Chapter 145 - Quest To The Top Of The Mountain

Leaving Anastasia this morning is most definitely one of the hardest things that I have yet done. But I need to find that one thing, that is, if it even exists, that shall put her under a deep sleep. Where? That I do not know.

So Edward and I are finding our way back over to Morgana. Now I have not told Anastasia where I am set to go. Yes, I am building trust on lies again, but she cannot know of my intention, for I know that she shall not approve. I have told her that we will be away on council business and that I was not quite certain on how long it would take.

Now I do hope that this shall be easy for we are running out of time. She shall, as per this Doctor, which I still fully do not trust, she shall be going into labor in less than five days. It can be four; it can be two. I am hoping that it shall be five.

We have snuck out under silence while she was bathing and have just taken to the long road that shall take us back to Morgana. Edward has kept himself fairly quiet. He knows that it shall be futile to try and talk me out of this. But how do you talk a man out between saving his beloved wife or letting her die?

Yes, the great fear is there that should we be able to get Anastasia through this childbirth, that our child shall indeed not make it. The thing with prophecies is that they never can be trusted. This we have seen with Anastasia and the Vampire Hunter. Are they, in fact, together as what it was written in the stars? So, therefore, I am not relying on the word of some foolish old man that told too many tales around a fire.

So after what seems a rather long stretch of time, Edward finds the words to speak, "My dear Sebastian, do you think that such a thing does exist?"

"Edward, we have seen things that we never thought walked this earth; I am sure that there must be something that shall be that strong."

"Well, I am leaning towards that it should be some plant."

I look at him rather peculiar, but I do seem to carry the same thought, "Then let us hope that it shall not be impossible to find it."

"Perhaps Morgana shall even have such a thing with her."

Now that does bring some sort of a comfort, but what we have seen also is that nothing is quite that easy. I do believe that it shall take us more than pure coincidence to find what we are looking for.

And looking for, after endless hours, soon comes into sight as we approach the very entrance of the forest where Morgana lives. Let us just hope that this time our arrival is welcomed.

But as soon as we step to enter, we are immediately jolted back.

She has, in fact, enforced the barrier. Now I do hope that it is not because of our arrival. So all we have left to do is wait. And wait, we do not have time for.

After making a rather frantic call to Breyden to check on Anastasia, we find ourselves sitting under a nearby tree on some rather uncomfortable rocks. Now, if I say that this is not infuriating me would be a lie. It is true that all creatures shall bow to me, but Morgana in her own right is far more powerful than me and have, from our very first meeting, made it clear that she shall not live under my rule.

Yes, I reluctantly gave in to this, and do I regret it now. These seconds that we are wasting is the very seconds that my beloved do not have. Now, if the woman possessed such a thing as a phone, then I would have called her, but she believes in the old ways. Wait is all that we can do.

And wait comes until the sunsets.

As we look far off in the distance, not coming from the forest but in fact the road, we see Morgana approaching, with whom I assume is the reason for her absence. She has, and by the smell of him, a mut with her. The minute she reaches us, my alarm is already raised.

"My dear Morgana," I say as I pull her to the side. "Now seriously, a mut? What on earth are you doing with the creature?"

"Sebastian, a woman, gets lonely, and this…man knows a few things that I find rather pleasurable."

And those things come spilling from her very thoughts, "My god, could keep that silent."

"Mmm, you seem to have an ability that I was not aware of. Please do tell?"

"Not sure when, but it came with a little thing called a soul."

"Even more intriguing. Now I do have a rather pressing question, but let us go inside, and you can tell me to what I owe this pleasure…again."

With that, we make our way into the forest, winding our way through the thick brush and endless rows of beautiful flowers. And as before, we reach the magnificent waterfall, well, only Edward and me can see, for she has blindly led her new pet. I do believe that I, and of course Edward, are the only ones that know how to find the way.

So once we find ourselves deep in the depths of a cave that she has transformed into a beautiful home, she turns to me once again.

"I am guessing that this is about Anastasia? Has she given birth to the child yet?"

"No, she has not, but she has less than five days left. Now we have taken her to a human doctor, and he has, as per what you said, agreed that both should not survive."

I see Morgana drop her head and start to stutter at finding the right words to say, but I interrupt her, "He said that if we are able to find something so strong to put Anastasia under, that she might just survive the birth. And of course, she is going to need a lot of blood, which I have already find the source. Now please tell me that you know of any such thing."

"Sebastian, I do not possess any such potion or even plant. But…" Morgana goes silent; she seems to search the deepest corners of her mind for an answer. Then after a while, she does speak again, "I know of a plant, the Blood Thorn Laceflower. You will find it on the top of Mount Ben Nevis."

I look over at Edward with a newfound hope in my eyes, "Edward, it seems like I will be going home."

With that, we thank Morgana, but before we can even disappear down the long corridor, she shouts after us. "Wait, Sebastian, I think I was wrong…"

But I do not give her any moment to explain, it takes Edward and me less than five minutes, and we find ourselves in the car. Now I am faced with two problems; for one, I am going to have to leave Anastasia home alone for at least another fifteen hours, and secondly, I won't even last halfway up that path. I attempted it in my young years, and I doubt that I can attempt it again. So I will be left with asking a very willing mortal.

But that aside, I shall do whatever it takes to get what my beloved needs to survive.

So with absolute haste, we find ourselves at the airport waiting to board the next plane. It feels like just the other day that we were traveling Europe, once again one of us is looking for something. There is a part of me that has this incredible fear that we shall not find what we are looking for. But I need to have that faith; I promised Anastasia that I should fight and I shall push forward.

And forward, we push after a very short flight; we are stepping into Scotland. Now I never thought I should come back home under these circumstances, but I can honestly say that apart from the fear and panic, it does feel great to be home once again. If I have the time, I would have loved to revisit my youth and get reacquainted with the many Vampires that I spent so many years with.

Well, this is not a holiday; we need to get to the foot of the mountain and convince a mortal to do this task for me. Now I do believe that the plant is rare and therefore endangered, so I am guessing being in possession of it might just land you in jail.  But this does not put me off from my quest.

After a half an hour of struggling to find a rental, we set off to make the two-and-a-half-hour trip to the mountain.  I can see that Edward is also starting to grow intensely nervous. He has refrained from stating what is the obvious even though he dreads the possibility just as much.

So I rest my hand on his shoulder and try to reassure him of something that I am not sure either, "Edward, she shall hang on until our return. Breyden said that she is resting and looking well."

"I have no doubt of that, Sebastian. I am scared that we shall not find this flower."

"If we don't, then we shall find something else. I am not bound to give up though I hate that we are running out of time."

Then he looks at me with a newfound worry in his eyes, "Sebastian, what do you think Morgana was talking about?"

"I have no idea; the woman was probably just rambling."

For the rest of the drive, we just make small talk and try to keep each other motivated. Then as we finally get to the lodge at the foot of the mountain, we start with our search for a mortal. Now let me be true to myself; they all look rather stuck up. This seems that it might just be more difficult than we anticipated.

So while Edward is finding a willing man, I step to the side to phone Breyden, "Breyden, my friend. How are things going on your side?"

"I have not checked up on her since an hour ago. Let me sneak my head in for a minute."

I listen as he places his phone on the kitchen counter and makes his way to our room. After what seems like too many seconds, he returns, "Sebastian, she is not in the room. I shall go look for her and phone you back."

With that, a terrible worry sets over my heart. I hope that she has not gone into labor. "Breyden, please do it at once. I await your call."