Oregon in the Fall - 26. Chapter Twenty-Six: Veil

The old oak trees swayed in the breeze, their leaves whispering ancient secrets as we approached the gathering of druids in our home. As we got closer, the scent of earth and moss filled my nose, mixed with the faint aroma of burning sage and incense. It was both comforting and otherworldly.

“Alpha,” Casey said stiffly as we reached the circle of robed figures. He bowed his head to me, the gesture still very unfamiliar. “And, er, Alpha’s Consort.” He stumbled over the words and quickly ducked his head to Dave.

A smile tugged at the corner of Dave’s mouth. “Just Dave is fine, Casey. No need for fancy titles between us.”

Casey looked up, surprise flashing across his weathered face before he barked out a short laugh. “Right. Of course… Dave.” He visibly relaxed, the wrinkles on his face softened, and he also stood a little taller, more confident in the situation that was thrust upon him.

Just a few days ago, I never would have believed that I would be standing here with my pack again, the weight of their loyalty and trust heavy on my shoulders. It felt surreal, almost like a dream. And now, with Dave by my side, I was able to claim my birthright as their leader. But as the adrenaline surged through my veins and reality once again tried to skin in, all I could think was: Will they realize I still had no clue what I was doing?

I placed a steadying hand on Casey’s shoulder, feeling the solid muscle beneath. Strange, how this powerful man now deferred to me, looked to me for guidance. The mantle of leadership still sat heavy and ill-fitting. I was not a fan of birthrights because my own blood had betrayed me for so long, but I couldn’t deny that this felt kind of nice.

Clearing his throat, Casey’s expression sobered. “As I mentioned, the druids arrived not long ago, led by the woman named Maio. An unprecedented honor, her coming here. And most unusual. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a druid before in the flesh!”

Unease prickled along my spine. I had met the druids just three days ago, but it honestly felt like months had passed. We went into a labyrinth of whatever, delved deep into a realm called Aaru, and ended up being spit out back into my home territory. You couldn’t make this shit up.

“There’s more, Alpha,” Casey continued gravely. “Your father is missing. No one has seen him since the challenge…” He trailed off, the implications hanging unspoken.

I squeezed Dave’s hand, needing his grounding touch as dread coiled in my gut. Too many unknowns, too many threads unraveling.

“Thank you, Casey,” I said, surprised at the calm authority in my own voice. “Please, take us to Maio. I believe we have much to discuss with the druids. My father is a concern for another day.”

A knot formed in my stomach as I thought about how many people could potentially be under my father’s control. It was a concerning issue that would need to be addressed sooner rather than later. I was glad there were people like Casey who immediately deferred to me, though. That’s not the leadership style I envisioned, but at the moment it had to do.

We retraced our steps to the fringes of the pack grounds, a haunting sense of déjà vu settling over me as we approached the boundary where we had confronted my brother and parents just yesterday. My familiarity with this place did not offer solace; years of torment and unease aren’t easily replaced with this new status quo. Forgetting isn’t easy. I had people I could trust in tow, and that was enough for now.

The air shifted as we approached. Power thrummed through my ancient trees, their leaves whispering secrets in a language older than time. Dave’s hand tightened in mine, a lifeline amidst the swelling tide of magic.

I paused at the edge of the clearing, my pack fanning out behind me. As Alpha, it was my duty to lead, to stand at the forefront. Yet never had I felt the weight of that responsibility so keenly. Drawing a steadying breath, I stepped forward.

The scene before us left me speechless. Maio—naturally ageless and ethereal—stood at the center of the glade, her silver hair cascading down her back like moonlight made manifest. Except it was daytime. Around her, the druids formed a loose circle, their robes the color of dusk and dawn. And among them, creatures of myth and legend—spectral wolves with pelts of mist, stags whose antlers glowed with an inner fire, and beings that defied description, as if the very fabric of reality bent to accommodate their presence.

“You do know how to make an entrance, Maio,” I said.

“What can I say, cute little wolf… I’m exuberant. Though I have to apologize, you are not so cute and little anymore,” Maio said, “Alpha.” Maio’s silver hair shimmered in the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees as she inclined her head in respect.

Behind me, Sebastian shifted, his unease palpable. I could feel his gaze boring into my back, the weight of our shared history, our fractured brotherhood, pressing down on me. But we held together at this moment, and that was remarkable.

“Maio,” I replied, bowing my head in deference. “Your presence honors us, though I fear it portends grave tidings.”

Dave unexpectedly burst into laughter and cut through the solemn atmosphere, drawing surprised glances from the gathered crowd. I shot him a questioning look, startled. “Sorry, sorry,” he said, waving his hand. “It’s just… ‘portends grave tidings’? You are so cute.”

