Aurora

I was awoken by a whisper of laughter in my ear. My eyes opened to see Adrian's chest before me, rising and falling steadily. Still asleep. I touched the dirty fabric of his surcoat with my fingertips, and raised my eyes to his sleeping face. He still looked exactly the same. His skin was still tan, his hair was still dark, his features were still angular and strong. What felt so different? Maybe it was me. I snorted under my breath and closed my eyes again, concentrating on the laughter I'd heard when I'd awoke. I knew who it was calling to me, and at this moment I could feel her cold hands on me, dragging me up. I peeked up once more, seeing nothing but knowing I had to drag myself out of the tiny hole beneath the tree.

As soon as I strapped all my items to my back and climbed out of the tree, I felt the enormity of the day hit me. Today we would find the Moon Queen. Today we would reach the tower. And then what were we to do? How would we free her? Questions, all these questions, riled my mind. I didn't want to think. I wanted to go back to sleep, to pretend everything was over and Adrian really was mine and there was nothing more than that. Except there was. I closed my eyes in the cold, vast forest and let my shoulders drop. I let myself disconnect from the earth and imagined myself falling through stars, on and on forever, traveling to a place where I was nothing and everything at the same time, going somewhere where I would never again have to feel the hot pain of wanting Adrian but not being able to have him, a place where my sadness and insecurities would fade, a place where I was as strong as I wanted to believe...

"Aurora."

Blinking my eyes open, I saw the Liche Queen stand in front of me. I was expecting her, of course. In her hands she still held her silver bowl. Tears still leaked from her eyes. When the bowl filled up, she still tipped it over and it became snow, floating off into the wind. The Liche Queen held out her hand - or what remained of a hand - to me. I took a step towards her. The earth around her was still blackened. Dead, skeletal fingers pushed their way out of the ground. I brushed off the nausea and grasped onto her bone fingers.

For a moment it felt as if the earth had dropped out beneath me, my stomach lurched. Then, however, we stood in front of a large stone building with a single, massive tower stretching up into the clouds. "Your destiny lies here, Aurora. Today, today you meet that destiny."

I shook my head, not letting go of her fingers. "What if I do not have a destiny? What if destiny does not exist?"

The Liche Queen pointed to the flower crown on my head. "I told you this would be your greatest weapon. Do you know why?" I shook my head no, my heart jumping into my throat. "It is because not simply anyone can wear those flowers. They grow only where purity exists and that is difficult to find. The first time I showed them to you I was standing at the River of All Death, and that is a place of true purity because whatever you have been told about it, death is pure. Death is crystal ice."

"Why can I wear them, then? I am not some pure being. I am part human-part wolf. Adrian cannot touch my flowers. He made a point of avoiding them. What is so special about me, Lady Death?" My frustration was showing. This was the one question no one had bothered to answer, in fact, this was the one question everyone had gone out of their way not to answer. "At Lunarenstein, Rosalyn called me a bright star. Lady Joy told me I glowed silver. What is this? What am I?"

"A question only you can answer, I'm afraid."

I stamped my foot and took my hand out of the Liche Queen's. I stared at the tower before me. "Then why did you appear to me today, why did you bring me here?" My words were full of childish annoyance. I knew I should be more grown-up about this, but I simply couldn't. I was homeless, family-less and practically nameless. I would have done anything for answers. The Liche Queen was dangling them in front of me, not telling me, torturing me.

Now the Liche Queen's cataract filled eyes flashed with remarkable ferocity. "The gears of your life have been turning, Aurora. The clock of your life has been winding. Today, today you begin a path that will solidify your destiny, no matter if you think you have one or not. Today, events 20 years in the making are now put into motion. Today, you answer your questions. Today, you are faced with other, more difficult to answer, questions. Today, the road of life offers obstacles you dared not dream of before now. I came here to ask you if you think you are ready. I came to you because I am still unsure whether or not you are strong enough to face all this. I came to make you an offer."

"An offer?" I questioned, my voice far away, my eyes on the tower, my mind on her words.

The Liche Queen nodded. "I can erase this from your memory. I can take you back to Lunarenstein. I can make you forget you met Adrian, I can make you forget you decided you wanted to go off on this quest. I can ease this love from your heart, I can erase the troubles from your mind. I can do all this for you, Aurora, if you do not think you are strong enough to face these challenges that Fate has set for you today and the days following." She tipped the bowl once more and I watched the silver tears turn into white flakes and vanish into the distance. She, clad in her purple robes and tall silver crown, she with the bowl of tears in her hands, she who stood upon Death's black earth...she was offering me peace of mind. But...but upon closer inspection of her face - on which a smirk was firmly planted - I realize that this was not peace of mind but a trick. She could offer me peace of mind, for a price. I knew what that price was. That price was never knowing Adrian, never knowing love.

So I laughed at her offer. "No. I am stronger than your challenges, My Lady, believe me. I do not need your peace of mind, nor do I want it." I looked at the tower, where inside a Queen lay, a Queen who held answers, a Queen who could show me my destiny. "Although I thank you for your offer."

