Page 31 of The Silent Mountain (Under the Werewolf Crown #2)

thirty-one

Lorelai

*ALANA*

T he further from the surface we get, the more difficult it becomes to breathe. I can see Elio struggling, and it’s this that finally wakes me from my shock. Goddess, this is not much better than being dragged away by that bird!

I tug at my arm, trying to free it from the grip of the sea woman-creature, while gurgling, hoping it will distract her. She turns to look at me, her gaze almost curious. Cocking her head to the side she starts humming a song again. Next to me, Elio’s body goes limp as if he’s fallen asleep. I try to fight against it, but eventually the darkness lures me into a warm, comfortable sleep.

I dream of Favian and how he holds me in his arms. We are celebrating something. It looks like my coronation ceremony. But that’s not what makes me the happiest. I am much happier to have Favian next to me. Elio is standing together with Cassie and Theodor. Everyone else is there too, Barbara, Ludwig and-

Barbara…

For a moment, I want to ignore my gut feeling. I just want to linger in this dream, because everything in it is cozy and warm, and there is no pain, no war, no threat.

But it’s not real.

I want the real Favian, and I want to be there for the real clan.

“Stop it…” I mumble, forcing my eyes to open. “Stop it…”

A weird cooing sound meets my ears, a bit like a pigeon, just underwater. Underwater… I sit up abruptly, almost hitting my head against the ceiling of a small cave. Next to me, Elio is lying on the ground, still unconscious. And in front of me, in the water, there is the sea woman, who pulled Elio and me underwater.

But if we are underwater, how come we are in this cave now?

Alright, Alana, practical things first. Elio needs to wake up immediately! I am scared he’s been hurt–if not in his struggle with the bird monster, then while being dragged so far into the water–but to my surprise, I manage to startle him awake pretty easily.

“No!” he blurts. “Get away from Alana!”

“Elio!” I grab his shoulders. “It’s okay. I am fine.”

Elio stares at me, blinking a couple of times before shaking his head.

“We are fine,” I assure him. “Well… at least I think we are fine.”

“The bird!”

“Pretty sure that got ripped apart by that tentacle sea monster,” I remark.

“What’s with the other sea creature that dragged us under the water?”

I turn my attention to said creature. The sea woman is eyeing me, but to my surprise, she looks at us curiously. She doesn’t seem to want to intimidate us. “She is technically still here.”

Elio shifts around so quickly that he stumbles again and almost drops to the ground. “By Aengus!” he says breathlessly. “No way!”

“Wait a moment…“ I look at him, realizing he looks fascinated instead of terrified. “You know what she is!?”

“I can’t say for certain,” he whispers. “But she looks like something out of the books.” He brushes over his pants to get rid of the dirt, before carefully stepping closer to the creature. The woman hisses nervously, moving away from the edge of the cave and further into the water.

“Don’t worry,” Elio says softly. “It’s okay. You don’t need to be afraid.”

The woman tilts her head to the side, eyeing Elio and carefully swimming closer again. “I am Elio,” he says. “And that’s Alana. You saved us, didn’t you?”

Again, she stares at us curiously before nodding.

Elio turns to me. “She is not evil, Alana,” he explains. “She is a nixe, a water creature. They are said to only be a danger to those who are evil.”

“You were the one singing?” I ask quietly.

The nixe nods. She is oddly fascinating, in a way only a mythical creature can be, both ugly and beautiful at the same time.

“Their songs have a certain effect on humans,” Elio explains further. “In some horror stories, they are said to lure little children into the sea and kill them.” The nixe hisses at his words, and Elio makes sure to reassure her. “It’s just stories,” he says. “I know you aren’t evil. The woman who raised me, she knew one when she was younger. She told me all about them.”

The creature swims closer again, reaching out her arm so that her fingers reach the ground of the cave. There, she draws something into the dusty ground. Magy.

“Magy,” I recite. “Wait… Maggie!”

“You were the nixe she was talking about!” Elio exclaims. “Lorelai!”

The nixe presses her hand on her heart, tears filling her eyes.

“I am so sorry,” I say quietly. “Yes, Maggie passed on.”

Lorelai nods, her lips quivering slightly.

“Lorelai, we can talk about everything,” Elio says. “Maggie was so important to me too, and there is not one day that passes without me thinking of her, but…” He glances at me.