I felt my cheeks flush, a mix of embarrassment and amusement warring within me. Trust Dave to puncture the moment with his irreverent humor. But I couldn’t deny the way it eased the tension coiled in my gut, reminding me that, despite the cosmic forces at play, we were still just us. Maio’s musical laughter joined Dave’s, the sound like wind chimes in a gentle breeze.

From behind Maio, Deia stepped out, beaming with delight. “I’m so happy you’re all here. Especially you, Dave and Mark.” Deia approached, and I moved out of the way so Dave and Mark could greet their grandmother. She hugged them close. “I see you still have the necklaces, but why is Dave wearing both?”

“It’s a long story,” Mark answered.

“I can imagine. We sent you into Labirinthoset too quickly, and I was afraid we wouldn’t find you here… at least not all of you. We come with information, and it is crucial you hear it from us directly.”

She gently held both Mark and Dave’s faces in her hands when she noticed something. Her expression shifted to one of shock as she closely examined Dave’s face. What had she seen? However, it was when she turned to look at Mark that she lost her balance and fell back into the dirt with a loud thud. Her face was filled with pure terror.

“Three days! It’s been just three days! How!?” she exclaimed.

“Deia, what is it?” Maio said and stepped forward, ignoring Deia’s dusty behind, eager to investigate the matter herself.

Maio’s sharp gaze settled on Dave, her eyes studying every inch of him as if trying to solve a puzzle. “How… how are you a wolf now?” she finally asks, her voice laced with confusion and disbelief. Her eyes then flicked to Mark and widened in horror. “Oh no!” she gasps, her hand going to her mouth in shock.

With Deia on the floor and Maio in utter shock, even the spectral animals that accompanied them seemed to mirror their unease, shifting restlessly and emitting low, mournful growls. The air around them crackled with a palpable tension, as if something dark and foreboding was about to happen. The other members of the group seemed equally unsettled by this sudden change in their leaders.

Maio steadied herself, looked at me and said, “We need to talk, Grey. For the fate of worlds hangs in the balance, and the moon’s path is already set. For now, we need to protect this place.”

As she spoke, the creatures of myth stirred, their ethereal forms shifting and swirling around us. The Druids began to chant, their voices weaving a haunting melody that echoed through the grove.

As the druidic chant filled the air, Clara stepped forward, her eyes locked on Maio. The elder druid’s gaze softened, a flicker of ancient wisdom dancing in their depths. She extended a hand, and Clara grasped it without hesitation, the connection between them real.

“I will help, Maio-na,” Clara said.

I watched, transfixed, as tendrils of golden light began to wind around their joined hands, pulsing in time with the rhythm of the chant. The spectral creatures drew closer, their ethereal forms shimmering with an otherworldly glow.

Mark, standing beside me, inhaled sharply. I glanced at him, noting the mix of awe and trepidation on his face. He took a step forward, as if drawn by an invisible force, his hand outstretched toward one of the spectral wolves.

“Mark,” I warned, my voice low. But he didn’t seem to hear me, lost in the thrall of the moment.

His fingers brushed against the wolf’s insubstantial form, and a shudder ran through his body. The creature’s eyes flared with an iridescent light, and for a heartbeat, I swore I saw a flicker of recognition in its gaze.

“It’s warm,” Mark murmured, his voice distant. “Like a memory of sunlight on a winter’s day.”

The druidic chant crescendoed, the air thrumming with ancient power. I felt it then, the stirring of something vast and primordial, a force that dwarfed even the might of the Belcore pack.

Clara and Maio stood at the center of the maelstrom, their joined hands now wreathed in a blinding aura. The elder druid’s voice rose above the chant, her words echoing with the weight of prophecy.

“From the blood of the protector, the seal shall be forged. From the heart of the pack, the strength shall be drawn. And in the crucible of sacrifice, the worlds shall be reborn.”

As the final syllable faded, the glow around Clara and Maio’s hands pulsed once, twice, and then shattered into a thousand glittering shards. The spectral creatures threw back their heads, their ethereal howls piercing the air.

And in that moment, I felt it—the subtle shift in the fabric of reality, the whisper of a cosmic balance tipping ever so slightly back toward equilibrium.

But even as a flicker of hope kindled in my chest, I knew that this was only the beginning. The true test lay ahead, and the price of failure was a burden I would carry until my final breath.

Amidst the foreboding chants, Clara hugged Maio closely, then turned around to address us. “Everyone who was just in the Belcore home, let’s go back there. Maio and Deia have things to discuss with us.”

I nodded.

