The Prophesied Luna (completed)

The Journey Within

Kayla’s POV

            “You need to focus on yourself, Kayla. Still your heart and block out everything from the outside. Concentrate on your breathing, on the beating of your heart, on the warmth of your skin and let your body take over,” Aldrnari repeated for the fourth time today as I lost touch with the balance again. 

            It has been three days since I woke up from my coma after the explosion but Finn was still unconscious. As a safety precaution, all pack members had to come to the shelter under the pack house before sunset and were only allowed to leave after sunrise. We decided to keep our guards up until we were sure that the vampires wouldn’t come back. Any pack members who had to leave the pack for work or school could only do so during daylight hours. Even though the attack had happened during daylight hours, my grandmother predicted that the vampires sent in that attack were probably enhanced with powerful dark magic, since sunlight is deadly for vampires, and she doubted that there were very many of them given the amount of magic required to create them. If her predictions were right, then whoever sent them probably would think twice before wasting more enhanced vampires on attacks until they found a way to be more effective in battle. In plain words, until they found a way to defeat me. 

            Word about a prophesied descendant from the bloodline of the High Priestess and the White Wolf Luna had gotten out after the Sacred Alliance was formed and especially after my display of power at the battle against the Werewolf Council. Both Finn and Leyton have worked tirelessly to conceal my identity after the battle and brought me home very quickly but we all knew that it was a matter of time before the truth would be exposed. When that day comes, I had no doubts that I’d become a walking target for many supernatural beings, the way that I was a target for Martha many years ago. With Finn still unconscious and the loom of multiple threats, I decided to dedicate myself to my Pack and be the Luna that they needed me to be, a Luna to lead them and protect them. In order to do so, I was left with little choice but to quit my job at the family practice in human territory so that I could focus on my Luna duties and help Reena out with the Pack’s hospital. Due to our temporary quartering in the shelter, Reena and her team had to ensure that there were enough supplies and machines at the hospital and in the shelter so that operations could be kept up day and night. It was no easy feat and I could tell that she was grateful for some help.

            Due to the current situation, all of our warriors and guards also had to be on rotation round the clock with no down time, putting immense pressure on their families, especially if there were more than one warrior in the family. To help cope with the situation, I had arranged with the preschool teachers and the orphanage to combine resources so that pups could be cared for round the clock if their parents or guardians were on duty. I was especially relieved to see young Claron stepping up to take the younger pups, including Mirakel, under his wings. I was also extremely proud that Mirakel had completely stopped acting out and was happily playing deputy to Claron, helping him to distract fussy pups who were missing their parents at night. He’d even read Finn bedtime stories before we went to sleep together in one bed as a family, taking extra care to pick a new story each night so that his Papa wouldn’t become bored. 

            Other than Luna duties and helping Reena’s team, I’d also started daily lessons with Aldrnari to learn more about myself. My grandmother suggested initially to bring me back to their coven as it’d have been easier for me to connect with the elements and the balance on our ancestral land but given the current situation, there was no way that I could leave my Pack or my family. In the end, we agreed that my grandmother would return to the coven to convene with the other Elders about the vampires who were invulnerable to daylight while Aldrnari stayed behind to help me with mastering my powers. After taking down Martha, the Council and most recently the vampires, how difficult could it be to master my powers? In these three days, I found out that it was unfortunately very difficult. In Aldrnari’s words, I was like a person who couldn’t swim and was thrown into water but each time, I got lucky and figured out how to at least float to stay alive. And now I was finally going to learn how to swim. 

            I tried to focus like Aldrnari instructed me to and soon I could feel an energy outside of my own body again. It was a strange feeling and if I had to describe it, I guess the best description would be likening the energy within my body like the water in our bodies, which made up about 60% of our bodies, while the energy outside of my body was like the water in the ocean, seemingly endless and powerful. This energy was magic and the magic outside of my body was called the balance by witches. Tapping into the balance was like tapping into the magic reserve of our world, enabling us to draw on more magic if the amount of magic within our bodies was depleted. Of course, there was a limit on how much magic you’d be able to draw from the balance. No witch is able to draw more magic than their body could hold and trying to do so was deadly. To draw from the balance also required magic so you’d have to make sure to draw from the balance before your magic levels were too low, if not, you could only wait for your body to recover on its own. At the same time, magical items like the sunstone could also be used to hold magic outside of our bodies and this was how powerful spells or rituals were possible, by using these items to draw and hold immense amounts of magic until the spells or rituals were to be performed. 

