The forest was awake with singing of birds, laughter of children and an unexplained peace that was very scarce nowadays.
Isolde never believed that the day would be so cool at first. Not after the recent happenings, the blood monn, the moon goddess' voice or watching the barrier stones burn in front of her. The forest decided to behave itself very well-it didn't send any feeling ot prophecy or pack politics. So, Isolde went with the flow.
She walked around the edge of the eastern side of the pack, looking at 3 good-looking wolf pups jumping from one tree to the other with expertise. They all looked like colours of grey thunder. The particular one that was too fast for his age goes by the name Lucahh. He was just moving from one tress to the other with calculated pace as if he was a trained warrior.
"Please, stay close to the boundaries!" Brinna shouted from behind as she was with other care givers. They were carrying berries and supplies for the wolf pups.
"Don't worry, they will not get hurt under my eyes," Isolde said smiling strongly. "The trees are very strong to carry their weight. They will definitely cope." I can guarantee you that.
"What are you saying, Isolde?" Don't you know how the forest acts occasionally, the forest is always full of surprises. Brinna said. "But anyways let's give them the freedom that is rightly theirs."
Isolde watched the pups a calculated gaze. They owned tomorrow's pack. They were the precious ones that the pack had newly in their midst. They were so innocent because they knew not about wars, superstitious beliefs, status of the pack. No denials that they were Omegas but she just felt something special towards them. Could it be as a result of her childhood before she was given a shoulder heavy responsibility as expected from her blood.
Her hand came in contact with the mark unconsciously pressed on her shoulder.
It had stopped shining, but it hadn't stopped pricking her.
(Intermission)
Suddenly at that moment , everything changed almost immediately.
The wind suddenly swept through the forest, a branch started giving a funny sound, a squirrel even took a pause to observe what was happening.
It disappeared and looked like nothing, before one could say better-then it turned out to be everything.
Lucahh had left the course that they were following, in a bid to get hold of a fluttering white butterfly. The others shouted his name in a joking manner at first but later got scared.
Isolde followd the boy's tail and saw that the ancient tree was about to fall on the wolf pup.
The root was already weak as a result of the rotteness.
The tree cracked immediately.
"LUCAHH!" someone screamed.
Time slowed all of a sudden.
Isolde's body reacted faster than her mind. She took a lot of fast pace than her lungs were literally on fire. Her lips moving in a nervous manner. The tree started moving in an awkward manner about to fall, the leaves shaking violently as the old tree started falling.
Lucahh just stood afraid, frightened with it's small eyes and stayed under the it.
Isolde tried very hard but she was too far because she wasn't in anyway close to him.
Noooo!!!!!—she screamed.
Suddenly an unexplainable thing happened, something within her broke forth...
A bright light.
It came out of her chest! Her hands and her mouth.
It wasn't a fire neither was it lightning.
What came out was something very strong and powerful.
The air within her let out a soft shining, crooked and shouted like a force as if gravity reversed itsef.
The tree suddenly stopped descending.
Not really, it actually took a pause-suspended, few inches above the ground, shaking like it had a change of mind during mid-fall. The leaves shook in a violent manner and gave a description of what could have happened and what was now.
Isolde stood under the tree, her arms stretched out with eyes filled with terror and power.
The ancient tree shaked violently once again—and then it gradually, lifted itself backwards, returning back to an upright manner.
Silence filled the air.
Isolde immediately came to her knees, heart beating fast as if she had used all her energy in a flash, her head ached with pain. She was conscious of the voices in the background however she fixed her eyes on the small frightened wolf pup in her front.
Lucahh ran to her direction, putting his arms on her neck and crying on her.
He spoke softly saying "I—I'm so sorry" I just wanted to catch the butterfly. I didn't mean to cause any disturbance because I was having fun.
She held Lucahh close to her and told him. "It doesn't matter as far as you are okay and safe."
She was still puzzled on how he made it out safe and sound.
All the same, Lucahh was safe.
(Intermission)
Brinna reached there before others and her eyes were full of glassy shock and bewilderment.
I can't believe what just happened, did you actually do that???
Isolde stood up looking so drained, yet she was holding Lucahh to her side. Her hands were shaking. The air around her was just blowing faintly and she was still trying to get a glimpse of the situation on ground.
