Smoke and Mirrors

Sapphire Ragna Nightborne

She acknowledged my nod before waving her hand causing a stalk of honeysuckle (represent bonds of love) to grow high enough for her to pluck some of its petals, they withered the second her hands touched them, she crushed them with her fist before letting the blackened petals fall into the vial. Another wave of her hand caused a lotus flower (self-regeneration, rebirth) to spring up before plucking a few petals and letting them fall to join the others. I watched in amazement as she caused several flowers and plants to just sprout from the earth. Silvers of an Oak’s bark (strength), sprigs of Thyme (courage), petals of Black-eyed Susan (justice), leaves of Dill (power over evil) as well as others that I did not know the name of.

The vial was now almost filled to the brim with different types of flora but I failed to see how they would help me. The Moon Goddess smiled at me as if reading my thoughts before she elongated the nail of her thumb, pricking the pad of her index finger allowing several drops of her blood to slowly drip into the vial. My eyes widened as smoke started to come from the contents of the vial, they widened even more as her blood seemed to liquefy the contents of the vial till just a steaming mixture of black liquid was left. Soundlessly she handed me the vial, I took it with caution almost gagging at the smell it gave off.

“What is this?”

If I was going to drink the vile mix I was going to know what it was.

“A concoction that was created when the first mate bond failed, I could not bear to let them suffer so I created this. As wolves, we are one with Nature, every plant was created with a purpose and so we use them to our advantage. For centuries I allowed my children to freely use this concoction to break the bonds I set for them as I believed that they would only use this in dire situations, but they proved me wrong, so I decided to destroy every shred of its instructions as well as add an ingredient that is impossible to attain without me knowing: My blood. I have the power to create the bonds you have, I have the ability to break them.”

I swirled the contents of the vial, smoke still emitted from it as well as a soft hiss.

“I just have to drink this and all this would return to how it was like this whole thing is one big nightmare.”

Even as the words left my mouth I knew that nothing would ever be the same as it once was, but I could hope.

“I know you are hurting but even I cannot bring the dead back to life.”

“But…”

“Your human side might have passed but your wolf was still fighting for you to live, you envisioned her because you still had the will, no matter how small, to live. Most of your pack did not have the will you had after suffering such a horrendous death, even those who I met in limbo chose to move on.”

“My sister…”

“I am sorry Sapphire but even I cannot detect her soul, some people do pass so brutally that they never choose to leave the living.”

I nodded, Lia had always been afraid of death, so it would make sense if she chose to stay among the living. I took one last look at the vial before bringing it up to my lips.

“I must warn you that what you will experience after drinking this concoction would be like nothing you ever felt before.”

I smirked as I thought about all the pain I felt when my family died and when I was tortured by all those people.

“Not even that pain compares with what you are about to feel.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat before downing the entire vial, the pain I would feel would all be worth it.

Boy, was she right.

The liquid burned my throat raw as I swallowed it, I hunched over as the burning began to spread, it felt as though lava ran through my veins instead of blood. I crossed my arms over my chest as it felt as though someone had punched a hole in my chest and was trying to pull my heart out. The world beneath began to blur as tears welled in my eyes.

“Good luck, Child.”

That was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.

If I had thought my life was a nightmare before, I was wrong. The fire continued to spread through my body, it felt as though someone had thrown me into an open fire, I could almost feel the flames licking against my skin but yet all I could see was darkness. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound left my lips it was almost as if I was trapped in my own pain forever. The pain continued to pass for what seemed like an eternity before it stopped and when I opened my eyes I was finally back where I was.

My hand was still raised as I straddled Damien but this time I felt stronger than ever, the fire still surged through my veins but this time it did not hurt like it did before, in fact, it gave me renewed energy like I could do anything. I looked at my right palm to see the scar that marked my mistake was gone, Damien stopped his pleading as he stared at me, I grabbed his hand to see that his scar had disappeared as well. He looked horrified as I forced him to look at his palm.

“No!”

A cruel smile made its way to my face as I raised my clawed hand again, this time I would not be interrupted, I will finish what I had set out to do since the very beginning, this would be the end to my nightmare. My hand came down before a loud bang caused me to stop. What now?

I heard numerous voices outside the main door, shouting for Damien to answer them and when no answer came another bang resonated through the room, I looked down to see Damien smiling at me, his bloodied lips split opened to show equally blood-stained teeth.

“I told you that you would never leave. You are mine now.”

I snarled at him before grabbing a fistful of his hair making sure to pull as hard as I could before slamming his head into the concrete, successfully knocking him out cold.

“I belong to no one.”

I growled at his limp body before getting up and sprinting through the small side door that led to the hallway, I was lucky that I had become so thin due to my lovely stay in this place, had I been my usual size I would not have been able to fit. I exited just in time before I heard the loud crash, the unmistakable sound of a door being torn off its hinges but I did not look back to see what happened afterwards as I sprinted down the hallway which was now mercifully vacant as everyone had rushed to see what had happened to their Alpha. A small laugh left my lips as the exit came into sight.

I would settle this score one day, just not today.