Forbidden

|43|

Mason

As soon as dawn broke, we set back out to resume our search for Eden. The woods were much calmer now, the birds and smaller animals now roamed freely without the fear of magic hanging in the air.

"Everything seems back to normal." Waydi muttered as he watched a family of squirrels scattered past him up into an oak, seemingly oblivious to the three hybrids ransacking through the path.

"That's a problem." I snapped my jaws closed tight at a baby boar that came too close to frighten it away but it did not run, just stared back at me with a dull light in its eyes. Larry observed quietly when a flurry of quetzals flew past him, their iridescent green feathers striking in the rising sun.

"Quetzals? They aren't even from this part of Pangea, why are they here?" Larry questioned as we trekked forward. Even more rarities and oddities happened in the forest the further we went in, such as finding fennec foxes yipping about and since they resided in deserts, this put us on an even higher alert.

"Nature's out of sorts." Waydi shook his fur out as a sudden downpour hit out of nowhere, immediately soaking us and pushing us to take shelter underneath a canopy of firs.

"The hell are the gods doing up there?!" Larry growled but I stopped paying attention as a familiar scent wafted up my nostrils and without any hesitation I ran full sprint towards the scent of cinnamon apples. I burst into an opening that was filled to the brim with orange and yellow pansies, floral that didn't grow here either. The flowers mixed together with the smell of the cinnamon, creating a intoxicating sweet haze over the beautiful meadow.

The rain had receded here and the sun shone with a frightening glare, blurring my vision with its heat and rays. I tried to shake the obscuring daze from my eyes and when it finally cleared, I gazed up and my lungs gave out on me.

There, in the middle of a ring of honey colored lilies, was Eden. She looked luminescent in the bright sun and her curls wove themselves around her body like a lovers grasp and she wore a deep set amethyst gown that flared at the bottom. She seemed almost content and happy, her demeanor relaxed and calm.

"Eden?" I prodded the mind link and she glanced up, her mocha irises had a sheen of gloss over them but I had no time to dwell on why because once she recognized me, a huge cheshire grin split her lips and she jumped up from her spot, circling her arms around my neck and nuzzling her face into my fur.

"Mason, I'm so glad you're here!" She cooed and I felt like the world finally clicked back into place, making everything else alright.

"Eden, are you okay?" I softly inquired and she just tightened her hold on me but it wasn't punishing.

"I am now." The words were whispered so quietly, I almost didn't catch them but I heaved a sigh of relief at them. Eden leaned back away from me a bit and confusion was heavy in her features.

"What's wrong E?" She bit her lip and glanced down at the earth.

"Um.... Perhaps you should phase out." Red stained her cheeks and I cocked my head to the side inquisitively.

"I don't have any spare clothes with me E, it might be a little uncomfortable for you." I refused and a cute pout pushed her lips down.

"Oh come on Mason, it's me. We've seen each other naked enough times to be past that stage, plus, I need your help with something and you can't do it in wolf form." She whined and I found her reasoning to be sound enough, and since I would never deny her help, I stepped back a bit and phased out of my wolf shape, missing the hungry glint in her shiny eyes.

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Eden

"That's impossible Areli, Seranas said it herself that she locked you away, there's no way that Artemis would do such a thing!" Protesting loudly at the wolfs ridiculous exclamation, I nearly fell from his snout at how wildly my arms swung in my disbelief. Areli huffed, his eyes narrowing in anger.

"Why? Because she's your divine aunt? So what, the very man you called father has turned his back on you and you don't think a selfish deity whom you just met today wouldn't?!" His voice shook the very confines of my subconscious and I quieted down in his staggering rage, the weight of it placed tons upon my heart and anchored it down with sadness. I averted my eyes from his and let it sink in.

"So she's playing me too.... why are so many people betraying me? Why are so many people using me for their own gain? What could I possibly give to them? What benefits can I possibly carry?" I whispered despondently to myself, the shadow of everyone's careless abandon of me started to darken the world of my subconscious again. Little by little, the fireflies were dissipating and there was hardly any light left to even see what was in front of me.

"Eden, the lineage you hail from is great. Your mother was extremely powerful but she was weak inside due to her heart and her love of the creatures. She did not live like the other gods, she chose to live her life down here on Pangea instead of in Deorum. By doing this, she garnered the wrath of Artemis, whom lived by the very rules your mother refused to abide. The witch does not know she is Artemis's puppet, she thinks that her magic is so great that she could lock me away, when in truth, it was Artemis who cast the shackle spell. Just as it was Artemis who cast the Sirens Seduction spell on the trinkets given to the foolish ones. She has been playing all of you for fools, purely for revenge sakes. Revenge against the sister who was different." Areli's deep tone calmed my nerves and his words forced my eyes to open and the fireflies to flood back in waves. Sucking in a sad breath, I stared at him once more and decided not to break.

"Are they really trying to take a child from me? Seranas mentioned that she needed the child that I and another conceived together for something. What could that be?" The question had been swimming around in my head ever since I heard it and I was desperate for an answer. Areli sat up onto his haunches and slid his gaze upwards.

"The blood of a demigoddess child is highly prized, fore it contains the pure human and the pure divine blood since a child isn't tainted by this world. There are a number of things that one could do with your child Eden but the most revered and also the most dangerous spell one could cast is forbidden, even to the gods." Sapphire colored irises bared down on me and rocked my fear to the core.

"Using the blood of a demigoddess child, you could cast the Revival spell, which can bring life to any fallen creature, whether supernatural or natural. There are conditions of course. One, the child must be female and two, the child must be bred by a demigoddess and her protector. When all of these requirements are met, there is no magic that cannot be cast. They have their demigoddess and no doubt that they will have your protector soon, and I truly believe that with your child's spilt blood, Artemis will resurrect your mother." Tears found their way down my cheeks as I prayed silently in my heart for my protector to never be found .