For the first time in what seemed like months, perhaps it had been that long, Lindsay’s dreams were not ominous. Rather she dreamed of an elderly man, tall as Mathew had been, hair as curly and unruly as her own but white with hints of copper, eyes the colour of golden honey twinkling with joyous laughter. A pearly white smile stretched wide across his wizened face and made him appear younger then he was. She knew this was man was her father even though she had never seen him before, there was no doubt it was him. He stood tall with his arms stretched out wide in welcome, they stood within a large ivory and gold entrance hall. Keagan was dressed in sweeping robes of forest green, golden embroidery at the end of each sleeve. The robes trailed the floor as he came down the ivory stairs leading into the grand hall beyond.
Everything Lindsay had felt for this man, all the hurt that had turned to anger as the years dragged on, faded as she looked upon his face. Hurt that he had left her, anger for abandoning her mother, all gone in moments and she was filled with the strong urge to run forward and throw herself into his waiting arms that did not waver or lower as he came toward her. Standing there she didn’t move as she watched him, her heart pounding in her chest like a jackhammer, it took a moment before she noticed that his lips were moving. He was trying to say something to her but no sound was coming, his smile was kind and his honey coloured eyes soft and filled with a love she had not expected. Again his lips moved without sound, this time her mouth opened to respond to a question she hadn’t heard. A chuckle shook Keagan’s chest and he shook his head slowly, opening his mouth once more to speak,
“Time to go, Princess.” Mathew’s voice cut through her dream like a knife causing her to frown and grumble, turning her face into the soft fur under her cheek. “Come on, now. We have to get a move on.”
“No,” she whined softly, frowning deeply. Every moment she was becoming more aware, all traces of sleep fading away. There was a soft chuckle and the ribcage under her cheek shook slightly. A sudden twisting in her stomach made her groan, her stomach responding with a growl of its own. Opening her eyes reluctantly as she sat up and yawned, stretching and looking around. Dim light was shining through the tops of the trees, it was sometime in the early morning but here beneath the cover of the trees it was just as dark as it had been the night before.
“Is there anything to eat?” Lindsay grumbled as she rubbed her fists against her eyes tiredly.
“We’ve not hunted, can you skin a hare?” Ian asked, turning his grey head toward her, and if she wasn’t mistaken there was amusement dancing there.
“Oh yes, skinning is a favourite pass time of mine.” came her sarcastic reply, pulling laughter from all four of the wolves in the clearing.
“Well, in that case, we should do some foraging,” Damian was quick to his paws and stretching with a lazy yawn before giving his large body a shake.
“Just don’t poison me,” she said as she smiled, sticking out the tip of her tongue a bit.
“And lose our heads? Never.” Alex laughed with a shake of his head.
“Stay with Damian, we’ll branch out and call if any of us finds something edible. Can’t have our charge half-starved when we reach Ionna.” Mathew barked out orders as his black form disappeared into the trees.
“Is he always so bossy?” she asked Damian as she watched the place where Mathew had disappeared.
“He is the Alpha of our watch,” Damian replied, starting off to the south, Alex had gone north, Mathew going east, Ian had set off southwest so as hot to completely backtrack their progress.
“There is so much I don’t understand,” Lindsay sighed.
“Well that’s my job isn’t it,” Laughed her quirky guardian.
“Is it?” she asked as a brow arched, giving Damian a sideways look.
“Mathew’s job is to keep the pack focused, Ian is a protector, I’m the teacher,” Damian’s nose was sniffing the air as the spoke, his left ear twitching occasionally.
“And Alex?” she prodded taking her eyes off her companion to look around.
“Alex, well, he balances everything.” they had stepped out of the treeline and into a clearing not unlike the one from the day before that had been full of glittering flowers. This one was empty, other than on the far side of the field of grass, large overgrown bushes that resembled blackberries, twisting around and over themselves in long thorn covered vines.
“What do you mean he balances everything?” she asked curiously, focused on the berries. She hadn’t noticed Damian had stopped and turned only when she reached the bushes. The tawny wolf was not too far away but he wasn’t looking at her, he was instead sniffing the air and turning his head slowly from left to right as if he was trying to follow a certain smell.
