Chapter 358

358 Surrounded By Love

“What about that last thing you said about healing her instantly? I didn’t quite catch that,” Cole asked after a moment of silence. It was almost like he was trying to fill the heavy silence that had taken over the clearing.

“She would still be a werewolf, but she wouldn’t have the powers of one of my Chosen or those of a hunter either. She would be an ordinary royal wolf, free from the additional power I bestowed upon her when she was born,” the goddess replied.

Cole sighed, laying his eyes on the sleeping princess, “I don’t think she would be happy with that. She did promise to get better, but that is not what she would call... better. No, not when she wants to bring him down.”

The goddess sighed in response to his words, “It’s not forever you know. She will return to you when she’s all better.”

Silence swept through the whole clearing as many of them broke from the spell of seeing the goddess for the first time, “Can we at least say our goodbyes?” Sandra’s voice broke through the silence. Her voice sounded hoarse, almost as though she’d been crying, but no one asked.

“Yes,” the goddess replied, waving her hand over Katie’s body. The swirling blue mist that hung low in this field swirled over her body in a miniature tornado of power, taking form. As the mist swirled faster and faster above the girl, it began to take form, shifting from a cloud of blue mist to a floating ghostly human figure.

A silhouette of Katie appeared above her body. The body itself remained immovable. Ghost Katie’s eyes fluttered open and she regarded the scene before her. The goddess addressed her, “I’m guessing you heard everything that’s been said?”

Katie nodded to confirm the goddess’s words before turning to the people that were present because of her, “Hello, every...” her voice got caught in her throat when she finally took in their expressions. “Mum,” she called out.

Both the Queen and her adoptive mother looked up at her, “Both my mothers...” a tear broke slid down her face, “Father... both of them. Lina, my sister, Drake, my brother, my best friend, Sandra. Anthony, Samantha, Kenneth, Jackeline, Frost, Aunt Evelyn, Uncle Thorrin... You all came. Oh my... This is a little embarrassing.”

.....

“What’s so embarrassing about being surrounded by the people that love you?” Sandra frowned.

“The part where I’m speaking to them as a ghost that has been summoned to say my goodbyes. I left Brigadia to try and put an end to the Rogue king... and yet I return immovable. So, yeah, this is a little embarrassing,” Katie grimaced.

A giggle rang through the crowd, “You’re crying. You’re feeling embarrassed. It only sounds to me like you’ve grown up quite a bit. Teaching you to hold in your emotions had you unable to express them. I guess you did learn something out there in the big cities,” Samantha replied, with a sad chuckle. Katie had never thought of it that way. In fact, she thought learning how to express her emotions was just a form of weakness. ‘I couldn’t have done it without Ashley,’ Katie thought to herself.

“Yeah, I learnt a lot... and ate a lot as well,” the Luna replied, “I have so many stories. Maybe when I return, we could play a little more paintball. I’m sure you’d like to give Kyle a good smack on the head as well,” Katie chuckled. The ghostly apparition of the girl floated up to the five hunters that had accompanied this party and bowed to them, “I’m so grateful to the five of you... and all the hunters of Brigadia as well.”

“You don’t have to do this, Katie. It’s not like you’re going away for a long time,” Kenneth tried to stop her. The lack of reply from the girl and the goddess’s failure to look them straight in the eye suggested otherwise, “No, Katie, you must return to us,” Kenneth panicked.

“I will return, Kenneth. I just don’t know when that will be,” Katie tried to fake a smile, but the ghostly tears that shimmered on her face betrayed the purpose of her words. Without a physical form, Katie felt awkward hugging them so she settled for bidding them farewell.

When she was done bidding them farewell, she floated to the Sirius royal family, “Mum, Dad, little sister, Lina and my obnoxious big brother, Drake.”

“You know, I’m perfecting my act of being a gentleman,” Drake replied to her, however, his usual friendly tone was gone and replaced with one filled with melancholy.

“We lost you once before and we’ve only got you back,” King Davin said through gritted teeth. He balled his fists in frustration.

Katie bit back tears as she watched her family. The gathering of people that had come with her was the reason that kept her focused on her mission every day. The reason she found the strength to keep fighting the rogues every day. For her to create a world where those she loved would live in peace and happiness, free of the fear that tormented this world, “I know you will be back, but that doesn’t make this any easier.”

“Why did you have to get so reckless again?” Lina bit back her own tears.

Katie smiled fondly at her younger sister, “When something bad is going to happen, I don’t always know how to hold back, Lina. If my efforts achieved anything, they only brought the Rogue King fear and he’ll still be cautious, but ultimately, I failed to capture him.

I ask that you keep everyone around you safe. Something gave him a reason to escape. Something gave him hope that he could win this war. It was so important that it even forced him to retreat and not risk getting recaptured. If you find out what it is, keep him from it as much as you can. When I return and he’s not defeated by then, this will all end.”

“You haven’t toured Sirius yet, you know,” Queen Martha changed the subject.

Now that Katie thought about it, she hadn’t gotten the chance. Immediately her trip to the reserve had ended, she’d gotten herself into this situation. She’d missed out on their first family outing, “Yeah, I haven’t. So we’ll have to do that when I return.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” the Queen’s words were laboured and betrayed the facade she was putting up.

With her goodbyes said, Katie floated to her adoptive family. From each group she left, her heart felt heavier. She didn’t know if she could make it, but she had to keep going. After all, this was the last time she would be seeing them in a long time.

'

Katie regarded the pair tasked with raising her since she was an infant. Thomas and Marie Chase beheld the girl they’d raised, “How didn’t we see this coming?” Marie covered her lips with her palm to keep the words that threatened to pour from her.

Thomas and Marie Chase were the closest Chase hunters to Katie when she set out for Lycaon that day and they had detected something wrong was going to happen to their daughter.

They had come rushing to her rescue. They had accompanied her to Lycaon... They had watched her and helped her in her fight against the Rogue King. All their efforts had done nothing to stop what happened to her. They still ended up watching her lose all her strength and eventually collapse... immovable.

Their abilities weren’t always clear. While they thought the true danger was in Lycaon and even helped Katie try to stop it, they had completely missed the signs of her pushing herself well beyond her limits. It was simply unavoidable. Even then, who could have thought her injuries would be this dire? So dire that a god could only treat her.