The Alpha Queen's Journey

The runaway

    “Come on, Hendaya, we’re almost there!”

    The little witch was crying silently, running behind the princess, her hand strongly holding hers. Both girls could already see the light at the end of the magical corridor. Everything was ominously quiet inside as if nothing was happening outside its thick stone walls. Elara peeped out to see if there was anyone looking for them at this part of the forest but what she saw left her speechless. Far from their position, the cracks provoked by the earthquake spread all over the surroundings like the radius of a wheel with the palace in its centre. Her home was cut in halve by a deep rift, some of the towers and walls collapsed, only the chambers wing was left intact. On the other side, half of the royal village was in flames, tons of black smoke darkened the sunrising sky while the other half was flooded by the river that had changed its channel.

    “For the Goddess” Elara exclaimed. Hendaya went out the passage and followed her gaze but she added nothing. They kept silent for a while, watching the remains of their home burning or drowning. They had no more tears left to cry.

    “What are we going to do now?” Hendaya asked her friend, taking a deep breath.

    “I don’t know, Hen” Elara looked down at her ripped clothes, the scratches on her skin almost healed. She then noticed the small crystal bottle on her left hand, its content still shining in a bright gold.

    “What’s that?” asked Hendaya, surprised. “It seems one of my mother’s potions. Where did you get it?”

    “Adele gave it to me before…” Elara cut the sentence when she saw her friend’s face darkening again. “I don’t know how to use it. She gave me no instructions”

    Hendaya took it on her hands and watched it carefully. “It is a drinking bottle. My mother had many types of potions, but these bottles are made of a magical glass, almost unable to break. So, this is a drinking potion”

    “And how does it work?” Elara questioned her.

    “No idea” She shook the vessel and the liquid shone brighter. “I have never seen one of this colour before”. Elara took the bottle and examined it from closer, she grabbed the cap and tried to open it.

    “There they are! Catch them!” A rasp voice alarmed the girls. A squad of werewolves appeared among the trees in front of them. They were too many for the two women to fight so they began running in the opposite direction, dodging the arrows and knifes their chasers were throwing towards them.

    “How did they find us?” Hendaya shouted at the princess.

    “I have no clue!” Elara answered, almost out of breath. She was getting slower with each step, she was hurt and tired and Hendaya was no better. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. “My aura, Aiden told them to follow my aura!”

    “What?! And how can you get rid of your aura?” Hendaya jumped to a side to avoid an arrow directed to her feet.

    “I can’t! It’s a part of me, of my wolf side!” Elara thought of shapeshifting to run faster but she realized if she did so, her aura would become stronger and easier to detect. However, her human form was exhausted. She saw Hendaya turning right and worry stuck on the princess’ face. If she kept on going that way…

    “Hendaya, stop!” Two giant cliffs of sharp rocks framed both sides of the river source but their edges were too far to jump across. It was a trap. “Hendaya! There’s a cliff on that way!”

    But she was late. Hendaya stopped just a few feet away from the border of the cliff. She turned to look at the princess who was running to her with their pursuers hot on her heels.

    “Jump, Elara!” The witch collected her hands in front of her chest, a small force of energy forming between them.

    “What?! Are you crazy?!” Elara argued but she could not stop running, her inner wolf was following the little witch’s command.

    “Stay with the queen, that’s what she said” Hendaya’s voice was sad but firm. “I can’t fulfil her last wish but I will get sure that her death won’t be in vain. I love you, my queen” The magic in her hands flowed towards Elara filling her with a sudden burst of power and strength. “Goodbye”

    Elara could not fight her wolf taking control of her body. She felt her feet taking a strong impulse from the edge of the cliff while some rocks broke loose under her, rolling while falling through the hollow. Her body elevated as if it was flying over a magical bridge crossing the deep depression of the valley. The young princess reached the other side, unharmed. She turned around to see her friend surrounded by the warriors. Before they could catch her, Hendaya took a leap of faith into the deep valley, throwing herself into the river.

    “Nooooo!!!” Elara screamed, horrified, her fists were bleeding because of her tight grip on the rocky edge. She could not see the witch coming up the water surface. The river current was so strong, nobody could have ever survived to that jump. Elara started crying again. Hendaya was her best friend and she had also sacrificed herself. What was she going to do now? Her family and friends were all dead. She was alone and out of the borders of her family’s territory. But the enemy didn’t let her time to mourn. Aiden’s warriors were charging their bows, prepared to throw their silver arrows despite the long distance. Elara quickly woke up and run again. She did not know exactly where she was but she tried to remember Palvin’s old maps. According to them, a huge mountain range must be near. Elara found it soon after leaving the cliffs. These mountains were full of caves, she had to find one to have a rest but first, she had to find food, water and dry branches to make a fire. She was hungry and freezing. The first mornings of the spring were still cold and she was barely dressed with rags. She would be warmer in her wolf form but she was unsure of shapeshifting in case their pursuers could find a way to get to this part of the land.

