“Something is not right, “ Zanalise said as she opened her eyes before first light.
Coming to a sitting position aside her bed, she closed her eyes once more to scan the area as far as her still limited powers would allow. Nothing caught her attention nor raised a hair on her skin, but the feeling did not leave her. Now on her feet, she paced her home with her eyes still closed to expand her foresight across the lands around her. Then, it hit her like a bolder to the chest, making her gasp for air while clenching it tightly.
It was not the atmosphere that had her heart racing, although she had barely woken from a peaceful sleep. It was someone else’s heart at a steadfast sprinting with their legs that could barely keep up with its pace. The fear in her heart was so thick that Zanalise could taste it in a physical sense.
“Lalaya! What is chasing you?!” Zanalise could barely get the words out as an overwhelming sense of her friend's emotions and her own worry almost brought her to her knees.
“It is humans my Goddess! They stalked me through the rocky terrain and are now hunting me!” Lalaya spoke to her Goddesses' mind but called to her heart as the sound of a gunshot’s fire echoed in both.
“They called me rare and spoke of claiming a reward for my capture! One spoke of the reward they may claim from my fur and head alone! Another even questioned if I could be bred to make them a fortune! I am terrified for my life!” Her voice could barely carry as she swiftly passed through the trees.
“As am I!” Zanalise finds her way to the end of the path leading to her home, “Come to me, quickly!” She calls out to her friend as she prepares her body for what she is about to do next.
It had been some time since she had transformed her friend into a wolf and at that time had but a portion of her power than what she currently possesses. Walking bare foot along the forest floor, she grounds herself with the roots of the surrounding trees, creating electrical currents between her fingers. With a deep inhale, she feels the terror in her friend’s heart, the worry of her own and the fear between them both. She exhales, releasing it all to withstand the brunt of her Goddess' power. The ground rumbles, particles and small objects begin to levitate as she opens her eyes that now resemble glowing emeralds.
“Stop!” The Goddess had frozen time around her, freezing her friend mid stride a yard's length from her, and in the far distance, stopping the hunters.
Without moving her physical body, to ensure that she remains grounded with time, she astro-projects to her friend and wipes her tears before anymore falls. In the moment before she commanded time, another command had to be put at bay before committing a crime against the code of galaxies. The thought that someone would rob her of a life so dear sparked a rage that burned to her core and with the powers she wielded as a Goddess she could command their death but in a split second after seeing her friend alive, she knew that was not the answer.
Three males were about a mile or so from them and their determination to capture Lalaya could be felt as if they were within arm's reach. It was clear that a white wolf, let alone at all one with purple eyes, would be a sight to see in these parts. It was her only way, at the time of Lalaya’s arrival, to capture her beauty in the form of an animal. Zanalise embraced her friend, realizing the dangers she had unknowingly placed her in.
“Forgive me, Lalaya. Your time as a wolf must end but I will give you a gift that you have asked for ever since you could see from the top of trees in Modara.” Zanalise whispered before returning to her physical body.
Closing her eyes, she released her hold on time. In the split seconds between closing her eyes and reopening them, a dazzling purple smoke that glittered with stars surrounding Lalaya, making her fully disappear within it. The moment Zanalise opened her eyes, a white whooping crane flew from the smoke before it disbanded fully into the air.
“Lalaya, I give you the gift of flight, “ Zanalise said while looking up at the grand bird spreading her wings across the skyline for the first time. Feeling the return of joy in her friend’s heart in place of the fear that was there moments ago released the burden of regret in her own.
Just as the crane disappeared into the sky, the three men finally made it past the trees and the open clearing before coming across the path leading to her home. Thankfully, Zanalise had released the emotion of anger that was anchored in the back of her throat and stood in total peace with her decisions, as well as the consequences of them.
“You there, woman, did you see a white wolf pass this place,” the first male asked Zanalise while still trying to catch his breath.
