Chapter 73

Chapter 73
The next morning, Elizabeth wakes up to the steady pattern of rain upon the cabin window, droplets yet to spread the luminous rays of the emerging sun. The sound gives rise to calmness in her mind, a comforting harmony, a raw, gentle lullaby. With eyes at comfort, she feels her centre still a little swollen from their all-night-long endeavour; his essence lives happily within her for these heavenly eternities of intimacy with Alpha Henry.

"Henry, dear, we need to go now; we don't want to be so late, right? I'm dying to shift into my wolf.” She smiled. Elizabeth knows how he loves to tease him.

“As you wish, my love.”

After some time and morning lovemaking, they ran towards Eve's cabin. As far as Henry's wolf was concerned, the woman who was happy riding on his back was certainly eager to have her wolf back.

In the late afternoon, the two arrived at Edmond's cabin. Upon arriving, they were welcomed by Edmond. After some quick pleasantries, Elizabeth stared at Eve's unconscious body in the far-end corner of the cabin. Eve was still unconscious on her side when Alpha Henry uttered, "Jenna hasn't returned yet. I thought she already fetched Diana for her to heal Eve?"

"I fear she has not reached the devil's forest yet or something happened to her Alpha. I'm trying to channel my vision towards her, but unfortunately, I can't reach her."

“Who is this seer? Why was she important? Can she heal Eve?”

“Yes, Elizabeth.”

“But Eve was the most powerful seer on this land, right?” 

"Yes, but this is—um, I mean, Diana was a vampire and a seer at the same time, and the mate of the ancient Andrew Lawvosky," Alpha Henry answered.

"The keeper of the soul?” Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “The one father told me? I thought it was just a myth."

"He is here in our land, milady. He was with us in this war, and his mate was the only one who could heal Eve. The only one."

"Is there any way for us to send a message to this seer?"

Edmond sighed before adding, "Well, we can use a troll messenger for that matter, but it takes time. I'll summon one later, milady. Fear not, Eve will awaken in no time."

"I hope so, Edmond. I hope so." Elizabeth replied and went to the dirty kitchen to prepare something for supper as the two discussed the incoming war, and from what Edmond gathered, the Wetland has been brewing a plan to use the feral werewolves and hunters in the front lines of the battle. And both knew humans would be the casualties of this mayhem. And Alpha Henry knew bloodbath would be upon them.

While supper was cooked by Elizabeth, there was just enough time to take the horses for an evening stroll as Edmond galloped them away from the cabin. It's now or never, as the evening will be filled with plans and the trip back to the Whiteland, but before that, he has to find a troll and deliver a message to the seer.

The ride was everything it promised to be. Wildlife was everywhere, putting the final touches on winter stores. His stallion was gorgeous. The weather was promptly falling. It was going to be a cold one evening, as only a sole oil lamp was the only one who lightened up his way. He held his coat up and turned his horse back towards the cabin after finding a troll and a silver coin out of his tunic.

An hour later, he was back in the cabin, and on cue, Alpha Henry woke up from his well-deserved nap and began to survey his surroundings as he blurted them out. “Edmond, are you back? That was quick.”

"Finding a troll was easy, Alpha, if one has a silver coin. Those trolls could hear them in your tunic packets even from miles away."

"Remind me to compensate for it later. Your sacrifice was deeply appreciated.”

Edmond nodded his head.

“Supper is ready, gentlemen,” Elizabeth called out from the kitchen and paused as she looked at them.

The trio enjoyed their supper, and Elizabeth narrated everything that happened to Edmond. Appreciating the food on the table as the aromas of the herbs outside the cabin's yard whisk them off to a pleasant recollection of their lives before the dispute between packs. The windows opened wide for the delightful scent to enter the cabin.

"Okay, then I guess you all need to know what happens in the Wetland: the troll has been chased by Alpha George warriors and branded as a traitor. I believe I'm bearing bad news." He breathed in heavily before adding, "Not to ruin the supper, but as we speak, Alpha George has ordered a manhunt for the trolls and the two vampires," Edmond announced. Henry and Elizabeth had stopped eating, looked at the frontman, and waited for him to add more. But he didn't. 

"Edmond, how is it possible that Alpha George has come to know about Lord Andrew and Diana?'s whereabouts?"

"Alpha, from what I heard from the troll, Tomas, has been abducted by the ferals, and I believe the two vampires have rescued him from the wetland village."

"Tomas? My brother Tomas?" asked Elizabeth with a wide eye. She breathed in immediately as she pressed her lips together.

"Yes, my lady," answered Edmond.

"Oh, God. Was he rescued?"

"Yes. Robah's got them. The leader of the trolls."

"Thanks to the gods." Elizabeth sighed in gratitude.

