CHAPTER 265: HOW COULD I FORGET

[Old World - Shoreline - Dock Area ]

It had been almost close to an hour.

Autumn’s body still shook violently as she thrashed against Lyla’s lifeless form.

Her fingers dug into her blood soaked dress, dragging it closer... an irrational attempt at anchoring her sister’s soul back to the mortal world.

Her cries kept ripping out in ripples...raw, breaking the sea air apart.

"NOOO! You can’t leave me, Lyla! You can’t...you don’t get to! You don’t...I didn’t even get to talk to you properly since you...since you came back...I resented you...I didn’t want to face you...but now I do...I do, sis...come back...there is so much I want to talk about..."

Her voice shredded into yet another howl...too gutting,like some severely injured animal.

The sound clawed at every soldier’s spine...made even the tide seem to recoil from the shore.

Kieran still stood a few paces back, Jasper still pressed to his chest, Freya clinging to his side. He had been watching her silently, without intervention, letting her mourn... giving her time...but she wouldn’t calm down.

His throat worked.

His jaw clenched, then unclenched, then clenched again...until finally...a deep sigh dragged out of him, like his very bones had exhaled.

The sand crunched softly.

Dax appeared at his shoulder, grim faced, silent. Beside him, Vera’s steps were slow, her eyes fixed on the broken tableau before them. Neither spoke. They didn’t need to.

The soldiers shifted uneasily... their boots dragged lines into the sand. Two of them finally moved, stepping forward, reaching hesitantly to lift Autumn away from the corpse... the stench of necromancy was spreading. They needed to burn the corpses before the rot contaminated the entire sea and adjacent areas.

Without burning, it was not possible to get rid of the dark particles used by the necromancer.

They would risk corrupting other innocent souls.

They looked at their Alpha for approval. He nodded, just once...

But the moment their hands neared Autumn, blue fire burst from her skin.

The flames roared outward, lashing like whips, flinging the men back into the sand with startled grunts.

Their armor hissed as the heat scorched it black.

"DON’T TOUCH HER!" Autumn screamed, her face streaked with tears, her body bent over Lyla’s form like a wild thing guarding its dead. "DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY SISTER."

Kieran’s breath left him in another heavy exhale.

He bent, pried Freya gently from his side, and placed her carefully in Vera’s arms. Jasper’s small body, he settled into Dax’s, gripping the boy’s trembling shoulders a moment longer than necessary. His voice was quiet, firm.

"Don’t let them out of sight till I am back."

Dax gave a single sharp nod. Vera’s lips pressed thin as she held Freya tighter.

Kieran turned.

His boots pressed deeper into the wet sand as he strode across the blood slick ground. He said nothing. No words could meet what waited ahead.

Autumn didn’t hear him coming...didn’t sense him until his shadow fell over her. Then suddenly...

His arms wrapped around her from behind.

Her body jerked violently. She twisted, snarling through her tears.

"Get away. Get away from me. Don’t touch me, you murderer! DON’T TOUCH ME!"

Her blue fire surged against him, scorching through his clothes, searing his skin. He hissed...but he didn’t let go.

His hold only tightened.

"Autumn..." he rasped, his voice low, ragged... broken too.

"I said LET GO OF ME!" she screamed, her fury burning hotter than her flames. She shoved harder against Lyla’s body, trying to fling herself free. "What’s wrong with you?! I SAID DON’T TOUCH ME!"

Still, his arms locked firm. His face pressed into her tangled hair as the fire blistered him. He clung harder...because letting go at that moment, wasn’t an option.

Finally, Autumn spun around violently, shoving him back with both palms.

The impact cracked against his chest, sending him stumbling two paces into the sand.

Her face was blotched, streaming with tears. Her whole frame quaked with grief and fury.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Kieran Blackmoon?!" she choked. "I told you not to touch me with those filthy hands!"

Kieran’s chest rose and fell once. Twice. His lips tugged into something that wasn’t quite a smile. A sad, weary smirk, shadowed with pain. He still did not understand why Autumn hated him so much... but he didn’t need to know... he could feel that hatred... it even overshadowed her love. She must have her reason. But now was not the time to ask...

"Autumn..." His voice was heavy, grave. "Your sister is gone. I get it. You are grieving..."

He paused, his gaze shifting past her.

"But there is someone else you would want to say goodbye to, as well...would you not?"

Her brows knitted...her sobs hiccuped into silence. She followed his gaze...

And froze.

The gaze rested where Orion’s massive body still lay in the sand, fur hardening with red, his eyes dim... long gone.

Autumn’s lips parted, a sharp inhale cracking her chest as she almost collapsed.

"Orion..." Her whisper shattered. She stumbled to her feet, swaying. "Yes...yes of course...Orion...I need to...I need to help him..."

Her fingers curled into fists as the tears spilled again.

"Oh gods...how could I forget... How could I...?"

Her legs lurched forward, trembling beneath her, breaking into a desperate run across the sand.

"I need to bring him back...I need to...damn...I hope I am not late..."

Her voice trailed into the night as she rushed towards the red wolf.

Kieran stood still for a while, his jaw flexed as he watched Autumn stagger away...her grief driven desperation dragging her towards Orion’s blood soaked corpse.

He moved too...but slower, his long strides measured, keeping several paces behind her.

Close enough to follow, far enough not to ignite her fury again.

The sea wind hissed around them, lifting strands of her hair, tangling them into a halo of firelit white.

She didn’t even notice. Her whole being was fixed on Orion.

At that point, Kieran’s gaze, hard as flint, cut sideways to his soldiers.

A single nod.

The command needed no words.

At once, the men surged forward, boots sinking into the sand...their movements hurried but reverent.

They bent low, their gauntleted hands slipping under Lyla’s broken frame, lifting her gently but firmly away before the necromancer’s poison could spread deeper into the sand.

The hiss of flames still lingered where Autumn’s power had scorched the ground after they lifted Lyla...smoke curled upward like incense for the dead.