This one was still hard to write. It will start getting easier from here.
I wake up in a beautiful meadow. It feels like spring. The air is warm, but not hot. There’s a stream gurgling nearby and birds are singing all around me. I sit up, looking around. ‘Andra?’ My head is empty. Andra is gone. Is this death? I’m in a beautiful place, but I’m alone? “Andra!” I yell,
As Anders finishes his speech, his voice breaking, he stands to light the pyre holding my physical body. I walk to Clint, putting my hand on his shoulder, Andra walks beside his wheelchair and leans against him, both of us lending him what strength we can. As the fire burns, everyone begins to move
When I returned to the packhouse after being in the hospital, Anders had moved most of my things to a room on the first floor. It was just another reminder of how far I had fallen. The name stuck and I could hear people whispering about ‘the broken warrior’. I waited until after Lily’s funeral befo
About a month after we moved into the house, Calista had a ceremony in our memorial garden. We don’t bury our dead, like some humans do, we burn them, sending them to the Moon Goddess. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t want a place where we can go to spend time with the memory of our loved ones.
Time moves differently in this place. At first, it moved slowly. I spent a lot of time with Cara and Clint as they were hurting so much. Most nights, I would sleep beside Clint. But if I heard Cara crying, I’d go lay down with her. Sometimes I would spend time with Calista who holds a lot of guilt f
Cyran runs with Artemis for hours. Andra had gone to follow and watch over them and I joined her, watching as Cyran nipped at Artemis’s heels and played with her. He’s really good with her. When they finally returned, Clint and Liam helped her shift back before Liam headed home. She was so excited
My Lily bud is always here, watching over me and Cara. It changes things for me. It makes the days easier. I have no intention of letting my mate down, so I begin to plan what needs to happen to train my daughter and make her the strongest Guardian alive. That does give me a moment of pause. Guardi
For the next few years, I get into a pattern of training Cara. We train early in the morning, then while she is at school, I work on my upper body strength by building and testing the training facilities I’m building for her. It’s a work in progress, but I feel closer to Lily while I build this for