Chapter 124 - 123. Another World

When their feet touched the ground after being pulled by Gabriella, the two werewolves felt nothing. No power passed through their bodies to warn them. There wasn't any warm or cold sensation that enveloped their bodies. No shiver ran through their skin. As if they had crossed the threshold of a room, they had fallen into another world.

Eden froze, unable to know if he could trust what he was witnessing thanks to his perception skill. As soon as the blond werewolf set foot on the lands of the Servants of Talamh's territory, he looked up and first saw fields stretching to his right and his left, as far as the eye could see.

These fields were nothing extraordinary. However, above them, there was a sight quite incredible. Hundreds of will-o-wisps of bright colors were floating, each of them casting a soft, soothing light.

Barely recovered from his shock caused by such a surreal vision, the male omega's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he looked up at the horizon. On the other side of these fields, a city loomed, carved into the mountain. There were hundreds, probably thousands of houses that lit up one after the other. But that wasn't the most surprising thing.

Just as they hovered over the fields, thousands of multicolored will-o-wisps danced, moving back and forth from house to house, creating a colorful and majestic ballet. While Eden thought he had seen everything, the male omega stepped aside just in time to see a bear whose body was made of luminescent orange energy. Each of its paws touched the ground and the contact caused a small cloud of energy that rise and faded away.

The scene was surreal, captivating, and sublime. The sun that was setting behind the fields colored the sky with incandescent hues which blended perfectly with the body made of orange energy. Moving idly, the animal, which must have been three meters in height, lowered its head when it saw that it had just passed by something.

It looked down at the omega and nodded its head then continued on its way to the city.

"It greeted you," Gabriella stated watching Eden's reaction with a smile on her lips.

"I'm dreaming, right? You cast a spell on us and I'm dreaming. Because I can't see another explanation for what's happening in front of me," told the werewolf and his question made the servant of Talamh snort.

"No, you aren't dreaming, this spirit greeted you."

"A spirit?"

"Yes. A spirit. It is one of the hundreds of thousands living in the lands of the Servants of Talamh," Gabriella pointed away from the town to a forest that wasn't there when they parked on the lower side of the road. "It would be more accurate to say that they allow us to live on their land."

Eden looked without believing what he was seeing. The road by which they had arrived had given way to a rough dirt road bordering a forest. Despite the density of the forest, the two werewolves could see between the trunks, lights of several different hues that blended together. Dozens of spirits like the bear-shape one that had just passed by Eden were walking, indifferent to their presence.

The darkness that was settling as the sun slowly sank behind the horizon line made the sight even more wonderful. Suddenly, two wolf cubs whose bodies were made with brilliant blue energy came out of the forest, running and heckling.

They came close to Glen and started circling his legs, chasing each other. The werewolf smiled as he saw the unlikely scene.

Not knowing what to do and afraid of what might happen if he touched them, the alpha dared not move and just stared at the two little wolves running in a circle around him. As they picked up the pace, the wind that touched their evanescent bodies blew fine particles of energy. A fine bluish, fluorescent mist began to surround the werewolf.

Glen held out his hand, palm open to the sky. When one of these particles touched his skin, it entered his palm with a gleam that last a split second.

A bigger wolf of a cold but shimmering blue emerged from the forest. Its gait was quiet. They could see the place where its paws touched on the ground glowing for a moment after each contact.

The animal moved forward and stopped a good distance from where the wolf cubs were heckling around Glen. After a while, a blue light shone where its heart should have been and, like they had been called, the cubs rushed towards it. The dominant looked at the wolf-like spirit's blue eyes and it stared back at him quietly.

At least that was what he believed. Eden, who had been staring at the scene from the beginning, had seen that his mate's aura, his gigantic golden wolf, looked amusedly at the wolf cubs' games. When the wolf-like spirit came out of the forest, it waited for the alpha wolf to notice it before calling its cubs, putting an end to their game.

"Fascinating isn't it?" Gabriella asked, leaning towards Eden.

The omega's eyes sparkled with excitement. He had never seen anything so extraordinary and, deep down, something told him that this was just the beginning.

The Servant of Talamh called out to the alpha to join them.

"I know it's an amazing sight but don't forget your purpose. You come to find out more about the gift your Goddess gave you, don't you?"

Right. The system. If they had come all this way, that was because of Eden's system. They wanted to know more about it. Understand better how it works and why they could no longer access Glen's information regarding his curse.

The dominant joined his mate and Gabriella and the three of them resumed their march. They walked along the fields in silence.

Night had now completely settled and the view was even more impressive. Eden was fascinated by the thousands of will-o-wisps floating around the field. When they finally reached the city, he looked up at the mountain where the town had been carved.

