Chapter Thirteen: The Marshes

Gaia, would they ever slow? Dae-rí and her husband had run until their paws nearly bled, yet still, the golden Wolf took the saviour further and further from them. The Black Wolf and his companion seemed to travel at a supernatural pace, always a day ahead of them. It was just thirty leagues until the dreaded Marshes of Gedhrír, the fate that lay in their soggy reaches worse than death.

And if the Alphas were unable to catch them in time, it was to be the fate of their quarry.

Dae-rí snarled her challenge to the Fates, pushing her limbs harder in defiance. She would not bow to those cold spinners, refused to accept this as a challenge she could not rise above.

The cold tingling of her rising anxiety was pushed into the thundering tempo of her paws, in perfect rhythm with her Alpha's. They had gone through the deepest hells to prove their power, and by the tails of the Goddess, she would not fail her mate, not now.

Ri? Rennon's mind brushed against hers, as she struggled to keep the haunting worries at bay. His calm light filled her with his confidence in their ability.

I'm fine, Renny, she replied, glancing at her powerful mate out of the corner of her eye. We can't let them cross the Marshes, love.

I know. I can smell them getting closer. Rennon slowed his relentless pace just a notch, his loud breathing audible over her own pants. Just another few leagues, my Alpha. We still have a hope.

Dae-rí let the pounding of her paws fall into the rhythm of her pounding heart, settling into her stride as the springy turf gave way beneath them. Her breathing calmed, and she rested the tumultuous worries in her mind as she focused all of her energy into sustaining the pace.

Just a few more leagues. Just a few more.

-:-

"Fen?!" Dylin called, his voice echoing in the murky fog. He strained his eyes in the dimming light to search for his mate's flashing blue eyes.

Many hours had passed, it seemed, though it couldn't have been but a moment ago he had been beside him. Fen had begged him to go no further towards the dark marsh. And Dylin had laughed at his Omega's foolishness.

It's nothing but some mist and a few cat tails, he had said, but Fen's voice grew to be a memory in his mind, as he searched for the cry for help. He could have sworn the pup was just a few paces into this sodden wetland. He'd seen their golden eyes through the mist.

A far off scream reverberated in the Alpha's ears, sending cold shivers up his spine. The haunting echo could never have been made by a mortal throat. The fine hairs along the nape of his neck stood at attention, as a feeling crawled over him of evil.

Something was certainly wrong about this dark place, and he called out for his mate a second time, his own voice returning the plea.

The cat tails and marsh grass squelched under his boots, dank water seeping through the worn leather, and soaking his woolen socks with the icy moisture. He could have sworn the water had been below his ankles just a moment ago. Could it?

"Fennis, my love? Fen, where have you gone?!"

The water swirled around Dylin's calves, as he spun in place, hearing another chilling scream. The anguished noise echoed across the marsh, sounding so much like his Omega. His brow broke out in cold sweat as he searched the twilight for any sign of his mate.

His heart hammered in his ears, and his palms were slick as he traveled the way he had come, wading through the knee deep water as quickly as he dared. His heart was beating wildly within him, the mist and endless marsh filled him with a dread unlike any other.

As he waded through the water, his boot fell on something that gave way with a sickening crunch. He could hardly bring himself to dare to look down, fearful of what new horror he would be subjected to now.

Still, trembling, he slowly lowered his gaze to the bones of a pup, nibbled clean by an unknown monster. The cry for help echoed in Dylin's ears growing louder and louder as he looked into the empty eye sockets.

He ran, blindly following his instincts as the water slowly rose around him, and slithering things long left untouched reached their way toward the doomed Alpha.

One final scream echoed through the mist. Then all was quiet.

-:-

"Dylin!" Fen's broken cry echoed across the valley, as his bruised and bleeding hands pounded against the invisible wall between him and his true mate. He numbly noted that he would need to heal himself again soon, as he struggled to break down the grim force that was taking his Alpha.

He'd long since screamed his throat raw, as his mate walked further and further away from him, trying with everything he had to make his Dylin come back. He'd tried and tried to tell him that something was wrong with the marsh. His calls fell on deaf ears.

As Fen's broken hand weakly beat the wall, he sobbed, "Dylin, please..." 

He couldn't even see his mate now.

Fennis couldn't imagine his world without the kind, giving, loving Alpha he needed. It wasn't possible to exist without Dylin. There was no way that this could be his mother's plan, no chance that he had been meant to lose the reason his heart beat.

TThe small and weak Omega's heart filled with a destructive rage, that this puny barrier had thought to keep him from his mate. H e laughed coldly as he burst through the thin shell in his mind keeping him from his true self, giving himself fully to the four paws he had been born with.

The power of the Nightlands flooded his body, rippling through his glossy black fur like cobalt flames as he snarled his challenge to the world.

Fennis Novar, the Black Wolf, Saviour of Hastor, sprang at the miserable excuse for a wall, the energy of his home destroying the barrier, crumbling the magic around him.

As he collapsed onto the sodden ground, his vision flickered and faded, his control over the energy broken. His fragile mind gave into the welcoming blackness, to protect him from the terrible might he possessed.

The last image that wavered before him like candlelight, was two Alphas armored for war, charging towards a creature.