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Chapter 117 : Wolf of the Moon Goddess
*Lena*
Mara had her legs crossed, her foot tapping with silent rhythm and she flipped through the spellbook. I was watching her with marked suspicion, my arms crossed over my chest, not even hiding the glare fixed on my face.
Clare was pacing back and forth behind the couch Mara was sitting on, and occasionally Clare looked over her shoulder, peering down at whatever page Mara was studying. Maeve was talking in a hushed voice to Grandma and my mom, who were standing in the corner of the cozy sitting room near the dining hall in the Castle Drogomor.
Night was falling. We'd arrived around midday, and I'd spent the rest of the day listening to the news beginning to trickle in from the west.
It was all bad news–terrible news. Grandma and Maeve had immediately gone to the hospital in Mirage to donate blood for the influx of wounded and dying shoulders we were being carted across the sea towards Valoria for care. The Valorian army, those reserves who had stayed behind, were already setting up a perimeter around the southern tip of the territory to protect the great, bustling cities within.
I donated only a few vials of blood in the infirmary at the castle. I was pregnant, after all. The act made me dizzy and lightheaded for the rest of the afternoon.
But then Grandma and Maeve came home with Mara in tow, and now it was time to figure out what the hell we were supposed to do with this stupid book.
My mom, Clare, and Mara had their powers of sight. My powers of sight only came to me in dreams, which wasn't entirely helpful since I had little to no control over what I saw, and when. Apparently, we were supposed to use our combined powers to do… something.
“This is all in Prithen," Mara mused to herself, flipping another page and dragging her finger down the text.
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“Prithen? What the hell is Prithen?" Clare leaned over the back of the couch to look at the page Mara had stopped on.
“An ancient language, something from before the time of Morrighan and Lycaon from what we know. The Church of the Moon Goddess has a few scripts but that's it, never a full… a full example of the alphabet those early people used. This is… priceless."
“It doesn't belong to the Church," Maeve said firmly as she rounded the couch and came to sit beside me.
Mara gave her a side-eyed look as she flipped another page.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Can you translate it?" Mom asked from the corner of the room.
Mara let out her breath and nodded, then shrugged. “Some. I think I knew enough to get the gist of what this book is about. It's a fairytale."
“It's not a fairytale," Maeve retorted. “It's a book of spells."
“It's a book about spells; that's the difference. This comes from Leto's people before she was a Goddess. This book in particular is about a girl who is given the powers of a wolf so that she can effectively hunt during an especially brutal winter. There's a spell for it–"
“They what?" Maeve interrupted, looking skeptical.
“I think that's what happened, anyway. I already said there's only a few scripts left from this language."
“That's all this book is about… fairy tales?" I asked, my heart falling into my stomach. How was this helpful? Why were we wasting any more time on this?
“So this is the origin on how, and why, we have the powers of wolves," Mom said absently, walking past the windows on the far side of the room.
“Sacred powers of the hunt, in particular, for food, and for protection against enemies," Mara added, pointing to a sketch on one of the pages.
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Maeve jumped to her feet and snatched the book from Mara, staring down at it in shock.
“Oh, my Goddess," she murmured. She turned to face Mom and Grandma, her finger pointing to the sketch. “When I shifted in that clearing with this book, when I saw the spirits, they showed me my entire life. Everything. But they… they lingered on this moment," she jabbed at the sketch, her eyes pleading with ours for understanding as she looked around the room. “When I went into that circle of stones in Dianny, I thought it was you and me, Mom. I thought I was standing over you, both of us in our wolf forms. White wolves–Una and the rest of the women of Dianny interpreted that as you were dying, and I was ascending to the throne. But they were wrong!" She turned to me, her eyes widening. “I know what I'm supposed to do now. I know how we stop this war and save our men."
“W-what?" I choked. I didn't like the look in her eyes. She looked almost feral.
“You have a plan, don't you? You were trying to do something to stop this war, to stop the vampires. I could see it in your eyes when you chased me outside last night," Maeve said to me.
“She's going to close the portal and prevent them from ever accessing our realm again," Mom cut in before I could say anything, nodding her head toward Maeve. “I saw it. I had a dream about it."
“Mom?" I said, turning to her, but her eyes were on Maeve.
“But she can't do so until she comes into her wolf powers," Maeve said, turning to look at me again.
