The Indifferent Luna 1 - Austan wolf

The days passed slowly much to my frustration. I had been waiting for myself to heal faster and I wasn’t or maybe I was being too anxious. I don’t know.

I started feeling the twitches return to my foot and started moving them around a bit at first but not enough to stand or that was what Rona said. Kira and I had done a great job keeping the concealing spell a secret from her and I must say I was equally surprised that Kira could pull it off. I half expected her to blurt the whole thing out within a few days but she didn’t.

It’s been a month now, making it three months of me living here in this hut, and the only thing that Rona noticed was my anxiousness to walk again. Whenever no one was around I tried to move my feet or see if I was strong enough to stand that must have increased my healing, I don’t know but I was eager to meet my wolf. Now that I knew that it was a possibility, I wanted to do everything in my power to meet her.

Kira had finished gathering all the ingredients she needed for the spell a week ago and had promised me it would be best to have it on a full moon. We just had to wait for a day when Rona wouldn’t be at home.

By now, I could stand and would take steps forward with the help of Kira both of us practiced and worked hard to restore my lower limbs as if the fate of the world depended on it. She was as enthusiastic about this as I was, and I was really grateful. She also made it her duty to bake me cookies.

She felt I should eat them since, I had to take many awfully tasting recovery herbs made by Rona, especially now that I was almost fully recovered and I gladly did.

I looked up to see Kira walking in with a tray full of deliciously smelling cookies, excitement dancing in her eyes as her lips curled upward in a smile, she pushed the tray into my arms and sat down on the chair beaming.

“I have good news.” she said as I bit into the cookie. I looked up at her oblivious of what the news might be.

“We can cast the spell tomorrow.” she said with excitement and my eyes widened.

“Rona is going for a massive herb hunt tomorrow morning and since the full moon starts tonight, we can break the spell before she gets back.” she explained

“B..but I thought it had to be under the full moon?”

“Pftts no. it doesn’t, it just have to be during the full moon season.”

“How about my leg? I can’t quite walk on my own yet.”

“Don’t worry, Rona told me you are fully recovered, she even decided to stop the herbs today. All you need now according to her is to remind your legs what their true functions are and I think your wolf would be the best tutor for that.” she said grinning as she grabbed one of the cookies she had made and bit into it. “hmmm! This is nice.”

She said smiling at me and I forced back a smile. I didn’t know how I felt. I was happy but more nervous and scared. What if something went wrong? What if it didn’t work?

“Don’t worry too much Silveen, trust me, I can do this” she said to me as if reading my thoughts and I nodded reassuringly.

.............................................................................................................................................

I watched Rona hang her satchel across her shoulders as she gave Kira instructions. I didn’t listen to her, I just wanted her gone and get this over with. I had become so nervous I didn’t know what to do with myself. I cracked my knuckles repeatedly and tried to put on an indifferent face as I held a knitting pin and started working with it, a habit the witches had taught me in my months of waiting for my recovery.

I saw Rona walk toward me from the corner of my lashes and I pretended to be focused on my work. I had been trying to knit a cardigan, which seems to be finally coming into shape.

“Silveen, I am going to gather some herbs, I would be back before lunch.” Rona said as she watched me, she was a suspicious one and I knew that with one wrong move we would get caught but I couldn’t control the shock I felt when she said she would be back before lunch.

I thought it was a massive herb hunt, then why would she be back so quickly? It means she wasn’t going far. Oh what if she forgets something and comes back to find us in the midst of the ritual, we would be so dead.

“Silveen? Silveen! Is there a problem?” she asked again and I realized I had been staring at her frowning.

“Oh no. please be safe.” I said quickly, turning back to the cardigan.

“I know I didn’t tell you earlier but it is kind of urgent, we need to replenish our herbs.” she explained.

Just great. She thought I was surprised at the news because I hadn’t heard of it before.

I smiled and nodded to her while glancing at Kira who winked at me before following her out of the house. I sat up impatiently throwing the knitting pin and the almost finished cardigan aside as I waited for Kira to return.

