CHAPTER 145: FIND AUTUMN

[Back at the Bloodfang Pack - Underground Dungeons | Shadow Hour]

"...Healer Mango?"

Rory choked on his words repeating them again before literally rubbing his eyes because he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The figure in the cell didn’t move at first. Then, slowly, like an old mechanical robot,long rusted by time, the woman stirred.

Her head tilted.

Her hair was matted, clumped together .They looked more gray for some reason. The subtle light flickered across her face as she turned, casting faint shadows that accentuated every deep wrinkle, every hollowed groove in her cheeks. It almost seemed like she had aged over night.

She squinted, lips parting slightly as if even sound had grown foreign.

And then her cracked voice whispered, "Is this the Curzon boy...Rory?"

Rory took a sharp step forward. "Healer Mango!" His voice cracked with disbelief. "Why...How...Why are you here?I mean how?"

She blinked slowly, as though every movement demanded more effort than she could afford.Her thin fingers gripped the cell bars, and she used them to pull herself forward in small, dragging motions. Her knees scraped the floor as she scooted closer, her body slumped like it was carrying more weight than flesh and bones could bear.

"Long story, boy," she rasped, finally smiling...but the smile was brittle, strained, and too tight to be real. "You wouldn’t want to bother with that now."

Rory’s brows were knit tight with horror. "But... but Healer Mango... how did you end up in here? Weren’t you in the Blackmoon pack? When did you come to the Bloodfangs? That too a prisoner? Alpha Kieran knows about this?"

Mango shook her head. " Nah! That boy’s got way too much on his shoulder. "

Suddenly, Mango’s pale eyes sharpened.She leaned closer, clutching the bars tighter.

" But wait. Rory. Since you are here... do you have any news about Autumn?"

The urgency in her voice hit him like a slap,almost jolting him.

Rory stiffened, then shook his head with a frustrated sigh. "No. She was attacked by rogues... Alpha Velor found her and took her in.Thats how we ended up here. He said since she was healing she should stay. But he sent me away...and now I come back and she is missing." He paused, glancing over his shoulder as if the shadows were listening. "I thought... Maybe she was hidden here. That’s why I came."

Mango didn’t react immediately.

Her face grew still.

Then Rory added, "I was sent on this mission...you know... Velor sent me out and told me to prove my loyalty... so I could earn the right to stay close to Autumn.Bloody liar!!!"

.

He reached under his cloak and slowly pulled out the object he had risked his life for..a chalice forged from burnished copper and lined with ancient gold. Nestled inside it was a glowing crimson crystal.It glowed so bright even in the dark,it felt like it was pulsing like a living heart.

He held it up.

"This. This is what he wanted."

Mango’s breath hitched violently.

Her hand shot out through the bars, trembling with fear... reverence.

"By the Moon...boy! Where the hell did you get that?!"

Rory flinched. "From the caves of Calareth. It was buried deep. Took me four days to..."

"FOUR DAYS?!" Mango choked, nearly climbing out of her cell in sheer desperation. "Do you have any idea what you are holding?"

"Tell me," Rory whispered, clutching the chalice tighter, eyeing it suspiciously.

Mango pressed both palms against the cell’s cold iron. Her voice had taken on a strange tone...between panic, hysteria and reverence laced with terror.

"That’s called the Heart of Thenebis."

Rory blinked. "The what?"

She exhaled sharply. "An eternal source of energy. It’s pure. Unfiltered.It can only be harvested with the blood of Isolde...or her direct bloodline.However it can only be drawn out by a soul free of corruption...and even then, only if they carry a pure bloodline... one blessed by the Moon. And more terrifyingly... only such a soul can extract it without being consumed...thousands have died in search of it...hundreds of quests were made...many disappeared, never to return..."

Her voice cracked as she continued, "And you... did it?!Velor placed quite an amazing bet on your head. "

Rory was speechless.

He didn’t know what to say.

"Velor... Velor must have known you were pure enough to survive it. But he didn’t know anything about your bloodline.It was pure gamble. That bastard... he used you!" Mango hissed, her whole body shaking now. "This crystal... Rory, this is no ordinary relic. Now I see, this is what he has been using all along. . That’s why he is never without power. All year long... storms, earthquakes, battles... and Bloodfang never burns out of fuel, electricity or gas...even after their lavish parties. Because he has this. Or... others like it...Damn."

Rory felt sick.

The chalice suddenly felt too hot in his hands. He wanted to throw it. Smash it. But something darker whispered... ’you needed to keep it.’

Mango slumped back slightly. Then, as if propelled by panic, she lunged forward again.But her legs gave out. She crumpled forward, her face about to hit the floor.

"Healer...!" Rory surged forward just in time, catching her through the bars.

She clung to his hand...her grip was surprisingly strong all of a sudden.

"Velor can never have that again. NEVER. You hear me? It’s a cursed thing in the wrong hands. It corrupts. It devours. He must have used it to forge power seals, maybe even control minds. And if he knows you succeeded..."

Footsteps.

They came loud. Approaching too fast. More boots started striking stone like war drums.

Mango’s head whipped towards the corner.

"Shit!!!" she gasped. "Rory...GO. Now! They will throw you in here if they find you! And if they know you have that..."

"But I have to get you out..."

"Forget me, boy!" she snapped, pushing his hand back with surprising speed and force. "You want to help me? Then go to Kieran. Tell him everything. Find Autumn. She must be found."

The hallway flooded with footsteps by this time.

Torches bobbed with movement.Shadows stretched

"Rory..." Mango growled, one last time. "GO! And hide the crystal well...even from yourself. Never let Velor...or anybody else touch it again."

His breath caught.

He nodded once ,without understanding...and then turned,disappearing upstairs just as a group of Bloodfang guards rounded the corridor downstairs.

They didn’t see him.

But the last thing Rory heard, echoing behind him, was Mango’s final whisper. "Find Autumn... before it is too late...For her and her children... "