Chapter 14 #2
Her attacks now only incinerated half of the Djarins, the others simply being set ablaze.
Soon, I became overwhelmed by their insane numbers.
Try as I might, I couldn’t knock them all out of the way as they rushed Eleni.
As a battle mount, Pasha mastered the art of aerial evasion.
She dodged and ducked, swooping out of the way as the creatures attempted to slay her mistress.
However, it also made my task harder to block the onslaught as I struggled to anticipate her next movement.
With the Djarins now having gone into suicide mode, they kept smashing directly into me with their bone heads, knocking the wind out of me, and throwing me off course.
It quickly became apparent that they weren’t trying to kill me, only isolate Eleni so that they could complete their gruesome mission.
And despite her best efforts, Pasha couldn’t prevent my mate from sustaining a growing number of scratches.
My blood turned to ice when I watched as if in slow motion as a Djarin, even while being set ablaze, smashed directly into my woman, knocking her off her mount.
She screamed as she plummeted from the sky.
I mentally shouted her name and dove towards her to catch her.
But countless fiendish beasts crashed into me from various directions, preventing me from getting back to her.
I fought helplessly as at least five of the creatures swept their speared limbs at my Eleni’s chest. At first, I thought they were stabbing her to death.
But they suddenly turned and began to scatter.
I rushed towards my mate only for Pasha to catch her mid-fall with her front paws.
She didn’t challenge me when I reached forward and took Eleni from her.
But the Galadia’s screech of despair reflected the horror that immediately engulfed me.
Violent spasms wracked Eleni’s body as she emitted choking sounds, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. The Amulet no longer hung around her neck.
No! No! No! No! No!
Using my enhanced vision, I looked around for any sign of the necklace despite knowing I wouldn’t be able to see it. Like many ancient artifacts, they had protections that made them nearly impossible to detect unless you knew exactly where they were.
I didn’t see it fall…
The Djarins hadn’t been trying to kill her but only to steal the necklace.
They had taken off as soon as they had accomplished their mission.
Terrified, I glanced around me to see them all fleeing in the distance.
Even if I flew as hard as I could, I would never be able to catch up with them, especially as they were all dashing in opposite directions from each other.
A blind rage took over me as the nasty little voice mocked me for not listening when it said that there could never be happiness for me.
But this went beyond any personal loss. They were killing my mate for some monster’s hunger for power and immortality.
The same strange tingling and energy I had felt in the sanctuary as I battled against the shackles surged within me with unbridled fury.
I didn’t understand it or even care about what it was.
I roared with all the pain, anger, despair, and hatred burning inside of me for the injustice and cruelty to my woman.
It blasted outward in a powerful shockwave that blurred the air on a wide radius around me.
It was like watching a luminous ripple at the surface of an ocean where a large boulder had been dropped.
In the distance, all around us, the Djarins shattered like glass, their remains raining down from the sky.
I froze, my mind struggling to understand what had just occurred. But labored gasp from Eleni reminded me of her dire situation, snapping me out of my daze. I needed to find the Amulet before it was too late.
Without thinking, I dashed forward, swooping down towards the ground. My enhanced vision wouldn’t allow me to see it. Our only hope resided in the fact that as soon as we got within range, Eleni’s spasms would dim, indicating that I was getting closer.
Except the foul creatures had fallen all over the various regions of the forest. I flew around for what felt like an eternity, using my echolocation to find as many of the Djarins as possible.
But I soon realized that I would never succeed.
We had covered too extensive an area during the battle, and after their escape.
I needed a way to pinpoint the Amulet’s exact location if I stood the slightest chance of saving my soulmate.
My heart shattered as she began to convulse in my arms, foam forming at the corner of her mouth.
In a final desperate move, I created an illusion to make her mind believe that she was still wearing the necklace, and that she was relaxing in a hot spring.
Obviously, it wouldn’t fix the problem, but if it could slightly delay her death, I had to try it.
