Never Bend

chapter 19 : In-Between

My mind was spinning. "What? Pa? Do you mean I saw him being taken away? He didn't leave us on his own?"

I wish a break from the dream and swallow the information in, but the voice, or whatever Leah is, controls my body. I can only see through her eyes. She walks and night ascends. The forest appears gloomy, changing night shades and claw-like branches of the canopy..

An arrow flies next to my ear, cutting a mesh of hair. Before me, a massive wolf growls. A hand pulls me back into a white furry coat. I grab the fur with my small hands and hide my face in it.

"Hold on tight, princess." safety lingers from within, reducing the speed of my drumming heart. It's Dad.

Voices I don't recognise speak around me in a language I can't understand. My head turns to the right, but hoods that match the surroundings cover them, offering a perfect cover. Some spar and others jump from a tree to the others throw arrows as they move. Together, they keep us safe while dad runs with me on his back.

The ground shakes, the white wolf jumps with me over his back as they carved a crevice under his paws. The sorceress made it into the battlefield.

"Love, go with them. They will keep you safe. If I am caught, know that I don't regret the suffering if it keeps you safe. Now go. One day we will meet again." Jumping again over another crevice, the roots of the trees follow him, snatching his paws.

I scream as the roots yanks me along with dad. After a split second, an arm rolls around my waist and pulls me. All I can see is my dad tied by the roots bitting and fighting back to get his freedom back.

Struggling against my saviour to go back to my father, he hits me, and everything turns dark.

"He came for us. He understood that his wife, Ma, was tampering with our memories, altering them, slowly erasing all traces of magic, but she didn't know I was there."

She keeps walking with my body in her dream and heads to a lake where the men are drinking. I don't know where I am. If Leah is in my body, where am I? How could Mother erase my memory? This is absurd!

"But how did she find out? And how could she erase my memories?" I can't help but ask.

"She did. She erased them from your brain, but she can't tamper with a wolf's memory. Witnessing everything through your eyes. Hiding, I waited for Pa."

She is smart, but can I believe this information? Yet I know magic exists, so maybe werewolves too. Pa? I feel myself waking up and I don't want to.

"You mean Dad was a werewolf?"

"Look, Papa went away for long periods, but he always came back. When he realized what was going on, he tried to intervene, but she cast a spell. Only Pa and I it did not affect us because of our active wolf gene. Realizing that Mom couldn't contain her blistering magic putting our siblings at risk, he brought us here."

Walking to the lake, I see my teary eyes, the grey pupil dilated in equal size with the iris. It is me, but I am younger. I must be 12- 13 at most.

My head swirls with many thoughts, the images fading away with every question. I emerge from the dream.

Fighting against my impending awakening, I try to relax and succumb to the dream. I want to know where it is leading me.

But I can't.

I wake up in tears. My heart is light. My heart is light and happy. It was a frightening dream, but pleasant at the same time. Unless it was a memory?

Pulling my arm over my eyes, I sigh. I no longer know what is real. My dream was so vivid. Can I believe everything I saw? I wish I could believe bits and pieces of it. Like dad.