The girl looked back and smiled as she said, “Kitty!”
Naomi hissed and crouched to pounce like a true caracal. The child quickly got up and ran further into the forest, scared. That was until she bumped into a teen boy, who had just walked out from behind some thick brush with a dagger. She looked up and said, “Hunter! Help me!”
He shoved her behind him so that he stood between his sister and Naomi.
Naomi was surprised at the appearance of the boy in the forest in front of her. She was even more surprised at the words she heard coming from his mouth.
“ Stay away from my sister or I'll kill you, Cryptic, ” the boy threatened and he held the dagger before him. Naomi snarled and swiped with one deadly paw, not wanting to give up the disguise, but wondering how he’d known she was a Cryptic.
“I know you’re a Cryptic; I heard my voice leading her,” The boy said his hands shaking.
Naomi sat and growled at him, “You’re such a killjoy. I wasn’t going to hurt her--just have some fun.”
“Liar! You were about to pounce on her,” he retorted. Naomi shrugged trying to seem innocent.
“I ask for the Brazen claw deal, ” the boy pretty much demanded.
Naomi looked at him surprised, “How do you know about that? Who are you?”
“I’m Hunter, son of Mica the First Fang.” Naomi looked him up and down. The title “First Fang” was given to the people that had first interacted with the Cryptics.
“Fine! We leave NOW, boy. Send the girl home and try to keep up,” Naomi commanded as she walked past.
Hunter pointed his sister towards home and told her to run fast before he turned to follow Naomi. The girl took off, forgetting her ball. Naomi didn’t wait as she trotted deeper into the forest towards a hidden portal doorway. Hunter rushed to catch up. Naomi occasionally glanced back at the boy, who walked quickly a few feet behind her in silence. He had put away his dagger and it was now tucked into his boot.
After about half an hour or so of padding through the forest, Naomi caught sight of the landmark she was looking for--a cave on the side of a hill that had once been worn away by a river, now long gone. Her ears perked, listening for trouble. Then she saw him--a lion with a scar across one eye. He was blind in that eye and couldn’t see well out the other, which was clear as he stepped out from the mouth of the cave, and squinted his good eye to see who was approaching.
“Ah, little caracal. Who is your friend there?” a voice said in a gruff tease, reminding Naomi of how he interacted with her during her pre-Feralizer training.
“He is not my friend, Garal . You are the only friend I have down here. HE’S a human,” Naomi growled, sounding a bit animalistic.
Garal’s gaze hardened as he looked at the two. “Why did you bring a human here, they are forbidden from our world.”
“He discovered me and demanded the right of Brazen claw. He is the son of a First Fang. I’m taking him to the leaders to deal with, or do you want them to come here,” Naomi said slyly.
Garal rolled his eyes, “You should have been a fox, little caracal. It was bold for him to ask for the Brazen claw; I don’t expect him to survive it.”
With that, he stepped aside so they could slip past. The door opened and Naomi walked through, although the boy hesitated after hearing Garal’s words--until Garal nudged him forward into the doorway. Once Naomi and the boy had gone through, Garal returned to his hiding place and listened for sounds of either friend or foe approaching. He was a proud old guard, guarding the entrance to the Cryptic world.
Chapter 3
Naomi was instantly in her humanoid form once she stepped back into the Cryptic’s world. She turned just in time to see Hunter stumble out of the doorway. She walked along the sidewalk towards a small, simple building; it was the Sanctorium de Cryptic. The outside of the building was black stone in sort of a Roman temple style, but still standing and had a roof.
With pillars surrounding the walls, it looked like either a really fancy prison or a really weird government building. It stood a good 60 feet tall, as it seemed to be supported by the pillars. Inside there was a long hall that led to a set of large doors that were guarded; along the hall were a few other doors to other rooms such as a records room, and a cute little library. The hall had glistening white marble floors to balance the dark walls.
