Chapter 38 - Bringing her home

I walk up to the cave and stop in front of the opening. I haven’t been back here since that night and it was a long, long time ago.
The land looks different. The grass is green and soft, the trees have thick leaves giving shelter to birds chirping on the branches. I hear the rippling water running along the mountain wall and testify that the lake up there is overflowing.

Zandra slides down from my back, landing on her feet beside me, stretching her muscles. We always travel in our wolf form, its faster, safer and we are ready if attacked.
Zandra is always on my back, I wouldnt have her anywhere else, she means to much to me, I want her safe.
I shifted back and she gave me my dress. Turning around, I look at my people. My children. My creation.
I love them all, with all of my heart. After Selene unbound me and lay my fate up on me, I walked the land, following in Ambrogio’s footsteps.
I visited every village he destroyed.
He mostly turned grown men, feeding on or leaving the rest.
I gave the survivors a choice. They could stay, try to rebuilt their lives and always live with the fear of his return. Or I would make them strong and we would get our revenge on the devil who destroyed our lives. Nobody stayed. The few children who survived Ambrogio, made their choice when they came of age, I offered them to stay human and still be with us, or if they wanted me to, I would turn them… I turned them all.

“This was once my home…” I started, meeting all the eyes looking at me.
“This was my home, my safe place, filled with the people I called family..people I held close to my heart.” I take a shaky breath, not prepared for how much this would effect me.
“One night, the most joyful and untroubled night we had had in a long time, evil found us…he did not bring his children here to feed..he did not bring them here to turn our people, making his army stronger.. No..He brought them here because my people were once his.” I watch them as the words sink in..this is a secret only Zandra knows.
“The Father to the children of the night, origins from my people..my family.”
A hiss of voices travels through the people in front of me
“Make no mistake, we are not the same!” I put power in my voice. Luna, my wolf, my better half, returning to the surface, demanding respect.
“His name is Ambrogio..he felt he was wronged, by the village and by the heavens, so he became a monster, the monster that hunts us at night”
I feel Zandra taking my hand, she inter-weens her fingers with mine, giving me the strength I need.
“Standing here..where it all started..it hurts..it hurts a lot.. Looking at all of you, I know you hurt just as much.”
I draw a deep breath, seeing tears in the eyes of those remembering the loved ones they lost.
“ We hurt him in our last battle but soon he will be strong again, soon he will return.. I will never ask you to stay..to fight..I will never ask you to risk your life. If you want to go your own ways, you have my blessing. We rest here, and celebrate the memories of the ones we lost. Soon we move on” There are different expressions on the faces before me, anger, sadness, determination but above all… loyalty. They would never leave my side. I turn to Zandra, trying to gather the strength of what I came here to do, and we walk in to the cave.

There are some remains of bones left, scattered over the floor of the cave, but most of them had been taken by the scavengers. I round a corner and my hand caresses the familiar texture of the stone wall, the indentation in the uneven surface where I use to sleep as a child..the same cold spot where I watched my mother die. I take to my hands and knees, as did Zandra beside me, she spread a piece of cloth over the floor.
*“Luna..we need to find her..”* Together we start to collect the bone fragments that was once our mother, we put them on the cloth, wrapping them in carefully.
As we emerge from the cave the sun begins to set, making the west part of the land look like it’s on fire. I take off my dress and let the last sun’s rays warm my skin and erase the cold feeling from the tomb I just left. I look at Zandra.
“Look after them while I’m gone..”
“You know I will..but please Aayla.. I still dont like that you are going alone”
“I’m not alone, Luna is with me..”
“You know what I mean..”
“I know, we will be back soon, I promise” I wrap my arms around her, holding her hard to my chest before I step back. White fur soon covers my skin and I let Luna take over. We looked out over our children before we howled, telling them not to follow and not to worry, we will be back soon. I take the wrapped cloth from Zandras hands and start to trot down the mountain, against the river I once followed.

