By moonlight's shadow

Chapter 22

Lukas knew that he needed to figure out where he needed to go in order to understand the nature of his quest. But he had no idea where he needed to start. Rhea was in the basement still moving around with the stuff of their mother and then lurking around sometimes trying to hear about things which were there or things which he was not able to hear.

“What did you find out about this quest that I need to go on?” asked Lukas from upstairs where he was trying out a new sword that he had found out from the basement. It was not very heavy, quite light and pliable and it snuck in his hand in a way as if it had been waiting for him to pick her up.

“I am trying and I found something out about the sphinx that you are talking about but this is not going to bode well for you at all, you might have the courage and strength of the Alpha in order to go on this mission but you are definitely not the brains of the operation. And…” said Rhea, as she was sneezing from the dust that was coming out from the books and the bout was a severely violent one.

“Did you find what we are looking for Rhea? If you have then please come out and we shall have the next part of the conversation here itself outside. I did not know that you were going to be so allergic to dust Sis,” said Lukas, as he peered in the basement trap door.

The next instance there was a book flying towards him at a tremendous speed which he caught hold of due to his good reflexes and then a hand came out of the door and pulled him inside and he fell down hurtling the hole but still landed on his feet.

“Was this really necessary Rhea?” asked Lukas, as he dusted off the clothes.

“You are a good brother but you behave like a d**k sometimes and it is now up to me in order to properly train you so that when you find your mate she does not run away from your uncouth manners and rowdy behavior. I am not allergic to dust, you buffoon. I am allergic to lavender petals and that is the reason that I was sneezing that bad. What kind of a guardian are you that you are not even aware about my allergies?” asked Rhea and Lukas smacked his forehead.

“Sorry babe. I really forgot about that. You recall this that I had clumped every single lavender from the garden once we found out that you were allergic to them? I had uprooted them despite everyone telling that lavender was necessary in so many things? But still I forgot, so silly of me,” said Lukas, clucking his tongue and Rhea scowled at him. Then she showed him a parchment that she had found from the trunk of the scrolls that they had found out from the hide-out earlier that night.

“What language is this?” asked Lukas, as he could not understand that which was scrawled on the parchment. But the odour reminded him of something. It was the smell of the fresh dew of the night on the blades of grass and also a hint of the salty breeze of the ocean but he still could not decipher out what was written.

“What are you saying that you cannot read? This is written in English only!!” said Rhea, as she came over to his side and then they both peered at the parchment together.

Lukas looked again carefully at the parchment and found that it might be any other language but it was definitely not English. He nodded his head saying no. Then suddenly he took the mobile out of his pocket and clicked a picture of the parchment and showed Rhea the image. Her eyes widened immediately as she saw the picture.

“What kind of language is this? And how the hell am I being able to read this one without even knowing how to read this language?” asked Rhea, in a shocked voice.

“Babe, you are Druid by one half. You have powers which you are still not aware of but you are good at what you do and you know that you are extremely powerful but can we just keep our voice a bit down? This place is quite old and you remember that we had once learnt that for the Alpha and his family their voice have the strength which no one else can wield. So there might a lot of things which will get drawn towards you and your voice faster while you are speaking but remember you need to handle it carefully,” said Lukas as he handed her the parchment back.

Rhea scowled and rolled her eyes at the same time just like a petulant teenager would do and then she drawled out,” Yes Dad!!”

Lukas just smiled and said,” Okay, translate sassy young lady!!”

“Lukas, I am just fourteen, it is a long way for me to become a lady,” said Rhea as she hid her smile.

“Well according to Mirani you should have given birth to a lot of new leaves and saplings by now!!” said Lukas and rhea growled at him playfully and they started running and playing catch with each other in the basement itself which stopped when Lukas hit his head on the roof.

“Okay okay, jokes and games apart this parchment actually tells you the way in which you will come to know about your quest. It is said here that water is the only element on earth and heaven and hell which connects all the three realms so only a creature who has been born of water or in water is going to be able to show you the clear path which lies ahead of you and only then you are going to be able to make a decision on the choice of path and embark upon your quest. Did you understand anything that I said?” asked rhea, as she found that Lukas was looking at her quite blankly.

