Mia was as bemused as her father. The images of her father were clear in her mind though the memories were faded. How could those memories be false when she could instantly recognise her father through them. Though Mia was a half wolf, her sense of smell wasn't that strong. She relied of her other senses to get her through. She kept looking at her father's face. The image in her mind was of the exact same person, only a little younger.The foxes and wolves aged differently. They did grow up like a human but then after attaining maturity , they took a very very long time to reach old age. Mia was having a hard time digesting the turmoil within her."Are you saying father, that you haven't taken me for a ride in the woods before? " Her eyes were tearing up, " Wasn't it you who took me to the village fest and bought those toys? ""Mia.Moa calm down. I would have done all that, and much more had I known where you were. Rather, had I known that I had you. But why do you say it was me who d
"What happened? What made you scream like that? " Lin finally asked helping her back on her feet.Mia pointed at the butterflies and asked, " These. What are these? "" Oh! Those. Those are one of our spirit protectors. But what was so scary about them? " Xie asked finally speaking and making eye contact with Mia. He had been feeling very guilty even since he had found that Mia was their half sister. He was a very dedicated brother. He loved Roe endlessly. And now that Mia was present as well, he felt very much obliged to shower her with affection as well. Specifically after putting her through so much turmoil. He finally gathered his courage and stood infront of Mia. Before she could answer his questions, he officially wanted to apologize to her, " Mia, I have been meaning to do this. I understand you have all the reasons to not accept it but I wanted to present my sincere apology to you. I ought to have been more vigilant. How could I not recognise our own flesh and blood. I ought t
Mia was literally huffing and puffing as they landed on soft grounds."What was that? What was that thing just now? " Mia asked coiled in Lin's arms."Shhhhh, we are safe. We are in the fox lands now. We are safe. Don't worry, " Lin comforted while hectically looking around."What is it? What are you looking for? " Mia asked noticing his gaze."We were supposed to get right inside the palace. Inside Nana's chambers. Why could I not get inside? " Lin wondered." Wait here for a few minutes. I will go check what's going on, " Lin told Mia, making her sit beside a pile of big boulders"Don't Lin. Don't go leaving me behind alone like this, " Mia was about to break into tears. It was obvious she was too scared."Mia.I need to hurry. I think they activated the war shield. The one we use during battles to keep wolves at bay. I think we couldn't get in because you were with me. The shield detects wolf blood and send it off for a detour. If I try getting in with you I will never succeed. Also
Back at the wolves' camp the soldiers stood in formation, ready to brace the on coming assault. Though they were not very sure what they were up against. Xie was in the front line. His other brothers too had taken posts in the different corners leading to the main palace. Roe was with her father , watching and monitoring the advances of the evil.The wolf king was specially very agitated. His forehead was sweating and he was hyper ventilating to some extent."What is it father? I have seen you face all those enemies over the years but i have never seen you like this. What is it we are up against this time? " Roe asked her father."The enemy that can be seen is nothing to be feared. It's the unseen that's the most malicious and dangerous. Where did you say Mia was? We need to bring her inside the periphery of the inner castle. " The wolf king asked again." I told you father. We lost her when the alarm went around. But dont worry, Lin is with her. She will be fine. " Roe reassured him,
" Mia? How did you know she was outside? " Lin asked his Nana."Well you see, I know quite a lot of things. It's part of who I am now. I have been seeing a lot of things all these years. Sometimes it's like nightmare going to sleep with all those visions. But it has become a habit now., " Nana said looking beyond the Fox fortress." Why do you say we shouldn't let her wait outside? What's out there? What was the evil that we all felt? " This was Lin's first question that poured out instinctively, though he had a hundred problems stacked in his mind that he wanted a clarification to." It's the ghost of our pasts. The evil of our ancestors. " Nana shuddered a little as she mentioned it, " It's nothing like a living being. And it has its eyes set on it's prey. "Before Lin could understand what Nana was saying, she went into her trance like state in the middle of her sentence. Lin desperately tried pulling her down but she kept being afloat mid air. However she didn't speak like she usu
"Where am I? Where? What is this place? " Mia whispered in her own mind, slowly gathering the courage to open her eyes. There was a murky smell around her and a stench of faeces. It was a very horrible place to bare in. Moreover Mia had a severe pain at one side of her head . She was leaning against a damp solid something that was supposed to be a wall. Mia felt around herself with both her hands. Her clothes were all wet and there were blood strains here and there all over her body. But strangely, apart from her head, she didn't feel any pain anywhere else. She tried getting up but right at that moment something sharp clawed at both her legs.Mia immediately fell back as she let out a cry of pain. But she was quick enough to cover her own mouth with both her hands so as to stop the sound from echoing. There was water logged here and there all around her. The place she was in was swampy yet the surface was solid as rock. Her hands were free though her legs were trapped in some sort of