“Such a beautiful wolf she was, but she has long disappeared past the trees before you arrived,” Zanalise responded to the male, not looking away from his determined eyes as he stood straight to face her.
“I bet she tryna hide it in that house for herself,” yelled the second male joining the first males' side to stare Zanalise down with the intent to intimidate, which failed miserably, “This bitch is probably lying to our faces,” he continued and spat at her feet.
“I assure you sir that I am not lying, but you are not welcomed in my home.” Zanalise spoke not just to the man. An evil entity latched to him with a presence so intense, she was sure the man experienced pain in his right shoulder because of it.
“Fellas, let us leave the lady alone and keep looking. She said it had already passed her by. We don’t need to make any trouble for ourselves now,” said the third male who was still a little distance from him.
Aside from the other two men, the third male did not carry the same murderous intent but instead a sense of urgency. His determination was loud in his heart as he continued to look around the forest for Lalaya’s tracks. Zanalise then realized that those same tracks came to a stop just feet from the path leading to her home. No wonder the second male called her a liar. It was clear that these men were skilled huntsmen and to deceive them with words alone when the evidence is clear was futile.
“My Goddess, must I return to your aid,” Lalaya too sensed the danger surrounding Zanalise but also took heed that her Goddess was like an unbothered body of water with her emotions controlled and her heart a steady beat of calmness.
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“Do not return just yet my friend. You may still be in danger if you should,” she told Lalaya.
There was no telling what these men may do if they saw a crane with the same purple eyes as the wolf. It was also clear that they did not plan to leave these woods without spilling blood.
“How about you stop bullshitting with us and hand it over,” the second man demanded the Goddess with a riffle pointed at her, inches from her face.
The first male did not move and neither did Zanalise as their eyes were locked in something of a staring contest. The third man rushed over from his search of the wolf’s tracks to calm the situation and push the riffle away from her.
“That’s enough now! We need to keep looking before we lose it! We’re running out of time!” The third male was emitting something from him that caused Zanalise’s heart to grow weary.
She called to the trees and the winds, as she was still grounded in the dirt that connected their roots and asked for any assistance. A sound of rustling leaves caused all three men to look in its direction. The first male took off at the sound of an animal running away from them. The second male gave her a stern look before following the first male. The third male stayed behind for a moment.
“I apologize ma’am. These are dark times for us.” He said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, and everything became clear to her in that moment.
In his heart was a love that burdened him deeply. A love for his daughter that was clinging to her life in a hospital many miles from here due to a sickness that threatens to take it. It became clear the reasons behind his determination and why such a valuable Wolff would be worth more to him dead or alive. It was all for his daughter, whose smile behind the machines that give her oxygen warms his heart even now.
“You wish to save your daughter?” she asked the man without considering what he may think of her.
He stood in shock for a moment, staring at her with wide eyes, unable to speak. He then observed her head to toe as if to compare her to something.
“Are you a witch or something?” He asked her, scared of the answer but curious of the reason she asked something he knew for certain that few knew about. He was not a man to trouble others with his problems and even hid the truth from some family members so that he would not burden them.
“No, but I can help. Only if you leave those two men and go to your daughter instead,” Zanalise said to him without so much as blinking an eye.
Through his mind, she learned that Lalaya had become the talk of the town, being that she had been spotted countless times by locals. A reward had been placed on her capture, dead or alive, which drove this man to search for the brothers he knew were skilled at hunting in these parts. He did this despite knowing their cruel methods with the hope of what he could give his daughter, but Zanalise saw their hearts. She saw their intentions to use the third males' knowledge of animals, as this was his profession, and planned to take his life in these woods. He did not notify any one of the reasons he would be out here or with whom, so the conditions were perfect for them.
“Those men do not mean you well, but I can give you what you truly desire instead of what you think you need,” her words were answered prayers to him, but he still questioned how true they were. He would have so much to lose if they were not.
“How can I trust you? I don’t even know you.” He questioned everything but was slowly becoming open to the possibility.
