CHAPTER 59: MOTHERLY LOVE

"Kaelen!" Roran shouted and ran towards us as I exited the Yokai’s territory, carrying Kaelen over my shoulder. As soon as we exited, the world returned to its color.

"What happened to him?" Roran demanded, glaring at me, but before I could reply, the chief caregiver spoke up.

"He’s been paralyzed. That Yokai has a venom that paralyzes her prey. Don’t worry; it’s not fatal, and I can cure him easily."

The chief caregiver was an old woman with a head full of grey hair. Her skin was wrinkly, and given that she was a werewolf, that meant she must have been well over 100 years old. Looking at her, I got the feeling that she was very knowledgeable.

She laid Kaelen down on his stomach and lifted up his shirt. Everyone watched quietly as she dug her claws into Kaelen’s back. Kaelen howled in pain but soon gritted his teeth. She stayed like this for several minutes until black liquid began pouring out of the wound she created on Kaelen’s back.

The black liquid poured out of Kaelen’s back like a fountain until it suddenly stopped.

"Okay, I’ve removed all the impurities," she finally said. "His body will be weak for a while, but he will be able to walk soon."

Hearing that, a look of relief washed over Roran’s face, but then his eyes turned to me.

"What happened?"

"Kaelen fought the Yokai. He managed to injure her, but not before he was bitten."

It was a lie, but a believable one. Plus, even I truly didn’t know what had happened. Hopefully, I wouldn’t encounter that Yokai in the future; she seemed like trouble. After I gave Roran a satisfactory answer, my mother rushed over to me and hugged me tightly.

"I’m so happy you’re okay, Liam," she said as she stroked the back of my head. "Did you get hurt?"

"No, I’m fine."

My mother smiled and continued to stroke my head.

"You know, it’s been a while since I held you like this," her voice dropped into a soft whisper. "You and Derrick have always been running off on your own. About the conversation we had a few weeks ago, you want to know the truth about what you really are; the truth is that you’re my son, and you’ll always be. I’ll always love you."

I returned her embrace and patted her on the head.

"I love you too, Mom."

She smiled warmly, and I could see tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.

"It will be a while until Kaelen is healed enough to walk. How about we spend a little time together?"

I nodded, and that simple action was enough to lift her mood.

"Oh, okay, what should we do..." My mother placed her finger on her chin as she thought of what we should do next. "There is a river nearby; want to take a look?"

"A river?"

"Yes, it’s the same river that is beside the hunting lodge. It originates up the mountain where the Nyx pack lives. There is a waterfall close to their settlement too."

"Okay, sounds fun."

In truth, it didn’t sound fun. At that moment, what I really wanted to do was take a nap and rest, but seeing the cheerful smile on my mother’s face, I couldn’t refuse. Her happiness was more important.

"Okay, let’s go."

My mother locked arms with me as we walked. She leaned against my shoulder, so it felt as if I was carrying an excess weight. After a while, a cheeky smile appeared on her face, and she said something that was quite normal for her.

"So, how are things going with Isabella?"

"..."

"Lily has really taken a liking to her. Though her situation kind of baffles me, I’ve never heard of a part-werewolf, part-vampire creature before."

"Yeah, it baffles me too." I responded.

I’m pretty sure Isabella is the first of her kind.

"Though, you must be careful; she belongs to the Veylmont clan, and so does that boy you killed," she said, still smiling.

How does she know about that? I made sure to give her the bare minimum information.

"Did you interrogate Isabella?" I asked, looking at her suspiciously.

My mother’s smile rose.

"She is a sweet girl but a bit too emotional. No doubt that’s because of her vampire half. Make her happy, and she’ll be yours."

"She’s already mine," I said, feeling a bit confused by her argument, but in the next instant, she chopped me on the head.

"Aww! What was that for?"

"Don’t be an idiot. You can’t win a girl’s heart that easily. You need to work for it, or else she’ll slip away."

She will?

"You need to work harder, Liam. You can’t coast by in life anymore. In the future, you’ll meet people who are stronger and better than you. The only way you’ll surpass them is through effort. You need to be stronger for what’s ahead."

"You mean the Veylmont clan?" I asked. "What do you know about them?"

"Yes, they’ll come knocking sooner or later. In truth, I don’t know all that much about them. Only that they are very influential in Purgatory."

Purgatory?

Purgatory is an underground city built by witches. It’s where the majority of supernatural creatures live. I have never been there personally, but I’ve heard a lot of sickening tales about that place.

"They basically rule there," my mother continued. "They keep the supernatural world in check, and no one dares go against them. To be honest, having vampires set their sights on our family is a bit frightening." My mother’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke. I’ve never seen her this scared before.

"I’ll handle it," I said, trying to ease her worry, but that seemed to have little effect.

"It’s not just you they’ll go after; it’s our entire family. More than a few werewolves’ bloodlines have been wiped out by noble vampires. They even drove us to near extinction years ago. They would have caused our extinction if it wasn’t for..."

"Hmm... wasn’t for what?"

"We had a guardian back in those days. Our god."

"A god for werewolves?" I asked. I’ve never heard of such a creature, but my mother quickly shook her head, quickly denying it.

"Not just for werewolves. He was the god for all supernatural creatures. He was a strange being that came from another world. He had powers like no other. He called himself a Djinn. He had so much power that no other creature could rival him, not even vampires. He was described as a bit of a trickster; he could stir and change reality on nothing but a whim."

This was the first time I was hearing of this creature called a Djinn, and to be honest, I was a little intrigued.

"So, what happened to this Djinn?"

"He left," my mother answered. "Centuries ago, he said he would return if we needed him."

"Well, an apocalypse seems like a good reason for his return, doesn’t it?"

"Yeah, well, maybe, but..."

Just as my mother was about to speak, a strong wind blew, and it brought with it the scent of death. It froze us in our tracks. We immediately knew that the scent was coming from the river, which was just ahead of us.

We hurriedly rushed to the river, and when we got there, a horrifying sight unfolded before us.