The white kingdom
A land of cold, snow, and survival of the fittest.
Yet, even the coldest of places...
Are warmed by the sun.
And light is shed.
In the coldest reaches of the white kingdom.
Prologue
I am something that protects you.
Yet I am your greatest enemy.
And you fear me.
Now that you understand how Lillian came to be what she was, she still doesn't see how she can truly change the path she took, yet someone does, yet they haven't told her.
Why you ask? Well it's simple, they don't, as they are afraid what might happen, as it's not their lesson to learn.
Anyways, the journey is only going to get harder, and more pressuring, and friendships will break.
Because this land shows no mercy.
If you survive, and trudge this snowy wasteland, then you will be rewarded, as long as you survive.
But, if you don't survive... It's only going to get worse for you, until you give up entirely.
This is where Lucan was raised, where he was taught.
How he learned to survive.
The kingdom is home to many wild animals, unfamiliar to the others, yet they aren't the biggest threat.
The real threat is just a few paw-steps away...
Chapter 1
Wolves hunt on the land, live on the land
And work together on the land.
But that does not mean
They rule the land.
Lillian was trying to draw a circle with a stick, but to no avail, she flicked her ears when she heard Lucan ask, "What are you doing?"
She dropped the stick from her teeth, and barked, "Trying to draw a circle, I don't think it's working though..." she muttered.
"Obviously not." Lucan barked.
"Well, I'm starting to miss being able to draw, you can't draw without hands you know." Lillian sighed, looking at her failed attempt at a circle, which looked more like a squiggly line going in circles.
"I can believe that." Lucan barked, also looking at the failed circle.
"Stop teasing me..." Lillian looked up at him, eyes narrowed in playfulness.
Lucan looked at her, eyes also narrowed, "How I'm teasing you?"
Lillian opened her mouth, but didn't say anything, Lucan rolled his eyes, and flicked his tail, turning away, and Lillian asked, "So.. What can you tell me about Nixsan?"
"Well, I already told you about the legends of the cave of spirits, and that relates to Nixsan." Lucan muttered.
Lillian nodded, "Yeah, the girl in the legend's name was Nixsi right? She created Nixsan?" she asked.
"You could say that, but the humans here are almost wolf like, and most of them are her descendents, but the royal family was never decended from her.. No, they were descended from a different entity." Lucan muttered.
"And you are royal family? You are because of your eyes." Lillian pointed out.
Lucan nodded, "Nixsi made this land after she was changed by the fates, determined to cause chaos to this land, making sure the fates wouldn't interfere, this is where the royal family comes in." Lucan muttered.
Lillian stayed silent, while Lucan continued.
"You see, the royal family wouldn't even exist without my ancestor... Who fell in love with a mortal, when he shouldn't have."
Lillian tipped her head, "And.. Who was your ancestor?" she asked.
Lucan sighed, and barked, "Look at this land, what does it remind you of?"
"It reminds me of the cold.. And the dark," Lillian muttered, "Why?"
Lucan nodded, "Cold.. Darkness... One fate rules over this, you should know Lillian, you've read about the fates.. Which one rules over the cold and darkness, and is considered the most evil of the fates?" Lucan asked.
Lillian knew, but she didn't dare say, she only knew too well what fate was most feared above all the rest, even more feared then tradegy, and who could bring the end of this world, dead or not, but it's not right to say he can die... When he controls it.
Lucan saw the look on Lillian's face, and nodded, "Yes... The fate of Death is my ancestor," he muttered. "That is why my eyes are this purple, lavender is used in funerals, to mask the sorrow death brings."
He sighed, and looked up, "After he did what Nixsi feared he would do to stop her, even if he didn't know it, she cursed this land to be cold, desolate... And my family to be cursed as well," he muttered. "She is also still alive.. Well, kind of.. She is a force more then anything, you cannot see her... But she's there, waiting..."
"Waiting for what?" Lillian asked.
Lucan blinked, "No one knows.. Maybe waiting for the right time to strike.. Or waiting for her love to return to her, but either way.. If she succeeds either one, my family will cease to exist, and the day of darkness will become apparent." he muttered.
"So your family is the only thing blocking her way?" Lillian asked.
Lucan nodded.
Lillian looked at the mountain of fates, and asked, "Is that why you wish to go to the mountain?"
"Well, yes, but I also have the same reason you do, wanting to get changed back." Lucan muttered.
Lillian nodded, finally knowing why Lucan looked so different from the others, it was because he was related to a fate, and not just any fate... The fate of death.
Lillian sighed, staring at the mountain, which was covered at the top by clouds.
There were four fates, two negative, two positive, they're job was to keep balance in the world, and if one is killed, then balance is destroyed, because the fates have their oppisite fate, like Death and Life, and Tradegy and Peace.
Of course, those weren't their actual names, they were human, they were just somewhat immortal, but one could not survive without the other.
She sighed, and realised Lucan was padding away toward the pack, and she was left alone overlooking the snowy land.
She shivered, she looked at the mountains around her, thinking, Is Nixsi watching us now? Are we the chance she was waiting for?
The mountains gave her a deep sense of fear, these mountains were not only cold to the outside, but full of evil to the core.
She looked up to the gray sky, she could not see the sun clearly through the clouds, and still felt cold even though some of it's rays.
She jumped when someone called her name, she looked down, and realised the pack was on the move again, she sighed, looking at the mountains one last time, and bounded down to meet them.
"Are you okay, Lillian? You look kind of weirded out." Markus barked, looking at her curiously.
Lillian didn't answer, she felt as if the mountains were always watching her every step, waiting to get her.
She stepped closer to Markus, who seemed lost to why she hadn't answered, until she growled, "Lucan believes an angry spirit is waiting..."
"Waiting for what?" he asked.
"Who knows... But it's angry." Lillian growled bluntly.
Markus nodded, and his ears perked, "Oh yeah, I asked Kitash about the day of darkness... And it's not what we thought it was."
Lillian stopped, and asked, "What is it?"
markus tipped his head, and replied, "From what she explained.. It's an eclipse.. Just an ordinary solar eclipse."
Lillian just stared, "They're scared... Of an eclipse?" she asked.
"Yeah, or how it was explained anyways, maybe it goes on forever, who knows, all I know is, the only time I've ever seen a solar eclipse was when I was... 10? I forget, but it wasn't scary." Markus shrugged, flicking his tail.
No.. I remember it clearly... Lillian thought.
Lillian sat in the carriage, her eyes widening at the prospect of actually leaving the castle walls to go to Skrealand, just to celebrate the Eclipse festival.
"Ain't it exciting? A solar Eclipse! Those are rare!" Heather said excitedly, bouncing in her seat, Lillian looked up at her sister, and asked, "Have you ever been to Skrealand?"
Heather looked down at her 10 year old sister, "Not much, most of them were serious visits, never a fun one, I suspect we can actually get out of the carriage and watch!"
"Out of the carriage!?" Lillan gasped in excitement.
The king turned to his two daughters, "Yes, but stay close, and don't wander off."
Lillian nodded, and she grabbed the carriage curtain, opening it a bit, and looked on the outside.
She saw kids running around, holding sparklers, those are sticks that light up at the end, and spark a little bit.
But some kids were huddled in a group, obviously re-enacting the battle that activated the solar eclipse, because they were holding swords.
They were yelling playfully at each-other, and waved their swords at each-other, she watched as one boy engaged another, and smacked his head with the wooden sword.
"Ow!" he yelped, holding his head.
"Ha ha! Do you give up now? The hordes of Ishari will never beat the army of Grealach!" The boy laughed, standing straight, and put his sword in the air to victory.
"Of course not." The boy yelled back, and jabbed his sword at the other boy's arm, and laughed.
The carriage stopped, and the king handed Lillian a money bag, and growled, "Go buy whatever you wish, just be careful."
"I will father!" she jumped out of the carriage, not waiting for Heather to catch up, and went to look at the stores.
"Hey! Lillian! Over here!" a boy called out her name, and she realised happily that it was Matthew, and he was holding something at his side.
Lillian ran up to him, and asked, "What?"
He revealed what he was holding, it was a handcrafted bow, with wolves incitrating the wood, and the ends looking like wings.
"Oh wow, Matthew! You made this for me?" Lillian hugged it, "How did you know I liked wolves?" she asked
"I remember you showing me some of your books, most of them on wolves, so I assumed." he laughed.
She went to show her father, but she had to wait, because he was being greeted by the Duchess, who's wheat blond hair was tied up. So instead, she listened.
"Yes, It's a shame the duke died in that attack, but you're a fine Duchess already." Midus bowed.
"I'm sure, my lord." she smiled nicely, then looked around, "Enjoy the festival will you? I'm sure you'll like it, watch out for my son and his friends though, they're quite the troublemakers." she laughed.
"Probably not unlike I was at your sons age, you should have been there, I almost set fire the the west wing of the castle, my mother wouldn't let me hear the end of it." Midus laughed.
The duchess laughed, "Heheh, my son and his friend set fire to the basement of our house, by accident of course, but you should have heard them, they were highly entertained."
Midus laughed, "Then I'm sure he's a fighter, aren't they always?"
The duchess nodded, and he bowed, "I hope you also enjoy the festival, Gwen, it's a time to celebrate." he smiled.
"I will lord." she said, bowing back.
King Midus nodded, and looked down at Lillian, "Oh, you got the bow Matthew told me he was getting you? Nice, he's quite the crafter." and he walked away, walking with the queen.
Lillian sighed, knowing her father was busy, but sometimes he would pay attention to her.
She started walking, trying to find someplace to wait for the eclipse to come, she had the goggles the inventor invented for everyone to watch, so you wouldn't hurt your eyes.
She continued walking, but someone ran into her, almost knocking her over.
"Ah!" she gasped.
"Ah!" the other person gasped.
He helped her regain her balance, and said, "Sorry! I didn't see you there!" he laughed, Lillian looked at him closer, his blue eyes were wide in excitement, and he said, "Well, bye now!" and ran off to catch up with his friend.
Lillian didn't even get the chance to say something, so she just shrugged, and finally found a place to sit, and waited for the sun to disappear behind the moon
Lillian jolted out of her day-dream by Markus poking her, and she asked, "What?"
"Oh nothing, I remember too, that's all." she barked.
"Keep day-dreaming and everyone is just going to leave without us." he indicated to the pack, who was ahead.
"Ack!" she gasped. Running to catch up with them. With Markus running behind her, laughing.
Meteor turned to look at them, he rolled his eyes, and shook his head, and kept walking, with the other wolves following his every move.
Lillian stopped, "What's his problem?" she growled.
Markus ran past her, and called back, "I don't know!" as he ran to catch up with the pack.
Lillian ran also, but stopped, perking her ears when she heard a voice in her head, Come to me.. Land walker. It was female, but she wasn't sure where it was coming from.
To the mountains..If you are not there by the third full moon.. Bad things will come to play. the voice whispered.
Lillian wasn't sure what to say, but she shook her head, and ran to catch up with the pack.
What was that voice? It was a females.. Is Nixsi or another spirit trying to contact me? Lillian thought, and shook her head, from what Lucan told her about Nixsi, she was evil.
She bumped into Markus, and she stood on her toes, "What's the hold up?" she yelled to the front of the pack.
She realised that some were whispering among each-other, and Meteor howled, "Steady wolves!"
Lillian pushed to the front of the pack, and stood beside Aris, and gasped at what she saw.
Dead and dying wolves were laying in the bloodstained snowy clearing, and she gasped, "Oh... Dear..."
Lucan pushed to stand beside her, but he didn't look at the wolves, he was looking at the castle, for what was the first time Lillian saw, a terrified look.
"The wolf fires... They're burning... This is not good." he stammered.
"Wolf fires? What are wolf fires?" some of the wolves whispered amongst each-other.
Meteor turned to face Lucan, and snapped, "What are wolf fires? And why are they not good?"
Lucan flinched from Meteor, and barked in fear, "Wolf fires... They signal that everyone in this land.. Is to kill wolves on sight."
Some of the wolves whimpered, some yelped in fear, and backed up quickly.
"Steady wolves. Muster your courage!" Kitash howled.
The wolves went silent, but still had the fearful look in their eyes, and Lillian understood why, this was terrifying. She looked up to the sky,, which was still a cloudy grey, but this time it blocked out the sun entirely.
One of the wolves asked, "Wh-What do we do?"
Metoer sniffed the air, and growled, "We move on, and try to avoid Hunters and populated areas."
"What about the wolves?" Holly asked.
Meteor looked down at them, eyes narrowed. And he spat, "It is too late for them, leave them, let the fate of death deal with it." and jumped down, passing the wolves with an uncaring look on his face.
The wolves followed, a lot more tensely though, tails down low, and ears back, as they followed Meteor.
Lillian stayed in the back of the pack as they trudged through the clearing, she winced when she saw a pup crying in pain, but she tried to ignore it.
As they left the clearing, Lillian hesitated, determined to at least help that pup, but realised someone else had already entered the clearing.
The cloaked figure was wearing a white cloak, and was human.
He took off his hood, and Lillian gasped.
The human had silvery white hair, and looked alot like Lucan, except his eyes were a dark stormy black colour. He seemed upset and strained.
He bent down to the pup, and reached out a hand to it, the pup tried to fight back, but couldn't.
He whispered, "It's okay, you don't have to be afraid of me."
The pup seemed to understand, because it stopped fighting back.
He stayed there for a minute, as if he was thinking, and he finally sighed, "It's not your time to die.. You are not of age..."
He gave it one final pat on the head, and reached from his cloak, and pulled out a glowing liquid, and gave it to the pup.
"Drink it, you'll feel better in no time." he whispered reassurance, petting the puppy.
The pup obeyed, lapping up the liquid, coughing a little bit, probably from the taste, and looked up in thankfulness.
"There, give it time, you'll feel better..." he whispered again.
The pup barked, standing up, and limping away from the castle in the distance, while the human just watched, he sighed, and stood up, and turned to the rest of the wolves.
