Chapter Nine

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  Molly's POV
  Heat still lingers on my face as Alex and I travel down a path in the forest. After a moment, I lower my eyebrows in confusion.
  "These surroundings aren't familiar," I murmur.
  "I know," he replies. "Are we lost?"
  "I hope not," Starlight squeaks.
  "I think we are," I say grimly. Starlight takes a step closer to me and peers around at the trees with fearful eyes. I sigh and continue walking, trying to keep up with Alex. It can be difficult; he has long legs.

He notices my efforts and slows his pace. I give him a small, grateful smile, and we walk with our footsteps in sync. Comfortable silence stretches between us as we search for a recognizable sign.

After a while of searching, I bite my lip. Nothing. If we don't return, Zack- and the rest of them, for that matter- will assume we tried to run away. Who knows what they'd do to us if they found us.

  I share my worries with Alex and he thinks about it for a moment.
  "Do you think they'll believe us if we explained?" he asks.
  "I don't think so," I reply doubtfully. "I mean, they haven't exactly been welcoming as of yet."
  "You have a point there," he sighs.

  Starlight and I stop walking in unison. We listen for a moment, and I know I can hear it as Thunder and Alex's footsteps falter and eventually go silent.
  Footsteps and low growling.

  I pull an arrow from my sheath and position it in the bowstring. Alex sees what I'm doing and pulls out his crystallized sword and positions himself in a fighting stance. I twits my head, looking around for the source of the sound.
  And I feel something leap onto my back, growling and scratching.

  I spin around, attempting to shake the creature- most likely a wolf- off of me, panic consuming my mind. I turn to face Alex, my eyes wide, as the creature scratches at my back. I struggle against it, but I can't shake it's claws from my body.

  A flare of some type goes off from behind me and the wolf jumps off of my back, but it looks like it's about to jump again when I turn to it. I look around for a moment, wondering where the flare came from, when a net shoots from the trees. It lands on the wolf and traps it in a strong mesh. The noises die down from growls to constant whimpers.

A figure slips through the trees toward us and bends down in front of the wolf. "Taming nets," they murmur. I can tell the person is a male; his voice is muffled and low. "They work every time," he says.
The wolf growls a tiny bit as the man brings his hand closer to it. He doesn't flinch. In fact, he keeps reaching forward until he's touching its fur.
"This is so you won't harm others while you're hurting yourself," he whispers, using his free hand to point at the net. What does that mean?

The man, who has a black jacket with a hood and a mask, lifts the netted mesh and lets the wolf out, murmuring soothing words into its ear. The little creature whimpers again and walks to me, nudging my hand with its nose. I'm still breathing heavily, both from rushing to get the wolf off of me and the small wounds on my back, giving me excruciating pain.

The man turns to look at me, and I'm surprised to see that a strand of hair, which he has hidden fairly well, falls into his eyes.
But his hair is purple.

I inhale sharply, looking down at the bottom of his jacket and seeing a few strands of hair.
Purple hair. Long, purple hair, at that.
Purple.
This tells me that he is something which hasn't been seen in ages.
He is a runic empirian.
  But that can't be. They're extinct. They have been for thousands of years.
  Right?

The man puts a map into my hand. "This will help you find your camp," he says quietly. He starts to run off, but turns abruptly, reaching into his jacket pocket. He pulls a pink potion out and tosses it to us. Alex catches it. The boy's eyes gleam, but a silver mask covers most of his face.

"Give that to the girl in the camp. Penny, I believe her name was?" he says, a small glint in his eyes. "Just one drop a day, mind you. No more, no less. It'll help her with that disease she's got."
  I nod, still slightly dumbfounded. "W-what's your name?" I stammer.
"Well, I have many names," he says, tilting his head to the side. "But I think the most common one is The Dreaming Wanderer."

My breath catches in my throat, and Alex looks over at me. "Your father's stories were true," he whispers with a small smile. He grabs my hand and gives it a quick squeeze before letting go.
  But The Dreaming Wanderer is a girl. The mask must make her sound like a man.

"Ah, yes, your father," The Dreaming Wanderer continues quietly. "Molly-" How does she know my name?- "Jack is not what you think he is. He is, in fact, an angel. But he's far more powerful than a normal one. His wings are larger than any other angel's. His abilities are far more powerful, and his bonded weapon is made of an almost impossibly unattainable material. No one knows how he is so powerful, but we think it is because of the amount of angel genes in his bloodline. It may also have something to do with ancestors." She raises her eyebrows slightly. "Do you know what that means?" I shake my head. "You'll be even more powerful," she says.

I suck in a breath. "Why are you telling me this?" I whisper.
"Because you need to know," she replies. I nod, though questions still linger in my mind.

"Molly, we have to find your father," The Dreaming Wanderer says, pulling me out of my thoughts with her serious tone. "If we don't find him soon, he could be in great danger."
  "How much danger?" I ask uncertainly.
  She hesitates, but answers a moment later.
  "It depends on how far he is into the Demon camp."
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A/N: AAAAANNNNDDD I'M THE WORST PERSON EVER. So, so, SO sorry for the slow updates! I'm the worst Wattpad author ever!
I'm sorry!
  Anyways, thanks to my friend, pandalovingamer , for letting me use her character, The Dreaming Wanderer. Go check her out! She has several stories worth reading!
Thank you for reading this, and I'M SORRY FOR THE SLOW UPDATES! I'LL TRY HARDER!
~Mabel

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