The Queen of Death smiled and held out her hand once more. I took it again, bracing myself for the odd feeling. When I regained my sight, we were standing right next to the tree Adrian and I had stopped at for the night. "I hope you know what you're doing, Aurora. I honestly do. Just remember this, my small silver daughter...I believe in your strength and your courage." With that, she disappeared. Just in a blink of an eye, she was gone. I shifted the pack on my back and pulled out the map. We'd been tracking our approximate progress and Adrian was right. We should be there by nightfall. For a moment I wondered why the Liche Queen didn't just wake both Adrian and I up and take us to the tower herself...but I knew if she'd had any intention of helping us get to the tower, she would have, long ago. This was our journey. This was our impossible task. No one else's.

I felt movement behind me and turned to see Adrian standing against the tree. "You were gone when I woke up." His voice was concerned. "I worried." A small smile came to my lips, one I could not force away. Now that we'd grown closer, he'd become the sort of man who told me how he felt about something. I loved that about him, I realized then. I loved that he was not so tight lipped about everything, not like he used to be. I loved that he confided in me how he felt. All the girls at Lunarenstein had bemoaned the fact that the men that courted them never told them anything about what went on in their head. Not Adrian. I knew him. I knew almost everything about him.

Today. I would do it today. No matter what happened, I would tell him today. I did not worry about the consequences.

"The Liche Queen came to see me. She told me about the flowers." I touched the crown on my head. "She told me they are rare because they only grow where purity is. And that not everyone can touch them." I laughed then. "So apparently I am some pure being." My tone had the slightest touch of sarcasm to it. Adrian grinned and began to walk in our familiar direction, the direction of the Moon Queen's tower. All of a sudden I became frightened. I didn't want this to end. I wanted to spend the rest of my life in this forest with Adrian, sleeping in trees and completing the Impossible Task. I wanted to spar with him, I wanted to debate with him, I wanted to confide in him, I wanted to touch his eyelashes and kiss his throat. I wanted to know every part of him.

Then he turned back to me and flashed me a brilliant smile. "You are." There was no sarcasm in his voice.

Momentarily befuddled by his face and my own thoughts, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I am what?" I questioned.

Adrian laughed. "Pure. You are pure." He shrugged. "You glow in the night, did you know that? When I was younger, I used to make excuses to come to the edge of the woods. Most of the time it was useless because usually you weren't outside, but once or twice I was able to see you...you glowed. Pearlescent, almost. Silver, almost. I'm not sure. It was just, something, I suppose. Something that calmed me. You looked like the moon." The moon. His words made my stomach drop. I stared at him, and he did not break my gaze. Finally, he looked away. "Aurora, I...well, after this is over, I just..." he swallowed. "I need to ask you something, I suppose."

"Ask me now," I answered.

He shook his head. "No. It can wait."

No it can't, I wanted to say, ask me now. I knew, though, no matter what his question was, I was going to tell him that I loved him. There was just no point in keeping my feelings in me anymore, they had to be let out. "Okay," I told him then, and we fell into silence. I didn't tell him that the Liche Queen had brought me to the tower of the Moon Queen. In fact, I said nothing more about my meeting with Lady Death that morning. There was just something much too personal about the encounter to explain. She'd made me an offer to erase the last few months. It would have been easier that way, I knew. I could go back to Lunarenstein. I could live my life, never knowing Adrian, never knowing the pain. But it wasn't a decision I'd ever made. Accepting her offer had never even occured to me at all. Of course it might be easier, but I never wanted to forget Adrian.

And to speak truthfully, I doubted even the Liche Queen's spell could make me forget him.

The forest was filled with laughter and whispers today. I couldn't tell whose they were, but if he heard them, Adrian said nothing. Sometimes I could feel my voice being whispered, Aurora... and I knew she was calling me closer and closer.

During the late afternoon we were stopped as we came to a clearing. Three distinct paths cut off from it, and I heard Adrian swear softly under his breath. I looked to my companion. "I'd forgotten about this. Father told me. We've come to the tower maze. The story is that the path continues to split and unless you know the way, you'll get lost." He looked at me to silence my protests. My questions as to how we could truly get lost when all we'd have to do was turn around and go back. "No matter how far you walk, he told me, you'd never reach the edge of the forest. You could walk for years and years and be forever lost."

"But it's only a story, right? How could anyone know for sure?"

Adrian shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is, everyone bent on saving the Moon Queen have started on the maze and never have returned. This is why it's called the Impossible Task. This, and, of course, other reasons I assume." We stood, considering the pathways for a moment. "Well, what do you suggest we do?" he finally questioned me.

"Let's not be hasty. Let's wait for a moment. Maybe it'll come to me." I thought again of what the Liche Queen had said about fate and destiny. If this really was my fate, maybe I would simply know the way to go. I snuck a look at Adrian. Surprisingly, he did not look skeptical. He believed in fate. He believed in destiny. Then again, he liked to speak to the stars. I stared at the three paths in front of me. It was strange how far my life had come. I could still remember a time when I truly believed that the Queen of the Moon had been stolen by the Liche Queen and that the wolves were her army. I'd never felt that fury towards the wolves that Delphine and the others did, but I still regarded the story as fact...most of the time. Now I knew the truth. It was, in reality, the Witch of Fear who had stolen the Moon Queen after the Moon Queen had fallen in love with a handsome warrior who had lived at Lunarenstein.

