Unexpectedly, it turned out that practicing with Zed was quite fun. Elora didn’t know why she could feel comfortable with Zed, but it wasn’t something important to question. Maybe now Elora’s trauma is starting to heal? She hopes so.
Elora returned to the castle when the sun was high. Zed took her out for a meal in the castle dining room, which was as large as the studio at Dreamcatcher. The room was empty because it was just the two of them. A long table was pinned to the wall, filled with all kinds of food you would normally find in a family restaurant. It confused Elora about which one to eat.
Zed accompanied Elora to eat at one of the two long tables arranged in the center of the room. Wooden benches without backrests surrounded the table. Elora sat on the side facing the long line of windows on the wall. Elora could see the castle’s lush forecourt from here.
“Where’s everyone?” Elora asked, looking around.
&l
Caspian could feel the heat all over Elora’s body through their skin touching. The heat slowly burned Caspian’s skin. This was not a transformation that Elora was used to experiencing. Elora groaned in pain while Caspian carried her into the forest.“Hold on, El.” Caspian’s voice was drowned in the wind, caused by his speed as he ran.Once they reached the place where Elora used to shape-shifted, Caspian laid Elora down in the middle, then Caspian took a step back. Elora squirmed, her body convulsing and her eyeballs rolling inward, leaving only the whites to be seen.Caspian wanted so badly to come over and ask Elora for the pain, but there was nothing he could do.Elora’s back arched upwards, accompanied by wrenching screams and snapping sounds Caspian wasn’t sure where they were coming from. Elora then rolled several times on the ground until her position was further away from Caspian.The moon tonight w
Elora heard the sound of cracking. Her eyes caught the faint light dancing in the darkness. It took her a long time to realize that her eyes were still closed. Elora opened her eyes, and the first thing that caught her sight was a burning fireplace. Yellow, orange, and gold light filled the room with warmth.Elora was wrapped in a blanket, which wasn’t thick enough to dispel the shivers that were attacking her whole body. Elora blinked slowly, feeling a cold and sore that she didn’t know where it came from.Her memory revolved around the incident in the room, when Caspian gave her food and then they had a fight, again. Where is Elora now? This place is so unfamiliar. Elora lay on the sofa in front of the crackling fireplace.“I thought you’ll be wake up tomorrow.” Caspian appeared from a dark corner of the room. Elora’s breath caught when she saw Caspian, who seemed to have been fighting with a bunch of thugs. Scratches extend
Elora spent the next few days in solitude. Not once did Caspian come to visit her. Elora waited for Caspian to appear from behind the connecting door, or when she came out of the room, Elora hoped to run into Caspian in the hallway. But Caspian’s figure was nowhere to be found. It was as if Caspian was just a mythical creature that had appeared in Elora’s dreams.Elora is still continuing her training with Zed. Zed praised Elora’s progress from day to day until they reached the stage where Zed challenged Elora to a simple battle.“Your reflexes have improved a lot since the first time we practiced. You are a fast learner,” Zed praised after Elora managed to push him until Zed almost fell.Elora tried to smile happily at the compliment, but the look in her eyes failed to fool Zed. Zed walked over to Elora and handed her a water bottle that Elora had placed on the edge of where they were practicing.“Something’s wro
The first place that came to Elora’s mind was Caspian’s room. Elora dragged her steps along the way, held back by the inner war that was raging in her heart. Visiting Caspian was the same as hurting Elora’s pride, but Elora couldn’t imagine how much longer she would have to spend the days without meeting Caspian.Her thoughts were uncertain, her doubts grew bigger when Elora arrived at Caspian’s door. Elora scratched her temple, which didn’t itch. Should she knock on the door first? Or just go inside?The question remained unanswered until Elora heard someone talking from inside Caspian’s room. Turns out they did not shut tight the door. There was a small gap that allowed sound to come from there.Elora recognized Caspian’s deep voice. Then the other one… a woman. The way she spoke made Elora unable to contain herself. The woman sounded like she was teasing Caspian, and Caspian gladly served her.With
Elora didn’t know where Caspian would take her. He drove a black Jeep Rubicon and didn’t say anything until they got out of Gibbston.“Where are we going?” Elora asked. She couldn’t stand the silence that was troubling her heart.“Milford Sound.”“Milford—” Elora gaped. “That place is almost four hours from here.”“Have you been there?”“Not yet.” But Milford Sound became one destination that Elora would go to during her leave. Of course, these werewolves things, this sudden change in her life, messed her vacation schedule.So hearing that they were going there right now caused Elora’s excitement and thrill. No wonder Caspian had told her to bring a thick jacket and boots. From what Elora read, the weather in Milford Sound tends to be cold and it often rains.Elora couldn’t wait to get to the place that was nicknamed the eighth
What Caspian feared happened. Elora transformed, just like the last one. Elora easily broke free from the snare, spun in the air, and landed smoothly on the ground. A pair of unfriendly eyes scanned Caspian and then sneered. Caspian studied Elora’s pattern of transformation and found a theory that the shape-shifted that occurred in Elora depended on the emotions she was feeling. It’s just that Caspian still doesn’t understand the connection between one emotion and its transformation. So far Caspian has encountered three kinds of transformations that Elora can make, and this one that Caspian thinks is the most dangerous. This one is the same as Elora’s last transformation, which invites Caspian to fight until one of them dies. Elora was still in human form, only her hands and feet turned into sharp claws. Cold, golden color circled her black eyes. “Who is she?” repeated his grandfather. “She’s the reason I came here.” “I didn’t
Elora thought it hadn’t been that long since she had fallen asleep. The air was still bone-chilling; the light hitting her eyelids was not as sharp as the morning sun, which sometimes bothered her. Elora squirmed, then blinked slowly. The room she saw felt strange. Why does she often wake up in a completely new place, Elora grumbled to herself.Elora sat down and pulled away the blanket. She had lived in the magnificent castle of Caspian far too long and was used to being in spacious rooms. So that this room, even though it is arranged simply and minimally furnished, feels so small.Two box-shaped windows stuck gloomy against the wall. The dirty glass gave a blurry view of the forest outside. No wonder, with the density of the leaves, and the thick dust that sticks to the windows, making it difficult for the sun to break through here.The smell of rotting wood, dampness, and moss filled Elora’s sense of smell. Surprisingly, every time Elora smelled t
Dangerous.Just by hearing that word alone, the blood inside Elora’s body rippled. There is a word that is more terrifying than dangerous. The word just popped into Elora’s mind.Killer.“There is a long, dark history of this pack,” Arapeta continued. His eyes stared meaningfully at Elora, perhaps asking for approval.Elora didn’t feel any ties to this moon-protector pack. So no matter how bad the past Arapeta was about to reveal, Elora wouldn’t mind.Elora was actually afraid that the facts she got would affect her judgment of herself.Elora chose to remain silent. She just stared back at Arapeta, hoping that Arapeta would understand that Elora was okay with whatever story Arapeta told her.“The Moon Protector is the oldest pack known to werewolves. That said, only they were able to meet Hëna in real life. The summoning of Hëna is not arbitrary. They will only summon Hëna when