Chapter 4 THE JOURNEY

Melanie's Pov

I found myself crying. I felt like that little girl who watched her father die all over again. I felt her arms around me, and I hugged her tight. She cried along with me, and she was not one to cry. She only cried when something was really touching. So, my story was touching her. After we were done crying, she continued to hug me and asked me to continue my story.

"I cried a lot trying to wake my dad up. I could not believe he was gone. Bryce was the one who got me out of my trance. 'They are back.' And he removed his cloth and dragged me outside to the nearest not burning bush. He covered us and only left space enough for us to see just like before.

They shifted to their human forms. They stood before us naked and I almost fainted. It was my first time seeing a man completely naked, leave alone the men standing in front of us naked. One of them was really built and his wolf, grey in color, stood taller than all of them. He looked like their leader. He started the conversation. They were about 10-20 men.

'Where could she have gone? That bastard Sam said that she always meets with the famous trader by the waterfall.' I was beyond surprised. So, that is how dad knew. The werewolves must have told him as they were taunting him. I felt really sad and betrayed. One of them strode into our house and came back panicking.

'She must have been her! The Wrenison's body has been moved!' They all rushed inside to confirm. We heard the leader shout for them to fan out and search everywhere. They thought I could not have gone far and they were right. I was hiding in plain sight.

'We have to move. If one of them comes near this bush and decides to touch it, it is over for us. He will definitely feel us. Let's go.' And that is how I left my people. Only I survived that day. Bryce was from the north of our village, so we decided to go South. None of us knew where we were going as long as we had each other and we were safe.

It was a long journey before we reached here. People said all kinds of things. The massacre was on their lips. So according to most, my father was the one who sponsored the Army. He gave them food, weapons and even shelter. I was shocked. I always thought my dad was being a good Samaritan hosting all those strangers in our village. Turns out they were werewolf hunters. It was too much at times, but Bryce was always there. We walked until it was just trees. Forest upon forest and no people. And funnily, that is where we met Wilen.

He was creepy. He appeared out of nowhere and said he had been expecting us. And that he had been chosen by the gods to guide us to our new home. We almost ignored him, but we were too tired to. We barely had food since we got into the forest. Our water had ended a few days ago and we badly needed rest. We followed him out of lacking a better option. We would have definitely died if we did not.

He had a hut in the middle of the forest. A well-built hut with mud and grass and it was fully stocked. He welcomed us inside and made us some porridge as we waited for food. He was a neat guy. Everything was well arranged, including his clothes and tools of trade, each in their corner. He hosted us for almost a week. By then, we had lost track of the days. Coupled up with the exhaustion, we did not even know exactly how many days and nights we stayed with him.

On the last day, he woke up, made breakfast then woke us up. He politely asked us to eat up and prepare ourselves as well as pack our things as we were leaving. In the last few days, we had learnt not to ask questions. You only did what you were told. So, we ate and packed and waited for him to lead the way. He had packed enough food and water for all of us, enough to last us a month. And we began the second part of our journey. We walked for days. We would always camp for the night. He would find us a good place and provide the sleeping gear. Since we found Wilen scary, we always opted to sleep holding each other out of fear that he would do something to us in the night.

Then one day after walking forever, we reached a large clearing enough to be a whole village. What caught my eye was the Rarity growing all-round the clearing. Wilen cleared his throat and said, 'Welcome home,' as he entered the clearing. We looked at each other and followed him. He walked right to the middle with us following suit and he placed his things down. He reached for the bag with his tools of trade. They were weird things; sticks, beads and herbs that he used to pray and make awful concoctions. He knelt down and started praying to his gods in his weird language. All we could catch was 'Bless this land.' He looked like someone having a seizure.

His eyes were closed, hands in the air and he kept on chanting phrases in the foreign language. He was sweating profusely. He prayed for a while until finally the beads and sticks moved to form a circle around him. He opened his eyes, picked the herbs and asked me to take them. He told us to go round the clearing holding the herbs together and touching the boundary of the clearing. As we did that, he continued his chants, and you could see the beads dancing round his head and the sticks were following us behind. After we were done, everything returned to his feet then this blue-like light washed over the clearing. He then stopped chanting, opened his eyes, packed his stuff and rose up. He slowly dusted himself up and said, 'The land is now fortified. It is all yours.'

