The Healer's Quest

The Cave Of Soul

Every fiber of DNA in Althea’s body was enraged against Syrian. She was right. She can’t trust him. The slightest doubt that whatever her papa said was untrue had been expunged. The vampires can’t be trusted, they are duplicitous and they don’t respect the choice of others. I told him not to accompany me, but he did anyway.

More than rage, Althea’s mind was racing as she realized that she would have unknowingly exposed her tribe’s secret before their foes when they could not defend themselves. She shivered at the very thought of it. All the fur on her tiny frame stood upright as if electrocuted. She was glad that she heard them. Thankful for the ability of shape-shifting, she moved on towards her goal.

As she advanced on her journey, her worries about Syrian and his troupe lessen as she realized the enormity of her responsibility. Till now, her aim was to find her mate, and together they would have saved her clan. But she is alone and stranded now. Taking a moment to recover herself, she repeated to herself repeatedly:

“I’m a dragon warrior, nothing can beat me down. I have the blood of the healer. I can do this alone and I will do this alone.”

Althea had reached ‘the cave of souls’ before sunset. She was at her wit’s end, trying to find the secret door as the Oracle predicted. She called it a day as she was super tired, and she thought that in the daylight, it would be easier to search for the entrance. 

Syrian was pleading with the moon goddess to keep his mate safe. Celeste was the quickest of them all, and she sniffed the scent for Althea. They all followed her like obedient puppies. She stopped by a cave and said, “Her scent is strongest here, I believe she is near us, but we can’t see her. Anyway, let’s wait till the sun rises to continue the search. 

Syrian and his friends were on the other side of the cave, and even if they wanted to, they wouldn’t be able to recognize her. All of them slept soundly as they were tired.