Northern Lands: Bound by fate

Chapter 26

ZANDER

We marched deeper into the woods, no words spoken between us. Only the emotions that scattered across the mind link and my own inner turmoil as I recalled the private conversation with the Darach.

Kenna approached and walked beside me, her way of giving me strength, as she could sense my uneasiness at being in a foreign place. Asterion was a beautiful realm, but the uncertainty and unfamiliarity of the creatures that roamed here made me wonder if this particular plan to get Calandra back into my arms had been a good one.

Doubt lashed at me as a vicious serpent, spreading its venom in my mind and making anxious thoughts sprout in my mind as an infection. Had I brought my friends to impending doom?

Normally we would have scouted previously the terrain before making our move as a pack, and now we had done no reconnaissance. We didn't even know what we were about to encounter, plunging into the unknown. Apart from how I was feeling, and being stuck in my wolf form, the falling apart from our initial group had hit me deeper than I initially thought. Alpha Kaan and Luna Moriko had stayed behind, keeping most patrol units in Northern Lands to control the damages done by Calandra's captor. Even Leander, who was supposed to be here, had abandoned me.

The witch's hand nestled in the fur on my neck as she reached out to calm me, weaving her fingers into the strands. Kenna had been my best friend for a long time, knowing exactly the worries that plagued my mind. The aroma of herbs and sage filtered through, and I knew Kenna was doing her best to help me get through this.

The mind was a powerful tool, and if I faltered in believing I could get my mate back, the battle was half lost before it even began.

Ilaria and Priamos lead us through the thicket, following the tree nymph as she floated over the leafy surface towards the Dryads. Allanis' body left a trail of darkness behind her as we moved towards the center of the Asterion forest. The moss dried up into black clumps and the recently fallen leaves cracked into pieces, disintegrating into dust. The black and darkest magic I had ever been a witness to, and I thought I had seen it all during the uprising.

Those days had been dark, a fight between the humans that inhabited Earth and those cursed by them. Vampires and werewolves had been the only creatures roaming around since the beginning of time until the medieval age, when others from around the realms joined us. Humans didn't understand people that were different from them and so the supernatural hunters were born into existence.

I had only known Earth, the place I was born and where I fought alongside my peers for survival. Where I lost my dad and threw profanities at the Moon Goddess for taking him away from me. With time, I realized what was out there; realms and worlds with their own histories. It hit me that each place had its conflicts and hardships to overcome. Their own wars to fight for freedom and losing loved ones while doing so.

Where there was wealth, there was greed; where there was good magic, there was bad as well. Just like the Darach said: balance. Every realm battled to keep the symmetry. The good struggled with the bad, but evil would always exist amongst the righteous.

A compass of the world to keep equilibrium in the planes of existence. You could not have one without the other.

"We will get her back," Kenna whispered as the footsteps slowed, indicating we had arrived at our destination.

Her hand unweaved from my fur, sliding to rest at her hip, and I edged closer towards Ilaria and Priamos as we found ourselves witnessing something only whispered in legend.

In the center of the clearing, surrounded by boscage, stood a grove of the oldest trees in the forest. The three Dryads, remnants from the age of this realm's creation. Their trunks exuded power, humming with the song and heart of the forest. Conan's awe ran through me like an electric current.