The Portal

/ ZHASK /

The words rung in my ear.

“W-what?” I asked the Seer again, making sure I heard him right.

“Luna Greya is in the Mortal Realm, living among the ordinary humans,” the Seer answered.

“But h-how?” I asked again. It was hard to believe how my mate ended up there. The Mortal Realm was a completely different world separated from ours. It existed in another dimension and we couldn’t care more about it because we have nothing to do with that world. We were powerless there.

“I studied the tracks she had left at the Hunting Ceremony before the Rogues kidnapped her,” the Seer went on. “There’s an element that only magic can explain. I’m certain that a powerful Seer was involved. But I managed to track her down.”

“But wait… why? Why would they do that?” I had asked myself that question for the past four years.

Why? Why it had to be Greya? What did they want with her? And for four years, I still didn’t have an answer. But I have a guess instead.

Sitting among the Council after my father’s death, I could feel their spite on me, their desire to overthrow me, to eliminate me from the throne. My father had warned me of them, the Council were full of traitors that I couldn’t trust. I was old enough to understand everything now and I had to watch over their moves.

But I swear, the moment I would find out the person behind my mate’s disappearance, they would pay for it no matter what.

“I wish I knew the answer to that, My Prince, but I’m here, in behalf of the pack where my loyalty lies and in behalf of Luna Greya’s parents, to ask you a favour. Please find her for us. You are the only one capable enough do to it,” he went down on his knees and begged.

“You don’t even have to ask me,” I replied at him. “I’ll find her whatever it takes.”

Suddenly, the Rogue who was unconscious suddenly woke up and started laughing.

“You won’t find her, she’s dead!” he uttered, which made me angry. I wanted to kill him right there but I held myself.

“No, she’s not dead,” the Seer said. “Luckily, I was able to find her in my vision. She’s well and healthy.”

His words disappointed the Rogue. “We should have killed her,” he said, feeling defeated.

“WHY? WHAT DID SHE EVER DO TO YOU?!” I demanded an answer but I was only met with a grin.

“She’s not supposed to be alive. She should have been dead,” the Rogue went on, not answering my question. He seemed to lose his mind.

“Your Highness, there’s no point asking a Rogue who betrays his pack. What matters is that we found her and you need to get her back,” the Seer told me.

“Alright, tell me how to get to the Mortal Realm. I’ll leave as soon as I can.”

“Getting there involves a deep kind of magic. I couldn’t do it here. You have to come tonight at my pack’s abode. I’ll prepare everything we need.”

“Understood,” I told him. Whatever it takes, I was prepared to go there. Whatever it takes, I would find my beloved Greya and bring her back. “Thank you,” I told him.

He left after that, leaving me and the Rogue alone in the room. As much as I wanted to kill him, I left him with my healers and guards. We would have to keep him alive for now because I still had a lot of questions to ask him. He would prove himself useful soon enough.

******

Evening came and I was finally at the Blue Moon Pack’s abode which wasn’t far from the palace. We were gathered in a dark room where the Seer usually performed his magic – Me, him, and Greya’s parents, Alpha Rayen and Luna Victoria.

Everything was prepared. There was an altar and a lot of candles were lit.

“I’m ready,” I told them all.

Greya’s parents were feeling hopeful.

“Our daughter was lucky to have you as a mate, Your Highness,” Alpha Rayen told me.

“No, I’m the lucky one. Nobody loves me in the palace as much as she loves me. I’ll find her and I’ll bring her back, I promise.”

The Seer explained to me what to do. “You have to bring her immediately while I’m still opening the portal. Tonight is a full moon so I can perform my magic to its extent but if you fail to bring her to the portal, you will have to wait for another full moon before I can open the portal again. I’ll open the portal close to where she lives so you don’t have to go far.”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to remember that.”

The Seer held a lit candle in his hand and shone its light over my face.

“But, Your Highness, before anything else, there’s something you need to know first.”

“What is it?”

“This magic is forbidden. I cannot promise to open another portal again on the next full moon if you fail tonight, but I will do my best. If something goes wrong, you’ll be stuck in the Mortal Realm. I just hope you know what you’re risking for,” he reminded me.

But I had decided.

“She’s worth risking everything for,” I told him, feeling absolutely hopeful that everything would turned exactly as I had planned.

“Well then, let’s begin.”

The Seer muttered a spell. He lighted the candle all over me and summoned the forbidden magic that would take me to another world. The wind blew and there was mist all around us, like a smoke. It became heavier until it was hard for me to see anyone anymore. His voice became distant and there was an eerie silence. And the next thing I know, I felt like a bubble vanishing into thin air.

******

/ABBY’’S POV/

I was taking a walk in the woods at the back of our house because I couldn’t sleep. It was full moon tonight and the tracks in the woods were light enough for me to explore. I had always been attracted to the woods for some unknown reason. I love the silence and the comfort it gave me. It seemed to give me an idea of who I used to be before I lost my memories four years ago.

But then, I clearly didn’t remember anything. There was a complete blankness in my memory. I just woke up one winter night on the road and it so happened that an elderly couple passed me by while they were moving to the next city so they took me in and I had to assume the identity of their daughter who died years ago because I didn’t have an identity of my own. They became my parents and I was grateful for having them. We started a whole new life her in this new city. But for the past four years, I’ve been trying to remember and figure out who I am. I came back a few times to that road and asked the neighbourhood but there wasn’t a lot of people there and nobody seemed to recognize me.

Where did I come from? What’s my real name? What happened to me?

These questions filled my thoughts for the thousand times me as I ran along my usual track in the woods.

But then, I stopped in my tracks when I heard an eerie noise around me. It sounded like a rough wind blowing and ruffling the bushes and trees but there was no wind at all. I even wiped my sweat because it was summer and the surrounding was hotter than usual.

I began to feel scared. The noise got louder and louder and then, there was a fume of smoke rising ahead of the path I was taking. I took some steps back but the smoke seemed like it was moving at my direction.

“What the…..” I cursed and started running fast in panic. But I tripped and fell to the ground, and the impact was painful causing my vision to get blurred. The strange noise was all in my head, causing even more pain, and when I turned to look back, I saw that there was a dark shadow inside the smoke.

When my vision cleared, I realized it was a man, and he got out of the smoke as if it was a door from another world.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh,” I screamed, so sure I was seeing a ghost.

The man approached me. I wriggled on the ground trying to get back on my feet but couldn’t because it felt like my bones had cracked.

The man leaned over at me. “My love! At last, I found you!”

I could feel my heart beating loudly in my chest. “W-who are you?” I muttered, feeling so scared.

The expression in his face changed. “What? It’s me, Zhask! I’m your mate!”

“What!?”