Chapter 10 The Ascension
Chapter 10
Mila’s POV
I let out the last breath in me. It slipped through my lips like smoke , faint, fragile, and final. The world around me spun, fading into a haze of shadow and light as I felt myself being lifted up into the heavens , my body separating from itself. One part of me , the broken, mortal part , was still tied to the stake, and another part was weightless, rising above it.
The dark clouds that had swallowed the moon began to shudder and tear apart. The black night turned pale. Light penetrated through the crevices in the heavens. It was not a normal light. It was something different. Something the eyes have not seen.
Something purer, sharper. A crystal-like glow began to spread across the sky, its brilliance shimmering over the Stormfang Pack and beyond, until even the mountains in the distance shimmered like glass.
Below me, Damien's soulless body lay flat on the earth , limp, lifeless , right beneath the blood-soaked stake I was tied to.
Damien's eyes were open, staring into nothing. The earth sucked his blood eagerly like honey. A river of blood flows beneath his lifeless body.
Gasps erupted. Then screams. Panic twisted through the crowd like wildfire. Wolves, even the smallest pups, all scattered.
Even those that could not work dragged themselves through the red sand, nursing mothers grabbed their pupplings,
The older ones among them disappeared into the darkness of the night.
That is the night I knew fear had a sound, and it was deafening.
Lightning ripped the sky apart.
A flash of white light here and there.
Then rain poured down in furious torrents, soaking everything.
The ground trembled, shaking as if the gods themselves had struck the stormfang pack with rage. I could feel it , every rumble beneath me, as I was lifted higher into the air.
Higher, until stormfang was nothing but a shadow beneath my feet
The winds brushed my face with its high intensity. It howled into my ears like a thousand dead ancestors. My hair stretched wildly, tangling into my tears which had refused to stop.
Then I stared at my skin. Oh my… it was changing. Changing into something different that I had never seen. My body shimmered like it was made up of diamond dust.
Then I suddenly noticed that the cuts, marks and wounds I bore seconds ago had completely disappeared. They have been replaced with smooth glistening diamonds like crystal skin.
My gown, torn and soaked in blood, shifted before my eyes. The crimson stains melted into white , pure, luminous white, flowing around me like silk spun from light itself. Tiny specks of silver appeared, crawling up my arms, embedding into my skin like delicate fangs made of stars.
I gasped.
Then I cried. But when the tears came out, it was something different, scourging, thick and reddish like blood.
No…” I murmured, wiping it off my face with a shaky and distressed hand. But strangely, the more I wiped it off, the more it flowed. Each droplet bursted into the air, causing heavy rain with thunderstorms to fall.
And that rain fell on Stormfang, beneath me , fierce, unrelenting. The sky wept with me. Lightning cracked.
I watched as roofs were ripped away, trees split in half, rivers overflowed and swallowed the roads.
What was happening to me?
Was I dreaming? Dead? Cursed?
The sky trembled harder.
I screamed, but my voice came out like thunder. The sound rolled through the heavens and back into the earth.
And still I rose.
“My heart…” I gasped, clutching my chest, but even that felt strange , it wasn’t beating like before. It pulsed with heat, with pain, with vengeance.
Then the corpse of Damien, lying helplessly on the ground, being beaten by the heavy rain was brought before me. My soul screamed for nothing but outright revenge against our enemies.
A final tear fell, scarlet and bright.
Then everything went black.
I hit the ground hard. The air left my lungs in a broken cry.
When I opened my eyes, the world was no longer glowing. Night had returned , thick, heavy, suffocating. The light was gone.
I suddenly found myself in a forest. Just like a dream, everything I saw a moment ago was rolled away.
The ground was cold, damp beneath my feet. Shadows stretched long and crooked between the trees. I could hear the forest breathing, the whisper of wind against bark, the distant screeching of ravens, the eerie screaming of wings. Somewhere far off, a fox howled, and another answered it.
The air was made up of thick early morning dew.
I looked down at myself. My gown had changed again. This time to something not so good. The white gown, too, had faded into something dull, cringy, ghostly grey color. Mud hug the hem of my gown.
I wasn't wearing anything. My feet, exposed to thorns and thistle.
I turned slowly, eyes darting through the trees. “Hello?” My voice cracked, trembling.
Nothing.
Only the creak of the wind.
Then … a sound.
Soft. Small. A whimper.
I froze.
It came again , this time, closer. A pup's cry.
I followed it, moving carefully between the trees. My breath came fast, my heart pounding loud enough to echo. The mist grew thicker until I could barely see two steps ahead.
Then I saw him.
A small pup , maybe four, maybe five years old. Standing there in the midst of the trees, alone. His tiny chest rose and fell quickly, his lips trembling. The moonlight, faint as it was, touched his face.
“Momma…” he whispered.
I stopped. The word pierced through me like a blade.
He looked up again. “Momma!” His little hands stretched out for mine
I hesitated, my feet remain static, refusing to make a move. My throat clumped together.
Momma!” He cried out, this time louder than the first time. He took a few steps forward, to where I stood.
I swallowed hard, my look shook, as fear climbed up to my throat.
Have we met before?” I whispered.
The light from above shifted, piercing through the fog just enough for me to see him clearly. His skin was pale, almost too pale, his hair mixed with dirt. He was naked , small, fragile,using both hands to cover himself.
“What are you doing here?” I asked gently, kneeling to his height. “Where is your momma?”
He didn’t answer. His lips quivered, his eyes darted to the ground.
Something in my chest ached , a strange pull, a connection I couldn’t explain. I reached out, wanting to comfort him, to touch him, to make sure he was real.
Then he looked up at me. His eyes , glowing faintly silver , locked with mine.
My breath caught.
I took another step closer, even as fear tightened around my ribs.
The boy moved his trembling hands away from his body.
And then I saw it.
My womb, torn open, clasped between his tiny fingers. Warm blood dripped from his fingers glistering through the moonlight.
My mind froze.
I looked down at myself , and the hollow beneath my ribs burned with unbearable emptiness.
The air within evaporated through my lungs. The strange world around tilted, including the vegetation. Everything instantly turned
blurry.
No.. No…” the word suddenly tore out from my lips,
Then louder, No…”
Before I could process, the thick vegetation around me echoed it back to me.