I release a breath after several miles away with no indication of the hunting pack following behind me. Gradually, the thinner trees gave way to the older bigger ones, causing me to use multiple steps before I could jump to another tree that was just as humongous yet familiar.
I stop to hide at one tree to listen to my surroundings, panting tiredly. Though I try my hardest to listen to the faintest of sounds, all my ears could hear was the loud beating of my heart, echoing throughout my entirety. I just had to make sure. Feeling a bit of relief at nobody following me for the time being, I limp towards the path I had once walked over a hundred times.
It doesn't take long for the trees to give way to a small dilapidated wooden house.
My eyes sting for a moment as I walk on further. The porch creaks at my weight, similar to the state of derelict that the other parts of the house were in. Of course it'd creak. It's been more than ten years since I came home. I must have grown a lot heavier than I used to. I smile to myself, a hint of melancholy flashing through my eyes.
Mother, Father, Tukare… I'm home.
I walk through the door-less house, seeing the flitting rays of the sun from the holes of the roof and illuminating the many dust lingering and flitting about in the air.
I feel the grim on the ground on the soles of my feet, as I pass by and walk to my sister and I's shared room. Two beds side by side on one corner of the room quietly stare right back at me. One of the beds had been stained black by the rain that must have leaked from one of the holes in the roof.
I could still picture the furious look Father sported as Tukare and I were used as bait to lure both Mother and Father into the trap the lycans had crafted.
I turn and leave the room, only to open the door to Mother and Father's room.
Mother's journals scattered the table and floors. I fix the overturned metallic chest that contained her possessions. I sit down slowly on the floor, not minding the dirt, as I inspect its spilled contents.
Nostalgia overwhelms me as I neatly fold her dresses and place them back inside. Her older leather-bound journals showed Mother's clean cursive writing and drawings of designs. She had drawn different mechanisms throughout the time, which gave birth to more inventions that she wanted to try out with Father.
My attention from Mother's journals falters for a second as I see something white peeking at the corner of the chest. I inch forward, on my hands and knees. Disbelief makes my breath linger, as I take one hand to slowly lift up the mask.
Father's old mask.
All Wraith-kind had to wear a mask before they entered marriage, but since Mother was slightly against it—saying that she wanted to see the face of her growing experiments—Father had acquiesced to let us wear masks after we come of age. Although it was the tradition of all Wraith-kind parents, Father didn't have the time to make it for us.
My hands tighten around the mask as I study it. The brick red lines on the mask almost look black. One of its long horns had been cleanly cut off. I reach out to pull off Tukare's necklace and tie it around that same broken horn.
Broken but existing. Aren't we the same?
I turn it around and wear it. With no holes for the eyes, I see nothing but darkness. How do the Wraiths see in this?
"Who are you?"
I turn around sharply at the person who had managed to sneak up behind me. The mask fell from my hands and gave a loud echoing thud on the floor. Realization hits me as I see a masked man with a similar white mask with a different design. The shadow at his feet slithers for a second but it was enough to tell me that there were perhaps more than a dozen people hiding in the shadows of my home.
"I…", I stutter my reply as I really don't know what to say. Will they hate him too? A fellow Wraith had died because of me and my sister… I know how little the other human-kind can tolerate others that differ from them.
A howl echoes and breaks my reverie. It feels as if a bucket of cold water had been poured all over me, as the Wraith and I simultaneously direct our gazes to the open doorway.
The Lycans had tracked me down.
A brief thought of surrendering crosses my mind, but I deny it quickly with the reason of having to live for the sake of my sister. Unblinkingly, I cast my gaze over the Wraith as we both silent measure each other.
He walks towards me and I cautiously walk backwards. He bends down to pick the mask, silently looking at it before stretching out his arm to hand it to me. My eyes linger at the mask before I glance at the man.
"Varedic only had one son. If my guess is right—no, I'm quite certain—no stranger would linger in this house the way you did."
I do not answer. Somewhere outside, the Lycan-kind had surrounded our small house, easily becoming a makeshift battle-ground.
"Take it", he compels me to take my Father's mask. I slowly reach out both my hands to take it, looking at him unsurely many times as I did so. "For the sake that Varedic treasured his family, we hold no spite against you, for it is our way to yearn for simple peaceful lives." A few others materialize slowly from the ground, the same pitch black entity cloaking them until they are fully emerged.
"It is the Lycan-kind that we cannot forgive", a woman says as she comes to envelope me in a tight embrace. The hug was over before I could react. She turns to scan her people before calling out, "Arashella. Ivana. Take him to the Forbidden Forest."
Two Wraiths come forth—a man and a woman, both taller than I am.
"What's in Forbidden Forest", I ask.
"A female Encantado." She does not elaborate.
I wanted to ask more but Arashella had grabbed my waist with his shadow as it encased him before melting down into the darkness. We jump out of a broken window, with Ivana following suit.
"What's in Forbidden Forest", I try to ask either of them as we run but they do not answer. I use my own shadow domain to subdue Arashella's, allowing it to free myself. I land on my hands before pushing the ground to land on my feet. "I can run on my own", I object as Arashella and Ivana both come out to stare at me like I'm the most peculiar thing they've seen.
I get the feeling that they're both shocked that I can control a bit of Arashella's shadow when it's not my own domain.
A red glow catches my eyes as I see a giant fire envelope something large a distance away. My heart breaks as I realize it was our house. Not even a house might remain when I go back.
That's if I could go back one day, I correct myself.
Another howl echoes as the fire catches on the trees, growing bigger and bigger. The coming dusk must have made the Lycan-kind cautious of their own disadvantage at the darkness. They must have set fire just to limit the places the Wraith-kind could lurk.
A hand tugs at my sleeve of my black shirt. I nod my head down once. We run far for a couple of kilometers before I sense a few Lycans running at our tails.
We had not run that far, just at the foot of the mountain.
"You go. We'll find you later", Ivana promises, glancing once at Arashella before they stand in front me, side by side. Their backs remind of the people that had protected me until now.
"I can fight." I walk to stand beside them but Arashella stops me by holding down my shoulder. He takes out my Father's mask that he took hold for me when we left.
"But that defeats our purpose", Ivana counters. She takes the mask from Arashella's hands and places it on me. Half of my face still protrudes from the mask, still able to see Arashella and Ivana's figures with their individual masks.
"We can hide in the shadows, but I don't think you can. Or else I don't think the Lycan-kind would have been able to track you", Arashella speaks up to further more convince me of my shortcomings.
I know they're right, but I don't like it.
In the quietness of the night, I can almost hear the pounding of many paws on the ground. With the mind-link that the Lycan-kind have, I am not that surprised to find many of their comrades to follow and show up just to catch and kill me. What surprises me though is how their Alpha hates Laris so much to the point that they can spend this much manpower just to track me down; all because I am reluctantly associated with Laris.
"Hide in the mountains", Ivana advises, pushing me back before vanishing in the darkness with Arashella.
I take in the silence for a second, before I dash once again towards the mountains.