s h a t t e r e d  h e a r t s

c h a p t e r  32

My whole body feels like it's floating, as if I'm so high up in the clouds that I'm weightless. This blinding light took over my vision. That light does not hurt me nor harm my eyes in any sort of way. In fact, it does feel quite nice. There is this buzzing feeling inside my body. I can feel it travel through my veins and throughout my entire body as a whole. This feeling is so wonderful and it feels magical as well. Something that I've never felt before in my entire life. This feeling is however rather familiar, as if I have felt it but never this strongly before.

These feelings tell me that things will be all right. That there is nothing in this world that can go wrong. And I can believe those feelings. For some of them are my own while others are the ones of my Wolf who I can feel much better now, as if the presence of my Wolf is here beside me. My Wolf isn't beside me, but rather within me for we are one. I can feel that with the Wolf, I am far stronger than I have ever been in my life.

My whole body and mind and soul and heart feel strong and they feel powerful. I feel powerful and strong and confident. Nothing like I've ever felt. This makes me think that I've connected with the deepest part of me and become the one that I'm meant to be. Because I know who I am now. There is no doubt in my mind about that. I am the granddaughter of the Moon. I am Queen Tatianna Brown and my Mate is King Samuel. That is who I am and that is who I've always been and nothing can change who I am.

When the light disappears from my eyes, I can see the darkness around me. I can also see Sam's Wolf which looks at me and I think I see shock in the eyes of the Wolf. Then I look down at myself. I'm wearing this pure white pants that hug my legs, and pure white sweater, and white sneakers. But, that is not all that I'm able to see, or rather feel because on my back, I can feel something quite heavy. Really heavy, but it doesn't affect my balance at all. In fact, it actually makes it even better.

The almost glowing white feather wings on my back with each feather having golden tip makes me gasp when I see them. They around as I do and when I touch the feathers, they feel softer than anything that I've ever touched in my life. It is then that I look up at the sky. Looking past the dark cloud which is still there. The normal clouds have cleared and I see the full moon there. "Thank you" I speak to her, my grandmother. When those words are spoken from me, I can see that the moon grows even brighter as if she is saying "You're welcome".

When I look back down, Sam's Wolf is gone. I know where it and he has gone. The same place that I have to go. But, there is one thing that I have to do first. I will never back down on my promises. It takes me a second to start running down the path that I had came from before and it isn't long until I'm back where I had been with the children. They are still there, sleeping on the ground. I kneel beside them, not even caring that my white clothes touch the green grass.

I touch their skin and see how they are warm. The Elder isn't here, but somehow I can feel her as if she were her. With my hands, I touch the grassy ground, and I close my eyes. This time, I can connect to the ground within my mind and I can command it to do what I want. Though, the command is small. All that I ask is that the ground, the forest and everything inside it would protect those children while I cannot in this small moment. When I open my eyes again, I see that there are vines growing from the ground.

I stand up and back away as the vines create this dome around the children. On the inside, there are no thorns but on the outside there are. The dome isn't solid and there are holes between the vines, which allows air to come through and I can see them there. The grassy ground keeps them comfortable. I hate to leave them here, but what I need to do now is no place for children. I will return for them and I will come back for them as soon as this is over.

Looking at my wings on my back, I smile. "Let's see what you're made of" I whisper and then I use the wings to lift me up into the air itself. My wings are in control when I'm off the ground and yet I can control them. It is like I'm using my legs when they flap and they take me higher. The air is slightly cold, but it does not bother me. The wind flows past me when I feel the wings take me towards the castle. This all ends tonight. I will face what is there and I will end it all.

This does feel amazing. To be up in the air. I can see everything below me. I feel free, weightless. I feel like I'm a bird that is flying in the sky. So free and powerful, with the world around it, I can see everything. The trees and he forest and all the beauty that is there. This is a sight that I will never forget in my life. The wings are fast and soon enough they do take me towards the castle. I land on the high wall that surrounds the castle itself.

I stand there and I look over. What I see is death all over. Only from our side. The death of Wolves and humans alike. It does sadden me to see this sight. To see that all those people, all those Werewolves died protecting me because I know that these shadows were trying to find me. They were trying to find me to end this all. I don't know if they would have killed me or something else. What I do know is that they want me as I'm the only one that can end this.

The wind blows past me and I feel like I can make it shift, when I turn my hand, I can hear the whispers of the wind and I can move it. Standing there, I throw the wind at the sky, where the clouds are and I push the clouds away. So, that only the night sky and all the sparkling stars and the majestic Moon which is up there. I take a deep breath as I fly towards the fountain in the gardens. I'm reminded by the symbol that the Elder wanted me to see. It makes me realize that the symbol was the symbol of these shadows.

She was telling me who they were. The circle was supposed to be the moon and the claw marks were supposed to be the claws of a Wolf but these were not the one of Wolves, rather the shadow creatures. I stand there and the creatures have spotted me. With the light from the Moon herself, I can see them clearly in the darkness and they can see me. They let out these horrible screeching sounds as they run towards me. They do wish me harm. To tear me apart, limb by limb and end my life.