It was like Bryce, and I could not believe it. We jumped up and down in joy. We hugged each other and almost kissed but Wilen cleared his throat. We both jumped from each other so fast like the other was on fire and faced him. It had been so long since we smiled at each other. It was all about survival. Love would come later. But now the journey had come to an end, and another one was yet to begin.

'In as much as I said the land is yours, there are rules you need to live by. You have the duty to keep the land as fortified as it is. I will be in charge of a couple of things. You need the materials to build this village to something. So, I will be in charge of trade. Most people especially the werewolves are looking for the both of you so you cannot leave this land. I will be trading Rarity to give us all we need. I will also be in charge of anything health. So, in case any of you is sick, you can consult me.

The most important thing is your names. You will have to lose them. But I must unite you two to be one first. Your surname shall be Davidson and so will be the name of the orphanage you will build later. This village shall be known as Davids after the both of you. This land requires good deeds so as to remain fortified. An orphanage is a good place to start. A lot of children are victims of the war between the Army and the werewolves. I believe we can help them. Also, find appropriate names before I return. You wed tonight. Let me go prepare. Your only duty is to find names.' And with that, he left us to ourselves.

I chose the name Melanie which was my mother's. Her legacy had to live on. Bryce refused to change his. He said the name Davidson was already bad enough, he could not afford to lose another good name. His stubbornness started a long time ago. I could not convince him otherwise. It was around midday when Wilen left us. After choosing our names, we just sat down to enjoy the peace. No words were said until Wilen returned. It was already getting dark. He came back with a lot of things.

He handed us some clothes and some ornamental beads. He guided us to each our separate side of the river and asked us to wash up then dress up. There was a river deeper into this forest. I was given a white gown that was too long and too big for me. Bryce was given some black cloak that was funnily too tight for him. If only we could exchange. As if sensing we were done, Wilen appeared. He brought Bryce to where I was, and he made us hold hands.

'I need you both to walk to the center of the river still holding hands. No matter what happens, do not let go each other.' So, we obviously did as we were told. There was no arguing with him. We walked hand in hand from the bank to the middle. We faced each other still holding hands. He stood by the riverbank and started chanting in his language. His beads, sticks and herbs were in the water in front of him. And everything started moving as his chanting grew louder. Even the water joined in the dance. Only thing that was left still were the herbs.

The beads and sticks along with the water were moving towards us. They started a song and dance around us. The funny thing is we could still see. All the water was with us. The riverbed was visible. The water mixed with the beads and sticks was moving around the two of us. I understood then why Wilen said no matter what we should not let go of each other. The force was too great. We really struggled to hold hands.

As for Wilen, he kept on chanting. He seemed to be using a lot of energy. The herbs were now floating above his raised hands. It was a long process. Wilen even ended up kneeling, but he kept on chanting until finally the herbs started moving towards us. it was creepy at first but everything with Wilen was. The herbs settled in between us, touching our holding hands. Wilen stopped chanting as soon as this happened and the water stopped moving. Everything settled back to its place except the herbs. The sticks and beads went back in front of Wilen but still in the water.

'Thank you for accepting and blessing this union. You are now husband and wife.' The herbs moved then and went back to their original position in the water next to the rest. Wilen picked everything and put them back in his pouch. He then asked us to come out of the water still holding hands. At the riverbank, he held our hands together and said,' Welcome to your new life, Melanie and Bryce Davidson.' This man was strange. He already knew the names we were going to choose.

He tried to move but he ended up kneeling down instead. He tried getting up but he could not. He looked exhausted. In a flash of a second, he fainted. We had never been that confused in our lives. He always knew what to do and now we did not know what to do. We decided to carry him back to our clearing. We put him in the center and proceeded to prepare a place for us to sleep and food for the evening. Bryce was in charge of the shelter. He managed to make a temporary shed from the grass and sticks around. I started a fire and put Wilen beside it, so he does not catch a cold. I also used the fire to cook us some vegetables and meat from Wilen's stash.