"Every time... It gets even more worse for me to do this..." he muttered, and waved his hand at the wolves.
Their spirits stood up, and they cast a silvery mist around the clearing, they looked around, some confused, some angry.
"I'm sorry that this had happened to your pack, but it's time for you to finally rest in peace, knowing that no one can hurt you ever again." He whispered softly.
The wolves looked at him, then they howled, and in a breath of wind, they disappeared.
Lillian's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped, amazed what just happened.
He stood up fully, his eyes narrowed sadly, he looked like he was thinking, but finally, he looked up, and whipped around, disappearing into the forest.
Lillian gasped.
Th-That was....
~*~*~*~
Lillian whipped around, running away after what just happened, she jumped over a fallen log, and fought to catch up with the pack.
She jumped on Markus, stopping him from going any furthur, and he gasped, "What?!"
"I... What...?" she jumped off him, eyes widened, and jaws open in shock.
"Are you alright? You look like you saw a ghost." Markus muttered, shaking his fur from the snow.
Lillian hesitated, but closed her mouth, and sighed, relaxing her haunches, and finally stammered, "I-I think I saw..." but she faltered.
Markus poked her, "What? Saw what?" he pushed, looking suddenly concerned.
Lillian hesitated once again, and finally muttered, "The-The fate of death...."
Markus seemed silent, but Lillian seemed confused when he laughed, "You should see the look on your face!" he said.
"Er.. What?" She stared at him.
Markus stopped laughing, but fought the need to start again, and stammered, "Wh-What did you expect?" he laughed again.
"Wh- What did I expect?!" Lillian exclaimed.
"Yeah? How do you think the spirits of those wolves get to the mountain, they sure can't find it themselves, it's dangerous to leave spirits wandering!" Markus laughed.
Lillian tipped her head, and muttered, "I was expecting something a bit more darker, like the Grim Reaper or something like that..."
That made Markus laugh even harder.
"The grim reaper? That's a fairy tale! What? Did you expect the Fate of Death to look exactly like the grim reaper? Black cloak and all?" he asked.
Lillian didn't answer, in truth, she wasn't sure what she expected, just not that.
Markus sighed, "You've read books on the fates.. But.. Were they fictional?"
Lillian didn't answer, she just looked down, They were fictional...
Markus stopped laughing, and got a serious look on his face, and sighed, "The book I read.. It said that Life was the negative, not Death."
Lillian gasped, "Eh? Why did the writer say Life was the negative?"
Markus padded past her, but turned around and answered, "People and animals don't suffer in death.. They're at peace, and can't be hurt like they were in life, people may think that death is a horrible thing, but without death, we couldn't make way for new life, and it'd get crowded... Really fast."
Lillian just stared, and finally sighed, and padded forward. Furthur ignoring Markus.
They continued walking, nearing the castle, she padded close to Lucan, and whispered, "So? What are the chances of running into hunters?"
Lucan seemed to think, and muttered, "99.9." he smiled humourously.
Lillian just stared at him, and rolled her eyes, sighing.
She shook her head, and continued to pad away from the supposed safety of hte mountains, and into the heart of Nixsan.
Chapter 2
Two things
Two things...
Lillian had stopped, Meteor had called a rest break, and the wolves were going to rest for the night.
Lillian dug up a snow pile around her where she was going to sleep, and shivered when she lyed down on the snow, and stood up once again, and shook her fur, trying to look for someplace with less snow.
She finally picked a very thorny bush, and sighed, I'd rather not try to sleep under that.. she walked away from it, then finally found a tree that had little snow under it, and she finally picked that.
She sat down, and yawned, she sighed, looking up at the sky, wishing that the sun would shine through just once.
She finally curled up, and tried to sleep, but had no luck doing so, since most of the wolves were whispering to each-other or running around before going to bed.
But when she finally went to sleep.. She wished she had just stayed awake.
She opened her eyes to see that she was floating in a dark space, with white spirit flies flying around her.
Well, it wasn't totally dark, it was more like a darkened forest, lit by the flourescent mushrooms.
She heard her name called, she looked up. She saw a girl, whose eyes were a soft green, and her hair was a straight pure white, like the snow, and she called again, "Lillian?"
Lillian wasn't sure what to do, so she headed towards the girl, who said softly, "So sad... To see a human changed into what I was changed into..."
Lillian didn't say anything, but she silently agreed, she started getting tired of being a wolf, and she was still kind of angry about that.
"I have something.. I can change you back, but I need help, if you help me.. I'll be able to change you back." she whispered.
Lillian found herself asking, "What is it you need help with?"
She smiled.. A little bit weirdly, but she finally said, "Are you familiar with the fates? They're the reason you're like this... And the only thing in the way of changing you back..."
Lillian was about to say something.. but she felt something crack the space between her and the girl, the girl gasped, and Lillian squeaked, and her whole dream started to shatter.
She woke up, gasping for air. She shook head, and sighed, confused on what just happened.
Just a dream.... she thought quietly.
The dream had been shattered by something, but she stood up, and shook out her fur, and sat down, looking up at the darkened gray sky, which was now an eerie black, with the moons light barely reaching through the clouds.
She jumped when she heard a noise, she turned around, narrowing her eyes, but relaxed, realised some of the wolves must have woken up.
She perked up when she heard a voice.. A familiar one.. But she couldn't actually place it, but she soon found herself padding towards the voice, or wherever the voice was leading her.
She found herself skidding down a slope carefully, and continued to walk, Lillian wasn't sure why, but she had to find this voice.
She didn't realise where she was going, but she jumped when she heard, "Hey!"
She whipped around, and almost fell off the cliff, she gasped, but felt herself pulled herself up, she looked up, to see... Lucan?
She blinked, and jumped back, the human walked towards her, looking confused, "You were just about to walk off a cliff.. So.. You want me to let you keep walking and watch as I have to send a soul for a pointless reason?" he asked softly.
Lillian blinked, and gasped, putting her ears back, and baring her teeth.
The human stood up fully, and rolled his eyes, "Oh, please, even if you wanted too, you won't." he pointed out.
She stood up, and shook her fur out, looking up at the human, he was wearing a snow white cloak, his hair was a silver white, and his eyes were a swirling stormy dark grey, and he was smiling in an amused way.
Lillian was a bit hypnotized by the eyes, the eyes were unnatural, they were like storm clouds, but they were calming, and they held warmth.
She stammered, "Well... I heard a voice, and I was following it."
"Voices in your head.. Hmm..." he narrowed his eyes.
She stayed silent, and jumped, "Hey! You're thinking I'm crazy, I'm not!" she barked.
"Oh, calm yourself, you need to block your mind from the spirits in this land, or you're going to get controlled by them, and trust me, that won't be pretty." He growled.
She tipped her hear, and narrowed her eyes, "Okay, so your're a fate, I saw you heal that puppy and send off the spirits, what's your name?" she asked carefully.
He rolled his eyes, "My name is Flynn, and don't bother telling me yours, your name is Lillian." he grunted, turning around.
Lillian jumped, "Hey! Wait! Can't you change me back?" she called back, knowing that being a fate, he'd know her name, but that also means he knows when she's going to die.
He stopped, and turned around, "Sorry, can't do that, changed you for a reason, can't go back." he smiled in a cold way.
Lillian bounded up to him, jumping in front of his path, and barked, "Why not?!"
Flynn sighed, "Because I can't, you've got to change yourself back, and you're obviously not ready for that." he moved her and continued walking.
Lillian bounded in front of his path again. And stared up at him.
He was obviously getting annoyed, because she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head, and he just walked past her, ignoring her.
"Hey! Unfair!" She barked, chasing after him.
He looked back, and rolled his eyes, and started to run.
Lillian continued to chase after him, but stopped suddenly when there was a flash of white, and instead of a human, a huge black wolf had replaced him, and it was causing some trees to fall, obviously to stop Lillian, but she wasn't ready to give up.
She climbed over the trees, and continued to chase after him, he looked back, eyes widened in surprise, and he said in her head, "I can't change you back!"
Lillian howled at him, "Doesn't mean I'm letting you run off easily!"
He looked straight ahead, and was surprised when he changed back to human, and jumped across a ravine with ease, and he looked back with smug eyes.
Lillian stopped, staring at him, she growled, backing up, she was glad to see a horrified look on his face, "You've got to be kidding me!" he said in exasperation. She took a running leap, and knew that she wouldn't make it, but he'd unwillingly help her.
But she started to get scared when he didn't move a muscle, so she instead closed her eyes.
She gasped when she stopped, and felt her paws touch the soft ground, she opened her eyes to see she was standing in front of Flynn, who had his arms crossed.
"You must be really brave.. Or really stupid." He growled.
"Maybe both, now please, I'm not going to ask you to change me back.. I.. I just want some answers!" she barked.
He seemed confused, and sighed, sitting down, and asked, "What is it?"
She thought, and asked, "So.. You're the fate of death?"
He seemed amused at the question, and he asked, "Was it the seemingly cold and darkness surrounding me.. Or was that a guess?"
She growled, "Ha ha.. Very funny."
He stopped smilling, and she continued, "Why don't you look darker.. Black cloaked... with a scythe?"
He rolled his eyes, and scoffed, "Do you want me to look like that?" raising an eye-brow.
"Er...." she hesitated, then sighed, "No..."
He grunted, "Thought not, sure, it's one of my forms, but that's only that's how some people perceive me." he waved his hand in a dismissing way.
Lillian tipped her head, and asked, "Then... Why do I see you like my friend.. Except my friend has lavender coloured eyes."
He hesitated, then said, "It's your unconscious mind percieving me then, not your waking mind."
"Uh?" she questioned.
He sighed, then said, "It's your soul perceiving me, not your wakened mind, which means, I don't look like the fate of death in the stories." he smiled.
She tipped her head when he looked up suddenly, kind of concerned.
"Eh? What?" she mused.
He stood up suddenly, his eyes narrowed in thought, and he growled, "Shh..." He went towards the edge of the ravine, staring straight ahead.
She asked, "What's wrong?"
He didn't answer, he never did, he just turned back, and walked past Lillian, ignoring her, and disappeared into the bushes, and she didn't follow, not this time.
She faced the ravine, and sighed, knowing she'd have to find a way around, but before she could find a way around, a tree fell over it, she rolled her eyes, knowing exactly who was responsible for it, but she walked across it anyways.
But she heard a voice, it was in her head, and she thought, Not again.... trying to resist the urge to follow the voice, knowing what happened last time.
But soon, she couldn't resist anymore, she ended up following the voice, but before she could get anywhere, she heard another call, she turned to see Lucan, who seemed confused, "What are you doing?" he called.
She was about to say something, but something inside her shut her up, and she just stared at Lucan.. And she got an.. Unexplainable anger rise up inside her.
She shook her head, shaking the angry feeling away, and called back, "Oh.. Er... Hunting!"
Lucan looked around, and narrowed his eyes, "Not much luck I presume?" he bounded down to her, and she felt the angry feeling come back again, and she thought, Why am I angry?
She tried to shake the feeling, but it only got stronger as Lucan said, "Well, you're going to get left behind by the pack, they're heading deeper now."
She didn't say anything, she was scared of the angry feeling, but she tried to resist, she had no reason to be angry.
She followed Lucan, but continued to get an angry feeling, and also something in her head saying, "he is not trustworthy..."
She shook her head, trying her best to ignore the voice, since she knew perfectly well Lucan was trustworthy. Why would she get this angry feeling.
Lucan stopped, and looked back at her, a bit confused, "Are you okay?"
She stopped also, having mixed feelings, and starting to feel pressured, and she growled through gritted teeth, "I'm fine."
Lucan didn't look convinced, but only tipped his head, narrowing his eyes.
"Okay..." he muttered, and continued to walk.
Lillian blinked, and followed him quietly, trying to supress the anger welling up inside her, having no idea why she was getting so angry, so she tried to ignore it.
But she didn't know for how long she could ignore the anger, because it wasn't going to stop until she satisfied her anger.
~*~*~*~
They finally returned to the pack, who were ready to go, Meteor eyed Lillian in distrust, and padded away to talk to Aris, who was staring at the distant castle.
Markus padded up to her, and barked, "Meteor sure doesn't trust you.."
Lucan padded up to them, and Lillian was surprised that the angered feeling had come back, she tried to push it down, but it was growing as he neared.
"Meteor just doesn't like the fact that he was let go without a fight, all wolves are like that." Lucan muttered, sitting down beside Markus.
Markus nodded, and turned to look at Lillian, "Are you alright? You're look like you're mad." he asked.
Lillian jumped, and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine!" she barked in an almost snapping way, but when she looked at Lucan, he didn't seem too convinced.
She just stared right back, the anger flaring up inside her, she snapped, "What? I said I'm fine!"
Markus jumped from the snap, but Lucan just narrowed his eyes, and padded towards Lillian, eyes narrowed, and he barked, "You're obviously not fine."
Lillian backed away from him, worry suddenly rising up with the anger, and she heard a voice in the back of her mind, He must know our deal!
"I am!" she snapped at him, narrowly missing his muzzle
Lucan jumped back just in time, and Markus gasped, "Hey! No need to bite!"
Lillian was ready to pounce this time, the anger was taking over her, willing her to attack her friend... But why? she thought, as she stalked forward.
Lucan padded forward, his gaze calm, and he leaned towards Lillian, and murmured calmly, "There is no need to be so angry, she is not the one you should channel your anger..."
Something inside Lillian tried to resist Lucan's words, but Lillian just thought, Wh-What?
Lucan saw that whatever was happening was trying to resist, so he whispered, "She cannot help you... It would be better for you to just go peacefully, and relax..."
Lillian looked up at Lucan's lavender coloured eyes, and she could almost see the stormy grey eyes of Flynn deep within them.
The anger seemed to lesson, until it totally faded away, she didn't say anything, and she finally whispered, "Thanks..."
Lucan sighed, "You really need to block your mind from the spirits that roam this land, most of them are angered spirits, and sometimes the fate of Death can't get to them in time." he muttered, backing away.
