Emptiness. Coldness. Fear. Everything coursed through Wolf as he watched the mirror, still and rigid on the floor. It was broken and totally lifeless. More emotions fled through him as he stood there even though a blank expression covered his face. Rage. Terror. Fright.
He didn't notice when Wendell and Tony came running into the room, out of breath and unaware of what had happened. When they saw the mirror, both turned away, not wanting to see what had happened, how they knew they failed.
Wolf was torn from his dismal gaze at the mirror as he heard their moans of despair as they saw the shattered pieces. Tony had a hand over his forehead and was pacing the alcove, regaining his breath and muttering to himself. Wendell was slowly approaching Wolf, his gaze transfixed on the scene of sharp daggers of mirror.
Wolf felt that he should howl, cry, tear his hair out and yell out in agony ... but he couldn't do any of that. He only felt a hard emptiness fill him and make his feeling of fear flood his mind and body. Wendell was shaking his head and talking to Wolf, but it was muted by the echoing chimes of the clock still ringing in his head. As much as Wolf tried to make them stop and focus on Wendell, they would give. It pounded in his head worse than any headache he had ever gone through, it was terrible. It was real.
They lost. That was it. It was over. Everything they had gone through had been lost because he didn't make it in time. A fresh new feeling of guilt sent a chill up his spine and made his body slightly tremble. Wolf tried to vent his feelings somehow, but it was impossible, nothing was coming out.
Wolf was snapped back to reality as Tony's hands clamped on his shoulders. Wolf turned towards him and saw he was near tears, his voice breaking as he spoke to him.
"Wolf, it's all right," He tried to speak reassuringly, but failed horribly. Both of them felt it was Wolf's fault, but neither said it. Wolf wanted to comfort him, but found that his voice was gone. "We'll find another way." Tony patted Wolf's shoulders, turned away, and walked about the alcove, pacing again and mumbling curse words to himself.
Wendell still hadn't brought his eyes off the mirror and was still breathing rapidly from the long sprint. Wolf walked over to the broken pieces and bent down. He hovered over them, looking at his mangled reflection in various fragments, all showing the same vacant look in his eyes, copied a hundred times over.
Wolf picked up a large piece and stood up. Finding no other way to expel his rage, he flung the piece back at the ground where it shattered once again and joined the others, cracked and broken. He kicked at the pieces, sending some of them flying across the room, and stomped on them, breaking more, hearing the loud snaps as the crushed beneath his feet.
Wendell rushed over to Wolf and gently led him away from the broken mirror, hushing him like a small child. Wolf obliged for a moment, but then tore from his grasp, turning his back to him.
Wolf had to search for it, but when he finally found his voice, it came out raspy and cold. "What does it matter!?" He shouted. "We've lost her!" Again, his feelings over filled and his body shook with jumbled emotions. He wanted to cry and howl, somehow get rid of his feelings, but nothing worked. Instead of tears, he only felt his body shake as it tried to release what he was experiencing inside.
"No, no, no, Wolf. It's not over--" Wendell said softly.
"Yes, it is." Wolf's voice broke, but no tears would shed. "There's no other way we can find her. Unless you plan on searching the Nine Kingdoms one inch at a time." His voice was hollow and broken, just like the mirror. "Which, I hate to tell you, would take a whole lot of time."
"No, but there has to be some other way."
"Face it Wendy, there isn't." Wolf said dejectedly as he took another swift kick at the shatter fragments and then threw the hollowed frame to the floor, letting the wood splinter and crack in two.
"Hey, hey! Maybe there is!" Tony snapped his fingers and came up to them. His face was beaming and bright, smiling happily almost as if nothing had happened. Both Wolf and Wendell looked at him as if he had gone mad, but kept their comments quiet and awaited his idea.
"Go on." Wendell crossed his arms and looked at Tony, hoping it was something useful.
"Well, Wendell, do you remember when --" He paused and shook his hands. "Wait, never mind you don't remember anything from then."
"What are you talking about, Antony?" Wendell said, a bit perplexed.
"When Virginia and I were in Dragon Mountain. You were going ... 'all dog'--" Tony watched as Wendell's expression switched to insulted and he looked at Tony in outrage.
"I was certainly not going 'all dog'! I just had some other things on my mind. There was a lot going on at the time and I ... I was concentrating on ... on various solutions to getting my Kingdom back." Wendell spoke in his defense, stuttering a bit. Even he didn't buy it.
