Chapter4

#Chapter4

-Crowned-01

Sapphire Nightborne

My eyes remained closed as I placed my hands on the ground, humming in contentment as I felt the morning dew on the blades of grass below. I dragged my hands across the damp earth taking in every different sensation I felt, it had been so long since I had the time to really appreciate and enjoy my time out in the open like this, after all, the last time I had been this close to nature was when the Moon Goddess had tried to persuade me to forgive Damien...even though I was dead.

I stood up, raising my shoulders slightly as the cold morning air wrapped itself around me... as if welcoming me home. I closed my eyes again as I focused on hearing every little sound of the forest; the twittering of birds as they flew from branch to branch, the frantic scampering of squirrels as they searched for food, and even the soft swoosh of bats’ wings as they returned home from their long night of feeding. To other people, these might be mundane sounds that they could hear every day, but to someone who had been locked away from all of this, every sound was sweet to my ears.

A single tear ran down the length of cheek as I opened my eyes again, it just had been so long since I could be out in the open without worrying about being caught or thinking about training. I could feel the ache in my bones, I was a wolf and to be locked away from being able to run in free spaces, being strung up and kept in the same position for days before being transferred to a cage, was torture... like taking a fish out of water just to leave it on land. I had never realised how much I took all these mundane sounds for granted.

I wiped away that tear before turning to face Xander who was leaning against a tall Black Pine, he had been silent this entire time, and he had not once questioned my behaviour and had patiently waited for me.

/"I guess you are happy to be out here./"

A nod was my only response as words could not even begin to describe how I felt right now, no words could express the yearning I felt burning deep inside me. The forest was home to me, it was where I trained for years, it was where I ran to find peace and where I ran to escape from my peers when I was young. It was where I belonged, and to finally be back here after all the things I have been through, I just couldn’t describe it.

Xander smiled again before gesturing to the woods before us.

/"Shall we?/"

I was right, nothing could describe what I was feeling now. My laughter echoed through the forest as I ran past the Black Pines, my hand reaching up to knock the dew off its needles, smiling as they fell on my skin. Shouts of joy escaped my lips as I leapt and somersaulted over exposed tree roots and fallen logs. The damp earth was decorated with my footprints as I ran on it, my feet were bare and the feeling of wet grass against my feet was just amazing, it felt like it was my first run again. I ran my hands over the skin of my arms as I felt the warmth of the morning sun kissing me good morning, I looked up to see it starting to peek from the clouds before bringing my hands to my lips as I blew it a kiss.

Xander easily kept pace beside me, occasionally letting out soft laughs at my actions. I turned to him before tilting my head upwards, silently asking for where we should run to. He nodded before pointing his finger to the right, I nodded to acknowledge him before bolting in that direction leaving him in fits of laughter as I left him behind.

I was in complete awe as I looked at the thick columns of Black Pine surrounding me, they were the pride and joy of the Shadow Mountain Pack as these trees were the reason why they were able to survive their first battle when a rival pack stormed their lands. They had used their knowledge of this forest to their advantage and had managed to lure their enemies into the forest, leaving them helpless to an ambush. The sheer number of trees was due to the yearly planting of fifty Black Pines to thank the forest as well as to pay tribute to those who had lose their lives in that battle. The trees had now blanketed the entire side of the mountain and this was the reason for their name, the Shadow Mountain Pack, because it seemed as though this mountain was always in the shadows due to the great number of Black Pines.

/"Sapphire, head up towards the right./"

I looked over my shoulder to see that Xander had caught up to me. I nodded my head once again before rushing towards that direction.

It seemed as though the forest never ended, I kept running and running past columns of Black Pines before something caused me to stop. My body jerked forward slightly as Xander held on to my shoulders to prevent himself from running into me due to my froze frame. He called my name, but I did not respond as I removed his hands from my shoulder and walked towards the spectacle before me.

There was just a single Black Pine, taller and larger than any of those in the forest. It stood on its own with its leaves fluttering lazily in the wind but, although majestic and beautiful by itself, was not what intrigued me. Surrounding that single Black Pine was a perfect circle of peony bushes, their various pink shades caused them to stand out from the rather monochromic colour scheme of the rest of the forest. It was as if a scene from a fairy tale had just come to life.

My feet moved towards the flowers on their own accord, my eyes could not leave the sight before me, it was just too beautiful. I crouched beside the peonies and reached out a finger to stroke their soft silky petals, a smile crept onto my face as I pushed myself up to step over the flower circle towards the Black Pine that stood in the middle of it.

The tree was tall with a trunk as thick as two of those in the forest. I ran my hand across the rough-textured bark, feeling every mark and scratch left on it from its many years of life.

/"It’s beautiful isn’t it?/"

Xander had walked up behind me and placed his hand on the tree above my own.

/"My father told me that this was the first Black Pine to have ever been planted in this forest and it has stood strong through all these years despite all it had been through... kind of like you./"

He looked down to meet my eyes before taking his hand off mine and bringing it down slowly to my cheek, pausing to wait for my permission. I gave him a small smile, his hand cupped my cheek, his thumb softly stroking my jawline.

/"Sapphire, you have had everything possible thrown at you and yet you fought off each and every one of them. Most warriors, or actually anyone after experiencing the things you did, would have put their blades down for good but you, you trained even harder and pushed yourself past your limits even though no one would have blamed you if you decided to retire./"