I Claim Your Love
A Trip To The Mountains

Lothar and his men were low on forbearance. Just as he thought that his job was done, he was left disappointed for Einar still lived. He waited for a long time and stood guard near Einar to make sure he breathed his last but that was not happening soon enough. He was puzzled for Einar’s resilience as the poison he used was enough to kill ten wolves at a time. He used all that heavy dose on this powerful Alpha and he still managed to hang by a thread.

Lothar huffed in frustration and ran his hands through his hair “I cant take the risk. Arrange another knife for me and make sure you double the dose this time.” One of his men bowed and ran to the opposite direction to do the said job.

A vicious grin colored Lothar’s face when he saw the man returning with a glimmering metal. The man carefully handed over the knife to his Alpha and backed off. Lothar raised the knife in air and laughed hysterically “My fellow soldiers, from this day on the blue moon pack will be ours. No one can stop us now..” He lifted his foot and crushed it above Einar’s chin “I have done what no one could dare think of. The blue moon pack will bow to me because their mighty Alpha has fallen..” The people around him jeered and hailed their Alpha. Lothar gripped the metal firmly and aimed at Einar’s head this time, making sure that blue moon Alpha is done once and for all.

As he was about to lower his hands a glint of light caught his attention and what followed was a sickly caw. A bird with grievous eyes and ink stained wings, seemed to float over him with a swift movements of its feathers. It flapped its wings and circled the men from above, booming its caw to the extreme. The jarring caws were sickening as it pierced through the men and brought little shivers to their body. After circling the men a few times, it landed on a tree branch which was directly opposite of Lothar and bobbed its head up and down. Lothar found this behaviour unusual and rather tried to ignore the black bird. He was wary of the raven as its eyes bored continuously into the eyes of Lothar.

The Alpha just gave a fit of petty annoyance at the bird and lifted his hands once more. As soon he did the motion a loud noise of fluttering wings could be heard from a distance. What followed left the entire pack stand in disbelief. A swarm of dark feathers covered the skies and painted the space above them in black. They cawed and hovered above the men before settling; occupying the branches of every nearby tree.

Lothar and his men looked in dismay at the scene unfold. Some were even trembling in their feet as the black birds were considered the bringer of bad omen while some believed they opened the door to hell. Lothar was wary of the intently gazing eyes which surrounded him completely but he was over confident of himself and undermined the signs in his arrogance. He ordered his frightened men to brace themselves as he lifted the metal one final time.

Lothar could do no more as the birds took off leaving the branches naked. They cawed and bellowed and aimed their beaks to the faces of the lowly people. Soon the men were dressed in black from head to tow as the birds scratched every part of their bodies with their beaks and their claws. The men cried in pain as they tried to free themselves from the painful stings of the determined birds. The Alpha was astonished by the sudden unprovoked attack and made an effort to save himself from the onslaught. On one such instance he caught hold of a bird and strangulated its neck to thrash it down to the ground. What followed left him bewildered in veneration.

The fallen crow had turned to ashes.

Lothar understood that these were out of the world creatures and should not be messed with. He instructed his bleeding men to retreat and return to the pack. The men heeded the order and struggled their way back home amidst the attacks of the birds.

****

With haggard breaths and an insecure mind, Callan, Garrick, Fayette and Archer followed the raven blindly putting their trust on the bird. Though Fayette and Archer did not have any fondness for the Alpha they were still worried because deep in their conscience they knew it was a matter of life and death. Callan on the other hand was apprehensive for a disturbed Garrick. He could clearly see the distraught and worried face of Garrick. He wanted to dispel his fears and put his mind to rest but decided against it.

When they reached the spot the first thing they saw was the blood stained land. The ground was colored with crimson patches all around. On approaching further the volume of redness increased as they could see a body lying to its side covered in a pool of blood.

It was Einar.

Garrick screamed his best friends name in absolute horror, assuming the worst for him. In his apathy he failed to take note of his nerves. Thankfully Archer was another shifter in the clad and reassured the members that Einar was still alive. Garrick soon kneeled in front of Einar’s chest and convulsed his shoulders, trying to wake him up. He scrutinised the completely infused knife and decided to detach it from Einar’s body. As soon as his hands reached the metal Callan screamed. “NO! DONT DO THAT.”

