Evil changes people...

Chapter 12- How long to live?

Rowan-

Adara blood is all over my hands. My eyes are wolf eyes and so is Valerie's. I snarl as Adara goes into unconsciousness. I turn to Nora who is still trying to take off after I ripped a piece of her wing off. I stand and marched over to her.

"Rowan! Don't!" I ignore Valerie's pleas, and head murdersily over to Nora. She stops struggling and meets my eyes.

"Rowan? Rowan Daniels?" I snarl and grab her by the neck.

"You just now realized that? Look here, little miss Angel, you hurt my pack member. You will help us heal her and then you will help us defeat our evil since you now know what we are. And you are the reason we are here. Do you understand?" I growl. Valerie snarls in Noras face with Adara in her arms. Nora nods slowly and I let her drop. She grabs her neck and tries to take in air. I watch her in disgust.

"I know a Cora. She will help us." I snarl.

"What's a Cora?"

"Healer. She's a healer." Nora answers, getting to her feet.

"Take us to her." Nora nods and limps over to a tree a little further back into the forest. We follow behind. She comes across a tree with a carving of a willow tree with a circle around it.

"A sen." I whisper. Nora nods.

"Yes. She is in Core."

"Let's go." I say determined. Nora places two fingers of the carving.

"I wish to escape this world." I take Noras hand while I take one of Adaras. My stomach flips and turns, and my head gets woozy. Suddenly everything comes back. I release their hands and react all over the grass. Someone pulls back my hair and rubs my back. Valerie growls.

"Let go of her." My hair falls back in my back and I wipe my mouth. Nora watches me as I look around the new world. The trees are greener. The grass fresher. The sky darker, the moon brighter. The flowers bigger. The animals strange. Core. I am in Core.

"Whoa." Vally and I whisper in unison. Adara moans, Nora looks worried.

"We are running out of time. She needs a Cora. Can you keep up with me?" I look over at Vally and change.

"Yeah. I think I can keep up. Valerie, place Adara on me." I feel her weight on me, and then Vally changes. Noras wings pop out and she begins to fly. More like hover. We go after her. We fly through the forest, literally for Nora. The trees are nothing more than a blur. The dark sky nothing more than a black blob. Nora lands soon, and turns to face us.

"The cottage is up ahead. Change back." Vally changes picks up the weka Adara. I change back and we begin our walk over to the small wooden cottage. The cottage is small and smells like herbs and flowers. The whole place is covered in ivy. The door is made out of bamboo. It was a cozy enough looking place. Some old woman must live here. Nora knocks loudly on the door.

"Go away. I don't take visitors at this time of night." A feminine voice says. The voice is husky but smooth.

"Come now, Sandra. It's Nora. I need your help." The door opens and beautiful woman stand there. The woman is young, about 28 or so, with hair a dark brown that is shoulder length, and bone striaght but really thick. Her skin is the color of moca. Her eyes the color of the darkest wood. She was amazing. She smiles and I swear the whole forest queits. This was so not what I was expecting.

"Nora! Please come in. Who are these young beautiful-" she stops talking when her eyes lay in me. "Nora! Is this your daughter?" I snarl and bare my teeth.

"No. I am not her daughter." Sandra's mouth twist into a small frown of dislike but it melts away.

"Someone has mommy issues." I growl, but she only smiles. Nora shifts her feet uncomfortablely.

"Sandra, she needs your help. Can you heal her?" Sandra goes all business like and takes Adara in her arms and lays her on the cot. She begins to lift her shirt but growl and snap at her hand. She glares at me.

"Broken, I have to find the source of her bleeding." She tells me evenly. I reluctantly back away. She takes off her shirt and rolls her gently on the back. I cover my mouth to hold in my scream. There is a small branch protruding from her back above her bra line. The blood is still dripping but not as bad as it was. Sandra bustles around the room grabbing bottles and herbs and hurries back. She opens a jar and takes out red paste and rubs it on Adaras forehead.

"What's that?" I ask, my stomach turning. Sandra meets my eyes.

"Pain reliever until I can heal her ankle." I nod a quick thanks. She takes the herbs and rubs them around the branch. She braces her hands around the branch and yanks it out. Blood gushes from the wound. Adara screams, but her eyes are closed. I cover my ears to keep from ripping Sandra off her. Nora and Sandra hold her down. Finally she stops screaming when the red paste soaks into her skin. Sandra costs the wound with her hands, her skin turning translucent, her eyes becoming white. Her hair became silver. She was beautiful. Her clothes seemed to disappear, as her whole body became translenct. Sandra seemed to soak in a black liquid. I can see it soak into her bones and she shudders.

"That's Adaras pain. The black liquid." I look at Nora. She smiles sadly.

"You did this to her." I whisper fiercely. Her eyes tighten as she bows her head in shame.

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." I look away to keep from crying. I don't know why but I hate make if this woman cry. Sandra moves toward her ankle and does the same thing. A few mintues later she steps back. Her skin still translucent.

"What are you?"

"A Cora. I am a human with the ability to heal. This is my true form like your true form is a wolf. My heart is so pure that I look like this." Sandra explains.

"That is awesome!" Vally says while she takes Sandra's hand and examines the skin. Sandra smiles.

"Thank you. Now. Your friend should wake up soon. She will be very sore, but otherwise all good." I run over and hug her. At first she is stunned but goes back to her normal form and hugs me back.

"Hey Sandra? Can you please heal my wings?" Sandra nods and heals her.

"I think it's time to introduce ourselves. I'm Valerie. I'm a Broken." Vally says when she finishes. Sandra smiles and shakes her hand.

"I'm Rowan. I'm a Broken. And that's Adara. Also a Broken."

"Sandra. Cora."

"And I'm Nora. I think you already knew that though. I am also a Rejected." Bitterness fills me.

"No wonder. You rejected me." I see her wince and look away. Adara moans and rubs her head. Vally and I rush over to her bed.

"Adara? Can you hear me?" Vally asks while brushing Dara's hair away from her face.

"Depends on what you want me to hear." She mumbles groggingly. I chuckle and hug her.

"Thank god you're okay!" Her arms circle around me and hugs me back.

"Where are we? What happened?" Dara asks. I smile.

"We are in Core." She bolts up, winces and looks around.

"Oh. Hi." Dara says when her eyes land on Nora and Sandra. Sandra wander sober and puts a hand on Adaras forehead.

"How are you feeling?" Sandra asks. Adara gulps and smiles.

"Much better. Thank you, but who are you?"

"I'm Sandra. I am the one who healed you. I'm a Cora." Adara looks at her strangely.

"A healer. She has the power to heal you. Show her, Sandra." I ask. Sandra turns back into her translucent form. Dara's eyes go round as paper plates.

"That is so cool!" She whispers.

"And there's more. You have missed quite a bit."