Suddenly, a strange feeling rippled through me. You looked like the moon, Adrian had said. We'd already figured out that my father was a wolf who had left the kingdom of the wolves to live at Lunarenstein. The Moon Queen's lover had been from Lunarenstein. The Prince of Wolves was also the Prince of the Earth and All the Land. Charon had described the Moon Queen's handsome warrior as being a child of the earth, and that was the reason they could never be together anyway, because she was a child of the moon and he was a child of the earth. I looked like a brilliant star, I glowed silver, I was pearlescent at night, I could wear the crown of flowers only meant for pure beings...

No.

Oh gods, no.

Because that would mean that...

My thoughts were interrupted by the pounding of large feet through the trees. I snapped out of my reverie and looked at Adrian. "What is that?" I asked, my voice quick. He shook his head, his hands on his sword. I copied his movements and put my own hands on my sword. It was then that two large shapes emerged from the path right before us. Two enormous white bears. The same two who had come to me the night Lourdes had attacked me, the night I left Lunarenstein forever. They were the Moon Queen's icebears and for some reason, their appearance sent me comfort. I ran towards them and set each of my hands on their furry heads. They, standing at chest height, looked up to me.

She sent us here to guide you, one said and began to turn away. I looked at Adrian and nodded. He joined me and we followed the icebears. Again we were silent as the icebears led us through the maze. We followed right at their lumbering heels, eager to stay with them. The maze was difficult, full of turns and forks and paths that might have led us to madness and doom. Instead we kept as close as we could to the bears, and exhilaration and dread ran through me. Exhilaration because my questions might finally be answered. Dread for the same reason.

"Adrian?" I asked after awhile, my voice small. My prince turned to me and smiled. "What was the name of the wolf who left your kingdom twenty years ago to live at Lunarenstein?"

"I cannot remember," he answered.

I swallowed. "Was it Endymion?" Adrian and I stared at each other. His mouth opened just a little bit, as if to say, Oh, I understand. The pieces were falling together for me now and I felt stupid. I should have realized all of this sooner. Where had my mind been? Or maybe I'd always known but hadn't wanted to admit it because it meant something I did not want to think, let alone speak aloud. I shook my head. "Don't answer. Please don't answer."

He obliged me and we continued to follow the bears until at once we were at the same place I'd been only this morning with the Liche Queen. The tower, while the same, looked different in the fading light. Menacing, almost, like it was daring me to come in and discover its secrets. "Well, here we are," Adrian said at last. The bears were already lumbering away, their feet shaking the ground. "We've made it, Aurora. We've come to the tower of the Moon Queen. We've done something no one else has ever done and no matter what happens now, you must remember that." When I looked at him then, I realized how right he was. For a moment, nothing mattered. It didn't matter that I was just now realizing that I wasn't at all who I thought I was. It didn't matter that Adrian had a fiancée waiting for him at his castle. It didn't matter that I'd made a promise to tell him tonight. It didn't matter that, according to a fortune teller, I would be betrayed. It didn't matter if from here on out my path only got darker. For a moment, I felt accomplished. I had done it. I had made it from Lunarenstein to the tower of the Queen of the Moon. I could now fight with a sword. I could live in the woods. I was completely self-reliant.

"Let us go, then."

From where I stood, the tower didn't look like it even had a door. Adrian and I walked around the stone building, but still there were no doors. For some reason, this didn't daunt me. I simply walked up to the stone. The moment I tried to touch the stone tower, it seemed to become air. My fingers slipped right through. "Hm," I muttered and looked back to Adrian. He touched the stone. It was solid against his fingertips. I screwed up my mouth and grabbed his hand. Then, dragging him with me, I closed my eyes and stepped through the stone. When I opened my eyes again, Adrian and I stood in a large foyer. Sconces lit up the room, but the only thing that was occupied in it was a spiral marble staircase.

"Nowhere left to go then, but up," Adrian mused. I nodded. Nerves coursed through me and I could not find the strength to say anything else to him.

Up and up we walked. I hardly noticed the strain in my legs or the burning in my chest. The only thing I could think of were answers. That I was beginning to finally understand why I'd felt so different for all those years. That I was different. Looking up once I thought we were close to the top, but as soon as we reached the top, I realized that we were in an empty room and the stairs continued to go up. After a questioning glance at Adrian, we kept going up.

Closer now, so close...

Until finally we reached the top of the stairs. The top of the tower was another room, but this time, it was much larger in size and full of things. A table, a bed, a couch, chairs and was filled with knick-knacks and oddities of all shapes and sizes. My eyes were not on the room, however, at least not for long. My eyes almost instantly went to the woman sitting at the edge of the tower, looking out a large window. Her back was too us, but I could see a sheet of silvery-blonde hair and a flowing white gown.

She turned to us then, turned to us and smiled. "Aurora," she said to me.

I swallowed, tears in my eyes. Then, breaking out into a smile, I pushed the hardness in my throat away.

"Mother," I replied.