Chapter 98 What Was Forgotten

Chapter 98 What Was Forgotten
The stream continued to flow as though time had no meaning there. Rowan sat quietly on its bank, watching the water move over smooth white stones. Every now and then the surface shimmered, catching the strange golden light that filled the endless valley, but it never reflected the sky the same way twice. Sometimes she saw clouds. Sometimes stars. Once she caught the brief outline of a city she didn't recognize before it disappeared beneath the current. She had stopped asking how any of it was possible. Nothing about this place obeyed the rules she understood. The silver-haired woman remained nearby, giving Rowan the space she seemed to need. She hadn't spoken in several minutes, and somehow that silence felt kinder than any explanation.

Rowan hugged her knees to her chest.

"I keep thinking if I close my eyes long enough..." she said quietly, "...I'll wake up back in the sanctuary."

The woman smiled faintly.

"And would that make this any less real?"

Rowan considered the question.

"No."

She sighed.

"I just miss them."

Her thoughts immediately drifted to Corvin.
She pictured the stubborn look he always wore when he was worried but trying not to show it. She imagined him pacing holes into the sanctuary floor, refusing to sit still while everyone else tried to convince him there was nothing he could do.

A small laugh escaped her.

"He'll be driving everyone crazy."

The woman laughed with her.

"I imagine he already has."

Rowan smiled, but it didn't last.

"What if I don't make it back?"

"You will."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

The certainty in her voice was almost unsettling.

Rowan looked at her.

"You never seem afraid."

The woman turned toward the stream.

"Oh, child."

Her smile softened.

"I have been afraid every day since I lost you."

The words settled heavily between them.

Rowan didn't know how to respond. She wanted to ask what the woman meant. She wanted to know how someone she couldn't remember could speak with so much love.

Instead she found herself asking something else.

"Were you my mother?"

The woman looked down at the water for a long moment. Then she reached out and gently tucked another loose strand of Rowan's hair behind her ear.

"No."

"But I loved you as though you were."

Tears blurred Rowan's vision before she realized she was crying. She didn't know why. Only that somewhere deep inside her heart, a wound she had never known existed had begun to ache. Far above, the sanctuary had fallen strangely quiet. The fighting had slowed. Not because the enemy had retreated. Because both sides were waiting. Corvin stood near the broken entrance, staring into the forest below. His sword rested across his forearms, but his grip never relaxed. He hadn't spoken in nearly an hour.

Jess watched him from across the room.

"He blames himself."

Malric nodded.

"I know."

"You do the same thing."

He looked at her with a tired smile.

"Usually."

Jess walked over until she was standing beside him.

"You can't carry every battle by yourself."

Malric chuckled.

"I was going to tell Corvin the same thing."

She folded her arms.

"And?"

"He wasn't listening."

"No."

Jess looked toward Corvin.

"He only hears Rowan right now."

They stood together in silence.

Finally Jess spoke again.

"I'm scared."

Malric didn't answer immediately. Instead he reached over and quietly took her hand. This time she didn't pull away.

"I know," he said softly.

"So am I."

Across the sanctuary, Taryn finished wrapping a bandage around the arm of one of the younger wolves before helping him back to his feet.

"You'll stay with the injured."

"I can still fight."

"I know."

"But I need someone protecting the people who can't."

He looked disappointed. Then nodded.

"Yes, Alpha."

The word caught her off guard. She watched him walk away before looking toward Fenrir.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

Fenrir's deep laugh rumbled through the sanctuary.

"You will."

She smiled.

"I always thought being Alpha meant leading the charge."

"It does."

He looked around the room.

"But sometimes..."

"...it means making sure someone survives to remember it."

Taryn followed his gaze. For the first time she truly understood what he had been teaching her all these years.Leadership wasn't about being the strongest. It was about making sure others lived long enough to become strong themselves. The wind shifted again.

Fenrir lifted his head. His expression darkened.

"Still there?"

Corvin asked.

Fenrir nodded once.

"He isn't rushing."

"Why?"

"Because he doesn't need to."

No one liked that answer.

Below... The silver-haired woman led Rowan toward the crest of a gentle hill. At the top stood a single stone bench overlooking the valley. They sat together. Neither spoke for a long while.

Finally Rowan broke the silence.

"I've been thinking about something."

"What is it?"

"If everyone worked so hard to make me forget..."

She looked toward the endless horizon.

"...then someone must have worked just as hard to make sure I remembered."

The woman smiled. At last.

"You've started asking the right questions."

Rowan frowned.

"So someone wanted to save me."

"Yes."

"And someone wanted to erase me."

"Yes."

"But why?"

The woman looked at her with tears shining quietly in her silver eyes.

"Because you were never meant to choose between light and darkness."

She reached for Rowan's hand.

"You were created to remind them they never should have become enemies in the first place."

The words settled over Rowan like the first drops of rain before a storm. She didn't fully understand them. Not yet. But somewhere deep inside... Something answered. Not with words. With recognition. A heartbeat. Then another. The valley around them brightened. Far above, inside the sanctuary, Jess suddenly pressed a hand against her chest.

Malric immediately turned toward her.

"What is it?"

She looked toward the ceiling, her eyes widening.

"I felt her."

Corvin spun around.

"What?"

Jess smiled through tears.

"For just a second..."

"...I felt Rowan."

The hope that spread through the sanctuary was almost tangible. For the first time since she had vanished... None of them felt quite so alone. Outside, beyond the shattered gates, the ancient enemy waited. Patient. Watching. As though he already knew exactly how this story was supposed to end. He was wrong. He just didn't know it yet.