A blizzard hit us; one so strong it bent the mountains and cracked open the stone grounds. The only thing that remained protecting us from the boulders of ice falling from the sky were the ancient trees and their thick leaves; and for once, I was grateful for the powerful shade they provided. I was grateful to be shrouded in darkness and flora.
The horses were determined, though. They continued running through the woods so much that my thighs ached from their constant movement, but I didn't mind. In fact, I respected them for it. I sat on the horse's back; all 5'9 of me, for a total of 9 hours and they didn't complain nor push me off of them even once.
That was also the day I decided that my spirit animal was the horse. Constantly running without care nor plan. A follower of leaders. Ready to accept my next mission regardless of my own health or tire.
It was supposed to be a 6-hour ride but we arrived at the edge of the kingdom in 10 hours and a few minutes. We had to pass through the eastern border because their lands were closest to the edge but they welcomed us with open arms. It made me envy their society and culture; even reminded me of the north in some ways but I held that thought back.
Maybe it was because Luca was occupying most parts of my mind, but it wasn't until I stood right at the edge of the kingdom that fear completely engulfed my entire body.
We both jumped off our horses and bound them to the green grass. Of course, we left them enough food to last 3 full days. We couldn't risk their health depleting.
There was no wall separating the outskirts from the kingdom, rather it was the colour of the dirt and the skies. A harsh line that ran for thousands of miles was carved into the ground separated the bright green grass of the east from the rotting purple soil of the untamed lands. If you stood miles away from it, you could stare through the outskirts, even catch the eye of a predator; but they couldn't catch you. Monsters couldn't live in our lands.
We were too clean. Too bright for their eyes.
"Remind me why they never built a border?" Slaiman asked, out of breath by the sight of the edge.
"Too expensive," I faced him with my brave face, "and it's useless. It's not like the monsters there could survive a day on our lands,"
Speaking of the outskirts made me feel stronger in a way. It boosted confidence up my veins because if there was one thing I knew well, it was monsters and darkness. I could spend days, months, years even talking about what laid beyond the regulated lands but that wouldn't even describe the depths of the forbidden grounds because every second that passed, some new creature was rising.
"Still, nobody wants to see this in front of them," Slaiman mumbled, taking his sword out of his metal belt as though there was a monster in front of us already.
I ignored his comment and rose my leg so my foot was hovering over the dark purple soil, only to have him pull me away by the elbow.
"Are you insane!" He hissed, eyes wide.
"We came here to find a witch, Slaiman, what do you mean 'are you insane'?" I scoffed, pulling my arm away from his.
He ran a hand down his face.
"What," I snarled, suddenly angry.
Did he decided to care now?
"At least— at least tell me what to expect,"
"Expect everything," It came out as a demand and I didn't know why I was being so aggressive all of a sudden, but it felt good.
He looked taken aback but nodded anyway.
"You follow my lead and do everything I say. Even if what you're doing feels right, don't do it unless I say so. I'm doing all of the fighting. I'm handling all of the blood," The plan slipped out of my lips like it was my mother tongue, "the only thing you're responsible for is watching out for me and carrying the witch on our way back,"
"How will we find our way back?"
"We follow the moon until our feet touch green grass," I said, holding out my hand for him to hold, "ready?"
Taking one last shaky breath, he nodded and put his hand in mine, "Ready,"
And into the forbidden lands we stepped, hand in hand and hearts in our stomachs. As soon as both our feet landed on the purple soil, the world turned dark and our wolves came alert.
In there, it was quieter than silence. In there, the trees were grim and skinny with leaves blacker than midnight. In there, my body felt small and weak.
"Violet skies? Is this night or day?" Slaiman asked.
"There is no night or day. There is only witching hour and feasting hour,"
"Which is?"
"For 6 hours, the monsters can roam these grounds freely and feast on whoever and whatever they like. For the remaining 18 hours, they hide. The beasts and banished Lycan's that don't find shelter before 6 hours have passed fall prey to the witching hour," I took in a deep breath, "When the witches come out,"
"Great, so since there's no monsters around us, we are in the witching hour,"
"No monster would stray near the edge. An arrow could easily puncture through their skull. Until we've walked deep enough, we won't know" I explained, "If you let me talk to you on our way here, we would've been on our way,"
"Whatever," He mumbled, "let's get going,"
My heart squeezed at his answer.
The more we walked, the steeper the soil became: as though we were going down a hill. It got to the point where we began sliding down the mountain like structure, struggling to stay upright until we finally landed on flat, violet soil again. Panic rushed through my veins at the thought of us getting back out to fetch our horses. What if something was chasing us on our way back? How would we have gotten out with that pain of a hill?
