The Love of a Lycan

"Sure." said Serefina while shrugging her shoulder nonchalantly. "Do you think I will bite her?" she asked sarcastically. The witch then followed behind Torak, and Raine who were heading towards the podium. 

"You just wanted to upset her, didn't you?" said Raine, asking curiously at Torak.

"No, I want to be with you," said Torak. Although he answered her with a straight face, he truly meant it. He wasn't lying when he said that he wanted to be with her. Well, intentionally getting on Serefina's nerve was such a nice idea too. But it wasn't the reason why he was insisting on coming along with them.

Raine didn't argue with Torak about that, and carried on. The three of them walked towards the white podium. Then, they stopped right under its stairs. From there, right away they could see clearly the purpose that this place served before it was destroyed.

"They used this place to burn dead bodies." Torak walked up the stairs while holding Raine's hand. Behind him, was Serefina following. She was observing their surroundings attentively. 

"Yes, they were. But not only that, among the dead bodies that were burned here, some of them were victims of your brother's brutality." said Serefina, spilling another truth behind this mystery. She was given this information from Lydia, a friend of her who was also a witch. Lydia told her everything that she knew. And then she sent her away to follow the centaurs. 

"Kace slaughtered people?" Torak raised his eyebrows questioningly at Serefina. 

More or less, although Kace would never admit it. But Torak knew better than anyone else, of how hesitant his younger brother was when it came to ending someone's life. Kace, and Jedrek had a great control mechanism over their beast, but in different ways. 

"I think he was forced to do so, since his mate was in great danger at that time." said Serefina. 

"Understandable," Torak spoke impassively. He had nothing to say about the decisions, and actions that Kace had taken. Because he would have done the same, if ever the same thing happened to him.

"Come here, Raine." Serefina called for Raine. Then the witch crouched down on one side of the crack that split the podium in half. "I want you to feel this." Serefina was putting her hands on the dirt of the podium floor. She beckoned Raine to do the same thing. Raine followed Serefina's instruction, and did the same thing while Torak was kneeling beside her. 

"Concentrate!" Serefina instructed, putting her palm on top of Raine's hand. "Concentrate with what you want to see."

There was a small frown between Raine's eyebrows. How could I know what I want to see? I don't even know what I'm supposed to see.—she thought.

In spite of that, Raine closed her eyes, trying hard to concentrate. She tried to tap on her magic, or whatever it was within her. Since she wasn't sure if she could control this, trying her best shot was the least she could do. Most of the time, her ability would come and go, totally against her will. 

Raine tried to concentrate on the wind that was blowing her hair, or even on the sound of the crickets around her, or Serefina's warm palm that was touching her hand. But, nothing seemed to happen. The guardian angel took in a deep breath. Now she tried to focus on the darkness that wrapped on her senses. 

A minute…

Two minutes…

"How is it? Do you see something?" Serefina asked, staring at her expectantly. However, the moment Raine opened her eyes, she knew the answer right away. 

"No," Raine said softly. She stared at the dirt beneath her palms with her brows furrowed deeply. 

"Or, do you feel something? Anything at all?" Serefina pressed. She wanted her to make some progress quickly. But it seemed that now the time had turned to be one luxury they couldn't afford. They couldn't let a single moment of their remaining little time, to be wasted recklessly. 

"No…" Raine's voice was barely a whisper. "I don't."

Serefina clicked her tongue. There was something wrong. There must've been something that she missed. Because, what could explain Raine's slow progress? She was way too slow compared to Hope. After all, Serefina had spent more time with Raine than Hope, since Kace had taken her away to somewhere nobody knew. 

Raine could feel Serefina's disappointment. Not trying to hide it, she also felt as disappointed as Serefina at herself now. But then, she felt the spark emerging on top of her head. She knew it was Torak, who was caressing her head. 

"It's okay, you can try later." Torak helped Raine to stand up. He wiped the dirt from her hands. 

"Right!" Serefina snapped exasperatedly. She couldn't stand it anymore. And just like any other time, the witch let her anger take over. "She can try later, and later, and later! Let's see how many 'later' that she would have before something beyond terrible happened!"

"We just arrived! Everyone here is tired." Torak snapped back at the witch. "She tried her best. And if she didn't live up to your expectations, or meet your standard, it doesn't mean she is not progressing."

The witch seethed, but didn't say anything because of how pointless it would be. She realized that arguing about it now would only waste her energy. She stomped her feet angrily, walking down the podium, and stormed towards the basecamp. Then, with only one swift movement, the witch effortlessly built her own tent. So the moment when she arrived, her tent was ready. 

Raine watched in amazement. How she wished she had that kind of magic. 

"Let's go back, you must be tired." said Torak, as he helped Raine to step down the stairs of the podium. 

"You should've not defended me in front of her like that," Raine mumbled, but Torak could hear her anyway. "What she just said is true." 

If only Raine could summon her power to surface. Maybe… just maybe though… things would go different with Sunny, or… Aeon…

The death of the shadow warrior was still clear in her memory. Even sometimes, Raine would find herself crying in the middle of the night with Torak beside her, calming her down. Torak never said anything when it happened. But Raine knew that he was aware about what she was feeling… 

"I need you to be strong," said Torak. He tucked some strands of her hair behind her ears. "But, you will never make any progress if you feel depressed, or desperate to make any good result. That's not how it works."

Raine lowered her head, she didn't know what to say. But then, from the corner of her eyes, she saw something beautiful.

Flickering in the dark night… 

A firefly.

============== 

Hope saw them again. The fireflies that flew freely in this place. They just arrived in Uzu Mountain now. But unlike the last time when they were here, there was no barrier around this area anymore. It seemed that what Lydia said before, was now proven to be actually true. The devil, and her minions had gone from this place.

"What are you staring at?" Bree tugged Hope's hand, staring at her curiously. 

"Fireflies," Hope answered softly. 

But, little Bree didn't see any fireflies around them…