Chapter 143 Memory of Blood and Snow

Chapter 143 Memory of Blood and Snow

MYSTAL -

The capitol gates rose above her as she made her way out of the city.

The sun was warm on her back, and she was thankful that she'd decided on her lighter armor.

Winter hadn't fully hit the South yet, and the wind carried the scent of the late autumn air.

Thankfully, the roads were dry, and she wouldn't have to worry about catering to the horse's hooves and hide every time she stopped.

The next five days were going to be long, and it would take at least that many to reach the Northern castle.

She made it up the first hill, and she couldn't help but stop and look back down at the capitol.

It was warm here, and she would miss the forgiving temperature.

She had to pack warmer gear because by the time she reached Dax's lands up north, there would be a thick layer of snow.

Turning her horse, she made her way through the farmlands and quiet roads.

Memories of patrols from her younger years filled her mind, and she couldn't help but smile at her innocence.

So different from how things had been in the village growing up.

Kaol. His name slid in without permission.

"I'm not going to have to listen to you pining after him for the whole trip, will I?" Aspen asked.

Her wolf had very little need for companionship, and while she found Kaol's energy pleasant, she had no interest in a mate.

"I can't help it." Mystal spoke aloud, needing the noise to keep her mind busy.

"Thinking of him is not the memory I prefer." Her voice was smug. "Instead, let's think about how I treated the bandit who tried to kill us."

She could feel the smile that Aspen had without needing to look within to see it.

That night had been more than just a near-death experience.

It had been the night of her first shift.

Aspen had exploded out, barely bigger than a pup, and tore at the bandit's throat before lunging for his stomach.

Ripping flesh as she protected Mystal for the very first time.

And she'd been vicious and relentless.

Mystal had known that she had a wolf. They'd had very minimal conversation in broken English that her wolf barely understood.

Yet, when Mystal asked for her help in hunting and feeding them, the Wolf never came out.

Winters were especially brutal.

Luckily, they'd found an old makeshift cabin, just outside the village, that someone had made years ago and abandoned.

It had enough room for a mattress and a fire, and that was enough for her.

It had been theirs. Their home.

Even the people in the village had felt like family to a teen who had no one and was barely more than a child.

Familiar faces and homes, that she knew well enough to walk through with her eyes closed, gave her a sense of comfort.

Even the human merchant who had abandoned her to the bandit had been someone she'd grown to care about.

Unlike most other visitors, he'd treated her with kindness the moment he'd come to the town.

He spoke to her as if she mattered and even shared some of his food from his wagon.

When he had sold everything he could and decided it was time for him to move on, he couldn't have picked a worse time.

Mystal knew, even at a young age, that bandits were prevalent on the roads leading out in early spring because the weather wasn't as harsh and the travelers were plentiful.

She knew the area, and he didn't, so she felt it was her responsibility to make sure that he made it past the first pass.

He sat in his wagon, and although he'd asked her to join him, she'd told him that riding would drown out noises that she would need to hear.

So she was running beside it as it made its way slowly along the road.

They'd made it through the first several areas without issue and Mystal had been thankful, but she hadn't been watching their backs well enough.

When the ambush happened, the bandit had grabbed her around the waist from behind and pulled her up to his front.

Pointing a knife at the merchant, he demanded that he get down from the wagon and give him everything he owned, or else he'd kill her.

Even after all these years, she could still feel the terror of that moment as the memory laced its way through her.

Something had welled up within her, and she knew she had to stop the bandit from harming the human.

It was her duty.

So she raked his arm with her nails before she bit down hard into his skin. Blood filled her mouth, and the man howled in pain before dropping her.

She fell and turned on him, and that's when she heard the merchant tsk his horse into a run and the wagon disappeared down the trail.

She didn't have time to feel the betrayal, though, because the moment the bandit lifted his eyes to the receding wagon, they filled with fury before coming back to her.

She knew in that moment that she would die, and just like earlier, something welled up, powerful and furious.

Aspen exploded out in a flurry of fur and teeth.

She ripped at his throat first, before dropping to his belly where her teeth tore through weak clothing and tender fat.

Only, when she dropped to the ground, she hadn't realized that the man had stabbed his knife deep into her side.

Still too weak to hold the shift, Aspen changed back with the blade still embedded in her side, and it tore a scream from Mystal.

She could still remember the cold as it traveled out and away from the wound to take over the rest of her body.

In shock, she fell onto her back in the snow beside the still gurgling bandit.

Although she was dying, she was happy.

Happy to have defended the human, even if he ran in the end.

Happy to have felt her Wolf before dying.

Content with the fact that she would die having been genuinely her, and not letting the loneliness and hardships win.

Her vision started to go black by the time movement appeared to her right.

Warm hands traveled along her skin and it burned like fire, but she was too weak to respond. All she could do was weakly pull her gaze to the man who was trying to save her.

By the time they reached the village, her strength had all but vanished and the last thing she remembered was being enveloped by the warmth of his home, before her eyes closed and the blackness took her.

A cold blast of wind ripped her hair sideways and made her horse whinny in frustration. It pulled her back to the road and out of her memory, and she finally noticed that the sun had gone down long enough that a blanket of stars sat above her.

She looked to the road and couldn't help but think that she was one step closer to Kaol.