We stumbled back onto our feet and dusted our pants.
Growls rang from the distance and crows began singing. There were deformed birds flying freely above me and the trees swayed like there was no tomorrow.
"This is the feasting hour," I whispered, "get rid of your chains,"
"What?! Why?"
"They make too much noise. We won't find a witch if you keep them on. She's going to find us," I watched as he slowly removed his chain helmet, leaving him in his leather pants and metal torso, "now we can continue.
We tiptoed forward, eyes focused and ears perked up.
We heard howls and screams echo from all around us and it was terrifying, to say the least. Especially to Slaiman. He seemed well more than terrified with those wide eyes of his. He was about to speak; I could tell by the way his lips parted but suddenly, the soil underneath us began to dent; like I was stepping on a net.
"What the hell?" I stomped onto the soil and it rippled.
It didn't shake.
No.
It rippled.
Like mud and wet soil.
I heard Slaiman take a deep breath and shifted my eyes to his, pointing forward and mouthing 'go'. He nodded obediently and took a few steps forward, jaw clenched.
Silently, I dug my foot into that area soil with enough strength that it ripped open, forcing a gasp out of me. With confusion saturated in my veins, I slid my sword out of my back and placed it down the small hole I created and waited for a minute or two.
Nothing happened.
After a whopping 120 seconds, nothing happened.
Relieved, I began pulling the sword out of the hole until something held onto it. I was startled, and judging by the way Slaiman flinched backwards, he was too; but I didn't make a noise.
Whatever was holding onto my sword then yanked my metal downwards so strongly that my entire arm flew into the hole. I cried out as my face smashed into the rotting dirt and immediately began pulling away, but whatever this creature was was strong. Very strong.
It wasn't until Slaiman wrapped his arms around my waist and began pulling me away from the hole that hope brewed in my chest that I would leave the forbidden lands with both of my arms. I made sure to keep a stronghold on my sword. That was the last thing I was losing in there.
"What the fuck is that?" Slaiman paused, noticing the black gunk that coated the shiny metal of my sword.
"I don't know, Slaiman, now focus!" I ushered, keeping my eyes on the slime.
It was moving. The black slime was moving on the metal; almost like it was trying to swallow it whole but struggling to get through the sharpness of the weapon. With all the force I could muster up, I pulled my sword to my chest and fell backwards with Slaiman.
Nothing came out of the hole.
It was just that my sword was covered in smelly, rotten black gunk that left a trail on the purple soil.
"Leila, look," Slaiman warned.
My eyes focused on the stained soil and that's when I noticed that the ground was rising. My jaw fell to the ground as I watched the ground rip open slowly, as though it were paper being ripped apart. Something with slime for skin and the underground for its home was digging its way out from underneath us, and I didn't know what in the hell it was.
"Get up, Slaiman, we have to get as far from it as possible," I said and ran, pulling Slaiman up with me.
I felt the ground shake as Slaiman and I ran; heard it break apart so strongly my heart flew out of my chest but I didn't look back. I refused to turn around and face the beast until Slaiman was out of the monsters line of vision. Not today, I thought, I'm not losing you today, brother.
It wasn't until I found a tree large enough for Slaiman to hide behind that I screamed, "Hide!" And pushed him so strongly he rolled across the dirt and slammed into the tree. Better a broken nose than a dead brother.
As I ran, I slid my other sword out of my back so I held both in my hands. Whatever this creature was, it was heavy and strong. So much that it rattled the earth with its every step and forced the trees to cower at its presence.
I felt adrenaline completely replace the blood in my body.
Goddess, I hadn't felt this way in so long.
With speed like no other, I spun around and faced the beast, both my swords held in front of me for defence.
The 10-foot tall monster had black slime for skin that dripped to the ground like it was a candle melting at the presence of fire. It had no eyes, no nose, no ears; just a mouth, but it was huge. With a chest the size width of my bed and legs thicker than mountain stone.
I took a deep breath.
I was ready.
I had to be.
The beast stood 4 feet away from me and held out its hand. I watched in complete shock as a coil-like length of slime extended from its finger until it was right in front of me, floating in all its futile glory. It was assessing me. Asking itself what I was. And I was doing the exact same. I didn't know where its heart laid, nor did I know where it's brain was. I didn't know how long I would have had to fight him, but I knew I would fight him all day if it meant my brother would make it out alive.
So I fought.
