I didn't know where the hell I was in this stupid jungle. I just ran until my legs gave out and my body crashed into the jungle floor. And I laid there, until everything became dark and the ghostly blue glow of the mushrooms is the only light around me.

  If the Wolf got me now, then I would be with Mama and Papa again. No more training. No more sadness. No more twisting pain inside my chest whenever Mama's face flashes in my head.

  I laid on my back, looking up into nothing. Hands spread wide, legs straight. Waiting for—

  Death?

  Natalie?

  Whatever.

  I didn't know which was better.

  Natalie.

  Her name echoed in my head again. Her bright smile. Her energetic voice. Her musky smell.

  But she was my only joy in this sea of sadness: Kaelen. Sylvester. This seal. This jungle. If I went to Mama and Papa... Everything would be just right.

  Right?

  Then...

  Crickets began to sing.

  Their song filled the thick gloom. A long, ringing melody.

  I began to feel better.

  "Boy-Boy."

  My eyes shot open. There was no one around me but the pale blue glow, but I was sure I heard it.

  "Herald."

  I sat up and looked around. There it is again.

  "Mama? Papa?" I called out into the dark.

  I reached out to the night, as if by doing so they would appear.

  And from far away, I saw a golden light.

  Then another one.

  They fluttered among the trees like two fireflies dancing in the dark. The darkness backed off.

  And everything became brighter, clearer. I could see the jungle around me now. Black, gnarled trees with long thin bony branches, creepers and mushrooms of strange colors, and an equally dark jungle floor with reddish moss. This was a part of the jungle I'd never been to.

  They came closer till I could see them.

  Two golden butterflies, shimmering with soft light.

  My body began to warm, the hopelessness inside me became smaller.

  They swirled around me. Each beat of their wings scattered golden dust into the air, they smelled of Mama's flowers and Papa's scent. My world narrowed to the butterflies, and for a while I thought I was back in Lumina again.

  A hand rested on my back, warm and light. I turned. And my breath left me.

  A woman in a beautiful white and azure dress, shining platinum hair and sapphire eyes.

  Mama.

  Papa appeared beside me too, in his full king regalia. He didn't wear a crown---never liked them, said it was heavy and made his neck sore. Like Mama, his hair is also shiny white, eyes a lighter shade of blue.

  I couldn't believe it. Mama and Papa, here.

  I tried to touch them, but my hand went through them. But they felt very, very warm, like they were real.

  "Ma, Pa, take me home, please."

  They wrapped their arms around me. And I curled into myself, there was nothing to hold.

  "Boy-Boy, don't be sad. Mommy and Daddy are always with you." Mama said. "Even of you cannot see us, we're here."

  "No, Ma... I want to go to where you are..."

  "That is not right, my son." Papa's voice was firm.

  Mama's eyes never left me, but I could tell she agreed with Papa.

  "But it's not fair! Why am I the only one without Mommy and Daddy?! All the other kids have their parents with them!"

  All the things that made me angry until now, I let it all out: Why didn't they survive, why did Mama seal me, why leave me with Kaelen, all the whys that were pent up inside my heart. And Mama and Papa just listened.

  When I had exhausted everything and left trembling, Papa both hands around my shoulders, "This world was never fair, Herald. Bad things happen to everyone." Papa said after I had finished. "Your's is big, Daddy knows. But others hurt too. You are not alone in this."

  "What? I don't care about—"

  Mama's placed a gentle hand on my head and brushed my hair---really, my hair moved---with her fingers.

  "We will never leave you alone, Boy-Boy."

  Papa said, "And you will have good times ahead of you. You have Natalie, Juno, Kaelen, and soon you will meet many others too."

  "But Kaelen is just so mean! All he does it make me train!" I cried again, "And his food is terrible."

  Mama chuckled, "Kaelen is a warrior, Boy-Boy. He doesn't have a son, so he doesn't know how to be a father."

  "Kaelen's just as lost as you are," Papa said, "but he's doing the only things he know how. Don't worry, I'll talk to him."

  "Really, Pa?"

  And Daddy winked at me. Then he stood, holding out his hand to me.

  "Stand up, my Son."

  I reached out my hand. His hand wasn't solid, but, warm enough to feel real. I stood, all the darkness had somehow gone.

  Then, from the depths of the jungle, Natalie's voice rang.

  "Your friends are here, Herald." Daddy said, looking towards her voice.

  "Be strong, Boy-Boy. We are here," Mama out her hand over my heart, "in you."

  As they begam to dim, Mama and Daddy kissed me. It was warm. Real, a little wet.

  "Live, Boy-Boy. And don't forget to love."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The memories of them dying retreated into a small corner in my head. Now I know they're with me. And Daddy will talk to Kaelen.

  Mama and Daddy disappeared slowly. The jungle darkened back to its dim blue glow again, but I'm not afraid anymore.

  I closing my eyes, holding a deep breath and letting the tautness soothe me, I feel like I'm floating. I tilted my head back and exhaled slowly.

