Race against time

Race against time
The Elders meeting had been held off while May was busy with Macie and Alethia over the last couple of days. They'd since gone and so we now found ourselves in one of the meeting rooms that we'd converted from an extra office. We'd placed a large coffee table in the middle of the room and filled it with plush chairs to make sure that everyone could be comfortable.

Rhydian and May were practically sitting on each others laps on one of the couches and the rest of us were spread out around the room.

"So, we have a packhouse - which is a huge weight off our shoulders, we still need to rebuild the training ground fences and do a huge stocktake of supplies, but that's about it." Britton stated, taking the lead of the meeting and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Things have gone back to normal very quickly, thanks to our Alpha and Luna." Nala praised, and I gave her a smile.

"What are the future plans for the pack?" Flynn questioned in Malachi's direction.

"We'd like to just take it slow at the moment, recuperate, recover fully and start regular training again. I'd like to tie a few things up with the Landow Pack and check in on them before we settle down here and then not have to go anywhere for awhile. We have new alliances with Whitebridge, Landow and Leeside so we'll write up something official and then our pack members will also be able to move freely between packs - whether it's for work or a holiday." Malachi relayed what we'd been talking about over the last week to everyone, who seemed pleased with our answer.

There was a knock on the door, and Peggy entered out of breath holding a letter.

"I'm so, so sorry to interrupt but this came and it's urgent." She gasped, handing the letter to me. I nodded at her and she quickly left the room again.

All eyes were on me as I opened it and began reading.

Aurelia, We've found something underneath Landow that you need to see. I can't explain now because it's not safe, but we need you to arrive as soon as possible.

"What is it dear?" May asked curiously, and I realised that I was frowning.

"Braydon and Amora have discovered something underneath Landow, and need us to go there urgently." I answered, as everyone instantly looked worried.

"What is it?" Rhydian questioned.

"They didn't say, they said it wasn't safe to explain via letter." I explained, as I suddenly felt nervous.

"We'll leave immediately. May and Rhydian can hold the fort, Britton and Nala can organise a stocktake of our supplies and Oakley and Flynn can oversee the rebuilding of the training fields." Malachi said, squeezing my hand for reassurance - but I could see that he was feeling as unsettled as I was.

We quickly finished the meeting there and raced up to our apartment to pack. Malachi mindlinked some warriors to bring along with us and I let Peggy know that we had to go and visit Landow so she could take over some more admin duties.

"What do you think is going on?" I asked, breaking the silence in the room.

"I have no idea, but I don't have a good feeling about this." Malachi breathed as he threw his bag over his shoulder. I did the same and we walked down to the car that was waiting for us and jumped in as we sped off to visit the Landow Pack.

The trip felt like it took forever but I soon saw the familliar gates that indicated we were there. I'd briefly visited a few times with my Father, even though most of the meetings were held at Whitebridge, and we never stayed.

The guards waved us through, already expecting us and we pulled up out the front of the huge mansion. It was much larger than Shadowfen, and older and reminded me of a smaller Whitebridge Castle.

As soon as we stepped out of the car, the sound of laughter and talking hit my ears - which gave the place a much lighter feel to the last time I was here and made the old, run down, fortified pack look much more inviting.

"Aurelia! Malachi!" Amora and Braydon called out as they bounded towards us.

"I've missed you guys so much!" I exclaimed as I took Amora into a hug. I noticed Malachi had a stoney face on, and he simply nodded towards the front doors.

"What's going on?" Malachi asked bluntly and Amora and Braydon shot each other a look.

"Not here." Braydon hushed as they shepherded us down a hallway.

We entered a room - that I assumed was Cassius' old office, and Amora shut the door quickly behind us.

"What's going on?" Malachi repeated and Amora took a deep breath.

"We've been going through all of the Landow files and pack records to learn as much as we can, and came across this." Amora began as she slid a map across the desk towards us.

"A map of Landow?" I looked at her quizzingly, recognising the land.

"Correct, but not exactly." Braydon answered, "There's rumours of catacombs below Landow and this map doesn't match up to the layout of the above ground."

"...and you called us here to help you find them?" I quizzed, not seeing what was so urgent about them.

"It's what's rumoured to be in them that we're worried about." Amora answered.

"What's in them?" Malachi asked impatiently.

"We found this." Braydon slid an old journal across the desk towards us. "It was hidden with the intent of not easily being found, and contains instructions to an old stone that's apparently hidden at Landow... that allows certain people to talk to the moon goddess."

"The moon goddess?" Malachi rolled his eyes, as if he didn't believe them. "That can't be true. If there was such an item that could do that, then we would of heard about it by now."

"Look at this." Amora grabbed the journal and quickly flipped through a few pages before pushing it back towards us.

Our faces immediately paled as we came face to face with a poem and a very old illustration of... me.

The girl will be born on a full moon,
to speak to the gods,
to reign above wolves.

"This has to be fake." Malachi shook his head. "It was probably planted here."

I couldn't move or speak as I re-read the short poem and looked at my face on the page, knowing full well that I was born on a full moon.

"Why do you think Landow wanted Aurelia so badly, it went way beyond just being an alliance of packs for them. We know that they wanted control and she was their ticket to ruling all wolves." Braydon said softly.

"This was an extremely well kept secret, and we don't know who knows about this. If it's true, Aurelia could still be in danger." Amora added as Malachi let out a menacing growl.

"We need to find those catacombs." I whispered, looking wide eyed at Amora.