A Tale of Three Lunas-Completed

Chapter 27

Topaz' Story

It's like a timer was put on my life the second I was born.

My mother, Sandra, was tireless in her search for answers and research into the barrier between our world and the ones around it, especially the one with the constant leak of creatures that would devastate us. Notebook upon notebook was left for me by my mother to help me fill in the missing pieces even before she found out that she was sick. And what did she get for all her hard work? Everyone told her she was crazy up to her dying day.

I had lived in the Winter Trail Pack of the Lunaria Kingdom my entire life and as the Kingdom's only Archivist, I had the authorization to go from pack to pack to find what I was looking for, but I had to deal with constant disrespect and disappointment.

So far, after visiting and revisiting every pack in the Kingdom, I know I have to look elsewhere. I should have known that there was a big chance that the remaining pieces would be under the jurisdiction of our sister kingdom, the Realm of Goodwill since my mother and her friends lost contact years ago, but I wanted to make sure. Measure twice, cut once mom always said.

Some things were clear and others were not, starting with the story she used to tell me when I was a child.

One day, three best friends who felt like outcasts in their pack were walking together in the forest when they heard a whistling sound above them. When the curious, young girls followed the sound, something mysterious fell from the sky in front of them. The object was a sphere, but it shattered into three, equally sized pieces when it hit the ground. The young girls took this as a sign that they would be best friends forever. They each took a piece of the object and ran home to their pack. The girls each picked twine in their favorite color and used the skills they had to make themselves similar necklaces as a sign of their everlasting friendship.

The End.

Although not actually. What the girls didn't know was that what they had taken was actually part of the seal that held the barrier between worlds together, a major obelisk. Nobody in the kingdom believed my mother's story or that the large 'charm' on her necklace actually fell out of the sky. Besides the ostracism we sometimes faced, it didn't seem to be an issue for years that this piece had gone missing, until some minor obelisks began to fall and more and larger sized Ihowtons started escaping from the tear.

The tear is located in between the Kingdom that I live in, Luneria, and the Kingdom that is the Realm of Goodwill. It was a problem for both territories, but the creatures, for whatever reason, like to bother us more. The fierce, ravenous creatures were known to swoop down and capture cattle, small animals and even young children that had yet to shift. Eventually, the kingdom had to hire wolves whose job it was to shoot whatever came out of that hole. That didn't mean that many of the Ihowtons did not survive or escape.

What was unclear about the story my late mother would tell me, about the whole situation in fact, was how and why the obelisk fell and how it could be fixed.

Honestly for a long time it felt like I was the only one who gave a damn about the whole thing.

I care so much, in fact, that it has caused me to neglect my own needs. As the Archivist for the Lunaria Kingdom, I spend so much of my time visiting packs, reviewing books and taking my own notes for future archivists that I have forsaken my wolf. I can't tell you how many times she had made it clear that she wanted to go for a run but I either had a breakthrough or I knew I wouldn't have the energy, so I just didn't follow through. It has been a year since she has even spoken to me.

I'm so sorry to her. I have had moments when I have tried to communicate with her, but these days, it is radio silence from her end. I don't blame her. She is also upset that I haven't found our mate yet. I'm 20 years old and I have no clue where that guy is, but I feel like I still live a satisfying life. Even though I don't have any family, I love what I do. Even though I'm not appreciated, I would do anything for the people of my kingdom, even if it means I might suffer. There is not anything I could do about Bow, my wolf anyway. As it is my habit, I did the research and at this point, it seems that only my mate, if I even have one, could reinvigorate her and give her the will to live.

So, you're wondering why does anyone care about the falling obelisks now. Well, there has been a new development. Two more major obelisks fell and now three times as many Ihowtons can get through and we are getting bigger ones that can carry off bigger things.

The fallen obelisks had been kept in a safe place, well not that safe because before I got a chance to examine them, they went missing. That is another problem for another time.

The danger is substantial. We have had to abandon the area where the tear is, now just referred to as the Dark Forest, so the two Kingdoms can't really communicate like they did before. I guess it's such a desperate situation that they are even willing to listen to me, the crazy lady's daughter, of all people about the original missing obelisk. That would be fine if the other two pieces of the broken obelisk were on this side of the divide, but at this point I would bet my life that they were in the Goodwill packs.

I have asked our Ruler, King Raymond, if I could travel to Goodwill to find out what I could about Brenda and Aretha, the other two women from my mother's story. Looking through dead history books could only do so much.

If we take the long way around the abandoned area, it should take about three days for us to get there. There is no way for us to inform Goodwill that we are coming since the Ihowtons chewed up all of the wire connections between the two Kingdoms, their electro charged bodies block all the signals and by the time a messenger gets over there to tell them, we'd already be there.

One day, I was summoned by the pack's Gamma and when I entered, I was met with nothing but dirty looks.

"We've been tasked to go along with you."

Warren, a palace warrior, sighs as he pushes past me. Although I now had the support of the King, my peers still relished in the act of looking down on me and making me feel like a pack reject.

Ford, the palace messenger, helps me pick up the papers that had been knocked out of my hands when Warren pushed me. He would bring the credibility we needed to get in. He would also be bringing paperwork on our trip.

I am actually feeling thrilled to travel to the Realm of Goodwill for the first time in my life, hopeful that I will find Brenda and Aretha and praying that they kept their necklaces for all these years.

I go home and put in a few cornrows, pack my bags for the trip and as I get ready to leave for Goodwill before sunrise, I make sure to don the gift my mother had given me the day I was born.

Her faded, red-stringed necklace.