Garrick retreated his hands in a jiffy, astounded by the sudden interjection. Callan took charge and urged Garrick to step aside. He then diligently but carefully held Einar’s head and cradled him on his lap. “It is dangerous to take out the knife just now. He must have had internal injuries which could only worsen.” Callan cautioned Garrick.

Garrick moved back a bit and looked around. He closed his eyes and sniffed all the smells around him. “I cant sense Rosaline anywhere.”

Archer and Fayette followed suite to look around for signs of Rosaline. Right then Archer noticed something “Why is his face all blue?” He said looking at Einar.

Callan closely watched Einar’s face and pursed his lips. “Perhaps he has been poisoned.”

“But his mouth is free of foam.” Fayette reasoned.

Callan held Einar’s chin to open his mouth. He saw no traces of the poison being swallowed but he was sure that Einar was injected with it. However if not taken through his mouth than... “The knife!” Callan uttered in realisation.

As if stabbing him wasn’t bad enough that Einar had to endure the pain of the piercing knife which was lacerated deep with poison. It was done to make sure Einar had no means to survive. “We have to take him to Aurora. Only she can help him now.” Garrick said in a panicked voice. He looked at the three people surrounding Einar “The pack must not know. It will create a state of panic among them and if the word goes out we will be left vulnerable.”

“Why are you looking at us?” Archer squeezed his eyes at Garrick. Surely the words of Garrick could be interpreted as a blatant distrust among the ‘outsiders’. He gritted his teeth and looked at Callan and Fayette before uttering “Are you trying to say that we will sell you out mutt?”

“No! I have faith in you two.” Garrick quickly retorted. He did not wanted to seem like a villain in this scenario.

“Than what do we do?” Fayette asked worriedly.

“Take him to my house. It is the closest from this place and we will call Aurora there.” Callan suggested.

All the other three people nodded at each other. Callan’s house was in isolation with less people staying around. This would be advantageous for them to help Einar stay away from prying eyes. “That seems like a good idea.” Garrick said.

Callan nodded at Garrick “Help me get him up.”

Garrick adhered to the request and quickly went near Einar’s body to help him get up. He put one of his arms around his shoulder while the other arm was held by Callan. However when Garrick was about to move a step further he faltered in his place. A sudden surge of pain dominated his head as he squeezed it with his fingers to make it go away. Archer looked at his condition and asked out of curiosity “What happened to you all of sudden?”

“I don’t know. I am just feeling uneasy.”

Fayette took a step further and looked at the blue linings around Einar’s wound “It is Alsim; the wolf poison!” She gasped “Garrick you must step aside. Archer help him out.”

Archer replaced Garrick and all of them made their way to the outskirts of the blue moon pack on the western boundaries. Callan’s house stood aloof from the rest of the place. It was close to the foot of a mountain where a small river flowed through its backyard. Since the settlement there was rare, it was an ideal place for Einar to heal. Callan in the meanwhile had sent the raven to fetch his friend and healer.

The men took the unconscious Alpha to Callan’s room and helped him lay on his side on the bed. Archer than tore Einar’s shirt and trashed it outside. Fayette on the other hand brought a wet cloth and carefully cleaned the surrounding area of the wounds.

Soon Aurora appeared from the door. She was staggered a bit after witnessing the mighty Alpha lying in a vegetative state. She quickly sat near the edge of the table and examined Einar’s body. Suddenly she jerked her hands back and sighed heavily pursing her lips.

“How bad is it?” Garrick asked.

“It is not good at all. The poison has started entering his blood stream, had it not been for his beasts he would have died after a few brief moments of injecting it.”

“What kind of poison is that?”

Fayette raised her brow “I know what it is. It is called Alsim."

“How do you know about it?”

Fayette quickly replied “We grow them.” Garrick still looked doubtful so she further added “It may be poison for you but we grow them as medicinal herbs.” Her eyes met that of the wolf and both stared at each other. Confused by the constant glaring she nervously backed away and looked at Aurora “So what do we do now?”

“We have to give him the theriac but I don’t have all the necessary elements now.”

Garrick stood up with a jerk “What do you need? Just tell me and I will get it for you.”

Aurora held Garrick’s hand when he was about to run for the door. “It is not that easy Garrick.”

“Tell me Aurora.” he pleaded

She sighed and quickly looked at Callan before replying “We would require a handful of ponic weeds, the Alsim shrubs and the purple grass.”