The village where I was born held little to no memory to me. I was too young when the angry sun burned it down. There are almost no traces of it, only some stone foundations, testifying that there once use to be houses here. I follow a path through the ruins until they are all behind me. I make my way through an area of overgrown bushes, grateful for Luna’s fur to protect me from tearing my skin on the sharp thorns of the branches.
There on the other side I find it. The low stone wall my mother told me about. The wall that surrounded the burial place of the villagers who were no longer alive. Their final resting place
*“Lets find him”*. It doesn’t take long, its like we can feel him as we are drawn to the east corner of the wall. The grass is tall and to an ordinary eye it would look like an ordinary meadow. But we saw them all. The piles of stones stacked as memorials, clay or wooden figures that still comforts a loved one. A wolf carved in stone rises above the tall grass, looking out over the graves as a guardian of the souls that once lived here. When we tear away the grass from the foot of the stone, we see the inscription. *Mateus - Guardian - Father - Mate* . I feel it rising from my throat before I hear it. The sadness and longing for our father set the tone in Luna’s strong howl.
With our paws, we start digging and soon we are deep enough. I take my human form, kneeling on the ground.*“ You are home now mother, where you belong with who you belong. No one will ever be able to separate you again. Not Ambrogio, not even the heavens themselves..”* I put the bones in the deep hole and covered them up with the soil. I stand up, wrapping the now empty cloth around my body, before I place a kiss between the ears of the stonewolf. “ Take care of her until we can all be together again” I whisper, Luna is crying in my head.

The night is clear, letting the moon and her children light up my way. I walk along the river, watching her dance on the surface. I wont be going back up the mountain tonight, we need this time for ourself. We stopped on a small beach, the sand was still warm from the sun. I built a fire and crafted a spear. I could go hunting with Luna but she was still mourning, seeing our fathers wolf in stone was hard, especially for her.
The water is cold around my legs as I step into the river prepared with my spear.
I stand still enough to become part of the river as I pay attention to every movement beneath the surface. A large salmon swims past my legs, but it’s not the one that catches my attention. Inland, on the other side of the river, I see a man running towards me, he is running for his life. I also see the three shadows chasing him, playing with him. As a cat chases a mouse. Movements I recognize all too well. I grab the spear and aim and with all the strength I can muster I send it flying in the man’s direction as I throw myself into the water to cross the river.
When I come up on the other side I can tell my spear had hit its target. One was down and the other two had stopped, confused and in search for the source of the flying weapon. The man kept running towards me. “Run! Run! Monsters!..” He screams when he sees me. I let him pass me, hearing the sound when he throws himself in the water for protection. The wind is picking up and carries the scent of wet gravel to my nose, making my adrenaline rise. Luna wants to take over but I push her back. I keep moving against the two and as their eyes found me they set off against me. To them I’m just another prey, serving itself up. Running towards each other we almost collides but I spin around them, making them pass as I make my way to their dead companion, retrieving my spear. When I turn back around they are already on their way back. I let my spear fly again and watch as it buries itself in yet another heart. The last creature before me rips the spear from the chest of his fallen friend, spinning it between his hands. He gives me a sadistic smile as we circle eachother. He lunges, both his hands tight on the spear, and swings it at me. I spin around and feel the wind from the wood caress my naked back. We circle again, this time he tricks me by turning his attack at the last moment, hitting me over the shoulder, tearing my skin. As he feel the smell of my blood, he gets distracted and in a second he lunges again. I grab the spear in his hands, twisting it, making him fall hard on his back. The spear is now in my possession again and while putting one foot on his throat, holding him down, I point it above his heart. “Open up and I will give you a taste” I say as my blood is dripping from my shoulder down on his face. As a crazy animal he starts to lick his lips, forgetting all about the fight, just craving the small drops of blood, running towards his mouth. It doesn’t take long, he starts to bleed from his eyes and nose, he is coughing up blood and I take a step back, watching him melt from the inside before he stops moving completely.
I suddenly feel every hair on my naked body stand, the smell of wet gravel is gone and replaced with the most intoxicating scent I have ever felt. It reminded me of the land bathing in the sun after a heavy rain, of the leaves dancing in the wind on a stormy day, of the nature itself. “How..how did you do..that?”..A mans voice asks. A voice that immediately calms my nerves and washes away the excess energy still pumping through my body. I turn around and look in to the bluest eyes I have ever seen…
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