Chapter 55

Kelly Thorin, Emmett, Jonas…Thorin, Emmett, Jonas…Thorin, Emmett, Jonas. Goddess, three amazing men, one difficult decision. They all brought me joy in one way or another. I could see myself living a happy life with any of them. No matter. Now was not the time for me to be thinking about boys, not when my mother’s life was on the line and we were so close to completing our mission. I could worry about choosing a mate when we returned and she was healthy again.

I finished getting ready and packing my bag, taking a steadying breath before walking out of my room, ready to embark on the last leg of our mission. I met the guys in the lobby and we headed out from there. Jonas had again spoken to the locals and they fiercely warned him not to go into the forest. They spoke of unexplainable phenomenons and dozens of missing persons, last seen heading into the forest. That seemed about right for us. The other two missions were difficult and dangerous. Why wouldn’t this one be?

“Everyone ready?” I asked.

“Let’s do it.” Jonas nodded.

“Any idea of what might be out there?” I asked.

“Some locals warned of witches at the beginning of the forest for about the first half mile.” He shrugged. “But besides that, no one who has gone any further has come back out alive.”

“Great.” I sighed.

“It will be alright, we will make through.” Thorin encouraged.

“And we have three days, twelve hours, and thirty-seven minutes to do so. That is when the next full moon will be.”

“Fantastic.” I sighed again. “Okay, let’s go before I hear any more stressful information.”

We walked to the Epping Forest in silence. I said a silent prayer to the moon goddess that we would find the Lunaris Herbs and that we would all make it back in one piece. When we made it to the edge of the forest, we stopped to read half a dozen of the easily fifty warning signs to go back. This was it, now or never. I looked at all the guys and nodded before taking the first step into the forest. A dark, eerie feeling surrounded me as soon as I was in the forest. I guess the locals weren’t kidding. This forest did seem haunted.

“Anyone else feel like they are being watched?” Jonas asked, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

I was trying to ignore the feeling, but I guess I wasn’t alone. I nodded and we continued to push forward. We went on, undisturbed for at least an hour. I thought maybe we would be lucky, and make it though without any problems, but I was sadly mistaken, evident from the first shadow that flew past us, a cryptic laugh following in its wake.

“What a special treat.” A woman’s voice echoed.

“Indeed, such a special guest,” another answered.

“Its not often we see royalty in these parts.” A third voice laughed.

“Show yourself!” I growled, more on edge than I thought. We had stopped walking by this point, exchanging weary glances.

“Dear princess, what brings you to these parts?” One of the witches mocked, appearing in front of me, making me stumble back. She wore an all-black cloak, only her mouth was able to be seen.

“She looks lost!” Another laughed, appearing on my left.

“Perhaps we could help her.” The third said, appearing on my right.

“Get away from me!” I growled. The other two witches looked just the same, minus a bit of a height difference.

“Oh dear, she looks unwell.”

“So unwell.”

“If only we could help.”

“Leave me alone!” I said, landing on my butt and crawling back.

“Kelly? What’s wrong?” Emmett asked.

“You don’t see them? You don’t hear them?” I asked frantically.

“Apologies, where are our manners?” The first witch said, louder this time.

The guys were immediately on edge and their eyes focused on where the witches were standing.

“We could make you well.”

“It must be such a burden to have a wolf such as yours.”

“Keres really is a problem, especially for a princess.”

“H-how do you know?” I asked.

“We are able to see these things.” One laughed.

“Would you like us to fix your problem?”

“It’s easy, really.”

“Y-you can fix Keres?” I asked, looking between the three.

“We can make it so she is never a problem again.”

“She won’t cause you any more grief.”

“We can do it now, for a price.”

“Kelly, don’t listen to them! They are dark witches!” Jonas yelled.

“Ignore him, he just doesn’t understand our magic.”

“He is just a naive little wolf.”

“We can change your life.”

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted to take them up on the offer, I wanted to, so badly, but I also knew it was unwise to trust a witch. I swallowed hard, not knowing what to do next. We were dealing with magic and I was caged in between three of them and on the ground.

“Guys? Help me out of this?” I linked.

Thorin was the first to strike, hurling a rock through the air, nailing the first witch in the head, sending her sailing to the ground. The other two witches dispersed in an instant, obviously pissed. Jonas and Emmett shifted and began chasing down the other two, nipping at their capes. Emmett got his down first, viciously tearing the witch’s head off. Jonas chased his up a tree, but she was too fast.

“Lets go!” I yelled, hopping on Emmetts’ back.

Thorin shifted and we all high tailed it out of there. The guys ran for at least a few hours, making sure the witch didn’t follow us, or call any other friends for backup. When we were sure we were safe, we found a pleasant looking spot to set up our camp. We had zero clue where the herbs grew, so our plan was to basically aimlessly wander until we found them. We will search this area tonight and early tomorrow, and then move on to the next area. Between the four of us we should be able to cover quite a bit of land.

Thorin went out and killed a deer for dinner, while Jonas made a fire and Emmett and I went out searching for the Lunaris herbs. Every minute counted on this mission. I know I certainly didn’t want to be here another month.

“What does it look like again?” I asked.

“It looks like a cross between fennel and lavender,” Emmett said, his eyes fixed upon the ground.

“Does it have a smell?” I asked, hoping we could use our noses to help find it.

“Apparently it smells like citrus,” Emmett shrugged.

“That’s odd.” I laughed.

“Indeed, which will make finding it a bit easier, thank goddess.”

“That makes it sound like a trap.” I laughed.

“Right?” Emmett nodded and laughed, finally tearing his eyes away from the ground. “What’s that over there?” He frowned.

I looked at where he was looking and noticed a metal box, half in the ground, half out, being swallowed up by some tree roots.

“Maybe from another traveler?” I said as Emmett began hacking at the roots to get to the mysterious box.

“It looks familiar…” Emmett grunted as he started pulling it out of the ground.

“It does…doesn’t it?” I said, c*****g my head to look at it better. “Wait…look!” I said, pointing to the emblem on the side. It was our family crest, known by just about everyone in the kingdom on account of how long our family has used it for. We would send important letters with the design on it, it was on flags, even our warriors wore the emblem.

“You don’t think…?” Emmett began.

“It could be my father’s,” I said, sitting next to Emmett on the ground and breaking the lock on the box.

“Or your great-something-grandfather’s.” Emmett suggested.

“Goddess, you might be right.” I said, an eerie feeling coming over me.

I opened the box, it creaked open before splitting at the hinges. Inside was a glass bottle with a piece of paper inside. I carefully opened the bottle and extracted the paper. As soon as I unrolled it, I knew it was from my great grandfather.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today is the first real day of our journey. It took us much time to get here, but we finally made it. This forest is less than welcoming, but we expected just as much. We are searching for a rare healing herb for the elixir that I pray will save my son. There are only a few of us, but there are many voices surrounding us, speaking to us, intimidating us. I do not know what these beings are, nor do I care to find out. Should I survive the night, I will write again. For the future of my kingdom, for the future of my son, I pray that the moon goddess will bless our journey.

Until we meet again, dear reader.

– Alpha King Wallace III ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“He never even made it past the first part of his mission,” I said sadly.

“I’m sorry to hear.” Emmett said, gently rubbing my back.

“Those stupid witches must have gotten him.” I sighed.

“Well, we wont let them get to us.”