MAXINEI stood to my feet and wrung out my hands in front of me. "Liam…" I didn't know how to begin."What's going on?" He looked at me and then the Luna Queen."The next part of her journey requires her to do it on her own," The Luna Queen spoke up. "She will be going to the lore keeper on her own in one hour.""Your Majesty, with all due respect, no," Liam said. "Maxine is my responsibility. I can't just send her off to some stranger and not follow her.""I swear with my life that Maxine is in safe hands. Your support has been good for her but now, she must do this alone." She replied."There must be another way," Liam replied. I didn't know he was that attached to me."There is none, Alpha. This is the best and fastest way for her.""When can she come back to our pack?" Liam asked. "Because she's a part of us."I felt my heart warm. I had been saying that Liam's pack was my home but hearing him confirm that I was a part of his pack was literal icing on the cake."No less than two w
MAXINEThe driver drove us away, farther and farther away. I stared outside the window, watching the trees and the landscape go by. After almost more than an hour of driving, we pulled off of the main road and took a side road.The road soon faded into a dirt track until we were driving through the forest, being tossed about in the back seat. The Luna Queen held onto the handlebar and maintained her balance pretty well. I had to hold on with a death grip."Sorry about that. Cinder doesn't want to move out of her home carved into a mountainside for anything. She's the only one there for miles. She likes the quiet and she's never moving away. Even when reaching her is this terrible." The Luna queen explained."Cinder?" I asked, a little confused."Cinderella. The lore keeper." She replied."Oh." I've never heard of anyone being named that.The driver was holding on well. He looked like he had done this a lot because he had a bored look on his face when he dodged things that could have o
MAXINEA laugh escaped Cinder's mouth and she threw a smile at me over her shoulder. It was then that the semblance hit me."I'm just joking, dear Maxine." She replied. "I have eleven. A whole football team. And before you ask me how I know your name, Luna told me."I was going to yell "Eleven?" in disbelief because that was more wild to me than her knowing my name. Nothing surprised me in that forte anymore. Crazy things were always happening.I couldn't keep my curiosity to myself. "You're her sister." I let out in disbelief."Who?" Cinder asked, a bit of a tease."Luna. She's your sister.""Guess who's older?" Cinder asked. She stopped and held onto a door handle. "Depending on your answer, you could get a great room to stay in. If you're wrong, you're staying with the littler kids where your patience is going to be tried."I paused. I remembered Oz and Magpie, how they looked nothing alike, and how nothing seemed to be normal in this house."She's your twin." I guessed.Cindy's fa
MAXINE"Oh, I know. Thanks." I smiled and stepped around her. I hurried to my room and closed the door. Weird children. Dear goddess…The next day, Cinder woke me up for breakfast. Not a lot of the kids were downstairs, mostly the younger ones because they didn't need to be at the table.Magpie was very sweet and she tried to share every single thing she was having with me.After breakfast, she took me out of the house and we walked along the edge of the mountain, taking the steps that were carved out of rock to the top. It was a long walk. I broke out in sweat despite the wind blowing in our hair.Cinder moved with zero effort. It was almost like she did this daily. I wondered if she did."Are you nervous?" she asked, breaking the quiet as we neared the top.I glanced forward at her. "A little," I admitted. "I don't know what to expect.""Neither do I," she said with a small smile. "But you'll be fine."When we got to the top, I collapsed on my knees and hands, catching some rest. Ci
MAXINEI sat up, heart pounding, straining to listen. The house was silent, but the uneasy feeling persisted.I slipped out of bed, moving quietly towards the door. As I stepped into the hallway, a chill ran down my spine. Something was wrong.The kids were all silent. I made my way toward the living room, where I found Cinder, Oz, Raine, and Zel deep in conversation. They all seemed to fumbling with one thing or the other, strapping things to their waist or their ankles.Surprisingly, Cinder was the only one dressed normally. The others wore fighting leather. They looked up as I entered."What's going on?" I asked."There are rogues in the vicinity. We think that they're trying to break into our decoy house not too far from here." Cinder explained.My mind immediately went to the children. If there was fighting, they could be in danger."The children," I began."Don't worry. They went into hiding. They know what to do." Cinder offered me a reassuring smile.I nodded, joining them. "W
MAXINEI shut my eyes, fear gripping me in a way that it had never done before. I had been shot. Never have I been shot before. I looked down at my body, searching for the gun wound.I needed to stop the bleeding. But I realized that I was fine. I looked at Oz, he was unarmed. And then Cinder. She was also unarmed.I heard the thud behind me and turned to see one of the rogues drop to the ground, gripping a gun wound on his chest."Thank you, Zel." Oz exhaled even though she couldn't hear him.Cinder frowned. A few moments later, Zel and Raine ran into the house. "Are all of them gone?" Raine asked.Oz nodded. "Yes." He replied, "Nice save, by the way. That was quick." He told Zel. She smiled."Where did you get the gun?" Cinder asked, her voice firm and authoritative. She did not sound pleased."It doesn't matter, Mom. I know you don't like guns but they're easier than swords and daggers, and even arrows." Zel replied.I wanted to defend her but it wasn't my place. I didn't have a sa
MAXINEI felt my heart drop at what she said. "Would I die?" I asked."It's not death, per se," Zel replied. I was reminded of how much she knew about these types of things. "Your body is going to be here, breathing. But after a long time without its soul, it will eventually die, giving you nowhere to come back to.""That sounds scary," I admitted."It is why we don't play in the realms. But, do not worry, as long as you're with me when it happens, you'll be fine. I won't let you." Cinder assured me with a smile. "Now," she clapped her hands. "Shall we continue?"We spent the rest of the day practicing balance. Cinder wanted me to get the basics down before we moved on to other techniques like channeling energy, focusing my thoughts, and then finally, controlling the transformations.The morning sun filtered through the leaves, casting a gentle light on the forest leaves. I stretched, feeling the familiar ache in my muscles. Zel was already up, meditating with the windows open.Howev
"How is that possible?" I asked, still shocked. I put my empty bowl down."Easy. I called it." Raine said as if that was supposed to explain everything. She handed her bowl to Cinder who poured a spoon of stew into it. Raine smiled in thanks.Zel rolled her eyes. "It's an old tradition of ours. There's this cave with weapons and based on the energy you have, the weapon chooses you. Once you accept it, it's like a part of you." She explained."So, you can call it from anywhere you want?" I asked, wondering how that was possible and if it could truly work."Not quite," Oz replied as he grabbed Magpie when she tried to touch the fire. She pouted, knowing that she had been caught."If you're close enough, yes," Raine replied. They all suddenly glanced at Cinder and I did the same."What?" She asked."Mom," Zel said, a tone to her voice. "Come on.""Fine," Cinder agreed. "But it's not everyone that you guys think is worthy of a weapon that I am going to take. The only reason I'm agreeing i