I rose my sword to slice the length of slime the monster had forced out of its finger and ran towards it. It wanted to grab me by the neck so I ducked and slid from underneath it, heart in my throat. The monster spun around and screamed the scream of a thousand little girls; forcing my heart to fall out of my ass.
What the hell was that?
I plunged my sword into its leg and it fell down on one knee. His head faced mine and i took the chance, raising my foot and striking it so it hit his face but I immediately regretted it. My foot didn't injure it, no, it just went through the monsters head like it was quicksand.
With horror saturated on my face, I tried so hard to pull my leg out of its faceless head but couldn't. I physically fucking couldn't.
So I adapted.
With one foot stuck in a monsters head, I grabbed my sword and sliced off its arm. It screamed again and grabbed me by my risen leg, only to squeeze my thigh so tightly I felt my blood stop flowing. I cried out in agony and tried pulling my foot out of its face again but failed miserably.
It was that exact moment that I remember why I feared the outskirts.
The monster stood up from its kneeled position, picking me up with him. I was so caught off guard that I dropped one of my swords.
The world was suddenly upside down and I was floating.
Using the sword in my hand, I blindly stabbed it into the monsters neck and twisted it in all sorts of positions, forcing the damned thing to stumble in pain and finally, fall forward while I was still hanging upside down from its mouth.
it was like time stopped.
My head slammed into the ground as the beast crashed on top of me; completely diminishing my ability to breathe and cracking a rib or two of mine. I couldn't move an inch and the handle of my sword was digging painfully into my stomach; that accompanied by the pathetically ambiguous amount of slime running down my body made it all so unbearable.
Luckily, my hand was still wrapped around my sword.
So I did the only thing I could do.
I dug the sword deeper into the monsters neck and spun it overbearing slowly; like I was taking my time to open a bottle of water. The monster screamed that blinding scream of his at the action and attempted pulling himself off the ground giving me just enough space to roll from underneath him; leaving my sword in his body.
Goddess, I couldn't breathe, nor could I stand up.
The monster laid beside me on its front, trying to rise but failing just as much as it was trying.
So I crawled towards the sword I'd dropped, completely forgetting the fact that my foot was still stuck in the beasts mouth, and couldn't reach it. I stretched my body as much as I could; till the tips of my fingers glazed the handle of my sword but I still couldn't reach it.
The monster was starting to rise, I could tell because my leg was as well, and I swear I was about to burst into a fit of pathetic tears because I knew deep down that there was only one way I was going to escape my captor.
By shifting.
Nobody knew this, but I'd only ever shifted once in my life. I was 16 and alone, hiding in a shack I'd built for myself.
It was excruciating.
I had no adrenaline syringes. I had no warm baths to help me. I had nothing but me and my shack. So I endured every crack and ever twist of my muscles raw and bare, and I never wanted to do so again.
But at that moment, I had to.
So I called for my wolf.
I shouted like a banshee for her in my head and she heard. She pulled at the rope I'd thrown down at her and took over my body; forcing an array of cracks and bends to take place and somehow, so did my armor.
Indeed, what Lara has crafted was wondrous.
I dug my fingers into the dirt to stop myself from crying out and I genuinely thought I was doing well handling the pain, but oh, I was so wrong. The last crack; the bending of my spine, that made me almost black out, but thankfully, I didn't. I screamed, but the sound that came out of my throat was very much the opposite.
It was a growl.
One so loud it forced a gush of wind to swivel through the trees.
The monsters rose on both of its feet leaving me to hang from him, but since my wolf was taller than me I could touch the ground with my paws. I sunk my claws into its own calves with such ferocity black liquid began pooling our of them. It fell on both its knees again, giving me access to the beasts pelvic area. Without a second thought, I bit into the area between the monsters legs so hard I felt it crunch between my fangs. My tongue also sensed a beating there; almost like a heart.
Bingo!
With my fangs still strapped to the monsters pelvic area, I pulled away, and in my mouth was quite literally its black heart. I spit it out.
The monster fell forward once last time and died. It was no more.
I shut my eyes and imagined my human form. It took a minute or two before I was fully back into my body; a minute of mind bending pain I had to endure, but I did it. And I was still in my armour.
"Is it dead?" Slaiman's head peeked our from behind the tree and I forgot he was ever there.
I nodded silently, no voice left in me.
That was all it took for him to rush by my side, "Goddess, Leila, what the fuck was that?"
