Chapter seventeen: Fauna and the transformation

"This shouldn't be happening now!" Honey was panicking. "How is this even happening now?"

Saber stood before the entrance of the cave, blocking Lyle from carrying Fauna out. He needed answers and he wasn't going to get them if everyone kept ignoring him.

"Saber, you have to get out of my way right now!" Lyle struggled to keep a cool tone, but it was clear that he was totally impatient.

Fauna squirmed and moaned in pains and with every sound she made, Lyle felt his heart break a little more.

Fauna could feel his emotions. Fauna could feel all their emotions and it wasn't helping matters. She could tell that Saber was confused, but also needed answers. She could tell that Doka was trying to keep his cool because he felt he really needed to. She could tell Honey was all over the place and Penny was desperately trying to calm her down.

Most of all, she could feel Lyle and she could feel that he was in physical and emotional pains because of her. She screamed when she felt her chest ache. It felt like something was crawling inside of her, struggling to claw its way out. Lyle stiffened when she cried out and that broke her even more. She was in pains and she was causing her mate pains.

Lyle realized she could sense his emotions and immediately, he shut her out. To her, it felt like he was slamming a mental door in her face, so she couldn't get anything from him. He was still there though; she could tell he was still there trying to share his strength with her.

"Just tell me what's going on," Saber pleaded.

"I don't have time for this!" Lyle muttered and stared at the ground beneath Saber. Immediately, it moved Saber out of his way and he walked out of the room with his mate in his arms and Penny and Honey behind him.

Saber who wasn't expecting the earth to suddenly shove him aside fell and stared at Lyle's retreating figure incredulously, but he said nothing. Doka walked up to him and helped him up, then they followed the others to the clearing.

When the earth moved them towards the clearing, Saber was surprised to see that the above was open so they could see the actual sky. It was night already, that wasn't surprising. What shocked him though was the moon which shone on them, bright and obviously full.

"It's a full moon!" He pointed to Doka. "How is it a full moon tonight?"

"Fauna is connected to Selene who was the goddess of the moon. We believe she is subconsciously drawing the moon because she needs her powers. Why? We don't know."

"Her powers... Does this mean she's – wait! She's morphing right now?"

Doka didn't answer him. He didn't need to though.

The clearing had shrubs covering it and merfolks gathered in a circle, their arms stretched out to the sky.

"They're keeping the sky open. Fauna needs to feel the full moon on her," Doka explained and Saber nodded. Tigers didn't need that much preparation for morphing.

For them, it was pretty straightforward. Once they were of age, they were taught to channel their inner beast. For some, it took weeks to fully morph, for others, it took mere days. Hardly anyone ever died from morphing. The time didn't have to be right. The moon didn't have to be full.

He watched Lyle get into the circle, but when he tried to, he was held back by some bears. Doka stepped forward and placed a palm on his shoulder before he pulled him away.

"Just Fauna and Lyle," he told him.

Saber hated it. He hated being able to do nothing. Fauna screamed in pain again and he wanted nothing more than to take away all her suffering, but how? It wasn't like he could morph on her behalf. He would have gladly done that.

Lyle placed her on the soft grass, then he stepped away from her. He grabbed his wrist and tried to hold him in place, but he shook his head at her. Saber could see the pain in his eyes. It was physical.

"Lyle is in pains?" He whispered to Doka who nodded.

"He can feel everything his mate feels. Also, he's trying to absorb her pain, so it's expected that he's in excruciating pain. He's handling it well, I must say. He's been preparing for this moment for a while."

Saber nodded. He thought it was a good thing that Fauna had Lyle then, though it made him upset that Lyle was helpful while he wasn't.

For a long time, Fauna had looked up to him. For a long time, he was all she needed, but now that position had been occupied by Lyle. He swallowed his feelings though. Now wasn't the time to be jealous.

Lyle finally managed to pry his hand away from his mate and he stepped to the edge of the circle and watched her. He could feel her body heat up rapidly.

"It's going to be okay," he pushed the thought into her head.

He could feel his mother staring at him, but he refused to look away from his mate. His mother knew he was in pain. A mother can always tell, but he couldn't let that get to him. He had a responsibility and that was to swallow the pain and provide strength for his mate.

He was going to be okay. She was depending on him to be.

Some of the merfolks that weren't forming the circle gathered around Fauna and stretched their palms to her. Colourful hues of healing lights materialized from them and spread around her. Lyle could feel her pain ease up a little, but not enough.

Another snap was heard; like the sound of twigs breaking in the silence of the night and this time, Lyle gritted his teeth, but otherwise said nothing. Fauna groaned in pain. She was trying to be strong. She was strong.

The full moon drew closer to them until it was directly above Fauna. It was time.

Suddenly, an invisible force hit Lyle and he staggered before everything went black. Everywhere was dark, empty and quiet. It was the kind of emptiness that was suffocating and the silence was deafening, Lyle wanted to scream.

He looked around, but he wasn't sure he was moving. He couldn't feel his limbs; he couldn't feel anything other than the void.

"Fauna?" He tried to call out, but he wasn't sure words came out of his mouth. It felt like he was stuck in a dream and it was only when he felt crippling fear that wasn't his own that he knew he was stuck in Fauna's head.

