Chapter 6: Decades -part 1-

A couple of decades have passed since Maryn Celes was taken by Mani. The Celes family since then cut ties with the Willows pack and moved far away from them as possible. Living normally again was hard, especially on Thazar.  Fortunately, Enoch and Salma were heaven-sent as they helped with everything in the house, but that never stopped him from being the father that they needed. He provided what they all needed despite getting tired easily. His favorite part of raising them is teaching them to be vocal about everything, like their needs, emotions, and state of mind. He learned from Maryn that if he couldn’t feel what their children wanted, he must learn to be the safe space for them to talk to. 

“Dad catch her!” Enoch shouts from the distance. Thazar turns and sees his granddaughter running and screaming refusing to clean all the mud she got on her clothes from training to turn into her wolf form. High pitched laughter rang around the forest followed by a frustrated father and mother trying so hard to catch up to her.

“Elena you have to bathe or else you’ll get sick!” Samantha, Enoch’s wife, shouts in between breaths. “NEVER!” Elena replies as she turns into a wolf and runs even faster.

Thazar blocks the path of Elena, puff’s out his chest, and gave his meanest looking frown. She immediately stops in her tracks piling up dirt in her paws, turning back into her human form.

“Elena,” Thazar’s stern voice made her look down and finally catch her breath, he crouches down to her eye level “We’ve talked about this before dear. Don’t make your parents run about you too much. You know your old man’s slow” he winks.

“I heard that,” Enoch says as he and his wife approach Leora and his father.  

“I’m not slow; I just can’t run anymore.” Pointing at his right knee that got injured back in his teenage years. While playing around with his brothers, Larkin and Emilio played roughly which sent one of them flying. Enoch ran to catch his brother, he jumped high to stop him midflight but landed wrongly. His foot landed on a rock causing him to sprain his ankle but the weight of his brother landed on his knee and crushed his kneecap.

“No, you’re just a REAL slowpoke!” his daughter teases. Thazar bellows a loud laugh in amusement.

“Alright, alright. Let’s get inside before it starts getting dark.”

“Leora! Time to go home!” With her sharp hearing, she stands from the riverbed, running her hands through the water one last time before leaving her oasis, a little cave made out of the roots of trees with vines crawling around it. A wicker basket that safely kept her journal, pillows, and blankets. It’s tucked inside the cave covered by a black blanket to camouflage it. Her oasis is not far from the riverbed where she meets her mermaid friends. She stands in all her five-foot flat height and walks ever so jocosely back to her home.

She ties up her long brown hair into a braid and hums an old nursery rhyme as she walks home. The sound of crackling leaves under her feet, the wind getting cooler, her breathing shallowed. The moon rises slowly and tingles shiver down her skin. Leora’s bond with the moon is something no one else could understand.  She walks quietly, continuously playing with her hair as she goes through the path her grandfather made. Rocks lined up leading home. Her path goes through a meadow where her fae friends live, then a little further is a sanctuary of butterflies that she and her sister Elena adore. Her grandfather made sure to make the path she walked through to be safe and away from anything that could harm her or anybody in the family. The joyful sounds of her sister’s laughter brought a smile to her face, “there she goes again.” She throws her braided hair back and runs home to catch her little sister running to the front door.

“Gotcha!” Elena says.  Her contagious laugh made Leora giggle. The house’s warmth was anything anyone could ever wish for. A close family that knew boundaries. But that never guarantees not having secrets.

Leora was raised to be what she was meant to be.  Her parents, uncles, and aunt treated her a little more special than the other children in the family. They spoiled her a little but kept her humble. She lived her 18 years of life as a happy-go-lucky wolf. They trained her like they trained Elena, but a little stricter than her sister. Leora was the first female grandchild of the Celes family, and her fate—her life was already planned out. The best her family could do was give her the best memories she deserves.

She walks to the dining table sitting on her father’s right side on the long cedar table that Thazar made himself.

As they all settle in their seats, the scent of the savory warm food waft through the air.  She closes her eyes trying to bask in the feeling of being around her family and delicious food.  I have to remember this before I lose it all soon.

“Leora! I said MAY I HAVE SOME WATER—please” breaking her from her thoughts, her little sister shouts from her opposite end. Samantha gives her youngest a knowing look telling her to be polite. Elena grins like she didn’t do anything wrong.

“So what are we doing on your birthday? Who’s coming over? Can we have the faes over? They always bring the best lights when we celebrate at night. Can I invite everyone I see?  I wish there were other wolves like us. Can I play now?” Elena’s rapid speaking pattern often leads to miscommunication with other creatures. But her family got used to it and try as much as possible to answer at least one of her questions. Thazar laughs and the rest smirk at Elena. She and her older sister are nothing but pure beings of positivity and joy. Thazar looks at his family lovingly and looks at Enoch empathetically before he answers his granddaughter.

“Elena, now you know you have training tomorrow. It’s best you sleep early. As for your sister’s birthday, let her decide what she wants. All right?”  Leora smiles gratefully at him and makes a funny face at her sister.

“Fine” Elena grumbles while picking at her nails with the fork.