Callan formed an ‘O’ with his mouth and heaved a long breath of exasperation. Aurora looked quite pitiful herself. Noticing their expressions Archers interest perked “Why do you both look so stressed?”

“We can arrange the other two items but the purple grass grows in the peak of the mountains of Elenoir.” Callan replied

“So what is the problem?”

“The mountain is covered in snow at this time.” Callan replied.

Aurora stood up and slowly marched to look outside the window. The Elenoir mountains were famous for a lone standing tree. Beneath the tree laid a bed of long tipped purple grass which had strong medicinal properties. The problem being that the grass was available only for a quarter of a year when there was no snow. However the majority of the trouble was to get there in these harsh weather conditions. It was an unachievable task. Only a divine power could help them now.

Aurora sighed and suddenly gasped as her eyes were gleaming with hope. She looked at her friend “Callan can I have a minute.” Callan nodded and went after her outside the room “I want you to go to the Elenoir mountains.”

“But why?” he squeezed his eyes “You know it is worthless to try. What would I even find there?”

“If anyone can bring those grass right now its you Callan. You have to take the risk. Just believe in yourself and this..” she pointed to the bracelet in his hands.

Callan paused for a moment before saying “But it would be freezing up there. How am I supposed to ditch that?”

“You will find a way. Think of it as chance to prove your worth to Einar. Besides he does not have much time left. I can only prolong his life by another three days at the maximum.”

Callan curtly nodded and fiercely looked at the road ahead “I will go.”

****

Amid Garrick’s persistence to join the expedition to the mountains he was denied his request. Aurora thought that his being here was necessary to handle situations if something goes awry. Meanwhile Rosaline had made her appearance with a young girl in the Ashton house. She was found by a wandering Arthur near one of the borders and decided to help her. He connected with Garrick and took the pair to Callan’s house. Thus Arthur was now part of the secret too.

It was decided that Archer would bring in weeds, Fayette would go collect Alsim shrubs and Callan would be joined by Arthur to fetch the purple grass.

The Elenoir mountains were beyond a terrain of river with strong currents. They managed to cross the river with great difficulties and marched their way to the foot of the mountain. The wind flew effortlessly yet with each footfall both the men struggled to strengthen their foot forward. The path was rocky and steep in a chaotic way. What fascinated Arthur though was the way Callan was carrying his gait. Being a human he showed resilience and languorously braved the extreme weather conditions. When they had reached halfway of their journey the fog was so dense that it was impossible to look at a distance beyond ones arms stretch. However, Callan walked confidently ahead as the fog thinned instinctively like it was making way for the handsome man to move forward.

“This is amazing!” Arthur was astonished.

“What?”

“I thought the trip would be quite troublesome owing to these extremities but now when I am here I assume that the weather gods have became lenient towards us all of sudden.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Did you not see! The river currents down below are always wild as far as I remember but not today. Even the path from the foot of the mountain up till here is uneven filled with small rocks and gravels but the path was clear when we arrived and now when we are reaching the snowlands the fog is disappearing automatically. It is like magic!”

In his mission to secure the grass Callan had became so absorbed that he forgot the bracelet would create some magic and help him. The fact that Arthur was taking a note of these changes was worrisome. Aurora had always warned him not to reveal the secrets of the bracelet to anyone or use its powers in front of anyone. But the bracelet had been acting on its own which increased Callan’s worries.

“You think too much.” Callan nervously chuckled and without looking at Arthur he marched forward to reach a large tree bending to a side with the weight of the snow. Clouds swirled around them in an icy greeting while the snow coated the entire land ahead. Callan gestured Arthur to come near the tree and start digging. To his knowledge he knew that the magical grass grows near the single large tree in the entire mountains.

When Arthur reached the spot he started digging the snow to remove the blanket of ice. He almost dug around the circumference of the tree to rejig the land to its original green and brown color. He was left disappointed as the land he dug was barren. There was no sign of any life on the lands near the tree.

“What do we do now?” Arthur asked dejectedly.

Callan had no answer for this question. Aurora had said to believe in himself and find the answer within but what was he suppose to do exactly? He looked to the carved eagles of the bracelet and decided to go with his mind and use the powers on its own. He kneeled on his right leg and touched the ground with the palm of his hand. He closed his eyes and concentrated solely on connecting himself with the earth below.

