Page 118 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
I feel a wave of sadness washing over me. Our gamma passed. She was like a family member, a friend… and like a sister. I don’t even want to imagine how Alana is going to handle this.
*ENDELLION*
“I don’t even know what to say,” I say sadly. “I can’t imagine what happened. There must have been a terrible attack.”
“I agree,” Dad is pacing up and down nervously. “I tried to reach out to Alana through an extended mind link, but I can’t reach her. She is full of sorrow and seems to be wounded, too.”
“Should we ride ahead to catch up with them?” I offer.
“No, I sent some of our warriors.” He pauses. “One of the messengers they sent to us yesterday had some appalling news,” he says. Then, he fills my brothers, Aza and me in with what he knows. It seems like the werebears attacking were enchanted, and some children spotted a majestic bear or a similar creature.
While he talks, I remember our encounter a few weeks ago… when the blizzard chased us. “You won’t like hearing this, and up til now you always said I just have a vivid imagination, but-” I pause. “When Caelan, Flinn and I saved the villagers a few weeks ago, there was a creature hunting us. It was engulfed in the blizzard, but I could hear its roar.”
My father looks at me. “If I’ve learned one thing, it’s to not blame anything on my children’s imagination anymore,” he admits. “I failed to believe Alana when she saw a dragon, or you when you felt and heard sounds belonging to a mysterious creature.”
“It has to be connected,” Azadeh agrees. I take her hand into mine. Her warmth keeps me grounded, especially now that I have to deal with the loss of Ita. Our strong and kind gamma… gone. She wasn’t just a ranked member to us, she was a member of the family, a sister, a friend. And now, we have to bid her goodbye forever.
Azadeh brushes with her fingers over my hand. “Alana will need us now,” she says. “More than ever.”
Dad turns to look at my siblings and me.. “I already sent notice to my mate… to your mother,” he says to my surprise.
“You are calling her back from her travels?” I ask. He has never done that. Mom doesn’t go on these a lot, but every couple of years, she will head out for a few months to research. It’s important for our kingdom that she does that, to broaden her knowledge, her horizons and to find new allies within other species. That’s how she met Aylin, after all.
“Yes, she needs to know what happened or she will kill me once she returns,” he says.
“If you want, I will make sure that everything is prepared for Alana’s return. We don’t know how hurt she and Tynan are,” Azadeh says. “And, how many warriors we lost. I could talk to Aylin and have her prepare enough medicine.”
“Please, that would be a great help, Azadeh,” Father says with a genuine smile. Once she is gone, he turns to us. “She would make a fabulous luna and queen,” he announces.
I feel pride filling me for this rare compliment towards my chosen mate. The fact he could imagine her as a luna is a major compliment to her traits and personality. Soon, however, we are discussing the serious issues ahead of us again. It’s not only the loss of Ita we suffer but also that Quinn and Dad lost contact with Shayan and Royan.
“They went too far into no-man's land,” Quinn reports, nervously. “And, they probably are in the witch’s lair there. Royan mentioned a witch before our connection broke.”
“They are alive, though,” Flinn points out. “That’s what we need to think of now. They are alive! We will wait for Alana, Tynan and our warriors to return, and then hopefully we’ll have more information.”
“You believe it’s all connected?” Caelan wants to know.
“Yes. I mean, there is a mysterious creature popping up at the pack where Alana spotted a dragon years ago. Then, all of Azadeh’s dreams, the fact that the dragons seem to have returned, and the werebears getting more and more feral. All of this is connected.”
“I have to agree,” I say. “I don’t believe in coincidence anymore. Unfortunately, we still don’t know enough. So, all we can do for now is trust the men that went undercover, and have faith in the work Tynan, Alana and… and Ita did.”
I am about to say more when my father turns towards the door. “Come in,” he says, before turning to us. “A messenger, he mind linked me.”
A young man enters the room, and to my surprise, I recognize him as one of the warriors of the pack we resided in just a day ago. Caelan and Flinn seem to be equally surprised.
“My king,” he pants, his eyes wide as if he is still struggling with what he is about to tell us. “My princes.”
“What happened?” Dad asks, alarmed. “Are you bringing bad news?”
“No… not necessarily,” he hesitates, “just… unbelievable news. The wasteland close to the Crystal Forest,” the man hurries to explain, “the trees are carrying buds all of a sudden. And the farms are announcing that the harvest will be richer than usual.”
“Impossible,” my father calls out. “Nothing has been growing there since I was a child.”
“I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” the man tells him. “Some of the others did, too. It started right after the princes and the princess left to return home.”
The three of us can only stare at him in shock.We were there,Flinn links us.
I was about to say the same. We… we went to the wastelands, and Aza…I let my voice trail off.