"But, their rescue missions have made a notion for the Alpha of Wetland and the chief to order a manhunt. Those feral werewolves were on their side now; they have sold their souls to the dark gods and made them so powerful that maybe they will come to know the whereabouts of the troll and the vampire sooner."

"Do you know where they are?" asked the young woman.

Edmond nodded his head. "Yes, they are camping near the devil's forest, at the foot of a feral village."

"What are they doing there?"

“I believe they come to know that you are held hostage by the feral, as are your father and sister."

"Oh, God,” she shook her head and stood up and began pacing. “We should..." trailed off Elizabeth as he watched Alpha Henry. "Dear, we have to help them out of there." She masked her fears. "We all need to leave immediately. They need help!"

"We leave at dawn," said Alpha Henry, staring at the woman. He knew she was worried and battled with her inner logical mind versus her non-logical mind, and he hoped they were fully resolved and her inner conflicts vanished, for they were battles between her two selves. Her wolf must be in misery; after all, suppressed wolves might be in danger of not emerging ever again. Elizabeth was hopeless, yet she knew it was like there was both determination and uncertain feelings; that was an inside job that requires self-honesty, all self-delusions abolished.

"But—I can't—Henry, I'm worried!" Elizabeth stared at him.

There were immature fears as well that lurked in his mind. However, of course, he felt empty; where was his safe harbour, away from the hurricanes and the surge of wars that followed? Where was the fuel needed to fill up? The land will be the breeding ground of demons and blood anyway. He knows it.

"Don't worry, my love. Everything will be alright. Somehow our goal is to let Eve take out her enhancement on you before the land will be covered in blood, before war will cover this land." He paused and looked at her, eyes full of concern and fears. Alpha Henry has seen darkness before—the kind that makes the street look like an ancient forged portrait, everything a shade of grey. This incoming war wasn't like that. The war was the darkness that deprived him of the best sense and replaced it with paralysing fear. In his calm, he sat, his muscles cramped and powerless to move. He only knew his eyes were still there because he could still feel himself.

Suddenly, lightning lit the skies in brilliant streaks. Fog surrounded every tree outside the Edmond cabin, every square centimetre of surface. Thunder proclaimed itself as some rock star upon the scene. Sheets of rain revived the grass, cleaning the dirt, fluttering, and trickling without a frontier, just like what happened in the previous war. Those deaths, those blood was everywhere. In those dark days after the war and battle of hatred, almost all of Henry's men were taken and drained, and the pain sank the mighty. But his hearts were acceptable to soar, and he belonged to the parents whose souls demanded he be.

"Those wars I don't want to part in but have no choice. What takes encouraging lineages centuries to evolve was savaged in a single day. The children we raise with love, murdered in an instant. What war devastates takes so very long to heal from. It shattered bones, when all that was needed was a hand of friendship and kind words. Yet the land has become the never-love, never-hope, the land in which the frigid dispassion of the apex predator damages the prefrontal humanity, lessening the capacity for productivity and perspective-taking, enhancing the primitive "blood lust" mode. Only the survivors, and I have seen it many times already in my life." Alpha Henry paused and looked at them intently, then after a sighed he continued. They did not win the battle; in fact, he lost everyone, and with the failing strength of his men, he was not likely to. However, he did win the hearts of his people, and those few that may still stand after the bloody battle may still fly his banner after seeing his fortitude in battle despite unwavering opposition within the enemy.

During that combat, no one won the war, but he swore he would still endure and remember that day. Kneeling with his head limp and exhausted from battle cries and short bursts of rage, his wounds were not just superficial. He was covered in blood; werewolves, witches, fairies, humans, and all land creatures fought for nothing; none seems to remember the reason for that war; all were blind, blinded by the curse of hatred. He remembered the sound of heavy boots paced like a drum progressing closer to his position, and the reality of a final confrontation was imminent. He did not dare whisper a prayer of hope, for that positivity was unstable enough to melt in a breath. The drum halted. A door opens. The Alphas, the human armies, and even himself fought and raised their heads to face their adversary. What Alpha Henry remembers is the bloodbath. Blood and death. And there is no way he wanted to repeat that nightmare. When will he start taking this bloody feud seriously? With the two vampires on their side, he hoped the odds would be on their side.

Alpha Henry's lengthy tale and speech made Elizabeth sob; it broke her heart knowing the pain of the Alpha. She felt his heartache, the agony, and the anguish. Yet she felt the hope as well; she felt his nightmare, the pain, and the sorrow.

"I'm sorry if you've gone through all that, Henry," she whispered, hopeful for their odds, but nonetheless reasonably scared for what the future might bring. The promise of changing something for the sake of not bringing the bloodbath to this land was indeed surreal and promising. Whatever may come, this is their fate. Their fate is to rewrite the curse of this land.