“You brought us here to save us, right?” I ask.

Lorelai nods before moving her wet finger through the dust again. She draws the ocean and then a single island, then an arrow leading below the island. So, this is the only place she could have brought us. We are not in an underwater cave; we are actually on land! Well, technically. Now that I look around a little closer, I can spy a path leading from the entrance of the cave deeper inside the island, and probably either to the surface or to an underground system of tunnels.

“So, you say, we should just get to the surface of the island and…“ I pause when I see her horrified expression. She presses her hand against her mouth and shakes her head. “Are you saying it’s not safe up there?”

Lorelai hurries to draw more into the dust. Little stick figures that seem to symbolize humans or shifters…

But humans, living here?

Then she draws birds flocking around them. “Wait a moment!” I gasp. “This is the place the birds are coming from! This is where the curse spreads from.”

She nods.

“And there are humans here, meaning our theory was correct… Following the birds will lead us to the base of the enemy.” I pause. “Probably the cult.” I brush through my hair in agitation. “I can’t believe this; we are in the enemy’s lair.”

Elio just keeps staring at me. “No way,” he mutters.

“What are our alternatives?” I ask. “Lorelai, could you… could you maybe take us back?”

Lorelai looks at us; worry all over her face, before she draws a monster with tentacles into the water. “By now, we unfortunately are well acquainted with that one,” I say. “Say Elio, I never really asked, but is it usual for this creature to be so close to the shore?”

Both Elio and Lorelai shake their heads.

I gaze at the water-woman. “So, the cult, or rather the evil people here on this island, they are responsible for it being around?” When Lorelai nods, I decide to spin my thoughts further. “The creature was lured closer to the shore so that no one would come close to the island by accident, but also to distract the dragons.”

Again, Lorelai nods.

“Goddess,” I mutter. “And the bird who tried to drag me away?”

Lorelai gestures at the path leading into the island.

“But why did they want to bring me here?”

“Because you are Favian’s mate,” Elio says all of a sudden. “By Aengus, Alana, you have made him so much stronger just by existing!”

“They are after me, aren’t they?” I ask Lorelai. “The mare that attacked me, and then whatever pulled me towards the ocean that night, tried to get rid of me also. You saved me back then too.”

“But what lured you into the water in the first place?” Elio asks.

Again, Lorelai draws something into the ground. This time, a cloaked figure. “Who is that?” I mutter.

Elio shakes his head. “No clue, but I assume he is behind all of this. Right, Lorelai?”

Lorelai nods her agreement.

“Lorelai,” I say. “I know you are scared and want to protect us, but we need to return to the dragon clan. We can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous, and we need back-up. I know it’s dangerous in the water, but we need to risk it.”

“I think the same,” Elio agrees.

Lorelai seems to contemplate our words before she sighs. She reaches out her hand, but before I can take it, I see the water starts gurgling. “Careful,” I yell. “Lorelai!”

Lorelai spins around and moves to the side before a tentacle can reach for her.

“It’s here again!” Elio yells.

“Let’s help Lorelai!”

Elio and I dash forward, but we don’t reach the water, as Lorelai dives up again, and lashes out with her fin, pushing us back. More and more tentacles appear, easily surrounding Lorelai. This can’t just be one creature. “But…” I gasp.

Lorelai hisses something and signals towards the path leading away from the water.

“She wants us to run,” Elio says quietly. “But how can we leave her behind?”

“We can’t leave you here,” I exclaim.

Lorelai puts her hand on her heart and points at the point on the ground where she drew Maggie’s name. My heart sinks at her gesture.

“Damn it,” Elio mutters.

“Alright,” I whisper. “I will honor your wish, Lorelai.” I take Elio’s arm. “Come, maybe there is something we can do from inside of the island!”

We rush towards the path and disappear through it just in time, as one of the tentacle monsters reaches out for us. Grabbing Elio’s arm tighter, I drag him into the safety of the underground corridors where no sea monster can reach us. “Don’t die, Lorelai!” Elio yells before she is out of sight completely.

I only stop once I am sure there is nothing following us, finally taking time to look around. It’s indeed an underground corridor, but fortunately not a labyrinth of paths as I feared. Elio shivers slightly and pulls his jacket around himself more tightly. I don’t know what kind of magic Lorelai used on us when she saved us, but our clothes are dry, fortunately. This makes it so much easier to survive here.