" Why are we waiting here? What are we waiting for shouldn't we be going after it? " Lin could barely hold himself together as Xie searched around to trace the direction, they had taken. Lin was the best when it came to track something, but emotions were over powering him. He neither could see any trail nor could he distinguish their smell. His body was asking him to run in the direction his instict told him. He felt like tearing open then insides of the beast that had his Mia in possession. The foxes and wolves, though had non-human ancestry, they never behaved animal like. At least not the royals. Some did in scenarios of extreme like hunger or starvation, like in the case where Boshu was once attacked when he was young. However that day, Lin could no longer keep the animal inside him under check. His eyes changed colour rapidly indicating the swings his mood was experiencing. This was the trait that Mia most enjoyed in him. She would stare endlessly at those ever changing hues as t
There was a faint sound that suddenly brought Mia back to her reality. It felt like the sound of somebody turning pages. Quite urgently. One page after another. Mia strained her ears to listen closely. She was right. She looked around to figure out where exactly she was and how she could get out of there.She checked her hand where there was a bite mark. It was from her biting herself to silence just a moment ago. It wasn't bleeding but that mark was quite prominent. It burnt a bit as well.Her head too, was still hurting a lot but the fact that disturbed her most was not being able to understand what was the thing that had captured her. Why did it look so much like her father? Was it some sort of an evil trying to impersonate? Her mind was racing to derive a conclusion. She couldn't move as her legs were still bleeding from whatever was biting deep into her skin. She couldn't even move to check it out properly as any movement made it dig deeper down her flesh. Mia rested her back on
Fast forwarding a few years:Merindale tried to tuck her hair back with her muddy hand, painting her cheeks with mud in the process. Akata rolled over on the other side of the field as he saw her. She had not noticed that he was coming. “ What's so funny? ” she pouted. “ Nothing. I just saw the cutest flower amongst all the flowers in this field. ”Merindale instantly melted. How many times would her man make her fall for him, over and over again. She knew she was blessed and she cherished him. “ Now come on, you worked enough. Wash your hands and come and get some breakfast. I made some fresh pancakes. ”Merindale jumped up at the mention of pancakes. According to herhe made the best pancakes in the world. “ I'm coming, ” she literally jumped over the bushes, trying to hurry up when a certain whoosh of the air made her fall back. She rolled her eyes. The triplets were there again. They never left the two of them alone, barging in their peaceful mortal life, away from the hust
Akata's brows furrowed as the God in front of him pulled out what looked like a luminescent moon from his pocket. The moon swam around Akata, finally coming to rest in front of him, floating in the air. With one swing of the God's hand, Akata saw movements inside the orb. “ Father… ” Akata flew towards it, grabbing it with both hands. He could see Lin, inside the orb, fighting for his life in the midst of those Night Crawlers. He were all over him, in the count of thousands. “ Father… father… you are alive? ” Akata grabbed the orb and shook it violently, smiling through his tear. “ Father, I am coming. Don't worry. I will save you. ” His head swing at the God beside him. “ How do I go to this place? Tell me! ” He demanded. The God smiled at Akata. “ There will be no need for that. I can bring your father completely unharmed over here. Right now. But it will depend on your decision. ”Akata looked at him with suspicion. “ What decision are you talking about?”He asked . “ You
Merindale felt a little nudge at her feet when she looked down she saw a very familiar face. But she wasn't expecting to see that face in this realm. “ You! You are that ghost from my school. What are you doing here? Am I dead? What happened to aunt Mia? “ She paused momentary but didn't wait for the girl to reply. “ Shit! Don't tell me. Are we in the Celestial Realm? ” She looked around amazed, finally realising the heavenly beauty around that place. “ But you are a ghost right? Did they kidnap you as well? ” Merindale quickly turned back to her. The little girl shool her head and for the first time she spoke. “ I am Arawan. I am daughter to Mia and Lin, Akata's sister. ”Merindale’s eyes were about to pop out. “ Akata has a sister? ”“ I was in my mother's womb when the Celestial Beings brought us here. They kept my mother in her Soul form ever since. I was born as a Celestial Creature, devoid of a physical body, just like all the other beings born in this realm. ”Merindale c