Lillian just stared, and rolled her eyes, "And how am I supposed to block my mind?"
Lucan just muttered, "I don't know how it works, but it does, so try learning how, maybe block anything strange to you."
Lillian just stared, and looked at Markus, who had a concerned look on his face.
Lillian stood up, and stretched, and looked at Lucan, knowing that he may have supressed the anger.. But it won't last, whatever is making her have these feelings, wasn't ready to give up.
The pack continued to move, Aris was talking to Kitash quietly, who was nodding slowly and grimly, looking at Meteor.
Lillian listened, but couldn't hear, but she knew that they were talking about Meteor, and Kitash had become distant with Meteor ever since he let Lillian try and make peace, even though he'd rather fight.
Lillian saw Lucan, padding at the back of the pack, he was treated like an omega in the pack, but Markus, Lillian, Erik, and Aris just treated him as they always have.
Lillian slowed down to go to him, and she murmured, "Thanks.. I mean it.. I didn't know what was going on."
Lucan barked without looking at her, "It's fine, really, it happens to everyone."
Lillian just stared, wondering how he managed to supress the anger inside her, and wasn't scared, even though she was ready to attack.
She nodded, padding back up to Markus, who was looking around curiously, and tipped his head, "Oh? How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Great." she said softly, knowing the last time they asked that question, she snapped.
Markus seemed relieved that she didn't snap, and continued to walk with the pack, Lillian just walked beside Kyrai, who was talking with her friends.
Lillian then heard a voice, she perked up, stopping, letting Kyrai walk ahead, as she listened, I can change you back.. You just need to do a little something for me.
She thought quietly, What?
The voice hesitated, then growled silkily, I just need you to get rid of the descendent from the fate, and after that, you're free to change back...
She thought slowly, I'd love to change back...
The voice growled, So we have a deal?
Something inside her clenched her heart, trying to choke it, she coughed, and thought, Fine...
The clench loosenend, Good... I'll see you tonight... the voice whispered.
She gasped as the clench finally disappeared, and she shook her head, not sure what just happened, and she was worried.
Soon, Meteor called the halt, and barked, "We need to rest up, it's a long day tomorrow." he looked around, and spotted a good place on arock, and jumped on it, curling up.
Lillian watched as all the wolves settled down, she knew she couldn't go to sleep, no matter how many times she tried.
But she did try, and curled underneath a tree, watching the sky quietly, and she sighed, closing her eyes.
She knew that she was dreaming when she woke up in a darkened forest, not looking like her location at all, since there was no snow.
She saw a shape form from the mist, it was the same girl in her last dream, which was shattered.
She walked up to her, and looked around, and she whispered, "Good, no more distractions, now we can talk in peace."
Lillian loked at her, and asked, "Why did the dream shatter last time."
She growled, "One of the fates wasn't happy about us talking to each other, I think I know which one was responsible for interrupting our little chat, which is why we have to do this quickly." she waved her hand in a dissmissing way.
Lillian asked, "So what do you need me to do?"
She hesitated, then smiled, "Easy, the descendent is in my way of helping you change back, with his soul still alive.. You cannot change back."
Lillian tipped her head, "Wh-What do you mean?" she asked.
The girl stopped smiling, and growled, "I need you too... Eh... Send him to the spirit world, if you get what I'm saying..."
Lillian totally got what she was saying, but she gasped when the world started to shake.
She growled, anger flaring in her eyes, "Now, you must send him to the spirit world for the spell to work!"
The dream started to shake, and she heard the unmistakeble breaking of glass, and she heard a crack, and the dream shattered, once again.
She woke up, almost gasping for breath, but she didn't wake up in her own world, she had woken up in a misty clearing, she saw spirits walking around the edges, looking content and a happy, as if they were at peace.
She heard a voice, "That's dangerous.. What you're doing." she looked up.
Flynn was sitting on a rock across from her, his eyes deadly serious.
"What's dangerous?" Lillian asked, confused.
He sighed, "You letting your spirit travel the lower spirit world, that's where most of the angry spirits are," he eyed her, "Haven't you learned how to block your mind from them?"
She snapped, "I don't know how, my home isn't as strongly connected as Nixsan is!"
Flynn didn't seem to fazed by her snap, but he shrugged, "Well learn, the main spirit here is trying to take over you, which is dangerous for your own spirit, and if she succedds at it, I'll have to do something extremely danngerous to save you, and I really don't want to do it, and I'm sure you don't want me to do it, because it's suprisingly painful for someone who is alive." he said.
Lillian didn't say anything, but was only half sure what he was talking about, an age old ritual, for alive spirits to go to the spirit world, but not only did it hurt, it was extremely dangerous, even if they did make it out alive, they would never be the same, it was also dangerous for Flynn to do it, because it was against his power, which could possibly trap him in the lower spirit world, or worse... It could kill him.
Lillian nodded, "Of course, but I still don't know how to block my mind." she barked.
Flynn just leaned forward, and said, "Then fight back." he smiled sweetly, standing up.
She gasped when there was a great surge of a wind, and she finally woke up in her own world, she looked up at the sky, dawn was slowly coming, and she sighed, shaking her head.
She stood up, and stretched, the wind was a light breeze, and it was snowing.
She sighed, the sun was shining through the grey clouds, but the clouds were still there, she sniffed the air, and looked at the castle, where the wolf fires were still burning.
She decided to find water, at which she found in a dip, near where the wolves were resting. She licked the water, but stopped when she saw the water fluttering, as if something was shaking it.
She looked around, there was no signal of an earth-quake, but for some reason, the water was moving as if being shaken.
She heard the same voice, Time's running out, Lillian...
She shook her head, an angered feeling rising up suddenly inside her, she growled, not sure why she felt so mad.
Only that she was, and realised that she had lost control of any emotion she had, she growled louder, heading back towards the wolves.
Chapter 3
Whatever you do
Don't let a spirit enter your own.
For if that happens
You will lose control...
So you must fight back!
Lillian stalked the undergrowth, eyes narrowed in anger, but she thought in horror, What am I doing? Why am I feeling this way?
But she heard a soft voice, seemingly trying to calm her angered spirit, Fight back...
But how could she? She thought in anger, Why should I? and continued to prowl through the undergrowth, her eyes narrowed.
Because you have too! the voice said more firmly.
But she knew it was too late, something had pushed her emotions back, and replaced it with their own, and those emotions were angry feelings.
She wasn't sure what made her do it, but she padded in an almost calm way across the clearing, she looked around, looking for something, but what was she looking for?
Something inside her seemed to growl in frustration, because she got felt a growl rise in her. So she continued to pad away, looking around, and sniffing the air.
She finally spotted Lucan, who seemed to be watching the castle, with a thoughtful look on his face, but he seemed to be watching the wolf fires.
Lucan perked his ears back, and looked behind him, "You're awake." he muttered, looking back at the castle.
"I guess." she growled unnaturally.
Lucan looked back again, standing up, "Hey? Are you alright?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
She shrugged, and Lillian thought in horror, Ah! What is going on? she blinked.
Lucan backed up a bit, putting his ears back, and growled, "Lillian! I told you to block your mind!"
Lillian thought quietly, I know... but she just said, "I did say there was nothing wrong, I'm fine, really..." she said in a cold, sweet voice.
Lucan didn't move this time, but he looked horrified, but Lillian thought, How does he know that there's another spirit within me.. I'm obviously possesed..
She felt herself leap at Lucan, but he still didn't move, but instead braced himself.
She landed on him, pinning in the snow, and she heard herself growl, "This curse placed upon this land is because of what happened so many years ago!"
Lucan didn't say anything, he seemed shocked that Lillian had attacked him.
She raised her paw ready to strike, but Lillian thought, No! This is my body! I won't let you make me kill him!
She stopped, staring down at Lucan in horror, but she jumped when she heard a voice behind them, "Eh? What's going on?!"
She turned, and even the spirit inside her seemed to gasp in shock.
Markus was stading a few feet away, confused, "Eh? What did Lucan say this time?" he asked humourously.
Lucan growled, "That's not Lillian, she's been possessed.." he was having trouble breathing with a paw on his neck.
Markus seemed shocked, "What?! No way!" he bounded over, and stopped in front of Lillian, Lillian slowly let go of Lucan, who rolled away, standing up.
Lillian shook her head, horrified, she tried to back away, but something inside her made sure she didn't.
Lillian managed to whisper, "Go... Dangerous..."
Markus seemed confused, but seemed to get the point, and backed away.
Something growled inside her, Great.. interrupted again!
She choked, like something was choking her, Markus jumped back in horror, while Lucan was looking at her horrified.
Lillian thought, Someone... Help... I can't breathe!
She heard a soothing voice, It'll be alright, it hurts, but not for long, at least you'll be safe for the time being...
She heard something snap, like a bone breaking, and she gasped in pain, and her whole world went black, she could hear nothing.
She opened her eyes quickly, and rolled over, and groaned, standing up, but realised that she was standing like a human, she gasped, and looked down, realising that she was human again.
"Well that went well..." A voice behind her muttered.
She jumped, looking behind her, and saw Flynn sitting down, rubbing his head, "Was that really necesarry for you to fight back at me?" he asked sweetly, smiling in pain.
She seemed confused, and asked, "What."
"Let's just say your soul didn't take kindly to me breaking you from your living body, and decided to attack me..." he stood up, looking a bit woozy, and shook his head, "Well, I did tell you to fight back, I just underestimated you I guess.." he laughed.
Lillian gasped, "Wait, where am I? I remember a bone breaking or something..."
"That was me saving you." he muttered, looking around also, "Fortunately, we ended up in the lower spirit word, so good news, you are still alive, so lucky you." he smiled.
"Wait?! I'm dead!" she gasped.
"Logically yes.. Technically, no." he muttered.
"Well, send me back up! That spirit is still inside my body!" She snapped.
Flynn laughed, "And let you be choked to death by a spirit older then yours, that would be an interesting death." He stood up fully, and she gasped.
"Ack! Nevermind, I'd rather stay right here!" She snapped.
Flynn shrugged, "Oh well, anyways, Nixsi, the spirit possessing you, is down here also, so trust me, you're not going to be hurting your friends, since one of them is down here anyways.. Nixsi had a plan of her own I guess..." he muttered.
"You've got to be kidding me!" she whimpered.
Flynn looked at her, "Please calm down!" he said firmly, looking around carefully.
"Why should I? I'm dead! I might have killed my friends I-" but she stopped when she saw a black shadow standing over her, and she gasped, holding in a scream.
A faceless, black-cloaked figure was standing in front of her, tall and menacing, a skelatal hand holding a scythe, and was looking down at her, red eyes gleaming in hatred.
She finally screamed, and blacked out.
But it was a second when she woke up, and she was looking up at Flynn, who was smiling in amusement, "Calm now?"
He was wearing a black cloak, but his hand was no longer skelatal, and the scythe disappeared in a wiff of black smoke.
She sat up, holding her head, "Oog..." she murmured.
"You'll be alright.. I think I scared you a bit too much there..." He smiled sheepishly. Standing up, and turning around.
She stood up also, "Er? I'm not freaking out anymore..." she muttered.
He sighed, staring at the dark forest, "Sometimes, to make someone calm, they have to be scared to death first..." he muttered.
He turned around, "So, we need to get you and your friend out of here, and we can only do that while Nixsi is distracted." he said swiftly, and started to walk into the forest.
"Hey! Wait up!" she gasped, running, but stopped, feeling woozy.
He stopped, looking back.
She shook her head, and finally caught up with him.
She finally asked after minutes of walking, "Why don't you just send her soul to the mountain?" she asked.
He didn't answer for a bit, he then sighed, "It's too late for that, her soul is too corrupted and angered, she wants to see me dead."
Lillian didn't say anything, so he continued, "There is no sending her soul anywhere, you have to kill her soul now, so she can never come back to this world."
"What really happened back then for her to hate you, I mean, I've heard the legend.. But what really happened?" she asked.
He stopped, and waved his hand, and she gasped as the terrain started to change from foresty and dark, to glittering green and mountainous, the tips of the mountains white with snow, and the side piled with snow, with trees waving in the warm breeze.
She gasped, and he said, "This is Nixsan before the curse, it was once quite like Ishari, but after both mine and Nixsi's curse, it turned into a cold, harsh, unforgiving, land."
She nodded, and he sighed, "My curse was only kept to the path in the mountains, I made sure that only snow would fall there, as to not ruin the land, but obviously, Nixsi's mistake on not to tell her lover caused him to perish, lost within the caves, so after she died, she set a wider curse then mine, turning this land into what her soul now is."
Lillian stayed silent, and he shrugged, "That's pretty much it, almost like the legend I guess, just a few stuff missing..."
"What's missing?" she asked.
He continued to stare at the terrain, "Nixsi used to be very nice, believed that this world didn't deserve the humans wars, and believed that all of us deserved the day of darkness, maybe she still does believe it, but wants me to be dead for it to happen." he muttered.
She hesitated, then asked, "Are you sure I'm not dead?"
He looked at her, with mock hurt, "I'm the fate of death, I should know if you're dead or not, no you're not dead, think of it as a coma..." he said in mock exasperation, rolled his eyes, and kept walking.
The terrain changed back to the dark forest, and they continued to walk, and she asked, "What happens if Nixsi's curse is lifted of the land and your family?" she pointed out.
He seemed to think, and shrugged, "I guess the land would go back to normal, and my descendents safe from an early, unlucky death." he said bluntly.
He turned back, smiling, "Lucan almost died an early, unlucky death don't you think?" he asked, then turned around, "If you didn't fight back, then the curse would have lived on, but you did, and Nixsi is finally starting to realise that she can't hold on to the curse forever, so that means she's going to get desperate." he said.
She finished for him, Which means Flynn is in more danger just being here... she thought nervously.
"Wh-What is the day of the darkness?" she asked carefully.
He turned around, gaze serious, and sighed, and waved his hand again, and the terrain changed, but even then, it was darker then the forest around them
She gasped, shocked and horrified by the sight.
