SOPHIA’S POV
We got up early the next morning, and with my son, Lalic wrapped carefully across my back, and Athena carrying with him the few provisions that he could lay his hands on, we set out on our way to Pixolands.
It was a journey of faith, one liaised with nothing but plain hope.
We walked slowly but steadily. We were hungry, weak, and… hopeful. We’ve got nothing to lose and if after this attempt there is no positive result, then we can die with our heads held up high, at least we tried and did not die as cowards.
My heartbeat continued to rise tremendously as we left the sorrows and pains in Wild Cloak behind. So many of the households were still sleeping, while some could be heard wailing and mourning their lost loved ones. Some bodies could be seen lying helplessly on the streets, waiting for death to come for them.
It was a gruesome sight, Wild Cloak.
The sun began to come out slowly, and as it got hot, LaIic began to whimper and cringe on my back. It has been months since he last felt sunshine and thus, his body is not completely receptive to the rays of sunlight.
“What is wrong with him?” Athena asked and drew close to take a look at him.
“I think it should be the sun, it is a little bit too harsh on him” I replied.
Athena brought out a piece of cloth from the bag he was holding and used it to cover Lalic’s head to shield him from the sun. “This should be better. If we should continue this way, we would be in Pixolands before sunset” he murmured.
We were almost getting to our borders when we were accosted by a member of our Pack. He is Leon, the leader of our army.
“Hey, Athena, where are you off to?” he asked, panting. He has been running after us.
“We are on a journey, Leon” Athena replied unenthusiastically.
He continued notwithstanding Athena’s nonchalant attitude. “I was told you were leaving the village and I had to run to meet up with you. Where are you going to? See we know things are very bad, but it will only continue for a while. Everything will be alright soon” he pleaded.
Athena sighed. “We are off to Pixolands” he revealed.
“Pixolands… you will not be welcomed there. See come back, we will take care of your family even if you have to get all the stock we have. Don’t walk into death” he pleaded.
“My wife asked that I take her there. She wants to meet with the queen of the Pixies” Athena explained.
Leon shot me a frightened look and exclaimed. “Meet with the queen? That is impossible. What do you have to give her?”
“We’ve got nothing, we can only hope” Athena murmured.
“You have to come back with me, Athena. See the condition of your son. We will all pull through this together” Leon requested.
“Pull through, till when. What is a werewolf without a wolf?” Athena lamented.
“We are almost at Pixolands, we can’t turn back now that we have come this far. And what awaits us in Wild Cloak? There is barely enough to take care of the people there. We register deaths every day. We will go over to the queen and even if she would demand that we be her slaves for Lalic to live, then we would gladly accept it. I can’t watch on anymore, it breaks my heart to see him in this terrible state” I begged.
“I understand, Sophia, we all do. but who are we to dare to stand before the great queen of the Pixies? If you should go there like this, she would feel mocked and who knows what she might do to you” Leon replied.
He was right and even I too is aware of that. But then there is nothing left for us.
“Going front is filled with uncertainty, Leon, but such uncertainties would never outweigh turning back and returning to Wild Cloak. If we turn back, we die of hunger if these diseases do not take our lives soonest. The miseries are numerous, Leon. Let’s go to where there is some light and even if we were turned back, we can boast that at least we tried to live” I said.
“It only gets worse. We have lost a lot of our little ones and even those that still live are on the verge of dying” Leon murmured in pain.
“You see, Leon, we have to take this path, something good might come out of it,” Athena said.
“You are right. Our fear has kept us from reaching out to the Pixies, and now I will not try to stop you” he stopped and exhaled. “Please hand your son to me and let me carry him as you must be very tired” he offered.
“Thanks, Leon, but I have to hold him very carefully as his whole body is in pain” I replied and tried to put up a smile.
“I will come with you two. Your faith might be just what we need” Leon said.
“Thanks, man,” Athena said.
“We can never know until we try” he replied.
With Leon now with us, we continued on our way under the scorching sun amid whimpers from Lalic.
*
We finally arrived at Pixolands by sunset and we were all very tired and our legs could no longer carry us.
In a state of complete exhaustion, we found our way to the palace. At the palace gate, we met some guards who stopped us from going in.
“Please we are here to see the great queen” Athena begged.
“Who are you and what brings you here?” the guard interrogated, in a rather hostile manner.
“We come from Wild Cloak Pack, we are people from Wild Cloak Pack” Athena stuttered.
“And what brings you here?” another guard barked.
“We need to see the queen, we need help” Athena pleaded.
Lalic had become too uncomfortable at my back so I carried him in my arms.
“Sorry, but you cannot see the queen” the first guard barked.
“You do not understand, this is a case…” Athena tried to beg but was arrogantly cut short by the second guard.
“Don’t you understand, our queen cannot see any of you, not at this time”
I drew close to him. “Please save us, we need to see the queen in order to live” I cried while Lalic could not stop whimpering in my arms.
“This is not within my power…” the first guard eyed me. “You need to stand up and leave” he ordered.
“I cannot leave here, my son is dying” I wept.
“Can’t you understand?” the second guard yelled. “The queen does not just see anyone. If you like you can stay here all day but you are not going inside”
“But we have a right to see the queen, only the queen should refuse us. You have not even informed her of our visit” Leon said.
“There is no need for that. Right now the queen has other engagements. She will not have time for any of you” the second guard replied.
“But take pity on my son, I know I have nothing but he is going to die” I pulled at his leg.
Athena drew close to me and tried to lift me up. “We have tried, Sophia, and now there is nothing we can do”
“No…” I yelled. “No, I am never going to give up. I will remain here until I see the queen” I protested as Athena pulled me away.
“We can still send you out of our land. For all we know, you might be spies” the second guard spat.
“I am no spy” I wept loudly. “We are no spies… Lalic is dying” I pulled off from Athena’s hold and fell on the floor with Lalic, weeping.
“Let us go, Sophia, please let’s leave here now. We can look for help some other place” Athena struggled to control his emotions.
“No, there is no other place, Athena, I will remain right here” I refused.
“Do this for us, man, do this for the dying little boy” Leon begged the guards.