Chapter 493: The Way That Only Goes Forward

Chapter 492: The Way That Only Goes Forward

Holly stared at Orion.

Her eyes burned as tears clung to her lashes and slid down her cheeks without her even noticing anymore.

Her wrist throbbed in her lap. With the way the blood flowed, she was very certain Orion had cut an artery.

She could feel her pulse jumping weakly beneath the skin where the pale blade had kissed her.

Orion met her gaze calmly.

For a moment, the only sound between them was the soft whisper of falling snow and the distant breathing of the forest.

"This isn’t the punishment I announced to the pack?" Orion asked her.

Holly’s lips trembled.

"Yes," she whispered hoarsely.

He nodded once. "That is technically true. I did announce that you would be exiled into the heart of Nirvana and that Brynhild and I would make sure you arrived at the location."

Holly just stared as he tilted his head slightly.

"Holly, this is a good position to move into the heart of Nirvana from."

Her breath hitched.

"So technically," he continued quietly, "I didn’t lie to them."

Her eyes widened.

"This is the location Brynhild and I will be leaving you. Surely you didn’t expect that we would both go with you into the heart of Nirvana, right?" he asked her.

Holly had thought they would go with her. She did not dare say it out loud, but that was the thought she had.

She took in her surroundings. She had not taken note of anything before, but now she did.

The trees here were different. They were taller and thicker.

Their trunks were dark and packed so close together that even the moonlight struggled to move between them.

The branches tangled overhead like ribs closing in. Snow fell heavier here too, unlike what they were used to at the pack.

"Where..." her voice broke, and she swallowed, getting her bearings before speaking again.

"Where is this?"

Orion smiled faintly.

"You’ve never really been in this part of Nirvana before, so it’s no surprise you don’t know where we are."

Orion straightened and turned slightly, looking ahead into the forest.

"Nirvana is a complicated place," he said quietly.

His voice carried easily in the stillness.

"There isn’t only one path to the heart."

He lifted his hand and pointed.

Holly followed the movement.

Between two massive trees ahead, a narrow trail cut through the snow.

It was barely visible. Just a faint disturbance in the white of the ground. A thin, winding line disappearing into darkness.

The trees on either side leaned inward like they were closing their arms around it.

"There are many ways to reach the heart of Nirvana," Orion continued.

"But this path..."

His finger lingered on the trail.

"...is a one-way movement into it."

Holly’s throat tightened.

"If you keep moving forward," he said calmly, "you will eventually reach the heart. I’m going to be honest with you, it may take days."

He glanced back at her.

"If you move slowly, perhaps a week and some days." He paused before he continued. "If you move fast, it may take four or five days."

"...but given your condition," he added quietly, "I doubt you’ll even last an hour."

Holly stared at him in shock. The only thing she could hear was the pounding of her heart against her chest.

It was like Orion was a different person right now. She could not understand how he could look like this.

Orion even sounded like this.

She could not understand how this was the same boy who used to run around the pack with her. The same boy who had whispered sweet nothings into her ears.

The same boy who had once pressed a clumsy, nervous kiss against her mouth and laughed when she had frozen in shock.

She could still remember his hands. How warm they were whenever he held her. How much she loved to be in his presence. She had really thought that their breaking up was just a phase and that Orion would come back to her. But then he met Sophia.

The same Sophia was the reason Holly was being punished.

Her chest tightened painfully.

She looked at him now.

At the stranger standing in front of her. And she could not reconcile the two.

"How..." her voice came out thin. "How can you do this to me? We were lovers..."

"...years ago. You kept holding on to the past, but it’s long gone. I’m not the boy from then, and it’s perfectly okay for people to grow out of feelings, but you never wanted to see that," he told her.

Behind him, Brynhild shifted.

Her boots crunched softly in the snow. She tilted her head slightly just as her ears twitched. It was subtle.

"What is it?" Orion asked her.

Brynhild frowned faintly.

"There could be one nearby."

Holly froze. Her breath caught painfully in her chest.

"One?" she whispered.

Her eyes flicked wildly around the trees. Fear clawed straight through her.

"One what?"

Orion didn’t answer. Instead, he asked softly as he picked up Sophia’s swords and carefully wiped the blood off with Holly’s clothes.

"Do you know why you were given wolfsbane?" he asked her.

"Um... um... because... because I am a criminal," she whispered.

Orion’s smile widened.

"Good. At least you know you are one," he told her.

Then he placed Sophia’s swords with care back into their sheaths.

"Though," he added, tilting his head, "that isn’t the full truth."

Holly’s breath stilled.

"For some reason," he said quietly, "Trihydras are attracted to wolfsbane, especially when it’s in the blood."

Holly shook her head. "No... no, no..."

"They react to it," Orion continued calmly, not minding the fact that Holly was on the verge of a breakdown. "Strongly, too."

"Also, do you know," he asked gently, "that there are ways to attract a Trihydra?"

Holly stared at him. She could not believe what she was hearing.

"I doubt you did. Only a few certain people know about it, but I’ll tell you. To attract a Trihydra, all you have to do is mix wolfsbane with our blood. You don’t need to call them. They’ll come to you," he told her. Then he stood up.

"According to Brynhild, there’s one in the way right now," he told her. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Holly cried and tried to reach for him, but she couldn’t.

"Please... please don’t leave me here."

A loud hiss sounded from the trees, and Holly’s eyes widened because it was obviously a Trihydra.

"I wonder, if Sophia had begged you like this, would you have left her?" Orion asked.

Brynhild shook her head. "She wouldn’t. She saw the Trihydras as an opportunity to kill Sophia after all."

Orion nodded. "Brynhild is right. Goodbye, Holly."