“What is going on?" I asked sharply. “What are you talking about?"
“We're going to activate your powers early, using this book," Maeve said as she held it up to show me the picture of the two wolves. “Then, we're going to war."
***
“I'm fine," I said sharply as Mom, Grandma, and Maeve argued about whether or not this was a good idea. People shifted all the time while they were pregnant. It wasn't uncommon by any means.
Having a spell cast that would activate wolf powers, regardless of my young age, was something else entirely.
I honestly didn't have time to care. I was itching to get going, to get to Breles like we'd planned. I would be going with Maeve and Mara while everyone else stayed behind. We had a seaplane waiting for us at the port of Valoria whenever we were ready.
I was more than ready. I'd had a sinking feeling in my gut all day long, and that tethered thread binding me to Xander? It had been tugging on me all day, pulling me east, to wherever he was.
We were all standing in the chilly back garden and night was falling, casting a pale purple glow over the castle behind us. I shivered, then crossed my arms defensively over my chest.
“We don't have any time," I continued, pointing to the book. “Do it, now!"
Maeve sucked in her breath, glancing at Clare and Mara before turning her gaze back on Mom and Grandma. Everyone needed to help say the spell. All of them would need to tap into their powers, no matter how small and insignificant, and essentially pull my wolf powers out of me and put them back in, if what Mara said was true.
It sounded painful, but again, I was beyond caring.
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“I'm fine," I repeated, catching my mom's gaze. “And I'll be fine."
“Okay," she replied in a small voice, her eyes glistening with uncertainty. “Alright."
“Alright then," Maeve said as she clapped her hands and cleared her throat, turning to Mara to fetch the book. Mara murmured something, pointing to a page. “So, I have to be the one to read it?"
“Yes, it has to be you. At least, I'm pretty sure."
I didn't ask why, but I did wonder.
Everyone formed a semicircle around me. Clare reached out to Mara, then my mom, her hands outstretched.
“I think it's customary to hold hands when doing group witchcraft," she teased.
Maeve snorted with mirth as everyone held hands, but she stepped forward, a mere foot from where I stood. She placed her hand on my shoulder.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Ready?" she whispered, squeezing my shoulder.
“Yes," I breathed. She held my gaze for a moment, then let out her breath, leaning to whisper in my ear.
“I love you, Lena."
“I love you, too."
She didn't put any distance between us before reading in the spell, having practiced the pronunciation of the strange, guttural language of a time long past. Behind us, the rest of the women repeated the words to the best of their ability, stumbling over some syllables.
If this didn't work, I didn't care. I was still going to try everything I could to close that portal and save my people, my family, and my mate. I could try. I would try.
Nothing happened for a long time, but then I felt a tinge of pain in my shoulder where Maeve was gripping me, like a burn. She pulled away, feeling it too.
“Lena," she breathed, her eyes wide as I staggered backward, doubling over at the waist. I could hear Mom's footsteps as she rushed toward me, but then she stopped, her voice lifted in protest as she was… held back–held back by my grandma.
Their faces were the last I saw before I fell onto my knees.
Maeve came up behind me as I laid down on my side, my cheek pressed against the cool cobblestone walkway. The sky seemed to spin overhead as she laid her hands over me, her voice a soft whisper in my ear.
I closed my eyes, just blinking. But when I opened them again I was no longer in the back garden, I was… I was in the spirit realm, a place of nothing but vast water below and an endless sky above me. Stars twinkled in the dark night as I floated on my back, suspended against my will.
“You were supposed to keep this, silly girl," came a kind feminine voice nearby.
I felt something press into the palm of my hand and turned my head to look at my open palm. A sunstone glimmered in the starlight as I wrapped my fingers around it.
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“My friends needed it," I breathed, my voice a faint whisper.
“You are fundamentally good, Selene. And when you're ready, you'll know what to do with the stone. It's yours forever, to use at your will. And when you're ready to come home to us, Goddess, we will be waiting to escort you to your kingdom in the stars."
I didn't understand, but it didn't matter. I felt myself being swallowed up by the water, my breath catching in my throat as I fell back into my own realm.
“Is she alright?" Mom's voice said, somewhere far away.
“Lena," Maeve's voice sounded in my ears, and I opened my eyes. “Let's go, we have a war to win."
“Can I shift now?" I breathed.
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