It started where it left off. Only this time, I was inside the cave. I was standing at the end of it, a giant rock wall directly in front of me. My body was trembling with fear and the voice from before was a faint whisper on my neck. I held a torch—where I had gotten it, I had no idea. I walked closer to the wall; the light shone off of it and reflected off a slab of mud-brick.My breath caught in my throat. Whatever this was, it was what I'd been looking for. Emotions swirled inside of me—despair, heartbreak, guilt, and most of all, absolute joy. I set down the torch and felt the cool material underneath my hands as I pushed off the top of the tomb. It fell onto the ground with a loud clang. The breeze from the motion wafted upwards. I grabbed the torch and shone it down into the coffin. Lying in the hands of a skeleton was the solution to everything. It was the amulet.***My eyes opened to find that it was already the following morning. I rubbed my eyes—the dreams were only ge
I sucked in a deep breath. "Mal…where'd that come from?" "I-It was in the…the clock. I-I don't know."I got up and took it from her. It was heavier than I anticipated, and the minute my hand touched it, I could sense the power buried deep inside, just like my father had said he could even from the base of the cave."I need to talk to Leo," I said."Right now?" Malissa asked, clearly taken aback by my swiftness. "Right now," I repeated. I shoved the amulet in my pocket and proceeded down the stairs quickly. I knew Leo had pressing matters in town, but this was something that couldn't wait. He'd want to know. He needed to know.Just as I hit the bottom landing, the front door opened and in walked Leo and Erylis followed by Orene and Gwenna. Her giggle echoed off the walls as they entered, and closed the door behind them. "I couldn't believe it. Christiana was ready to tear her fur out. I've never seen her so flustered before. It was pure chaos." Her titter then transitioned i
Four days had passed since Erylis and Orene had left for the Azure Mountains. Leo had given them the journal with directions of how to get there and the three of them had discussed a plan on how to return the amulet safely. Everything looked like it was going to work out. However, Leo's decision still weighed heavy on my mind. We spoke here and there but there was a distance between us. Malissa was concerned about Erylis' leave, reasonably so. Although, despite her fears, she still provided me with a sense of comfort. Gwenna, on the other hand, was irate over Orene going. She said it had something to do with the danger he was walking into, but I had a feeling it was something bigger. Once Leo spoke to her though, it seemed like she had calmed down for the most part. We had expected them back two days ago; according to Leo's map, it was only a day's journey. The longer they were gone, the more he grew restless. He tried to bury himself in his duties, presumably to keep his mind off
The rest of the day, we laid intertwined within each other's bodies. Leo's fingers played with the curls of my natural hair as I laid against his chest. He hummed a familiar tune, and I soon found my eyes closing while listening to him. Everything within me was at peace. If only time could freeze, right here. I could stay in this very moment forever. I inhaled deeply and let the smell of pine and lemongrass on his shirt overflow my awareness. Leo took a hold of one of my hands and brought it to his lips, placing a compassionate kiss on it, then set it onto his upper chest, rubbing it smoothly. "What's on your mind, princess?" he asked. Not so long ago, the nickname would've infuriated me. It sounded condescending and overly confident. Now, though, I could perceive the hint of affection behind it and instead, it was more of a source of comfort. I hummed against him and a smile spread across my face. "I'm just thinking of how peaceful this is." I felt his body rumble as a low c
Once I was sure Malissa was asleep, I walked back downstairs to see if I could find some sort of answers for her. If Orene was as close to Erylis and Leo as Leo stated, then I couldn't see him simply leaving Erylis behind. There had to be an explanation. I made my way back to the kitchen. Gwenna had just turned off the kitchen tap and took two glasses of water to Leo and Orene who were sitting on the loveseat. Leo's hand was on the latter's shoulder, and he graciously took the cups from Gwenna, handing one to his faithful friend. Orene was clearly distressed—his hair was tangled and his beard was full of pieces of debris from his journey. He looked like he hadn't slept since they left and was a far cry from the man I had met almost a week prior. I quietly took a seat at the island. "Start from the beginning," Leo said calmly. Orene took a stabilizing breath. It was shaky, but calmer than when I had last seen him. "On the way to the mountains, Erylis kept saying he was feeli
As night took over and Malissa fell back asleep, I found it impossible to close my eyes. Her words replayed in my mind for the past two hours and regardless of my continued tossing and turning, I was unsuccessful. It wasn't just what she said that kept me awake, it was everything from the amulet, to the Shaman's prophecy, to Leo's curse and now Erylis' disappearance. I laid facing the window, thinking of where he might be. To be that far out, alone, without another pack member was dangerous. I sighed and clamoured out of bed, trying my best to not wake Malissa. Thankfully, she was finally out. I quietly opened the door and stepped into the hallway, making sure to place a hand on the door as I closed it to ensure it was as soft as possible. Nothing sounded better right now then a run. I walked downstairs and listened to the sounds of the clocks ticking through the house as I opened the front door and slipped outside.I leaned against the frame of the house and inhaled the fresh a
I didn't know what I was going to say to Leo. I turned over in my bed for a few more hours until the exhaustion from my late night run sunk in and took over. When I woke the next morning, Malissa had already left, presumably back to her own room. My thoughts had restarted the second I opened my eyes, like my brain had never truly shut off, and I groaned as I rolled back over, burying my face into the pillow.It was never easy to give bad news, but it was even harder when that bad news involved people that your mate cared deeply for. As Orene said, he and Gwenna were like Leo's family. I had no idea how he was going to take it, but he needed to know. It'd be worse if this came to light and I didn't say anything. I pulled myself out of bed and changed into a comfortable pair of overalls, then plucked up the little courage I had to find Leo. The house was oddly quiet. Usually, unless it was the dead of the night, this place was full of the sounds of bodies moving around downstairs and
The following day wasn't any better. Although the amulet had been returned, it was a waiting game to even see if doing so would have any effect of the Shaman's prophecy coming true. And with no one hearing word of Erylis' return, everyone was on high alert.The tension in Leo's house was thick; I often found myself having to take runs in order to get away from it all. I tried to get Malissa to come with me, convincing her that it would do her good to get fresh air, but she wasn't fairing much better than anyone else. For the most part, she remained to herself and kept conversations to a minimum. I skimmed through the books on the shelf in the library, looking for something to indulge in. I needed to be separated from the rest of the house for the time being, for my own sanity, and fiction seemed like the place to start. Only this particular library was mainly archives and non-fiction works, and I was getting increasingly annoyed that even now, this didn't seem to be going right. M