chapter 8
1267 Words
Darkness.
And, repeated noises filled the entire space. Growls, snarling wolves and rising inner wolves. The sound was a mixture of news and a fight—the rustle just didn't stop.
And, before I could look around to hold Elara even more tightly, she was nowhere to be found. Even the wolves posted as guards for the area, where I was, were gone.
Alone.
Not only that, I was face to face with danger. It was smiling at me with heaviness and my heart was breaking into pieces, bit by bit. Swiftly, I changed my posture, my body still shivering as I raised my feet. “Mother Elara…” I managed to call her but my voice was fading, almost wearing away.
A bang!
The clash of swords and spears was what I heard afterwards, making me freeze. I stood stiff unconsciously as darkness suddenly spread over the land.
I wasn't in any way close to Amelia. She was at the pack garden and it was a distance from here.
Nothing I could do.
Then, again, my wolf rose inside of me, my eyes glaring with a strange light that sparked reddish rays and illuminated my path. My bones cracked and later, joined together as if they were disassembled earlier.
I flinched.
But, my inner strength was here. I had a real wolf inside of me. And, I thought it was to save some others’ lives while I crush whichever of the rogues I could capture. “Ahh!” I screamed with intensity, my voice overwhelming the woods with gravity.
With that, I noticed the clash of the swords and spears were getting very close to me. I was fully ready—all I thought.
Elara.
She wasn't here yet. But, I encouraged myself remembering that I had a wolf inside of me, an inner strength.
Strength meant for something valuable—to save and to destroy—as well.
“Aria… Aria!” A voice reached me from behind, tapping me to caution.
“Where?”
“It's me.” The voice came again. “The Alpha of the Blowing Horn pack is here to intervene!”
“Kael…” I replied, reaching out for the voice as my sighs came filling and almost blocking my breath. I kept speaking back despite the distance. “Is that Kael? Kael, is that you?”
I was prompted to move.
My heart stopped for a short while. I swerved powerfully towards the lighted path and I landed on a dusty ground, very close to the area.
And, widely… I saw them—the rogues.
Mother Elara was there, her eyes rolling around the socket as she worked with defense—standing against the rogues, without seeing me.
“Chase her!” One of them ordered the masked rogues, running ahead of them. “She must not escape. None of them from that pack around here should escape!”
“Aria!” Elara's voice cut through the silence-of-no-response. It was a scream. She seemed to have noticed me for a short while and now, she knew it was me. “Find a way out of that particular, meshy region!”
“Yes, Mother!” I screamed back, my feet raised as piercing claws grew out of them and my whole body shifted. “Tonight marks the beginning of the ritual night…!”
“Were you the one?” I snapped, looking at Elara as I furiously pierced a rogue with my bare claws. “I heard you call my name, but I didn't know you have already left…”
“Not me. I didn’t…” Elara echoed, trying to save the few weak members of the pack who were outside. “I am just seeing you… Wait, the Alpha, is he right here?”
“Is that you, Aria?” Another voice interrupted the conversation, getting my words stuck to my throat.
Alpha Kelvin.
The Alpha King of the Blowing Horn pack was here, his eyes glaring as the morning light, the sheath of his sword wrapped across his waist. He looked furious and I sensed a change in him, as he approached us even more closely.
“Kael, bring Aria for me!” Alpha Kelvin commanded, taking a seat around a pile of rocks. “Do fast and make sure no rogue is close to her. And, get me Mother Elara too!”
“Mother Elara wouldn't be here…” Kael thoughtfully proposed, his voice low and cool. “I think she's gone on a journey orchestrated by the Moon Goddess.”
“So, who's she sent to save?” Alpha Kelvin returned, his words full of sheer sarcasm. “Look more closely there, that's where Elara is.”
“Oh, we aren't far from each other.” Kael reasoned, his feet raised high instantly and he left.
A bit later, Kael's voice reverberated in my ears, and calm seeped into my bones immediately. I felt ease for a moment until it faded into nothing.
Nothing again?
“Aria.” Elara called, moving towards my side. “Who are those two there? Are they rogues?”
I already saw Alpha Kelvin’s face on one of them. Why was Mother Elara thinking he was just a rogue?
No agreement came from me. “I don’t think so.”
“Why?” Elara asked, blinking at me, her face already worn out fatigue. “That means he is safe right?”
Shock hit me deeply, a shiver rushing down into my spine. How would Elara be asking me this? Was she getting discouraged?
Hope. It was never something to lose, if we would win.
“Alpha Kelvin must be secure by all means. The power of the destiny that tied his title to his kingdom will arise for him.” I explained, my heart pounding so hard from the gravity of my words. “I believe the Moon Goddess will intervene and make our dream come true!”
“I hope so.” Elara asserted, grabbing my shoulders tightly and suddenly. “Always watch out for enemies who lurk behind you or around you…”
Enemies? I felt shocked, my eyes bulging carelessly as the fear written on my face, glared even more.
I flinched, my breath stopping occasionally since I didn't know where an enemy was coming from. Elara was beside me, quiet and careful as ever, her chest beating just a bit softly.
No words left my mouth. I just wanted to leave here and be in a sort of palace, be a Queen and reign with the intention of saving the Blowing Horn pack.
If not Queen, maybe just a savior Omega receiving orders from an Alpha—definitely not from the rogues’ clan or relations.
“Mother…” I muttered, my jaw dropping for a shameless fear. “Is that another rogue after us…”
“Quiet… shh!” Elara beckoned, her voice low and gentle anyway. “Get ready for anything can happen now.”
And at that moment, I heard swift footsteps, my eyes capturing a huge shadow drawing nearer to us than anything else.
A sword was removed from the sheath, its clash hitting a stone first and then, blood splattered on the closest tree. I knew we were just near death.
Death.
I wasn't prepared for it. If my fate would permit me to be reborn, I was unaware. I always wanted to turn out a savior to the pack I had pledged to.
“Hey, you just raise your heads!” That was the last voice I heard, and I collapsed.
- Writer
