I had to admit even I silently questioned the lack of sound in the woods. I tried to keep myself from acknowledging the thought, but now I was forced to face it. Something was wrong.
Just before the dawn turned the dark sky into lighter shades of blue, illuminating the shades of green within the woods, I left Naloud in the care of Raden. He didn’t like the idea, and quite frankly when Naloud woke up, she wouldn’t either—but this was what I had to deal with. I had to find out why Marren didn’t come to the cave and how a small group of Cyrs managed to overtake two powerful werewolves.
I found my way back to my home. Sometime before arriving, burning flesh filled the air and clung to everything in sight. Loud voices floated on the wind. I hesitated, not recognizing either of them, and for a moment worried about Marren, but reminded myself that if I was alive, so was he.
Moving forward, more hesitant than before, I made my way to the garden, now filled with piles of beaten and broken bodies. The smoke stung my eyes, though the sight was what caused me to tear. They were girls of different ages, sizes, and shades. Most, if not all, were covered in bruises. At least the parts that weren’t already charred. Not even realizing I was moving, I approached a pile.
Defiled women.
My sadness quickly turned into hatred and anger so great my vision nearly clouded. A hand gripped my wrist. I did only what I could do. Fight.
I closed my eyes against the stinging smoke and swung. My wrists were caught. I tried to blink the fire away, but the blurred image remained in front of me. They shouted something I couldn’t understand, like the words came from underwater or from behind a thick door. Nothing but garbled gibberish. I lifted a leg to kick my capturer off of me, only to have my move used against me. My other leg was knocked from underneath me. I fell to the ground, peeling the first few layers of skin off of my elbow.
I started to scream “Get off of me,” but it came out like, “Ge oufmi.”
Then his voice entered my mind. Relena, love. It’s me. Why are you fighting me?
I had been crying so hard and loud, I didn’t realize Marren pinned me to the ground. He pet my head and shushed softly into my ears. My body shook violently with the sobs that racked my body so completely.
***
It took me nearly the rest of the morning to calm down. When I did, it was only because exhaustion had taken me. I woke with a sight all too familiar. The balcony to my room with Marren staring out over the dense trees before the towering Peaks of Domar. The sky darkened to a deep blue at the peaks and lightened gradually toward our home. Sunset. I slept the entire day.
“Marren?”
He turned. Worry creased his forehead and saddened his eyes. His lips were pulled down at the corners. He took his human form. I had forgotten that night and day held no bearing on our appearance on the immortal realm only. Here, on the mortal realm, we were human during the day. He sat on the side of my bed and gripped my hand into his. The warmth of his skin seeped into me and brought a slew of memories from a time that seemed so long ago.
He smiled.
“You are…beautiful,” I breathed the last word.
“You are even more so.”
I reached up a hand to touch my face. I forgot how my face felt as a human. Smooth subtle skin in place of the skin of a werewolf—strong and hard.
“Naloud?” I asked, sitting up.
Marren nodded toward the direction of where the sitting area used to be. The furniture was missing, likely moved by the Cyrs or maybe Marren and Enid. Tucked into a corner and held in place by a pillow lay Naloud, bouncing her hands and kicking her feet. A loud coo filled the room. We laughed.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I will tell you later. First, you need to learn what happened to our home.” Marren’s voice cracked on the last word. His face became solemn and worn. That was the first time I spotted any age on his face, shocking me and making my heart dip a little lower in my chest. Of course, that could have been Marren’s emotions, but it still hurt to experience it nonetheless.
“What about Naloud?”
“She’ll be fine. She’s quite entertained,” he assured.
Hesitantly, I stood with him and let him escort me—hand in hand—to the hall.
I was glad Marren told me not to worry about Naloud. I nearly fell to my knees with how much destruction was done to our beautiful home. The enchanted carvings were cut and removed from the door. The wooden posts in the stair railing were completely missing. Only remnants of what they once were remained. The wolf embedded into the floor of the foyer was broken apart into pieces.