Red's Wolves

Chapter Twenty-Two

If Alera thought the path towards the forest line was devastating, she was not prepared for the damage done along the way back to her father's castle.

All along the path, the earth at their feet was descimated, no doubt damaged and destroyed just as the prince had ruined the forest in his attempts to retrieve the princess through his fire, his vines and his threats.

"We were too late," she whispered as they proceeded through the wreckage, but she wasn't necessarily talking to Jere.

With each step, the devastation increased around them. Houses were charred to the beam. Carts once full of trading goods and wares were tossed over, trampled and destroyed, and all throughout the area, chaos ran rampant. Cries and screams could be heard as people aggressively searched through the rubble for any remaining signs of life.

The wolves remained with her, noses in the air and whining softly as if they knew well enough what had happened here. No one seemed to notice them— they were too preoccupied trying to determine whether or not their loved ones survived.

Jere, on the other hand, wasn't able to just allow things to stand, and began helping with the rescue efforts, moving rubble and debris and assisting those who still lived with what he could with the limited knowledge he knew. Alera too helped gather supplies from the wreckage and began setting up a central area for loved ones to find lost family members spearated in the chaos.

But still it wasn't enough, and she refrained from looking further in the distance, closer towards the forest tree line, at the upturned earth of the newly dug rows of graves in a makeshift cemetery for the people who did not survive Nicholas' rampage.

It wasn't enough. Nothing she did was going to be enough. If it is this bad outside of the castle, what must it be like within? If he was so selfish in his desires to kill innocents in his path, what would Nicholas do when he was faced with something he actually desired? He'd raze Palazia to the ground to get what he wanted. Alera could not allow that to happen.

She felt the tension in her chest. The panic began to grow, and she wanted to run. It reminded her of the horses Jere used to care for in the stables. Of how they must have felt, trapped in their stalls while a storm raged outside. How they stomped and kicked and whipped their heads and would have done anything they could to escape. She was no different than those horses, only she tore the whole kingdom down with her when she escaped.

She closed her eyes and tried to remember how to breathe. One breath in, one breath out. But it wasn't enough. It was all too much. Too much...

She heard it on the wind, first. Or, at least she thought she did. The melody she knew so well, had always known, and the only thing that could ground her when she felt like the world was too much and she was going to be carried away on her sea of anxiety.

Slowly she began walking towards the direction of the castle, through the rubble and the carnage and the chaos. With each step she began to hum the song she heard on the wind. The song her mother used to sing to her, the same song she had used so often to calm her heart and her nerves when she felt like nothing else would get her through...

With each note, with each step, at her feet the fire-charred ground began to crack and fresh greenery and new flowers broke through despite the dead earth beneath them. With the wolves at her side, her song grew louder, and as it increased in volume so too did it increase in intensity. The wailing of her people in such despair gradually began to grow softer as the people found solace in her song. A sense of peace fell upon the ruined landscape, ironic almost to a sense. And the flowers continued to grow, the wind gently rustled their petals with the same song Alera had heard to calm her aching heart.

When the cries quieted and the screams silenced Jere was waiting for her at the end of the road. He watched her with solemn understanding— how often had he heard her mother's song sung when Alera needed the comfort the most? This was just the first time there were flowers in her step... she knew she would have to thank Hevea when she saw him again.

If she saw him again...

But among the quieting despair there were new sounds. Gasps of surprise and awe followed her as she walked towards her lover. Even Jere could not hide the amused smile as she approached.

"You're going to receive so many accolades and thank you gifts with lines waiting a mile long just to kiss your feet, you're not going to know what to do with them," he teased, and she knew well he was trying to make light of the situation they were up against. She wanted to lean into him. Wanted to hold him and kiss him and laugh with him, but with the castle in the distance, it was hard for her to keep her mind focused on anything else.

He followed her gaze and even so, he took her hand in his. It was warm against the callouses of her palm, and she stepped closer to him as they started walking slowly on. Only then did the tears begin to fall when she no longer had anything else to focus on, and the sadness of the devastation of her kingdom crushed her heart. He moved and wrapped his arms around her, allowing her the safe space to cry while the wind gently died down around them.

With no more song to sing, the flowers ceased, but she accomplished what she had hoped. She gave the people a time of solace and calm before an even greater reality crashes down upon them. At least she could give them that.

"There's a strong chance they already know we're coming," Jere whispered at her side. The wolves had fallen in step beside them on the other, and she smiled slightly.

"I was hoping they would."