The sun was black, and not solar eclipse black, totally black, the sky was a dark stormy black, hot rain fell from the clouds, and it looked like the land was on fire. and the moon was blood red when it rose, trees around the mountain were dead, and the land looked like it exploded.
"Oh.. Oh my..." she whispered.
"Not pretty ain't it.. Yes.. I remember the day of darkness, sometimes it's a day, sometimes it's years.. It all depends what causes it." he muttered, and the horrorfying scene disappeared, and he continued to walk.
"You.. You caused that day?" she asked.
"Cause it, control it, leave it like that if I want, but sometimes for that to happen, I have to lose control of myself, and life has to be dead, and tradegy very angry, and peace gone...." he whispered.
She realised that the topic was making him nervous, so she changed the subject, "So.. How can you kill an old spirit?"
He stopped, and sighed, "That's... The hard part..."
She shivered, walking beside him, and looked at the forest, and jumped when she heard a scream.
Flynn put a hand in front of her, he was staring into the darkness.
She asked quietly, "What was that?"
He didn't answer, he only continued to look into the darkness, but he finally answered after silence, "I'm not sure... The spirits here are restless... Maybe it was a disturbed spirit?" he muttered.
She didn't move from her spot, and niether did he, because the scream broke the silence once again, and Lillian was starting to get scared.
She jumped when she saw a black spirit rush toward them, it's red eyes bright, and it was holding a sword.
"Tch, all these war spirits are going to give me a head-ache..." Flynn muttered, as the black spirit almost slashed him with his sword, and he dodged to the side.
Lillian gasped as the black spirit rushed her instead, and she gasped when Flynn jumped in front of her, pushing the spirit away from her.
Flynn growled, "We are not your enemy, your enemy is long dead, now go in peace!"
The black spirit hesitated, staring down Flynn, but Flynn won, and it disappeared.
"What was that?!" she gasped, sitting down in shock.
"Eh.. A spirit that died in a war, they all look like that, always seeking to protect their home from intruders, as they did when they were alive." he said, shrugging, and continued to walk.
She stood up also, and stuck close to Flynn, feeling as if she was being watched, and she almost screamed when a young spirit bounded out of the bushes, paying them no mind, but it was calling for it's parents.
She felt sad, knowing that the lost spirit would stay lost, and she whispered, "No wonder the people who manage to come here go crazy.. This place drives you crazy..."
Flynn didn't hear her, but he muttered, "It's okay, the lost spirits will find their way someday."
She ignored him, her head was starting to pound. And she whispered, "I-I can't...." she stopped, looking around, eyes sad.
Flynn stopped also, looking back.
She looked around, some spirits were in pain, some were crying in fear, and she started to cry also, but she didn't know why.
Flynn must have realised what was happening, because he walked up to her, and murmured softly, "She cannot help you find your way, she is just as lost as you are..."
She looked up at Flynn with wide eyes, and she siged, and blinked, and growled, "That's the second time!"
Flynn smiled, "It'll happen to you alot here, block your mind and you should be fine." he said, and continued to walk.
She continued to follow him, starting to get nervous, since the deeper they went, the spirits started to get more violent.
She asked Flynn, "Why are they not attacking us?"
Flynn only muttered, "Oh, they will..."
They continued to walk, but gasped when Flynn pushed her out of the way of a violent spirit, who tried to run her through, and it disappeared when it failed.
She regained her balance, and said, "Thanks!"
He nodded, "It's fine, don't let them touch you, it'll be more painful then how you got here." he dodged one himself, and continued to walk.
She kept even closer to him when they got past the violent spirits, and he whispered, "Just so you know... There is no spirits here, just a really old one..."
"The one we're looking for?" she asked.
He replied, "Hopefully."
She looked around, and heard her name called, and realised it was Markus, but he was signaling for her to stop, he seemed in shock.
Flynn and Lillian both stopped, and a voice echoed around the clearing, "Hmph, I was wondering when you'd come to retrieve your friend."
Nixsi walked through the clearing from the mist, and she growled, "I thought you got lost, I guess not."
Flynn smiled, "Lost? Don't worry, I've done that many times." he said, in an almost sarcastic tone.
Nixsi smiled, but in a cold way, "Don't we all wish to get lost in this world, many of these spirits are lost." she said coldly.
Lillian wasn't sure what to do, so she called, "Do you know what happens when the day of darkness comes?"
Nixsi hesitated, then looked at Lillian, "Oh, I know what happens all right, shall I recite it in a poem? or tell you the straight truth?" she asked.
Lillian looked at Flynn, but he wasn't looking at her, he was looking around carefully, as if looking for a way out.
"The straight truth!" Lillian called.
Nixsi smiled coldly, "Truth it is..." she murmured, and walked up to Lillian, and smiled, "You may have already saw it, but have you ever been there?" she asked.
Lillian didn't get a chance to answer, because her vision blackened, and she woke up to a horrible nightmare.
~*~*~*~
She just stared at her nightmare, and realised that Nixsi was standing beside her, eyes flat, and flaring with a hidden anger.
She looked up at the sky, and gasped, not only were the clouds black and swirling, they also had a blood red tinge to them, and the clouds were constantly making the world rumble.
She looked at the sun, which was pitch black like the night, there was no warmth from it, only a coldness, like death.
The land looked like it was on fire, and some of it was, but the rest was only reflecting the clouds, there was chaos everywhere.
Time seemed to fast forward a little bit, and the moon rose above the horizon, and Lillian gasped in shock at the moon, usually it was a pale white, a calming white, but no longer, it was blood red, and looked menacing, casting a shadow over the land.
The night just looked as menacing as the day, because great winds had started in multiple places, destroying everything in it's path, and the land was tinged red from the moon, liked blood was spilled recently.
The world continued to shake, and she told Nixsi, "I've seen enough!"
Nixsi smiled, and pointed at the mountain, which looked normal, almost normal, except that there was a swirling red cloud above it.
Lillian just stared, and soon, she realised she was back in the clearing, she looked at Flynn, who had a thoughtful look on his face.
Nixsi backed away from her, "Scary eh? I do know what happens, I was there after all." she murmured, eyeing Flynn, who looked unfazed.
Lillian was shaking, and Markus looked confused, standing up, and sneaking around Nixsi to stand beside Lillian.
Nixsi said nothing for a while, but she asked Flynn, "How long did that day last?"
Flynn hesitated, then growled, "Ten years."
Lillian gasped, Ten years? she thought in horror.
Nixsi was clutching a dagger, it looked like a tornado, spinning in at the top, and spinning out at the bottom, "It's surprising, that the fate of death can die, of course, no one has had the nerve to do that." she sniffed, smiling in an almost sweet way.
Flynn looked at her, but he didn't seem too threatened.
She twirled the dagger, and smiled, "But people have tried, haven't they, some have almost succeded.." she said quietly.
Flynn still didn't seem unfazed.
Nixsi realized that taunting him wasn't going to work, she she just grabbed the hilt of the dagger tightly, and asked, "You don't seem too threatened, why don't you fight me right now?"
Flynn still looked pretty calm, "I don't actaully feel like fighting, I already fought spirits here, I don't feel like doing it again." he said, shrugging.
Nixsi\s eyes blazed in fury and annoyance, and she rushed Flynn with her dagger.
Lillian expected for it to hit, but was suprised when Flynn just dodged with the greatest of ease and he smiled, "That's why I don't really want too." he said, and dodged another swipe.
Nixsi must have getting frustrated, because she started swiping repeatedly, but Flynn just jumped away, smiling.
Nixsi stopped, and seemed to be looking around, but she caught Lillian's eyes, and smiled, "I may have failed killing your descendent, but this time, I won't fail on killing you..." she whispered, and aimed straight for Lillian, and threw the dagger.
Lillian gasped when she saw Flynn jump in front of her, she saw a blinding flash of light, and her world went black.
She tried to open her eyes, but couldn't but she heard someone, "Hey, Lillian, are you alright?"
Lillian finally opened her eyes, she was staring up at Markus, and was surprised he was still human, since it was obvious they were no longer in the spirit world.
She heard another voice, "Don't be so surprised that he's human, I need to tell and ask you guys a favour, since you're human anyways, might as well, you're only going to be human for a couple minutes."
Lillian sat up, and looked at Flynn, he was pulling the dagger out of him, but he didn't seem to be in too much pain, and if he was, he was good at hiding it, he stood up, holding his stomach, which was bleeding.
"Now you two, listen, I know you want to get the mountain of fates, but the road to it is blocked in Nixsan, thanks to Nixsi of course..." he said.
Markus gasped, "What?"
"That's right, you're going to have to go straight through Hostrich to get to the path in Ishari, and just warning you, that path is dangerous, many people have died in there, I should know..." he murmured.
"Great, more travelling." Markus rolled his eyes.
"Yes well, it might not be easy either." Flynn pointed out, sitting down.
Markus asked, "Why?"
"You'd be walking right into my brothers territory, and he's very hot-tempered, there's always storms in Hostrich, you'd be surprised at all the damage Collin has done." Flynn smiled.
Lillian sighed, "Great! Not the fate of Tradegy's territory! I'm going to get slapped by a falling tree banch!"
Flynn smiled, "Well, he can be reasonable most of the time, just don't make him angry." he said sweetly.
Lillian looked at him, "Is he as bad as you when you're angry?" she asked scornfully.
"He wishes!" Flynn laughed, and shook his head, "Not even close, you're good, worse that can happen is that he can create a great wind and knock some trees on your head, but of course, I don't feel like going to his territory just because you'd thought it'd be funny to see what happens you make him angry." he smiled in an almost sarcastic way.
Lillian nodded, "Alright, thanks Flynn.. Are you going to be alright?" she asked, eyeing him.
"Of course, it'd take a lot more then a stupid dagger to kill me." he smiled.
Lillian nodded, and gasped when there was another flash of light, and when it cleared, Flynn was gone, and Markus and Lillian were back to wolves.
Lillian looked at Markus, "We need to get out of this land! Now!" she barked, and ran past him.
Markus jumped, and followed her, and called, "Why?"
"Nixsi!" she barked back, jumping over a fallen tree.
Markus called, "What about the pack?"
Lillian didn't answer, but she saw Lucan talking to Aris and Erik, and Lillian barked, "We have to go!"
Aris and Lucan looked up in shock, but Erik nodded, "Lead the way!" he said gleefully.
Aris stopped Lillian, "Woah woah! Why? We promised to help the pack!" he said, "We can't just leave them."
Lillian whispered, "We have to Aris, there is a very angry spirit hunting me! Let's go!"
Aris finally seemed to get the point, and he nodded, although he looked reluctant. Lucan didn't say anything, only followed Lillian.
She finally found the path leading to Hostrich, she skidded down to it, and ran the path. Being followed closely by her friends.
She heard the ominous rumbling, which means Nixsi was still after them, and she was determined to trap them under the snow.
"Avalanche!" Lucan called, and ran past Lillian, looking around swiftly.
"There are no caves!" Lillian called back.
The avalanche was coming closer, and Lillian heard a young voice behind them, "Hey! Wait up."
Markus and Lillian both turned with horrified looks on their faces, and both called, "Kyrai!"
Kyrai started to run towards them, and panted, "I caught up with you guys! Now lets run!" she ran past them, lookinglike she was having the time of her life, and followed Lucan.
Markus and Lillian ran after them, with Aris and Erik in front of them.
Soon, they reached a dead end, and they looked behind them, the avalanche catching up to them.
Lillian looked around, and saw a huge black wolf, it seemed to be signaling to a snow wall furiously, Lillian nodded and barked, "I know where we can go!"
She ran up to the black wolf, nodded, and dug at the snow wall, and it soon fell to reveal a cave entrance.
The black wolf nodded, Markus and Kyrai and both ran in first, with Lucan, Aris and Erik following quickly.
She looked at the black wolf, who looked on, and she finally padded in, followed by the black wolf
The cave was soon plunged in darkness, and all of them gasped, "Eh!?"
She winced when the glowing mushrooms in the cave lit up, revealing all of them standing around, shivering, and the black wolf sitting bits away.
She realised that it was Flynn in his wolf form, he twitched his ears, and Lillian whispered, "Thanks.."
He shrugged, and walked past them, looking at the fork, and chose the left one, like he wasn't even thinking about it.
Lillian knew he disappeared into the darkness, and that they wouldn't see him, but she took the left path anyways, closely followed by her friends
In no time at all, they were outside again, on the other side of the dead end, and they walked more calmly this time.
Markus asked Kyrai, "Why'd you follow us?"
Kyrai shrugged, "Because, you guys seemed scared and in a hurry! I wanted to come with you!" she barked.
Markus twitched his ears, "Nice excuse." he teased.
"Hey..." Kyrai frowned in mock hurt.
Lillian just rolled her eyes, and continued to walk forward, glad that Flynn had led them out of danger, but she had the strage feeling it was taking a toll on him, when they should have died, they didn't because of him. She started to worry about that.
Soon though, the snow seemed to end, and they were in a forested area, some trees leaning on other trees, and some totally on the ground, seemingly ripped from the branches.
She then knew what Flynn meant about it being his brothers territory, this place was wrecked from constant storms, and she was surprised when it wasn't at least raining.
Erik whispered, "Hostrich...."
She looked back at him, this is where Erik was raised.
Kyrai gasped, "Wow.. This is The Land of Storms!" she looked around, and jumped on a tree, "This is awesome!" she laughed. Rolling off the tree.
Lillian kept her nervous stance though, she knew that they could not easily walk into Hostrich without being welcomed by some type of storm.
But no... It was absolutely silent.
Why was it so silent?
Chapter 4
The silence
Is worse then
The darkness
Lillian was unnerved by the silence, she shivered, she thought Hostrich would be more loud, with all the thunderstorms that happen.
Erik seemed to be unnerved also, being born here means he knows this land better then anybody, and he muttered, "Why is there not even rain?"
Lucan nor Markus seemed to care if it was raining or not, Kyrai didn't even seem to mind, but Aris looked confused.