We ate and slept. I had spread the mats that Wilen had us carry to sleep on. He also had us carry some bed cloths that clearly looked handmade, and we used them to cover ourselves. We only hoped it did not rain and that is how we slept, me in Bryce's arms and Wilen right next to us. He was still out of it, but we hoped by morning he would be back with us. The first night was the most peaceful night I had had since forever. We slept through to the midday of the following day. I was woken up by some strange noise. First thing, I checked my surrounding. Bryce was still deep asleep with his back turned to me. I turned to check on Wilen, but he was not where I left him the previous night. Now, I was worried. I decided to follow the noise. I found Wilen on one end of the clearing busy building. He was the one making the noise.

'You know it is not good to sneak up on people like that.' He had his back to me, so I rolled my eyes. 'And it is not good behavior to roll your eyes at your elders you might just go blind.' The sarcasm just made me laugh. It was good to see him back on his feet.

'Glad you find this amusing. Your sleeping was not. That is beside the point. I am building on this end. The only space I will occupy. Both of you will build on the opposite end of me. Directly opposite. Our houses will face each other. Just that we will be on opposite ends. I hope you got that. Better wake your husband up and start planning. The rainy season will be upon us sooner than you think.' His amusement was long gone and that is how we started life here.

Wilen helped us get everything we needed. We built until it was a whole village. We took in everyone who was an outcast or a stray. The orphanage was built last. It took us a whole year to finish building. And we started taking in orphans too. It offered a source of income for those we took in. And that is how we have grown to where we are. I was unable to have children, so I dedicated my everything to the orphanage until you came along. The rest you already know. And that is my story."

"Wow mom! I think we should go back to the house before your husband finds a way to kill me or worse make me disappear. I can feel his anger all the way from the house." I just laughed and allowed her to help me out of the water and into my shoes. The walk home again was very quiet. It was short and I loved the tranquility in it. As soon as we opened the door, Bryce was on me hugging and checking if I was okay. Wren was right. He was angry but I could also see the worry. It was past midnight.

"You this girl! If something happened to her, I would have found a way to make you disappear." She just shrugged and left us to be. She went to find something to eat am sure.

"Sometimes Bryce, you need to calm down. She is just but a child." He just gave me disapproving eyes but kept quiet. He led me to the chair and held me like his life depended on it. After a short while, Wren brought some food for me. It was simple. Rice and veggies and I knew Bryce made it. It is the only thing he knew how to make really well. She brought her own food also and we ate in silence except for the staring daggers being thrown Wren's way by Bryce. She did not seem to mind.

She cleared the table, and I asked her to help me with my medicine. I gave her the instructions, and she did as I asked in front of us both. I took my 'medicine' and asked her to clean the utensils and the kitchen before going to bed. She knew I always did it to avoid roaches infesting, so she did as I asked. I asked Bryce to take me upstairs since I was tired. I was starting to feel the effects of the drug. Bryce held me in his arms while we were in bed, and he whispered his love for me and kissed my forehead. I slept to the beating of his heart. It was the most peaceful way to go.

Bryce's Pov

It was quite a peaceful night we had. I had slept right through and so did she. She slept in my arms and that felt really good. It always does. But I had to wake up. There was so much to do since the previous day was wasted. We did not even get to celebrate my wife's birthday. Anyway, I could always arrange a surprise party later in the day and maybe exclude that lousy Wren. Melanie would kill me though. I never understand their relationship. She is not a likeable child. The gods know I have tried.

I had to get out of bed and prepare. The sun was still thinking of rising and I did not want to wake her, so I was sneaking around. After preparing myself, I thought I should kiss my wife goodbye. Her skin was super cold. The sun was starting to shine in our room and that is when I noticed she was paler than usual. I felt for her pulse but there was none. Her chest was not moving at all. And for the first time in my life, I screamed.

First one to respond was Harrison. He practically lived with us. I asked him to get Wilen, and he ran to do so almost knocking over Wren on her way in. The hate I have for this girl. She was the one to blame for this.

"You'd better pray my Melanie is okay or the things I will do to you you'll live to remember me." I saw the fear in her eyes, and she took a couple of steps back almost falling into Wilen who was coming in. She stood outside as Wilen examined Melanie.

"Am so sorry Mr. Davidson. Your wife passed in the early hours of the morning." All the strength left me. I found myself on the floor sobbing. In my peripheral, I could see Wren crouched by the door post crying. She had no right at all. This was all her fault.

"You are to blame, and you will pay for this dearly. You are about to feel my wrath. I am Bryce Roberts, and you will surely pay."