Carswell's viewpoint
The control I had on him snap, shattered completely as he roared in my head. His mate challenged him to a chase, a sacred tradition for lycans. Not showing up was an insult to him, a permanent pain because it meant he wasn't good enough for her, meant he really wanted her to leave. That wasn't what he wanted. And with the anger of what I had caused him, what I made him do to his mate and the goddess, he pushed my control to the prison I locked him in and pushed me inside as well.
I was trapped inside his mind like he was trapped in mine. He had the control and he used it. Because in less than thirty seconds after the words left their mouths, he was jumping out of a window and rushing out of the castle to face the challenge. There was nothing I could do now.
Xyra was as good as mine.
Xyra's viewpoint
I stood under the moonlight, eyes closed with head tilt up to the big bright ball hovering over me. I stood at the edge of a mountain, a high mountain overlooking a plain field of rocks and stones. The wind blew merrily against my skin, blew my hair wildly and calmed my heart. For some reason, I was at peace.
I had been standing there for three hours, unsure of how I got there but when I opened my eyes after going to bed, I saw myself on the edge of the mountain.
"Nokomis," I peeled my eyelids open, eyes instantly locking with the moon above. A smile spread across my face, like I knew that voice. The voice sounded like music to my ears, a soothing music that made my inside melt into mush. The voice felt like my superior's; the voice felt like home.
"Look down," I obeyed the voice and looked down. I was surprise to see that the once plain field had change. Seven tall pillars surrounded an altar, an altar made of brimstone. Seven women stood around the altar, each backing the pillars, a black bowl in each of their hands as they held it out to the altar.
A younger woman stood over the altar, chanting a spell as she used a horsetail to write symbols on the altar top. The paint was red, thick blood red.
"Is that blood?"
"Yes, it is,"
"Why is she using blood and what are they doing?" I asked curiously.
"Something that is too late to stop and the reason you were born," I tilt my head in confusion and continued to watch them. The young woman finished writing the symbol and increased her chant. The seven other women turned to the pillars and poured the content of the bowl at the foot of each pillars. The liquid was thick and as black as a dog's gut. Only one out of seven was blood.
The liquid immediately sunk into the sand and disappeared under the earth. I watched as the women all ran out of the circle of pillars, leaving only the young lady inside. The deep lines forming some kind of ancient marking began filling up with the black liquid and the one single red one. The pillars glowed with dark energy at each second, the liquid spreading faster and faster as the lady chanted more louder. Once the pillars were filled, the ground suddenly lit up, followed by the liquid extending through the markings on the ground, into the altar, trailed along it own markings and connected to the blood written symbols at the surface.
The lady was a witch, they were all witches. Her lips moved with speed as she murmured the final spell like she was possessed. The stone lid of the altar cracked before it slowly pulled itself open.
"Rise, Myrtle! And finish what you started! Return and give to us the victory we deserve!" Shadowlike energy burst out of the open altar and snaked a tight hold around the lady. She laughed with joy as more of the energy wrapped her up like a mommy, filled her with black powers.
"Yes! Yes! Take over my body, Myrtle, I am your faithful servant and would do anything to ensure our kind our lost victory!"
"No more!" The voice shouted before everything went away with the flash of white light. I still had no idea what the whole thing was.
"So a witch drew powers from a dead one? Is my mission to find and kill her?"
"Your mission is to find the chronicle of time, learn the beginning of the story and rewrite the end." It whispered. I furrowed my brows with confusion. The chronicle of time, I had no idea what that was. Learn the beginning of the story and rewrite the end? The vision must have happened in the past.
"Do not confuse yourself or conclude, Nokomis, instead, patiently seek the answers and connect the clues. Remember, all that is given to you, all who have been with you from the start, was kept by your side for a reason. Learn the beginning of the story, and rewrite the ending. But remember, the clock is ticking."
I groaned as the sunlight hit my eyes angrily, screaming at me to wake up. I turned my head from the window, lifted my pillow and buried my head under it. I didn't want to wake up as usual, because if I did, I would be back to the reality of my mate rejecting me and the fact that the vision meant my time is near. Not my death is near kind of time, but my 'your purpose in life' kind of time. But truthfully, it could be dangerous for me so technically, it can be my death as well.
<Chronicle of time> I repeated in my head. <Any idea, Majesty?>
<All I can think about is my mate> I rolled my eyes. <Wake up, you need to eat a lot, stay hydrated and do some workout for the chase>
<I still can't believe you challenged him>
<Like you didn't support> She snorted. I chuckled. <Come on, stand up, we have to make this the hardest chase of his entire life, or don't you want it so?>
<Of course, we wouldn't want it to be easy for him. Gotta make him sweat for it>
<Attagirl!>
I laughed as I opened my eyes. The good thing about the whole mate thing is that Majesty became somehow nicer since she found him. She wasn't nagging at me like before and used more polite words. If it was before, she would have screamed until I woke up. I got my head out from under the pillow, push myself up to my knees and knelt up on the bed with a yawn. I already decided to push the vision aside, at least until the whole mate thing was finally sorted out.
I crawled out of my bed, stood up and stretched on my toes before wiggling them. I made my way to my bathroom, humming with hands doing few flexes to every direction. When I got inside, I went to the sink to wash my face, only to end up almost cringing from my own face. I looked like a patient recovering from cancer or HIV. I had serious noticeable hollow in my collarbones which was showing too much by the way. My neck was thin and long in a awkward way, my cheekbones were deep and dry. My eyes were yellow and hollow, like I hadn't slept for weeks… Well, I practically didn't sleep for weeks.
My lips were extremely dry and crinkled, so dry I could chew it off. I could see some wrinkles on my cheeks and forehead. My boobs had reduce because of how much I emaciated. I pulled my sweatshirt over my head and almost cried at the skeleton looking back at me. It was like a vampire or parasite demon sucked me dry. I hit the bone of my ribs and cringed at the sound it echoed back to me. I had lost almost all the colour in my skin.
I look dead!
"I didn't even notice me," I was more worried that he would get to see me like this, but again, he caused it. There was no way I could fatten myself up in time, not when he was probably halfway to me already.
Deciding not to think about it and like the fact that he would feel more guilty, I went about my morning work. Once done, I went down for brunch. I overslept. Zephyr was dressed nicely and she looked happy. Unlike me, she didn't starve herself, though she barely slept. She still looked fresh and filled with flesh, unlike the skeleton me. The only way you would know she had been miserable was her red and puffy eyes, the huge bags under her eyes–which I also had, and the dry lips. I envied her freshness.
"Now what are you happy for?" I asked jealously.
"Your mate is coming to get you which means I would be meeting mine soon," she chirped.
"Why are you fat and why do I look like a toothpick? I look like a walking skeleton, not girl," I whined. She looked at her body for a second before shrugging.
Note to self, next time I want to get depress, I'd be depressedly in love with food.