“Go ahead, Princess, midnight berries are harmless and filling,” Damian had ignored her question. As Lindsay watched him, he sat back on his haunches and lifted his head in the air, with his eyes closed he let out a loud, bone-chilling howl. The sound was beautiful and yet mournful to her ears. Lindsay sank into the grass by the bushes and carefully plucked a berry from a cluster. Examining the small fruit before dropping it on her tongue. As she chewed and the berries juices exploded outward she let out a small groan of pleasure, they may have looked like blackberries but the closest thing she could compare them to was a nice, sweet, ripe mango.
Eyes closing as she tilted her head back and slid another berry into her mouth, they were the most delicious thing she had ever experienced. Soon she was eating one after the other, savouring each one in between glances around the clearing. Soon the other three of her travelling companions had joined them. Mathew was the first to come through the trees, stopping and sniffing the air as Damian had done.
“I smelled it too,” Damian said, watching Mathew closely.
“It’s faint,” came the black wolf’s reply.
“It was still here, within, at least the last day. In Ionna territory.” Ian remarked as he put his snout the ground and sniffed like a hunting dog, moving around and inspecting a place near the bushes.
“We shouldn’t stay long,” Mathew growled, they all seemed to be ignoring the confused look on Lindsay’s face.
“Are you all purposely being thick? It’s been following us since we arrived.” Alex rolled his eyes at the others, Ian growling in response, hackles raised.
“And you said nothing?” he snarled at his younger cousin.
“Sorry, I wasn’t aware no one else could smell the stench of the fae!” Alex snarled back, his hackles rising. Instantly Ian was on him, both snarling and snapping at each other. Alex’s sharp teeth caught Ian by the ear, pulling hard as he growled and shook his head causing Ian to yelp loudly.
“Enough!” Lindsay yelled, unaware she had gotten to her feet. Immediately the two separated and dipped into low bows, noses to the grass and ears tucked back. Ian’s right ear was bleeding slightly, “Will someone please explain?” her lip curled as she growled out her question, anger was burning away in her chest and her hands were clenched into fists at her hips.
“We’re being shadowed,” Damian replied calmly “A fae was here some time ago, probably to feast on the berries,”
“What is a fae?” she asked, watching Damian and trying to ignore the sulky looking cousins, both of who were now sitting and looking anywhere but as her or each other.
“One of the Fair folk, they’re one of the ancient races who inhabit Milbar.” this time is was Mathew who answered.
“They probably noticed our arrival, their Queen is awfully nosey and her subjects are always fighting for her favour,” Damian explained further.
“It doesn’t matter why or how, we must not say anything more and we must get moving again, we have to get to Ionna as fast as we can,” Mathew didn’t wait for anyone to respond, he simply turned and walked away. Just as he expected them to, they followed, Lindsay and Damian were side by side behind him with scolded looking, Alex and Ian taking up the rear.
Lindsay wanted to ask more questions but knew by the way the others were looking around and sniffing the air as they moved, ears turning at any sound, that it wasn’t the time. So many things she wanted to know and no way to learn with someone listening to every word. She didn’t understand what the problem was, maybe the two races were at war? Her companions didn’t seem to care for the Fair folk as they called them, the tone they used when explaining things to her said more than the words they had used.
Travelling in silence made the time drag on for more than half the day Lindsay and the others were silent. It made every sound they heard that much louder even to her ears, the breeze rustling the trees, a birds song in the distance, some small tree-dwelling creature scratching at the bark. With an exasperated sigh she dropped her head back and reached up to push her hair behind her ears, eyes widening slightly she stopped dead in her tracks.
“What is this!?” she shrieked, feeling her ears carefully, the rounded curve of the top of her ear now came to a sharp point. They all looked at her in surprise and it was Damian who laughed, and he laughed so hard that he had to sit and hang his head, unable to breathe properly between gales of laughter.
“Welcome to Milbar, Princess,” snickered Mathew with a shake of his head, sitting down himself, they wouldn’t move on until Damian could control himself.
“So it would seem, Mathew, we weren’t too late.” Damian grinned at his older cousin through the shadowy darkness of the trees, the sun was fading.
“My ears…” Lindsay whined softly.
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