The Lord ✔️

Chapter 36

Chapter 36: To The Back

The cave was silent. Not a sound. It was so quiet anyone could've heard a leaf fluttering and landing on the ground, or Andromeda's soft breathing. She bathed in the moonlight, her breath growing ragged as she glanced at her old home, bones littering the area. And this was all Queen Cora's doing.
Her eyes drifted slowly to the North-East tower, between the North and the East Towers, shorter than both, but blanketed with thick snow. Andromeda squinted her eyes, feeling mystified by the dark sense the tower gave off.
"Night has arrived," Orion whispered, but the whole of Team One heard him. He nodded at everyone and then back at Andromeda. "We sneak around that cave—" he beckoned to the guard's cave—"and we head onto the mountain. Then, we attack uphill, which will give us the advantage."
"I will leave just as Team Two and Three Attack," Andromeda put in. "I can't tell you where I'm going, though." She tried her best not to stare at the North-East Tower, hypnotised, powerless, and a feeling of unease forming in the pit of her stomach.
The wolves around nodded.
Orion led the way, his footsteps silent and stealthy. The snow was soft and fresh, easy to travel on, soundless. Andromeda realized, with some surprise, that the snow had probably stopped the guards from hearing them.
As the group trekked around the cave, Andromeda could hear the queen's guard's slow snoring, dangerously close to where the Skystar Rebellion crept, unnoticed. Her breath caught in her throat and her body, her legs, both tensed, preparing to fight—yet, a guard did not leap out and attack, as she had expected.
Her ears perked up as she heard the wolves in the rebellion beginning to talk, silently. She whisked around and glared at them, pouring out as much emotion as she could. She needed them to get the message—shut up, idiots!
They shut up.
Andromeda moved towards the back. She tried not to think to highly of herself, tried not to be arrogant, just like Queen Cora, but she knew her strength was recognisable. She knew that she was strong, she was fast, she was smart, and she could survive wherever. Maybe it was something good she had taken away from living in Findrut, with Queen Cora.
They reached the foot of the large mountain behind Findrut's heart quickly, due to the snow allowing them to move faster. Orion was the first to place a paw on it, and snow silently fell. He placed his other paw on top, and gradually, he began to make his way upwards. The rest of the wolves and Andromeda, who knew as a fact that mountain-climbing was risky and dangerous in Findrut, followed anxiously, watching her friend from below.
"We're nearly there," Orion said, but he didn't turn around or address any wolf personally. "Just don't talk, or stare at a sleeping wolf you might see. Once we get to the top, we wait for the others teams to give us the signal."
Andromeda, for once that night, felt her fear melt and wash away into the ocean depths, and a new sense of determination and resilience sprouted in her heart. She would defeat Queen Cora once and for all, and she would find out who was in the North-East tower, and every single secret.
The top of the mountain was covered in crusty snow, and mist clouded the area. Andromeda moved her paw an inch downwards, watching the guards pace Findrut restlessly, and the royals, talking in hushed discussions. A grim smile appeared on her face, cold and calculating; she stared down at the wolves, her eyes narrowed. I will restore peace to my home.