| 'What troubles me?' I thought and shook my head. 'I don't understand...' Amber continued to stare at me calmly even as she replied, *Your scar on you heart, Natasha of the Death Wolves, is deep. The only way that you will be any match for Sayt and his army is to heal it. Remember...* I shook my head, still not comprehending and I felt her take me mentally by the hand and lead me into my own mind. *Touch the part that you are afraid of...touch it and be afraid no more...* Suddenly I understood and I felt my knees give out, collapsing to the ground, shaking. 'Please, please Amber, no...I beg of you...' I asked, pleading with her not to make me go there, not to make me remember. *You must, it is a part of you,* the Werewolf Princess replied and I let out something between a howl and a sob as the memories washed over me. Flash: "Hon, do you want an extra muffin?" "Mommy said I couldn't have one, Daddy..." "Oh, well, I think we can make an exception; it's banana nut bread, your favorite." "Yay! Thank you, Daddy!" "Come on now, I don't want you to be late for school..." Tears ran from my eyes as a scream cut through the chamber hall and I reconized it as Will. 'Will?! I'm coming Will!' I thought but Amber's delicate hands were on my face, holding it like you hold a china doll that's hundreds of years old; like something that would chip or shatter if handled to roughly. *He is fighting his own battle with his own memories,* Amber said and I heard Grandfather let out a small cry next to me. 'No, please, leave them alone. I'll do anything you ask, just don't hurt them,' I replied, my own darkness hanging like a cloud waiting to engulf me. The Werewolf Princess smiled. *So selfless. You will make a good Queen. But you run from your past. And you cannot run forever...* Flash: Tires screeched on the pavement. "Honey, run back inside, hurry!" "Bye, you suit wearing, coon-loving bastard." Flashes of light, mini explosions rocked her eardrums. "Daddy! Oh, God, please don't die..." Red. Red covering her hands, the sidewalk, her hair. "I'm so...sorry, honey...take care of your mother...I love--" "NO!" |