Chapter 26: Lost Fortress

Elias

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I thought Avabella was really amazing! I was told that Iago made a private mind link with Maria Adriana since she had the bracelet on, which suppressed her powers to unable her to harm him and his pack. But Avabella made ours different and even more private. Merde! I could feel myself go hard just by thinking of it. Who would’ve thought she made that connection while giving me such pleasure? Mon Dieu! But for what? This just proved to me that she wanted to be closer to me than she planned or wanted to, in spite of her freedom talk.

I could just grin from ear to ear, while I ran at my top speed, following my pack members. I scented them not far away from here. But it was really weird. I couldn’t scent any of my mother’s wolves and even hers.

My heart started to beat faster as we got closer and closer to our fortress a long time ago. It was the fortress she built after my father’s and grandfather’s territory was raided by our enemies at the time. I meant the vampires, which the ex-Vampire King sent. I knew it was his doing. No one could have sent them unless he did.

After that raid, my mother moved the pack to this territory. Less than half survived then. A lot of pups died along with their parents, as well as our hunters and enforcers, not to mention my father and grandfather. It grieved us so much at the time. I thought it ended there but I was even kicked out of the pack for the good of everybody, my mother said. But how was it good for everyone? Because of the prophecy that I’d bring death to everyone?

And yet, what was happening with my absence here? I couldn’t ask around about them because my mother cut off her ties from the ordinary people and other beings, to protect the pack. Perhaps even if I would’ve asked around, no one would know. My mother was a fierce Alpha on her own. No one could look down on her since she was both capable and talented. And yeah, fierce, just as I said before. She was the strongest warrior in their pack, said my father once. Two packs merged when they married. So, it was really tragic to lose a lot of lives back then.

“There’s nothing here, Elias.” I heard Avabella’s voice in my head.

“There’s no trace of anyone here, Alpha Elias,” Thibault seconded.

I stopped in the middle of the large clearing where the supposed pack house was standing. The keep was gone. Even the ruins were nowhere to be seen, to supposedly tell us a hint of what happened here.

I howled, crying inside. I pawed the ground trying to see if something was buried. I told my pack members to dig, and they did. The vampires just watched us. They left us to check around more, while Avabella stayed, looking at me with sorrow and pity. I didn’t want it, but it was welcoming since it was her. I knew she didn’t want to, but she couldn’t help it.

I moved on to another area, pawing my way down the ground. Fast and hard. The icy ground was harsh against my paws, but I didn’t mind. I wanted to know what was going on here.

“Sangye! Can you see what happened here? Can you show me?” I asked when Sascha put her down next to me.

“I’ll try, Alpha Elias,” she replied. She seemed to be disappointed as well to see the place empty and had no trace of life. The snowy area was vast. The trees and valleys were a kilometer or so away from here. It was just as I remembered it. Even the bowed fir tree was still there; it was my landmark. It was amazing it still bowed there for centuries. But the whole fortress was nowhere. Why, when, and how?

Sangye put down her backpack on the ground, taking a small plastic mat and spread it. She sat down in lotus form when she took out a single-headed frame drum, with metallic feather as its ritual object dangling inside. She held it by an interior wooden cross-piece in her right hand and a rattling drum stick with her left hand. I wondered when she became left-handed though. Or maybe she just practiced it lately. I perhaps missed it since my mind was just filled with Avabella, her scent, her arousal, and her taste. I sighed inwardly. I was supposed to be Sangye’s father. Why did I miss something like this?

Sangye closed her eyes as Avabella and I watched. On the other hand, my pack members didn’t stop digging since I didn’t tell them to stop. Thibault, however, watched around us. So were the other vampires that just got back from checking out the entire perimeter. By the look of their faces, it was clear as day that they found nothing. Not a little hint even. If there was, they would’ve already talked to me. Even my best tracker, Matthias, who just got back to trace anything like tracks or scents was back without any report. Just a look at his chocolate brown eyes was enough for me to gather that conclusion. There was nothing.

We listened as Sangye beat the drum in a rhythmic way. It was also like drumming my chest. I glanced at Avabella who slowly and quietly moved behind Sangye. She extended a hand on top of the shamaness’ head and closed her eyes after drawing a deep breath.

“What are you doing, Avabella?” I asked her in our mind link.

“Piggyback riding on your shamaness’ spirit to see what she’s seeing here.”

I nodded in approval. It was helpful and useful to us that Maria Adriana upgraded her powers.

“Elias… everything just vanished here!” Avabella told me.

“What? But that’s impossible!” I blinked, sweeping the entire place before letting my eyes go back to watch her.

“Wait, Sangye’s going back in time…”

I sighed inwardly, waiting for her next words while Sangye continued to beat the shamanic drum. The sound was like a series of dull thuds with little rattles.

How could everything just vanish? But it made sense since we hadn’t found any traces of what happened.

“I see something like a black mist… just like a bodach form. It’s a woman,” Avabella informed me. “The surroundings are hazy, Elias. The people here are gone one by one as she passed by them. Or maybe she sucked them all? I don’t know. They’re just simply gone! ‘Where is that Alpha now?’ She’s talking to herself. I see someone… she looks powerful. ‘Ah, there she is!’ Again, she’s talking to herself. Wait, that powerful one means your mom, right?”

I sighed. “Yes, Avabella.” My heart thrummed, waiting for her to say something more. I was already imagining my mother just vanished. I didn’t know how to describe what I feel right now but my heart felt like it weighed a hundred of tons.

