I'm the Mother of the Heroine? (Book 2) [HIATUS]

Chapter 20

A couple hours later and  a few pauses in their travels to kill a few wayward beasts, they'd stumbled upon a river within Nightingale Forest. It was the light within the shaded ground beneath their feet and they basked in the slight warmth the sun brought them. 

"This should be the Vlicahr River. When I researched the road to the Deathlands, there was only one River within Nightingale Forest," Lily commented as she stepped forward. 

Nathaniel knelt down next to the water and began scooping up handfuls to splash against his face and hands to remove dirt. Leonard pulled out a towel to soak up some of the water before wiping himself down. 

"How much further do you think Wellspring is," Vincent asked as he sat down to rest while the others used the River.

"If we travel by foot it should take another day and a half," Lily was staring at her hand and sifting it through the water and stopped as though she came up with an idea, "How about we go by River instead? The Vlicahr River runs right through Wellspring."

Nathaniel sat down with his knees drawn up as he regarded Lily. "How are we supposed to travel by water?"

"Build a canoe," she answered logically. 

"You know how to build a canoe, Lily," Leo asked intrigued. It was strange to the boys that she knew such a weird thing especially since she shouldn't have ever needed to build one in the past. 

"Yes, it's qui-" she was cut off by a strange tingling beneath her feet. Lily looked down in confusion and noticed her shadow slightly shaking and understood what was going on. Although she knew, that didn't mean she wasn't confused and slightly worried. 

"Why is Damon trying to get my attention," Lily murmerred to herself before stepping forward and swirling her hand in the River to inject her magic and Scrye Call.

Soon the water began forming an image that started off blurry but condensed to form her brother's handsome face. A man with striking facial features that nearly seemed cut from glass stared back at her with half his hair pulled into a high bun. Orange eyes that appeared deadly serious with a slight tinge of worry could be seen. 

"Damon? What's wrong," she asked as she added a bit of wind magic to allow sound. Usually during Scrye Calls the Users needed pen and paper to talk back and forth but Lily knew that Magic of this world was based on the User's imagination and had come up with a magic to allow sound. It was rather simply though since she merely connected the sound of the wind in Damon's surroundings with her surroundings. 

Damon looked surprised that he could hear Lily and tested it out, "Lils? Can you hear me?"

"Yes. Why'd you page me? Is something wrong?"

Damon could hear how frantic his sister was becoming and rubbed his face with his hand. It was understandable though. He'd killed Celia and Rosemary in his anger. Not only that but Helena was missing and had been for a few days. Damon knew that it was partially his fault that he had forgotten to give the servants a way to contact him but he'd gotten used to Lily taking care of that; it had slipped his mind completely. 

"I.. Lily, I have something bad to say," he paused as he searched his sister's face before continuing, "Actually, a few things. I'm .. sorry. I lost my temper and killed your maid along with the kids."

Lily was confused and sad but she was uncertain why Damon would page her for this. Of course she would be slightly angry that he'd killed someone who she had been close to but he was her brother and she loved him. No matter what he did, she'd probably forgive him after a while. 

"O-Okay.. Is this why you called," her lip slightly trembled as her eyes grew a bit misty. 

"No. There's no way to tell you this gently. Lily, Helena is missing," Damon hurried through the news in order to quickly break it to his dear sister. 

Lily didn't react at first and seemed to be slightly in shock as she continued staring at Damon's lips as though in shock. After 5 minutes of still not getting a response, Damon took it into his own hands and shifted through Lily's shadow. His appearance shocked the boys stupid. 

Nathaniel and the other two could hear Lily's end of the discussion but not Damon's so they had no idea what was going on. Then, Damon slowly rises from within Lily's shadow like some sort of demon from hell; of course they were stunned. Nathaniel had even drawn his Soul Weapon as though he were about to reap the soul of whomever surfaced. 

Damon glanced over and raised an eyebrow at Leonard and Nathaniel who seemed on edge before turning back to Lily. He stepped forward and crouched down behind her before encircling his arms around her to lift her in his arms. 

"Do you guys have something I can use to let her rest in?"

"Uh, we've got a few blankets," Nathaniel answered with a bit of confusion. No one actually knew what was wrong but as soon as Damon touched Lily she seemed to have fainted in his arms. 

"Nevermind. I'll be back. I'm bringing Lily back for a bit to allow her to rest and have a Doctor check her over."

The boys nodded but didn't know what to say really. Damon stepped out from the trees shadows and allowed the sun to shine on him to form his own shadow. 

"Don't forget to make a fire to keep your shadow present in case the sun goes down before I can bring her back," he warned them before Shadow Shifting from his shadow to one in his room. 

He steps forward to place Lily on his bed and turns toward the corner of his room and stares at Taki. 

"How is this possible? There should've been some of our men outside the house hiding in the shadows to make sure no harm could be done to Helena."

Taki knelt down at Damon's visible anger. 

"I'm unsure, Master. No one saw her leave the House nor did anyone go inside other than the usual. It's as though she simply vanished."

"Round up our best Trackers from the Special Team and bring them here."

Taki hesitated and Damon noticed so he gave an impatient look that meant 'hurry up and tell me whatever it is that you need to say'.

"Master, there.. is something wrong with Helena."

"I know. She's missing," Damon said impatiently.

"That's not what I meant. I mean, her smell is wrong. It's not so strong for my nose and the scent is very subtle but I think it would be very off putting for the Trackers."

"What do you mean 'off putting'?"

"It smells really sweet, almost sickly sweet. To be honest, it smells like those disgusting Elves," Taki responded with a solemn air.

Damon had a thoughtful expression before saying, "Irregardless, have a few Trackers come sniff out the House and let me know if they find anything."

"Right away," Taki vanished from his spot and left Damon alone.

Damon returned to the bed and pushed a few black strands of hair from Lily's heart shaped face before running his finger gently across her moistened lips. 

"What am I to do with you," he whispered before retreating to the end of the bed to sit and wait for her eyes to open.