"Do you remember anything from Dragon Mountain besides bones and cuddles?" Tony asked, trying to prove his point.
"I... well.....I remem--...there was the.... Oh, forget it. All right, go on Antony." Wendell shrugged him off and felt his pride take a hit. He ignored Tony's smug expression and focused on the retelling of his story.
"Anyway, when we were there, we spoke to this mirror, Gustav. He knew all about the mirrors and where they were." Tony saw Wendell and Wolf exchange clueless looks, and so continued. "Who's to say he doesn't know where Virginia is!?" Tony smiled brightly again as Wendell and Wolf both took time to sink it in.
"And you're expecting the Dwarves to welcome us with open arms?" Wolf asked. He remembered quite well from the story Virginia told him of the Mountain. How Tony had acquired his bad luck and broke a roomful of mirrors, thus infuriating the Dwarves and chasing them out. He was pretty positive that the Dwarves would hold a grudge.
"Well, I... no. I hadn't thought of that." Tony's smiled faded off his mouth and his arms dropped to his sides.
There was a moment of silence and then Wendell spoke up. "Yes, well, it is a plan. As far as I can tell, it's the best way to find her." He said encouragingly. "We'll figure something out." He was prepared to have them get started on it right away, and possibly begin the mission as soon as possible, but then he noted their appearances
Wolf and Tony looked absolutely dreadful. Their clothes were torn and dirty. Wolf's arm had a bandage wrapped around and the blood had soaked through, leaving a dirty dark red color on the once white cloth. Tony was completely exhausted and his eyes had dark bags under them. They were in no shape to be going out on another adventure, not like that! They needed new clothes, food, sleep and defiantly a long bath!
"Well, how about we get you settled in for tonight, we can start with the plans tomorrow morning." Wendell led Tony out of the room, but Wolf refused to move.
"How can you wait until tomorrow!? Virginia is out there alone, possibly hurt or --" He could bring himself to saying 'dying,' even the thought hurt him. He paused and then continued. "We can't stop, we have to find her!"
"Wolf, I want to find her as much as you do, but we can't go on forever. We need food and sleep." Tony said, trying to convince him it wasn't only for their own good, but Virginia's too. "Come on, let's get you and that arm of yours cleaned up. Tomorrow we'll head out early and get to Dragon Mountain as fast as we can."
Tony took his arm, but Wolf pulled it away roughly, only resulting in a harsh memory of his wound, which began to slightly throb. Even though a few days had passed, the cut was still recovering. He shook his head and backed away. "No! You're giving up on her! I won't do that!"
"Wolf, listen to yourself, you're getting hysterical. You need sleep." Wendell gently said.
Wolf took another moment and gathered his thoughts before nodding silently and following them out of the room. Just as he had done before, he paused as he was leaving and took on last look at the mirror before shutting the door.
As he watched Tony and Wendell walk down the hall in front of him, an idea exploded in his mind, but he kept his mouth shut and mutely followed them. Wendell showed them to their separate rooms and promised to return shortly with clothes and food.
Tony greatly accepted the idea of a hot meal and crisp clothes. He walked into his room and fell onto the bed, sighing heavily. The smiled that was across his face, quickly faded away as he thought about Virginia.
"Wolf's right. We can't be enjoying ourselves like this when she's out there alone." Tony quietly scolded himself. Still, he knew they needed time to sleep and reenergize themselves before the hike to Dragon Mountain that following morning.
While he thought of the possible reunion between the dwarves and him, Tony dozed off into a peaceful nap. It was quickly interrupted as Wendell sprang into the room.
"Antony, wake up!" He shouted.
Tony shot up in bed, drowsily looking around at what the commotion was about. "Wha ... what?" He asked angrily, mad to have been awaken from his slumber, one that promised to be the best in days.
"Wolf's gone!" He informed him.
"What?" Tony asked, not sure if he heard him right. He got out of bed and followed Wendell into Wolf's room. As they entered, they saw small pieces of Wolf's sheets ripped and scattered all over the room, while the majority of them made a rope that was tied to the bed post and hung out the window. As the drapes were tousled in the wind, Wendell and Tony looked at each other and then back towards the window.