It’s not cold here, but there is a suffocating aura lingering all around us that feels like fear is gripping my heart. “What is this?” I whisper. “Do you feel that too?”

“Yes,” Elio mutters. “It’s as if there is a presence all around us, and it’s not a good one.”

“Let’s make sure to stay as silent as we can,” I say. “I am not sure what we’ll find here.”

*FAVIAN*

I am rushing from one place to another, searching for my mate and my brother. The birds had been fought back easily, but only then did I realize that Alana and Elio were nowhere to be found. I try to reach out to both of them, but with no success. My dragon tried to push for the mate bond and find Alana that way, but the bond is completely muted.

My blood seems to rush through my veins in panic. Elio and Alana are all that I have, my two most important people. Without them, I am nothing!

Some of my warriors are circling the whole area in their search for them, and I myself have flown over the whole clan area to try to spot them, but unlike during my last search for Alana, this time I wasn’t so lucky.

“Your Highness,” Stefan runs towards me when I land again and shift back to my human form.

“Did you find them?”

“Unfortunately not,” he says. “But Erin might have found a clue.”

He hasn’t finished his sentence, but I already take off running towards Erin. My dragon leads me with his extraordinary sense of smell, and I find myself chasing up a mountain path that leads away from the clan. This must be where Elio and Alana were walking through.

“Erin!” I call out when I spot her, standing at a rock ledge.

Erin turns around, pulling her jacket tighter around her body, and waves for me to come closer. “This will interest you, Your Highness.”

“You believe they were here?”

“I am sure of it,” she says. “Look!“ She gestures towards the ground, where I spot a single black feather. It’s bigger than those of a normal bird, and there is an eerie feeling coming from it.

“A feather?” Stefan, who has caught up with us, eyes the object curiously.

“Definitely black magic,” Erin says.

“Could it be a coincidence?” Stefan asks.

“I doubt it,” Erin says. “There have been too many incidents to believe that this one is unconnected.”

“I agree,” I muse. I pick up the feather lying on the ground before Stefan can stop me, hissing at the pain. It glows like coals in a fire and burns into my skin.

This is it. It’s time to get to the bottom of this!

Favia! I need you.

I am here, she answers promptly. Let me take over.

I take a step back, allowing her to take over my body. It still feels weird to take a backseat like that. It’s different when I am with my dragon, as I am usually still there when he takes over, but with Favia, she actually pushes my whole consciousness aside and forces me to step back completely. If I didn’t trust her as much as I do, I would never let it happen.

Stefan, Erin, and the warriors stare at her. To them, it’s still so foreign to see Favia in her human form.

“This is so amazing,” Erin says quietly.

“No matter how often I see it, it’s always fascinating,” Stefan admits.

“I can hear you, you know,” Favia says dryly and winks at them. “And Favian can hear you too. Better watch out for that.”

Erin just looks amused, while Stefan seems to be slightly flustered.

Favia tightens her grip on the feather, not even wincing when the burning increases. “This is not from this world,” she says. “Not from this realm. It’s a dark creation, not a real bird.”

“You mean, it’s man-made with the help of a curse?” Erin asks.

“No, I mean it’s made by a deity, not cursed. The deity created it, and this creature follows his will and his will alone.” She pauses. “It must be a powerful deity to create life and control it.”

She lets the feather drop to the ground and retreats again. She can never stay outside for long. Do you know who it is? I ask her.

Not yet, she says with a frown. But I promise you, I will find out who’s messing with us.

He has Alana, hasn’t he?

His creature clearly took her. There is still a hint of her presence in this area–she was here. Her frown grows. Favian, I should easily be able to trace Alana, but I can’t. It means that a powerful deity is blocking our connection to her.

But we would know if she or Elio were hurt, wouldn’t we? I ask, barely able to contain my anxiety.

We would definitely know, she reassures me.

“And now…” I mutter more to myself than to anyone else. “What now?”

“Did Favia tell you which deity is targeting us?” Stefan asks.

“No, she just knows that it’s a powerful one.” I furrow my brows. “Stefan, did we manage to catch one of the birds?”

“Two actually,” he says.

I nod grimly, tossing the feather to the ground. “Good, because I now know what we are going to do.”