CHAPTER 68 Acceptance

Drew

"We need to reach the wall of the territory as fast as we can," I told Earth.

After howling to warn the others back at Mutianyu Village, I picked up the satchel and ran. The territory was still several miles away. Once we arrived at the hidden cabin near the wall of the territory, I will have Earth open the Dragon's eye and unleash the Flaming Sword.

I thought my lungs were going to burst from exertion, but I ran as fast as I could. Earth, surprisingly, was keeping up even if she had to exert twice the effort.

Numerous gun shots, cries and hisses pierced the quiet night. I ran faster. I had to get to the cabin. There, I would shift back to human form, so I could wield the sword, before more of my pack members died.

The hidden cabin can only be seen by wolves of nobility. It was protected by a priestess of long ago who offered her earthly body to live in the spirit realm so she could live forever and guard the hidden cabin. When I was a little boy, I was allowed to walk inside just as long as I stood beside my uncle, but all I saw was a dilapidated cabin. It was a night like this one, cold and snowing. Although I did not see the riches my uncle described to me as he led me inside, I did feel incredibly warm.

Finally, after several minutes of running, I saw images of the various parts of the cabin shown by the faint moonlight. Since dark clouds covered the moon, the images would disappear then reappear like a malfunctioning hologram.

It still looked like a broken down shed to me.

"Hold on, Drew," Dragon said, annoyed of my stupidity. "Earth, we need to bow. Follow what I do."

Standing several feet away from the front of the cabin, Dragon dropped the satchel on the ground, extended a leg in front of him and bowed his head. Earth did the same. "We must show respect to the Priestess Mei before what is hidden can be shown."

The moonlight shimmered revealing an elegant Chinese cottage. The snow and withered trees around us disappeared and was replaced by a green luscious forest under a summer starlit sky.

"How beautiful!" Earth exclaimed, as she looked around us, amazed at the transformation. "And it's surprisingly warm here. There's no ice sticking on my paws."

"Unfortunately, we don't have time. I can hear the cries of our fellow wolves," I said. "They need us. They need me."

I nudged the satchel, sliding it towards Earth. It contained a few of our belongings, but most importantly, it carried the Jade Box.

"She-wolf, open the eye of the dragon or you and I will die before the sun rises in the east," Dragon commanded.

Since Earth was a small wolf, she had no problem opening the bag. With utmost care, she took the Jade Box in between her mouth and gently laid it on the ground.

She placed her small brown paw on the dragon. Looked up at the sky and when she lowered her face, I saw a blue flame flickering in the depths of her blue eyes.

A light flashed and the dragon's eye opened once again.

I shifted back to my human form, opened the Jade Box and picked up the sword.

The blue flame emerged and with it...clothes. I found myself dressed in blue hanfu attire.

I quickly bowed to the invisible spirit of Priestess Mei and ran towards the gates of the territory with the Flaming Sword in hand.

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Fire

Earth was about to follow Drew towards the gates of his territory, but a young woman suddenly appeared in front of us, blocking our path.

"Before you aid your pack, I would like to thank you for assisting Alpha Long accept his destiny. Acceptance, little one," the woman said in Mandarin. "It will make you stronger."

"What do you mean?" I asked in Mandarin, hoping she could hear my thoughts. To my relief, she smiled at me, acknowledging she did.

"Every being in this world is different. Our differences cause divide, but once we accept each other despite those differences, we can work together. This makes one become stronger. Take for example...Earth, Fire, Water and Air. They are all so different, but when put together they form an idyllic state. Come, peer into the water," she said, taking a step to the side, revealing a small basin perched atop a stone pillar. "Look at what it means to accept."

I slowly walked towards the basin and looked. I saw Earth's reflection in the clear blue water. Ripples within the water suddenly appeared and with it, a change in my reflection. This time brown became half white.

I looked down at myself and was shocked to see one paw was brown while the other was white. I was no longer a small wolf. My paws looked much larger than before.

"Ah, perfection. If you ever need me, Nirvana, I will be here."

"Nirvana?"

"I am now named, Nirvana," my wolf said, the timbre of her voice was that of Earth's and Air's combined. "We must go. Our mate needs us."

With one last bow to Priestess Mei, Nirvana placed the Jade Box back in the satchel and picked it up, running towards the gates of Drew's territory.

I was surprised to find the bloodsuckers had already left.

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Drew

It was strange. From high up on a hill on the other side of the territory, a bright red flare flew up to the sky. The bloodsuckers paused to watch the bright red circle of light illuminate the dark sky.

Some of my pack members took this opportunity to pierce a stake in the hearts of the bloodsuckers within their reach. However, when the wolves tried to engage the other bloodsuckers in a fight, the vampires quickly jumped over the granite wall of the territory in retreat.

When one bloodsucker made the mistake of attacking me, I killed several of them with one mighty stroke of the Flaming Sword.

I noticed some of the nearby bloodsuckers averted their face and hid their eyes. They were frightened.

Once the bloodsuckers took notice of the massive particles of ash flowing with the freezing wind, all of them jumped over the walls and dashed away. No bloodsucker stayed behind.

"Drew, what just happened?" Fire's voice echoed in my mind. She was still in wolf form. I turned around to find a large wolf that was half white and half brown walking towards me.

"Fire?" I asked, shocked.

"Yes, it's me. And this is Nirvana. Air and Earth merged to form a new wolf," she answered.

The warriors of my pack suddenly turned to face us, before dropping to their knees and bowing.

Fire placed the satchel on the ground and touched the tip of the sword with her muzzle. The blue flame quickly vanished. My pack members all gasped and bowed anew. I heard one of them distinctly say, "Enchantress".

"Let's go to the Long Mansion. My grandmother and my mother's remaining family members live there," I told Fire. I picked up the satchel and led the way to the mansion.

Tyler, clad only in black pants, suddenly came running down the brick pathway that led to the mansion. I braced myself for bad news.

"Alpha, they've taken Grandma Ling," he managed to say while panting. "I tried chasing after them over the hill, but a silver bullet grazed my arm." I noticed the wound on his arm. It was bleeding.

"Do you know who took her?" I asked him, while I tore a piece of my clothing. Now I knew why the bloodsuckers retreated. My grandmother must have negotiated with them.

"The biggest of all bloodsuckers I've seen," he said, taking the piece of cloth, so he could apply pressure on his wound. "The Marquess."

"The Marquess is mother's friend, Alpha Drew Long-Drago," my uncle, Kai Long, said. "She has a letter waiting for you in the mansion."