Chapter 102: Chapter 102 Plant Warriors
That night, after returning from the underground chamber, I felt a strange energy coursing through my veins. Leo had reluctantly left to coordinate our pack’s movements, promising to return by dawn. I sat cross-legged on the garden floor, moonstone wand resting across my palms, trying to make sense of the fairy grimoire’s complicated instructions.
"You’re overthinking it," came Ava’s voice, suddenly crystal clear in my mind.
I’d grown accustomed to my wolf’s presence, but tonight she seemed different—more defined, almost tangible. In my mind’s eye, I could see her silver-gray form sitting before me, amber eyes gleaming with newfound wisdom.
"What’s happening to you?" I whispered.
"To us," Ava corrected. "Your mother’s inheritance has strengthened our bond. The fairy essence flowing through our veins has awakened parts of me that were dormant."
I frowned. "But aren’t you... confused? You’re a wolf spirit connected to a half-fairy. Doesn’t that create conflict?"
Ava’s spiritual form circled me, her movements fluid and graceful. "Our dual nature isn’t meant to be at war, Victoria. Wolf and fairy aren’t opposing forces—they’re complementary powers that can harmonize within you."
"That’s not what I’ve been told my whole life," I muttered bitterly, remembering every time my mixed heritage had been thrown in my face as a defect, a weakness.
"Because those who feared your potential needed you to believe you were broken." Ava’s voice held a growl. "The wolf provides raw strength, primal instinct, pack bonds. The fairy brings connection to nature, healing, and ancient magic. Together..."
"We’re something else entirely," I finished, a shiver running through me.
"Stand up," Ava commanded. "It’s time to complete our union."
I rose, clutching the moonstone wand. The greenhouse around me seemed to pulse with anticipation, plants leaning closer as if to witness what was about to happen.
"Close your eyes," Ava instructed. "Feel the wolf strength in your limbs, the power that makes your muscles coil and your senses sharpen."
I did as she asked, connecting with the familiar sensations of my wolf side—the heightened hearing that could detect a squirrel’s heartbeat from yards away, the enhanced vision that turned darkness into merely dim light, the raw physical power that had always frightened Enzo.
"Now," Ava continued, "without letting go of that, reach for the fairy essence. It flows like sap through the green world around you. It sings in the moonlight. It whispers in the roots beneath your feet."
I extended my awareness outward, feeling a different kind of power—ancient, patient, alive with possibilities. The plants around me responded immediately, their energy signatures brightening in my mind like stars appearing at dusk.
"Both powers are yours," Ava urged. "Don’t choose between them. Don’t compartmentalize. Merge them. Let them flow together like two streams joining to form a river."
Sweat beaded on my forehead as I struggled to hold both energies simultaneously. They seemed to repel each other like opposing magnets, wolf and fairy sliding apart whenever I tried to bring them together.
"I can’t," I gasped, frustration building. "They won’t combine."
*Because you’re still believing what they told you.*Ava growled.
Anger flared in me—anger at Enzo, at Aurora, at every person who had ever made me feel lesser for my mixed blood.
"I am not broken!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the greenhouse.
Something shifted inside me. The opposing energies stopped fighting and began to dance around each other, intertwining like lovers. Wolf and fairy, strength and magic, force and finesse—they flowed together in a perfect harmony I’d never imagined possible.
My eyes flew open as power surged through me. My skin glowed with a soft silver light, and the plants around me swayed as if in a strong breeze, though the air was perfectly still.
"Holy shit," I breathed, looking down at my hands. My nails had lengthened slightly, not into full wolf claws but something in between—elegant and deadly. When I inhaled, I could smell everything—the individual scents of hundreds of plants, the earthworms moving in the soil, the dormant spores waiting for spring.
"Now you understand," Ava said, satisfaction evident in her tone. "This is what they feared. The perfect balance of both worlds."
I moved to the center of the greenhouse, feeling lighter and stronger than ever before. On impulse, I leapt upward and found myself sailing easily to the top of a tall shelving unit, landing with perfect balance on the narrow edge.
"The physical prowess of a wolf," I murmured.