As the glow dissipated and the chanting faded, we made our way back to my family home. I did a quick Alpha thing and turned to Casey. “Can you make sure that our guests are provided for? I’m not sure if they need anything to be honest, but I would appreciate it if we could be… good hosts, I guess? That would be wonderful, Casey.”

Casey nodded.

“You seem to be holding up well, Dave, my dear,” Deia said, walking right next to us.

“I am. But I have to admit, it’s difficult to drown out all the voices and scents. My life was so dull before,” Dave responded.

“I can imagine. Having human senses is like having a very heavy respiratory infection, dulling out the senses. At least that’s what I was told,” she said and let out a chuckle.

“It’s hard to stay just an ordinary human being close to these magnificent people,” Maio stated matter-of-factly.

“Well, we clearly underestimated how extraordinary our boys were,” Deia said.

“Yup,” was the succinct response by Maio, and that ended the discussion.

We reached the house and I had everyone settle around the table once more. No one spoke for an awkward moment when Fiona said, “Should I get another casserole?”

“Oh, you are so sweet, my dear, please don’t trouble yourself,” Maio said. Her hand moved with a graceful flick and an array of colorful dishes appeared on the table before us, from steaming casseroles to platters of fresh fruit and vegetables. “I’m sure this isn’t as good as you would cook up yourself, but we have things to discuss. I believe it’s important that all of you are here.”

“So this is your pack now, huh?” Deia said, “And the nice lady with the casserole offering is… Mark! She’s your mom!”

Deia’s eyes lit up with excitement as she stood and quickly made her way towards Fiona, disregarding any sense of personal space and throwing her arms around her in a warm embrace. “You cared for my grandson so well, and I cannot thank you enough for your wonderful job!” Her voice was filled with genuine gratitude and admiration. “You are a wonderful group of wolves, but I believe this is more or less limited to this room. There is a disease in this place, a magical one, and everything is starting to make sense to me.”

“To start with, I think the most startling thing for us was to see Mark’s essence,” Maio said.

“You see… my essence? Sounds kinky.” Mark asked.

“Impossible is what it is. How did you get to Ginnungagap? We thought it impossible, and this changes everything yet again. I have to admit we came here with a plan on how to proceed, and now that’s out the window.”

“I feel like a character in a plot I neither control nor understand. I just act. I have no agency,” I said. Again it was all getting too much and too confusing again. I reclined in my chair, folding my arms in front of me.

“There is no free will, my dear. We don’t live in a vacuum. All we can do is make sure we react accordingly to the things around us. And it seems like you are doing just fine, Grey,” Maio tried to assure me.

Turning to Mark, she said, “Mark, how? How did you get there? But most of all, how did you return?”

“I was apparently ripped from this plane when we entered Labirinthoset, and then I just… roamed? When I found Grey and Dave, I told them how to help me get back.”

“Wait, what? Grey and Dave were there, too? You have to be fucking kidding me!” Deia said, and it sounded as ridiculous as it was to have this ancient and powerful druid swear in such a way.

“Nah, we kinda just… spaced out right here and went to the moon and found him. We talked for a bit,” Dave said.

“This is most fascinating,” Deia said.

“And how did you get back?” Maio asked.

“I focused very intently on… my love,” Mark said, and he looked over at Sebastian seated next to him and took his hand, “so I knew the way.”

“A mortal can’t just walk in Ginnungagap and come back here as if it’s a stroll in the park!” Deia exclaimed.

“They are no mortals, my dear,” Maio said.

“Also, I was a wolf! We don’t stroll,” Mark said.

My mother spoke for the first time in a while. “What is this place then where Mark was that makes it so impossible?”

“Ginnungagap isn’t a place. It is the source of everything and nothing. We are because it is. Without Ginnungagap, reality wouldn’t exist. Even the absence of existence wouldn’t exist because it goes beyond that. It is the primordial soup. Raw energy. Volatile and hostile. It knows no good or bad because it is beyond that. It is beyond the creation of the universe or timelines. To think a god or a construct could just travel to Ginnungagap is beyond preposterous. IT IS BEYOND THAT!” Maio said.

Um, ok?

“But here we are. I know that Mark was there because I feel its energy. The raw, unbridled energy of the vast beyond. I have so many questions, but we have to accept the fact that it is the truth. And that he is back here, standing before us, smelling like a magical nuclear power station. And this leads me to a very simple conclusion.”

“What is that conclusion, Maio-na?” Clara asked.

“I conclude that the Triad, consisting of Grey, Dave, and Mark, is more powerful than we thought. I called them gods, right?”

“You sure did, my ego liked it,” I said.