"Oh my fucking G…"

"No! No cursed words about the Gods. You could upset one of them or a spirit and we don't want that happens, trust me," Gabriella said with a mischievous expression.

She knew what Eden had just seen and which had provoked his reaction. More impressive than to the thousands of will-o-wisps that wandered above and between the houses, a huge spirit walked on the roofs like a giant on a stroll.

"It's Beanntan, the spirit of the mountain who allowed my clan to settle on its side thousands of years ago."

"The spirit of a mountain?!" Eden exclaimed in a voice a little higher than he had expected.

His cry made the woman chuckle and the blond cleared his throat.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of. I know that must be impressive for someone who has never lived among Spirits."

"Are you telling me that everything here," he pointed to the light show around them, "It leaves you completely unmoved? Even if I had been born and lived here all my life, I don't think I could have ever gotten used to such a sight." As he spoke, he watched as a will-o-wisps leaped inside a house through a window, and a little girl closed the window as soon as it entered.

"I'm not saying that I'm no longer amazed. It's a show that even after a hundred years, I don't think it's possible to get tired of it, but let's say that I no longer have the heart that wants to burst off my chest every time that a spirit pops up without a warning."

Like it wanted to make her lose all credit after her words, a luminous white eagle appeared in front of Gabriella and startled her. A loud laugh rang out and the eagle swooped down. Just before it touched the grown, it changed the position of its wings to ascend and alighted on the shoulder of an old woman who was leaning on a knobstick.

"Stop trying to be smart in front of your guests!" said the older woman in her hoarse voice. The old woman's eyes paused on her granddaughter recovering from the shock, then on the two werewolves.

"Grandma, what are you doing here? The night has fallen, it's too cold, I told you I was coming. Why didn't you wait for me inside?"

"You were too slow! I was tired of waiting and took a spirit of fire with me." As she spoke, a glowing red will-o-wisps came out of her pocket and swirled around her happily before reentering her body through her chest.

"Grandma! That's why everyone calls you a heretic! You cannot treat spirits as your servants."

"They don't complain, I don't understand why you should. Why are you sticking your nose in my magic business? Hmpf! Spirits can say no. They know how to and don't need you or anybody else to talk on their behalf. They wouldn't answer me if I offended them!" The old lady grumbled and her granddaughter groaned.

"Arg!" Gabriella turned to Eden and Glen who were smiling awkwardly in front of their conversation. "My grandmother's house is this way. Follow us."

They walked in silence. Eyes wide open so as not to miss anything that was happening as the colorful and bright merry-go-round around them continued. Several times, will-o-wisps approached them, swirled around them, then moved away. The cute behavior of what Gabriella called elementary spirits fascinated them.

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a house and the old woman stood in front of the door then she cleared her throat loudly.

"Ahem!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and opened the door to let the old woman in to get warm. The latter assumed a deceptively innocent look.

"What? The handle is frozen as hell. You know what cold does to joints at my age."

"W..And your spirit of fire then? Is it useless?"

"I broke the contract while we were walking. Fortunately! The poor thing! If it had heard you calling it useless, it would have been offended for sure. Probably brokenhearted!"

She shook her head and Gabriella glared at her grandmother. Glen swore he saw a murderous glint in the woman's eyes. However, she said nothing and simply busied herself to welcome her guests as well as possible.

Gaby lit the room which turned out to be a cozy but simple dining room. The interior walls looked the same as the exterior walls. It was an almost coppery brown and rectangles were cut giving the appearance of cobblestones. A roaring fire was burning and they could smell several tantalizing smells coming from the next room.

"And then you wonder why I left the clan to live with the civilians," grumbled the woman underneath her breath.

Unfortunately for her, the grandmother still had good hearing despite her advanced age.

"Tch! You ran away because, like many others, you don't know how to have fun practicing magic. Youngsters these days don't know anything!"

Gabriella decided not to talk back and only rolled her eyes even though the comment had touched a sensitive place. She turned to the werewolves and finally made the introductions.

"Eden, Glen, this is Alicia. Alicia is my grandmother and the most powerful Servant of Talamh. To date, she has a contract with over two thousand spirits, some of them are powerful enough to start a war. She is the one who will help you understand your gift."

She had barely finished when the old woman narrowed her eyes. The intensity of her gaze made Eden and Glen uncomfortable.

"Caraid!" The eagle-shaped spirit on her shoulder flew away at the sound of her voice and it crossed the room. The spirit turned in a circle around the two werewolves, leaving behind him white runes, also luminous. As soon as the circles of runes were complete, she struck the ground with her staff, lightly.

"Okay, let's start the fun!"