Chapter 36 CHAPTER 36
"Where exactly are we headed? Are you absolutely sure we’re continuing to Garantiara?" Aurora asked her friend inquisitively. She and Leora were whispering so they wouldn’t be overheard by the father and daughter sitting in the front of the vehicle. Leora had also placed a barrier between them, making it nearly impossible for the two mortals to hear them.
"To Luneta Park."
"Damn you! I’m not playing around here." Aurora nearly smacked her for the stupidity. They had been discussing their first destination for a while—which, according to her battle-loving friend, was supposed to be Garantiara. Moments later, Leora said it was the Desert of Ternakob, and now she was claiming it was Luneta Park.
"Neither am I. Why don’t you just go to sleep?"
I looked out the window. "I’m not sleepy. I’m more worried about the state of those we left behind on the mountain than I am about us."
"Why? We’re bound to encounter many enemies where we’re going. We might even be ambushed before we even reach the entrance of Ternakob."
"That’s exactly my point. On this journey, we know we’ll have opponents, which is why you said we need to be alert at all times. But those left on the mountain? We didn't even warn them to be careful of whoever might have entered our territory. Anytime he wants, that mother fucker will attack," she explained. She’d had a dream—a bad dream—last night. She hadn't paid it much mind because it was just a dream, and she wasn't like Ryuk, who possessed the abilities of a Babylan.
"What use is Ryuk there?"
Aurora rolled her eyes. "I’m just having bad vibes about something that’s coming." She rested her right elbow on the window frame and leaned her face against her fist.
"Don't worry, okay? Ryuk and Yfraim are there."
At the mention of the King’s name, a flash of light flickered in her eyes. What the fuck was that? she wondered to herself. Then, the contents of last night’s nightmare came rushing back.
She was returning to the hut from the stream when she glimpsed a figure passing in front of her. Two figures moved like the wind, entering the palace on the mountain.
"Who are they?" she asked herself, but knowing she’d find no answers just standing there, she entered the palace.
She knew how quiet the palace was at this hour because the wolves were outside, but now the silence was deafening; even the guards outside the palace were missing from their posts.
When she heard a rustle on the seventh floor, she hurried there immediately.
"Is that the meeting hall?" she wondered.
What was weird about what was happening was how she knew the meeting hall was on the seventh floor. She had only stepped foot in this Citadel once before, and the floor she was currently on was the only place she had visited.
She looked up and saw the railing of the seventh floor. She took a powerful leap, and while in mid-air, she shifted from human to wolf form—especially as the scent of wolf blood hit her. She rushed to the meeting hall but froze when she saw a clock on the wall.
"Since when was there a wall clock here?" The clock read 11:39—p.m., of course, since it was night.
Her daze over the strange object was broken by a series of thuds inside the room. As the scent of blood filled the entire floor, her vampire persona took over. She attempted to teleport inside instantly, but to her dismay, she was bounced back. It felt as if a massive hand had shoved her away from the room; she slammed back against the railing, and if she hadn't caught the bent metal, she would have plummeted to the floor.
The room had an anti-vampire spell; she couldn’t get inside.
So, those uninvited guests entered through the door? Where did they get a key?
Her anxiety spiked as the scent of her kin's blood grew stronger. This meant that whoever those intruders were targeting was already in a dire state.
She braced both hands and hauled herself up. She flipped through the air and landed on the floor in a crouch in her wolf form. With full force, she kicked the door open—and was horrified by what came rolling to her feet.
"Hello, Hybrid! Finally, we meet..." A beautiful woman with snow-white hair appeared before her. She was tall and slender with piercing blue eyes. Her gaze was cold. Those blue eyes foreshadowed death for any immortal that dared block her path.
"M-Morgana..." she murmured. She was certain it was Morgana, even though she had never seen her before.
"Yes, it is I, my dear..."
She looked down at the object by her feet again.
It was Yfraim's head!
"What did you do?!" The wolf inside her let out a terrifying howl. The wolf mourned for her Alpha... The maiden's howl echoed through the mountain of wolves.
Because of Aurora's terrifying howl, the wolves learned what had happened to their king. Those who heard it stopped what they were doing and howled in turn. The pack shifted into their strongest forms and rushed to the Citadel together, but they found nothing—for even the young Sakot maiden was already lying in a pool of her own blood...
Leora tapped her, pulling her out of the trance.
Aurora gasped as the dream ended, but she could still taste the blood in her mouth.
"Are you okay?"
"I—I s-saw the A-Alpha's death in my dream, Leora..." She couldn't hide the terror on her face. "I saw m-myself die too."
"How vivid was your dream, Aurora?" At this point, her friend turned serious.
"Too clear... as if I was r-really b-beheaded. I saw a w-woman with b-blue eyes in my dream. S-she had hair as w-white as snow. M-Morgana... that’s the name I said in my d-dream."
"Are you sure it was Morgana?"
"Yes, b-because she didn't d-deny it..." she answered, trembling in fear. She was terrified the dream would come true. Yfraim was a friend and a good king; it would be a massive loss to the Wolf's Mountain if it became a reality. She intertwined her hands to keep them from shaking.
"Here... drink this." Leora handed her a bottle containing leaves and lemon. "I need you to clear your mind, Aurora, so I can learn everything about your dream. I’m going to talk to Uncle to put your mind at ease."
The "Uncle" she referred to was Rafuza. All Aurora knew about him was that he was a blue-blooded, pure-breed wolf who chose to serve as Yfraim’s high soldier.
"Will they be okay?"
"Relax, okay? You’re too tense. For all we know, it was just a bad dream. Even if there is a threat to Yfraim’s life, he can protect himself. He has the power to take down the whole world if he wanted to, so calm down."
"But we're talking about Morgana here, Leora."
Leora gripped her shoulder. "I know. I’ll handle it. Trust me, okay?"
"What’s your plan?"
"Just leave it to me... I don't want to discuss it further because I'm sleepy."