“Yes. I’m sure it did, love. We came here to fight an imbalance, and to fix what Theodore did. But we didn’t know we had such an arsenal at our disposal. You three are unlimited power. Unprecedented.”

“My ego likes that, too. So this will be easy, right?” I said.

“Not quite, little wolf. Ginnungagap doesn’t care if we exist. It doesn’t care if anything exists. It’s not meant to be tampered with, not meant to be tapped into by mortals. Or even by gods. But Theodore did somehow. His machinations breached the veil between this raw unbridled power and our reality. This all began here in this place, your pack grounds. Congratulations. And it’s progressively getting worse. Your births are proof of this, as you were made to fix it. But as I said, Ginnungagap knows no good or bad, your success is totally irrelevant to it. It is not an entity. It does not care. If you fail, everything will be gone. No, everything will never have been.”

“Oh,” Dave stated bluntly.

“Yes. Oh,” Deia said.

“No one understood it as far as we know, except for maybe the Constructs, as they are the closest to Ginnungagap we know. But we have no way of contacting them,” Maio said.

“That’s not quite true,” I said. Here we go again, Constructs. They confuse me.

“What do you mean?”

“We met quite a few. We went to a place called Aaru deep down inside Labirinthoset.”

“What?”

“And then we met Chronos. And Inari. And a cat!”

“What?” Maio said again.

“Oh yeah. Remember Edna, Maio?” Clara asked.

She looked at Clara, puzzled. “Yes?”

“She’s the Custodian of a Construct. So is Karl. I think they are cats.”

“What!” Maio seemed to have lost her vocabulary.

“Next you tell us dragons are real!” Deia said.

And from behind us in the shadows, an enigmatic figure appeared and spoke, “Of course they are real.”

“Chronos, what the actual fuck!” Clara shouted.

Behind us stood Chronos. Dave and I jumped up from our seats, almost throwing the chairs to the floor. My lips pulled back, revealing my teeth as I let out a growl, my eyes narrowing with menace. Dave stood beside me, his stance tense, fists clenched, and a similar growl escaping his lips.

Our alarm didn’t go unnoticed by the druids in our midst as Clara, Maio and Deia worked in swift unison to root the intruder in place. Their movements were quick and precise, hands and arms working in unison as they prepared to confront the intruder.

Thick, twisting vines burst out from between the wooden floor planks, their hungry tendrils reaching and wrapping around Chronos’ limbs, constricting him in a suffocating embrace. As hard as he struggled against them, they seemed to only grow stronger, digging deeper into the earth for support. But even in his helpless state, a mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes.

Their eyes were focused and determined, their stances strong and unwavering. In front, Dave and I stood ready to protect our friends, our eyes locked on Chronos who had appeared out of nowhere.

I had sent him away. So why was he here?

If he was able to break free easily—which I suppose was a possibility—he had apparently decided not to. Maybe to indulge us for the moment.

My voice cut through the rising tension like a blade, sharp and commanding. “Chronos, why are you here? How are you here?” Yet Chronos turned to Maio and Deia, his dark brown eyes intense. “Greetings, druids.”

“Tread carefully,” Clara warned.

“I’m not sure your vines can hold him. He’s elusive, and we have no clue how powerful he really is,” I remarked.

“That doesn’t matter, little wolf. We might not be powerful enough, but you are. And he knows it,” Maio said.

“Fair enough,” Chronos said, “but I’m here to help. You sent me away and for that, I cannot fault you. I was never trying to lie to you, but I will do my best and try to be as forthright as I can from now on. I underestimated your purposes and your place in this.”

“Good to know. What does that mean?” Dave asked, fangs bared—very hot.

“I thought you were merely sent to replace us. A concept I was okay with. We haven’t done our duty in a long time. But it seems I was wrong, which is a concept foreign to me. I studied how Mark returned to you, and his control of energy is beyond what even Constructs can do. And he did it without knowledge or training. This is unprecedented,” Chronos said.

“The hot man is correct,” Maio stated.

“The stakes are high, but you have our help. I will have to depart again and let the other Custodians know what has transpired. I no longer see the future, so I am on thin ice, as you might say. I will have to improvise. Expect us in due time.”

And with a sudden burst of light, Chronos disappeared into thin air, his form dissipating like smoke in the wind. As he vanished, the once strong and unyielding vines that had held him captive began to crumble and fall to the ground.

I let my guard down, feeling the tension dissipate from my body as Dave followed suit. With a collective sigh, the rest of the group relaxed and took their seats once more around the table. The air felt lighter now, free from the weight of conflict and animosity. I was still fucking confused, though.

Dave broke the silence. “Dragons are real?”