Yasmin knew that Axel was right, too much time passed. But she still hoped that they will find something, anything. The possibility of her father being alive was slim, but she wanted to know what happened… maybe retrieve his body to give him a funeral, and like this… she had nothing.
Serena and Feya were chanting softly, it sounded more like a sad song than a spell, and it added to the somber atmosphere.
Yasmin's vision of the sunset was blurry from the tears that ran down her cheeks, and Axel's solid arm around her shoulders did little to comfort her.
It was a strange thing because Yasmin grew up without the presence of her father, and most of the times when she thought of him, it was with hate. Just one day ago, she found out about his name, yet she mourned his loss.
Talia wanted to help Yasmin, but she didn't know how. Since she became the Alpha of the Midnight Guardians pack, Talia's senses were amplified and she was not sure if the sorrow she felt was coming from Axel or from Yasmin, or from everyone around her; or maybe that was her own guilt because instead of sympathizing with Yasmin who was right now suffering, Talia was keeping her distance because of her paranoia how everyone was set to harm her and Damon.
Talia stood up and walked to sit next to Yasmin.
"I am sorry…", Talia choked on her words because she was crying as well.
Yasmin released Axel and embraced Talia, and the two females sobbed into each other's shoulders.
"I wish I can help you", Talia said. She knew very well the pain of uncertainty as her heart was aching from the desire to find out what happened to her parents.
Yasmin sobbed harder and neither of them noticed that the air around them stilled.
Damon was alerted when a gust of wind started circling around Talia and Yasmin. The red dust was black in the darkness, and it rose with the wind, enveloping Talia and Yasmin and obstructing the view of them completely.
Everyone got on their feet, unsure what to do.
Keith started walking toward the wind funnel, and Cassandra pulled him back.
"Let go!", Keith growled.
"It's not your time", Cassandra responded.
Keith was not sure what to do. Should he trust the Oracle? But she already wanted to harm Damon, and how can Keith stand still and watch while Talia was trapped in who-knows-what?
"Talia! Yasmin!", Damon and Axel shouted at the same time, but the only thing they got in response were pulses of light that came from the spot where Talia and Yasmin were.
Damon and Axel exchanged panicked glances that quickly turned into determination. Both of them crouched, ready to jump into whatever tornado was going on, but then it all suddenly stopped, and the dust fell down like someone canceled the wind completely.
Talia and Yasmin released each other and blinked to look around.
"Kitten", Damon called desperately while pulling Talia in his embrace. He had enough of these mysterious events that made him feel like he was about to lose her. "Let's go home. Now." Before something else happens.
"I'm OK", Talia assured him, and then she noticed that Axel was frantically hugging Yasmin while everyone else stared at them.
"What happened?", Talia asked.
"Your magic resonated", Axel said.
"How do you know about that?", Serena asked Axel suspiciously.
Axel frowned at her. "Why wouldn't I know about it?"
Feya responded. "Because magic resonance on this level is something that only high-level witches with compatible energies can achieve in specific circumstances. We didn't have such an occurrence in our Coven in this generation, but we know about it from the ancient texts. Did you have such events in your realm? Did you lie about not meeting witches before?"
"Whoa! Whoa!", Keith stood in front of Feya, blocking her view of Axel. "How about we all assure that Alpha Talia and Luna Yasmin are fine before we start pointing fingers?"
"Look at this…"
Cassandra's breathy voice was heard, and everyone looked at her staring at the ground.
Only then everyone noticed that the ground below them was pulsating in an eerie light blue glow that formed a big circle, resembling an image that one would make with irregular scratches.
"These are remnants of concentrated energy", Axel said and looked at Yasmin. "Your resonance with Talia activated it."
"And how do you know that?", Serena snapped. This was obviously witches-only knowledge!
"Instead of doubting me, start analyzing the formation. This will last a few minutes at most.", Axel growled and both Serena and Feya shrunk.
Talia realized that Axel was kind of an expert here. When did that happen?
'Seriously, how do you know about these things?', Talia asked Axel through their pack mind-link.
Axel smiled smugly. 'I spent yesterday afternoon and the whole night in their archives.'
'And you accidentally read about these things?'
'Not accidentally. It was systematically', Axel responded smugly. 'My ability evolved. I will tell you about it later.' He continued talking normally for everyone to hear. "We should focus on this formation as it might be a clue we were looking for."
Halers quickly took their notepads and started scribbling while witches crouched to probe with their energies areas that were glowing.
Just as Axel said, a few minutes later, the circular glowing formation from the ground dimmed and then it disappeared completely.
"What was that?", Cassandra asked, unable to contain her curiosity. She was scribbling notes while trying to copy the way designs in the ground curved, but with Talia taking away her power, that was as far as she could go. Everyone was quiet and she wanted answers.
Axel hummed before responding, "Based on the circular pattern, it looked like a wind created by magical energies."
"Was it because of Talia and me?", Yasmin asked.
Axel shook his head. "No. If you caused it, you would be at the center. But it is highly likely that your energy reached this area and stimulated it in some way."
"Do you think it could be a portal?", Talia asked.
"Portals require runes and items to work. This area is completely flat.", Serena said.
Axel disagreed. "There are different types of portals. This could be a teleportation spell."
"Teleportation spells don't leave magic traces behind. Once the diagram is erased, it's gone.", Feya argued.
Damon snorted. "You are assuming that all portals are the same. Don't you preach how the world is full of wonders and creatures with different abilities?"
"There are stories about Gods who could open portals at will.", Talia added to reinforce Damon's point.
Yasmin frowned. "Are you saying that a God opened a portal and kidnapped my father?"
Talia spread her arms helplessly. "God is just a term for a creature that's beyond our comprehension. Maybe not kidnapped. What if two Gods battled here, caused a disturbance in energies that your father came to investigate and he ended up swept away in it? Unless you have a better idea, we will go with that."
Axel waved his hand to get everyone's attention. "Let's not stray from the topic. We came here to investigate what happened when Evanora's mate disappeared, and we found a clue. Since it's night, I suggest that we return back. We could all use some rest. It won't be too late to discuss our observations tomorrow."
Serena and Feya stiffened. With Axel making a point on how this was related to the high priestess, it became more important.