He furrowed his brows as he wondered what scared her so much, then he realized she probably didn't know. If she did, she would have told him, right? Werefolks were instinctual and sometimes sensed and acted on danger before their brain could fully process just what the threat was.

One kind of werefolk could do that better than the others, but Lyle didn't want to focus on that at the moment. There was no way Fauna had that in her. They had been purged by Selene herself. The signs were there though, and he feared for her, but he had to concentrate on making her feel better. He would figure things out later.

'That's not right!' He suddenly thought to himself.

Fauna's body was trying to morph into a bear because it had adapted upon her entry into their territory, but the dominant wolf in her wanted to break though. Lyle could smell it. He could feel it. One of them had to give way, else she could die.

"Love, I know you're in pains. I do, but I need you to concentrate right now," he projected the thought into her mind. "I need you to remember the wolves. Their scent, their look, every single detail about them. Trust me."

Nothing happened for a moment and it made Lyle even more restless. She was still deeply terrified and he didn't know if she could concentrate on anything even if she wanted to. He wanted nothing more than to be in her place. Unfortunately, this was a journey she had to embark on. Someone else couldn't morph on her behalf.

A small smile appeared on his face when he sensed it. The pain lessened as her body slowly stopped fighting with itself. She was trying her best. She indeed was a fighter. Lyle could sense she had slowly started to take form. She was finally going to morph into a wolf and Lyle was sure she would survive it.

Knowing she was going to be fine; he could finally draw his attention away from her morphing and onto her fear. What was causing her powers to act up? He needed to probe deeper into her mind, but he was exhausted. He couldn't get past the blinding darkness.

With all his might, he pulled away from her head and back to reality. He looked around and saw that Fuego was staring at him with furrowed brows. He forced a smile at his best friend before he turned to Fauna. She was writhing, but she was transforming fine. Flawless white fur was protruding from her skin and her mass was increasing as her bones elongated.

He took in a deep breath and headed towards the lake. He was stronger in his merman form and he couldn't morph if he wasn't in the water.

Ava who was with the mermaids bathing Fauna with the healing light started to walk towards him, but he shook his head at her and she nodded and stayed put. He caught Saber's concerned stare and he forced a smile. He couldn't have anyone worried about him.

He made it into the water and was quick to transform. He didn't even register his body morphing as he was too occupied with drawing the magic water held. The lake bubbled around him and he felt a slight hum as he started to absorb the power.

Lyle sucked in a deep breath to expel all the negative thoughts from his mind, then he closed his eyes and with his mind, he reached for his mate. He connected with her immediately.

"You left!" Her voice was strained in his head. "You're – you're in pains?"

"I'm okay, and so are you. You're almost there."

A dull ache formed on the sides of his head. He had never really had to absorb a lot of magic from the water. It was dangerous and the merfolks were advised against such, but he didn't think he had a choice. His body writhed in protest as it tried to disconnect itself from anything that could cause it harm, but he refused to allow that.

He was in her head again. He couldn't hear the hum of the water. He couldn't feel the pain he was in. All he felt was the emptiness and the darkness. He tried to push past that and slowly, everything around him started to blur in and out of focus.

He blinked and he was standing in a strange land. The full moon was above, illuminating the grassy ground. He looked around and it looked like he was standing on the mountains far North. He had seen it before.

There was a man there. He was tall and looked strong. He was bearded and had violet eyes. He could see a resemblance to Saber and Lyle immediately knew that was Lord Bruce. He was speaking to a smaller man. A werewolf. He had seen him before. That was the leader of Alarick woods.

Everything blurred for a moment, and when they focused, Lyle realized something was deeply wrong. The tiger seemed to be engaged in a heated conversation with the wolf. So heated, he wasn't paying attention to his surrounding, so he couldn't see the lions that stalked him. They were closing in from all directions.

It's an ambush!

He tried to scream. He tried to warn the man, but he had no voice there. He was simply a silent spectator and could only watch the man suddenly realize his predicament.

The world blurred around him again and when they focused, all he could feel was Fauna's grief. Lord Bruce was bleeding out on the ground, life draining from his eyes while Alpha Ivailo and a young but malicious looking lion stood over him.

The lion had a huge grin on his face as though he found the situation amusing. He leaned towards Ivailo and whispered something to him and Lyle watched as the duo shared a laugh.

"You'll never succeed," was the only sentence he managed to hear and it came from Lord Bruce. Those were his last words. Lyle watched as his eyes went lifeless and melancholy washed over him, but it wasn't his own emotions. Perhaps it was too. He didn't know the man, but he knew that Fauna cared about him deeply. Saber and Zara too.

He cast his gaze on Ivailo and the lion he figured was Ari. He marked their faces, their revolting scent and their aggravating auras. They had declared war and he was going to give them war.

Lyle wasn't one to get angry, but in that moment, anger was all he felt. No one hurt his mate and got away with it. No one was allowed to hurt the people he cared about.

Ari had gone too far, and he needed to pay with his life.

"I promise you, Fauna, I will not stop until everyone who has hurt you dies by my hand."

THE END