Balance of Light and Shadow (By Chandrea) novel Chapter 239

Conrad POV

We exit the front door to the pack house and are met with a violent storm. The rain is hammering down hard, and the wind is ice cold with such force it feels like it’s cutting through my skin.

I turn to go back inside, but it’s now an empty doorway in the midst of the storm. I look down at the terrified child clutching my leg, and instincts take over. I pick her up and cradle her to my chest to keep her as shielded as possible.

I call out. “Jace, lead us somewhere with some shelter. I protect her”.

“What if Serena is out here?”

1 can sense his fear, but I need him to focus. “Then we will find her, but there will be no point if Lewana dies from exposure in the process”.

The fear doesn’t subside, but he knows I’m right. He calls back to me.

“There are trees over there. That will be our best bet at the moment”

We trapse through the cold for what seems like an hour as the trembling little girls hold onto me tight. By the time we get to the trees, she is nearly blue, soaked through. We head to the back of a rock formation so the wind is goingover us, and Jace comes close to warm us both up.

I’m trying to get my bearings. Any scent, smell, or visual clue about where we are, but nothing. I ask Lewana.

“Do you know where we are?”

She doesn’t look up but shakes her head against my chest.

She’s too scared and cold to even look. I just hold her close and rock her and whisper she will be OK. That I’m here now. Jace starts purring to calm her as well, and eventually she stops shaking.

As soon as she is calm, the weather changes. Not wild storms, but a light rain. As the howling of the wind died down, I ventured outside to try to get some bearings. see some mountains in the distance and large oak trees.

Again, everything is familiar, but I can’t place it.

I walk through the forest holding Lewana’s little hand with Jace on the other side. Jace, here’s it first.

“Conrad. I can hear something. Whimpering. But I think it’s human”.

I  follow him, and eventually I hear it as well. Crying. It’s soft. Clearly, a child is in distress, so we keep following the noise.

We make it to a clearing, and as soon as I see the boy, bile rises in my throat. His hands are bound to the stocks, and his back is bleeding from the flogging delivered by a whip.

Lewana looks around, confused. “I don’t remember this”I look at her saddened. “Because this isn’t your nightmare.

It’s mine”

Not this time. I roar back.

“I am who I am despite you. My Grandmother changed my name to Strongheart so I could start again at 14. My legacy will be mine alone as l am the first of my name.

You are just shadows. Pathetic whispers that echo through time but have lost all meaning. You only have power over me if I let you, and I have fought you enough to know you’re nothing but empty threats of fear that amount to nothing”

For a split second, I can see the shift of worry in his expression as he comes up with a new threat. The smirk on his face doesn’t even bother me when it comes.

“And what of your girl? We will always have hold over her”.I laugh back. “Then why is she standing by my side with Ro fear in her eyes? Even in this form, she knows I’m loyal to her and doesn’t fear you”.

His eyes flickered to her face, and even though she stood behind my leg, she was looking with curiosity. Not fear.

My father’s voice changed to the one of shadows. “Doesn’t matter. Her light will die soon enough. You will have to make a choice on which to save”.

Instead of fear, determination spread through my chest.

We have to find Serena.