It was a mile and a half from where they had walked out of the portal doorway. Hunter hurried to catch up and walked beside Naomi, occasionally glancing at her feline ears. Her tail swished behind her as it brushed against the ground and her legs, her ears occasionally twitching as if embarrassed to be looked at. They traveled like that all the way to the Sanctorium.
Naomi, finally annoyed with him looking at her ears, snapped at him, “Quit gawking at my ears or I’ll rip your throat out.”
The boy was startled and lowered his head as they headed inside. He seemed to not want to make eye contact with her, or any Cryptic, as they walked. They walked past a few Shadow Beasts that wore cloaked hoods. One even had its aura walking beside it. The aura looked like a sabertooth tiger. It was pretty common for Shadow Beasts to don cloaks after the Feralizer, but Naomi was surprised to see an ancient tiger as an aura.
They continued down a long hall until they stood before a large double door with two guards to either side. Naomi looked to the one on her left and spoke in a strange language. The guard looked at the boy, and then the other guard, and nodded. The guard to Naomi’s right pressed a button to open the double doors for Naomi and Hunter to enter. The guards closed the doors behind them, and Hunter jumped at the sound of the heavy doors sliding shut. Naomi only smiled at his reaction.
Inside the chamber, past the large double doors, was a large throne-like room with pillars lining the carpeted path to a raised dais Naomi walked along the jungle green carpet. On the wall facing the dais were carved-out nooks, that had seats inside. On the seats sat the Cryptic leaders. Naomi stood on the dais and waited for them to finish talking. Hunter stood to the back of the dais, kind of off to the side. Naomi glanced at each of the leaders.
First, there was the Loki leader. He looked very much like the Loki of Norse legend as seen in picture books, with the curved horns made of gold, which stood out against his long, slick, black hair. His name was Gwythyr .
Then there was the Shadow Beast leader. She hid her face with a pitch-black cloak but her blue, almost grey, eyes did shine through the darkness made by her cloak. Her name was Acacia .
Next was the Anansi leader, Leander . H e seemed to smile with every word, and his hair looked like a cougar’s coat. His eyes were a deep green. He was slender, unlike what one would picture of a cougar.
The Siren’s leader was last. She seemed slender and streamlined with a tail of a longfin eel. Her name was Topaz . Some said that she even had teeth like an eel, too. Naomi thought of Topaz’s smile during the ceremony, as she had seemed to hide something.
Finally, Leander noticed that Naomi was standing below and signaled to the other leaders for silence before looking to Naomi with a smile.
Leander inquired, not noticing Hunter, “Hello young caracal, what brings you here?”
Naomi pointed at Hunter with her thumb. “He does, he called for Brazen claw and is the son of a First Fang.”
All four leaders looked at Hunter simultaneously, before turning to converse among themselves. Naomi looked at Hunter, then the four leaders, puzzled. She tried to make out what they were saying, but she could just barely hear them or read what they were saying. Leander noticed and gave her a smile as the other leaders turned back to Hunter.
Gwythyr asked, his voice smooth as silk, “Do you know what the Brazen claw is, son of First Fang?”
Hunter glanced at Naomi before answering, “It means I’m banning any Cryptic from interacting with my family in any way.”
Naomi rolled her eyes as it meant more than that. Brazen claw was a code word given to only the family’s of the First Fangs, a.k.a., the humans that first inter
acted with Cryptics when they finally revealed themselves.
Topaz spoke in a sweet voice, “Yes but at a price.”
Acacia quickly took over, “ The price is your life.”
Hunter looked at each of the leaders in surprise. “ Are they going to kill me? '' he wondered.
Leander spoke, smiling, “What Acacia means is that the price is your life as a human . You will be turned Cryptic via a blood transfusion of sorts. Knowing this, do you still claim Brazen claw?”
Hunter was silent for a few moments then answered, “If it means my family is out of bounds then, yes, I claim Brazen claw .”
Chapter 4
Acacia lowered her hood and the four leaders smiled as they leaped down from their nooks . Naomi looked in wonder at Acacia; she was beautiful. Acacia had kind, round features, and thick red hair that reached just past her shoulders.