I was so exhausted I couldn't even shrug. I tried to stand up but my left leg screamed in pain and my broken ribs protested against any movement. Slaiman noticed but didn't say anything; just looked at me like I had just told him I had Alzheimer's. As I stared into his eyes, I could tell he felt bad that he couldn't help. I could tell he was shocked, but I could also tell he was scared.
"I'm going to need you to cut off that things head," i croaked, shifting my eyes to my leg that was ankle deep into the monsters head.
"Got it," He mumbled and got to work, slicing off the monsters head so that I wore it as a shoe, "why won't it get off?"
I shrugged, "I don't know,"
"Can you walk?"
I shook my head.
"Ill carry you then," Slaiman did as he said and lifted me off the ground and into his chest.
"You're going to capture the witch, okay? I cant," I coughed out black liquid and a searing pain rushed through my ribs, "I can't do it,"
"How will I do that?" Fear was evident in his voice.
"All you need to do is puncture the back of her neck with the tip of your sword and she'll be at your command," I said, head leaning against my brother's chest, "but make sure it's your sword,"
"Got it, now stop speaking unless you need to. You sound like a 600-year-old seer," Slaiman smiled down at me for the first time in 6 years and my heart bloomed.
He was happy.
2 hours had passed of us walking forward in silence and me being carried by my brother. 2 hours of me warning Slaiman that a monster was nearby and him saying 'but I didn't hear anything!' only to see that I was right 2 minutes later. I was grateful that he was there, though, because Slaiman was excellent at hiding. His footsteps, goddess, even I didn't hear them, and I was so so impressed. I was also proud that such a worthy Lycan was related to me.
It wasn't until we saw a 3 headed snake the size of a door crawling into the dirt that we knew something was off.
"It's the witching hour, Slaiman," I warned.
He halted in his steps.
"Where are the witches?"
"They're not here yet, at least not the strong ones," My eyes spotted a large tree in the distance and I pointed to it, "we best hide there until we sense a witch is near us,"
"Alright," Slaiman obeyed and put me down once we reached the tree.
I let out a long breath and brought my knees to my chest, unable to move any further. My wolf was sweet. Regardless of the fact that it had been 2 years since I'd last seen or spoken to her, she came to my aid when I called out. She didn't even think twice and that single action made me feel so guilty for neglecting her.
"What are you thinking?" Slaiman asked out of the blue, face turning to face me.
"Nothing,"
"Your face says otherwise," His jaw ticked.
He always hated secrets, and I didn't blame him. I did too.
"Your wolf," He began, "she wore armour, Leila. How did you do that?"
Lara's red hair rushed through my mind and I smiled, "You should ask the beta's wife that. She made my armour. I don't know how, though,"
"It was a sight to see. Something out of a dream," Slaiman shook his head in fascination, "really, I never expected you to fight a monster of that size, it was-"
"Help!" A voice rang out.
It was a woman.
It sounded so familiar, almost like I'd heard it before.
"Leila, look," I followed Slaiman's eyes and spotted a dark-haired woman with green eyes limping from the distance.
I could have sworn I'd seen her before.
"Give me your dagger," I demanded from Slaiman and held my palm out. He did as he was told.
With the help of the three behind me, I stood up, my eyes trained on the woman. She didn't seem like she was a witch, but Lycan's that were banished from the any of the 4 packs would often turn rogue in here. Isolation did that to people.
"Please! I- I was wrongfully accused! My pack has gone through a war-" Her eyes connected with mine, green meeting green, and she let out a relieved breath, "finally!"
She began running towards us, her dark hair flying in the wind and her facial features were hidden by the darkness.
"Stop right there," Slaiman demanded once she was about 4 feet away from us, "where do you come from,"
The woman wasn't young, I could tell by her veiny hands
"I come from the north. 6 years ago, my pack was attacked," She explained, "I have a small cottage I built a few miles east, you could stay there as long as you like,"
"Step into the light," I said, hiding my dagger behind my back.
She did as told, and I swear to you I stopped breathing for a whole minute.
"What in the goddess's name- this can't be real," Slaiman's eyes shone as he faced me, "you said you saw her die Leila!"
A tear slipped from my eyes.
"I did," The dagger slipped from my fingers as I stared at the woman's eyes, "I saw you die,"
In front of me stood Fairuz Haddad.
My mother.
-_-
ONE PLOT TWIST AFTER ANOTHER AM I RIGHT?! MWAHAHAHA!!!!
Tell me, guys, how are my fighting scenes? Could you picture them in your head? Or were they slightly confusing? Please do tell me because constructive criticism is something I crave.
Stay safe and keep commenting. I looove reading comments <3