Lillian looked at Erik, "Is it always this quiet?" she asked quietly, wanting to go back to Nixsan.
Erik shook his head, "No... It's usualy very loud, with lighting and thunder, Hostrich is known for it's storms.." he muttered, looking at the stormy grey sky.
Lillian looked up also, the stormy clouds barely moving, as if they were suspended there.
Kyrai and Markus decided that they wanted to explore around, and Aris was staring back at the Nixsan border with sad eyes, and decided to go explore around there, and only Erik and Lillian were left alone, with the silent sky.
She heard a voice, "You will not find what you're looking for here..."
She whipped around, and she saw a young girl, her playful sky blue eyes wide, her wheat blonde hair tied up in a pony-tail, she was wearing a furry coat, and she was smiling.
Erik asked, "Do you know why the clouds have stopped?" he seemed unfazed by the sudden appearance of the girl, but Lillian had narrowed her eyes.
"Oh, that's easy, the fate of Tradegy is not here!" she smiled, narrowing her eyes playfully.
"Eh?! What do you mean he's not here?!" Lillian gasped, and stared at the girl.
"Well.. He is here, but he's trapped in a dream, never to wake up, nor can he wake up, and not many people can enter the dreams of others!" She laughed playfully.
Lillian gasped, "Wait! So he's... Dead?"
She gasped, and shook her head, and waved her hands, "Oh~ No no... He was sent spiralling into a dream by the people in this land, because they fought back!" she laughed.
Spiralling into a dream... Lillian thought, and gasped, That's what it felt like when Flynn broke the line between my soul and my body! I felt like I was falling..
The girl looked at Lillian, "Have you figured out? This happened to you before I guess?" tipping her head.
"Yes... And almost similiar reasons..." She muttered, looking down at her paws.
The girl looked up at the sky, sadness flashing across her, "It can get quite boring, being peaceful all the time, that is why we have the fate of tradegy, to teach people to stay on their toes." she muttered, then turned to them, "Well, you've got to help the fate, if he stays this way, it'll be dangerous for this land, it needs the storms to stay prosperous." she said quickly.
Lillian relaxed, this girl was obviously not going to hurt them, but she was confused on how she could understand them, and before she could point this out, the girl laughed, "Well, I better be getting back to Ishari!" she turned and ran off, seemingly playful and peaceful to the world around her.
Lillian looked at Erik, "How are we going to wake a fate up?" she asked.
Erik tipped his head, "We could go to the under-ground libary..." he muttered, and jumped when Aris came back.
"Why would we want to go to a libary?" Aris asked curiously.
Lillian tensed up, but Erik just answered calmly, "I think the reason the air is so... Silent and sitll here is because the fate is trapped in a dream."
Aris looked alarmed, "Eh?"
Lillian nodded, but looked up at the mountains, she shivered, knowing that Nixsi would be waiting for them when they came back to help the pack, but first, for that to happen, Nixsi's soul must be killed another time.
Markus and Kyrai finally came back, and Markus barked, "Kyrai found cave! By falling into it!" he laughed, and Kyrai looked angry.
"You pushed me! It wasn't fair!" She snapped, and rolled her eyes, "Come on! It's quite nice!" she barked, and ran away.
Markus shrugged, and followed her, closely followed by the rest.
They all jumped into the cave, and looked around cautiously, and Kyrai barked, "This is onlyone part of the cave, there's a fork near the end of the cave, we think it's just a cave system, nothing more!"
Lillian looked at Erik, who seemed almost excited, and he barked, "I'll go explore those paths, see what's there!" and he ran off.
Lillian decided to go to bed, she didn't feel like exploring after encountering the girl and her warning, it's not like she could do anything yet.
She closed her eyes, hoping that she could think something over while asleep.
She opened her eyes a squint, and gasped, "Eh? Oh come on! Can I have a peaceful sleep?" she snapped.
"Sorry, not going to happen." she heard a familiar voice, and she narrowed her eyes, "Great! What?"
Flynn looked confused, "You were the one who called me here, were you not?" he asked, unfazed by her snap.
Lillian looked confused, "Well, no.. But we have two problems! We left the pack back in Nixsan, and we promised to help them! And your brother is trapped in a dream!" she barked.
Flynn didn't seem shocked, "I know my brother is stuck in a dream, and your friends are fine, they can't really go anywhere anyways, Nixsi blocked all the paths to their destination." he said.
Lillian realised something, "Hey! Can't you just go into your brothers dream?" she asked.
Flynn looked down, "It's more complicated then that, a persons dream I can enter with no problem, called to or not, but for something that's not truly human at mind, that's where it gets tricky, besides, even if I tried, I can't." he said.
"Why not?" Lillian asked.
Flynn shrugged, "I don't know, Collin has blocked his mind too well for me to do anything anymore, I was always usually the one to calm him after he.. Loses his temper, but now, that's gotten harder, and he's totally blocked anything from coming in or out, that's why he's stuck, he's blocked himself." Flynn rolled his eyes.
Lillian couldn't help but roll her eyes too, and she asked, "What can we do?"
Flynn seemed to think, and shrugged, "Well, he's fine for a while, he shouldn't stay this way too long.. Or Nixsi will be allowed to reach her curse into Hostrich, my brothers storms are the reason her curse cannot reach that far." he said seriously.
Lillian sighed, "So to help your brother, we must beat Nixsi first?"
Flynn smiled, "That's becoming easier now.. Her friends spirit will do the trick..." he muttered.
Lillian looked confused, "Eh?! Don't tell me you can raise the dead too!" she gasped, backing away.
Flynn looked up at her, "Erm, I can, but it's really hard too, and it always has the off chance of sending me into what my brother is and is in, so I don't do it, at all," he smiled, and shook his head, "No, I mean, we can try persuading Nixsi to let go, and disappear."
Lillian gasped, "I'll help then!"
Flynn stopped smiling, "I believe even if you refused, you can't go anywhere..." he said, then pointed up words, and Lillian gasped.
Her dream sky was pitch black, and she gasped, "What's happening?"
Flynn muttered, "The dangers of dreaming when a curse is reaching into this, you're stuck in what my brother is, a dream, probably not a dangerous dream, since it's your own, you're safe."
Lillian didn't even bother freaking out, so she sighed, "Okay, so now I have no other choice.. I have to find Nixsi by leaving my dream? And how does one leave their dream?"
Flynn didn't move, but Lillian saw the dream start to shudder, and soon, it changed, and they were soon back at Nixsi, but they were at the path of echoes, at the entrance of the caves.
Flynn looked at her, "Well... Might as well.." he muttered. And walked in cautiously.
Lillian followed him through the caves, remembering the last time she was in them, but this time, she hoped Flynn knew where he was going, since he cursed this place.
Lillian asked, "Do you know where you're going?"
Flynn said bluntly, "No idea."
"Eh!?" Lillian gasped.
"To find the centre, you must be good and lost, and we are good and lost... So anytime now." Flynn muttered, looking around.
Lillian asked, "And Nixsi will be at the centre?" she realized Flynn was holding a glowing object, and he nodded.
Soon, they came across a dead end, with a rusted wooden door, and Flynn said quietly, "Here we are, I think the door is locked though."
Lillian searched her pockets, hoping that her lockpick was still in there, for when she wanted to get out of her room, and she brought out the pin, "This should open it, of course, if it isn't-" but she stopped, and turned around, and she saw Flynn was standing a couple feet away from her.
"Eh?" she mused.
Flynn seemed nervous, "Just open it..." he growled.
Lillian nodded, still confused, and opened the door slowly, and gasped at what she saw.
It was a empty cave, it's roof and sides were full of crystals, and it would've been beautiful if the atmosphere wasn't so angry and sad.
Flynn then entered, and sighed, shaking his head, most of the crystals were an angry red, yet some were a sad blue.
They jumped when they heard a voice, "Finally came to confront me have you? What do you think? It is where everyone I loved died, in this cave." Nixsi walked out, holding a sword this time.
Lillian looked at Flynn, but he didn't seem to have any weapons on him, only the glowing orb, which was emitting a soft light.
She saw the light too, and laughed, "What do you plan to do with an orb?"
He smiled, "It's the orb that's going to do the planning, I think it'll seem familiar too you soon enough." he said, and dropped the orb, which cracked, and mist poured out of it.
Flynn stepped back, and Lillian followed, confused on what was happening.
Soon, a shape formed out of the mist, and Nixsi seemed unnerved.
Flynn called, "Recognize the spirit? This after all, your friend, who you killed to stay with another who would have betrayed you."
Nixsi called back, "It can't! A spirit can't be taken out of the spirit world! Not even by you! It's just an illusion!"
Flynn stopped smiling, "True, but spirits can be taken from the spirit world to the dream world, the two worlds do connect after all." he said.
Nixsi still seemed disbelieving, then the spirit spoke, "I am not an illusion, maybe I am too you, and I am dead because of you." it's eyes were sad.
Lillian felt Flynn push her back behind him, and he growled, "This might get tricky...."
She realised the spirit had a red glow too it, which meant not only was it angry, but it was feeling vengeful for it's own life.
She flinched when Nixsi attacked her friend, and she yelled, "Never again! I hate being tortured by spirits!" and slashed her friend.
The spirit brought out it's own ghostly sword, and blocked the attack with ease, and she growled, "I will not let you kill me again!"
Lillian and Flynn backed up when the two spirits started fighting, and she hissed to Flynn, "How is this going to help?!"
Flynn whispered, "Just watch, I cannot kill her, the one she killed must kill her."
Lillian just hid behind him, and they jumped back when the spirits got to near them.
She realised that Flynn's ghostly scythe that he usually used in his dark form was now clutched in his hands, but he seemed to be using it as protection.
Soon, the fighting got ugly, and the spirit looked ready to fade, but so did Nixsi, because anger had left her eyes, and sadness had replaced it.
Flynn muttered, "Almost there..."
Lillian was confused, but gasped when Nixsi was ready to launch another attack on the spirit.
She felt Flynn rush forward, he burst through the spirit, and slashed the scythe through Nixsi, although like a spirit, it didn't look like it affected her, but Lillian knew it did.
She gasped in pain, and keeled over.
The spirit of her friend was panting, but it was slowly reappearing.
Nixsi gasped, "Why?"
Flynn's scythe disappeared, "You are in too much pain to stay within this world, you've killed too many people, and all this started because you were in love." he said quietly.
Nixsi didn't say anything, and she smiled cruelly, "Ah yes, you know how love feels, but your death, you shouldn't feel anything, but yet.. You do, say, did you feel what I felt when your love died? Did you want to kill just to have them back?"
Flynn seemed to flinch, and said in an almost just as cruel voice, "Maybe I did, but I didn't kill my best friend, I was forced to set a curse because you asked, and when someone forcefully asks like that, I had no choice."
Nixsi realized she hit a nerve, "Hmph, I did kill your little friend back then, you knew that of course, but I was already dead before you came after me, my soul was too quick, and didn't want to go to the mountain anyways." she snarled.
Flynn seemed to hesitate, and Nixsi continued, "Was it worth it, we both lost someone we loved, just because we wanted to stay with them, but you ended up actually having descendents, one of them still alive, and now that you've finally beat me, I bet nothing will change, Nixsan will stay cold and unforgiving, my curse will still remain."
Lillian was shocked, Flynn was like Nixsi in many ways, although in a different way. Nixsi looked at Lillian, "Have you told your friend how it's affecting you to keep them safe when you help them avoid what should have been their death?" she asked in a rasp.
Flynn didn't answer, and Nixsi smiled, "Lillian, Flynn is the fate of Death is he not?" she asked in a rasp.
Lillian nodded, and Nixsi actually smiled pure sympathy, "You did not die when you should have because of him, do you know how that affects him?" she asked.
Lillian shook her head, taking a step forward.
"If a soul doesn't die when it's supposed to, Flynn is taking steps closer to death himself..." she whispered, even though it seemed to echo around the cave.
Nixsi sighed, and she started to fade away, and soon, she fully disappeared.
Flynn and Lillian were standing in silence, and Lillian asked, "Is-Is that true?"
Flynn didn't answer, but he finally said, "Yes, maybe it was your time to die, but I know you'd rather die a human then an animal, and with everyone you know, not die in a cold desolate land..."
Lillian realized he was shaking a little bit, and she asked, "So? Can I go back?"
Flynn then looked at her, "Why didn't you ask before?" he asked back.
Lillian gaped, and said, "What?"
Flynn turned, "You could have asked before if you could go back you know." he said curiously.
Lillian snapped, "What? I could have missed this?!"
Flynn hesitated, then nodded, but seemed to look around.
"Eh? What's the-" but she gasped, the crystals were starting to dim, and turn into black with a red tinge, and she asked, "What's happening?"
Flynn seemed confused too, "I..." but his eyes widened, and Lillian gasped when he pushed her, and the dream shattered.
And Lillian was sent into a spiralling blackness, falling.
~*~*~*~
She woke up with a gasp, and she realised all her friends were standing around her. Eyes filled with worry and shock, and Lucan with terror.
She stood up, not saying anything, but Lucan seemed in shock more then all of them, and he stammered in an Lucan-like way, "Wh-What happened?" he asked.
Lillian didn't answer, only that whatever happened, Nixsi wasn't finished yet, so she ran out of the den, heading back to the border, running as fast as her paws could carry her.
She ran into the cave, instead, knowing what she had to do, get good and lost.
But she realised Lucan was following her, and she stopped, "Hey!"
Lucan snapped, "I know what happened, don't ask how, I just know! What the heck?! Nixsi isn't dead?" he asked.
Lillian just continued to rush on, Lucan following behind her. And soon, she saw the wooden door. And tried to yank it open.
"Why won't it open?" she gasped, yanking on it.
Lucan helped her, and soon the door finally opened.
Lillian gasped, it wasn't the dream that shattered, it was the crystals, Flynn just sent her back to her body, and he had stopped the crystals from shatttering everywhere.
