Nicole only woke up after that morning to eat and drink. The wolves always had food ready for her, and she always fell back asleep immediately after eating. As time progressed, she understood less of what the pack was saying, although she didn't really realize it. One day as she woke up, Kyria was lying beside her. The little wolf stood up as Nicole came to and barked. Nicole's mind was clearer than before, feeling better, yet she didn't immediately realize what happened. Not until Kyria repeated the series of barks and tilted her head.

"Don't freak her out, Kyria," a familiar voice said from outside the cave. The wolf now turned towards the entrance and spoke in the human language.

"I just wanted to know if she was hungry" the pronunciation was making it hard to understand.

"But she doesn't understand you," the disembodied voice finally stepped inside. "Good morning, little one. I see you feel better" Nicole only nodded, still trying to figure out where she had heard the woman before. "I am Zahra. I believe Erlina told you I was coming." another nod from Nicole. "I am sorry for the delay, but I could not risk you being infectious when I came here. I am a seer, after all, and you still need my help."

"So, are we going away from here?" Nicole was shocked, but her fever being gone allowed her to remember her breathing exercises, so she didn't lose her cool just yet.

"Not yet." Zahra knelt down with a container full of some kind of soup beside Nicole. The girl looked up, and as her eyes met Zahra's, something finally clicked in her.

"But..." Nicole barely held it together, and so what she intended to be only thought was said aloud. "It was just a...."

"Dream?" Zahra finished before Nicole could. "Yeah, that is usually how it starts out. Although I suspect you had different experiences too. The dream was complex and far into the future." Nicole's jaw dropped as the words sank into her brain. She turned pale, realizing that she had indeed had experiences with seeing the future.

Her head started spinning as the information became too much for her to take in. Her heart sped up just as her breath hitched. She felt something wet rolling down her face but her mind was way too distant to recognize the feeling of crying.

She vaguely saw Kyria trying to get closer and Zahra stopping her just as Nicole was about to rage out at the young wolf. After that, no one was allowed closer to her for what felt like hours to Nicole. She soon realized she was acting out and tried to slow her breathing. When she did, Zahra signaled Kyria, who went there and curled up beside Nicole in a position so that the girl could pet her.

Nicole did start petting Kyria and continued to keep her breathing level consciously. Zahra put a cup beside her, but her stomach felt way too upset for her to even think about drinking it.

"Thank you," she said as she calmed down.

"I am sorry about that. I should have known it would be too much information for you" Zahra sat across from Nicole.

"At least I didn't end up turning into something small or big and attack you." Nicole's speculative voice hid the question as to why she didn't transform.

"I do not think you would have even before your sickness" Zahra looked at Nicole with understanding in her eyes.

"What do you mean "even before my sickness"?" Nicole had a bad feeling about the answer.

"Are you sure you are ready?" Zahra lifted her eyebrows

"No, but I wanna know why I don't understand the wolves and why I haven't felt the start of a transformation," Nicole said. She made sure she kept breathing deeply.

"Well, let us start at the beginning, then. Do you know the origins of the virus? Or the properties of it?" Zahra asked as the wolves started gathering around them.

"No. Just that it kills everyone basically" The wolves sat down around the two people looking both sad and curious at the same time

"Yes, but there is more to it than you think," Zahra said. "You know that dragons are the only ones capable of healing it, right?" Nicole nodded. Her head was buzzing, but she wanted to hear what Zahra had to say.

"That is because, against magic, the only solution is magic." Upon seeing Nicole's confused expression, Zahra explained it differently. "The virus was created by magic, but it was intended to destroy magic. Those who created it wanted to destroy all magical beings so only humans would survive. However, they miscalculated. To magical beings, it wasn't lethal; it only took away their powers. To humans, it was lethal as their magic resided in being alive."

"The king and queen of dragons saw what happened and offered their help. Dragons on Earth are born with the ability to heal any sickness. Those who were healed became immune, and they passed that down more or less. Your generation was already born with partial resistance, which meant that it didn't kill everyone. The virus mutated too and became more lethal towards seers."

"Then, tensions rose among humans and dragons and the different kingdoms. The death of a dragon was the spark that fell on the dry leaves of peace and the rest; you know," Zahra's eyes reflected the light of the fire as tears gathered in them.

"Yeah. I know the dragons are cowards" Nicole knew there was more to the story, but her anger boiled hotter than her curiosity.

"Humans and dragons are both to blame for what happened, and you can not say there is one specific antagonist" Zahra was calm, and that made Nicole explode inside.

"You say that, but you left society. You didn't want to get sick or killed, and so you left us to deal with the situation."

"I know how you feel. I also knew that you would need me. I know how it looks, but you were born lucky as a shapeshifter. I knew that if I stayed, I was going to die." Nicole knew Zahra was trying to calm her but what the seer said was as good at calming her as pouring oil on fire was effective in putting it out.

"Lucky?!" she yelled so loudly that Kyria jumped up and ran to her mother. "I lost my ability to speak to animals! I will be lucky if I ever shapeshift again, and I know for a fact that I will never have my heightened senses again!" she felt emptiness fill her heart as her anger burned longer and longer. "My brother and my sister died because they inherited my father's genes! My mother was killed by a dragon! And on top of that, the dragons retreated and have not been seen since that day! I feel very lucky indeed!"

"I know" Zahra's eyes were basically glowing as the light hit her tears. She didn't say more, and Nicole was relieved. She knew the seer only wanted to help, but anything she said only made things worse.