Page 55 of Destined to the Lycan
The climb wasn’t so bad at first, but a couple of hours in, I could feel the strain settling in. It was particularly difficult because we were following an almost vertical rock face where a narrow passage had been carved. It was wide enough for me to be able to stand normally but only left a couple of inches of spare terrain to my right. I thanked the gods that my mate didn’t suffer from vertigo. We were literally walking a path less than three feet wide with a jagged stone wall on the left and the void on the right. A single slip would have us plummeting to our deaths.
I only relaxed on the rare occasions that the path cut through the mountain face itself, creating a temporary wall on both sides before opening up again to where we would be fully exposed. Thankfully, although we were climbing fairly high, the temperature remained comfortable in this summer month. No strong winds threatened to destabilize us either.
During the first half of the journey, my mate entertained me with tales of her life, funny anecdotes about her weirdest customers, and random other tidbits I might find entertaining. I hated that I couldn’t talk back to her as a wolf. Soon, I hoped we would be fully bonded, and then we would be able to share telepathic conversations.
This leg of our journey was not particularly dangerous—so long as I trod carefully—but was unquestionably the toughest interms of traveling. We couldn’t really stop anywhere to stretch or rest. Under different circumstances, Amara’s dismay at finding out that there would be no comfortable place for her to relieve her bladder would have been funny. We waited until we reached one of the narrow passages between two rock faces for her to free herself of the harness so that she could do her business.
Still, her embarrassment at urinating in front of me was hilarious. I made a show of putting my left paw over my snout to cover my eyes. She snorted and muttered something about me being silly. Climbing back on me and securing herself once more with the harness proved far more challenging in the narrow space. She ate as I continued to advance and fed me pieces of cured meat over my shoulder.
“You know, you could stop for a few minutes to eat,” she mumbled.
I shook my head and kept going. My poor woman didn’t fully understand our current predicament. It dawned on me then that I had failed to fully explain what this first part would be like. As the sun began to set on the horizon, Amara stirred restlessly.
“Are we close to where we will stop for the night?” she asked before yawning and profusely apologizing for it.
I shook my head.
“How long would you say?” she insisted. “An hour?”
I shook my head again.
“Two hours? Three? Four? Five?” she asked when I systematically shook my head after each number she stated. “Nine Hells, are we going to reach it at all tonight?!”
I shook my head.
“What? In the morning then? If you shake your head again I’m going to scream!” she exclaimed.
I glanced at her over my shoulder and made a whining sound.
She stared at me with a crestfallen expression. “Am I to take that as a no?”
I nodded.
A series of swear words tumbled out of her mouth. I made a chuffing sound that we used to express laughter in our wolf form.
“Are we at least going to reach it at some point before the end of day tomorrow?” Amara asked in a defeated tone.
I couldn’t be certain. It was likely but not guaranteed. As I couldn’t state that clearly, I moved my head from side to side and up and down, forming almost a horizontal eight, or the symbol of infinity.
“Does that mean probably?” she asked, resigned.
I nodded.
She sighed, and I immediately felt guilty for it. I wished I could provide a faster, more comfortable way to get her to our destination. To my shock, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. She kissed my nape, rubbed her cheek against it before resting there.
“I’m sorry for putting you through this. I can never thank you enough. You’re not just my Twin Flame, you’re my guardian angel,” she whispered.
My chest constricted when I realized that impatience and annoyance hadn’t prompted that sigh, but guilt for inconveniencing me—or so she thought. My mate didn’t understand how this hardship was actually the greatest gift anyone had ever given me. I was needed,trulyneeded. My efforts would literally save a life, but not just any life. I’d lived without any real aim or goal, simply going through the motion because I had no other choice. Now, I went to bed every night with hope filling my heart. Every morning, I woke up eager to see her beautiful face again and bask both in her affection and in the addictive way she looked at me as if I was precious.
She may think of me as her guardian angel, but she was my goddess and my salvation. Sad that I couldn’t say as much, I emitted a whining sound and gently licked the back of her hand around my neck.
I pursued the journey for many more hours until my body screamed for a pause. At some point, Amara fell asleep. It pleased me as she needed to rest as much as possible. As soon as we reached another narrow passage, I lay down on my belly, careful not to move too suddenly to avoid waking her. I dozed off to enchanting visions of a future where my Flame was chasing after our pups while laughing.
The second day was just as grueling, if not more, but it got increasingly better towards the end as the path grew wider. It allowed me to run instead of the quick walk I’d been forced to stick to on the narrow ledges. Hearing my mate whoop as we reached a plateau cracked me up. The Gods knew I fully shared the sentiment. We made much better time than expected. The hard rock giving way to dirt and then the delightful cushion of grass offered my paws a welcome reprieve.
My heart soared upon seeing the first shrubs. Soon, they turned into bushes, and then into full trees. Their high enough numbers justified calling it a forest, even though they were quite scattered. Our refuge for the night was drawing near. As the sun still had a good hour before starting to set, we would get to enjoy a well-deserved moment of self-care.
It had been a long time since I last came here, but I remembered well the little haven located just past the edge of the rock wall near the large tree with a knot that oddly resembled a face. It wasn’t a Warden Tree like could be found on certain blessed lands, or the most famous one named the Watcher who towered near the altar outside the Duskwallow burial grounds. Warden trees were extremely powerful, and each possessed a unique face. They didn’t speak with words, and their faces didn’tactually move like a human’s. But they could express emotions. Woe unto any fool who incurred their wrath but blessed were those to whom they granted their protection.
