae decent, the Snow Fae to be exact. We thought you knew this, otherwise we would have told you. It wasn't a secret."

My mother steps forward at my father's words and wraps Blake in a motherly hug. I am brought back to our childhood and moments playing out in the field, where my mother would find us and gently lure us home to the base of the Tree, with hugs and promises of sweet treats. I smile at the exchange but process the implications of what we had just rediscovered, the lines were crossed and nobody seemed perturbed by it. I wonder how they will all react when they find out about my new situation.

"But then how was my mother a werewolf all my childhood?"

His question is credible, all my memories of the Luna were of her as a wolf, but I don't have a lot of memories of her, or if I did, they have faded over time.

"As I was saying..."

The Sage interjects while clearing his throat, I can immediately tell he is trying to force his own emotions down.

"Once you were born, she was barely holding on, she had lost so much blood we all feared the worst."

His voice dips slightly as he recalls the memory. I look over to my mother, who now has the huge Alpha in her arms in an uncomfortable position whereby he's arms are trapped at his sides by her tiny arms as she tries to soothe him. I know she means well, but the sight is hilarious in this moment.

My father allows The Sage to pause, before continuing for him when he doesn't recommence.

"I was with your father. They had sent him out when they realized that they needed to intervene. He was beside himself, nothing I did could ease his anxiety. When you were born, we heard your cry and I couldn't contain your father a minute longer."

He laughs slightly at the thought, he looks directly at Blake now, who is trapped by my mother and seems to be processing the information, but I cannot read his expression, his Alpha poker face staring back at my father.

"He ran into the room where your mother was, the nurses had you and were cleaning you off, the rest of the team were working on your mother, desperate to do anything to save the Luna, but I think he could feel the mate bond weaken and he went into a blinding rage allowing his wolf control, his animal instincts did the only thing they could."

Alpha Blake looks confused at my father's statement before understanding washes over him.

"He turned her.."

His response is a vocalization of all our thoughts. A werewolf will never turn another unless, in absolute dire situations, there animal counterparts usually refrain until no other option is available.

"What does that make me?"

Blake questions the elders in the room as the realization dawns on him that his parents were different species. The same thoughts that were running through my mind when Aliya looked up at me on the battlefield, questions I had never thought to ask.

The Sage looks up at him, relief floods his features, and he smiles at the Alpha.

"You are 100% wolf. When two species align and procreate, the offspring will either be one or the other. Very rarely does the offspring result in a hybrid."

My friend breathes a sigh of relief in front of me and my mother releases her grip on the poor man. Stepping back, she smooths down her dress and returns to her chair, deciding that this unpleasant conversation is over, shortly followed by the rest of us.

"As fascinating as this is, and believe me, we are not done discussing this subject, what does this have to do with the attacks?"

Blake directs his question to The Sage while the rest of us take our seats.

"I believe that your mother may have been the start of a prophecy we have long forgotten."

I ponder The Sage's response a moment, trying to catch up.

A prophecy set in motion that could have been forgotten? I thought all prophecies were written down by the elders of each species, or land, depending where it was dictated.

Before I can start unraveling the implications of what we are discussing, my mother begins her own questions.

"I don't remember you having any conversations with me about a prophecy at the time. Should I not have been told about this?"

I am taken aback by the fact that my mother didn't know anything about this. There is almost nothing the Empress doesn't know about and if she doesn't, then by law of nature, spring does know about it.

As if everyone in the room were having the exact same thought as I was, we all looked toward Spring, who is fascinated with the three-dimensional world in miniature, created by The Sage and father.

Walking around it, inspecting every inch of its details.

She ignores our gazes and carries on staring at the world in front of her. She is contemplating her next move. Her and I are very similar in that way, we both try to calculate the risks and repercussions of our actions, both trained by our father. Though she has years of experience ahead of me and has become almost unreadable.

My impatience seems to have dissipated as we wait for what my sister will reveal. Maybe if I am truly honest with myself, I am hesitant to find out what she has hidden within her. A connection to the Tree, a connection with the Gods. An inner connection with everything. I understand her pause, but what will the Alpha do? He's patience is almost as thin as mine.

