Children of the pack leaders

marisol and I already are well known among the eight packs that we grew up around. but you and kristi on the other hand.. serons will defineantly tlak about you now.

i still didn't agree, but we had things to do besides decide who would and wouldnt get credit. we need to go get help from the others i said. It wasn;t something i would normally say, but we had to do wht we had to

I was still trembleing from the shock.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down.

i stood close. i could only imagine what he was going through, and considering, he was going amazingly well.
You are more than capable of this, You've died and beat that, what are some measly gang of bad guys to say that you can't win. You're stronger than all of them, you just don't know it yet

I wanted to go find Lucas but none of the fighters would let me leave. Alyss was able to go! I whined.
She isn't the white leader's daughter. A fighter answered.
I'm just as well off as she is! I retorted.
Its okay, Marisol, I'm okay Lucas said. They walked into the camp. I sighed with relief and bolted from under the fighter's legs to give him a hug.

I hugged her back. I jsut rememberd why I hate black serons.

i sighed and went of to go find Kirsti

I knew I would take a long time to get over this. every sound I heard I would jump. I wouldent go out of the caves alone. and even then it was hard for my freinds to convince me to do so.

(and how is the humongo threat of this army of enemies solved? )

((I don't know))


days went by and I was still nearly jumping out of my skin at every sound. and whenever someone brought up what happend I started crying. I could not sleep, because the instant I did I would have terrible nightmars. Not even talking to my freinds seemed to help.

Lucas was starting to get me worried. I didn't like seeing him like this.

((sorry all i got))

I sat by marisol. I was abrely able to keep my eyes open becase I had not slept at all for a week. But I was also afraid to go to sleep.

i mostly followed my dad around

((max))

I watched my son for a long time. I was worried about him. nothing we did seemed to help him. he was getting very weak from his lack of sleep and reasonable thought was slowly escapeing him. I did not want to accept it but everything I knew about healing told me that lucas was dying and I did not know what could help him. his own thoughts tormented him to the point of where he could not get enough sleep. and his body was getting weaker each day. today was one of the worst. he could barely stand. and his eyes were half closed. I needed to tell alyss kristi and marisol the truth about what was happening to their freind. derik had already left for a human city with his dad.

((pack leaders are traind in healing. so max knows everything about healing that the pack healers do))

I walked over to alyss. I need to talk to you, get kristi and marisol. I said to her. when they were all there I lead them to where the multi colord serons let my stay. lucas was there But he did not seem to notice. he was leaning against the corner of the cave stareing blankly at the wall. I made sure only they would hear and said. lucas is dying I tried to be as gnetle with this as I could. the emotional shock of being cpatured by the forest phantom, was too much for him, his own thoughts wont let him get enough sleep. his body gets weaker each day. and reasonable thought is becomeing harder for him as time passes. he has at most two days left. I do not know how to help him.

I couldn't take that. I broke down sobbing. Alyss and Kristi seemed to take it better than me but I could tell they wanted to do what I was doing. I was glad they were strong for me. If Lucas died I don't know what I would do.

I was aware of someone in the cave with us, but I did not bother to see who it was. I was jsut too weak to do anything anymore.

Was i the only who was aware that we were talking about Lucas like he wasn't even there? I had to contain this icy, terrible deatly fear that had clutched my heart. I took the few steps over to Lucas looking him in the eye i doubted that he would look at me, but i knew he would hear, weather or not he'd choose to listen was beyond me.
Lucas, you know that you are so much better than this. You've gone through so much more than any one of us have seen, and i understand that. But do you really understand how much everybody in here loves you? If you keep letting yourself go like this, if you.... i did not want to say it, if you... die, you can be garunteed that we will all follow. Don't believe me? You should see you friend Marisol over there. She is absoloutly beside herself. In fact, i would be dissapointed if you decided to slink away without another word to her. Do you really want to hurt her? Kristi is concerned too, being that you're one of her first friends ever. You dad is self-explainitory. As for me...you'll never know because if you don't wake up and and figure out what is going on in the next three minutes, i'm going to to hide well beyone anybody's abitily to find me. It's your choice and i am not in the least bit excaggerating. We do care that much about you and i am absoloutly not going to sit here while you let youself wither away to nothing.
You're more than that, Lucas. Now get up because youre more than worth it.

With that i took a step back and began to cry as grief overcame me.

help me alyss I said softly. I cannot do this alone, my own thoughts seem to have turned against me. I just want it to stop! I am so tired, and I can barely do anything anymore. but when I try to rest I have the most terrible nightmares. how can I get through this?

don't focus on you own thoughts. listen to mine. I'm pretty sure that i am a loud thinker. and everything that i think of has a posative tone to it, at least i think, it does. i shook my head and laughed at myself. i was so incoherant, it was amusing.
just follow us around for A few days. You've beeen hiding out alone for so long that depression is automatic. Do you remember how lighthearted and silly everything iswhen we're just being no so serious? i smiled as i remebered making potions that turned the flowers different colors and competing to to see who was best at hiding.
Then i caught a flashback i'd never had from when i was very very little. Lydiaa was talking to me and had showed me a place in a protected clearing. She had only brought me to the place once, but now i remebered it as if it had been hours ago. The bright colors f the flowers made me so incredibly happy. She had told me that it was a place that only the purely innocent could enter, if they had a purely good intention....
I know exactly where we need to go i said, happiness loading my every word.

I looked up at alyss. where?

i knoew exactly how to get there, but not where it was or what it was called. from a memory