They were suspended, now still a blackish red, they glittered off each-other, turning the room slightly red, and Flynn was stuck in the middle of the room, keeping them suspended, while Nixsi tried to push them down, even though she was nowhere in sight.
Lillian realised it was taking a lot out of him though, because he looked tired, and she looked around, and padded into the room.
"Flynn! You've got to turn into a wolf and get out of here!" she called.
Flynn must have acknowleged she was there, because Lillian closed her eyes, and there was a blast, and she opened them again, and this time, a wolf had taken Flynn's place, but was still fighting to keep the crystals in place.
Lillian gasped when the crystals started to turn red again, and she realised that Nixsi was about to finish Flynn off.
"Now would be nice!" she called.
Flynn twiched his ears, slowly backing away, and when he reached where Lillian was, she realised that his eyes were an angry black, and when he finally let go, they turned back to stormy grey, and the crystals started to fall.
They both jumped back into the cave, and watched as the crystals smashed into the floor, shattering into red pieces.
Lucan asked, "What? That's a weird colour."
Lillian started to get nervous, the shadows in the cave started to get more menacing.
Flynn turned back into a human, and said, "We won't have long before Nixsi tries to kill us with this cave."
Lillian shivered, the shadows turned the cave pitch black, and even Lucan seemed nervous, she realised Flynn had transformed back into a wolf, and was starting to walk away from the centre.
They followed him, he sniffed the air, and they felt the ground shake. Flynn looked up, and pushed Lucan and Lillian out of the way of falling rocks.
Lillian thought, I thought you killed Nixsi!
Flynn looked at her, I thought I did. his eyes were narrowed dangerously.
They continued to walk, they stayed alert, and Lucan growled, "Ugh, we're lost!"
"That's what these caves were made for, you should know that." Lillian told him, rolling her eyes.
They ended up at a dead end, and Lillian groaned, "Oh... Come on!'
She heard rumbling from where they came from, and knew that Nixsi had trapped them.
Come on! Think! These caves are linked with each-other.. Which means.. she thought, and said, "Flynn! Can you open the cieling?"
Flynn just looked at her curiously, and nodded, looking up at the cieling, and Lillian rolled her eyes.
She gasped when some of the roof caved in, Flynn backed up a bit, and jumped into the higher cave, followed by Lillian and Lucan.
They saw the entrance of the cave, and they ran out, just as the entrance caved in.
They gasped when they saw another wolf, waiting for them, it's eyes red with anger, and it's silvery white fur bristling.
Flynn growled also, putting his ears back, and flicking his tail back and forth.
Lillian pulled his tail, "Not a good idea! You're weak enough as it is!" she barked.
Flynn stopped, and looked back at her, but she knew that if they didn't attack, they were making it easy for Nixsi, so she whispered, "There's got to be an easier way then making yourself more vunerable..."
Flynn seemed to understand, and looked around, he narrowed his eyes at Nixsi, and backed away, as if he was daring for her to attack.
Nixsi fell for it, and howled a loud howl, causing an avalanche.
Flynn nodded, and Lucan, Lillian, and Flynn turned around, running away from Nixsi.
Nixsi seemed to get what happened, but knew it was too late, Flynn jumped onto a ledge leading up from the path, and Lucan followed.
Lillian followed also, and was relieved when they reached the top, she realised that Flynn had disappeared once again, but realised that the sun was slowly starting to break the clouds grey dullness, casting the land into a white sparkle.
Lucan looked up, and he muttered, "The curse... She's dead?"
Lillian realised that for the first time, the sun's warmth reached Nixsan, she looked at the castle, and realised the wolf fires were no longer burning.
She looked over at the border of Hostrich, and she muttered, "Let's go..."
They headed back to Hostrich, and found that Erik had found the under-ground libary, but by the time they went to the libary, it was almost sunset, so Lillian and Erik poured through the books.
"Oh... Runes..." Erik muttered after pulling out a book with his teeth, and opened it, "I wish I could read runes." he muttered.
Lillian barked, "Let me see, I was taught how to read runes!" and took the book from Erik.
She read it, and her eyes started to widen in horror, and Erik asked, "What? What does it say?"
Lillian didn't answer, and she never would, she continued to turn the pages, getting horrified every page.
"What?!" Erik asked.
Lillian closed the book, and growled, "It's nothing..." she put it back where it was, and she spotted a familiar book.
She padded up to it, and grabbed it, and realised it was the book she was reading before she was turned into a wolf, well, one of them anyways.
She put it back, and looked at Erik, "Find anything yet?"
Erik nodded, and showed his book, and turned to a page that was written in runes also.
Lillian read it at different angles, and she barked, "It says that to get an animal or person out of a dream.. You must perform some sort of.. Spell. But we need a moonflower to do it..."
Erik perked his ears, "I think I know how it works." he said.
Lillian nodded, "Do you know where moonflowers grow?" she asked.
Erik nodded, and ran back to where everyone else was, while Lillian continued to read.
She never did tell anyone what read in the book filled with runes.
And she never will.
Chapter 5
Moonflowers grow
Where there was sorrow.
Lillian followed Erik through the silent forest, she was shocked that there was no activity, no movement... Nothing at all.
Erik barked, "We're getting close, there should be a patch of moonflowers near here, hope they're in bloom, it's about time to."
They stopped in a clearing shining under the moon, and she gasped, the clearing was full of shining white flowers, it's grey centre giving off light of it's own. And the flowers seemed to shine off each-other because of the moon. Even though it was a pretty light, Lillian couldn't help but feel sorrowful.
Erik barked, "Moonflowers only grow on a spot of sorrow, everyone who was raised in Hostrich knows what happened here, it's a very sacred spot, this clearing." he padded to a moonflower, looked up, and grabbed it carefully.
Lillian asked, "Why is the clearing so sacred?"
Erik didn't answer, but just padded past her, but near the cave, he muttered, "Because that's where the civil war started and ended, and it ended the same way it started... With ten years of darkness." and he sighed, "The day of darkness is meant to punish us, to show us what would happen if we continued like we are now.. Because soon... It won't be the fate of death that will cause the everlasting darkness.... It will be us."
Lillian shivered, and finally understood why these wars were so horrible, and why it made the fate of death retaliate, because of all the souls dying from unneeded wars.
Soon, they went back in the cave, Aris was studying the book carefully, muttering to Lucan, who seemed doubtful.
Lillian asked, "What's wrong?"
Aris and Lucan both looked up, and Aris looked at Lucan, but Lucan continued to stare straight ahead.
Aris looked back down at the book, and barked, "Apparently, for this to truly work, as in, not have any problems, we need the fate of death, but as you can see, we have no way of contacting him."
Lillian looked at Lucan, "Maybe... We do..." she smiled in an almost too sweet way.
Lucan looked at her, and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
Lillian asked, "You are the fate of death's descendent are you not?"
Lucan growled, "I already told you this didn't I? Yes, I am."
Lillian thought quickly, and muttered, "I can try."
Lucan just stared at her, and Aris asked, "How?"
She smiled, and left the den, taking a walk back to the clearing, she stared at the clearing, looking up at the full moon as it lit up the clearing.
She waited and waited, knowing that if this is a sacred and sorrowful spot, then the spirits that were lost to Flynn must still wander here.
She realised that a foggy mist started to rise from the moonflowers. She gasped when white spirits started to wander around, staring at the moonflowers in an almost happy way, as if they were at peace in this clearing, and didn't want to leave.
She just sat and stared, amazed that even though she would find this terribly creepy, it was almost nice... In a peaceful way.
"They didn't want to leave in the first place, I guess I should understand, for spirits that were killed here, they'd rather stay here." a voice muttered behind her.
She jumped, whimping around, and whipped her tail sharply.
Flynn jumped back, "Hey, it's just me, relax." he muttered.
Lillian relaxed, and sat back down again, and Flynn continued, "Many times I have tried to guide these souls to the mountains, but I guess they'd rather stay here, while resting in peace, so I guess it works out for everyone, if they're truly happy here, I can't actually move them, that'd upset them."
"You know, for the "Grim Reaper" you're actually nicer then I imagined you." Lillian admitted.
Flynn smiled, "People usually see me as a big mean bully right? Oh well, can't change people's perspectives, it's what they believe." he said.
Lillian said nothing, but continued to stare at the clearing, the spirits shining in the moonlight.
She asked, "So, how long did the civil war last?'
Flynn got a thoughtful look on his face, "3 years, but just those three years, were the most death Hostrich has ever seen, and Collin thought it'd make the atmosphere tense if he gave them exactly 3 years of great winds, thought it would be funny..." he said, then sighed, "The deaths were the most this land has ever seen, thus causing the day of darkness, which lasted for ten years. Ten years, and still we have wars."
Lillian just stayed silent, the most Grealach's wars lasted was 2 years, and that was with Nixsan, with Nixsan being the winner, the fight was over land claims.
Flynn then asked, "So, what do you want?"
Lillian jumped, and growled, "Stop searching through my mind!"
"Learn to block it then, you want to get into Collin's dream he's trapped in right?" he asked carefully.
Lillian rolled her eyes, "Yes, Nixsi might be stopped for a little bit, we need Collin to continue the storms in this area before Nixsi sees her window." she muttered.
Flynn nodded, and stood up, turning to walk away.
"H-Hold on! I need to tell you something!" Lillian called after him.
She had brought the book of runes with her, she revealed it to Flynn, and she whispered, "I think the reason we're having wars is because of what this book said."
Flynn picked it up, and read it, and he murmured, "I see, you're worried?"
Lillian nodded, and she said in a scared voice, "That... Promise was set out by Garaos...."
"Indeed." Flynn muttered, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Why would Garaos promise that?" Lillian asked quietly, Garaos was the reason there was life on this land at all, but to promise that? That would cause anyone to tremble in terror.
She asked, "What will you do?"
Flynn didn't answer, "Nothing, I guess, not much I can do." he muttered.
Lillian just stared, she expected him to be at least in a little bit of shock, but he was almost accepting of what the book read.
"Garaos promised.... Everlasting darkness in the end... In the end, we were doomed anyways." she whispered.
Flynn hesitated, then asked flatly, "Well, want to get into my brothers dream or not?"
Lillian looked up at him, and she realised that she was wrong, he was in shock, maybe even more then she was, but he hid it well.
"Yes." she growled, and began to follow him to the cave.
She looked into the cave, and decided that she couldn't trudge the tempermental fates dream alone, she needed someone who knew this land inside out.
"Erik?" she asked.
Erik padded out of the darkness, "Yeah?" he asked.
"Me and you will try and enter, only us, all of us will probably make us seem like a threat." She whispered.
Erik nodded, and grabbed the moonflower, which was resting on a piece of stone, and he jumped out.
Flynn said, "I can't garuntee my brother is in a listening mood, so he might be in a bad mood when you go to get him."
Erik nodded, and followed Flnn, who had walked away, and Lillian followed also.
They stopped in an empty clearing, Flynn seemed to be looking for something, but he looked up, Lillian looked up also, and shivered when there was a rotating cloud, but it never touched the ground.
Erik then padded up, till he was under the rotating cloud, he put the moonflower down, and looked at Flynn, who nodded.
Erik said, "Come over here Lily!"
Lillian obeyed, and stood beside Erik, watching Flynn carefully.
She flinched when his scythe appeared in black smoke, but she was suprised when Erik looked almost excited.
Flynn saw Lillian flinch away, and he smiled, "I assure you, this won't hurt this time, last time, I had to use force."
Erik nodded, to Lillian, and closed his eyes tight in excitement.
Flynn nodded, Lillian closed her eyes too.
She waited, and expected something to happen, she was about to open her eyes again, but there was a whisper of a wind, and she seemed to feel like she was no longer on the ground, even though she was.
And she didn't dare open her eyes when she heard a violent rush of wind.
~*~*~*~
Erik muttered, "Open your eyes Lily!"
Lillian opened her eyes, and flinched when there was another burst of wind, almost sending her off her feet, she realised that she was human in the dream, but thought nothing of it, Erik was human too.
Erik didn't seem to bothered by the strong winds, and he sighed, "Just how Hostrich should be, harsh winds and loud thunder." as thunder sounded.
Lillian just found it very loud.
Erik said, "Come on! The harsher the winds are, the closer we're getting to the fate of tradegy." and ran towards the circling cloud looming over the forest.
Lillian followed, panting, not used to running with two legs, she tripped once or twice, while Erik kept his balance perfectly.
They stopped under the menacing storm cloud, which lightning came out of.
"Well! What do we have here? Couple of mortals?" a voice laughed in a almost cheery way, causing Lillian to jump and Erik to just smile.
She jumped back when a person appeared in a flash of light, his hair a stormy grey, and his eyes reminded Lillian of Flynn, except they were much darker, and menacing, like storm clouds ready to bring rain and lightning and thunder.
"Yep, mortals, how'd you get in here?" he asked curiously.
"You're brother helped us!" Erik said cheerily.
"Oh? He doesn't seem the type to leave the mountain unless it's important." he narrowed his dark eyes in suspicion.
Lillian stepped forward, "Yeah, you're brother sent us here, you're stuck here aren't you, Hostrich needs you right now, because Nixsi's curse is starting to spread." she said.
He hesitated, then smiled, "I know! But her curse won't be able to touch Hostrich, she knows better." he said calmly.
"Because you're stuck here, your storms have stopped! Her curse is starting to spread! I know, the curse trapped me in a dream." Lillian called.
He growled, and Lillian flinched when the lightning became more intense, "I know my storms have stopped, and I tried contacting my brother, but I think Nixsi is stopping what power he has left after the last day of darkness, so I have no choice."
"We've come to help you," Lillian said, "We need to get you out of here, before Nixsi realises that her curse is spreading and speeds it up!"
Collin said nothing, but the clouds seemed to calm, and the lightning stopped, and he asked in a mutter, "I thought my brother got rid of her..."
"He tried, I helped, but it almost caused both our deaths, Nixsi is getting too powerful because of the curse, we may have weakened her, but she's not out yet, we need you to help us." Lillian called in a snap.
