When fate and worlds collide

15 | Foreign

Daegon

Sounds drifted to Daegon's ears, the rush of a river nearby, the swish of trees overhead. Normal sounds. So why did he have a sinking feeling in his gut?

Groaning he blinked open his eyes, squinting at the rays of sunlight seeping in through the leaves above him. He remained still while assessing his surroundings, taking in the strange smells of the vegetation nearby. A few familiar plants drifted to his nose, one in particular causing him to scruch his nose in disgust; wolfsbane.

He waited for the screams, the manic cackle of the Dark Aura, snarls from the feral rogues and vampires. But after a few moments of nothing but natural sounds filling his senses, Daegon slowly pushed himself into sitting position, glancing around, noting that he was alone and that everything seemed a little more...dulled. As if the vibrancy settings had been turned down.

Opening his link the Lycan King searched for his pack, almost sighing with relief when Trixa's presence responded. A few moments later she trotted into view in her wolf form, head low. Daegon could feel the pain that was inflicted around her neck by the dark aura.

"Are you alright Trixa?" He inquired out loud. She lay down at his feet, letting out a small whine. They could feel the few pack members that were close by start to make their way towards their location.

"That witch did something to me. I'm struggling to grasp my powers and when I do it feels...unstable" she admitted. "Why does this forest feel wrong?" She added, picking her head up to sniff the air

"There are no birds" Daegon's response sent a shiver through Trixa, noticing then how quiet the surrounds were, aside from the breeze and nearby stream

"I won't lie, I didn't expect to wake up. I was sure the magic and ancient language she used was part of ragnaroc, the end of days." Daegon nodded

"I truly thought I had failed. Upon opening my eyes I believed for a moment whatever she tried to do didn't work" he crossed his arms over his large chest "but everything around us seems... off balance"

"Glad its not just me" Trixa mumbled. A small rustle to their left revealed Treyton in wolf form with three deltas in tow, two in their human form holding wounds as they all bowed to their King

"We killed five of those corrupted rogues on our way here" he reported. Daegon and Trixa glanced at each other

"We need to find shelter, clothes and food. We are to far from our territory and home to make it back in one day" Daegon pulled on his aura, frowning when he felt a strange resistance, as if he were grasping at mud. His wolf dragged itself to the surface, almost feeling weird his powers retreated more quickly than normal.

Pushing that aside he led his pack into the brush in search of any remaining kin, food and shelter.

~*~

They found most pack members nearby, a few injured but nothing that their fast healing abilities couldn't handle. After disposing of a few more corrupted rogues in the area they came across a large farm house.

Daegon and Treyton scouted the area, noticing that the inhabitants had fled recently, or had been slain, judging from the blood stain on the front porch.

They all raided the clothes inside, no one acknowledging that those that lived here might return. It was a bigger possibility that they wouldn't, if the presence of the corrupted rogues were any indication.

Trixa looked at herself in the tall mirror, an irritated look on her face as she tugged at the shirt made from harsh and itchy material.

"These clothes are strange, and feel horrible against my skin" Daegon let out a small growl as he buttoned up his shirt. He was in no mood to deal with her attitude

"These humans have lived humbly, and with now quite possibly being dead it is the only thing they can offer us" Trixa fell silent, her shame resonating in their link. "We will remain her for a few days to recover and find the rest of our pack. With any luck the owners will return and we can offer compensation for their items" Daegon rolled up the sleeves on his shirt

"And what if they don't return?" Trixa asked quietly. Daegon didn't respond. He knew that this was more likely, but he couldn't help but feel like this was all his fault. "It's not, Daegon" Trixa answered the feeling of guilt her Alpha had accidentally shared. He let out another growl before turning and striding from the room.