“Money is such a simple substance that I can create with the snap of my fingers,” and she did so to show him she has value in her words, “but it can only pay the doctors, procedures, medicines, etc. , but it will only by you more time. Not remove what kills her slowly or repair the damage it has caused.” Zanalise used the link between father and daughter, tugging on it to fill the life force of the little girl on the other end.
The father felt it too and collapsed to his knees on the Forrest ground. His eyes became over filled with the pain and sorrow of his daughter’s life hanging on by mere threads. Memories began to flood his mind. Her first steps across the hardwood floor of their small one-bedroom apartment. The first time she said “Dada” while bouncing in a contraption meant for babies. He slipped on the water that spilled over from washing dishes in his attempts to witness it firsthand and her cooing laughs brought a tear to his eye.
The moment he braced her on a bike before pushing her once more, after many failed attempts, to see her soaring down the neighborhood street before tragedy happened. A person who was not paying attention ruined such a heartwarming moment and turned years of progress from defeating her cancer to a struggle to gain the strength she once had. Zanalise felt her heart suddenly drop to her feet as she realized just how heavy the burden weighed on this father.
“You lost your child's mother moments after she gave birth to your daughter,” tears welled in her eyes as she kneeled in front of the father clinging to the dirt, trying to regain some self-control as the weight of all this man has endured buried her soul in grief.
“She’s all I have ma’am,” each word was weight on his tongue, “I’ve already lost my beautiful wife who I loved with everything I was and now, to only have my daughter, who reminds me of her mother with every smile, for only 7 years,” he couldn’t contain the tears and his chest robbed him of his words. Zanalise could not withstand letting him suffer any more than he already had.
Using the link connected between father and daughter, she dug her hands and knees into the forest floor and pulled with all her strength the energy from the many centuries' old roots, while pushing through the link to his daughter on the other side. She heard the many machines going off in the ICU room at the children’s hospital and watched as a nurse who was bowing her head next to her to say a prayer, lift her head and leave. He indeed had so little time left to help. Her heartbeat was dropping to a rhythm close to death.
Zanalise touched the child’s hand softly, causing her to flinch as she slept, and spoke as she did when she commanded time to cease. Focusing solely on every destroyed cell in her body and the cause of its destruction. Her heart became heavy as she took a deep inhale, taking in the pain, sorrow, and suffering from them both. Then, releasing it all with a long exhale to ensure lazier like focus to pinpoint her target, so that once she spoke her intentions were clear.
The ground shook in both the forest and the hospital floors as she opened her eyes that resembled glowing emeralds. This was all done within the spiritual realm at the hospital, so the staff continued as usual while the father stared at a loss for words at the celestial being who shook the ground under his feet.
“What is not meant to be within this child that has caused harm must leave now and never return. All the damage it has caused shall heal and her life will claim many years from now.” Zanalise spoke and then kissed the child’s forehead lightly. When the child opened her eyes and looked up at her savior, she knew.
“Thank you, my angel,” she said to Zanalise before she disappeared from her room, back down the line that connected father and daughter, to her physical body.
The ground shook no more when the Zanalise closed her eyes and the deed had been done, but not without its consequences. Her human body had taken on more than it could withstand and was fading fast, causing her to slowly lose consciousness.
“My Goddess, forgive me but I am coming to your aid,” Lalaya said as she swooshed in and landed by her side, wrapping her wings around her to share her zenta.
“Go now to her and never return to this place,” her words were like a whisper, "For if you do, I will not be here,” Zanalise said with her last breath before collapsing to the ground in pure exhaustion.
Lalaya crowed at the man, startling him to his feet, still in awe of all he had witnessed in these woods. He turned to run back from the way he came but looked to Zanalise once more as she lay lifeless on the forest floor. Lalaya crowed at him once more, telling him to go and it was only then that he took off into the distance leaving the whopping crane and the strange woman he had just met behind to see his daughter, Miracle.