"It seems," Wendell said towards Tony, keeping his eyes on the window. "He doesn't want to wait until morning."
Wolf pushed the branches out of his face as he galloped through the forest on a quick black horse that he borrowed from Wendell. The crescent moon lit up a small portion of the sky like a flashlight, only illuminating a diminutive part.
He grabbed the reins and gave another whack. Certain that the horse was traveling as fast as it could, Wolf eased off the continuous slaps he was giving the animal. His hands were raw and blistered from the reins and his feet were tired from kicking and his race to the castle earlier that evening.
He couldn't get rid of the awful feeling he had that he had again, let her down. As if the full moon night and the time he lost in the Deadly Swamp wasn't enough, he was bolted a remembrance of how he failed her from the very beginning. He should've been on guard, been anticipating an attack in their home, but no. He walked into that kitchen and practically invited them to knock him out.
Now it was the mirror. Another failed attempt to save her, and it was ruined because of him. "If I hadn't let my animal side take over, we would've gotten to the mirror in time to see her and find out where she was." He thought bitterly, scolding himself harshly. "And now you might not even be able to find her at all because you're low, filthy animal! You've let your mate and cub down! You're not worthy of them, you don't deserve them! They should leave you for good!"
The thought that he would never be able to see her again was too much for him to handle. Instead of thinking on ways to punish himself for letting her down repeatedly, he focused on ways to punish those who took her. A sinister smile crept across his face. Whoever dared to take his Virginia was going to pay dearly.
Wolf glanced back at the way he came. He hadn't noticed how long he had been thinking, but the sky was all ready beginning to brighten up as the sun prepared to rise. What a night it had been, so much had been lost and another adventure was about to take way.
Deciding not to cut through the Deadly Swamp, or hurt his heart anymore with Kissing Town, Wolf cut through the Fifth Kingdom and around to the base of Dragon Mountain. The entire way there he refused to stop for longer than a few short minutes, just to water the horse.
When he finally reached Dragon Mountain, it was near noon. He glanced up the mountain, and sighed. He felt that he was close deep inside him, but didn't allow it to cloud his thinking, that's what happened last time, and it turned out miserably.
Wolf tied the reins of the horse to a tree at the base of the mountain, certain that no one would be along there anytime soon and take it. As he turned towards it and began to climb, he had a burst of the memory pop into his head and run like a play, every detail vivid and clear.
//He was running through that same field, following the Trolls scent, mixed with Tony, Virginia, and Prince's. He was very tired, no sleep for days. They all had been there, all within a short time. Now it was his turn to follow them up the mountain. "Why are they going up there?" He had asked himself. Then decided that they were possibly just trying to flee from the Trolls that were pursuing them. Trolls. The thought made him flash his eyes a pure yellow. He hated Trolls.
He climbed up the mountain with ease, following the scent of Tony and realized that Virginia let her pride cloud her reason and went straight up on the rocks, instead of listening to her father and going along the path. He could tell by their scents, what had happened between them, like someone had told him previously and he was watching it happen. The thought of her fighting her father over who was right had made him laugh, she never wanted to admit when she was wrong, even when the facts were in front of her. Virginia and him were so much a like, if only she would see that as well as he did.
When he had reached a minor flat land, set in the middle of the mountain, he could tell that Virginia and Tony had met up and stayed the night in a small cave, and then left the following morning. Even though their scents were weak from a day or so back, he refused to give up and turn back, not when so much was riding on it.
He found the entrance to the Dwarve's underground lair through the skeleton mouth of a dead dragon. The ripped flags of Dwarves that were faded from years of weather, flapped in the breeze that passed over the mountain. Dragons. Dwarves. Trolls. And another scent. Oh cripes! The Huntsman was back and following them as well. The urgent thought made his pace quicken.
Wolf stepped inside the cave and continued to follow their scent, determined to find them. Nothing was going to stop him now. Not Virginia's pride, not Tony's temper, not even his own guilt and remorse for what happened in Kissing Town. That was in the past. He took another sniff, and followed the scent and trail of them into the mountain.//
Only, this time, there was no scent for him to follow or Trolls and a Huntsman to worry about. He could remember from the last time how to reach the main room of the Dwarve's factory, even though he had taken extreme measures to avoid it the last time. Wolf scratched his temple unconsciously and stepped inside the mouth of the dragon and inside to see the Dwarves. Since fate had not been on his side the previous night as he hoped it was going to be, he was praying that it would be now.