“Yeah I got what you said and that is the reason why I am smelling dew laden grass, and ocean breeze from the parchment,” said Lukas, scratching his chin.

“You got what Lukas? Say again,” said Rhea, as she came forward with the parchment in hand.

“I am getting the smell of this ocean, the breeze which blows on it and then this smell of the wet grass and the soil from the dew. The salty breeze blowing through the leaves,” said Lukas, as he closed his eyes and murmured.

“Hold on to that smell and tell me what you see,” said Rhea as she caught the parchment near his nose and Lukas moved around as if he was looking at something.

“There is a cavern near the ocean, and after the rocks there is a small lake beside which there is grass and it is wet. The breeze from the ocean is still coming in and there is a huge shell of oyster floating in the middle of the lake,” said Lukas as he walked farther with his eyes closed. Rhea murmured a prayer silently and stayed close to him..

“There are creatures in this lake who are guarding the oyster from someone who is trying to harm it. No one has been able to cross this lake till now since the pearl inside has not fully formed yet but when it will be there will be someone who will come and will know how to bring the pearl out without even stepping in the water,” said Lukas, as he smiled at the beauty of the pace he was standing.

“Is that going to be you? Are you going to go on this quest Lukas? Are you the one who is going to take the pearl out?” prompted Rhea, so that he could describe his vision further on.

“No it is going to be the Queen who does that,” said Lukas and then he fell down in a heap completely unconscious. Rhea caught hold of him as she was expecting something of this sort and she sighed in frustration. She had seriously considered that Lukas had found out about his quest but this was something else altogether. This meant that his powers were growing and he was mentally ready to accept them and he had this tactile sensations in his vision or from some kind of object which triggered his visions. They were the clues to what was necessary to be done next or might be something else but she was not entirely sure what it was going to be.

It was after sometime that Lukas regained his consciousness.

“Good now that you are awake you can take over the research part while I can get something to eat soon,” said Rhea as she threw a rag over his face and got up from his side and then went towards the kitchen.

“What happened to me Rhea? How did I come here?” asked Lukas as he picked up the wet rag from his face.

“You have visions Lukas. You will be falling unconscious more often if you do not channelize your magic into something else. Is that clear?” prompted Rhea from the kitchen as she picked out a can of juice from the fridge and Lukas got up from the couch with a groan.

“Did you pull me up by your own from there Rhea?” asked Lukas, with a surprised look on his face.

“”Why do you look so surprised in that?” asked Rhea, as she threw him a can of beer and drank her cranberry juice from hers.

“This is not remotely healthy to eat and this is for drinking,” said Lukas as he opened the can and then took a swig from it.

“Yeah, and still you are drinking it. By the way, you have been summoned by the Siren,” said Rhea, as she took a deep gulp and saw Lukas choke on his beer and then sputter out like a dying car engine.

“EXCUSE ME WHAT??????” came out his voice after spraying the liquid from his mouth and his nose.

“Yes Brother. Aurora has called for you by the bond of protection that you have placed upon her when you have brought her in the pack and taken under your care and I think she might be the clue to your quest,” said Rhea, as Lukas looked up at her in surprise.

“Yeah yeah I know it does sound crazy but I forgot to mention this thing when I was reading about sirens are that they are actually the witchier versions of the mermaids and their distant descendants, so they also do have a strong bond and connection to water. That might be the reason that she has called out you, so you should go and check,” said Rhea as she gestured towards the door. And Lukas glared at her.

“Why did you not say that to me before Rhea? When were you exactly going to share this piece of information?” asked Lukas, as he swallowed his drink in a few more gulp and then crushed the can in his fist.

“Probably never…you see Lukas, this is your problem, when people are trying to help you and show you the ropes then that is the problem that you cannot behave in a proper manner with anyone. Why are you so hell bent upon alienating everyone that you seem to know about? Is it that essential? Can you not for once thank for being helpful to you? Do you have no sense of gratitude at all?” said Rhea angrily and then she put her hand up as Lukas started to say something.

“Please keep that part to yourself. I am really not interested in your nonsense anymore,” said Rhea as she went inside the house.