Not All Heroes Are Guiltless

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

“Dark one! I would never have expected you to be here now!” The screech yells and hits him on his head with some form of cane. He takes the hit without a complaint and pulls me into the cabin with him. Shutting the door before the wind is able to blow the well matted snow into the dwelling.

I am finally able to see the speaker. She is taller than my mate by nearly two heads. She almost has to hunch over to move around her small cabin. She turns away from the doorway and sits down on a large rocking chair. She pulls up a wool shawl, and that’s when I see from the fireplace light the scars over her eyes and the sunken indentions below her eyebrows. She’s missing her eyes.

“What have you brought me, child of darkness?” She says, folding her hands over her lap almost like she’s anticipating a misbehaved child to tell her the truth. The tone is almost warm and welcoming, although harsh in temperament.

“My mate. We need a place to stay to prepare for a trip to Galanta.” He says softly, speaking directly with the lady.

“Galanta?” The lady says with almost some sorrow behind it, “You hate that place.”

“Not at all. It has some of the best views of the landscape of the white forest. It’s the souls that don’t like me. It’s my hope they might like my mate a bit more than me.” He says while pulling out a chair from the corner of the room.

He gestures towards me with his hand stretched out and reaches out to him. He brings me to a small cot with threadbare sheets stretched across it. He sits me down on the cot and strokes my cheek. He whispers into my ear, “We have quite a distance to travel, and it's mostly steep. Get your sleep. You are safe here.”

I nod my head and lay down on the cot. He pulls the cloak around me tighter and then walks away from me. The blind lady lips turn slightly. “Thank you, dark child. It’s nice to know you feel welcome here. My own sons have yet to return to me, and I don’t think they would even think of bringing their mate here for me. Now, why are you wandering in the forest with your mate and taking her to Galanta yourself? When I felt you reach my lake, I wanted to skin your hide. Have you not heard about the war which is indefinite without you?”

“Without me?” My mate growls lowly, and that only makes the woman growl back. I shudder when I realize both are deep and guttural, almost like he does in his wolf form, and she answers with a similar animal snarl. She clicks her tongue at his primal response, but my mate snips back, “I wouldn’t be the reason it doesn’t come to pass; I’d be the reason it comes to be.”

“Hou Ndour is making movements which I always assumed you would have orchestrated. They have aligned not only Bellar but the Lions have their hands full with the nomadic rebels who have been gaining leverage. If you don’t do anything, then they will surely control all of this side of the world and possibly more. We have no news on any of their conquests across the great sea. They’ve stopped competing trade with the great sea countries. What’s so important about going to Galanta at this time when you are needed elsewhere, dark child?” She spits her lecture out at my mate.

“Because my mate cast a spell on herself to protect something from that demon. The spell was strong enough to keep it from the demon, but that beast left her mind in tatters, and she doesn’t have many memories of her time before the encounter. I’ve been training her, and she has been able to shift into her natural form, but she has two personalities. The wolf from before the fight with the demon and the naïve human without the memories.” He says, and the lady hums softly to herself to fill the silence his words created.

“Does she know the ways of the spirit walkers?” She asks with a meek voice.

“The Earth Dragon Titan found us in the savannah. He gave her one of his amulets.” My mate mumbles almost like he’s jealous of the idea. I’m a little shocked because he never mentioned he was a dragon. The cat and him talked more like he was a protected deity.

“That temperamental old geezer! What does he want out of any of this?” She shouts with an amused giggle as she rocks back-and-forth in the chair.

“Not sure. But I thought Galanta would be the best place for her to use the amulet. Only to find out the moon portal has opened recently. A bear with owl feathers has a bounty on its head.” He says sadly.

“Oh dear, what madness is coming our way.” She says with amusement in her tone.