We'll Be Right Back....

Myranda didn't feel like getting up. She tried to force herself to, but after another unsuccessful search for Jyriah, she was so depressed it was hard to want to do anything. Part of her felt badly that she was not tending to her duties at Metas' side, but everyone had insisted that it was perfectly normal to feel such a way.

"You haven't even had time to process any of this," Lara had told her to comfort her.

"You need some time alone, and I don't think you realize how much you need that," Jessie had added.

Myranda had never befriended anyone, but especially other female wolves. Syrana had been all she needed, and that was fine with her. Now that her sister was gone, it started to dawn on her how badly she actually needed friends.

Honestly, she hadn't ever tried before. Why would she? He hated everyone, and had a chip on her shoulder because of her home-life. To have friends now, when everything was broken and disjointed - was actually a life-saver.

She wouldn't have rested, and she wouldn't have felt any sense of comfort whatsoever had Lara and Jessie not been at her side.

Metas had tried to talk her into taking the night off, but she insisted on being strong. For whatever reason, Lara and Jessie had been able to talk her into sleeping and staying at 'home'.

Myranda was glad she had as she clutched Metas' pillow into her face. His scent calmed her, but she was also happy to be alone. Giant, hot tears crawled down her face each time she blinked - and her back nearly convulsed as she cried as silently as possible.

She didn't feel like doing anything tonight. No one was going to make her....so she fell into a depressive sleep.

******

Joss on the other hand wanted to put his anguish into digging with the others. Whatever this giant box was, it had better be good. He was far from tired, and sleeping wasn't anything he was interested in.

Plus, he was a bit upset about the whole situation with his sister and Veltar. The lower levels didn't have the same education as those at the top -so how could he have known that mates moving on was perfectly normal?

To Joss, the suave male was nothing more than a play-boy who bounced from one female to the next. In reality, Veltar and Jess were more of a gift to each other than 'fated' or 'chosen'. This was actually a beautiful blessing that he was ruining with his preconceived notions....but when you think about it, what brother isn't protective of his sister?

On top of all of this, Jyriah was now missing - but he knew he wasn't dead. It was weird. Someone must have taken him captive, but who would do it without being vocal? As long as he could keep his paws moving, he could keep his brain churning.

Surely Harbinger or Silas would have used this opportunity to use him as bait? Plus, there was that weird spot in the woods where he could smell and sense Jyriah about, but he couldn't see him. It was distressing. He was going to sleep out there tonight and try to figure out what was going on.

For now, he'd push back pawfuls of dirt that they continued to peel away inch by inch until - finally, the thing was well enough exposed to get a good handle on it and pull it upwards.

Thanks to their blessings of strength, it wasn't as hard as a task as it would have been for some others. Whatever was inside of it was very heavy, and made a lot of noise as the contents shifted.

They had spent the entire night pulling up this chest - and now they were about to see what was inside of it as their reward. A lock was attached through a key-latch, but of all the things they had to do to get this chest, the little piece of metal took nothing to break off.

The group was tired, and hungry. They had worked so hard to get to this one, singular moment of victory. There had to be something good in there with how heavy it was, and with all the clanking and metallic clinks that came from inside of it.

With baited breath, Jess and Joss pushed open the top, which sent remnants of dirt and rust everywhere. Everyone crowded around with deep curiosity and anticipation of a reward they felt they deserved - no - earned with sweat and tears.

What could it be?

It was hard to see at first with everyone gathered around it, and with the night being so dark and the moon so thin, it was like there was nothing there at all...

They moved to see the contents, but they saw nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Had it all been a trick? Why did it sound like there were items in it, and why was it so heavy?

"Are you serious?" Ajax let out in extreme disappointment. "Someone tell me that I'm seeing things -- is it...empty?"

"It's empty!" Lara shrieked in anger and surprise.

"No way it's empty - did you not hear everything inside of it? It's heavy, too. There has to be a reason...maybe it's enchanted?" Joss piped in.

"What kind of enchantment leaves the box visible, but the contents invisible? I've never heard of anything like that," Metas argued and glared at the chest with both disappointment and anger, as though it had personally decided to mock him.

"Maybe the humans made it a long time ago? They used to mix magics - and this thing has been here forever. Look at it, it's...pretty crude..." Veltar added to the discussion and put his hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"I...but..." Jessie said stunned and quite upset. Now she felt guilty. They had wasted all this time on this chest, and they had lost Jyriah in pursuit of the contents. What kind of cruel joke was this?

"Is it a mimic?" Veltar asked over her shoulder.

"Are we being eaten?" Lara asked in reply (what was up with that from the upper caves, anyway?).

"Ha-ha, but what if it's been dead for a very long time, and all the contents it ate is gone?" Veltar asked seriously.

"That's no mimic. There aren't any bones...." Metas hummed out thoughtfully.

"Plus, they'd smell bad. I've seen one in the museum when I was a kid. They still look terrifying, even after they're dead and preserved....and I swear I could still smell its putrid breath, yech..." Lara said with a frown.

"What kind of cruel joke is this, then?" Ajax shouted and then kicked the heavy chest - and again, they heard the rustling of objects, but saw nothing inside.

"I'm going to lose my mind here in about five minutes. Anger isn't even the appropriate emotion I feel right now. It's more like...a quiet..storming....rage..." the green-eyed male tacked on to his own words as everything started to dissolve into a big, giant, raging pile of poo.

"Hon, why don't we take a run for a bit?" Lara offered and looked to her mate whose sclera had begun to turn red. A classic sign that Ajax truly was about to lose his temper.

"Stay close, please. We can't have anymore of us disappearing. I mean that both seriously and because you're my best friends. Don't. Disappear. Please." Metas practically begged as the thought of losing Lara and Ajax. It was difficult enough already with Gerald still stuck inside the mountain, and now Jyriah gone. The uncertainty of it all was starting to chip away at the strength and hope the Alpha had saved up for so many years.

"Metas, I swear we'll both come back, okay?" Lara promised sternly.

"Lara, I'll find you in the stream, rip you out of it, kill you again, and then pull you back out once more if you disappear on me. I depend on you..." Metas replied with sadness in his eyes.

"We know, big guy" she replied and gave her friend a hug. "Let me get him calmed down and then we'll both be right back," Lara promised once more.

"Lara..." Metas warned.

"Metas..." Lara replied in kind.

The large black wolf merely shook his head and then stepped aside so they could pass.

Tonight had been a complete disaster, and now more than ever - everyone felt hopeless and stressed out. It would be really hard to get up the next night after such a brutal 'defeat'. For now, though - Metas just wanted to join his Luna and sleep the rest of the terrible time away.