Mia was as bemused as her father. The images of her father were clear in her mind though the memories were faded. How could those memories be false when she could instantly recognise her father through them. Though Mia was a half wolf, her sense of smell wasn't that strong. She relied of her other senses to get her through. She kept looking at her father's face. The image in her mind was of the exact same person, only a little younger.The foxes and wolves aged differently. They did grow up like a human but then after attaining maturity , they took a very very long time to reach old age. Mia was having a hard time digesting the turmoil within her."Are you saying father, that you haven't taken me for a ride in the woods before? " Her eyes were tearing up, " Wasn't it you who took me to the village fest and bought those toys? ""Mia.Moa calm down. I would have done all that, and much more had I known where you were. Rather, had I known that I had you. But why do you say it was me who d
"What happened? What made you scream like that? " Lin finally asked helping her back on her feet.Mia pointed at the butterflies and asked, " These. What are these? "" Oh! Those. Those are one of our spirit protectors. But what was so scary about them? " Xie asked finally speaking and making eye contact with Mia. He had been feeling very guilty even since he had found that Mia was their half sister. He was a very dedicated brother. He loved Roe endlessly. And now that Mia was present as well, he felt very much obliged to shower her with affection as well. Specifically after putting her through so much turmoil. He finally gathered his courage and stood infront of Mia. Before she could answer his questions, he officially wanted to apologize to her, " Mia, I have been meaning to do this. I understand you have all the reasons to not accept it but I wanted to present my sincere apology to you. I ought to have been more vigilant. How could I not recognise our own flesh and blood. I ought t
Mia was literally huffing and puffing as they landed on soft grounds."What was that? What was that thing just now? " Mia asked coiled in Lin's arms."Shhhhh, we are safe. We are in the fox lands now. We are safe. Don't worry, " Lin comforted while hectically looking around."What is it? What are you looking for? " Mia asked noticing his gaze."We were supposed to get right inside the palace. Inside Nana's chambers. Why could I not get inside? " Lin wondered." Wait here for a few minutes. I will go check what's going on, " Lin told Mia, making her sit beside a pile of big boulders"Don't Lin. Don't go leaving me behind alone like this, " Mia was about to break into tears. It was obvious she was too scared."Mia.I need to hurry. I think they activated the war shield. The one we use during battles to keep wolves at bay. I think we couldn't get in because you were with me. The shield detects wolf blood and send it off for a detour. If I try getting in with you I will never succeed. Also
Back at the wolves' camp the soldiers stood in formation, ready to brace the on coming assault. Though they were not very sure what they were up against. Xie was in the front line. His other brothers too had taken posts in the different corners leading to the main palace. Roe was with her father , watching and monitoring the advances of the evil.The wolf king was specially very agitated. His forehead was sweating and he was hyper ventilating to some extent."What is it father? I have seen you face all those enemies over the years but i have never seen you like this. What is it we are up against this time? " Roe asked her father."The enemy that can be seen is nothing to be feared. It's the unseen that's the most malicious and dangerous. Where did you say Mia was? We need to bring her inside the periphery of the inner castle. " The wolf king asked again." I told you father. We lost her when the alarm went around. But dont worry, Lin is with her. She will be fine. " Roe reassured him,
" Mia? How did you know she was outside? " Lin asked his Nana."Well you see, I know quite a lot of things. It's part of who I am now. I have been seeing a lot of things all these years. Sometimes it's like nightmare going to sleep with all those visions. But it has become a habit now., " Nana said looking beyond the Fox fortress." Why do you say we shouldn't let her wait outside? What's out there? What was the evil that we all felt? " This was Lin's first question that poured out instinctively, though he had a hundred problems stacked in his mind that he wanted a clarification to." It's the ghost of our pasts. The evil of our ancestors. " Nana shuddered a little as she mentioned it, " It's nothing like a living being. And it has its eyes set on it's prey. "Before Lin could understand what Nana was saying, she went into her trance like state in the middle of her sentence. Lin desperately tried pulling her down but she kept being afloat mid air. However she didn't speak like she usu
"Where am I? Where? What is this place? " Mia whispered in her own mind, slowly gathering the courage to open her eyes. There was a murky smell around her and a stench of faeces. It was a very horrible place to bare in. Moreover Mia had a severe pain at one side of her head . She was leaning against a damp solid something that was supposed to be a wall. Mia felt around herself with both her hands. Her clothes were all wet and there were blood strains here and there all over her body. But strangely, apart from her head, she didn't feel any pain anywhere else. She tried getting up but right at that moment something sharp clawed at both her legs.Mia immediately fell back as she let out a cry of pain. But she was quick enough to cover her own mouth with both her hands so as to stop the sound from echoing. There was water logged here and there all around her. The place she was in was swampy yet the surface was solid as rock. Her hands were free though her legs were trapped in some sort of
" Why are we waiting here? What are we waiting for shouldn't we be going after it? " Lin could barely hold himself together as Xie searched around to trace the direction, they had taken. Lin was the best when it came to track something, but emotions were over powering him. He neither could see any trail nor could he distinguish their smell. His body was asking him to run in the direction his instict told him. He felt like tearing open then insides of the beast that had his Mia in possession. The foxes and wolves, though had non-human ancestry, they never behaved animal like. At least not the royals. Some did in scenarios of extreme like hunger or starvation, like in the case where Boshu was once attacked when he was young. However that day, Lin could no longer keep the animal inside him under check. His eyes changed colour rapidly indicating the swings his mood was experiencing. This was the trait that Mia most enjoyed in him. She would stare endlessly at those ever changing hues as t
There was a faint sound that suddenly brought Mia back to her reality. It felt like the sound of somebody turning pages. Quite urgently. One page after another. Mia strained her ears to listen closely. She was right. She looked around to figure out where exactly she was and how she could get out of there.She checked her hand where there was a bite mark. It was from her biting herself to silence just a moment ago. It wasn't bleeding but that mark was quite prominent. It burnt a bit as well.Her head too, was still hurting a lot but the fact that disturbed her most was not being able to understand what was the thing that had captured her. Why did it look so much like her father? Was it some sort of an evil trying to impersonate? Her mind was racing to derive a conclusion. She couldn't move as her legs were still bleeding from whatever was biting deep into her skin. She couldn't even move to check it out properly as any movement made it dig deeper down her flesh. Mia rested her back on