  It felt good---a different kind of good. It was different from when I played with Natalie---not that it wasn't enough.

  Natalie's voice rang through the woods one more time. I called back and walked towards where it came.

  Then, she dropped in front of me from the darkness. The dim blue glow of the mushrooms shone up on her, making her look like a ghost. Her eyes were wide from worry, her chest rose and fell rapidly. She was really sweating and her tail was wrapped close around her leg.

  "Natalie!"

  "Herald! You okay?" She shot towards me and grabbed my shoulders.

  "I'm okay, Nat."

  A smile broke through her panting. She leaned in close, sniffing.

  "You were... Talking to yourself just now."

  "No I wasn't," I protested, "My Mama and Daddy appeared to me!"

  Her hands slid down my arms into mine. She stared at me, blinking. "Really?"

  "Yes!" I squeezed her hand, I wasn't lying.

  Something I don't understand appeared in her eyes, her smile changed. I don't know to say it, it's like... How I felt when I saw the Felid children playing in the river this morning. It was still a smile, but there's... Sadness in it.

  "That's nice... I wish I could too."

  "Natalie? Had you—"

  But I couldn't get the words out.

  Natalie wiped her eyes, "Herald, I'm so happy for you, you really smell different now, like blooming wildflowers."

  I looked at her.

  I know that look.

  She too.

  And my heart ached.

  Without knowing, I drew her into my arms.

  She froze.

  "He-Herald?"

  Her heartbeat thumped against my chest, and the warm slick of her sweat as my arms wrapped around her back.

  *I'm here... Natalie.*

  WHUMP!

  We broke apart with a gasp. A loud clack, a snarl and the sound of feet scraping the jungle floor followed. Something big just landed beside us, and something bigger skidded across the darkness further away.

  An orb of white light lit up the entire jungle. I saw Natalie's face clearly, and spotted Sylvester and Moy up in the trees.

  What are *they* doing here?

  Natalie screamed, pointing at something.

  I followed her finger. And my body froze.

  A giant wolf.

  A mountain of greyish blue fur with one golden eye, while the other was a black orb blazing with a dark purple flame. Smoke came out of its nostrils, and its lips were peeled back, revealing dirty, yellow teeth dripping with saliva.

  It was growling loudly, angry that it had been denied dinner.

  Standing between us and the monster was Kaelen, his katana drawn and leveled at the wolf, and the white orb hovering over his left shoulders.

  THUK! THUK! THUK!

  Three javelins stabbed into the ground where the Wolf had been moments earlier. Two more Felids landed beside Kaelen, one of them very big and the other lanky. The big Felid, Morgan, let out a roar, but the Wolf didn't flinch. There were two more in the trees, javelins in hand ready to fly.

  But the Wolf barked back, fearless.

  "Natalie! Herald! Up the trees! Now!" The lanky one shouted without looking at us. He held his sickle over his head, ready to strike.

  "Y-Yes, Elder!"

  Natalie quickly crouched,

  "Get on! Quick!"

  I scrambled onto Natalie and she hoisted me up effortlessly. She jumped and caught onto the trunk of the tree where Sylvester and Moy were waiting above. Moy shouted for us to hurry. But, before she could climb further,

  The Giant Wolf howled, a high pitched 'woooo' that made my blood cold. Natalie froze up way half the tree.

  A lot of thumping sounds began to surround us, of leaves rustling stirred by quick feet and the snapping of twigs.

  I heard panting, lots of them. They came closer.

  I heard my own breath through my mouth. Natalie whimpered quietly.

  Morgan let out a growl as several more wolves appeared from the trees.

  "What?! It has formed a pack?!" The Elder hissed.

  "Natalie! MOVE!" Kaelen roared, seeing us still at a height where a leap from a wolf would easily get us.

  Moy and Sylvester screamed at us, but Natalie was frozen where she is. I tried to shake her out of it, but it was no use.

  Then everything became a blur of roars, shouts and barks. Morgan and Kaelen moved to protect us and the wolves charged at them. Kaelen slashed one of it and it fell onto the ground. Morgan bashed the other with his spear before stabbing it.

  The Elder fought the Giant Wolf, his sickle tearing pieces with blood its body, but it didn't flinch, as though pain didn't affect it. It lunged and snapped at him. The Elder rolled through the lunge. Had he been a second slower his hand would be gone. Javelins pierced the Wolf, but the Wolf seemed impervious to pain.

  Kaelen cut down another wolf. But two more jumped on him. He blocked them with his scabbard, and Morgan peeled one of them off and slammed it into the ground before finishing it off.

  "Natalie, hurry!" I shook her, trying to get her to move.

  "Herald! Help me, I can't move!"

  "Damn it!" Sylvester was crawling down the trunk and reaching out his hand, "Here, take my hand!"

  "SYL!!"

  The Giant Wolf saw that we were open, and his pack had Kaelen and Morgan pinned. It rammed the Elder to the ground and came towards us.

  Oh no!