The leaders landed with barely a sound as Naomi went to stand next to Hunter. Leander waved at them to follow as the leaders headed down a just-opened secret passage hidden in the wall. Hunter looked at Naomi who shoved him forward, as she followed.
The passage was rounded at the top, pillars every ten feet or so on both walls. Every five feet there would be a torch on either side of the passage. It seemed to go downwards in a gently sloping spiral. Naomi looked at the walls of red stone, as some had carvings or paintings of past Cryptic leaders and heroes. Eventually, they reached a door, it was a simple-looking wooden door. Acacia pulled out a key and used it to open the door.
Past the door was a circular room that looked like it was carved out from the earth. A small square table sat at the back of the room with a goblet on top of it. The goblet was made of jade, yet simple in design. Next to the goblet was a small black, rough-cut diamond.
The room was supported by four massive pillars made of white stone. The pillars appeared to have small nooks or crevices carved into them which could hold small items.
On the floor between the pillars was a carving of a sacred circle, though it was just a circle with a few designs on the outside. Naomi and Hunter could feel an ancient power around them; this was a place for old and rare ceremonies.
Gwythyr walked to the table, grasped the stem of the goblet and picked up the diamond, then placed the black diamond in a small crevice in the center of the sacred circle, before stepping to the outer edge of the ring.
Leander pulled out a dagger from a sheath hidden under his shirt. Standing around the rim of the circle, each of the leaders used the dagger to slice a finger and put a drop of blood in the goblet, before passing both to the next leader.
As if it were something she’d known her whole life, Naomi directed Hunter to stand in the center of the circle just behind where the black diamond was set. She then exited the sacred circle and stood hands behind her back, watching, from behind the leaders.
Topaz grabbed a bottle from the nook concealed in her pillar and poured the contents into the goblet; it was vokteemar, a Cryptic drink similar to human whiskey. Leander carried the goblet as he stood before Hunter.
“Drink this and leave your life as a human behind. You are one of us now,” he said.
Hunter took the goblet and drank the vokteemar and blood.
He coughed as he never had anything tasting of alcohol before, and he was surprised by the smoky aftertaste. Leander walked back to his pillar and he raised his hands out to the two leaders next to him in the square.
As Hunter continued coughing and then regained his composure--as if knowledge of what he was to do came naturally to him--he tipped the goblet a bit, and a drop of vokteemar blood fell from it and landed on the diamond. Immediately it reacted, as a bright beam of light shot up from the diamond and expanded to cover Hunter--causing him to drop the goblet.
The light faded and Hunter looked around in surprise before looking at his hands.
“Did it work?” Hunter asked before he doubled over in pain. Immediately, he grew a sleek black tail that ended in slender tip and sleek, black triangular ears. A green transparent fin crested from the nape of his neck to his hairline. His teeth became like that of a large cat with large canines.
Naomi and the four leaders gazed upon him in surprise as he rose to his feet. Hunter inquired, “Did something go wrong? Why are you looking at me funny?” Topaz handed him her mirror, Hunter looked at his new appearance and didn’t recognize himself.
Hunter asked, “What am I?”
Leander answered, “You are a Droga--a rare type of Cryptic. The last one led the Cryptic people to be known to humans and be at peace with them. That was many years ago.”
Gwythyr piped up, “He needs a new name for his new life; it seems foreign to call him by his human name now.” All four of the leaders look to Naomi.
She glared at them, “What?” Leander shrugged and looked to the other leaders.
“How about Denzel?” Acacia thought aloud. No one else could come up with anything else.
“We don’t have any better ideas, so Denzel it is,” said Naomi.
Topaz spoke up, “Sadly there is one thing very different about Drogas than other Cryptics.”
Denzel inquired, “I take it that it isn’t just the fin?”
Topaz shook her head, “After a Droga awakens their power they have to find a life partner. Drogas can’t live on their own. We aren’t sure why. We only know that you have a week before you die.”
Naomi and Denzel looked at each other surprised. Naomi asked, “Who is the partner?”
