The Hidden Maiden

Chapter 17 - Reborn

"We'll stop for now. Eat something and get some rest." My dad turned me around and passed me a bag of chips. They must have packed some dried food and clean water in the car.

"Thanks dad." After we got some small bites, we catch a wink in the car since we didn't got much sleep yesterday night. Falling in and out of sleep, I'd noticed Dad was constantly on alert for us while we rested.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The third night fell. The clouds shifted and it blurred out the stars and moon. The night sky camouflaged the mountains peaks, hiding them. The forest was like a pit of darkness waiting for us to fall into.

But we didn't had a choice.

In another hour it'd be 12am, and the spell would be lifted. Mom and dad had been looking for the wiseman for three days straight and he was still not found. We'd covered majority of the mountainous region here and searched for every possible caves we can find. Running around the west area, this is the last area left. The sky took away her light sources and we could only rely on the two wolf's extrasensory vision to find our way around here. They started to mindlink each other, then bolted down a narrow, steep road to descend the mountain. Running fast, Dad led the way.

CRASH

The stone cracked, the edge collapsed. Behind my head, there was yelping, followed by a desperate call that resonated through the woods. Mom was hanging mid-air by the edge, howling and yelping helplessly. She must have went too close to the edge and the stonepath was too weak to support her weight. The loose rocks tumbled down and they echoed loudly from down below. Her paws scratched madly, trying to latch onto anything that could hold her up. Dad was immediately alerted of the danger and went at an incredible speed to help mom.

"Mom!!" He bit onto her scruff and sneered loudly in his effort to pull her up. While he tugged backwards, I could only pray for her safety on my father's back.

However, fate has another thing installed. It all happened in a hast when terror strikes, and the weight beneath his forefeet was suddenly removed. More of the edge of the stonepath had collapsed under our weight, resulting in a big empty space below. Her scruff was still in the male wolf's mouth, gripping onto it stubbornly. But the moment he tripped forward, gravity pulled another wolf along with it.

"Ahh!!!!" My heart was racing as I fell and the silhouette of the two wolfs got smaller. At free fall, the tree branches and leaves felt like thousands of needles, pricking into my clothes and skin, drawing blood during each contact. I screamed out in pain as they cut through my skin, creating slits of blood on my face, arms and legs. The last drop to the bottom hurt so much.

The view in front of my eyes slowly gets eaten up by darkness and the ringing in my ear worsen with ghostly howls. But they sound so far away, I might think it was my hallucination. In that final minute, I thought I saw a red orb burning bright within a black hole...

~~~~~~~~

When I came to, my head still weighed a ton and my whole body ached badly, especially my shoulder. Flicking my eyes open, I could weakly see that I was lying in front of a cave. Where am I...? Right now I was under a huge tree and it looked like a century old. It's large bark and tree leaves made it hard to spot the cave opening from outside. Traces of warm liquid trickled down my temple, I smeared a little to take a look. Blood. Weakly, I looked to my right to find that same orb I saw before, except it's deeper inside the cave. Once I stood up, I hissed at the multiple cuts from before. They sting like paper cuts! Cautiously, I approached that little light source to see that it's actually a fire torch.

"What brings you here..?" A lazy voice echoed within the cave made me jump up in surprise. With the help of the torch, I could barely see a figure of a man, sitting in a lotus position, with his back to the cave wall. Wearing a ragged cloth, unkempt silver hair and a face full of creases and wrinkles, yet oddly reflects wisdom and knowledge. Though he addressed me, but he never once opened his eyes to look at me.

"Erm.. I'm sorry but I'm kind of lost... who are you anyway?" He remained stagnant, as if he hadn't spoken before. If it wasn't for the breathing I would have thought he was a statue. I huffed in annoyance. Before I could ask another question, he beat me to it.

"You seek someone?" Huh..? Oh! does he know mindreading or something.

"Yes in fact I do. But I lost my way and my mom... wait a minute," slightly stunned by the coincidence, I asked, "You're Old Albus??"

He must be! Who else would be living in a cave like this. He'd fit the descriptions. I waited for him to answer me but he looked like he was more interested in meditating than talking to me.

Oh right! I just have to bring dad here and he'll know whether this man is the wiseman we're looking for. Without a second thought, I ran out of the cave with a heavy head and an injured body. The momentary adrenaline rush compensated the pain. Tipping my head back to look up at the spot where I fell, I couldn't see or hear anyone above, mainly because the tee canopy was blocking my view. Behind that canopy was the mountain and a half moon hanging in the night sky.

"Mom! Dad!" I shouted for them. It took a while for me to hear but from a distance, they were howling for me.

"Dad! Ahh...!!!" A sharp pain in my chest made me cry out loud and I fell on one knee, cringing badly in pain - my whole body felt like it was on fire! I screamed with my hands trembling from the agony as I coiled up on the ground in a fetus position. I can't take this..! I'd rather die!!

"NO!! Make it stop! Please!!" I felt a dark aura leaving my body and dissipated into thin air, but the torment didn't stop. Involuntary twisting brought about spasm of pain, and I thought I was going to black out from this torture. I wailed out loudly, begging for it to end..

Right then, a hand tried to touch me, but was repelled away by a strange magnetic force, creating static. It took all of my willpower to look at the figure towering above me - it's the man from the cave! He was standing there with a weird look, and thinking.

"Get into the water." He said. His arms felt like two thin sticks, strangely strong, came to carry me up. The contact brought about more static. Along the way, I didn't stop screaming and clawing at my chest, trying to get burning sensation off. Not long later, I could hear the sound of water splashing around and then I was placed horizontally on a shallow water body. I felt small pebbles underneath me and the water came up to my ears. Half submerged in water, all I could hear was the muffled sound of water blobbing.

A warp of energy surrounded me as I kept my eyes closed. I could feel it embracing me, circling me like waves, or like an invisible layer of membrane enveloping me.

It flooded me and overwhelmed me as it coursed through my body inwardly and outwardly at the same time. Then it finally happened. I feel myself shifting as my flesh and bones restructured themselves and furs started growing. A burst of floral fragrance covered my nose.

The man watches as it happened. Nothing couldn't possibly translate the intense agony I was facing when I shift for the first time. And I fainted again right where I laid.