Chapter 149: Trapped Memories

She kept silent for a moment, then continued, [You can also choose not to make the contract.]

[There is a lot of time. You can slowly awaken their wolf and make the bonding naturally, as other werewolves do.]

Moon shook his head. "I don’t want to take eternal time just to awaken a wolf spirit. I can’t sort out those messy emotions."

He sat on the cloudy ground cross-legged.

After a brief hesitation, he asked slowly, "That woman... is she his mother? Why would she do something like that? Isn’t it too cruel for her own child?"

He still couldn’t forget Axe’s little face and how miserably he cried.

[Sometimes hurting can also be a way of protecting. You just need to distinguish between the intention.]

"Is it... because of his iron claws?"

The Moon Goddess smiled but didn’t reply.

"She looked like you. Is she your child?" Moon asked, looking at the Goddess’s face.

[Every person in this Monalis is my child.]

The Goddess said, sitting cross-legged. As if she wanted to meditate.

Moon frowned. "Are you a mage?"

[I am the breath of this world,] she replied and closed her eyes.

[I will give you an instant of time. Take slow and deep breaths and try to guide your soul here. My domain is not something a human can stay in long.]

Moon also closed his eyes with her. Soon he felt the gentle flow of a power he had never felt. Something untouchable, yet it was there.

He knew it was the Moon Goddess’s own power. The power of faith. The power she got from this entire world’s belief in her.

This gentle feeling slowly calmed his messy mind. Scattered thoughts settled into place. Soon he knew how he could block all the disturbing emotions and guide his soul to increase the bonding instead.

After a long while, his soul slowly faded from the domain.

Moon opened his eyes. This time, on his own body inside the cave.

The first thing he saw was the familiar ceiling of the cave dwelling.

Meanwhile, on the bed inside the cave, Axe’s fever was rising high. He was not in any good position either.

The first thing he saw was the familiar ceiling of the cave dwelling. The second was the man lying beside him.

Axe’s face was flushed with fever, and sweat had soaked through the collar of his clothes. His breathing was uneven, and now and then, his fingers would tighten into a fist.

Moon’s brows knitted together.

"Is he going to be all right?"

[He will.]

Moon sat up and pressed his forehead to Axe’s.

He felt a slight tremor and wondered what Axe was seeing in his dream. Axe was never really close to him, yet in this moment he felt his heart ache a little.

Soon he suppressed his feelings.

He looked at Axe again.

His hand unconsciously grabbed Axe’s wrist and started to slowly rub against his nails. The smooth texture was nothing like the iron claws he drew out occasionally. Moon’s fingers tightened.

Some people were dying for not having talent there, and some people were dying for having talent here. Isn’t it a big irony of the world?

Moon pressed his lips softly on Axe’s forehead as he called out, "Axe, wake up."

Moon watched him for a long time before finally letting his head sink back into the pillow beside Axe.

.

.

.

Axe was running.

His silver fur was glistening under the moonlight.

He ran from morning till night.

He didn’t know where he was going, only that he had to keep moving.

Then one morning, he stopped near a big willow tree.

"Wheeze! Wheeeze! Woooooo!"

A little boy with chubby little cheeks sang. His little mouth puffed up every time he sang the wooo.

He blew on a willow leaf, trying hard to make it fly, but the leaf would not fly.

It fell again and again.

"Wheeeze Wheeeeze Woooo... Who? Who are you?"

The boy’s round, big eyes widened in shock.

Axe lowered his head and let the boy ruffle his fur.

The little fingers raked through his fur and sank into its softness.

Suddenly, the world spun, and he was running through a meadow, carrying the boy on his back. The wind blew past them, along with the forests and cities.

Yet he didn’t stop.

He didn’t stop until he was back in the same place.

But the place was no longer that peaceful yard beneath the willow tree.

There was fire everywhere.

The willow’s canopy was long gone.

He heard screams and shouting all around. He turned to leave but found that the boy on his back was gone, too.

He snapped around and leaped from one patch of fire to another. Yet he couldn’t find the boy anymore.

"Mooney... where are you, Mooney..."

A woman’s heart-wrenching scream tore through the yard.

Axe ignored the fire and leaped inside.

He ignored the flames burning his fur and mane.

Soon, his entire body was shrouded in fire, yet he kept moving.

He looked for the woman who had just screamed. There was something in that scream. Something familiar.

Something that called to him, that summoned him.

Yet the woman was nowhere to be found.

The arch of the roof fell on him.

The tiles scraped his burnt skin, but he still wanted to find her.

His legs gave way from the pain and burns, and he slammed into the small garden in the backyard, where fire raged through the air.

Then he saw her.

Just for a second. Just for a fraction of a second.

Then his entire world spun, and he found himself slamming into the massive city wall.

Many spells were being cast in the air.

Flying weapons blinded his vision. But amidst all those chaotic scenes, his eyes froze on a slender figure, trembling with fear yet still casting spells.

Then the air froze, and the boy started to run.

Axe ran behind him.

Soon, he was surrounded by many more beasts. He wanted to bypass them and catch the boy, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t break through the encirclement.

He kept running, but his surroundings became still.

He started to force out all his power, all his soul force, just to run past those beasts and take the boy away.

But he was trampled under their feet.

The figure was slowly fading, farther and farther away.

Axe didn’t want him to go.

He couldn’t let him go.

He struggled to stand up and run again, only to be trampled once more.

The pain tore through his body, but he barely noticed it anymore. His eyes remained fixed on the fading figure.

Wait!

He wanted to call out, but no sound came.

The roaring and howling were endless. His consciousness was slowly fading, no matter how hard he tried to stay awake.

A ragged growl finally escaped through his throat.

Pained and distressed.

"Axe, wake up, Axe!"

In the midst of all the howling and growling, he suddenly heard a soft voice.

His vision blurred.

He just didn’t want to be left behind.

"Axe... Axe..."

He heard the voice again.

His body flinched once.

Then twice.

"Axe, can you hear me?"

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his back and yanked him up.

"Wake up, you bastard!"