            It was a humbling experience to tap into the balance, to feel how insignificant we were in the grand scheme of things, like a drop of water in a large ocean. It was also breathtaking to know that the magic within every supernatural being and all magic was part of the balance and if we were close in proximity to them or closely related to them by blood, we could feel their presence and their magic in the balance. Unlike the ocean, the balance felt warm. It was as if I was lying in a nice warm bath or snuggled up in bed under the covers on a cold day, and it made me happy to tap into the balance, it felt right. 

            “And now concentrate on Granny, think of her face and her voice and you’d be able to feel her life force because she is our blood. Once you get used to it, you wouldn’t even need to concentrate on us, you’d just be able to feel our life forces when you tap into the balance. Try it,” Aldrnari said encouragingly as I tried to recall the face of the grandmother that I’ve only seen a handful of times. 

            A pleasant fragrance of lavender engulfed me as I felt a surge of warmth in my heart and a beautiful cloud with silver linings flashed in my mind. As if in response, the cloud took on the form of a heart briefly before reverting back to a normal fluffy cloud. We’re getting good at this! I beamed proudly at my wolf in my mind as I watched her do her little victory dance. This was another really cool thing about tapping into the balance, it enabled me to not only hear and talk to my wolf like all werewolves could, it also allowed me to see her in my mind, as clearly as I could see everything around me. Suddenly, I felt a pair of chubby arms wrap themselves around my shoulders as a warm little body pressed itself against my back, instantly breaking my contact with the balance like a pair of hands dragging me out of my nice bath. 

            “Mama! Bedtime!!” Mirakel’s excited voice was in complete contradiction of the words he had just exclaimed into my ears. “Baby, how’re you going to sleep if you’re so excited?” I asked in amusement as I turned around to pull my little pup into a hug. 

            “Do you want to call it a night, Kayla? We could continue tomorrow,” Aldrnari asked. I was on a roll and didn’t really want to stop right then but the hopeful gaze of my pup was irresistible. Besides, it was getting late and Mirakel shouldn’t miss his bedtime because of me. “Sorry about this, let’s continue tomorrow then, if that’s ok and hopefully tomorrow, no one will jump on me in the middle of practice!” I said apologetically as my pup stuck his tongue out at me. 

            Aldrnari chuckled and said, “when you’ve gotten the hang of it, the balance will feel like second nature and no amount of distractions will be able to knock you out of it, not even 10 Mirakels jumping on you.” 

            “Hmpf! 20 Mirakels then!” My little pup crossed his arms across his chest as he made his proclamation indignantly, sending both of us into a laughing fit. 

            As I stood up to leave with my pup, everything went dark like the light was being blocked out as an icy cold wave of water crashed onto me. Before I could get my head above water, another wave hit me followed by another wave as I flayed my arms desperately to get to the surface. Push it back! We can do this! I could see my wolf’s eyes glowing in the darkness, like a lighthouse in the middle of a storm. Like a desperate ship trying to get to shore safely in the middle of a storm, I focused on my wolf’s bright eyes and willed the magic within us to surround us, creating a pocket of safety within the darkness and threatening waves. Once I could finally breathe, I felt a familiar warmth accompanied by the earthy scent of daisies reaching out to me. A fiery fire shaped like a flower flashed in my mind as I recognized my sister’s life force, encouraging me to fight against the darkness. I took a deep breath and nodded at my wolf as we expanded as much of the magic within us as we could until the bubble we were in pushed so hard against the waves that they subsided and eventually, the darkness was replaced by light. 

            “Kayla! Can you hear me? Kayla?” Aldrnari’s voice became louder and clearer, and slowly, my blurred vision focused on her worried face. 

            “Yeah, I’m ok, but what was that? I felt this darkness and it was overwhelming,” I asked shakily as I reached out to take a frightened Mirakel from Aldrnari’s arms. 

            “Dark magic. That’s the darkness in the balance. The balance is made up of both light and dark magic in equal proportions until.. until the battle at the former Council’s grounds. The boundaries of the balance expanded and this new space was completely flooded with light magic. Since then dark magic has become more unpredictable, surging not only on new moon nights. I can’t really explain it but don’t forget what I told you, you’re in the water now and learning to swim. Even if you become an expert swimmer one day, the waters could still surprise you, so don’t let your guard down. The balance is neither good nor bad, it’s how we use it that counts, and how our lost sisters use it that we should worry about.” 

            My sister’s words weighed heavily on me, especially when I thought about her words in the context of recent events. “Mama, it’s ok! You can have floaties!” Aldrnari and I exchanged an amused look with each other as we dissolved into laughter again before finally bidding each other goodnight.