He didn't notice when Wendell and Tony came running into the room, out of breath and unaware of what had happened. When they saw the mirror, both turned away, not wanting to see what had happened, how they knew they failed.
Wolf was torn from his dismal gaze at the mirror as he heard their moans of despair as they saw the shattered pieces. Tony had a hand over his forehead and was pacing the alcove, regaining his breath and muttering to himself. Wendell was slowly approaching Wolf, his gaze transfixed on the scene of sharp daggers of mirror.
Wolf felt that he should howl, cry, tear his hair out and yell out in agony ... but he couldn't do any of that. He only felt a hard emptiness fill him and make his feeling of fear flood his mind and body. Wendell was shaking his head and talking to Wolf, but it was muted by the echoing chimes of the clock still ringing in his head. As much as Wolf tried to make them stop and focus on Wendell, they would give. It pounded in his head worse than any headache he had ever gone through, it was terrible. It was real.
They lost. That was it. It was over. Everything they had gone through had been lost because he didn't make it in time. A fresh new feeling of guilt sent a chill up his spine and made his body slightly tremble. Wolf tried to vent his feelings somehow, but it was impossible, nothing was coming out.
Wolf was snapped back to reality as Tony's hands clamped on his shoulders. Wolf turned towards him and saw he was near tears, his voice breaking as he spoke to him.
"Wolf, it's all right," He tried to speak reassuringly, but failed horribly. Both of them felt it was Wolf's fault, but neither said it. Wolf wanted to comfort him, but found that his voice was gone. "We'll find another way." Tony patted Wolf's shoulders, turned away, and walked about the alcove, pacing again and mumbling curse words to himself.
Wendell still hadn't brought his eyes off the mirror and was still breathing rapidly from the long sprint. Wolf walked over to the broken pieces and bent down. He hovered over them, looking at his mangled reflection in various fragments, all showing the same vacant look in his eyes, copied a hundred times over.
Wolf picked up a large piece and stood up. Finding no other way to expel his rage, he flung the piece back at the ground where it shattered once again and joined the others, cracked and broken. He kicked at the pieces, sending some of them flying across the room, and stomped on them, breaking more, hearing the loud snaps as the crushed beneath his feet.
Wendell rushed over to Wolf and gently led him away from the broken mirror, hushing him like a small child. Wolf obliged for a moment, but then tore from his grasp, turning his back to him.
Wolf had to search for it, but when he finally found his voice, it came out raspy and cold. "What does it matter!?" He shouted. "We've lost her!" Again, his feelings over filled and his body shook with jumbled emotions. He wanted to cry and howl, somehow get rid of his feelings, but nothing worked. Instead of tears, he only felt his body shake as it tried to release what he was experiencing inside.
"No, no, no, Wolf. It's not over--" Wendell said softly.
"Yes, it is." Wolf's voice broke, but no tears would shed. "There's no other way we can find her. Unless you plan on searching the Nine Kingdoms one inch at a time." His voice was hollow and broken, just like the mirror. "Which, I hate to tell you, would take a whole lot of time."
"No, but there has to be some other way."
"Face it Wendy, there isn't." Wolf said dejectedly as he took another swift kick at the shatter fragments and then threw the hollowed frame to the floor, letting the wood splinter and crack in two.
"Hey, hey! Maybe there is!" Tony snapped his fingers and came up to them. His face was beaming and bright, smiling happily almost as if nothing had happened. Both Wolf and Wendell looked at him as if he had gone mad, but kept their comments quiet and awaited his idea.
"Go on." Wendell crossed his arms and looked at Tony, hoping it was something useful.
"Well, Wendell, do you remember when --" He paused and shook his hands. "Wait, never mind you don't remember anything from then."
"What are you talking about, Antony?" Wendell said, a bit perplexed.
"When Virginia and I were in Dragon Mountain. You were going ... 'all dog'--" Tony watched as Wendell's expression switched to insulted and he looked at Tony in outrage.
"I was certainly not going 'all dog'! I just had some other things on my mind. There was a lot going on at the time and I ... I was concentrating on ... on various solutions to getting my Kingdom back." Wendell spoke in his defense, stuttering a bit. Even he didn't buy it.