I take a deep breath as I stare down at the water from the fountain. I focus my energy on the water and then move my hand over it and it lifts up. Then I push my hand towards the creatures that are closest to me. The water forces them back. The creatures are stunned and they freeze in their spot. I have their attention. Good. "I mean you no harm" I speak to them and they listen to me. The creatures do not attack me, perhaps they are even shocked that I won't hurt them.

"Fight me all you want, but I won't hurt any of you. You are victims. I know what you are. I know that you are trapped here because of something my grandmother had done. She created the Werewolves and in so doing, she created you. Only, you could not leave this world. You have been trapped here ever since. Begging for a way to die" I say to them. I'm not even sure if they can understand me, I feel like the words need to be said to them and to all of the Werewolves which are still alive.

Some of them have fled, some of them watch me with wonder, some are even still battling those shadow creatures. I don't know where Sam is, but I can feel that he's close to me and I know that he's watching me, even when I can't see him. With a wave of my hand, the water that is on the ground, is lifted up and returned to the fountain like it had been, before it can soak into the ground around it. The creatures watch me, almost with curiosity when I do so, as they probably had expected I would attack them.

I look up at the Moon. I can almost see her face as she nods at me. I hold out my hands and the wings lift me up into the air. "I will set you free" I speak to them before I fly towards the darkened cloud. There is storm in the sky that is close to reach the ground, but it hasn't yet. I can see that the purple lightning will tear anything apart that it touches. This storm must be stopped. I allow all of my instinct to take over my entire body as I fly into the storm.

Darkness is what I'm met with. Everywhere that I look, all that I see is the darkness. The thunder is louder and far more frequent than it had been before. The wind and this force that is around here is trying to take me down and make me go down to the ground. I refuse to go down to the ground. Not when I have come so far and I've been through far too much. Everything that I've been through in my life has led me to this moment right here, led me to the moment where I end it.

I push through the wind and try to make it answer to me. My wings are strong and they are able to guide me through this wind. When I reach the heart of the storm, I actually see the heart. I see the heart, it is a single glass like sphere that is floating there. From it, there are the lightnings and they are far stronger. I'm close by it, and I watch it. My wings take me in front of it and I stare at the glass sphere. It does have a clear surface but on the inside there is a dark spot.

My hand grabs around the sphere, but it won't move. When I do touch it and try to take it, it pushes me back. With so much force that I nearly lose my balance and fall down. It are my wings that keep me floating and make it so that I'm still here. I take a deep breath as I close my eyes. I need to do this. "I can do this" I whisper to myself. My own thoughts are hard to hear from the noises and the fast wind around here. My hair is all over the place, but that is the least of my worries.

"I can do this" I whisper again and then I begin to chant it. Because there is no way that I'm leaving here without ending it all. Fighting back the wind and the thunder, I allow the wings to take me back to the glass sphere. I wrap both my hands around it. The glass sphere seems to have a mind of its own as it tries to send these jolts of pain through me. It doesn't work as I find that my body just take it in and use to help me.

I eye the glass between my hands. It's small enough to fit into my palms and I can hold it. But, I know for fact that this is powerful enough to cause so much pain and suffering. This thing is the whole reason for why these shadows are in the world and why they have not been able to leave the world. I take a deep breath as I use all the force that I have inside of my body to pull that glass sphere towards me. None of it seems to work.

"I call upon the wind to guide my hands" I speak. "I call upon the earth to pull me down" I speak. "I call upon the water to flow to me" I speak. "I call upon the light to shine on me" I speak. As soon as those words have been spoken, I feel this rush run through me. I close my eyes as I manage to pull the glass towards me. As soon as I have it in my hands, I start to fall down. The wings are no longer in control and I'm free falling towards the ground itself.

A scream erupts from my throat as I can't keep the wings up to fly. I try to find the wind to help me fly again, but it doesn't happen. I have this fear inside me that I'm about to fall and hit the ground and all will be lost. The closer that I am to the ground, the more my fear grows. I don't know why it does not work for me to fly. As if the wings that I have, have broken or gotten ruined. I look at them to see that they are the same as they had been before.

It confuses me. But, then I look down at the glass in my hands to see that it is no longer clear. The glass sphere is now black. Pure black and doesn't even appear to be glass any longer. It is the sphere that is making me not able to connect with the power within me. I don't know how that is possible. Another scream escapes past my lips as I am so close to hitting the ground. I can see the ground coming closer and closer and closer as I fall towards it.

As I'm falling, I spot Sam standing there. He's no longer in his Wolf form. Rather he's in his human one and I can see that he looks up to me. He is running towards me and where I would be landing. I close my eyes as I embrace myself to hit the ground. But, the ground never comes. I'm met with nothing but this warmth. When I open my eyes, all that I see are Sam's eyes. I see that his eyes are so beautiful. "Hi" I say. Sam is holding me and my body. He had caught me when I was falling.

