Of Ash and Amber: The Last Lyandan Wolf

Chapter5

A pool of crimson surrounded Indiya as the cold metal was retracted from her stomach. The death she awaited never arrived. Instead, her skin knit back together, closing the gaping hole that threatened to leave her lifeless. She sat up to assess her body, her eyes wide in disbelief as her fingers traced the scar on her stomach. She didn’t notice the surrounding mages had dropped their cloaks.

Several pairs of eyes stared at Indiya, subtle smiles spread across their faces. Only one mage wore an obvious frown. The blood in Indiya’s veins pulsed fervently, and a fuzzy feeling spread through her mind. Beads of sweat lined her forehead and eyebrows as an unstable heat spread through her body. An intense mix of sounds rang through her ears. Her hands clamped over her ears as she cried out in pain. Musty air filled Indiya’s nose, making her features scrunch up in disgust.

As she tried to pull her legs towards her, the shackles binding them shattered, leaving silver shards to settle on the ground. Gasps filled the air as Indiya’s chest heaved. Shallow breaths escaped her lips and nostrils as her head spun.

Suddenly, the whole room seemed to quiet, and her heart rate accelerated as she plunged into a dark tunnel of nothingness that felt like a distant memory. A sensation of familiarity washed over her as a tiny voice squeaked.

“Hey Indiya, I’m your wolf Seina,” the voice purred.

Indiya tried to scream, but she couldn’t feel her lips or limbs. She felt as though she was floating with nothing solid in sight. After what seemed like a long time, her consciousness slowly returned to her. The world around her regained its color and the mages came into sight.

Leon stood in front of her holding a glass of brown liquid with a slight foul smell. Indiya stared at her with distaste, wondering what other schemes or needles she had up her sleeves.

“It’s safe to say that the ritual worked out fine. A lot of time has passed, and your body hasn’t reacted negatively,” Leon said as she approached Indiya.

“Drink this. It’ll calm the heat rising in your body.”

Indiya took the glass from Leon and stared suspiciously at the brown liquid before pouring it down her throat in one swift gulp.

“I entered a sort of trance and a voice declared itself my wolf. Wolves are mythical creatures I’d only heard of in the elders’ folktale. So the aim of the ritual was to turn me into a monster?” she asked, her cold eyes settled on Leon.

“The Lyandans were a dominant werewolf bloodline. They ruled all the regions and had the highest status. Their bloodline had to be carried on to fulfill a prophecy. You should be honored,” Leon sneered.

Indiya lunged at Leon and gripped the collar of her cloak, lifting the grandmaster completely off her feet. Her sheer strength caught her off guard, leaving an opening for Leon to send her flying across the room. She slammed her head against the wall and crumpled to the ground. To her surprise, she felt no pain. Instead, the impact caused her blood to boil, her eyebrows furrowing.

“I’m the only reason you have this power, so know your place, ashen one,” Leon snapped.

“Now let’s take you to a different room for closer observation.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” a voice interjected from across the room.

A mage with long jet-black hair and a jagged scar across her right eye stepped forward.

“And what right do you have to object to me, Gena? Don’t you know your place?” Leon asked with a stern expression.

A mocking laugh filled the air as a sly grin spread across Gena’s face.

“Oh Leon, you've always been so full of yourself. The Famir Mages have indulged you for so long that your sense of self has been severely dulled. We used to be on the same side until you decided to pledge your allegiance to the good of the world. You’re quite pathetic if you ask me,” Gena said, her tone cold.

“The evil before us is much greater than you could imagine. You’re just a pawn in the game to bring ruin to the masses. I was too, but I saw the light and have dedicated my time to fighting the evil that’s brewing. If you continue with your belief I'll have no choice but to kill you,” Leon warned, reaching for her staff from a mage.

“I’ve waited so long for a chosen one who wouldn’t die in the ritual. Let me take her and I'll leave. If you try to resist, I’ll kill you and everyone in this room,” Gena said, taking a sickle-like sword out of its scabbard.

“I cast a spell before this ritual to prevent any mage from killing the others. I had a feeling something like this would happen,” Leon said with a smile of glee on her face.

Panic flashed across Gena's eyes for a second, but she maintained her composure.

“If I can’t kill her or the rest of you, I'll just take her to where the job will be done for me.”

Unexpectedly, a dark hole surrounded with purple smoke appeared beside Indiya. Before she could react, the force from the hole sucked her in. She screamed, thrashing her arms in the air in an attempt to get out of the hole. The last thing she saw was mages charging toward Gena and the hole before everything went dark.

Images of her family floated in the air above her as Indiya drifted through the darkness. Laughter and the smell of herbs seemed to fill the air as her body floated weightlessly.

She landed hard on the dirt, jolting her back to reality. Still in a foggy state, she felt the sharp, icy edge of a blade press against her throat, pinning her to the ground.

“How many times could a person have such bad luck with metal?”