RHETT I woke in a daze, my body feeling like it had gone several rounds with Mathias. The sun poured into the room as the big orange ball peeked up over the horizon of the trees. Freely and demanding through the white curtains. It wasn’t the sun that had me waking from a heavy sleep, but the sound of a bird squawking. A noise that should have been comforting and familiar, but it wasn’t. Birds had left the sky. Either flown off or had suffered the same demise as the rest of the wilds and fallen prey to the monsters. The squawk comes again. This time, with resistance from my body, I climbed from bed and made my way to the window drawing open the thin fabric that blocked my view. There, on a ledge, sitting opposite my window perched the biggest raven I had ever seen. I stared at it confused. My forehead creased as its bright yellow eye blinked at me. I hadn’t seen a bird in months, years. Yet there sat the enigma of a raven. Its black feathers glistened under the early morning sun's

RHETT They all stood outside as we loaded up the convoy of vehicles. We would be traveling back to the Kodiak Kingdom and staying at the Clan Mansion overnight. From there, Xander would fly us out to Mount Xenia via Birdie. Dropping us at the closest point to the village. Mathias told us that once we were dropped Xander would point the way and there should be a century or guard that would greet us. They would either let us into the village or direct us immediately to the Lycan Clans' whereabouts. That was if Nyctimus was willing to see us. We were warned that he may turn us away. Refuse to entertain us and hear us out. What we were meant to do if that happened, I had no idea. We all said our goodbyes and we were wished good luck. The last person I said farewell to was Tala. She stood there with eyes rimmed dark from lack of sleep and worry. Little Connor in her arms. “Stay strong,” I told her as I wrapped my arms around her and the little prince. Squeezing them both a little tight

RHETT As soon as dawn broke, we gathered our things and walked out of the cabin. Last night's experience was still fresh in my mind. When Mason and Finn asked about the experience, I told them what was said to me, but never disclosed that the lady of the lake appeared to me as Jonda. That was for me to know only. At least until I made sense of my muddled thoughts. We set off, the two Lycans leading us. We were forewarned that we would be crossing over rough terrain and through dense forest. They weren’t wrong. There was no easy path to the Lycan village, up one side of a mountain and down another. Through a forest that was so tightly packed that if it hadn’t been for the Lycans, we might have lost our way. It was easy to get turned around in the dark shade beneath the trees. I kept up easily, running on foot as they all shifted to their wereforms. Once, for the first time in my life, I wished I had a spirit animal. Maybe then my feet and legs wouldn’t be aching so much. We didn’t

RHETT Dawn came, and I sat on the folded couch rubbing some cream onto my feet. A welcomed gift, that Nyctimus’ mate had sent to our room last night. The ointment was already doing its job and soothing my feet. This was the second application I was putting on and already my sore and blistered feet were beginning to heal. “We will take the quickest route to MacTire and from there we will travel to Mir,” I say as Finn and Mason rise and stretch. “Travis will have transportation for us once we hit the border.” I pull my socks and then my boots on. Taking my time to lace them up. We had been gone for five days already. That only gave us another week to come back with the dagger. Morgan wanted to perform the ritual under the blood moon. That was only nine nights away. The familiar feeling of pent-up frustration mixed with anxiety began to creep over me. My hand shook as I finished tying my boots. Nine nights only. I could only think about what I was tasked to do. And that was not retri

RHETT The sweet, now familiar, scent of a woodsy maple filled my nostrils. Assaulting my senses and causing me to falter. Sharp pointed teeth dug into my lightly fur-covered skin. Tearing through to the bone. I grunted and growled in pain. The bite burned and I desperately and angrily began stabbing at the creature who had latched on to me violently. “Mother fucker, take that!” I yelled when its grip on me finally loosened, and it fell away. Without warning or cause the creature suddenly backed off, slinking back into the darkness. I could still feel their presence, hear their hissing screeches, but they had retreated as if they feared something. Bright and blinding light illuminated the cavern. The creatures flinched and retreated further. Quiet yet harshly a female voice came from the source of the light. She spoke a strange language I didn’t understand. Something inside me stirred. That former feeling of excitement once again reared up making the hairs on my body tingle. The sc