Once in a Blood Moon (Another Life Part One)

Chapter Ten

Elayn followed Serana on two legs, out of the castle and over the bridge that she could still remember being dragged across half-senseless. Trailing behind them was one of Harkon's guards, bearing a scent she did not recognize, and she put its existence out of her mind as best she could. They were on a mission, searching for a component for Serana's spell, and that was what she would focus on.

Elsewise there was always the stars above to keep them company. It was a rare, cloudless night and she could see the expansive fields of glimmering lights so much more clearly than she could in the castle.

In an effort to ignore the hulking brute looming behind them, Elayn asked, “So your mother, what's she like?”

Serana was quiet for a moment as she considered the question. “Very stern,” she said finally. “She expected a lot from me while I was growing up, and even though I usually met her expectations, it could be a lot.” She sighed. “Honestly, I miss her scolding.”

Unable to relate, Elayn snorted. “You want your mother to yell at you again? I'd pay anything to get the ringing from mine out of my ears.”

“Your mother shouted at you?” she asked, glancing at the werewolf curiously over her shoulder.

Sensing that Serana was about to ask about her past, she hedged. “Something like that.”

“I don't mean to pry, but--” Why did people always say that when prying was exactly what they meant to do?

Elayn sighed and gave in. “My home growing up wasn't happy. My parents were at the bottom of the pack, and they took it out on me. I got out of there just after my fourteenth summer.”

It was quiet between them for a moment before Serana said, “Thank you for telling me,” and it sounded like, “Sorry for making you.”

“It's fine,” she said, and was a bit shocked to find it wasn't a lie that crossed her tongue. “I don’t…” She tried again. “I’m not used to telling people about my past, but I don’t mind sharing a little.”

Elayn looked up from her feet-- their footing was getting treacherous-- and at Serana, who was smiling at her, and suddenly the tops of her ears were burning. She looked away again, but there was a lightness in her chest that wasn’t there before.

Eventually their path took them to a jagged opening in the ridge that sloped down into a cave. Before she could go in herself, their guard uttered a low, rumbling growl and took point, sniffing the air for signs of a threat. When it came back out, it was silent, and Serana went down into the cave with her hand flickering with purple light. She came back with a bundle of knotted roots in her hand, and back they went to the castle.

------

It took some more reading and assembling of various ingredients but soon they were standing in front of a giant brazier and ready to proceed.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen when we go through the portal,” she told Elayn. “But be prepared for anything.”

The werewolf had given her a look that said she wasn’t concerned and bounced the weight of her length of metal in her hand.

She cast ingredients into the fire and murmured incantations for the better part of a quarter of an hour until, finally, a brilliant bar of hellish red light sprang up before them and widened into a doorway that stank of sulfur even to her nose.