  I saw it's single golden eye flash.

  It's coming for us!

  I'm on Natalie's back, and she's frozen halfway up the tree. Sylvester is trying to pull us up, but that isn't enough time to get to safety.

  The Wolf became very big.

  We're going to die.

  Natalie is going to die.

  Die...

  ...

  Die?

  No.

  Not after I just saw Mama and Daddy!

  "Don't forget to love, Boy-Boy."

  The Wolf leaped.

  Fire... Inside my chest.

  I jumped off Natalie, clenched my jaws so hard that my teeth grinded, and dove straight into the Wolf, hoping to wrestle it down, or anything as long as it didn't get her.

  The last thing I remember was the bright, golden eye of the wolf. And the barely audible screams around me.

  Then everything went white.

  A terrible, searing pain ripped through my body. My breath tore from my chest in a painful scream. Then a heavy slam onto the ground with two heavy feet crushing my chest. Followed by a wrenching pain that seemed to tear my arm off and the feeling of being dragged across the dirt.

  "HERALD!"

  "HERALD!"

  Everything was a blur, I only saw Kaelen and Natalie leaving me, but they were not moving.

  My mind homed in onto the one person that mattered.

  Natalie.

  Her face, as white as the white light of the orb.

  Her huge, void eyes.

  Mouth wide in a scream I cannot hear.

  Ba-bump...

  Another pain in my chest.

  Everything slowed.

  Ba-bump... Another pulse.

  Something burned hotter inside me.

  The pain from my arm became less.

  I felt stronger.

  *Mama? Papa?*

  I pulled my arm, but the Wolf's jaw was holding me tight. It didn't hurt, but the Wolf froze.

  We looked into each other's eyes. In that ugly eye, I saw two orbs of blue light reflecting from it, and what seemed to be my own pained, angry face.

  "LET GO—!"

  I pushed as hard as I could with my other arm.

  Something surged powerfully from within me. It felt like a wave crashing outward, or the thrill of a dive when flying, when the wind was roaring in my ears and wind in my face. It travelled up my arm and out of my palm.

  CRACK!

  The sound like lighting striking overhead tore through the jungle. The ground shook. A terrifying shockwave blew over my face, my body, coming and going as quickly as a flash of lightning. From my squinted eyes, I saw the Giant Wolf flying through the air and slammed into the trunk of a tree with a crack and a loud yelp. Leaves, dirt and pieces of wood and bark were flying everywhere, away from me.

  Then everything became quiet. I opened my eyes. Leaves and debris were fluttering down like snow. The giant wolf was flat on the floor. In front of me was a giant, fan-shaped tear in the ground. My breaths came in heavy and uneven. The pain in my arm began to come back. I looked at it, it was a horrible thing.

  Red.

  But there was light inside.

  Blueish silvery light.

  A black blur shot over my head towards the giant wolf.

  A glint of silver.

  And the giant wolf shook its legs once before it stopped moving.

  Kaelen had just driven his katana into its head and gave it a powerful twist.

  That sound sent a chill up the sides of my neck.

  All around me came the sound of dogs yelping, then fading into whimpering quiet.

  All the wolves were dead.

  The jungle stilled. Only the sound of breathing could be heard.

  The two Felids in the trees went around checking each wolf to make sure they're dead. The Elder was holding Sylvester and Moy in his arms, beside the tree we meant to climb. Sylvester was shaken, his pupils were slits, and he was holding a crying Moy in his arms.

  Morgan cradled a crying Natalie in his arms, pressing her head against his big chest. His spear lay forgotten on the ground.

  "Natalie... You're safe..." I whispered, smiling. The pain in my arm didn't seem that bad when I saw her safe.

  Kaelen came scrambling beside me, calling my name and checking my arm. His eyes widened between gasping breaths when he examined my arm. Then, he smiled, faintly.

  Seeing him smile, I dared a look at my arm myself. The sight was frightening... My skin was ripped, the flesh underneath exposed. Scary... but nothing compared to what I saw in the Reddest Night.

  "Look, Herald." Kaelen pointed at the deep tear in my arm.

  There was a faint shimmer of silver-blue light in my blood.

  That light... Wingly Ruach...

  A small sense of relief bloomed. I still have my powers somehow.

  The Elder and Morgan came up and checked my arm too. Natalie buried her head in her father's shoulders, too afraid to look at my wound. They stared long at the shimmering light, exchanged glances, but couldn't understand what was happening.

  "Let's take him to Juno," The Elder said.

  "Yes," Kaelen nodded.

  In one swift motion, he scooped me up into his arms, careful not to agitate my bad arm. And everyone headed towards the Shaman's hut, with Kaelen's white orb of light leading the way.

  I rested my head on Kaelen's shoulders. From the corner of my eyes I caught Sylvester's stare, a mixture of fear and awe. We looked away.

  The slow rocking from his walk somehow soothing, and when mixed the sound of feet crunching against the undergrowth, it made my eyes heavy...

  ...

  ...