Merindale's eyelids fluttered, battling the weight of slumber, as her mind groggily began to piece together the fragmented memories.Her thoughts spiraled in a dizzying whirlwind, voices echoing in her mind. "Where... am I” She murmured as she gradually awakened, her senses swimming hazily. She tried to touch her head because it hurt badly. But her hands weighed down with the weight of the shackles that seemed to be made with light. Merindale tugged at them realizing that she was a captive. But with every tug, those fragile looking shackles became heavier by the seconds. Merindale immediately gave up because she understood that she was making it worse. Her predatory senses kicked in and her eyes began to search for a way out. It took some time for her to adjust her gaze to the overwhelming light condition in the Celestial Realm. She shifted her weight and tried to sit up but she could only position herself on her knees. Her body felt exceptionally lightweight. She could almost
The Wolf Queen stood in the front, looking down at the flame leaping with its vicious tongue towards them. “ Can we believe this woman? ” Roe asked her brother. Xie placed a hand over Roe's shoulder and said, “ I can see something is different about her.I am no saint. Let us give her a benefit of doubt. There is no other knowledge that we can implement at the moment. Let's see if her method works.” “ But what if she tries to manipulate us again? What if we lose more … ”Xie pressed her hand, “ Watch… ”.They saw their mother slit her wrist and then she made a drop of that blood fall in the furnace.The fire reached the height of the heavens. It's color turned the darkest crimson and then it dropped down to its normal height. The fire changed its color a couple of times, matching Lin's changing eye color. And then something miraculous happened. The fire split from the middle, creating a way for them and everyone looked at each other in surprise. “ How did you do that? ” Roe aske
Akata and the old wolf queen helped Xie inside the Bird Tribe. He looked devastated. And the birds scattered here and there at his arrival. Roe rushed to the site and was shocked to find her mother and brother together. “ What brings you here mother? ” Roe lunged at her but she held up her hand. “ I know you don't trust me but I had nothing to do with this. It's about Merindale… They took her as well. ” she spurred. Roe had no time to gasp as they hurried inside with Xie who was almost on the verge of exhaustion. His eyes fell on Lin who was hurdled in the corner. Xie freed himself from everyone's grip and literally ran at his feet. “ Forgive me! ” he began to sob uncontrollably. “ Merindale was right. I never tried giving you my best. I always thought about the safety of my family and my kingdom first but look at the cruel twist of fate. I have neither a kingdom nor a daughter. ”He turned at his mother, “ Turns out I took after you,mother… Is it true that you cheated on m
The soldiers flew on either side, startled as Merindale swung the door to her father's chamber open with a loud kick. Her eyes were blazing with fury as she stormed in, her cloak billowed behind her like a tempestuous wind."Father," she spat, her voice was a mixture of anger and betrayal. "Why did you do this? Since when did you become a coward?” she huffed. “Merindale? ” Xie and Ruby were in their bed. They sat up as she entered. “My dear girl…where are you coming from? What happened?” Ruby tried to ask.“ Don't try to act like you have been doing over the years. I know everything. I saw uncle Lin and what you did to him.”Ruby opened her mouth but Xie raised a hand. “ I acted for your well-being. You cannot fathom the dangers lurking beyond our realm. I know what I did might not have been the best thing to do but that was all I could think of at the moment and as the Wolf King and your father, I am entitled to my decision." He concluded. "Enough!" Her fists clenched as she pac
Boshu was sobbing profusely as he saw Lin's motionless body. He held his hand and cried like someone who had lost everything. “ Forgive me! ” he could barely utter through his whimpers. “ Forgive me for not being able to be with you when you were suffering at the lands of your own people. Forgive me for being so engrossed in my own life that I… that I… ” he was almost on the verge of vomiting because he was crying and drooling so much. “ Papa! Take it easy. Your friend can't hear you. Let him come around first. ” one of the triplets patted his back. He had been guilt ridden for living in ignorance for so long. Besides he had never seen Lin in such a vulnerable state, be it any battle. Akata walked in at that moment. Boshu immediately wiped his tears at his arrival. “Don't worry. He will be up and running any moment, young man. ” Akata watched his father from a distance, smiled at his uncle and then left. Everything about his present situation was overwhelming. It was too much
“ What's going on? Is he not Akata? How the hell did your brother banish him? Why does he call himself Leo? ” Boshu poured his heart out but Roe stayed quiet. “ We need to go back. Let's take Akata to the Wolf territories. We don't have a proper facility to give him the required care. I need to talk with my brother as well. Things don't seem right at the moment. You stay back and take care of the kids, I will leave with him immediately.”*****At the Wolf Kingdom -Roe might have left her lands for love but her land never stopped loving her. Every leaf she stepped on rustled in greeting. Dust danced in the air, and every stone she trod upon seemed to echo a silent welcome.There was a stir amongst the guards as she walked through the gates, with Akata in her arms, going straight towards the palace. The soldiers standing tall and vigilant, softened at her arrival, acknowledging her with a respectful nod. It was as though the very essence of the kingdom recognized her, embracing he