He met with Treyton and two Deltas, Blayde and Finn, in the kitchen. The two deltas snapped to attention while his beta bowed his head

"What did you find out?" Daegon's voice was low and commanding. With their current situation he wanted the seriousness to set in

"As you can already tell from the clothing and items found in this home, things don't seem normal" Daegon raised an eyebrow, that part was obvious "when scouting the area we came across a few...animals that were different from what we saw in our territory, or any of the surrounding territories" turning, Blayde grabbing something large and flopped it onto the table. It looked like a badger, but it had large patches of pink and scarred skin, its back legs looked more like a rabbit and the area where its eyes should be was a cavity, as if it had not formed properly.

Trixa strode into the kitchen then, her perfect face scrunching up as he pale eyes landed on the beast

"What in Gaia is that abomination?"

"We found it on the outskirts of this property" Blayde explained "it didn't seem well, limping around blindly through the brush" he added, folding his arms over his chest, fidgeting slightly at her presence his nerves suddenly spiked. Daegon resisted the urge to smirk

"We have not located many of the herbs you asked for Trixa, except merigold , yarrow, blood root and wolfsbane" Treyton pipped in, handing over a bag with sweet and tangy smells wafting from it. Trixa accepted the bag with a sigh and inspected the creature closely, her mind closed from the pack as she made an evaluation.

After a while she stepped back, one hand on her hip while the other rubbed her bottom lip absent mindedly, something she did when her anxiety picked up

"Speak Trixa, what is your assumption?" Daegon instructed. He needed answers to know how to proceed forward. Her pale eyes turned to her alpha, the tang of her fear reaching Daegon's nose.

"I believe Nerezza managed to do exactly what she swore she would: end our world as we know it. However, I don't think it was the way she intended" the two deltas looked at each other.

"Explain" her king demanded. He didn't want riddles or games, he needed the truth in order to help his family

"Since waking everthing has seemed off, the smells, the herbs, the clothes, even this...creature" Trixa waves her hand at the animal on the bench "we all know there are many alternate dimensions, each one different or similar to ours. I don't think this poor animal is anything other than a badger we would have in our own world"

They all looked down at the deformed beast, questions swirling through their link.

"I can still access my magic, but they seem wrong, sluggish and limited in a way I have never experienced" she continued, pulling her hair over her should to begin braiding it "from what I have gathered, I believe Nerezza didn't destroy our world. She merged it with another that has no magic" Daegon's head snapped back to his healer, speechless.

No one moved, the very air felt like it was holding its breath from that revelation. It was common knowledge that there were dimensions that lacked the ability to access Aura powers, but there was no way to travel between any of these dimensions, let along merge two together. It was unheard of, and even if there was a way Daegon was sure it would be forbidden by the Fae, as they were the keepers of all knowledge relating to the Aura Flow

"Have you heard of this possibility before?" Daegon directed the question at his healer. He didn't want to know the answer, but their survival depended on them understanding as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Trixa gave an unsure look

"There were rumors at the academy about the ancient language being used for terrible things, we were told all books and information regarding the ancient language and magic used had been lost or destroyed. It was said an Aura went mad with power and wanted to harness the ability to syphon the other dimensions to make ours better. Whispers said he was a Fae. Apparently, he almost succeeded, and in doing so created a rift between this world and our world" Daegon had never heard of such an incident

"Was he stopped?" Trixa nodded

"From what I heard it took several powerful Aura's to subdue him, and even more to seal his spirit away"

"Seal?" she nodded again

"Apparently he was so powerful he couldn't be killed, so they did the only thing they could; seal his spirit and powers away, and hide the object somewhere no one would ever find it." she looked uneasy, her eyes flicking back to the twisted creature on the table

"What has this got to do with our predicament? or the Dark Aura?" Daegon growled, they needed to start scouting for a better base, the farm house they were in provided no protection or advantage points

"The whispers I heard said it was banished to a world were there was no magic, thus forever sealing him inside, never able to be released again" her voice was tight, a cold chill going through Daegon as the pieces started to fall together "I have learnt many things while at the academy, and one thing that stood out was if you asked to many questions about a subject, that should theoretically be nothing but rumours, your life suddenly becomes very...disposable"

"The Fae threatened you?" rage boiled in Daegon's chest at that notion. The Fae always viewed themselves above the all others. It came as no surprise that the mad Aura was a Fae, trying to be closer and more like the gods that created all living beings. He also wasn't surprised they would be hiding something such as this; it would taint their perfect image

"Not directly. But after a meeting with the headmistress it was made clear poking around information such as that was dangerous. And would not bode well for me in the future if I continued. I can only assume from what I gathered, that this world quite possibly could be the place that Aura was sent."

