Light Guardian

Chapter 11

Amber eyes snapped towards my yellow and green ones. Wisdom danced within them, and something about them drew me in. My paws padded lightly towards where Nakoma and Zohar stood. Rhea and Amos close behind me. Once I stood in front of the two towering wolves, Nakoma spoke, "And here she is."

My head tilted slightly, "What are you talking about?"

Zohar huffed, "About why you are here. She told me about you before, but never exactly why you had to come to our pack."

I turned my attention to the dark brown wolf with the glowing red gem. She gave a gentle smile, "Before you were born, Varian, Zohar had died. When I went to go and collect his soul so I could take it to the spirit world, something struck me. The Greater Spirits had told me that before the previous Light Guardian died, a spirit with a green soul must live. The soul before me was green, a unique color that only a few possess. From how it was hovering close to Zohar's body, a shimmering green soul, I knew that this was the soul that had to live. I created a glass lantern of sorts, and his soul jumped into it."

"His parents, who were weeping and crying by his body, where shocked when I placed the lantern around his neck. They couldn't see me, I made sure of it. When the lantern was hanging around his lifeless neck, his body came back to life, almost like his soul had never left him. He was reborn in a way. It is impossible for a soul to return directly to the body, which is why his has not merged with his body once more. I left him after that, briefly watching over him as he grew older. When he was about a year old, evil humans took him away. They tested on him, experimented on why he was still alive. Why his soul was outside of his body. They didn't even understand that it was his soul, they were going to take it off of him. If that had happened, he would have died. Once contact is lost from his lantern, he will be dead, fully disconnected from his soul. The Greater Spirits told me that I needed to save him, get him to create a pack. And I did, I whispered how to get out, I mapped out the way inside of his head."

"I guided Zohar to Clarisse, who was living alone in the woods. She nursed him back to health like he was a close friend. When he was fully recovered, I appeared to him. The first thing I said in my physical form was that he needed to make a pack. I watched over the creation of this pack. I helped to lead lost wolves here. In private, I trained Zohar how to fight, which he then taught to his pack members. Once this pack was stable, I left. I was told that they would protect the future Light Guardian, which is why the pack needed to be made so soon. It took years until you were born, and over two years for you to get here. But here you are, just like the Greater Spirits planned."

"I know that you were wondering why you had to come here. Why you had to travel so far without me, only following the tug on Varian's heart. The answer is simple. Protection, friends, allies, and shelter. This pack provides all of those, full of strong fighters and compassionate wolves. If you stayed where you originally made your den, King would have found you. You would be dead. None of you were ready to fight off King. In fact, he came to your camp just two days after you had left. Luckily for you, I covered up your scent trails, throwing him off. He has no idea where you went except for where the shadows spotted you. Here, you will receive further training and focus on befriending the wolves. And your journey here strengthened the bond between you three, and it strengthened your powers, Varian." Her words were strong and final.

I turned to look at Zohar. The large wolf looked embarrassed from his story being told. When I turned back to look at Nakoma, she had disappeared once more. The glow of her gem stayed briefly before it too disappeared.

***

    Lilac was a sweet wolf. I had chatted with her shortly after Nakoma's disappearance. She had welcomed me warmly. At first, we spoke about her pups. She told me Ice was the firstborn, and the most sociable. Her other two pups were Hail and Rose. Rose was the second born, and a shy wolf. She was passionate about herbs and I knew that Amos would love to talk to her. The last of her pups, Hail, was the runt. Although he was a runt, he was very playful and tough. He didn't let his small size bring him down. She joked that he would become the best hunter in the pack.