Lillian searched through her bag, knowing that it was the same bag she had when she was a human before she turned into a wolf, but she hoped whatever she had with her at the time of when she was sent up, it was still there.
She gasped when the book of runes was in there, and she pulled it out, and passed it to Collin, "We really do need you.' she whispered.
Collin read it carefully, and Lillian sighed in relief when he acted with more shock.
"Eh!? What?!" he gasped in shock, and the wind started to get harsher.
"That's why you need to control the storm in your dream! It's the only way you can get out!" Lillian said.
Collin hesitated, and nodded, turning to the great storm cloud, he did nothing, but Lillian gasped when it stopped turning, and started to part away to reveal a night sky.
Lillian felt her soul being pulled out of the dream, and in a hurry too.
She realised the dream was slowly disappearing, with no harsh crack, or ear splitting shatter, the dream slowly disappeared. She found herself standing in the clearing again, but this time, she was soaking wet.
"Ah!" she gasped in shock as more cold rain water was dumped on her.
She heard a laugh, and opened her eyes, Collin was standing in front of her, and she realised that the rain was being caused by Collin, and it was the only spot raining.
"I didn't get a chance to give you an old Hostrich welcome!" he laughed, causing more rain water to come down.
"Ah! I'll get a cold!" she gasped, jumping back.
Flynn rolled his eyes, and asked, "Is there really point to getting her wet? The storms are going to get her wet anyways."
Collin turned to his brother, and just made Flynn get wet too, but only for a second, but Flynn as just as wet as Lillian was.
Flynn's eyes flashed in annoyance, Collin turned back around, and was about to say something. But Lillian stifled a giggle when Flynn turned into the black cloaked, skelatal scythe weilding grim reaper.
Collin was confused on what was making Lillian shake, but when he turned, he almost fell over, "Ack!"
He realised it was only his brother, "Stop doing that! You are going to give people heart attacks doing that!" he snapped, the wind starting to get harsher to match his mood.
Flynn turned back to his old self, "Well, that's what you get, now we have a bigger problem." he growled.
"Nixsi right? Sheesh, she should let it go." Collin growled.
Flynn shrugged, "I've tried many times, the first time almost killed me, the most recent one almost killed the wolf you just soaked." he snapped.
Collin turned around, and smiled in an almost playful way, "Sorry, it's my way of welcoming people." he said quickly.
"No problem." Lillian smiled.
Collin just turned back to his brother, and asked, "What are you going to do once we finally are rid of Nixsi's vengeful spirit?"
"What else?" he asked right back, even though Lillian had no idea what they were talking about, and Erik decided to pad away to join the Hostrich rain.
"Don't do what I think you're doing, it's dangerous..." Collin murmured in worry.
Flynn rolled his eyes, "On the off chance I don't get seriously injured, it works just as well as trapping what's left of her spirit in the mountain." he murmured back.
Collin still looked disbelieving, and said in a murmur, "That's an off chance, just trap what's left of her spirit in the bowels of the mountain, she can't cause any trouble there."
Flynn growled, "Oh yes, and that'll work wonders." he said, "I need to do it, Collin, I have no choice, she has rejected when I have tried trapping her, and that has ended up me almost dying."
Collin asked, "And what if the off chance.. Won't work?"
Flynn just smiled, "I have no other choice then." he said.
Collin smiled also, he must have finally figured out what his brother was trying to say, because he nodded, Lillian gasped when it started to rain again.
Flynn looked at Lillian, "You better go back to the shelter of the cave, and have your friends come back to Nixsan, we might need your help." he smiled.
He walked away, disappearing into the darkness, while Collin was just smiling, nodded to Lillian, and also disappeared into the fog the rain had created.
She ran back to the cave, Erik was sitting in front of it, enjoying the weather. She jumped in, shaking out her fur, and Markus gasped, "Hey! Watch it!"
Lucan stayed far away from Lillian while she was wet, he rolled his eyes when Erik came in, doing the same thing.
Lillian sat down, "Looks like we're going back to Nixsan." she said.
Aris seemed almost delighted about that, but Lucan and Markus had looked unsure, but Erik asked, "Why?"
"Nixsi isn't done with us yet, and Aris, you said yourself you want to help the pack, do you not?" Lillian turned to Aris.
Aris nodded, and stood up, "We can leave at first morning.. But Lillian, you're not going to be helping us with the pack are you?" he asked.
Kyrai, who had stayed in the cave, asked, "Does that mean I'm going back home?"
Markus nodded, "Don't you miss your homeland?" he asked.
"Of course..." Kyrai muttered, and went to pick a spot to sleep.
Lillian nodded also, but instead of going to sleep, she went to the library, knowing that not only did the books she read mislead her, but they were wrong on so many accounts.
She grabbed a couple books, reading them with curiousity, some of the pages had rune writing on it, as if someone was commenting what was in it.
But she ignored the rune writing, and continued to read through the book, and her curiousity sparked when she saw a picture of a large creature.
"Hm?" Lillian tipped her head, and realised it was just a little story about dragons, of which she read before, so she turned the page again.
"Lillian..." a voice said quietly behind her.
Lillian jumped, turning around, and saw Markus standing in the darkness of the under-ground library, and he asked, "Erik said you've been acting weird since you read that book of runes, what did it say that was so... Terrifying?"
Lillian hesitated, remembering what was said in the book too well, and what worried her even more is how Collin and Flynn both reacted, with shock, even though what Flynn hid was no doubt shock, if he wasn't so calm, he would have reacted the same way as Collin.
She sighed, and turned, not looking at Markus, and repeated what it said:
"Show me that mortals still have the passion to treat others with love, or let death meet death, tradegy continue, peace no longer there, and life destroyed, and let that day bring forth... Everlasting darkness." she said in a growl.
Markus said nothing, but Lillian just shook her head, and Markus said in a stammer, "That.. Could mean different things of course..." but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more then he was trying to convince Lillian. And Lillian knew that promise could only go one way, humans had to show passion to each-other again, or risk the everlasting darkness, that Flynn cannot control.
"Maybe you're right, it's maybe like those double meaning things, when they have double meanings..." Lillian murmured.
Markus said nothing also, but he asked, "Where'd you learn to read runes?"
Lillian didn't answer, but she muttered, "You could say I somehow taught myself.. Reading runes was so easy for me..."
Markus just stared, and said, "Well, I tried learning runes, but it didn't work out." he rolled his eyes, and padded away, back into the darkness.
She continued reading the books, a mix of them were stories, but some were true, but she kept getting distracted by the rune writing over all the pages, she rolled her eyes, and closed the book.
She jumped again when she heard a noise, but sighed when it was only a couple of books that fell over.
She looked at the books closely, and didn't feel comfortable, as one of the books was one on dire wolves, but it was a fiction story. The other one was also fiction, but about the fates.
She picked them up in her mouth, and tried her best to put them back, but failed, but at least they stayed on the shelf.
She jumped again when she heard a voice in pain. But was confused, since it didn't come from where her friends were resting.
"Hello?" she asked the darkness, but the voice did not answer, and she flicked her tail in nervousness, and started to pad back towards her friends.
She rolled her eyes when all of them were sleeping, she picked where she slept before, and tried to get a good nights sleep.
Too bad that wasn't the case
~*~*~*~
She gasped when she fell right on her face on the ground, she was about to snap at whatever brought her here, but gasped when it was Nixsi.
Nixsi looked angry, "I brought you here for a reason mortal, hope you know this." she snarled.
Lillian jumped back, and put her hands out in front of her, "Will someone let me sleep in peace?! Please?" she gasped in exasperation.
"Oh shut it, I brought you here for a reason, so just sit there and wait." she growled, and paced.
Lillian sat down, but eyed Nixsi carefully, "And the reason being?" Lillian asked in a growl.
Nixsi didn't answer, but she smiled when the sky suddenly darkened, and she whispered, "So he decided to come after her after all..."
Lillian wasn't sure what she meant, but gasped when there was a lightning strike, but was surprised when nothing happened.
Nixsi just rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on, stop playing games and show yourself." she snapped.
She heard Collins voice, "And ruin the game? No." he gave a laugh, and there was another lightning strike
But Lillian jumped when Flynn and Collin appeared out of the darkness, and Collin looked at Lillian, "You invaded my dream, so I invade yours, works." he said with a smile.
Nixsi murmured, "You two came after all, I didn't think you would."
Collin said, "But you were presenting yourself so easily, we just had to take that chance!"
Flynn seemed doubtful, then growled, "It's a trap, Collin."
Lillian realised she couldn't move, and when she tried, she felt life being sucked out of her, and Nixsi smiled, "Now, don't stress out you're little friend here, she might just end up the same way your other little friend did, all those years ago."
Collin and Flynn looked horrified. And Lillian stopped moving also, not wanting to end up dead.
Nixsi growled, "What are you going to do.. She can't stay like this forever, she is going to die either way..." she stepped forward.
Lillian looked and Flynn, and tried to shake her head, but the feeling of life being sucked out of her, and she froze once again.
Collin looked at Flynn warningly, who seemed a bit off, and Nixsi growled, "What are you going to do now, if you attack me, you might end up killing your friend." Nixsi eyed Lillian, who was trying to think.
Collin seemed to be thinking also, because he was looking around carefully while Nixsi continued to talk.
Collin then edged around Nixsi, who was distracted with taunting Flynn, and Collin asked quietly, "You can't move."
Lillian only gave him a scornful look, but flinched from that, which caused her even more to feel weakened.
Collin rolled his eyes, "I need you to stay there, and don't move." he murmured, and went behind Nixsi, and Lillian gasped when two handed swords came out of no where, and his eyes flashed.
Nixsi seemed to sense something was off, because she whipped around, almost sending Collin flying, but he braced himself, and Lillian felt whatever was holding her there lift from Nixsi's shock.
She stood up quickly, and jumped away from Nixsi, and Flynn must have saw his chance, because he finally attacked Nixsi, like he was waiting for the right moment.
Nixsi growled, turning around also, Flynn jumped away from her attack.
Collin stood up fully, and attacked Nixsi quickly, but just made her more annoyed by dodging her attacks.
Nixsi must have been getting angry, because she somehow knocked both Flynn and Collin back, but Flynn got knocked back into a tree, while Collin just got pushed back a little, and counter attacked.
But Lillian was confused, whatever Nixsi used to push both fates back, didn't affect her, she sneaked to Flynn, who was shaking, and she said, "Whatever Nixsi is doing.. It's not affecting me."
Flynn seemed confused for a moment, but he finally understood, because he took out his dagger, and gave it to Lillian.
Lillian clutched the dagger, and prayed that Collin kept Nixsi distracted long enough for Lillian to attack herself.
When Collin looked too tired to continue, Lillian saw her chance when Nixsi seemed to enjoy her victory, and Lillian attacked Nixsi.
Nixsi whipped around, but Lillian felt nothing, and Nixsi growled, "Fine, you win this time... But you won't win in my homeland." she seemed to disappear, and the dagger dropped to the ground.
She looked at Collin, who was walking towards his brother to help him up, and Flynn seeed to be alittle bit off balance from Nixsi's last attack on him, and Lillian asked, "Are you alright?"
Flynn nodded, "A little worn out, is all.." he muttered.
Collin nodded, "Nixsi sure doesn't give up easily does she?" he asked.
Lillian nodded, but was surprised when they just disappeared into the darkness without saying a word, and she was left alone with Flynns dagger, and she looked at it closely.
She realised thet the blade was inscribed with rune writing.
Over the edge.
She looked on the other side.
Over again.
(Note from the authour: If you get the reference, you're awesome.)
She seemed confused, but kept the dagger close, and saw her dream start to disappear, and she sighed, hoping that finally, Nixsi is weakened enough for no one to get hurt.
Over the edge.
Over again
Chapter 6
Over the edge.
Over again.
Lillian woke up with everyone staring at her, she asked, "What?"
"You were.. Choking in your sleep." Markus muttered.
"Eh?" she murmured, standing up, and shook out her fur, then remembered what had happened. She jumped up, "Ack!"
Markus jumped back also, "Eh? Please relax!" he said quickly, his fur standing on end in alarm.
She swished her tail back in forth, teeth slightly bared, she then looked at Aris, "Is it morning yet?" she asked coldly.
Aris seemed taken-aback, but he looked out, and he called, "Yeah, it's morning? Why? Want to leave now?" he turned back to her.
Lillian nodded, and jumped out of the hole, tail held high up in the air, and she walked towards the border, the rain almost soaking her through her fur.
She thought, Thankfully, the storms have continued, Nixsi's curse can't reach this far now... as she walked, the rain changed to snow when they reached the border.
"Great, first rain, now snow, the weather isn't on our side is it." Markus growled, and swished his tail back and forth.
"Oh, he is, he just thinks it'd be funny to torture us with his funny weather." Lillian said, rolling her eyes.
Lucan rolled his eyes also, climbing over the avalanche, which blocked the path, and they followed him, with Kyrai having some trouble climbing the bank.
Markus helped her up, and caught up to Lillian, "I wonder if the pack wondered where we disappeared off too..." he muttered.
"Maybe they think we got piled under snow because you thought it would be funny." Lillian joked. Pushing him into snow.
Markus stood up quickly, his pelt full of snow, "Hey, that's no fair!" he exclaimed, and shook out his fur. Kicking some snow at Lillian, which Lillian dodged.
Kyrai got involved, but ended up falling into deep snow, and Lillian laughed while Kyrai was like, "No fair snow!" she yelled.
She climbed out, Lillian realised Lucan and Aris were watching, with seriousness and amusement, and continued walking.
Lillian, Markus, and Kyrai followed them clumsily, because their little snow war was still on.
When they finally got to solid ground, Lillian shivered, it seemed to have gotten colder since the last time they were here, it was almost a blizzard.
Lillian finally scented Kitash, and was happy tos ee her, but that happiness turned into worry when Kitash fought to get to them, fighting against the cold.
"You! Kyrai! Where have you been!" Kitash asked in a stern voice.
Markus padded forward, "She's okay, you're obviously not!" he exclaimed.
