Willow Island

Chapter 18

As I weaved between buildings trying not to call too much attention to myself I began to feel a bit strange. The way you feel when you are walking home alone and it starts to rain out of nowhere so you make a rash decision just focused on not getting drenched. You decide to take a shortcut through the dark alley that you always avoid. You cannot see anything out of place in the alley but everything just feels wrong.

Not sure why I feel this way I stop to take a closer look at my surroundings. With nothing immediately catching my eye, I glance at the crude map I drew earlier. I realize the spot on the map, the locator spell hit-on is very close now. Maybe that is the cause of my uneasiness.

After several more minutes of looking at everything around me, I noticed something strange several houses down. At first glance, it appears a beautiful fountain takes up that space but if you look close enough for long enough you can see another image shine through.

Instead of a beautiful fountain occupying the space as it first appears it is actually a prison cell holding who I am sure is my mother. Her back is to me but I am sure it is her. The locator spell was a success but now what do I do?

With my focus on the woman and no longer on my immediate surroundings I am taken by surprise. While my guard was down a man has gotten rather close to me and is now visible in my peripheral. Startled I gasped and stared back at him.

At first, he is completely still and just staring at me in a way that is almost as if he is staring through me. Then he speaks and it is clear who he is. "Come closer daughter of Helene. I could use more power right about now."

Oh crap. This must be Alexander. My only solid plan involved finding my mother. Now that I have I realize I have no idea what I can do that will free her from that cage.

"Hello, I guess," I reply as I unconsciously step backward from this daunting figure." He is probably the tallest and meanest-looking man I have ever seen. This is a strange feeling because none of the other ethereal beings evoked this level of fear. Yes, it took a minute to get used to their appearances and mannerisms but he is truly frightening to gaze upon. I think being able to almost see through him makes it even worse.

Fear takes over as I look into his eyes. Fight or flight on full throttle now. I repeat to myself. "You can not run," but that is still all I want to do. Just as I am about to bolt I hear my mother's voice which pulls my focus back to the cage.

"Luna, my daughter, you should not have come to this place but I am relieved to see you are safe all the same."

Alexander turns toward my mother and says, "What makes you think she is safe, Helene."

My mother did not respond.

In my peripheral I could see Alexander moving closer to me I had to change my focus from my mother back to the immediate threat I faced. This large man was approaching me with a scowl on his face and determination in his eyes. If he got ahold of me there was no telling what he would do. He was powered by my mother's gift after all.

Instinctively I began to step away from Alexander as he approached. Turning my full attention to him once again. He made no quick moves just casually creeped in my direction. Not sure what to do next I looked toward my mother hoping for some sort of silent direction. To my surprise, Oliver was standing next to her cell.

Deciding then the only way I could help my mother was to distract Alexander I slowed my movements to match his pace. Keeping my focus on maintaining the gap between us. Wanting to distract him but not to become his prisoner alongside my mother.

"What's wrong, Luna? Did you have no plan for freeing your mother from my grasp or are you just too frightened to execute it?"

"I am taking my mother home with me."