Leander shrugged and answered, “No clue, but we will look around. Until then, do you mind training and boarding him. Hopefully, we will have found a life partner for him by the time of the Receiving Claw Ceremony, in seven days.”
Naomi glared at Denzel, “Mom is gonna have a field day, but if it is the only option… fine.” With that, they all headed back up to the chamber, and the leaders wished them luck as they headed out.
Chapter 5
Naomi and Denzel arrived at her home just as the sun was going down. Denzel looked around as Naomi fished a house key from a hollow candle in a hanging lamp, and used it to unlock the door--they always kept the door locked to prevent surprises. Naomi started inside but then looked back and saw that Denzel was still distracted. She pulled him by the collar inside the house and closed the door.
Naomi hurried to take him upstairs without Mother seeing; sadly she forgot that her mom had the hearing of a Bengal tiger. Her mother greeted her, “Welcome home my cub! How was your first day on the other side of the forest?”
Naomi peeked around the wall, “It didn’t go quite the way I expected. Oh, and we’ve got another mouth to feed.” Her mother looked at her confused until Naomi dragged Denzel out from behind the wall.
“Oh is this that Zeke boy you told me about? He looks so handsome,” her mother chimed.
Naomi shook her head, “No Zeke is a Shadow Beast remember. This is a former human that called for Brazen claw and he will be with us for the week until the leaders find his life partner.”
“Oh my goodness! Really? You’ve brought a former human to our home?” Naomi’s mother asked.
“Well, I didn’t really have a choice. He got through with the ceremony, and Leander basically thrust him on me, told me that I needed to train him and take care of him for a week,” replied Naomi.
“Very well, he can have the spare room upstairs. You two get cleaned up now, supper is almost ready.” Naomi nodded and led Denzel upstairs and into the spare room, then walked to her own room. She growled as she realized the guest room was next to her room. Mom knew we would be right next to each other instead of on different floor levels. Naomi shook her head and filled a shallow bowl with water from the sink in the bathroom attached to her room, and then carried it to his room. She set it on the floor of the bathroom attached to his room, then washed her feet in it.
“What are you doing?” asked Denzel as he watched her.
Naomi answered as she finished washing, “We wash our feet every day before suppe
r and I only have one bowl so we will have to share until I can get another. Now clean up.”
Denzel sat on the floor and washed his feet after taking off his shoes. Naomi grabbed the shoes and tossed them out a window to the trash bin below. He yelled, “Hey! Why did you do that?”
“We only wear shoes at celebrations and sports shoes aren’t really standard for any celebration around here.” Naomi wandered to the closet and shook her head, thinking they’d have to go to the store tomorrow.
Denzel finished washing his feet and emptied the water into the sink. Naomi walked down to the dining area not checking to see if he was following or not. He decided to follow. They sat at the table with Naomi’s mother and ate their meal in silence. Her mother occasionally glanced at Denzel with a protective mother vibe.
Naomi rolled her eyes, “Denzel this is my mother, Rosalee, though you can call her Rosa for short.” He nodded and took another bite of his steak. When they were done they put their dishes in the sink; Naomi often did the dishes at night.
Naomi headed into the living room and grabbed a book to read. Denzel walked up to his room and sat on the bed. Rosalee looked at them go separate ways with a sad look on her face. Eventually, Rosalee picked the book up off of a sleeping Naomi’s face. Rosalee smiled at her sleeping daughter as she placed a blanket on her, before going to bed herself. Denzel had already fallen asleep on his bed.
Morning came and Naomi woke up and snuck upstairs to get Denzel. She peeked into his room and saw that he was still asleep and a pillow had fallen from the bed. She smirked as she knew how to wake him: she grabbed the pillow and slammed it down on Denzel’s head.
Denzel woke up to the sudden pain on the side of his head and saw a pillow on top of his face. “Wake up Humie. You start training today,” Naomi said as she dropped the pillow and headed downstairs. Rosalee had already started making breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and sausage. Naomi grabbed some oranges and made some fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Cryptic Wonder- the Awakening Page 2
