THE BLOOD OATH

THE PEARL - part one

MAXIMUS

GOD! I AM SO MAD AT HER RIGHT NOW! HOW COULD SHE DO THIS TO ME? TO US? I could never forgive her for abandoning us. What was she thinking about? “oh, shush! Let the woman be! She did what she had to! Stop being such a wimp and let’s go rescue our amazing mate!” Xander cut off my thoughts. “you DO realize she just saved us all, do you? She sacrificed herself for the wellbeing of her pack. We are her pack, you jackass! She will be the most amazing Luna ever existed!” I could not believe the childish tone in Xander’s voice. He was like a teenage pup in love for the first time ever. He simply adored her, and to be honest, I started to understand why. I also was very fond of her. She brighten up my life. Before her, I did not even knew what happiness looked like. Now that the Moon Goddess introduced her into my live, I feel like I can’t breathe properly without her. I can only feel stress and anxiety knowing that she is alone out there, without me by her side to protect her. Not that she can’t protect herself, but the single thought that she might get hurt and we can’t protect her, made us howl so loud that trees around us started to crack.

-          “Yo, Romeo! When you’re done crying, let me know! We have s**t-tone things to do.” Dina’s voice broke our howl. “When we arrive on the other side, you, as an Alpha, must summon Blacklilly using a magic phrase. I will tell you the words, and as soon as we step on land, you start chanting them. Idris looks like s**t, so we should take care of him first. And also, we should take this bastard, Ivan, to the dungeon.”

-          “Dungeon?” I asked Dina looking a bit surprised.

-          “Yes, Your Highness, dungeon. I am sure you have one at your palace. It’s like a prison but much, much worse. It involves magic, and torture and all the fun stuff you can’t find in a prison. You do know what I’m talking about, do you?”

-          “Actually, yes I do, but I thought we abolish dungeons years ago. I specifically got myself involved in that act in an attempt to civilize our ways.”

-          “Oh, yeah. Oops! Well, we didn’t. Astera loved too much the dungeon. She could not get rid of it so we kept it. Oops!”

-          “This woman!”

-          “yeah, so… Michaya and I will escort the monster to the dungeon and you will run with Idris at our medical wing. Hopefully, his heart will be beating until you arrive. You are his only hope, being the fastest and the strongest wolf alive. After Idris is stabile, we will go and search for the damn crystal and for a way to get our girl out of that s**t hall. Deal?”

-          “Deal!”

-          “OK. Here are the words! You have only one chance. If you f*ck this up, we are stuck here. Good luck!”

I looked at the words, they looked familiar to me. Too familiar. I have seen these words somewhere in the palace... Of course, in my mother’s magic book! What did this woman got herself into?? This made me worry a bit. Nevermind, I will deal with that later. For now, let’s prepare the damn words. As soon as the boat almost touched the ground, I started to chant the magic words and Blacklilly appeared.

-          “Oh, no! Where is Astera? And what happened to this poor pup? Goddess, you must leave, now!” Blacklilly said as she opened up the portal and getting us all back in to our realm. “You, bastard! This is all your fault, isn’t it?” she said, looking at Ivan. “Answer me, you monster!” He lashed out at her, howling and almost biting her, but she dodged his bite and she shackled him with a pair of magical handcuffs. “Well, this is what you get for being the monster that you are!” and she slapped him with her small hand. “Where is Astera?!”

-          “Down there!” I responded angry.

-          “And may I know how on Earth’s name did you left her behind? I thought you loved her, being her fated mate and blah blah blah.”

I growled at her, my fangs starting to show off.

-          “Oh, so it’s not your fault? Well, I think different! It was your only job to protect her! She is your Luna! Our Luna! Do you even have the capacity to apprehend how important is she?”

-          “Blacklilly! Enough!” Michaya said. It’s not his fault! You know Astera, she tricked us all. She even broke Dina’s hand in the process…

-          “And collarbone, and shoulder, and 2 ribs.” Dina added

-          “How… it doesn’t matter! Let’s get this poor boy in your hospital. I know for a fact Astera has something in there that could help him live.” And with that said, Blacklilly teleported us all in the pack’s medical wing. “There it is!” she said, grabbing a small bottle of… dry and old blood? I wonder wha… “Hold him!” she said to me “This will hurt!” Well, it can’t be worse than he is now, that’s for sure! She opened the bottle and she waved her magic wand and a slimy red and green substance started to built up in the small bottle. She poured the liquid into Idris’s wounded chest and he started to scream so loud that I had to cover his mouth with a towel. Soon, his open flesh started to close up and he started to heal. He vomited a black liquid and his eyes cleared out. “There, there!” Blacklilly said to him, petting his head. “Good boy!” She really treats us like dogs… “You will be fine. You just eliminated the poison from your system. Just go to sleep and when you’ll wake up, everything will be back to normal.” And with that, she passed her hand above his face, putting him into a deep sleep.

-          “What was that?” I asked her, looking at the small bottle in her hand.

