The Destined Protector (The Chronicles of Mistar - Book 1)

Twelve · · · Ophryn (.2)

The sun was out now. Almost blinding to Ryn and it made him sweat profusely as he tried to keep up Ossian. The pup didn't seem to mind though since he kept running faster and faster until he was almost invisible to Ryn's eyes. Good thing, Ossian stopped when he found Cossie. Even from a distance, Ryn could see Mell looking confused until she saw Ryn.

As he ran, he watched stand up and almost fall over from tiredness. When she got her footing she started running through the brush and when she reached Ryn wrapped her arms around him. He could hear her sob and quake as she dug her face into his neck.

"What's wrong?" he asked hugging her back.

"When you didn't come back, I had this guilty, sinking feeling in my stomach that you wouldn't come back," she whimpered. "I was afraid for you."

Ryn shook his head. "You didn't have to be. See," he said pulling away from her. "I'm right here."

Mell laughingly pushed him as she said, "I see that now, Ryn. Just please don't leave me again."

"I'll try not to," he said taking Mell's hand.

They walked forward so they were with Ossian and Cossie. Ossian was busily licking his mother's deadly wounds.

Cossie looked into Ryn's eyes and asked, Why did my babe leave?

Nunpossidan, was all Ryn had to say to make Cossie cower. Her big body shivered, making Ossian whine and back away.

You must leave here, Cossie finally said. You are not safe if he's coming for me.

Ryn shoulders slumped when he realized what they had to do. They had to leave Cossie behind.

Mell pulled on Ryn's arm. "What's going on?" she asked. "What did Cossie say?"

"She said we should leave." Ryn stood still as he kept staring into Cossie's eyes. He had grown to love her and didn't want to let the gentle wolfa go.

"Okay," Mell said as she walked over to Cossie to help her up.

Ryn stepped forward to stop Mell and grabbed her wrist. "No," he ordered.

"No?" Mell asked confused by what he was saying. "Let go of me," she complained.

"I can't," was all he said.

"What do mean, you can't?" Mell asked pulling out of his grasp.

Ryn took a shaky breath before he said, "Cossie wants us to leave her here."

"That can't be!" Mell protested.

Ryn watched her look at Cossie. When the wind seemed to stop in its tracks, Ryn knew that they were communicating. He watched Mell's face turn into a frown the longer she stayed in her trance with Cossie.

The wind started up again as Mell pulled away and said, "I understand now." She then turned to Ossian. "You have to say goodbye to your mother know, babe."

Ryn noticed that Mell reverted to calling Ossian babe like Cossie was. She must have learned it from the giant wolfa.

By the way, Ossian padded over to Cossie and nuzzled her, Ryn knew that the little pup understood. Ossian then whined and crawled under Cossie's neck, trying to become invisible like Ryn and Mell were Nunpossidan, refusing to leave his mother.

"We have to go," Ryn said bending down and grabbing Ossian out from under Cossie.

With Ossian in his arms, the pup scratched at Ryn's face, not causing any permanent damage. When Ossian wouldn't listen to Ryn, Cossie growled catching her babe's attention.

Ossian and Cossie looked eyes and the wind stopped for a second time. Everything was silence. It only lasted a few seconds, and when the wind came back Ossian set his head in Ryn's arms and stopped refusing Ryn's grasp.

Ryn looked to Cossie and asked, What did you say?

The only way I could, Cossie replied. I told him that you were his father now. I gave my babe the order to protect you at all costs like a father would for their son, a son for their father, brother for a brother. Ossian loves you, just as I learned too. Keep good care of him. Now leave.

With a gulp, a shaky breath, and a ball of fur in his arms, Ryn started to walk forward. Mell followed him, though he caught her taking a glance back at Cossie many times before the big wolfa was no longer in view. Ryn could hear Mell trying not to cry, but her wet breaths were loud and were getting on his nerves.

"Can you please stop?" he asked Mell.

Mell sniffled one last time and didn't say anything back.

"I'm sorry," Ryn said after a moment of silence. "That was rude and I know you've lost a lot in the last couple of days. Fact is, I miss her too, Mell. Your not the only one."

Ryn looked back at Mell and he saw her mouth open like she was about to protest, but she closed it probably because she was still mad at him.

"I said I'm sorry," Ryn repeated.

"I know and I don't care," Mell snapped finally breaking her long-lasting silence.

Ryn looked down at Ossian to find the baby wolfa sleeping in his arms. The wolfa was heavy and made Ryn sweat even more under the ever deadly sun.

Smiling through the heat, Ray said, "You should, because I promised I wouldn't leave you again. If you don't want me to go, leaving you to defend yourself, then stop being angry at me, because I'm happy to go. I'll even take Ossian with me."

Ryn could hear Mell sigh before she said, "I'm not mad at you, Ryn. I'm mad at both of us. I'm mad at me. I'm mad at Cossie. I'm mad at Nunpossidan making us leave Cossie behind. I'm even a little bit mad at Ossian. My parents. For the soldiers that couldn't protect us. The whole world if you want me to sum it up."

"Try not being mad for a change," Ryn supplied.

Mell shook her head. "I don't think that's possible. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I've been at least a little angry my whole life. If I look at all the big choices I've made, anger is always one of the factors that brought me to my decision."

Ryn shrugged his shoulder and repositioned Ossian. "I think everybody has a little anger. I know I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to make rational decisions."

"I thought anger and madness are what brought people to make irrational decisions?" Mell asked.

"It is," Ryn replied, "but that's only if there's too much anger. The same thing goes for sadness, joy, fear, and almost any emotion you can think of. Too much of one emotion is what makes people make irrational decisions."

"Makes sense, but part of me thinks I'm filled with only anger and that it just keeps boiling out of me?" Mell said.

Ryn tilted his head, confused. "You haven't seemed angry since I knew you till now."

"Well, I feel like I have," Mell sighed.

"Well, you haven't," Ryn stated. "Now stop talking about because it's getting on my nerves."

Mell bowed her and asked, changing the subject, "We're going to the Harbor of Thonits, yes?"

Ryn nodded his head. "Yes, we are. I think we should get there before the sun goes down." He looked to the sky and was blinded by the sun, so turned away and kept making his way between the aca tree's huge trunks.