Chapter 12: A Complicated Plan
Lyra (2022)
Lunch went fairly well, Alana had prepared a simple potato soup, quite delicious, and homemade sourdough bread bowls. It was Lyra's favorite bread to make at her cottage. It was a therapeutic process and the flavors always delivered. She thought sourdough was the best compliment to any homemade soup, and she couldn't be more right as she dove into such a magnificent meal. Lyra was placing her used utensils into the sink when a pair of hands crept around her waist. To say she was in shock was an understatement, and when she breathed in the familiar scent of eucalyptus, she calmed down almost instantly. "Eleni and Gus are going to shower and change, and then they'll meet us in my office." His voice was husky, and mind fogging to Lyra. He engulfed her senses in the most numbing way, and Lyra wanted a clear head for this meeting. "Okay" Was all she could manage to say, she didn't need a clear head Just yet, and she wanted to bask in what little affection she could until he turned to ice again.
To Lyra's dismay, that was only a few moments later. Thyrius cleared his throat and made his way over to Alana, muttered something only they could hear, and made his way to the hallway leading to the infamous office. Lyra followed behind him, she wanted to see her book again, and read the prophecy, now that she knew he was a part of it, maybe something she didn't see before would pop out at her. As they entered the office, she saw her book on his desk, open and on the page of the moon cycles. She had mixed feelings about someone else having read the book, her emotions were barely kept in check as she silently made her way over to her him. She flipped through a few pages, protection circles, grounding, and even a spell for home protection. She reminisced on the times early in her spiritual journey. She missed the cottage, and she cursed the ferals that attacked them. When she flipped to the back of the book, she saw the enveloped that contained the prophecy, and with shaky hands she took it out of the envelope and read it again:
"A darkened era made by the sun's greed
fall upon the realms of three.
War rages, blood is shed, lives lost,
Nights guiding light shattered, a species split.
Little Constellation, pure and bright, fallen from the heaven's skies,
Lycan's royal blood, heir to the throne of wolves. Leto's creation.
Two souls bound, restore balance through powers beyond sight"
It was written in an elegant script, surrounded by different runes, and glyphs, ranging from protection to disaster, even a few planets amongst them. Lyra had read it three times over before she placed it back into its envelope and looked at Thyrius. Still stationed by the door, he had been silent the entire time only blinking occasionally. "You're telling me that you're not a part of this prophecy? It's pretty clear to me from what I've heard about you." Lyra looked at him expectantly, he couldn't deny this. "I have a brother, and before our parents died, we had a falling out." His voice was strained, like he was fighting his memory. Lyra's face softened, "That doesn't mean that you aren't the heir to their throne." His eyes flashed a crystal blue, and made Lyra gasp in shock. "Derriston doesn't think so" His tone was menacing, and dark. "He thinks he is the true heir. And it split us up, all three of us." So, there was a bit of a family feud. Lyra had her hunches, but she never wanted to openly assume. "So, you and your siblings don't get along?" It was a fair question but one that made him tense visibly. Muscles in his jaw ticked and he closed his eyes. "Only my brother and I. My sister, we still have a relationship, but he's the reason we rule our respective territories." there was a pain in his voice that made Lyra's heart ache. He didn't get a chance to say more as a knock echoed through the room. "Come in" His voice was cold and monotone again.
Eleni skipped into the room behind Gus and they took the two seats in front of the large black desk. Thyrius proceeded to take his seat in the office chair, and left Lyra to stand next to Eleni. "Alpha, I've gotten word from one of the patrols to the east. There was a feral sighting 50 meters from our borders. It had been taken care of, but the feral had a note in its mouth." Thyrius' eyebrow twitched in anger and Lyra sucked in an anxious breath. "Very well, after were done here I'll go check it out, the feral in the cells?" Gus nodded and Thyrius made a motion towards Lyra's book. "So, we all know about the prophecy, and this book. We need to come up with a plan to help us locate Hekate's lost coven. Well, It's not really lost, but no one's heard from it since the last oracle went missing. The coven's location moved, and at least one other witch knows its whereabouts. Now, There's a coven not far from here, stationed in Portland. That's our best bet right now. Before I send out any warriors, how do we want to go about this?" Thyrius had a power to his voice that oozed alpha energy. He took charge, but he also wanted the input of the people he trusted the most, well at least two of the people he trusted the most. Lyra was only there because she had the book.
A leader is nothing without the support of his people, and having more than one brain composing a plan was the better way to get the desired outcome. "I think, strategically, we should send Lyra and I, with four guards. Witches already don't take too kindly to our kind, and a group of us will ensure an attack. Lyra's got some power stuff going on none of us know about, maybe someone there can help us with that. Also, she practices witchcraft so she may know customs we don't" Gus' voice brought reason to the conversation, and Lyra was itching for answers, especially from a coven. It was true, witchcraft among modern day humans may not be exactly the same as the coven they were about to visit, but it held on to ancient customs that more than likely came from these covens. "I agree, but I also wanna be there too." Eleni chimed in after her mate. "No, if I am not in the territory, you have to take over, love, you know that. That's why Thyrius had to stay here too, he has to run the pack, he was gone far too long." His reply was not ideal for Eleni, because Lyra saw annoyance flash across her face, but she did nod stiffly in response. "I don't want Lyra leaving our territory." Thyrius growled loudly, stunning all three of them into silence. It was a few moments before Gus spoke up again. "Alpha, she has to be there, she isn't a wolf, and they may take more kindly to her than the alpha and the beta of the royal pack. You and I know this could have ties to the feral problems we're having. Why all of the sudden Caeso is planning attacks now. You know as well as I do, Caeso doesn't need any more power than he already has, and your little beef with him isn't something that constitutes an all out war between our species. " Thyrius seemed to have understood, and nodded once before closing the book and placing it in one of the locked drawers of the desk. What beef exactly did Thyrius have with Caeso? And why would he not want Lyra to leave the territory? He wasn't her keeper, and he had no right to tell her where she could and could not go. Lyra stormed out of the office after that, and could sense that Eleni had followed her. She was getting over the anxiety of the whole situation, and rage was welcoming her with open arms.