-          “Oh, this old thing? Astera’s blood. Oh, yes. I forgot to mention.”

-          “Seems like you ‘forget’ a lot. Maybe you should start taking some lecithin.” I snapped at her.

-          “There, there! Be a good pup and listen to me. I will not put up with your s**t. I am not your mother! You need me more than you can imagine if you want to get Astera back! Here I have used some of Astera’s old blood from when she was bitten. If her dumbass father hadn’t made that pact, she would’ve lived anyways… she is stronger than you can imagine. I’m not sure if even she knows how powerful she is. Her blood is magic. She has more magic than any other being. I think it has to do with her kind heart or with her mother's bloodline, I'm not sure yet. But what I know for a fact is that the Moon Goddess loves her deeply, so she gave her a liiiiittle bit of extra magic. If she could find the Goddess’s pearl, she could fix this s**t her father caused.

-          “Crystal, you mean!”

-          “Boy! I mean P E A R L! that’s why it has never been found, because it is thought that it is a crystal, but in fact, it’s a pearl hidden on the bottom of the Death River in the Underworld. I think Astera might be immune to the river’s dark power, but I am not sure. What was I trying to say when you interrupted me with your nonsense was that because I used Astera's blood on Idris, he is now bond to her as her protector, he owes his life to her, meaning that officially he is no longer member of your pack. At least until you seal the deal and mark Astera. Then you can have Idris back as your Beta, but somewhere in his system, he will always be her protector. 

- "Thank you for letting me know! I am honestly glad that he will do anything to protect her. So will I!"

- "We must find a way to get her back. You will need to go at world’s end to get more coins. What would you be capable of doing for saving her? Would you risk your life? Your mind? Your sanity? Your wolf?” she asked staring into my eyes.

-          “Yes! We would do anything for her. Even risking our own lives.” Xander and I answered in unison without even blinking. The truth is, I would do anything for her. Even allowing her to have a dungeon when I specifically abolish them.

-          “Good! Because not only that you will risk it, but you might also lose it! Here is what we’ll have to do! We must go at world’s end... There, we will find a cave in which I am not allowed to enter due to… ancient conflicts. But you might be able to enter it. There I will rely only on your courage and your strength because magic will not help you. Somewhere in that cave you will find Khanos’s cursed chest filled with his damned coins. You must take a few coins for Astera and yourself and then we will go back in the Underworld to get her.

-          “It doesn’t sound that complicated. How many days are left since the moon will be full again?”

-          “You have a week left until the deadline - the full moon and the creepy wedding.”

-          “F*CK! How much time did we spend down there?”

-          “Way too much! Let’s go!”

In an instant she opened up a portal and she teleported us on the edge of the steepest cliff I have ever seen. Indeed it looked like the world’s end. Not even my hyper senses could see the bottom of the cliff. I turned around and saw a small entrance in the cave. I could barely squeeze my body through that entrance. Inside everything was dark. I did not felt Xander’s presence anymore. Blacklilly was right, the cave ‘paused’ my magic. I could not see in the dark without Xander so I had to rely on my other senses. I wonder what Astera’s doing. If I had marked her when she asked me to, I would not be wondering right now about what she’s doing, I would’ve known. I will fix this! I must focus on finding those damned coins!

-          “Booooy? Are you still alive?” Blacklilly’s annoying voice echoed in the cave.

-          “Of course! I don’t think they are here. I am almost at the bottom of the cave and… wait! I found them! How many do we need?”

-          “Let’s say… 10.” I took the coins and I got out of the cave.

-          “You made it sound like mission impossible but I must say I took dumps harder than this job. No offence.”

-          “nnn…nn…none…” Blacklilly arrogant voice started to tremble and her eyes almost popped out of her head as she looked behind me. 

-          “It’s right behind me, isn’t it?” I felt a magnetic pull and turned around to see the one and only Lord of Darkness.

-          “Give them back! They don’t belong to you!” he said in a deep voice that almost made me shiver.

-          "I… I can’t! I’m sorry! I need them. If I must fight you for them, then so be it!”

-          “Interesting. I did not expected this. Why do you need them?”

-          “I must go in the Underworld and bring back someone.”

-          “Who?” he asked almost bored

-          “My mate!”

-          “All this fuss for a female? You wolves and your mate bond nonsense! Is she your fated mate?”

-          “Yes!”

-          “Do you love her?”

-          “Yes!” well, that’s a first! I did not even think about it, I just answered without hesitation. I truly loved her and the Devil made me say it out loud for the first time.

-          “I will allow it, giving the fact that you were willing to die for... 10 coins in order to go and rescue her. If you succeed, I expect a wedding invitation. Deal?”

-          “Deal! Thank you! Deeply and truly from the bottom of my hear!”

-          “Yes, yes, I know. Blah, blah… go until I change my mind!”

And with that, Blacklilly opened a portal and here I was again back in the Underworld, in front of the Death River, waiting for Khanos to appear.