Though the dawn brought a brittle peace, the air felt tense. Quietly tending to the injured and strengthening our defenses, my pack members moved. I felt a great weight drop over me, a mix of relief and anxiety. Though I knew our problems were far from gone, we had survived the night.
Inside the mansion Aria was with Luna and Ryder. Looking at me through the window, I could see the anxiety carved on her brow. She needed to be reassured, shown that we could guard our family. I had to face my own demons, first though.
"Leon," Jace answered, sprinting up to meet me. "We have to discuss our approach. Darius will reorganize and return more robustly."
I nodded, my head whirling already. Get the council gathered. We have to have a plan.
I headed back inside while Jace left calling the others. Luna and Ryder dashed to me as soon as I walked into the room, their eyes wide with panic.
"Daddy, Are we safe now?" Ryder asked, his small hand clutching mine.
kneeling to their level, "We're safe for now," I said. Still, we must be ready for anything.
Aria stood by the fireplace, arms around herself. "Leon, we cannot live like this going forward. Children deserve a normal life.
"I know," I said, heart hurting at seeing her suffering. "We have to remain alert though until we figure out how to neutralize Darius and his threat."
She came over and fixed me. "What if another direction were possible? Something we have not given any thought about?"
I looked down. "What would you mean?"
"There is a legend," Aria said, her voice low. "A means of shattering the dark magic your father applied. It entails locating the Moonstone, a potent relic able to revive bonds and memories lost."
I knew of the relic of great power the Moonstone was. But its location had been buried in myth and mystery, lost with time.
"Even if the Moonstone exists, finding it won't be easy," I said, my head already whirling through the possibilities.
But, Aria insisted, "it's our best chance." "We can break the spell and unite our family totally if we can locate it."
Glancing at her, I felt hope flash. "We shall thus find it. Along.
The council meeting was underlined with tension. On the best line of action, my advisers disagreed. Some felt we ought to strengthen our defenses and get ready for another attack. Others contended that we had to go fight for Darius.
"We cannot just sit here and wait for him to strike again," Jace said, his voice rising. "We must act ahead of time."
"And risk more lives"? Elder Marcus responded. "We have to guard what we have, not engage in a reckless fight."
I listened to their debates and balanced every argument. At last I lifted my hand, quieting the space.
"Neither side has perfect arguments," I said. "But Aria has raised still another alternative. The Moonstone will help us to break the spell and recover my lost memories.
The room went still, eyes widening in surprise.
"The Moonstone?!"," Elder Lydia asked, her voice dubious. "Leon, it's a myth. How can we be certain it exists at all?
We can't, I said. "We have to try, though. We should go for it even if there is only a possibility it would be beneficial for us.
Though eventually they agreed, the council murmured among itself. While keeping our defenses against Darius, we would hunt the Moonstone.
Once more lost in contemplation, I was by myself on the balcony as night descended. Aria joined me; her presence calms my troubled head.
"We'll find the Moonstone," she said gently, slanted against the railing. "I know in us."
I turned to her and felt thankfulness and love flash across me. "thanks, Aria." For everything.
She grinned, a flash of the woman I had once known peeping through. "We are in this, Leon, together. Whatever."
I stretched forward and grabbed her hand in mine. The touch was electric, a memory of our connection. I drew her close slowly, our bodies lining up in a way that felt both familiar and novel.
She whispered "Leon," her breath warm against my skin. Remember anything? At least anything?"
"Flashes," I said. "Events that seem to be dreams. But I feel the love we had when I look at you and hold our children. There it is, buried far down.
She searched my face with her hands, cupping them. "We'll bring it forward once more. All of it.
I kissed her at that point. It was a kiss laden with hope and longing, a promise of the future we would struggle to recover. Her soft, yielding lips set off a fire inside me not felt in years.
I rested my forehead against hers as we drew apart. "We will make it through this," I said. "Suddenly."
We started a small group search for the Moonstone early in the morning. Along with me were Aria, Jace, and some trusted fighters. The trip was dangerous, the road full of uncertainty.
The suspense among us grew as we descended further into the wilderness. We came across a lot of challenges: dangerous terrain, wild animals, and Darius's always present threat from spies.
One evening while we were camping beside a river, Jace expressed his worries. "Leon, suppose this is all for nothing? What if the Moonstone never existed?"
"We cannot think like that," I answered, looking steadily. 'We have to believe.'"
Aria was seated by the fire, her face determined. "We shall discover it. I can sense it."
Our path kept on, daily presenting fresh difficulties. But I sensed the link between Aria and me growing with each stride. Memories surfaced more often, events from our shared past life flashing before me.
Aria and I stopped by a waterfall one evening to have some alone time. The sound of the water was calming, a little release from the ongoing anxiety.
"Do you recall here?" Aria asked, speaking gently.
I closed my eyes and let the memories spill forth. Indeed, I replied gently. "We once came here long ago. We had one of our hidden locations here.
She grinned, tears flickering in her eyes. "We were happy here."
Taking her hand, I felt the weight of our shared history. We will be happy again, I said. "I won't let anything rip us apart."
Our trip seemed to be almost finished. At the mountains, where the Moonstone was supposed to be buried, we had arrived. The last leg of our search was the most dangerous; the road was steep and precarious.
Our ascent slowed and the air grew thin. Still, we persisted because of the hope for what lay ahead.
At last we arrived at a cave buried behind a waterfall. Inside, the walls were covered in old run-throughs and the air was cool and damp.
"This is it," Aria said, her voice awestful. Here is "The Moonstone."
Our candles created flickering shadows on the cave walls as we descended further. We came upon the Moonstone right at the center of the cave. It was a big, brilliant crystal whose light throbbed with an alien vitality.
" Leon," Aria said, her voice quivering with feeling. "We found it."
Approaching the Moonstone, I felt its power coursed through me. A flood of memories erupted in my head as I touched it: pictures of our life together, the love we had shared, the link snatched from us.
As the memories confirmed and became clear and vivid, tears flowed down my face. I recalled everything: our first meeting, our shared aspirations, the delight of our children's birth.
Turning to her, "Aria," I said. Remember. I recall it all.
She hurried to meet me, her arms tightly encircling me. "I knew you would," she said, her voice choked with feeling. "I knew you would show up for us."
Standing there holding each other, I felt completeness I hadn't experienced in years. The love and connection that had always been there, just waiting to be reclaimed, filled in place of the emptiness in my heart.
Our victory was fleeting, though. Darius emerged from the shadow as we came out of the cave, his eyes shining with hate.
You might have found the Moonstone, he sneered. "But this is not done here. I will satisfy the prophecy and have the children.
As I faced him, my heart hammered, my newly acquired memories driving my will. "You will have to pass via me first."
Darius laughed, a frigid, sinister sound. Leon, very well. See if you are as robust as you believe you to be.
I felt Aria's hand in mine as we got ready to square off; her strength reinforced my own. We would struggle together for our family and for our future. Whatever it would take, we would guard what we had taken back.
The fight was about to start, and I knew it would try us to our capacity. But I was ready for anything that lay ahead knowing Aria at my side and the memories of our love guiding me.