Then, reaching out with my newfound awareness, I called to a withered plant on the shelf beside me. Its brown leaves trembled, then gradually unfurled and turned green again, fresh buds appearing along its stems.
"And the healing touch of a fairy," I added with wonder.
A noise at the greenhouse entrance made me turn. Thomas stood watching, his eyes wide with astonishment.
"Just like your mother," he whispered as I leapt back down to the floor with effortless grace. "She used to glow like that when her powers were fully awakened."
"Thomas," I said, suddenly remembering the grimoire’s instructions, "I need to practice something important. The book mentions a technique called ’life-giving’—to animate plants temporarily."
The old gardener nodded. "She excelled at that. It’s how she kept me safe all these years—her guardians watching over me when she could not."
With Ava’s guidance flowing through me, I approached the largest tree in the greenhouse—an ancient oak that predated the glass structure built around it. Placing my palm against its rough bark, I channeled my newly merged energy into its core.
"Awaken," I whispered. "Guardian of the green, I call upon your strength and wisdom."
The massive trunk shuddered beneath my touch. Slowly, with a groaning sound like stretching wood, a section of the bark rearranged itself into a face—eyes hollow but watchful, mouth a jagged line.
"Lady Victoria," the tree spoke, its voice like rustling leaves. "Daughter of Elisabeth. We have waited long for your call."
My heart pounded with exhilaration. "Will you fight for me? To save my mother?"
"We serve the bloodline," the tree responded. "Command, and we obey."
As if demonstrating, massive roots tore free from the soil, forming limb-like appendages that moved with surprising speed and precision. The tree-guardian stood fully formed now, towering nearly twelve feet tall, its wooden body creaking as it bowed to me.
"Holy fuck," came Leo’s voice from behind me. I turned to find him standing in the doorway, eyes wide with disbelief. "When I left, you were reading a book. Now you’re creating... what exactly are those?"
"Plant warriors," I said, unable to keep the pride from my voice. "And this is just the beginning."
Leo approached cautiously, eyeing the oak guardian with a mixture of awe and tactical assessment. "Can you control more than one at a time?"
In answer, I extended my awareness to the climbing vines along the wall, the rosebushes in their beds, even the moss growing between the flagstones. One by one, they stirred and took form—smaller than the oak but no less formidable, a verdant army awaiting my command.
"They’re connected to me," I explained, feeling their presence in my mind. "They can see what I see, know what I know. And they can communicate with other plants, even at a distance."
Leo’s expression shifted from amazement to strategic calculation. "That changes everything about our approach to Marcus’s compound."
Thomas stepped forward, his weathered face serious. "There’s something else you should know. Your mother didn’t just create this sanctuary. She planted guardians throughout the territory, especially near the Moon Temple where Marcus conducts his rituals."
"What kind of guardians?" Leo asked sharply.
"Ancient specimens—trees that have stood for centuries. She called them the Sentinel Grove." Thomas’s eyes met mine. "She said that when the time came, her daughter would call them to war."
Leo’s hand found mine, squeezing it gently. "Victoria, do you understand what this means? We won’t be attacking with just our pack anymore. We’ll have allies inside Marcus’s territory before we even arrive."
I nodded, the full implications sinking in. "I can send these smaller guardians ahead as scouts. They can travel through the wilderness undetected, join with the Sentinel Grove, and create chaos when we need a distraction."
"More than that," Leo said, his tactical mind racing. "They can disrupt the ritual preparations, maybe even help us locate and free your mother before the ceremony begins." His eyes glowed with newfound hope. "We’re no longer at a disadvantage. With your powers, we might actually succeed without massive casualties."
I looked around at my assembled plant warriors, feeling Ava’s approval warming me from within. For the first time since learning about Marcus’s plans, I allowed myself to truly believe we might win.
"Tomorrow we train," I said, voice steady with determination. "And the day after, we march on Marcus Grimwood’s sanctuary. We’ll show him what happens when you threaten the daughter of both wolf and fairy."
The oak guardian thumped its root-foot against the stone floor in what could only be described as eager anticipation.