Everything felt unreal, like a fantasy or a beautiful dream often prayed for before sleep. Exactly how Vione felt at that moment. She could hardly believe what her eyes had seen, almost thinking it was just her hallucination, but Usher’s voice brought her back to an undeniable reality.
“Vione.”
The voice was like a heavenly melody that brought peace to Vione. All sadness and despair suddenly turned to dust that was blown away by the night wind and disappeared without a trace.
Vione bit her lower lip. Reality brought unimaginable happiness. Everything vanished from her mind and the only thing that remained was the desire to hug Usher as tightly as possible. “Usher.”
Vione’s embrace trapped Usher. His body stiffened for a moment and he seemed increasingly confused. In the end, however, he returned Vione’s embrace a moment later.
Usher closed his eyes. Just like Vione, he thought that everything that was happening was not real. He thought it was a beautiful dream given to him by the Moon Goddess as a prelude to his death. But no illusion would feel so real. The reason was not only the tight embrace he felt, but also the tears and sobs.
“I miss you, Vione.”
*
Rowena didn’t know how long she had been trapped in the darkness. One thing she did know was that her body felt so weak as she tried to regain consciousness. Just opening her eyes took so much effort, let alone trying to get out of bed.
Rowena’s entire body screamed with unimaginable pain she had never felt before in her life. She couldn’t help but moan in pain as she tried to get up again.
“Rowena!”
Ayla’s panicked scream was followed by the sound of swift footsteps approaching Rowena. She immediately reached for Rowena’s body and helped her to sit back against the headboard of the bed.
Rowena tried to calm herself, first by controlling her chaotic breathing. “A-Ayla.”
Ayla made sure Rowena was in the right position. “How are you, Rowena?” she asked with a tone that implied immense concern. “Are you all right?”
“Of course. I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”
On the contrary, Rowena realized that she was not fine. She was injured, her magical powers disturbed. But she didn’t want to tell Ayla or Vione.
Rowena’s eyes widened. Right, Vione.
Rowena held out her hand. She stopped Ayla, who was about to get up to get a glass of water. “What about Vione?” she asked quickly, then realized something. “What happened to Alpha?” Immediately her back straightened, ready to get out of bed. “I have to go check on Alpha. There’s still a full moon tonight. I could-”
“Alpha is fine, Rowena,” Ayla interrupted quickly. Then she took Rowena’s hand to squeeze her fingers with deep emotion. “Thank you. You saved Alpha. I and the Frostholm Pack are very grateful.”
Rowena was stunned for a moment. Ayla’s words confused her a bit. Her forehead furrowed slightly. “What do you mean, Ayla? Has Alpha regained consciousness? Is he healed?”
Ayla nodded. “Yes, Rowena. Alpha has regained consciousness. He woke up shortly after you fainted.”
The information surprised Rowena. It didn’t mean that she wasn’t happy, but there was a slight strangeness that left her confused. She hadn’t expected her ritual last night to be successful, especially considering that she hadn’t performed the ritual properly herself. Her energy had been drained, so it wasn’t surprising that she had fainted. Her magic realized that her safety was also at risk if she continued to push herself.
Rowena thought of several possibilities that could be the answer, but her confusion only grew. “I’m glad to hear that. Then I’ll go to Alpha later.”
Ayla nodded. Then she left Rowena’s room.
Once Ayla was gone, Rowena’s confused expression became even more obvious. She kept questioning herself. “What is actually happening?”
All these peculiarities were like puzzles that constantly filled Rowena’s mind. It wasn’t surprising that it took her a moment to calm down from the anger of her ignorance. Then she slowly got out of bed. Her hands gripped the wall and her feet stepped carefully.
Rowena wanted to go to the bathroom, just to wash her face. But her legs felt weak and she almost stumbled. Fortunately, she quickly grabbed her small cupboard.
The small cupboard shook. Its door opened. Then a black box fell out and landed on the floor.
Rowena was stunned. She stared at the black box for a moment before she dared to pick it up. Her breath caught in her chest and a sudden intuition came to her. She quickly recited an incantation before hastily opening the box.
The black box immediately slipped out of Rowena’s hand. It bounced several times on the floor before coming to a halt.
“No way,” Rowena whispered, shaking her head once. An unfamiliar chill immediately spread through her body. She swallowed saliva, trying to gather her courage, then lowered her eyes. She looked at the black box again, just to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. “Oh, God. How is this possible?”
Rowena’s face grew even paler than before. This time it wasn’t just as if she had lost a lot of blood, but as if she had no blood at all. The reason was that she distinctly remembered being shocked when she found a half-moon pendant necklace in the forest some time ago. When she returned home, she was even more surprised to find that the black box that was supposed to contain the pair of moon pendant necklaces was empty. So, she thought that the pair of necklaces had disappeared from there, who knows when. Now she was confused to see that the pair of moon pendant necklaces were in her box.
Rowena quickly closed her eyes as she felt the world spinning again. She grabbed the cabinet and tried to hold on to it to keep from passing out. She took deep breaths until a thought came to her. This must have something to do with all the chaos that was happening.
The possibility raised new concerns for Rowena. She decided to act immediately, even though she wasn’t sure what to do. She was certain, however, that all of this confusion had begun with Usher.
*