"Do you remember anything from Dragon Mountain besides bones and cuddles?" Tony asked, trying to prove his point.
"I... well.....I remem--...there was the.... Oh, forget it. All right, go on Antony." Wendell shrugged him off and felt his pride take a hit. He ignored Tony's smug expression and focused on the retelling of his story.
"Anyway, when we were there, we spoke to this mirror, Gustav. He knew all about the mirrors and where they were." Tony saw Wendell and Wolf exchange clueless looks, and so continued. "Who's to say he doesn't know where Virginia is!?" Tony smiled brightly again as Wendell and Wolf both took time to sink it in.
"And you're expecting the Dwarves to welcome us with open arms?" Wolf asked. He remembered quite well from the story Virginia told him of the Mountain. How Tony had acquired his bad luck and broke a roomful of mirrors, thus infuriating the Dwarves and chasing them out. He was pretty positive that the Dwarves would hold a grudge.
"Well, I... no. I hadn't thought of that." Tony's smiled faded off his mouth and his arms dropped to his sides.
There was a moment of silence and then Wendell spoke up. "Yes, well, it is a plan. As far as I can tell, it's the best way to find her." He said encouragingly. "We'll figure something out." He was prepared to have them get started on it right away, and possibly begin the mission as soon as possible, but then he noted their appearances
Wolf and Tony looked absolutely dreadful. Their clothes were torn and dirty. Wolf's arm had a bandage wrapped around and the blood had soaked through, leaving a dirty dark red color on the once white cloth. Tony was completely exhausted and his eyes had dark bags under them. They were in no shape to be going out on another adventure, not like that! They needed new clothes, food, sleep and defiantly a long bath!
"Well, how about we get you settled in for tonight, we can start with the plans tomorrow morning." Wendell led Tony out of the room, but Wolf refused to move.
"How can you wait until tomorrow!? Virginia is out there alone, possibly hurt or --" He could bring himself to saying 'dying,' even the thought hurt him. He paused and then continued. "We can't stop, we have to find her!"
"Wolf, I want to find her as much as you do, but we can't go on forever. We need food and sleep." Tony said, trying to convince him it wasn't only for their own good, but Virginia's too. "Come on, let's get you and that arm of yours cleaned up. Tomorrow we'll head out early and get to Dragon Mountain as fast as we can."
Tony took his arm, but Wolf pulled it away roughly, only resulting in a harsh memory of his wound, which began to slightly throb. Even though a few days had passed, the cut was still recovering. He shook his head and backed away. "No! You're giving up on her! I won't do that!"
"Wolf, listen to yourself, you're getting hysterical. You need sleep." Wendell gently said.
Wolf took another moment and gathered his thoughts before nodding silently and following them out of the room. Just as he had done before, he paused as he was leaving and took on last look at the mirror before shutting the door.
As he watched Tony and Wendell walk down the hall in front of him, an idea exploded in his mind, but he kept his mouth shut and mutely followed them. Wendell showed them to their separate rooms and promised to return shortly with clothes and food.
Tony greatly accepted the idea of a hot meal and crisp clothes. He walked into his room and fell onto the bed, sighing heavily. The smiled that was across his face, quickly faded away as he thought about Virginia.
"Wolf's right. We can't be enjoying ourselves like this when she's out there alone." Tony quietly scolded himself. Still, he knew they needed time to sleep and reenergize themselves before the hike to Dragon Mountain that following morning.
While he thought of the possible reunion between the dwarves and him, Tony dozed off into a peaceful nap. It was quickly interrupted as Wendell sprang into the room.
"Antony, wake up!" He shouted.
Tony shot up in bed, drowsily looking around at what the commotion was about. "Wha ... what?" He asked angrily, mad to have been awaken from his slumber, one that promised to be the best in days.
"Wolf's gone!" He informed him.
"What?" Tony asked, not sure if he heard him right. He got out of bed and followed Wendell into Wolf's room. As they entered, they saw small pieces of Wolf's sheets ripped and scattered all over the room, while the majority of them made a rope that was tied to the bed post and hung out the window. As the drapes were tousled in the wind, Wendell and Tony looked at each other and then back towards the window.
"It seems," Wendell said towards Tony, keeping his eyes on the window. "He doesn't want to wait until morning."
