Nature is not a place to visit 39

Chapter 39
*“When people whose lives have turned into ruins wander through the ruins, we can easily see that life has treated the
ruins much better.”*
*Mehmet Murat Ildan*
“It’s hard to tell now, but long ago, these gardens were full of rare plants and herbs from all over the world,” Ambrose
told me proudly as we walked hand-in-hand through one of the outdoor archways. “I spent centuries cultivating that
collection, plants from every corner of this earth. Some of them were extinct everywhere but my home.” Something
solemn flashed through his eyes as he stared at the now-empty flowerpots in the courtyards.
In typical Ollie-fashion, I tried to keep the conversation light. Or as light as I could make it when we were visiting the ruins
of what used to be Ambrose’s home. Even as we found what was left, I had a feeling this place would continue to remind
him of what he’d lost.
“These columns are cool,” I said, pointing towards the Corinthian columns that held up the corridor we were walking
through. “And they look like they held up decently well over time.”
Fortunately, the distraction seemed to work. “Oh, yes,” he said, “I wanted to make these into Ionic temples, but Nasaah
insisted the Corinthian style looked better.”
“Nasaah?”
“Nasaah lived here full-time as one of my advisors during my rule, but he was more than that. Over time, he became a
close friend.” He smiled fondly. “You would’ve liked him, little wolf. He was fearless. He was never afraid to speak his
mind – even when he knew I disagreed.”
It was odd to think about Ambrose having friends or being surrounded by advisors. I had to remind myself that his reign
before being put to sleep had been very real – it wasn’t just some story or legend I’d been told as a kid.
“He sounds like he’d get along with some people I know,” I said, my mind flashing to Rae.
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” he replied, “He liked to challenge Alphas to one-on-one battles. When Nasaah won, he’d tear out
one of their fangs and keep it as a trophy. He liked to wear them on a necklace. When I knew him, his necklace was full.”
*Oh yeah, he’d definitely get along with Rae*.
“Do you know what happened to him?” I asked. “Once the witches…” It was a risky question, but my curiosity won out.
“I cannot say for sure,” he said, “But the witches were only after me. I was their only target. Knowing Nasaah, he probably
lived out the rest of his days with some powerful pack, picking fights and collecting teeth until he was old and gray.”
Before I could ask Ambrose any more questions, he changed the subject quickly. “Ah, here’s the entrance I was looking
for,” he said. It was only then I realized we hadn’t just been walking aimlessly through the long corridor – Ambrose had
been leading us to the entrance of the temple.
The door to the interior mirrored the large gate we’d come through. It was of a similar height with the same snarling wolf-head door knocker. The only difference were the large stone walls that enclosed the door and hid the inside of
Ambrose’s home from view.
This time, I didn’t wait for Ambrose to tell me to back up. I moved off to the side and let him pull open the door. All at
once, there was a loud whine and a clang! as it swung open. Unfortunately, it also kicked up a layer of centuries-old dust
that left me coughing harder than an elderly chainsmoker.
“Are you okay, little wolf?” Ambrose asked as he patted my back through the coughing fit.
With watery eyes, I replied, “Yeah, yeah, just need a second.”
After I’d coughed up what felt like an entire lung, I signaled to Ambrose that I was fine to go in.
And as it turned out, the inside of Ambrose’s home was just as impressive as the outside. Tall, domed ceilings stretched
as high as I could see with marble floors that looked like they should’ve been white, but were tinged yellow with time.
There was plenty of dust and debris too. Large, stained glass windows were cracked or shattered completely, their
designs impossible to decipher. Some of the columns in the corner of the room had broken off into large chunks, which
now littered the floor. I could even see the remnants of a statue in the center in the room, but it was too fragmented for me to make out what it should’ve been.
I looked up at the dome ceiling, and if I squinted, I could still make out the basic outline of its original design: in the
center of the dome, there was some wolf-like creature with a wolf head and curled, long claws, but it had the legs of a
human. No doubt some ancient illustration to represent werewolves, but it looked vaguely familiar to me.
“Come,” Ambrose snapped me out of my thoughts, holding out a hand, “I want to show you the throne room.”
He navigated through the dusty stone and marble corridors as if the last time he’d been here was yesterday, not a
thousand years ago. And despite the cracked columns and debris-littered marble, the place was in surprisingly good
shape after a thousand years without maintenance.
*A little cleanup, some new windows and columns, and this temple will look good as new.*
The throne room, as Ambrose had called it, felt like an inadequate term for the space he led me to. If anything, it was a
throne hall – it was simply too large to be called a room.