"Hi" He says as he holds me tightly, his hands are shaking as if he is filled with fear. "I'm safe now. We are safe now" I tell him. Sam nods at me and then he sets me down to the ground. "You have wings" He says as he eyes them. I beam at him. "I know. I know who I am now" I tell him. The only reason for why I have wings is because I had to be the one to get that sphere which I still hold in my hand. With my other hand, I take Sam's hand.

I'm not about to let him go now. We walk past bodies of fallen Werewolves and it deeply pains me to see this. I wish that I had come here sooner to stop all of this. I should have stopped this before it had even begun. But, then, I did not know who I truly was. The Elder said that I had to accept myself and as soon as I did, I knew within me that I could stop it all. I could end what had began long ago. The shadow creatures are no longer attacking anyone.

They stare at me as I walk towards the fountain which I had been on before. This fountain is special. I can feel it. I don't know just yet how, but it is. There is something about it that calls me. Perhaps that is why I had landed on it before. The shadows look at me but I feel like they are looking at the black sphere in my hands instead because that is the only thing that is keeping them stuck in this shape and stuck in this world. "Why don't we just break it?" Sam suggest to me but I shake my head.

"I don't think that I can break it. I think that it won't change a thing, that it won't be able to break. For it has survived for thousands of years. There is magic within it, there is something that calls me from within there. It won't break. It can't be destroyed" I tell him and myself. I've not held it for that long, yet I can sense it and understand it as if I have held it for my entire life. And perhaps I have. I don't know how that would be possible even.

I turn to the shadows. "I stand before you tonight, not to harm you but to set you free. You have suffered enough and so have we. You have taken revenge on us for binding you to this world, you have taken your revenge on me" I speak. They do listen. I can't be sure if they understand me. They don't speak a word, but there is something that tells me that they do listen to what I have to say to them and they don't attack because of that. I hold the sphere so they can see it clearly.

"This is what keeps you here. And with this is how it will all end, like it had began. To be able to fix the future, we need to fix the past. My grandmother created the Werewolves and you. All of us know that now. All of you are angry because you cannot leave, you are trapped, stuck here until end of time. Looking for a way to break free. I understand your pain and your desperation. A long time ago, she thought she was doing good in what she did" I tell them and everyone listens to me now.

"She ended the wars that humans were creating by the hatred that they felt for each other. For every magical spell of that size, there has to be a prize. And the shadows of the ones that were turned into Werewolves paid the price. The Moon cast its light upon the Werewolves as they shifted and in the middle of it, all of you were created. She did not mean to create you and nor could she undo it. She was far too weak. She did what she could, she created a prophecy with the last bit of her strength before she left her own Mate and returned to the Moon" I say.

"The prophecy would make up for what she had done, the mistake that she had made would be fixed. And I would be the one that would end it all. The whole thing would end with me. Because only those of her blood, with a kind heart would be able to stop it. Would be able to save you. I do not do this because I am meant to, I do this because I want to. Because I want you to be free. I want all of us to be free" I speak to everyone.

Taking a deep breath, I look at the sphere in my hand. I don't know what I'm meant to do with it. They don't either. That I know. If they did, then they would have ripped it out of my hands. It has to be me who does something with it. Only I have no idea what I'm meant to do. I know who I am. I accepted who I am and who I'm meant to be. But, I was not given all of the answers and there are some things that I have to figure out on my own.

I hold it and I look at it. As if I'm asking this sphere what I should do. How I'm supposed to end it all. Then I look at Sam and deep into his eyes. "I don't know what to do" I whisper to him. Only him. My voice is low so that everyone that is watching us can't hear what I had said. I can't make them lose their faith in me. Because then I would lose that faith in myself. Sam turns to be facing me and his eyes stare deep into mine.

"At the right time, you'll know what to do. I've seen you do incredible things. You have wings on your back. There is nothing that you can't do, Tatianna Brown" Sam says to me. His voice is so gentle and kind that I know I can believe him. I can always believe in Sam. Sam does believe in me and he knows within his heart that I can do this and now I have to believe with everything that I am that I can do this, that I can truly end all of this like I'm meant to.

As I look into his eyes and smile, there is something that I see in his eyes. Or rather what is behind me that reflects in his eyes. I let out a gasp when I see it. I'm quick to turn around and walk towards the fountain. I bend down and touch the cold surface of the fountain. I knew there was something which had to be done with this fountain because this fountain is the answer. Always has been. It has been in front of my nose the entire time. And I never saw it until now.

Because this marks as the place where my grandmother created the Werewolves in the first place. That is why the castle is here. Her Mate became the first Werewolf King and he was the one that built this kingdom. Right where she had made them into Wolves. Somehow, he knew, even then that this moment would happen. That I would be here to free everyone and save the world. I was always destined to come here and I was always destined to do this. All of this is what I'm meant to do, what I want to do with my entire being.

I sit down and look into the water. I know what I must do now. I should have realized it before. I turn my head to look at Sam and give him a smile. Then I look at the shadows that eye my every movement. Before I look at the sphere in my hand. I take a deep breath and then exhale. My eyes search the water and when I find it, I take the black sphere in my hand and push it into the water. When it collides with the symbol on the bottom of the fountain, I feel it happen. Then everything grows black.