    She looked at the bottle on her hand and recalled Adele’s words. “Live, Elara, you have to live”. Could it be a recovery potion? She had no more options left, it may worth a try. Elara pulled the cap and drank the golden liquor. It tasted sweet and refreshing. At first, she did not feel anything abnormal, either her fatigue did not disappear, quite the opposite, in fact. She sighed and stood up, decided to look for a shelter, maybe the potion needed some time to take effect. There was a thick forest at the bottom of the mountain crossed by a clean stoned path. The trees formed an arc shape onto the way, blocking the sunrays, while the morning mist completed its mystical appearance. It most probably leaded to an upper part of the mountain so that Elara could see from above if someone was chasing her. It seemed the best choice. While going up the path, Elara found wild mulberries and strawberries at the sides, she took a moment to examine them carefully in case they were poisonous.

    “It’s all I can get for now. Hope you like them, I need you to warm us up” Elara talked to her inner wolf but she got no answer. She sniffed the fruits on her hand but her nose was not as heightened as in other occasions. Her wolf was not cooperating this time.

    “I am as sad, tired and broken as you!” She said out loud angrily, her grieve overwhelming her heart again. Nothing was heard in her mind. Elara scoffed and resumed walking while eating the fruits. If she died poisoned, who else would care? She was a princess without a kingdom, pursued and alone, even her wolf, her other half, didn’t seem to help her.

    “I need to find some shelter to make a fire or we’ll die freezing!” She scolded her her inner wolf but she felt she was weaker than ever, as if she was some way dormant. “Are you listening?” Elara thought she was getting crazy, talking out loud alone. She was feeling so cold that she could not think about her wolf’s state. She searched around her, looking for something to warm her up. She began collecting small branches and dry leaves when she heard sounds of steps behind her.

    “Who’s there?” Elara did not waste time looking back, she quickly jumped out of the path and run among the trees. She did not see the slope that extended before her and slipped away. She repressed a cry when her leg hit a rock while rolling. She ended up face up beside a small stream. Her whole body hurt badly. She remained lying, silently listening but no more steps or voices were heard. After a while, she sat by the water, looking at her injured leg, a deep cut extended from her knee to her ankle. It was bleeding profusely and no sigh of her healing ability was showing up. Elara cursed. Despite her cold, she managed to dip her leg under the water, biting her lip due to the great pain. She cleaned her injury the best she could and applied a mixture of vervain and eucalyptus onto it. Then, she moved to a lateral hole on the slope, collected some leaves to form a bed and placed herself in fetal position to keep her warm. She had wasted all her energies by now and fell asleep quickly.

    The sound of the rain woke her up. She estimated that she had been asleep a couple of hours but she could not know exactly as the sun was hidden by the rainy clouds. Her leg was swollen and hurting as hell. Despite her poor remedy, it got infected. She was getting soaked, the earth hole and the leaf bed did not cover her entirely. She had to move and find a cave to make a fire. She stood up and grabbed the branches nearby to help herself climb up to the main path again. Her wet long hair was stuck to her face, her vision blurred because of the rain. She found a thick long stick to help her walk, dragging her left leg.

    “Are you going to help me now? Can’t you see we are at a point to die at this dammed mountain?” Elara knew she should not scream as someone could be chasing her but her anger to her wild stubborn wolf was everything she could think of now. As she found no response once more, she gulped her pain and kept on walking up the mountain. At some point, the trees were replaced for walls of limestone rock. Finally, she found a big hole that seemed to be the entrance of a cave. Elara felt it strange when a delicious smell of stew came out from the cave. Her hungry stomach followed the source of the scent and found a copper pot on a burning fire, surrounded by dishes, jars, clothes and several leather sacks that were used as beds. Nobody was taking care of all this stuff. From the number of sacks, there were at least four people living there. Elara found a bucket of water beside one of the walls and threw herself to drink it. She was awfully thirsty. Once she was quenched, a pleasant sensation of warm overtook her whole body. She crawled to the fire and let it heat her wet bones. She was feeling so dizzy that the walls of the cave started spinning around her. She could not move an inch, her insides burning uncontrollably, she wanted to scream but her mouth was so dry, her voice was stuck in her throat. She heard some voices at the entry of the cave but before she could turn to them, she fainted.