"If you are correct, it explains why we are here and not dead" Daegon grunted "if all information on the ancient language was destroyed, how was that witch able to speak it? and use that type of magic?" Trixa gave a small shrug

"If there was any type of rift into this world, however small, it might possibly have been enough for the Mad Aura to still have a small influence on those craving their own type of power" Trixa flicked her now braided hair over her shoulder "Honestly I wouldn't know without Nerezza telling me directly. There is so much that was lost during the cleansing over a century ago, as far as I know her own coven may have managed to hide a few books on the subject, which is why our worlds merged instead of being destroyed" Trixa's theory was a wild guess, but with no other information to go on it was their best bet

"Has there been any sightings of any vampires in the area?" Treyton shook his head "If she did manage to merge our worlds, and we are hear and not looking like...that" Daegon indicated to the creature on the table "I can only assume the Dark Aura and her coven were transported to" Daegon opened the link to his pack and instructed them all to prepare to leave "We must be vigilant. Our first priority is to find and secure a place to make base. Our home is gone, and our knowledge of the land is to, which means we no longer have the advantage. Find anything you can to carry food and supplies, as well as our clothing." Daegon barked orders, heading outside to form his next move

~*~

Three years later

Daegon sat at the table overlooking the large room, watching as two of the lycan's wrestled for sport. They were becoming restless and needed to expend some of their energy. It had been three years since the fight with the Dark Aura that merged their world with another, and they were no closer to finding a way home as they did back then.

After establishing a base in a large abandoned mansion on the outskirts of a large and strange city, they began the work of building their defences and supplies.

The first year had been tough. Many other packs that had survived the merge had discovered the Lycans, most had lost their Alpha and begged for sanctuary. The corrupted rogues the Dark Aura had created had managed to multiply, infecting any human they came across they soon out numbered Daegon and his pack. He made it known no one was to enter the city under severe punishment, it was to dangerous and overrun, staying clear was their only option.

Daegon, Trixa, Treyton and the two delta twins from the silver moon pack had scouted the area just outside the city two years ago, trying to find a clue as to where the Dark Aura had gone. Instead of the witch they had stumbled across some form of vampire, it's body twisted and scarred, mutated beyond recognition except for those blood thirsty eyes. Although it had been cautious of the pack, Daegon could sense the bloodlust and violence that swirled within the creature, it had attacked without reason and proved quite difficult to kill.

Now, watching the mis-matched pack below him Daegon felt that surge of frustration and annoyance. He never would never have allowed a blending of his pack like this, each elite member had been picked and trained meticulously by Daegon himself. Weak links were eliminated and the Omegas were nothing more than servants in his house.

But with the possibility of extinction hanging over their heads, the Lycan King knew in order to survive he had to accept any and all help he could get.

A click of boots on the stone and swoosh of blonde hair Trixa plonked herself into Daegon's lap, jolting him from his thoughts. He growled at her rude interruption but she let out a small giggle and flicked her hair over her shoulder; she certainly like to stretch his patience

"Eggie, you have sat here for three hours without moving, with that awful glare on your face." she tisked, half the room had gone silent at her actions, many still unsure how the Alpha would react to Trixa's attitude and blatant disregard to Daegon as her King

"I am not in the mood Trixa. Watch yourself" he growl, causing the Aura to frown slightly

"Ever since our last scout of the boarder you have been on edge and angry" she remarked. He glared at her a moment longer before letting out an irritated sigh

