Ayn's Healing

Chapter 41 - Ayn

The road to Broken Rock is mainly downhill, down to Rio's valley and then through a bumpy forest path, crossing two more pack territories.

Kari drives slowly and he has put on some very loud and angry music so that we don't feel like we have to speak. From the corner of my eye I see his beautifully shaped jaw that hasn't seen a blade in a week, and is now covered in a spiky beard which makes him look even wilder than usual. It goes well with the terrible frown he's been carrying since he got the challenge notice, and which no amount of kisses from my side has managed to smooth out.

I then watch the snow-covered trees that shine under the full moonlight, as the sky becomes almost imperceptibly grey. In order not to start crying for fear of what is to come, I focus on the child who is moving inside me in waves, like a tiny strong fish, randomly bumping the sides of my belly.

I am also thinking about the document released by the Witches' Council following the request I submitted months ago, and which I only received yesterday. I didn't tell Kari about it, because I didn't want to distract him. There was also not much to tell.

***

The summary report was heavily redacted. The attack that resulted in the death of Senior Healer Morgane and her husband Senior Firestarter Ray was deemed to be the third in a series. Before her, Healer name redacted, and Healer name redacted with her husband name redacted, had lost their lives in rogue attacks. Confirmation that a dark artefact was used had been received only after the third incident, based on the testimony of title redacted, name redacted, son of name redacted. I assumed the witness was the certain Luka, son of the River, but I was surprised he had a title that needed to be censored.

As immediate corrective and preventive action, the Witches' Council enforced the ban on the use of dark magic by conducting a series of coven shutdowns. I smiled bitterly reading the term of coven shutdown. It was milder than "house cleaning", but I suspected it meant something similar.

The artefact involved in the crimes was not retrieved, however after five years with no additional incidents, the preventive action was considered successful and further investigations were suspended.

***

Full of black lines as it was, the report answered my initial curiosity and confirmed that there had been more attacks before the one on my parents.

But it also raised many other questions, over which I am going through in my head, as I am resting my hand on Kari's so that he stops abusing the gear stick. I still don't understand why the previous cases weren't discussed in the public domain. I find it surprising that the three witches had all been certified Healers and I am wondering what could have been the motive for these crimes.

Green witches were revered and protected because of their very useful strengths, so it seemed counterintuitive that somebody would want to destroy them on purpose. I also wonder what was the redacted title of my rescuer. 

The baby bumps into my side one more time and I am thinking I will dwell on these issues later, if there is still a later in this terrible day.

Kari parks the car and then we have to hike half an hour through deep snow, up to the plateau which they call the Broken Rock meadow. It is in a neutral some ten square miles piece of land, at the crossroads between the Eastern and Northern Hills and the Land Core. I know from the books I have read on the Wolves' Way that this was the historical place for challenges and it was preserved as such. The territory belongs to the Shifter's Council, which is actually headquartered some kilometers south from here.

The large meadow is filled with shifters, there must be at least fifty of them. Most of them are probably here because they never witnessed an unplanned challenge. But I also recognise Jake, Aidan, Rio and their respective Betas, who probably came to see if they will have the misfortune of getting a boy from the East as their new neighbor. After I kiss  Kari one last time before he has to step in the challenge circle, I go with Timo to join them.