The ceilings must’ve stretched thirty or forty feet tall with the biggest columns I’d seen yet. They were so wide they
reminded me of the red oak tree back home.
“Woah,” I murmured. “This is a step up from campers and tents.”
“Precisely.”
However, the crowning jewel of the space – no pun intended – was the throne. It sat in the back of the room, elevated on
dais with fractured stone steps. The chair itself was *massive*, and made completely of intricately-sculpted marble. A
distinct crescent moon was carved into back of the throne.
I took a step closer.
The only source of light in the room was the large cathedral windows that sat behind the throne, and I couldn’t help but
notice they were still intact.
“This place looks like it’s held up pretty well,” I commented.
There was a proud look on Ambrose’s face.
“Yes,” he said, “It has, hasn’t it?”
“Any other cool rooms you got in this place?” I asked. “You promised me a grand tour, you know. I want to see
everything.”
Something predatory flashed through Ambrose’s eyes, and he took a step closer to me. “Perhaps the bedroom should be
next on our list then,” he said, his voice dropping to a husky murmur.
My heart skipped a beat, and it was a wonder he didn’t give me a heart attack every time he looked at me like *that.*
“Oh, uh,” I stuttered. “I was thinking more like a secret passage or something.” A flush crept up my neck – when had it
gotten so hot in here?
*Oh, great comeback, Ollie.*
*You totally don’t sound like a bumbling fool.*
Ambrose’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Wait,” he said, “That reminds me.” He strode forward, disappearing behind one of the
gigantic columns. I followed behind him like a lost puppy dog.
He marched to the left corner of the room, placing his hand on the wall. “I used to keep a hidden study behind this wall,”
he explained with excitement in his voice, “A place I could escape to when I needed alone time. The only other person who knew it existed was Nasaah.”
His hand lit up blue as he pressed his palm flat against the stone, the light beginning to bleed through into the cracks of
the wall. “And he took advantage of that quite often,” Ambrose continued. He rolled his eyes but there was another fond
smile forming on his face. “He’d interrupt me in the middle of the night just to chat about mundane things.”
The blue spread. There was the loud grinding of stone against stone echoed through the empty room, and a bunch of
dust kicked up.
I managed to blink through the sting, and once I did, I gasped.
What had been a seamless stone wall before was now a large opening in the exact place where Ambrose had put his
hand.
“I can see how you kept this place hidden,” I commented.
Ambrose glanced back at me with a playful smile on his lips. “Oh that? Nothing more than a parlor trick, little wolf.” He was the first one through the opening, and I followed without hesitation.
“You seem to have a lot of ‘parlor tricks.’”
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I waved away some of the dust, and got my first good look at Ambrose’s hidden study.
Covered under a layer of centuries-old dust were several large bookshelves filled to the brim with books, some as thin as
loose-leaf paper and others size of textbooks. They stacked all the way up to the high, dome-like ceiling, and I breathed
in the scent of ink and parchment.
“I think you and I have different definitions of what a ‘study’ is,” I told him, stepping closer to one of the shelves so that I
could read the faded titles. I wasn’t sure how stable these shelves were, so I tried to tread lightly. “This place would put a
public library to shame…or a museum.”
I squinted to make out some of the titles, but either the text was too faded or they were so old they didn’t have titles.
When he didn’t reply, I glanced back at him. I expected to find him exploring or tinkering with what remained of his
office, but instead, he was frozen in the middle of the room.
His back was to me, but his fists were clenched and his muscles were stiff.
A pit formed in my stomach.
“Ambrose?” I called, “Are you okay?”
He didn’t reply.
I closed the distance between us, placing my hand on his shoulder. If he noticed my touch, he didn’t react. I hand to
stand on my toes in order to peer over his shoulder and see what he was looking at, but once I did, my breath hitched.
Propped up against a destroyed bookshelf and scattered books was a skeleton. Its jaw hung open like it – no, *who* –
had died screaming. Carved into the skeleton’s jaw, arms, and ribs was the same symbol over and over again: a crescent moon.
That’s not what left my stomach in knots though.
Hung around the skeleton’s neck was a necklace full of werewolf fangs.
“Witches.”
The word was a guttural hiss out of his throat, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up on end.
“Ambrose –”
Before I could finish, he snapped his head around to face me. His eyes were completely swallowed by that blue light, his
pupils no longer visible.
*Run!* Whatever survival instinct I had was screaming at me.
Not that I got the chance.
There was a flash of blue light, and then I was flying across the room.