To my shock, her convulsions stopped. I wasn’t so foolish as to think all damage had stopped.
But if I could spare her any pain while I turned the world upside down to find a solution, I would welcome that small victory.
At a loss as to what to do next, I did the only thing I could think of.
Flapping my wings, I raced to my mother’s house.
Only she stood a chance of putting me on the right track.
My wings burned from the effort, further compounded by the many wounds and lacerations inflicted to meet by the Djarins.
If not for my accelerated regeneration, I might not have made it.
As I approached the gates, I braced for the guardians possibly getting in my path. Despite their phenomenal power, if they came at me, I would tear them to pieces. Thankfully, they didn’t so much as stir as I zipped past them overhead.
To my shock, as I began my descent towards the entrance of the mansion, I found my mother standing outside with the type of distressed expression I never thought she would even be capable of.
Fear like I had never experienced before engulfed me.
What could possibly have her in such a state? Was she unable to help me?
“Why did you come here?!” my mother asked before I even finished landing, her tone filled with sorrow and disbelief.
“I need help,” I pleaded halfway through shifting back to my normal form. “My mate is dying.”
“Why did you come here?!” she insisted, pointing at the ground. “I cannot help you, Lyall. You should know this!”
“She’s dying, Mother! Please. I’m your son. I beg you!” I said, falling on my knees before her, Eleni held tightly in my arms.
“You know what the problem is, Lyall,” she said urgently, addressing me as if I was a child. “You know why she’s in this state.”
“She needs the Amulet,” I replied, understanding she was trying to lead me to the answer within the constraints of the Covenant.
But my brain was too frazzled to think properly.
“Yes, and?” she insisted.
“And we lost it. We were attacked by Djarins. They took it from her. I killed them but couldn’t find the Amulet near any of their corpses. Maybe… maybe some of them managed to escape?”
“No, Lyall. You killed them all.”
My mother cried out and threw her head back, covering her face with both hands as soon as she pronounced those words.
To my shock, she fell to her knees before me and slapped her palms on the packed dirt ground for support.
Only then did I see a massive gash splitting her face from the top of her silver white hair, running down her left eye, down the side of her neck, and disappearing under the fur lining of the collar of her long dress.
The grievous wound made no mystery as to how excruciating it had to be.
My mother never crossed the Covenant. That she did in that instance meant she had deliberately accepted its punishment as there was no other way—in her mind—to lead me on the right path to possibly save my mate.
If she crossed it again, the punishment would be so severe, it would leave her incapacitated for hours, maybe even days.
Under different circumstances, I would kiss her feet in gratitude at this undeniable proof of her true love for me. But time was of the essence.
Teeth clenched through the pain, Mother lifted her head to stare at me with unnerving intensity while the wound closed ever so slowly. She didn’t speak, clearly waiting for me to derive the proper conclusion.
“That means the Amulet is somewhere in the forest,” I said, my mind racing. “But I couldn’t find it. I don’t know what to do, Mother. I can’t lose her. It will kill me.”
“Listen to me, Lyall. Listen very carefully,” she said, articulating slowly as if I was a little dense. “You have friends.”
I blinked, confused by that statement. It echoed words she had previously spoken to me. But how were they relevant?
“A year ago, another man stood in desperation on a plateau, holding his dying mate. He didn’t know what to do. You guided him. You helped save his mate.”
“Remus? What the fuck does—?”
“LISTEN!” she snapped, interrupting me even as she grabbed my face with both hands. “You have friends, Lyall. You claimed to have lost something in the forests of Wolfmoon Mountains. Who knows them better than anyone?”
“The Lycans…” I breathed out, shocked that the thought never entered my mind.
“There is no time. You have friends, Lyall,” she said in a pressing tone. She glanced at her wall through the open door then returned her attention towards me with something akin to fear. “Go, my son, before it’s too late. Go!”