Kitash nodded, "I guess it is best that Kyrai was out of this going to be desolate wasteland, as you can see, it is almost to cold too live here, just like the old days.. The great spirit of this land is angry, and is punishing this land with cold..." she murmured.
She signaled them to follow her, so they trudged through the cold and the snow, to where the pack was resting.
The pack was huddled in groups, staring at their paws as they battled against the cold.
They continued to follow Kitash until they were were Meteor was, he was hidden under a tree, and didn't look so good.v
"They're back, Meteor." Kitash muttered, and backed away.
Meteor rasped, "I see... Aris, I have another favour to ask you, since the great spirit of this land will soon take my life... You must lead my pack back home, after that, we can live in peace because of your pack... Our ancestors would be grateful of you." he shuddered in the cold.
Lillian knew that the great spirit was Nixsi, but she stayed silent beside Lucan and Markus, while Aris muttered, "Of course..."
Meteor's whiskers twitched, and rasped, "You are doing my pack a great service, Aris..."
Aris just bowed, while Lillian watched as Meteor's life faded away, he said nothing else, but Lillian knew that when it grew silent, Meteors soul was now free.
Kitash seemed in sshock, while Aris looked at her, "What do we do?" he asked carefully.
Kitash hesitated, then stammered, "According to our customs, we just leave him be, his spirit is no longer a part of our world, the fate will come soon, so we should get out his way."
She walked away, with some of the pack standing up and following her, Markus asked Aris, "What do we do?"
Aris didn't answer, but looked at Lillian, "I have a plan, I will go help the pack, Lucan, Erik, and Markus will come with me, and you are going to go to the path of echoes, that's where you'll find Nixsi." he muttered.
Markus exclaimed, "What?! She's going to face an age old spirit of legends.. Alone?"
Lillian snapped, "Yes! I am! This is not your fight, she possessed me once, I want to do this!" she faced Markus.
Markus hesitated, and Lucan piped up, "She won't be alone..."
Markus turned to Lucan, but he finally gave in, and nodded to Aris, who said, "We will meet you back at Hostrich, same cave." and signaled for the others to follow them, and they walked away, leaving Lillian quite alone.
She nodded in determination, battling against the cold, not willing to give in to Nixsi.
She finally reached the upper entrence of the cave, she sighed, and padded in, tail lifted high, and eyes narrowed dangerously.
She jumped when she saw two huge shapes walk towards her, but sighed when she recognized Flynn as a wolf, but wasn't sure about the stormy grey one, she guessed Collin.
She followed them, but noticed Flynn was slightly limping, but she dismissed it, soon, they were deeper into the caves.
She shivered, the cold was a lot stronger as they got nearer to Nixsi.
Flynn tensed, and Collin raised his tail in warning, Lillian just nodded, understanding, and they continued forward with more caution.
Soon, they were at the door again, but it was open in an inviting way.
Lillian peeked in, and saw another wolf, it's fur a dark silver, and the wolf was not facing them. Lillian was about to step in, but she felt someone pull her back, she looked at Flynn, who indicated that him and Collin should go first.
Lillian stepped back, allowing the fates to go first, and followed closely.
A female voice growled, "I knew you would come, it's getting quite treachourous out there in the land, don't you think?" she asked in a cold voice.
Lillian realised that neither Flynn nor Collin answered, so she snapped, "You killed a wolf in this weather!"
The wolf turned, and Lillian felt herself freeze, and her heart felt like it was being clenched, the wolf's eyes were a blood red, and Lillian found herself unable to move.
"This is the weather that was meant for this land!" she snapped back, not letting her hold get any weaker, but kept it strong, "Only survivors can truly master this weather!"
Lillian whimpered, and put her ears back, and she finally heard Collin say, "Oh, let her go Nixsi, she ain't worth killing like that.."
Nixsi glared at Collin and Flynn, who was still silent, and she growled, "Yes, my fight is with you two." she padded forward, but Lillian stepped in front of them, still in pain. Stopping Nixsi from getting near them, and she felt her heart clench painfully again.
"Get out of my way!" she snapped.
Lillian shook her head, her stance stronger as ever in front of the two brothers, and she noticed Flynn seemed shocked.
Nixsi snarled, "My fight is not with you, but I will kill you if you refuse to move aside!"
Lillian didn't move, but she snarled right back, "Kill me then!"
Nixsi looked like it tempted her, but her eyes seemed to flicker in recognizement, "I know this..." she murmured.
Flynn must have recognized it too, because he seemed unnerved.
Nixsi finally realized, "Oh yes, it was the day I died, Flynn's little friend wouldn't move either," she snarled, looking ready to strike, "Looks like it will have to happen again."
Lillian knew that no matter what, she wouldn't have moved, but was suprised when Nixsi was thrown back in force.
Lillian opened her eyes to see Flynn and Collin standing in front of her, ears back.
Lillian felt the thing causing her pain loosen it's grip, and she gasped for air.
Nixsi twitched her whiskers, standing up, "You finally decided to do something!" she snarled.
Lillian felt like she was going to go unconcious, because she was still shaking from the clench, but she willed herself to stay awake.
Collin and Flynn attacked first, and Nixsi retaliated by knocking them both back, making Lillian stumble.
But her world started to blur, and soon everything went black.
She wasn't sure how long she was out, but it must have been a long time, because she felt like she was floating in an empty space, hearing the sounds of people talking in calmness, and the boom of cannonfire, and she continued to hear these noises, floating in the darkness.
She tried to wake up, but something was stopping her, it's as if something was keeping her soul locked away, safe in a dream, while Flynn, Collin, and Nixsi fought.
She finally saw her dream start to shatter, the cannonfire slowly stopping, and the voices fading away, and her eyes opened to a blur of colour.
She groaned, and realized Flynn and Collin were standing over her, she sat up, flicking her tail back and forth, and realized Nixsi was no where to be found.
She stammered, "D-Did you do it?"
Flynn, who was in his human form, smiled, even though he looked tired, and brought out a glowing red orb, and he sighed, "Yes, we did."
Lillian realised that it didn't seem as cold as it was before, actually, it was an almost calming breeze coming through the caves.
Flynn asked, "Are you feeling alright?"
Lillian nodded, standing on her paws, a bit shakily though, Collin stood up too, his eyes blazing in triumph, "Well! About time!" he exclaimed.
He almost pretty much dashed out of the cave, while Lillian and Flynn watched in amusement.
Flynn then asked, "Why did you move to stand in front of us?"
Lillian hesitated, and said, "I don't know, it just happened." she shrugged, shaking her fur out.
Flynn smiled, "Well, thank you anyways..." he said quietly, he stood up, and followed after his brother.
Lillian followed them, and gasped when a light, yet calming breeze ruffled her fur, and gasped at what she saw.
What she saw wasn't the Nixsan she was introduced too, it now had the sun fully shining, the clouds had parted, and revealed Nixsan to be a green winter wonderland, some snow patches were still around, but those seemed natural, the mountains were now a grey, with snowy peaks, the trees had grown back their leaves, making Nixsan a paradise. With some snow here and there.
"Wow!" Lillian gasped, and walked down the mountain slope, which was easy now.
She realized that if she tried to find her friends now, she'd get lost, but realized Flynn had walked up to her, signaling her to follow him.
She followed, but shivered when she smelled blood, she looked at Flynn worryingly, but he seemed confused.
They hurried, but when they finally reached the battle field, there were still wolves and dire wolves fighting, but she couldn't see her friends anywhere.
She looked at Flynn, "What do we do?!" she asked.
Flynn hesitated, and growled, "I do nothing, not sure about you."
Lillian then realised that Flynn can't get involved, so she nodded, and jumped into the battling wolves.
She called, "Aris?"
She bumped into Kitash, who whipped around to face her, eyes filled with rage, but she calmed, and she panted, "We're losing!"
Lillian was about to say something, but she felt the earth around them start to shake, and she looked at Flynn
She realised he made his wolf form seem like a dark mist, and all the wolves hesitated, and looked at him, eyes widening in fear.
The wolves finally realised that they were terrified, and ran off with their tails between their legs, and some of the pack members backed away into the darkness, leaving Lillian alone.
Flynn jumped down, returning to normal, and standing up fully, and Lillian asked, "Where are my friends?" she looked at the pack.
Kitash muttered, "Not here, when we got ambushed, one of your packmates got hurt, Aris told me they had to leave now or he would die, they must have left for the land of storms."
Lillian looked at Flynn in horror, who seemed in deep thought, she thrust her muzzle in his face, "They better not die!" she snapped, not sure what she was doing.
"I-I don't sense any of their souls ready to leave, so the injury can't be lethal..." he muttered, stepping back in shock.
Lillian hesitate, then sighed, walking past Flynn, and running to Hostrich, the journey was less tedious and more short now that the land was back to normal.
She ran into stormy Hostrich, and ran into the girl again, who was smiling.
Lillian asked, "Eh? You again?"
The girl smiled, "I love riddles!" she laughed.
"Yeah? So do I, I'd love to chat about them, but I really need to get to my friends!" she pushed past the girl, and ran to the entrence of the cave.
She realised all of her friends were hurt, they were sitting, talking slowly, because they were shaken up.
"Are you guys okay?!" She asked in horror.
Aris looked at her, and asked right back, "Are you alright?"
"I'm alright!" Lillian snapped, wanting her question answered.
Aris nodded, "We're alright, Markus got beat around the head a little bit more then the rest of us, but that's nothing new.." he muttered something under his breath, but shook his head, "We're all fine though."
Lillian relaxed, believing Aris, and asked, "So.. What's the plan."
Markus, who was sitting a little ways away, moved forward, "We have someone joining us."
Kyrai moved from behind him, eyes wide.
Lillian wasn't sure what to say, instead, she padded up to Markus, and whispered, "You know what's going to happen in the end, she can't come with us."
Kyrai, who was listening, barked, "It's okay if your business is important for you guys! I'll go back home, but I'll see you again right?"
Markus looked sad, but said, "Of course, we will see each-other again someday.."
Kyrai nodded, and padded out of the cave, she grew in the past months, and was now big enough to take care of herself, Lillian looked sadly on, but nodded to her friends, and they decided to rest up before continuing on their journey.
Lillian spent most of her time in the libarary while everyone slept, she read through the books, especially the ones written in runes, now interested in the old gods, and dragons.
Dragons were extinct for a while, and they're considered the old gods now, but the old gods are known to being able to bring horrible plagues, which is why the fates trapped them under the earth to be forever trapped and extinct, so that's one less enemy they have to worry about.
She continued to read, knowing that this time there would be no interupptions to her studying.
She read through most of the books before she felt tired enough to fall asleep where she was sitting.
She finally returned to the main cave, where her friends were asleep, Lucan and Markus looked they were having trouble though, because they looked tense.
Lillian settled into her usual spot, and closed her eyes.
~*~*~*~
She was surprised when she had a peaceful sleeps, no dreams interuppted her sleep, and when she did dream, she was usually alone, and felt quite peaceful.
She decided to walk her dreams, knowing that'd she have until dawn to wake up, so she might as well explore her dream.
Her dream was a very open place, she felt free within it, like nothing could hold her back, she was free, free from castles or tiring walks.
She decided to trot around, taking in the beauty of the coloured leaves, and how the grass blew with the wind, and how it was nice and cool.
She sighed, feeling like for once, she will be well rested, and it seems Nixsi's curse was no longer part of the land.
But she saw the dream start to dissolve, and she growled, "Hey! No fair!"
But she realised something was wrong in the waking world, and when she opened her eyes, she realised her paws were wet.
She stood up, confused, and realised Aris was awake up, and she realised that the cave was flooding, and not by rain water.
"Ah!" she gasped, and ran to wake Lucan and Markus up, who were probably half-awake anyways.
"Wake up! The cave is flooding!" Lillian yelled.
Lucan blinked open his eyes, and stood up quickly, While Markus just blinked, and didn't move.
But when he finally truly awoken, he gasped, and stood up quickly.
They headed for the entrence, but Aris groaned in frustration when there was a tree blocking the entrance. And Erik muttered, "Oh."
But the water continued to rise, slowly, but Lillian knew that if they didn't get out, they would drown.
Collin... He can't be doing this... Can he? Lillian thought, as her friends started to panic.
"We need to find a way out!" she called over the slowly pooling water.
"No kidding!" Lucan snapped back at her. Heading towards the back of the cave, where the library was, with Erik and Markus following him, Aris sighed, following after them, and Lillian followed.
They ran past the library, the water dangerously close to their stomachs, and they finally saw another entrance, but they had to climb up.
Lillian crawled out, soaking wet, followed by the rest of her friends.
They watched as the cave slowly filled, and she heard Erik say, "Well, there goes the library."
Markus stifled a laugh, and he muttered, "Well, at least it's morning, but strange, this small rain water wouldn't be able to fill the den that quickly.
"Was tehre any spells on the cave, Erik?" Lillian asked him.
"Er.. Not that I know of, whoever can find the library is welcome to use and remember it's contents, so no spells." Erik said cheerfully.
Lillian rolled her eyes in a playfu way, and she asked, "So? Should we get going, I actually want to explore Hostrich alot more, learn about it you know..."
Erik nodded, "We can head to the villages, you'd be surprised how wolf friendly they are!" he hopped in spot, and wagged is tail.
Aris laughed, "Looking around it is then, we can get information about the land itself, maybe some shortcuts to the mountain." he barked.
"Good plan!" Markus piped up, but Lillian was more distracted by Lucan, who had stayed silent.
"Yeah!" Lillian agreed with Markus.
Aris looked at Erik, "But where should we go first, Erik? This is your home, you decide." Aris barked.
Aris got a thoughtful look on his face, and finally answered, "Kraylak, it's the main trading village, we might be good resting up there!"
Lillian nodded, and Aris said, "Okay, lead the way!"
Erik nodded, and signaled for them to follow them, so they did.
But something was bothering Lucan.
Lillian knew this just by the way he stayed silent.
And whatever bugged him, it was sure to bug her too.