"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't even understand how it happened, all I know is that I moved."
Brinna looked at her intently and shifted her gaze to the still-standing tree.
"Isolde," she said, with a voice sounding like that of a whisper, "what just happened wasn't just a 'reflex'. This is "pure magic"."
(Intermission)
Word moved at a rapid pace all over the park.
By evening time, Elder Varian was moving up and down in her chamber, losing all her composure. She was still trying to fathom what was happening.
"Since the past 4 generations, there has not been the rise of an enchantress," she spike out loud. "Not since the departure of the Ashblood Line."
Back at Isolde chamber, Isolde still felt empty as a result of the incident that occurred earlier. "Am I cursed?" She asked herself still wrapped in a thick blanket with a cup of untouched herbal tea.
She made her way to the temple to see Elder Varian.
Elder Varian stopped moving aimlessly. She asked Isolde if she felt like she was cursed and Isolde answered her Yes. Elder Varian comforted her and said to her "No. You're blessed. Although I don't think the pack will see it in the same light I'm seeing it.
"Is it because I'm an omega?" Isolde asked.
"No, it is because you're still new to it. And the magic is an ancient one. This is older than the bloodlines we recorded. You did more than stopping a tree, you took the tree backwards -reversed the tree.
"I didn't know I had something like that in me. Isolde spoke softly. I didn't even know I could do it.
"As a result of this revelation, we have to be careful to avoid any accidents or damages."
(Intermission)
As the next day approached, the whispers became more loud.
It wasn't cruel, as least not now but it was becoming suspicious with a little taste of caution.
"She shouldn't have been able to do that. It's not in her kind to do such."
"Spells like such belonged to the Highbloods."
"Or did she make it up?." They wondered.
"The Elders didn't even mark her. So there is definitely no way we can trust what she said or even did.
Isolde tried to remain focused by blocking those voices. She became more serious with the training sessions with Kael. She also spent time with the pups. She did everything within her power to stay away from ancient relics and falling trees.
The harder she tried to live a peaceful life, the more the forest always showed itself to her. As in the forest was full of more and more surprises.
After everything she came to a conclusion that she was ready to accept her fate.
(Intermission)
Two days later, Kael found her at the training field throwing stones at a target with a precise rage.
"Nice throw," Kael said, catching a stone he threw in the air suddenly as he looked at her.
Isolde didn't stop instead she continued with renewed rage. Next she asked him "Are you also here to tell me I'm dangerous too like the rest?"
He raised his shoulders slightly. "Only if you start throwing stones at trees carelessly instead of rocks."
She laughed very hard that she rolled on the floor.
Then he asked looking so serious and moving close to Isolde. "What really happened out there?
"I don't even understand, all i onow is it was just as the Moon Goddess said, it was so raw! It was like something just was just let loose when I saw Lucahh under that tree."
"Instinct." Kael asked
She nodded affirmatively. "And infact, I don't even know how to put it back."
Kael looked at her very well and said "Maybe you're not meant to use it yet. Maybe you're meant to learn how it works before you cast the spell."
"What if it terrifies people?" Isolde asked Kael.
He looked away and replied. That is the more reason you should learn about it.
(Intermission)
That same night, she dreamed again.
Now this time, it was not of the silver-eyed wolf, or of her mark glowing. This time,she was alone and she stood in the grove again. The trees were were burning with white fire, and the relic from the past was pulsing like a heart that was beating.
From behind the burning tree came a woman—not a wolf, neither a spirit.
She was the carbon copy of Isolde.
The difference was her eyes were storm-white while her skin shined like starlight.
"You've opened the gate," the dream-Isolde said. "There's no sealing it now."
Isolde tried to open her mouth, but no sound came out.
The woman moved very close to her, she touched Isolde's chest with her glowing fingers. Then Isolde screamed and dropped to her knees.
"Next time," she whispered, "don't hold back. The world will try to set you on fire for what you carry. Let it do so. However, you must then rise from the ash."
(Intermission)
She woke with a trying to catch her breath, at the same time she was soaked in sweat.
Her mark was glowing again and not only her mark, this time her hands were also glowing together.