Arthur was perplexed for a moment at Callan’s behaviour but he gasped and his eyes widened like saucers when he felt light tremors from the earth below. Small grass roots were stemming from the barren land covering it entirely in green. He was also surprised at the fact that the snow was unaffected by the tremors while it seemed that Callan was unaffected by his surroundings too.

The grass roots rapidly shot up to knee length. After reaching a sizeable extent the tip of the vegetation slowly started changing its color and turning into bright purple shade. Arthur left his mouth hung open for the entire time.

“How...How did you.. you do that?” he stammered as he struggled to maintain his serenity. Callan opened his eyes when he heard Arthur’s voice. He stood up on his legs and faced a bewildered Arthur. He took a step forward when Arthur unconsciously stepped back in apprehension.

“I promise there is an explanation for this but you have to keep this a secret from everyone.”

Arthur did not hear any of it as he stared in utter disbelief. “You are a warlock!”

“No.. No.” Callan chuckled in embarrassment “No I am not.”

“Than what was that and don’t deny it cause I saw it with my own two eyes. The grass just grew on itself. How is it even possible!”

“I will explain it to you later but right now we have to help Einar. You with me?” Arthur slowly but cautiously nodded. His brain froze for a moment for he contemplated whether to trust Callan or not. His train of thoughts was interrupted when the raven suddenly showed up out of nowhere and sat on his shoulder. Callan was really surprised at this fact cause the bird was never friendly with any other being. It preferred being alone and was mostly hostile to anyone who was even near him. In fact he remembered one such instance when he even dared challenge Einar back in the day. Seeing the raven with Arthur was refreshing.

“Do you know the bird?” Callan asked out of curiosity.

A dreamy smile made its way to Arthur’s face “It just showed up at my window one fine morning. I shooed him away but he did not budge from his place. He just kept staring at me and flew only when he wanted to. This continued for a few more days before finally I gave in and concluded that the bird means no harm. Now we are good friends.” he retrenched his grin and looked at Callan “Do you know this bird too?”

Callan nodded “I found it trapped in a hunters net when I was on my way to meet Archer. He has been a constant companion since then.”

Arthur squeezed his eyes and thought for a moment “Then I guess I can trust you.” he spoke no further and marched his way back to the foot of the mountain caressing the mane of the bird. Callan was perplexed by Arthur’s logic but was relieved that he would not create a ruckus as of now. He resolved to explain him later and vow his secrecy.

When the men reached the house, Einar was still lying on his side but he was different. His complexion had completely changed to a shade of light blue. While his body was cold and shuddering. He exhaled deep long breaths while the air he threw had greater intensity than usual as if his body using up his last resource in its full force.

“What took you so long Ashton?” Callan’s line of sight changed its trajectory to a distraught and disheartened Garrick. His eyes reflected the pain for his best friend. Callan also noticed that Rosaline, Fayette, Arthur and Aurora had congested his small room. He quickly put his hands in his large sac and retrieved the shiny purple grass from it. “The snow made it hard for us.” He then slowly kept the grass on the table and was about to leave when he heard a raucous sound say “Don’t leave me my love.”

The flash of excitement in everyone around was reflected because of Einar. He was breathing heavily and had not uttered a single word since he was brought here. So to hear his voice was like a blessing. Rosaline quickly made her way to the Alpha and clasped his palm. “I am right beside you Einar. I wont go anywhere.”

When Rosaline touched the Alpha, he shivered and lowly growled. Aurora and Garrick looked worriedly at each other while Rosaline’s face fell; dejected with the reaction from Einar.

To comfort Rosaline, Garrick pulled her back and made her sit on a chair “Maybe you should take a rest.”

“But he needs me.” she pleaded

Garrick gulped and looked sideways. He was trying to find words to reason with the lady “The poison in him will be detrimental for your health. We should refrain from touching him or being near him.”

“But you are equally at risk as I am. Who will be there to take care of him Garrick?”

Indeed who. Fayette had to leave for her place while Archer’s presence was not helpful at all. Everyone knew he despised the wolves and so he could not be trusted. The wolves would have to stand back because of the poison while Aurora had to leave for her cottage to prepare the decoction.

Garrick sighed and pursed his lips cause he knew that there was only one option left now..

“Callan would stay the night with Einar.”

********

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