Samantha takes her fork, asks her daughter to clean up for bed, and continues to clear the table as Enoch washes them in the kitchen. Thazar fell fast asleep in the living room as soon as he transferred from the dining area.

As for Leora, she went back into the woods, not far but close enough to return home. She followed the bioluminescent lights made by the mushrooms nearby the fae’s home. Her sister was right.  They always did have the best lights at night.  A fae sees her and smiles at her, acknowledging her presence in the territory. She wonders what it would be like to live a different life. Watching the faes carry on a life with a purpose, made her feel chained and caged. She recalls the night of her 15^th birthday when she was sat down by Enoch, Samantha, and Thazar.

It was a typical birthday celebration in the Celes home. All her relatives were there, eating, telling stories, and little cousins playing and running around, it was a regular day but with cake. When Leora was alone with the cake she tried to swipe a taste, she cautiously puts out her forefinger and gets closer to the cake when suddenly a loud booming voice startled her.

“Leora!” Thazar says followed by a goofy laugh.

“I knew you were going to be with the cake.” She grins big acting normally

“What—what do you mean? I wasn’t—I was gonna—fine you got me. Please don’t tell!” Her fast-talking and stutters made Thazar all the more laugh hilariously.

“Don’t worry buggy-bug I won’t tell. Actually, I came to find you. We need to talk with your parents.”

“Whatever it was, Elena did it.”  He smiles, shakes his head, and thinks to himself ‘I wonder who you got that from.’ Glances at Maryn’s picture by the wall and smiles even bigger.

They walk into Enoch and Samantha’s room on the second floor of the house. They both walk in and Samantha closes the door. She gives her daughter a gentle smile before looking at her husband who had a stern look on his face. 

“Leora please have a seat.” She looks around and just sat on the floor. There were no chairs in the room and she realized her father was nervous and spoke like one of the men he watches on the TV.

“We have something very important to tell you. We mean no harm in this and I hope you understand where we are all coming from.” Her father’s monotonous voice made her hide her laughter.

“Did you practice that dad? I bet you did. You did well by the way.” The tense air shattered and all four of them seemed to breathe a little easier.

Thazar crouched down and sat with her, the parents followed in suit knowing and hoping that sitting like this would make the conversation less serious and more meaningful.

“Leora, long ago you had a grandmother named Maryn,” Thazar says.

“I know. Her pictures are everywhere and you don’t stop talking about her grandpa.”

“She was a wonderful person like you. She was the most amazing woman I’ve ever met and one day something happened.” Thazar’s face falls into a serious one making Leora nervous and worried.

“Do you know our law about pure humans?”

“Yeah, it’s to never have any contact whatsoever with any pure human.”

“Right. So long ago, your grandmother broke that rule.” Leora’s eyes grew big and looked at her father asking if he knew. He watched her and gave a small nod, confirming it. She looks at her grandpa again and sees the pain in his eyes. She holds his hand and tells him to continue.

“She found a pure human by the beach. She took her home and we took care of her. We even go to know her a little bit. But Frey got word of it and summoned us. We were blessed by his sister Vor but we weren’t saved at all. Frey took your grandma Maryn and the pure human. He killed them both off in front of me and were presented them to the goddess of the moon, Sol.  She took their souls and has been since then living with her. They can never return here in any form but… I know deep down in me she gives us some signs to tell us she’s okay.” Thazar looks at them all and smiles sadly.

“But it doesn’t end there Leora.” He holds her hands both in his as he continues.

“That wasn’t the only punishment Frey gave us. He cursed us with something crueler that involves you. You see, he cursed that every firstborn woman of the family must end the same fate as Maryn did. Your aunts were lucky because Enoch here was our firstborn. But you… you are.”

Leora processes this all in one blink, she knew she felt different at night. It wasn’t because she was a wolf, no. She felt a connection to the moon and finally, she understood why. She had only just turned 15 but she knew she had to accept this. There was nothing she nor her family could do. She wanted to be angry but why should she? It wasn’t her parent’s fault and her grandmother had already faced her doom. She was in no position to fight the gods, she was just 15 and was still average in her battle skills.

She breathes in deep, burying the panic she had in her, and in a low and somber voice she asks,

“how much time do I have left?” preparing for the worst possible answer but to her surprise, she had more time.  With a shaky voice, he continues. Samantha moves and places her arm by his back to offer support and strength.

“O—on th-- the second decade of your life. By the time you turn 20, Frey will summon you as he did with your grandma and become a sacrifice to Sol as well.”

Tears escaped from Samantha’s eyes as she watches her daughter take on the responsibility she never deserved nor wanted. The day Leora was born was one of the best days of her life but it was the most horrifying news Enoch received knowing full well the fate of his child when she grew up.  There was nothing they could do but give her the best days of her life until the end.

Leora smiles brightly and her eyes gleam with a slight glow.

“Then let’s have a bigger birthday party on my 20^th birthday.”

Samantha couldn’t hold back her tears anymore and wrapped her arms around her. Enoch and Thazar watch the sad and relieved cries. They knew she was brave and strong but never did they imagine that she could do the impossible.

 “Hey.” An unknown voice she hears not far, startles her.