“She approaches your mom, without her knowledge. But she’s already alarmed why her people just vanished like that. She’s looking around her but couldn’t see the black specter. Everything is vanishing now—the keep, the farm animals, everything. Your mom is frantic like she’s going mad! Well, I can understand that. It’s sorcery and she can’t stop it. She can’t protect herself when her enemy is this strong. But who is she, Elias?”

“I don’t know. Can you describe her more?” I whined and shifted from where I stood.

“I can’t see much of her face, Elias. The bodach seems to cover her face. It’s like the one I saw at the swimming pool. Like someone is protecting her identity or something. I don’t know.”

“We’ll try to ask Sangye if she can see it.”

“Elias, what I’m seeing is what she’s seeing,” she said.

“Right.” It was disappointing.

“The bodach is now right in front of your mom. ‘So, you’re Egzon’s wife. You’re not that beautiful. I am more beautiful… when I was alive…’ That’s what she said but your mom didn’t hear it. She runs away, calling for help. But no one can hear her in the middle of this place. We all know that. The specter follows her, gliding fast in the air. ‘I can finally take my revenge!’ She said that and… she opens her mouth and swallows your mom. The place is now clearer, not hazy anymore. I-I can’t see the specter, too. I don’t know where she has gone to.” Avabella paused, like she was looking around and trying to find out more. “Elias… I’m sorry. I can’t really see her anywhere.” Avabella’s tears fell down her cheeks. She opened her eyes and blinked, looking at me. She shook her head and was already beside me in a blink of an eye, embracing me by my huge neck. She sniffled, making my pack stop digging the ground.

“Do you know when it happened?”

“I can’t tell, Elias. But it seems a long time ago, judging by their clothing. They were just wearing your 16th or 17th century clothing. I think you know that type— the hem of the skirt touched the ground; it had long sleeves and there were like shorter sleeves over them and then… there was a scarf around her head. Your mom looked beautiful, by the way.”

I blinked. I could just remember what she said. My mother’s image was still clear in my head. “Was it colors green and orange, her dress?” I asked gently. My heart was quivering inside me as I controlled myself, doing my best not to cry in front of my pack. I couldn’t let them see my weakness.

She looked at me in the eye but not breaking our contact. Her arms were still around my neck. “Right! Did it mean she vanished just after you were kicked out of the pack then?”

My throat constricted. “I told her she always looked good in that dress.” It always brought out the paleness of her skin, making her look ethereal. I remembered my father always loved to stroke her arms and neck.

I barely noticed Sangye already stopped drumming and was already on her feet.

“I don’t know what happened, Alpha Elias… but… everything and everyone’s gone!” she reported, shoulders slumped.

I swallowed hard and nodded at her. I lowered my body and urged Avabella to ride on my back.

“Where are we going?” she asked in our own mind link. It was so good to feel her heat on my back, her legs tightly held on to me. I could feel her warm core rubbing against my back. Damn it! My growing arousal was strong that it seemed to cover my grief. I didn’t even have any idea that my mother was gone for centuries now. But my heart was still very heavy like thousands of logs were tugging at it. I could barely breathe.

My pack was silent, so were the vampires, letting me and Avabella leave the place without telling them where we were headed. They understood that I wanted to be alone with her at this time of my loss. I was sure that Sangye will fill in the pack of what she saw back then.

I suddenly felt the coldness on my face. The winter air froze my tears, which flowed without my noticing it. I leaped over rocks and fallen trees, dodging tree branches to protect my rider. But I didn’t slow down the pace. There was one place that I wanted to go and to show Avabella. I always missed this place while I was away. It was where I could take a warm bath and enjoy its peaceful surroundings.

“My mother showed me this place just days before my father and grandfather were killed in a raid. It’s some kilometers away from my mother’s keep, you see,” I told Avabella in our mind link when we reached the foot of a valley, eastward from the keep. There was a giant oak tree in front of a cave. It hid the entrance of it, so no one knew of its location or what was behind that giant tree. It was my mother’s and my favorite place. She said it was where she and my father first met.

I changed to my human form and immediately conjured my clothing as we went around the gray-barked oak tree. My gigantic wolf form wouldn’t fit there. The giant branches were like huge bare arms reaching out to the sides and the skies. It appeared graceful and sturdy.

Avabella averted her eyes when I transformed. I knew she was thinking that it was not right to lust for me right now. That touched me deep inside.

I held her hand when we went into the cave. There was a magical glow inside the cavern. There were two colors: blue and green, which came out from the spring water. It seemed to divide the cave into two because of the colors.

“Oh, my God! This is so beautiful, Elias!” Avabella gasped, looking around the cave that had about fifteen feet high with a circular form in the interior. Her voice slightly echoed. Its passageway was wide enough for two people to pass through. It was not a big cave really, but it was almost as big as a three-room apartment. There was a small pool of hot spring water in the center, which gave out a little smoke. The smell was not really bad as most spring water. This one was way milder and something else I couldn’t describe. It wasn’t foul though.

I smiled at Avabella toothlessly. “You make it even more beautiful by gracing it with your presence.”

Avabella turned her face to smile at me. “Flatterer!” She came up to me and encircled her arms around my waist. “Should I make you feel a lot better?” she suggested in a whisper. Her voice was husky; her eyes went sultry. “Tell me how, Elias.”