Blake knows my sister, but because he has never been within the Tree and she is intertwined with the Tree, only having as much leash away from the Tree as it allows, depending on a range of factors. They did not grow up together as he and I did.

The fact that she is two hundred years older than both of us plays a huge part as well. I don't know what he's reaction towards her is going to be. We have never really explained Spring and he's never really asked.

His body language is calm though. I am always impressed with his restraint and poise as an Alpha. He went against unbelievable odds and has become an incredible leader. He gives away no indication of any impatience or irritation.

My sister brushes her fingers against the copy of the Tree, bringing it to life. We watch as the branches begin to sway as a magical wind gently nudges them along, the grass beneath it begins to sway as well, the dust swirling in the breeze.

We watch as nature on the map slowly comes to life in the breeze, just a gentle nudge to create a reaction.

"There are many prophecies out in the universe, many are true, many more will never come to pass and a very few happen completely by accident."

None of us say anything as we wait for her to continue. Spring has desperately tried to contain the secrets that lie deep within the Tree over the years, gaining control of her powers and learning how to cope with the immense knowledge that was her birth right.

"There is one that was foreseen by a dark witch in the North, when the family was in its darkest moments, overridden by hunters and vampires."

I scan through my history records that I have memorized over the years as I listen to her, pinpointing any details that could give me an indication of the time period to focus in on.

"The details were vague but enough to drive the witch mad, hungry for power, ensuring that her vision was intertwined in her family lines."

There are only a quarter of the witches left, compared to years before, so if her bloodline is still in play, they must be an old, exceptionally strong family. I can name them on one hand though, so narrowing it down shouldn't be that difficult.

"The prophecy was never meant to come to pass, it was meant to fade with the sands of time, but the witch who saw what could be, changed the course and manipulated events to ensure that what she saw came to be..."

My mother stands and walks over to Spring, placing a hand on her shoulder. Ever so gently, not to startle her, but comfort.

"Is that why it slipped through the cracks?"

A simple question that holds an enormous number of implications.

Spring sighs, shaking her head, and looks toward the floor, her delicate hands interlaced in front of her. I can see the struggle on her face as she finds the words in her mind.

"This prophecy is shrouded in a haze. I can find the source, but not the content. It has to do with the Tree, and therefore unobtainable by me, it's the law of the Gods, but The Sage came to me, shortly after Alpha Blake was born, with scrolls of an accidental prophecy about Fae mixed with Wolf."

Blake clears his throat, trying to digest the news. We all turned to him, waiting for his reaction.

"But I am a wolf, The Sage said so.."

I can see his confusion plainly, none of this makes sense, even I am having a hard time keeping up.

"Ah yes, you are my dear boy, but you see, when your father turned your mother, she herself became a hybrid."

The Sage answers our questions, and my mind rapidly begins to digest this information.

The Luna was a hybrid, something I would never have thought possible. But I'm still missing the connector as to why this was behind everything.

"What happened to her?"

The question came from Blake, who is now seated with his head in one hand, as he pieces it all together.

"After she was bitten, she went into a deep sleep, her vitals evened out and then she began to heal. After a few days, her wings began to shrink before disappearing completely. "

The Sage's answer catches me off guard. She lost her wings...

"Did she suffer?"

Blake's words make me think of what it would be like to lose my own. My entire existence is based around being able to fly, being able to transform my physical size, all my training is using these advantages.

My mother is the first to answer from her seat, her eyes glisten with unshed tears, the Luna must have meant a great deal to my mother if she is reacting this way. My own memories faded and distorted.

"Not during the transition, not that we were aware of, but it was an adjustment that she had to overcome once she awoke. "

The Alpha nods in understanding, it can't be easy discussing his mother again after all these years.

I still don't see how this fits together, and it's starting to irritate me, precious moments we could be using to find Twig, or bringing justice down on those involved.

"I still don't see how this is connected though. My mother has been gone since the Dark War, most likely killed. Will the prophecy not die with her?"

The Alpha is obviously just as confused as I am finally asking the question now burning a hole through my brain.

"That's what I presumed after the news of her disappearance, I simply put the scrolls away and carried on, until today, when the second attack happened and the news of Twig's disappearance."

"What does Twig have to do with this?"

My father turns on The Sage, his daughter wrapped in a prophecy is nothing to take lightly.

