Chapter 6 The Other Side

Camilla POV

"Just who are you?" I wondered, moving back from the strange woman. The guards were getting nearer, and I heard loud, strange commands to each other. Our time was quickly running low.

"No time to talk now," Sage spoke. She grabbed my arm, and her own skin felt strangely like hot fire. "The evil council is arriving with many guards to hurt you badly. If you wish to live, if you wish to keep your daughter safe, you must quickly come along."

"How do you know Elin?" I then asked.

"I've watched her since her first breath," Sage replied. Her bright eyes glowed a lot more. "The old story isn't just your breaking of the council. It means much more than just that. We're truly out of time to spare now."

Lucien took one step forward then. "I will come with you both."

"No, you will not go," Sage spoke strong. "You're Alpha here. If you just leave, the pack might fall apart. You must stay now and hold them all together. You must stop them while we try and fix all of this."

"I won't let her leave now," Lucien spoke, voice breaking. "Once I lost her. I can't lose her twice."

I glanced at him, and could see years of hurt on his face. I saw that guilt had been eating at his insides. I saw his love never died, even when he thought I was not alive.

"You're not losing me now," I spoke, holding his hand. "I promise to you."

The fast footsteps arrived at the top stairs.

"Go now," Lucien spoke, pushing me to Sage. "Keep our daughter safe."

Sage yanked me to the hidden room, and Lucien shut the stone door when the guards rushed in. I could hear them yelling, hear them try to guess where I went off to. But Sage was now dragging me further into shadows.

The room felt larger than I thought. It wasn't just some small safe spot. It was like a maze of tunnels dug into ground below the packhouse. The walls shone with dim blue light that seemed like it was from everywhere all at once.

"Let's go," Sage said, tugging me forward. "They'll learn how to unlock the door pretty fast."

"Where's this place?" I asked, my heart raced as we dashed through tunnels.

"To a spot where they can't hurt us," Sage stated. "A world-away spot where magic beats laws."

We dashed far down into the earth. The tunnels bent and spun, and I forgot just where we were going. The only sound was our feet hitting rock and our breaths echoing off walls. After what felt like hours but maybe minutes, we found a door etched with symbols like the ones on me.

Sage put her hand on the door, and it opened on its own.

Beyond was something unreal. It was woods, but unlike any woods I had seen. The trees shone with light, and the air wobbled like heat on a hot road. The sky was gold and purple, with no sun, but all felt bright.

"Welcome to the Beyond Place," Sage said, walking through door. "This is where the real magic exists. This is where the old tale started."

I went in right after her, and as soon as my feet met the earth, I sensed it. A rush of energy so intense it almost made me fall to my knees. My body knew this spot. My blood knew it too. It felt like returning home.

"What is this spot?" I murmured.

"It's where all the magic in your family started," Sage said. She began moving further into the woods. "Your family came from here, long ago. They guarded the balance of nature. They had to stop the council from getting too strong. But they messed up. They thought humans would do what was right."

"Why tell me all this?" I wondered, going after her through the shining trees.

"You need to know what you are," Sage replied. She paused by a pool of water showing the purple sky. "Look into it."

I looked into the water, and I didn't know myself. My face looked weird and ghostly. But my eyes were new now. They shone with gold, and I saw magic moving inside them like hot fire.

"You're not just a wolf," Sage stated. "You're a Guardian too. Your family holds magic to keep your people safe. The council cursed you when you were born to hide that magic. They burned you to kill it off. But you can't kill magic like this. It just hides. It just gets stronger over time."

"How do you know all of this?" I questioned.

"I had alerted your mom," Sage said kinda strangely. "I met her way before your birth and told her what would happen. I urged her to ready you, train you to keep the power under control. Yet she feared, and the council knew of our meetups. They grounded her for that."

I thought about Elena, lying still, with blood running from her mouth. "Is she no more?"

Sage's face became gently strange. "I can't tell. Yet I sense she's a fighter, like you. I feel she wouldn't drop with ease."

A sound made us both turn our heads that felt off. It came from somewhere in the woods. A child's weep.

"Elin," I spoke, knowing her sound instantly. "That's Elin, for sure."

"Yup," Sage said. "She's right here. The council sent a hunter for her, yet I reached her first. She's fine now, but she's been calling out your name."

I didn't wait to hear a single thing more. I started to run fast toward the sound. Sage called out my name so oddly, but I couldn't stop. My daughter was near. My child was okay and calling out for me. That's all that mattered now.

I broke through the trees and stopped in a clearing that felt different. There stood a small home made of white stone. Also, standing right outside was a figure that twisted my world strangely.

It was Elin, yet she was distinct, not the same. She had the same golden light that I sensed in myself. And right by her, holding her small hand, was a woman with my own face.

It wasn't quite real.

It was me, somehow.

Or maybe, another version of my own self. She looked like I had, five years before, before the curse happened, before the burning. She was smiling brightly at Elin, and the child was laughing so hard and calling her name.

"Mom," Elin cried, rushing to hug me. "You're here now. You got back to me."

Yet the other me stayed put, still grinning, still solid as a rock. Then, while I stared, she spun around and eyed me with eyes that knew things.

"At last, we connect," she whispered. "I have been watching and waiting, Camilla. Truthfully, I'm that old piece of you that turned to ash in that fire from years ago. I must tell you important things."