Chapter 153: She doesn't have much time left
~Ava's POV ~
I sat quietly by the window, watching the trees sway with the soft wind. My fingers were cold, but I didn't notice. My mind was full, heavy with worry. Gwen had been asleep for too long. Her skin had grown pale, and her breathing had turned soft, almost like a whisper. Even the healers from Mesodomica did not know what else to do.
Lorraine entered the room with a bowl of herbs. Her eyes, once calm, now looked sad, something I had never seen before.
"She doesn't have much time," Lorraine said softly, placing the bowl down. "Even my powers can't help her now."
I turned to face her. "Why? Why can't we save her? What about my powers? Can't they save her? You said I can create life?"
Lorraine sighed. "Because this sickness isn't just of the body. It's of the soul. Her mate... he's in danger. His beast is calling out to her, crying to see her one last time."
My eyes widened. "Drogon?"
Lorraine nodded. "Yes. That's why her eyes are that color. Golden like fire. She feels his pain, and it's slowly pulling her down."
I stood up, my hands trembling. "We have to find him. We can't let her die like this."
"I've tried," Lorraine said. "I've searched through spells, flames, even the stars. But he is hidden, far away from this world. Only one person knows where he is."
My chest grew tight. "Who?"
"Queen Isla," Lorraine answered. "She led Raphael to that cursed land. A place where time moves differently. A place no one returns from."
I stepped back. My heart pounded hard against my ribs. "Then we need to find them. We can't waste any more time."
Lorraine reached for my hand. "Even if you do find them, Drogon may already be gone. His soul is fading. And Gwen... if he dies, she will follow. That's their fate. It has always been so, granddaughter."
I closed my eyes. I thought of Gwen's smile. The way she used to laugh with me, her head thrown back, free and wild. That Gwen was gone. What remained was a shadow. A woman too weak to stand on her own, her body burning from the inside out every time her heart beat.
"She still tries to be strong," I whispered. "For her children. For Anastasia."
Lorraine nodded. "Yes. But even strength has its end."
I opened my eyes, fire lighting behind them. "Then we won't let her reach that end. I don't care how far they are, I'll find them. I'll bring him back."
Lorraine gave me a weak smile. "Then let's start. We don't have much time."
I walked to Gwen's side. I took her hand gently, careful not to wake her. "Hold on, pumpkin. Just a little longer. I promise I'll bring him back to you."
And with that, I turned and left the room.
The moment I stepped out of the room, I saw Anastasia running toward us. This had become a routine on a terrible day.
First, it was finding out two months later, after searching and searching the realm with Lorraine's help for Raphael and Drogon, that Gwen was pregnant. Even in her pregnancy, she still experienced her heats.
Lorraine had said the reason for that was that she and Drogon hadn't properly completed the mating bond ritual. It was draining seeing my friend always crying for her mate or her husband.
Anastasia, Lorraine, and even I did all we could to sustain her during her pregnancy with our powers, even adding Lorraine's tea, but we had to stop. Lorraine had said taking further sips of those teas would harm Gwen's babies.
So, she had insisted on enduring the heat. And gods above, it was a terrible sight to behold. Reading about the mate bond between dragons and their mates didn't explain enough about the pain their women go through during their heat cycles or the slow rate at which they die with longing when their mates are not there.
"How is she?!" Anastasia asked, breathing harshly. She must have run from the training ground with the children.
I shook my head at her, scared my voice might fail me. My Gwen doesn't deserve this. It's all the dark one's fault. He is the one causing all these problems. Gwen had tried to reach Mother Earth, but she wouldn't come to her.
Lorraine had forbidden Gwen to use the ritual she usually did to summon her, telling her if she did, she would likely die, as would her children, so she had stopped.
"She might likely not make it through the spring," Lorraine answered Anastasia. She paled quickly, looking ashen.
"How could you say that, Lorraine? You promised you would help her! You swore it to me!" She screamed, hitting her hands on the wall.
I understood her pain. I, too, wished I could slam my hands against the wall, but I didn't have the time. I needed to find Drogon and bring him back.
I had shut my mind against any thoughts of my beloved so I could be strong for Gwen and the new people who had sworn their allegiance to me.
All I kept telling myself every day was, I must not break down. I must not fall. I refuse to fall. I cannot turn back and become the Ava of before. A lot had changed. As I had changed as well.
"I promise I will find the cure for her, Ana. I give you my word, even if I have to turn the three realms upside down." I held her gaze, hoping she would see that I was serious and would do anything for Gwen, especially now with her life and that of her kids involved.
"You promise?" Her blue eyes were watery with unshed tears. Anastasia wasn't the ice queen the people of Lystra called her anymore.
"I swear on the life of my beloved." She nodded at me, finally accepting my words.
"I will go in and check up on her." We nodded at her, and she walked into Gwen's chamber.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Callie with the two children, Iris and Ellis. They were gorgeous and adorable children. They reminded me of what I might never have or would have.
I shook my head, pushing the images of my mate from my head. Another day. Yes, I would think about him another day. I had people depending on me.
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