I turn to see Springs reaction, desperate for any clues as to what she knows. But she is still captivated by the magical land before her. Her expression gives me nothing.

The Sage doesn't answer my father, instead he looks at Spring, but she doesn't say anything. My patience is now stretched thinly and I can feel myself about to become rash and ruthless. I bite my tongue and swallow down the need to force the answers from everyone in this pod.

Eventually Spring speaks...

"The Tree sent Twig to find our champion. This is a war between the Gods, we are merely their pawns."

There is silence as everyone digests what we have just heard. Lost in our own thoughts about what that could mean.

How? That's the only question going through my mind at first.

"Where?"

My father finally breaks the silence and asks.

Spring looks up, but not directly at anyone, her eyes red and puffy, tears leaving stains down her face as she stares at the wall. When did she start crying? If Spring is this upset she is just as lost as the rest of us as to why this happened.

"I don't know "

Her answer is just slightly louder than a whisper and I can already tell she is just as desperate as we all are for answers.

Before any of us can comment on this new revelation, there is a knock at the entrance to the pod.

Spring lowers her head, hiding her emotions in respect for whoever is on the other side.

One of my mother's guardians. He must be new because I don't recognize him, which puts me on edge. I like to know who is stationed at my mother's side to protect her.

The young guard makes his way to my mother before whispering in her ear. She smiles and looks at all of us, who are now watching their every move.

"The Fae from the North and West have arrived. I have called them in to assist us in any way they can. We will find Twig one way or another. "

I look toward Alpha Blake, it was for him after all that we closed our borders. He has his usual Alpha poker face on but nods his agreement to my mother, not that he would deny the Empress's wishes, especially to find her daughter.

"Please escort them in, and ensure that refreshments are brought in."

The guard bows and begins to leave. I am beyond pleasantries now and sigh loudly, almost forgetting where I am. But my brain is tired from the processing and I couldn't contain it even if I tried.

Alpha Blake stands and moves over to where I am sitting with my head now in my hands. I feel his hand on my back as he takes his seat.

"This gets more complicated by the minute, doesn't it?"

I nodded in response to Blake, too tired to vocalize my response. The moment the other Fae arrive, there will be more tip-toeing around the subject as we try to be polite.

I lift my head and decide that if I want my answers, I have to ask them now.

"If the prophecy is true, then where would the Tree send Twig according to the prophecy?"

I at least have to know where to start looking.

The Sage answers me before anyone else can.

"To find our champion. "

I think over this answer before asking the next...

"What does this have to do with Blake's mother and her being a hybrid, I mean no offense Blake, I just need to fill the gaps."

Blake nods in understanding, but I can see that he is just as eager as I to hear the answers to these questions.

"I'm not sure, as far as I can find, it is to search for our champion, but the text is written in an ancient language that is hard to translate, but in saying that it does say that they will be of two kinds, which we know the Luna was, but since her passing, it must mean someone else, perhaps there are more hybrids we do not know about."

" Are there any other details from the prophecy that we could use as indicators to find where she may be?"

The Sage looks at Spring, who sighs before slightly raising her eyes off the floor toward me, though careful not to look directly at me.

"The scrolls have very little information, only that a new era will be born from a hybrid during a time of separation. It mentions the death of the Tree and how a champion will be found by a soul who shows their worth during battle and will lead our champion to victory in the battle ahead. "

Before I can even get the next question out, Blake catches us all by surprise.

"Talk about cryptic, and I thought the wolf scrolls were weird. "

I burst out laughing, and suddenly we are all giggling at the Alpha, the tension scattering and dissipating as we realize the absurdity of the ancients.

Spring is even giggling to herself quietly, and then looks at the Sage ever so briefly.

"I have a sapling. "

The shock on all our faces at her revelation is evident. My mother quickly stands and walks up to her, engulfing her in a hug similar to the hold she had Blake in earlier.

I can see the Sage is about to say something when the doors open and in walks a few servers with refreshments and more food.

The Sage smiles at my obvious annoyance as my mother releases her daughter and scurries to her chair. The sight has us all smiling though. The thought of at least having a sapling releases the incessant itch for action.

The first of the fae to arrive is the leader of the wind fae from the West.