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Post by Jade on Oct 15, 2021 14:02:35 GMT -5
Guardians of The Packs Book 1: Birth of An Era
Finished Chapters:
Chapter 1-Kilra's point of view
Chapter 2-Darkness's point of view
Chapters In Progress:
Chapter 3-Kilra's pov
Chapter 4-Ejainnsa's pov
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Post by Jade on Oct 24, 2021 20:02:09 GMT -5
Chapter 1 The breeze from the ocean rolled lightly through the browning forest, enticing the colored leaves to flutter away from their perches high in the branches and twirling them down in a graceful dance of whirls and twists. Shaseah Iya, ten cycles. So much time had passed, and yet she still felt the grief. The slightly sandy soil beneath her wasn’t yet blanketed in leaves even though it was Autche, the second moon of autumn. Browning ferns covered the clearing, brittle and stiff from decay. If the wind were just a bit stronger, she was sure they would all crumble. Where the ferns had already turned to dust, the ground was bare. To the south, she could see the Ben Vryka, the southern mountain range that bordered the valley. To the north and east, it boxed in the land and then merged into the sea.
If she closed her eyes, she could still see herself as a young pup, playing with her family in this clearing and later training with her uncle and sneaking out to spend time with her love. The memory broke at the last thought and she stood up, regretting coming to this place again. She hated to think of the pain the death of her parents had caused and the betrayal of her sister. For many cycles after, she would think of something she could have done to prevent it. Some point in their lives where she could have been different. None of it mattered now, though, she couldn’t change the past, just try to keep the little band of survivors together. If only it were that simple.
Trotting back through the autumn forest, she thought of the name they had come up for themselves—the Guardians of Life—and let out sigh. She had tried to dissuade them from using it, believing it was her duty as the last heir to restore Koa Xefin, but the others had insisted that the time of packs had ended. Finally, she had given up arguing about it, determined that at least she should keep her name in tradition. Since the first leaders of Koa Xefin, each new leader had ‘koa’ added to the beginning of their name, symbolizing the primary virtue they were to protect; wisdom. If her uncle hadn’t broken away from the pack and started a war, she would have succeeded her father. Her sister would have then become her Chekin despite being the strongest of them. Since the Scavanger Tinery, every Koa-Ariso had to have the power of irana, reader. Her power was fairly strong, making up for her physical strength. That only made it more difficult.
“Koakilra! Your daughter was looking for you,” a voice ahead announced. Koakilra looked up and nodded in acknowledgement. The creamy-red wolf turned and disappeared back into the undergrowth and Koakilra picked up her pace. The sound of water reached her before she could see the towering boulders that made up a quarter of the wall around the Sarrshi. The creek made up half of it and then joined into another large rock formation on the far side. Between the two formations was a wall of thick branches and moss to block the southern winds. Slipping in through a narrow crevice in the rock wall, she looked around the bare clearing, odd structures made of branches and vienavtiat leaves from the coast to keep rain from dripping in, scattered rocks and pebbles, and the occasional leaf blowing in from the trees surrounding the outside were the only things that filled it. The ground was a bit more dirt than sand, the grass having been worn down by countless generations. To her right was a boulder, jutting out from the wall and reaching for the other side, smoothed by cycles of wind, rain, cold, and the Ariso of Koa Xefin.
“Koakilra, how was your walk?” a familiar voice asked and she looked over at the structure nearest to the stream and smiled.
“Not as relaxing as I had hoped, Moon,” she replied, dipping her head in respect to the Sky Reader. “Have you seen Ejainnsa? I heard she was looking for me.” Moon nodded slowly as she thought and then blinked and tilted her head as she remembered.
“Yes, she went exploring around the rocks on the far side.”
“Thank you, Moon,” Kilra said gratefully and started toward the towering far boulders. Moon stepped into her path slightly, her eyes dark with worry.
“Kilra, something’s going on. I don’t like it; everything seems… off.” Koakilra frowned at her and tilted her head, studying her expression.
“I’ll come talk to you after this.” Moon nodded reluctantly and stepped back, allowing her to continue. Koakilra dipped her head again and trotted toward the lichen covered rocks. Once there, her daughter’s scent led her the rest of the way. At the entrance to a stony tunnel, Koakilra stopped and made sure this was where the trail led before going down warily. Stone and dirt pressed against her on all sides, forcing her to crouch lower and lower until it finally opened up into a small cavern illuminated by glowing strands of moss hanging from the walls and trailing down into a shallow pool. The cavern was probably big enough to hold everyone who had been in Koa Xefin when she was a pup, though without much more room. The floor was smooth and worn, having been used for a long time by her ancestors. The moss glowed brighter the closer it was to the pool and was nearly transparent at the far ends.
Ejainnsa was sitting at the edge of the pool on a bed of dried moss, staring intently into the ash filled water. Koakilra approached cautiously, “How did you find the tunnel?” She was sure she had hid it well and blocked the path to it off.
Without looking at her, Ejainnsa asked in a whisper: “What is this place?” Koakilra stopped and sat down next to her, staring into the faintly glowing water. The ash within it was so thick, she wasn’t sure she could call it water anymore. It was more like whitish-grey slush, though it gave off a slight deep blue sparkle when she got too close.
“Before Koa Xefin fell, it was called a Reader’s Cave,” she whispered softly, her words echoing off the cracked stone walls.
“And the…water?”
“It is full of ash from a volcano far off shore. It probably filled the cave during the last Ash Storm.”
“It isn’t like the ash from fire after a storm, it…” Ejainnsa broke off and tilted her head; as if unsure she was actually seeing correctly. Now and then, the ash’s glow would increase and it would sparkle faintly, changing from the whitish-grey to a greyish-blue.
“There is something about the ash from that volcano that gives us powers. I don’t know how, it would be something to ask Moon. It,” she hesitated a moment, worried about what might come next. “It also works like a sensor’s powers. It changes color depending on what power you have.” Ejainnsa perked up and turned her head sharply to look at her mother, her eyes wide with excitement at the possibility of having a power. Turning back to the water, she nervously extended one ginger paw toward the edge and tilted her head. The ash turned a shade whiter or creamer and maybe sparkled a bit more than usual, then went back to its normal color, but nothing more. Whenever Koakilra got too close, it would turn a deep blue and the blue would spread out slowly, sparkling like crystal.
Koakilra relaxed, not even realizing how tense she had been. Perhaps this meant her daughter had no powers? Ejainnsa looked at her mother for explanation, her brow furrowed. “I don’t know,” she admitted and stood up, looking around one last time. She didn’t want to tell her daughter too much about this place, nor directly express her desire for her to stay away. Both would lead to the same thing. “Come, let’s go up; the hunters will be back soon.” Reluctantly, she followed after her mother. Koakilra desperately wanted to open her powers up and reach out to her daughter’s mind, to know what she was thinking, but didn’t. She hated this power and how much it had ruined her life. Never would she use it unless it was absolutely necessary.
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