Just as the sun was halfway through its path across the azure sky, Lara and her group arrived at their destination—a place that Percival had only read in Peridur’s Book of Legends — Galeya’s sacred bathing pool.
The pool was nestled deep within the jungle’s embrace, hidden by trees and jagged listone walls. It was said that if a mortal saw Galeya in her human form, the mortal would beco blind. But the goddess did not want to hurt her people, so she enclosed her bathing place with high walls so no mortal eyes would accidentally see her.
The legend of Galeya was known to all the children of Northem because they had grown up hearing tales of Mount Ourea and the other mountains in the Alta-Tierra range and how they ca to be.
Now, they stood before the fabled sacred pool, hidden from mortal eyes by the jagged listone walls that glead in the midday sun. Their hearts swelled with a quiet reverence.
Lara decided to take her brothers and cousins there. The place was too beautiful to be kept hidden — the water shimred with an otherworldly grace, glistening like liquid crystal under the direct heat of the sun.
The n were spellbound. Abel and Barett stood in awed silence, their eyes wide as they marveled at the pool’s beauty. The water looked like it had been poured from the sky itself—neither warm nor cold, but existing in perfect balance.
"Sis, I’m a believer of the legend now," Percival breathed, kneeling to run his hand through the crystal-clear water. "This... this has to be the work of a god."
Even Bener and Gideon, who scoffed at legends, were visibly moved, their usual skepticism dissolving into sighs of wonder.
Aramis, however, thought of sothing different.
With his expression thoughtful yet playful, he spoke up. "Kane, I an Miss Lara," he began, his voice carrying an almost childlike curiosity, "is this the very spot where you faced off against that constrictor?" There was a hint of mischief in his tone as he looked around.
All six heads snapped in his direction, their expressions a vivid tapestry of annoyance and confusion. Percival shot him a piercing glare, while Gideon feigned exasperation, rolling his eyes in a dramatic display of frustration.
"You are a buzzkill, you know," Lara mumbled.
"What buzzkill?" Aramis scratched his head. He looked around and still found the others staring at him strangely.
"What? Did I say sothing wrong? I am just asking if this is indeed the place so I can check the vicinity. You don’t want to be suddenly pulled up from the water, right?" He followed up with a grin.
"Miss Lara was seriously injured at that ti, if not for Prince Alaric arriving in ti to save her..."
"Aramis!" Lara’s cold and commanding voice caused Aramis to falter. Was it Lara he heard? How co he felt a chill ran down his spine which only Alaric could make him feel?
"Sis, is it true?" Bener asked, his voice filled with concern.
"Don’t worry, that one ti was a fluke. Snakes couldn’t climb that jagged wall." Lara pointed to the listone formation. "We’ve guessed that the snake was carried by a big bird, an eagle perhaps. But it must have been too heavy and was dropped. Coincidentally, it fell inside the radius of the pool."
"That’s not what I am talking about, Sis," Bener spoke gently. "It’s the injury. Was it serious?"
Lara glanced at her brother. She felt complicated when she saw the worry manifested as a frown on Bener’s forehead.
"Well, I am very alive right now," then in a stern voice she added, "Go take your bath. It is getting late.
Lara could see that even her master wanted to bathe. Aramis was reluctant at first because his duty was to keep Lara safe.
"It’s all right. You don’t need to worry, I can take care of myself," she said softly, gesturing with her hands to shoo him toward the water.
Lara chose not to bathe, and she exited the enclosure to give the six n their privacy.
She took the opportunity to feed the newborn pups. She dipped a strip of cloth, which she normally used as gauze, into the water sweetened with a little honey, but the pups turned their heads away and refused to feed.
After a few more attempts, she changed tactics. She gently placed the cubs in a small basket that she had woven from reeds earlier. The bottom part was layered with fiber from the kapok fruit, which she asked Bener to get for her.
She removed the rope that secured the pelt of the wolf, the white one, around her backpack. She spread it on top of her thigh, and then she gently placed the two pups back.
She knew that wolves have heightened senses and was hoping that the pups could still sll their mother’s scent. She dipped her pinky in a small bamboo tube that contained the sweetened water and pressed it to one of the pup’s mouths. It latched on, nibbling instinctively.
Lara giggled. She did the sa for the other pup, and it also latched and nibbled her fingertip.
Lara placed the bamboo tube near the pups, and with both pinkies dipped in the mixture, she fed them side by side. It was slow, delicate work, but Lara didn’t mind. The act brought a strange peace to her—soothing the ache that Grey’s death had left behind.
When the pups finally stopped feeding and settled comfortably on Lara’s lap blanketed with their mother’s fur, Lara felt a connection with the two. An invisible but strong bond between them.
’Don’t worry, Grey. I promise to take care of your pups for you. You have a pair of beautiful pups, male and female. I will na the male Grey in your mory. I hope he gets your grey coat.’ Lara whispered into the wind as she cut a little piece of the white fur and layered the basket with it. Then she gently put back the sleeping pups who thought they were in their mother’s warmth.
An hour passed before the n began to erge from the pool, one by one, their faces glowing with serenity and a sense of awe. They looked refrehsed, touched by sothing greater than themselves—and in many ways, they had been.
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