"I felt a shift in the power here. I thought I may have imagined it, but during our scout it become stronger the closer to the city we went." Trixa said nothing, her pale eyes glued to her King "there is this...pull whenever I go near the city, as if something is trying to warn me of a danger I have missed, or cannot see coming" he mumbled, eyes fixed to the match below

"We have established that our grasp on our power here is less than what we are use to, but our instincts remain the same. Maybe a part of you is telling you that we need to search the city again. The trail we picked up from the Dark Aura led us there over three years ago, surly that means she is hiding there" Daegon rubbed his forehead. For the past three months Trixa had been insistent on entering the city, even with knowing the consequences if she did

"It is filled with Rogues and Vampiric beasts, I will not risk any more of my pack just to search the city again on a hunch Trixa, it is to dangerous" Daegon growled, his annoyance growing. He had been feeling off all day, exhausted and tired, as if he had overused his powers while running a marathon. Trixa was still staring, her mind cut off from his which was something she did a lot lately

"Trixa, I swear by the goddess if you don-"

"I have a theory" she interjected quietly, causing Daegon to stop talking. His deep emerald green eyes locked with her pale blue ones as he waited for her to continue "you won't like it though" she added. Daegon let out another sigh, gently pushing his friend from his lap and leading the way to the study. Once the door was closed firmly behind him he turned to his friend and crossed his arms over his chest

"Speak. And no games Trixa, I have already given you a warning, I will not give another" he growled. Trixa simply rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated look

"Gosh you are moody" she mumbled "have you felt...tired for no reason? Mood shifting without a trigger? Unexplained thoughts or emotions that don't relate to the moment" Daegon fell silent. He had kept his link as quite from the pack as he could the past few weeks, the amin reason was directly related to those questions; strange emotions and feelings that he knew were not his. Trixa was staring at him intently, hands on hips and head c****d to the side, reading his every movement and reaction. Her attitude and desire to enter the city all fell into place, his face went dark as he snarled

"it is not the mate bond" his words were filled with his command and Trixa shrunk under the sudden power he directed at her. With effort she stood tall, fighting against his Alpha power, frowning at Daegon

"Then you explain what it is Daegon. If you are so adverse to your mate and adamant that its not the bond then by all means, give me an explanation that fits" she growled back, almost challenging in her shift in anger. Daegon jerked back slightly at her aggression, there were very few moments he could recall that she had been mad enough to show it, even less that were directed at him

However Daegon had no answer. He had an inkling that it might have been the reason for the unsettling feelings, but since he had sworn to reject his mate he was hoping to just ignore it. That just seemed to make everything more intense

"That's what I thought" she added, taking his silence as his answer

"Regardless, it is irrelevant. We are not entering the city" Trixa scoffed

"Wake up Daegon, we cannot hide out here forever" he narrowed his eyes at his friend, she was treading dangerous waters, any further push and his wolf would see it as a challenge "My powers are unpredictable and unreliable since that b***h tore into my neck. Whatever she did messed with them, and grasping to much causes it to become unstable, I cannot help in serious situations anymore" her voice cracked slightly at that statement, not being able to use her powers to her full potential had put a big strain on her. She was a proud Lycan, and was not taking well the fact she was longer as useful as before

"Finding my mate will not help, Trixa"

"And I believe you are wrong, especially now. She will help you, and you will be stronger with her by your side Daegon. This...turmoil you are feeling is attributed to having her close by, but not with you" Daegon rubbed his face.

"It is to dangerous to enter the city" he reiterated, but it lacked the force from before. He felt so exhausted again

"If we don't find the Dark Aura, we don't find a way home" Trixa stated quietly before brushing past him and leaving the room. Daegon ran his fingers through his hair, he knew she was right, but he had kept his pack alive this long because of the prohibition of entering the city. Any pack of corrupted rogues that came close was killed quickly, and the vampire like creatures didn't dare leave the safety of the darkness the abandoned buildings provided during the day.

Daegon turned and left the study, returning to the pack to discuss the next scout with Treyton.