After a few minutes, she walked in beaming.

“Okay she’s gone.” she said with excitement and I smiled. I can’t believe this is finally happening.

“So, this is what I am going to do, I am going to follow her to make sure she isn’t coming back soon, then I would get all the ingredients and we can start okay?”

I nodded in agreement as I realized she had also shared my fears of what if Rona came back.

She left immediately and I sat there for over an hour or so waiting for her.

“I wonder what has happened, did she get caught?” I asked myself as I craned my neck to look far into the forest from the bed on which I sat. I bit my lips and picked up the knitting pin again.

Did she chicken out? Did she start doubting if she could do it?

I began to get impatient and decide to see for myself what had happened, even though the use of my legs have not been fully restored. I stood up groaning, holding the bed as my heavy legs allowed, and tried reminding myself of the practice Kira and I had done many times, taking one little step at a time.

“What are you doing?” I heard Kira say and I looked up to see she had a satchel slung on her arm as she ran to help me. She helped me back to the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“I didn’t see you, I was beginning to worry, what happened?” I asked her as I sat on the bed and she left me to drop her satchel on the floor.

“Oh, you know my sister suspicious as always, she lingered too long not far from the house. I had to wait for her to really leave.” she said as she brought out a glass jar with white powder, opened it, and scooped a handful before tracing an imaginary sign on the floor with it.

I watched her as her face became serious and her lips moved inaudibly, she looked very much like Rona right there and then, she had even packed her hair neatly and now had a wand of her own attached to it but hers was not like Rona’s. It had a fancy and almost childlike look, unlike Rona whose own looked more mature and almost ethereal.

I smiled slightly as I concluded, that Kira was never going to let go of her childish nature. She seem to view life like that and she wasn’t going to stop, I mean she had gone as far as getting a wand that was designed this way, childishness must be an intrinsic part of her identity. Well, the wand still looked powerful nonetheless.

She finished drawing the circle and lighted candles around it then looked at me beaming,

“It is time.” she said trying to mimic Rona’s voice and I laughed a little.

Staying with the sisters, I had come to know that Kira admired, loved, and respected Rona as the more powerful of the two of them and she always wanted to be just like her. So she followed her around posing as an apprentice to learn from her sister even though she was sufficiently powerful herself.

“Can you stand? I would need you to stand here in the middle of the circle.” she said as she came to help me walk to the circle while I nodded.

“I thought you said you had to get all the ingredients, why can’t I see any?” I asked,

“They were used to make the dust for the circle.” she said as I stood inside the circle, she moved back to stand in front of me.

“Oh.” I said nodding

“Are you ready?” She asked, excitement dancing in her eyes but she tried to conceal it. I was nervous and excited myself, so I only nodded and closed my eyes to concentrate but not before seeing her pull the wand out of her hair, making it spiral down her shoulders. She held up her hands to me and began to utter inaudible words.

I don’t know how long we were standing but I did feel the atmosphere get thicker and soon the smell of smoke caught my nose and I opened my eyes to see fire licking up the dust that formed the circle around me.

I looked at the chanting Kira in fear but her eyes were closed, as she chanted louder and louder. I could have sworn that I saw clouds gather outside around the house. I looked at her worriedly again not sure if to stop her or let her continue.

I chose the latter and watched the tiny fire trail instead, the moment the fire licked up the dust it died and so did Kira chanting. I looked at her confused as she opened her eyes and looked at me smiling.

The clouds have begun to clear now.

That was it? I asked myself as I felt nothing.

“Was that it?” I asked Kira who smiled at me happily, her playful demeanor coming back.

“Yes!”

“Ah!” I groaned as I rubbed my wrist where I was feeling a sting.

“It hurts.” I said looking at it, Kira immediately walked to me and held my hand as we both looked at it.

“What....I have never seen that before.” I said referring to the tattoo of a dragon that had now appeared on my wrist.

