Mated To An Enemy

Myka saw the large group of monsters that had surrounded Alice and Ashleigh. He even saw when Alice had noticed him. There were more enemies than she could see; they were actively fighting with ten or twenty, but there were many more crossing the room toward them.

He wanted to go to her, to do everything he could to help them both, but even twitching in that direction made the bat squeeze his shoulder and force him forward. After that, all he could do was hope that they, and he, would make it through.

"Worry more about yourself…" he whispered to himself and the girls.

The creatures pushed him through the open space. Lanterns and lights lined the walls of the circular room. Without these, he expected that it would be very dark, except for the seemingly glowing crystals and mushrooms spread in bunches throughout the area.

A large tent was set up toward the center of the circle. Even from here, Myka could see a faint glow coming from inside, and as they got closer, he knew what it was.

With dirt walls and floors, the room itself felt silent. The dirt, the bugs that should be in the soil, all silent and dead. This room was like an open and necrotic wound deep inside the mountain. All around him, he felt the painful imbalance in nature. He felt the deep, powerful pulse of the ley line coming from the tent.

As they got closer, the ache in his head got worse.

One of the bats pulled back the opening of the tent, and Myka was pushed forward by the other. He stumbled and fell to his hands and knees as the tent was closed again.

Staring down at the dirt, Myka wasn't sure what he would see when he lifted his gaze. But he didn't have to wait. The ground between his hands shuffled and shifted until a dark tendril, a root, freed itself from the earth.

Myka felt a panic blooming in his stomach, his heart beating wildly in his chest. He swallowed as the root lifted toward his face.

It touched his chin; he squeezed his eyes shut at the warmth and roughness of the touch. Finally, it lifted his head, and he slowly opened his eyes. Before him stood a tall, thick tree with gnarled branches. Glowing crystals and mushrooms scattered among its roots.

"Hello, little brother," the voice from his mind spoke out.

Myka furrowed his brows. He didn't see anyone else inside the tent.

"I'm right here," she whispered, with a smile in her voice. "Right in front of you."

Myka looked forward, but all he saw was the tree, and then, a pair of eyes opened in the middle of the tree's bark.

He gasped and tried to move back, but another root was already behind him, blocking his path.

The tree shifted and swayed, and soon the bark at the center of the tree began to stretch forward until it formed a woman's face. Then, it smiled and continued to move forward, pulling more of the bark from the tree until shoulders, arms, and a torso was formed.

From the top of her head, plate-like rows of bark created the illusion of a headband, and below it were long mossy strands of dark vines and leaves.

The creature brought her sharp, pointed hands up to touch her face. She smiled again.

"Do you like it?" she whispered, running her hand over her face with affection. "I wore a different body for several years, but I figured I should clean up a bit to meet my baby brother."

Myka swallowed.

"You…" he began, "You're not her… you're not Irina."

"How would you know?" she asked. "We never met; I never even knew you existed until that nasty infection you got."

Myka got to his feet.

"You caused that," he growled.

She lifted her hand between them, shifting her indexed finger side to side to say that she had not.

"I may have created the infection, but I did not send that beast to you," she smiled. "Though, I am thankful for the connection it gave us."

"Connection?"

She nodded.

'You can hear me…' she said gently in his mind.

Myka took a step back.

"All those infected were meant to become a part of my family. My children, eventually," she explained. "But you, you were already my family."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "You are not Irina!"

A wide smile grew on her face.

"The infection woke you," she continued, ignoring his outburst. "Woke the power that has always been inside of you."

Myka was getting frustrated and angry.

"You belong with me, Myka," she said. "You always have…."

As she spoke, the tiny roots behind him began to nudge him forward slightly. Enough to be closer, but not sufficient for her to reach out and grab him.

"If I had known about you back then," she whispered. "I would have come for you right away."

She leaned forward but didn't move. Her body was still connected to the tree's roots, still planted firmly in the ground.

Myka glanced down. The pulse was coming from there, beneath the roots, deep inside them. That was where the ley lines were being torn open.

"Family should be together, Myka," she said. "Our family has been torn apart for long enough. It is time to mend our bond."

"I'm not falling for it!" he shouted angrily. "Give it up! I know that you are not Irina. My sister is dead. She has been ever since you stole her body."

She grinned again.

"Yes," she replied.

Myka was startled that she had admitted it so quickly.

"Yes, Irina is gone. She was weak. She heard my whispers, and she went mad," she laughed. "Threw herself from a building so I wouldn't take control.. but her son…."

The Queen laughed.

"He just loves her so…" she said in a sing-song voice, mocking the idea.

Myka had tears in his eyes. He tried to wipe them away, not wanting to show this monster any reaction.

"But," she continued. "What does that have to do with us? I didn't lie, Myka. Even without Irina, we are family."

Myka furrowed his brow.

"Irina could hear me because she carried my blood…" she smiled.

Myka's eyes widened.

"Great, great, great, and so on and so forth… grandchildren," she grinned. "So much more willing to listen than my first granddaughter."

Myka licked his lips and swallowed.

"She was a foolish one, ran away to join another Queen, all because I slit mummy's throat," she scoffed. "But her mummy was the one that tried to steal my throne, ungrateful daughter."

Myka swallowed and growled.

"Sounds like she took after her mother."

The Dark Queen laughed.

"Yes… a little too well," she smiled, then frowned. "But not Talis, that child was always weak. She always used her gifts to heal and help flora and fauna… she never understood the power of hearing nature. Turning it around and making nature listen to you!"

She took a deep breath and stared at Myka.

"What about you?" she asked. "Do you understand that power you wield?"

Myka took a deep breath and gathered his strength.

"Sorry," he shrugged. "I don't want power."

The Dark Queen hissed. And then she narrowed her eyes.

"Did you return home?" she asked.

Myka felt a cold wash over him as he saw the village in his mind, and he nodded.

"Did you see him? Did you look carefully?" she asked.

Myka saw the body of Alpha Gorn in his parent's bedroom. He swallowed down the desire to retch.

"I did," he replied honestly.

"I made sure that he suffered," she began. "For all that he did to you and to Irina."

Myka clenched his jaw.

"Do you know what he did there? What the village became after you were moved?"

He remembered the things that Ashleigh had told him, the children in Winter. He sniffled.

She smiled.

"He turned it into a prison," she said. "After that disgusting project was marked a success, he pushed harder than ever to repeat the experiment. He kidnapped human women, used them as broodmares, building his own little army of half-breed atrocities."

He was breathing heavily, and tears rolled down his cheeks. His home, the place of warmth and happiness in his heart and mind… was gone. Replaced by a nightmare.

"I stopped him and made him pay," she whispered. "There are others that hurt people the way he did… not just wolves… humans, other things... But, with your power, you can stop them… I can teach you…."

Myka did not realize how close he had gotten to the Dark Queen, but as he looked up, there was less than a foot between them.

"Cute story. I just have one question!"

The voice came from outside the tent. Myka whipped his head back to see her.

Alice shoved open the tent, and behind her, he could see the two bat creatures dead on the ground. She was covered in black and red liquid. She was panting from what he could only assume was an arduous battle.

"That mummy was at least five years old… so if you had Roman kill Gorn to stop him from making these 'half-breed atrocities'…. Why were the children turned less than a year ago?" Alice growled.

The Dark Queen grinned and shrugged. But there was anger hidden beneath the surface of her expression.

"Waste not, want not."

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