Wolf pushed the branches out of his face as he galloped through the forest on a quick black horse that he borrowed from Wendell. The crescent moon lit up a small portion of the sky like a flashlight, only illuminating a diminutive part.
He grabbed the reins and gave another whack. Certain that the horse was traveling as fast as it could, Wolf eased off the continuous slaps he was giving the animal. His hands were raw and blistered from the reins and his feet were tired from kicking and his race to the castle earlier that evening.
He couldn't get rid of the awful feeling he had that he had again, let her down. As if the full moon night and the time he lost in the Deadly Swamp wasn't enough, he was bolted a remembrance of how he failed her from the very beginning. He should've been on guard, been anticipating an attack in their home, but no. He walked into that kitchen and practically invited them to knock him out.
Now it was the mirror. Another failed attempt to save her, and it was ruined because of him. "If I hadn't let my animal side take over, we would've gotten to the mirror in time to see her and find out where she was." He thought bitterly, scolding himself harshly. "And now you might not even be able to find her at all because you're low, filthy animal! You've let your mate and cub down! You're not worthy of them, you don't deserve them! They should leave you for good!"
The thought that he would never be able to see her again was too much for him to handle. Instead of thinking on ways to punish himself for letting her down repeatedly, he focused on ways to punish those who took her. A sinister smile crept across his face. Whoever dared to take his Virginia was going to pay dearly.
Wolf glanced back at the way he came. He hadn't noticed how long he had been thinking, but the sky was all ready beginning to brighten up as the sun prepared to rise. What a night it had been, so much had been lost and another adventure was about to take way.
Deciding not to cut through the Deadly Swamp, or hurt his heart anymore with Kissing Town, Wolf cut through the Fifth Kingdom and around to the base of Dragon Mountain. The entire way there he refused to stop for longer than a few short minutes, just to water the horse.
When he finally reached Dragon Mountain, it was near noon. He glanced up the mountain, and sighed. He felt that he was close deep inside him, but didn't allow it to cloud his thinking, that's what happened last time, and it turned out miserably.
Wolf tied the reins of the horse to a tree at the base of the mountain, certain that no one would be along there anytime soon and take it. As he turned towards it and began to climb, he had a burst of the memory pop into his head and run like a play, every detail vivid and clear.
//He was running through that same field, following the Trolls scent, mixed with Tony, Virginia, and Prince's. He was very tired, no sleep for days. They all had been there, all within a short time. Now it was his turn to follow them up the mountain. "Why are they going up there?" He had asked himself. Then decided that they were possibly just trying to flee from the Trolls that were pursuing them. Trolls. The thought made him flash his eyes a pure yellow. He hated Trolls.
He climbed up the mountain with ease, following the scent of Tony and realized that Virginia let her pride cloud her reason and went straight up on the rocks, instead of listening to her father and going along the path. He could tell by their scents, what had happened between them, like someone had told him previously and he was watching it happen. The thought of her fighting her father over who was right had made him laugh, she never wanted to admit when she was wrong, even when the facts were in front of her. Virginia and him were so much a like, if only she would see that as well as he did.
When he had reached a minor flat land, set in the middle of the mountain, he could tell that Virginia and Tony had met up and stayed the night in a small cave, and then left the following morning. Even though their scents were weak from a day or so back, he refused to give up and turn back, not when so much was riding on it.
He found the entrance to the Dwarve's underground lair through the skeleton mouth of a dead dragon. The ripped flags of Dwarves that were faded from years of weather, flapped in the breeze that passed over the mountain. Dragons. Dwarves. Trolls. And another scent. Oh cripes! The Huntsman was back and following them as well. The urgent thought made his pace quicken.
Wolf stepped inside the cave and continued to follow their scent, determined to find them. Nothing was going to stop him now. Not Virginia's pride, not Tony's temper, not even his own guilt and remorse for what happened in Kissing Town. That was in the past. He took another sniff, and followed the scent and trail of them into the mountain.//
Only, this time, there was no scent for him to follow or Trolls and a Huntsman to worry about. He could remember from the last time how to reach the main room of the Dwarve's factory, even though he had taken extreme measures to avoid it the last time. Wolf scratched his temple unconsciously and stepped inside the mouth of the dragon and inside to see the Dwarves. Since fate had not been on his side the previous night as he hoped it was going to be, he was praying that it would be now.