Long Run

~ 21 ~ Balthazar's a Pov

I see my father sitting outside in his garden. The garden is full of herbs and flowers. It's his pride and joy. I was never into gardening, I like to create potions and recipes but my sister was different. Dad and Hedera would spend hours outside in the heat, planting, nurturing, grafting, and budding their garden.

My father did this when Hedera disappeared 19 years ago. He sits there thinking for hours. She left a note that said.

~ My dearest family, I need to do something very important to me. I don't know if I will be back. I love you all so much. Hedera

My father was devastated. He couldn't believe my sister would do something like that out of the blue. She was his little girl, she was my little sister that I loved unconditionally.

When I told him that Hedera had a daughter Ivy and she might be an oracle. He started to spend more and more time in his garden. It's like the scarred wound has opened up again and it's bleeding. I take a tall glass of water in my hand to bring to my father. I don't want him to get dehydrated.

I exit the back door of my home, go down the steps, off the stone patio, and take the grass path to the garden. I approach the bench my father is sitting on and sit next to him. I pass him the glass of cool water, he takes it in his hand and drinks the whole thing.

"Dad... It's hot, let's go inside. You can get a heat stroke." I tell my Dad.

"Ily, nothing is making sense. Ivy has been here for three months and we still don't have any answers. The hope of my daughter being alive gave me the willpower to get out of bed. Hoping she will walk through those doors, but sadly it was not enough for your mother. But she is dead and I have a granddaughter. I missed much of her life." my father says.

"I know Dad. I didn't understand how's Hedera dragon is still alive with Hedera being gone?" I say.

"Why would Hedera leave her baby in the wolf pack, to be raised by a wolf and not her family? Who is Ivy's actual father?" My father and I are brainstorming. We have been through this many times with him when we learned that Ivy lived in the wolf park.

"Do you think Ivy's father is the wolf? The same one that raised her?" I throw out this idea again. This is the only explanation I have.

"No. It's not possible, we are not compatible, Hedera knew this. I refuse to believe it, that Hedera would risk her life, the life of one of the only two dragons we have left, and the life of her twins for the love for a wolf. Hedera was responsible, she was chosen by the Moon Goddess to own a dragon. That's one of the high honors. I raised her right. She knew her purpose in life." My Dad gets emotional. "I am so mad at her. She gave a wolf to raise her daughter. Why?"

"Ivy said her mom died when she gave birth to her. She could have given birth to twins, her brother dying with his mother, and Ivy was never told she is a twin." I am still brainstorming.

I am trying to defend my sister. I was her best friend. She always told me her problems and I told her mine.

"Can I give her a small dose of wolfsbane, small enough to just make her sick? If she doesn't get sick then it will rule out the possibility that she is a wolf." I ask my Dad.

My Dad immediately turns his head to me and says with anger. "No! no, Ily this is my granddaughter."

I don't say anything I am giving him time to process what I want to do. His immediate response was "No" because of his protective instincts, but he knows that is the right thing to do. We need answers.

"Alright, you have to figure out a way to monitor her if she gets a reaction. Iris has to stay with her. If she has a wolf we don't know how strong it is. If she is a hybrid her wolf might be weak. If her wolf dies she dies too. There is no antidote to wolfsbane."
My father warns me.