“It’s the seal of the concealing spell.” Kira said with her frown on her face, seriousness returning to her face.

“What is it? Is it a bad thing?” I asked her as fear began to set in.

Had something gone wrong?

“This seal..... It’s....our seal.” she said still staring at it and I frowned.

“What do you mean our seal?” I said but my eyes widened immediately as I saw the tattoo begin to turn to dust.

“Can you see that?!” I asked Kira who was smiling again with astonishment and she nodded,

“The seal is broken.” she looked at me smiling sadly, “You are free Silveen.”

I looked at her as joy bubbled in my heart and I hugged her, she hugged me back as I murmured my thanks.

“But wait.” I said pulling away, “I don’t feel any different.”

“Oh you would have to wait.” She said winking

I nodded, then frowned as I remembered something.

“What is this seal?”

She equally frowned.

“When a witch casts a spell on something, the person or thing bears her seal. It’s like a name tag that indicates who or what family had cast the spell. It only disappears when the spell is broken.

“But how is it I have never seen the seal until now.”

“It is meant to be invisible, you only see it when the spell is broken. Powerful witches can see it though. In the past witches used it to mark their slaves.” Kira explained and I frowned at her as I noticed that I was now standing up straight.

That was weird, I had been a little bent throughout the period of the whole spell because of the pain in my leg but now it was....gone?

“Why then do I have your seal?” I asked the most obvious question.

“I don’t know.” she said with a look of confusion on her face and my, it didn’t look good on her.

“I never cast the spell on you because I haven’t met you before, neither have I ever cast a concealing spell,”

“Then someone else from your family did?” I asked getting a little angry at the person who had cursed me.

“Th….That’s the problem,” she said a seriousness filling her face, “there is no other member of our family left alive,” she glanced at me, “there…there is no other member of our family other than Rona and I. If I didn’t cast the spell on you then.... Rona did?”

She said almost as if conversing with herself and I was shocked at her declaration.

Rona? Rona cast the spell on me? Why? How? Did she know me when I was a baby? She had......

“Ugh!” I groaned as I began to feel cramps deep in my stomach. I held onto it as I began to make my way to the bed.

“Are you okay?” Kira asked with worry.

I sat on the bed about to answer when something flickered through my vision.

No. not something, my vision changed. It flickered red, then back to normal and it happened so fast I thought I had imagined it, just as I was about to speak.

The door burst open and Rona walked in looking frantic.

“What is going on here?” she asked suspiciously as she looked from me to Kira. When I stared at her I felt hate.

“Did you feel the spell break?” Kira asked at first staring at her sister intensely, but Rona only eyed her probably feigning ignorance,

Kira smiled, probably seeing what her sister was trying to do. “I broke Silveen’s concealing spell! It had your mark on it. Can you believe it Rona! I broke your spell.”

My head began to ache and I couldn’t decide anymore, if she was saying this to lighten the mood or if all she cared about was the fact that she broke her sister’s spell, I couldn’t just discern what Kira was trying to do anymore and it was getting me angry, angry at her, which was strange because I thought I understood her.

I saw the colour drain out of Rona’s face as her gaze fell on me.

My eyes flickered again, this time the red stayed longer as I saw the world through blood-red vision something I had never experienced before. She didn’t speak for a while.

“We have to leave.” she said barely a whisper as if something dawned on her.

“What?” Kira asked confused she obviously caught the whisper as did I.

“We have to leave!” Rona declared now and began to immediately rampage through the room packing her most priced herbs into her satchel.

“What are you saying?” Kira asked confused then began to follow Rona, “Aren’t you going to tell us why you cast the spell on her?”

No reply

“Rona!” Kira shouted

“Do you know have any idea what you have done?! Why do you have to always mess with things you have no business messing with! Must you always try to prove yourself by messing with my things?” Rona asked accusingly while glancing at me occasionally.

“What are you saying?” Kira asked confused.

“I am saying you set an Austan wolf free!”

Kira and I looked at her with confusion.

“If she shifts we would both be dead!”