Chapter 151: In Search of Reika
It's been two long hours after Alpha lleus woke up. The trio has been staring at him with confusing thoughts.
The fire in the ice chamber cast an extremely long shadow across stone walls, as if the warmth struggled against cold wer seeping out of the ground itself. But Viktor, Alfonso, and Daisy felt none of the cold.
Their gaze seemed focused on him. Alpha Llleus had just awoken from the longest coma; thanks to the trio. They made this small chamber shrink to be their hid out for now.
They noticed something with his eyes, they were sliver now and his hair whiter.
"My Luna?" Lleus's voice boomed deep and solid around the chamber, with that power which only restrained a jolting electricity ready to skyrocket.
Viktor swallowed hard and quickly glanced sideways to Alfonso and Daisy. It was time to tell him everything.
Taking a deep breath, Viktor began, his voice steady despite the weight of the words he was about to speak. 'Alpha… so much has happened since you've been gone."
Lleus leaned forward slightly, his sharp gaze never leaving Viktor. 'Tell me. All of it."
Viktor nodded, his already clasped fists clenching deeper in his pocket at the surge of bursting memories . "Hell broke lose few days after you went into your coma: Ariadne led a revolution in, to become their Queen and attempted annihilating everyone else against her."
Alfonso leaned down, picked it up and his voice had bitterness dripping within. "She did not stop there. Araidne mobilized her army against Reika with the aim of killing her. Reika put a good fight but it became rather clear she needed to run. And she has remained in hiding since then."
Lleus's face had set, flesh whitening on clenched knuckles. "And my body… she didn't know I was here, right?"
Daisy nodded solemnly. "Yes, when she heard of your unconscious body she sent soldiers to burn your body. But we got you out on time." The sentence trailed off, the consequences too painful to voice.
There was a Long silence and nothing was heard from Lleus. His face remained neutral, though the storm behind his eyes churned darker. Viktor adjusted himself for the explosion of anger but It never came.
Instead, Lleus breathed long and slow, even in tone. "I am not angry." He looked around at each of them in turn, his eyes piercing. "Not yet. Anger will be of no service in finding Reika. She is my Luna, my heart. And I will not stop until I behold her once again."
Viktor felt overwhelming relief well inside. He knew the anger will be useful later.
"We'll find her," Viktor vowed. "I swear it."
Lleus stood, the long line of his figure splashed across the iced floor as he went toward the shadows at the fringe. "Then we leave at dawn."
Three days has passed but the four hadn't found Reika or heard news of her but as the kept traveling until they heard rumors of a woman who was rebelling against Araidne army.
The rumor say she's a lone warrior but the team were still unable to find her. By the time they reached it, she was long gone, and all that the people would tell them were tales of fear. She doesn't have a name but works in the shadow.
"She was here," the woman whispered, darting her eyes here and there as if nervously. "She vanished into thin air just like smoke on the approach of his soldiers."
Lleus clenched his jaw; a flicker danced in his eyes, but he said nothing.
The second day took them to the ruin of an outpost, sheltered. The walls smoldered, and every stone showed a glimpse of struggle. Viktor searched the rubble with his heart in a sink.
"They fought here," Daisy whispered, pointing to a piece of armor torn off from a cloak with blood on it.
Gently, Viktor took it, feeling his chest cramped. "They were here."
But assumption was not enough, Alpha lleus said.
On the third day, the team had become weary but the held on to a thin thread of hope. And Alpha Lleus was not ready to give up. He was strengthen by his purpose and Reika was his purpose. So by the fringe of Mistwood they made camp.
Viktor, while setting up their campsite, suddenly spoke aloud for the first time ever:
"What if we can't find her?" his voice low-as if to stir some flickering flame.
Ileus did not waver, "Then we search harder." He turned his head then and looked at Viktor-the fire cast bright streaks of light reflecting off silver lines. Reika is not just a any person, she's the reason I stayed alive long enough in that coma. A reason for which I fought my way back. I will tear this world apart until I find her.
Daisy sat beside them, exhaustion etched around the circles beneath her eyes too, but a soft smile danced on her lips. "She's out there; I can feel it. And she's waiting for us."
Alfonso stabbed the fire with a stick. His face had firmed up with resolution. "Then we move further. We have gone all the way up to this extent. No retreat. We not going back."
The night had grown colder, and each and everyone of them found solace by the fire not like warriors chosen for a desperate mission but all united through loyalty, love, and unbroken promise of one to another.
The dawn was close, and Lleus stood at the edge of their camp, staring out to horizon. Viktor silently joined him, to his side.
"Do you ever wonder if she's thinking of you?" Viktor asked softly.
Lleus did not turn away from the rising sun. "I know she is. Because I can feel it. The bond between us-it can never break. It never will."
Viktor nodded, his understanding more than his words could say. "Then we'll find her. No matter how long it takes."
"Thank you brother." Alpha lleus finally turned to him.
Viktor looked at him, "Anytime Alpha."
And t the search began again today with hearts of hope, spirits unbroken not minding the time and space.