by Bella Ward
Odessa felt odd about it all, as if she was on a stage being watched by an audience she couldn’t see. She was thankful for them being so considerate of her feelings, and wondered if perhaps there was more that she hadn’t seen yet.
That night Odessa and Pypachi were both exhausted from the day. The colors of her magic melted together as she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Sunday morning came with a new hope in Odessa’s heart. She looked for Hamachi in the living quarters, but he was already gone. She couldn’t imagine where he might be. She also noticed Pypachi was gone from off her bed. She began to freak out when she jumped from her bunk. He was running around on the floor, scratching at the door. Odessa was happy to see the little man had begun to thrive in just two short days, and knew the people at the refuge would be shocked. She was sure the man who had sent him home with her was expecting her to come back with a bad report.
She reached into her drawers and pulled out some elastic from the waistband of an old pair of pants and a needle and thread. She held the elastic up and measured it to Pypachi’s neck. In no time, the little pup was wearing a makeshift collar. Odessa had even sewn on a piece of leather with his name scratched into it, and Return to Odessa LeMay on the backside.
They walked out together, but this time the puppy walked on the ground beside Odessa. She was sure he would not wander off. They walked together into the woods to allow the pup to potty. The day was beautiful, and Odessa felt a freedom she had never felt before. When they returned, Odessa had a letter laying on her bed. She opened it excitedly.
Dearest Odessa,
I would like you to meet me in the woods near our stump. I could feel you yesterday, and know you have some questions for me. I have a surprise for you and Pypachi when you come.
Love Hamachi.
Odessa’s heart swelled at seeing the letter. She couldn’t wait to meet him in the woods. She and Pypachi ran as fast as they could to meet him, all the while she thought about the ending of the letter. It had said love Hamachi. Love!
She wondered if that was a formality, or if he meant that he loved her. She felt silly for confessing her love before the council, but it was true. She had grown to love him dearly.
A few minutes later, they were walking up on Hamachi, who was sitting on a blanket on the ground with a picnic displayed on it.
“Hi,” Odessa said, feeling shy suddenly.
“Hey,” he smiled up at her.
He noticed Pypachi walking beside her and smiled at the pup’s new makeshift collar. He flipped the name tag over, his smile growing. He pulled a plate of wet dog food over to Pypachi, who immediately began to go to town on the food. Odessa sat cross legged on the blanket next to him. In seconds the pup had the food devoured, and went off to play. He pranced around, batting at leaves and bugs, but wouldn’t get too far away from them.
“This looks great,” Odessa said, as she looked at all the delicacies sitting in front of her.
There were strawberries, sandwiches, and even Hamachi sushi. She reached over and picked up one of the pieces of sushi with a set of chopsticks sitting by the plate. She popped it into her mouth, making a face as she swallowed. Hamachi laughed.
“It’s an acquired taste,” he laughed.
“Maybe,” she said as she spit the raw fish and rice into a napkin.
“Sorry,” he laid his head on her shoulder. “I wanted you to try my namesake.”
They both laughed together, as Hamachi took a piece of sushi and dunked it in a green sauce. He popped it in his mouth without even flinching. She dipped the end of the chopstick in the green sauce and tasted it. It was spicy, but for some reason she liked it. She tried a second piece dipped in the green stuff and could tolerate it much better.
“Wasabi,” Hamachi smiled.
“The green stuff?” she asked.
“Yes, it is called Wasabi,” he smiled. “It’s made from a root.”
“I like it,” she said.
Silence fell between them as they watched Pypachi chase a butterfly. There was a cheerful quality to the young dog that made her feel even more happy. The sudden feeling of joy made Odessa think about the questions she had for Hamachi.
“You have to ask me something?” he inquired.
“I do,” she smiled, “but I don’t want to offend you.”
“You could never offend me, Odessa.” He turned to face her.
“Why were you there the night the darkness was going to kill me?” she asked, ashamed for the question.
“I was on an errand for Hunundi. His magic told him one of his descendants was in trouble, and he sent me to you.” He looked into her eyes.
“So, you came looking for me?” she asked.
“Yes, but neither of us knew who it was I was to save,” he admitted. “I shifted and ran the shadow off, but you were almost dead. I had no other option than to bring you here, so you could heal and be safe.”
“Thank you,” Odessa cried as she laid in his lap.
She couldn’t imagine what would have happened to her had Hunundi not listened to his magic and Hamachi had not saved her. She felt grateful, and couldn’t control her tears. He wrapped his arms around her as she cried. Pypachi came running up to them both, and wriggled between them as he whimpered.
“What is the ceremony?” Odessa asked through sniffles.
“It is equal to a wedding. It binds the magic of two people who love each other.” Hamachi reached up and wiped a remaining tear from her cheek. “It makes the couple more powerful, but in the end, it connects them together forever.”
“I have another question Hamachi,” she sat up a bit to look him in the eye. “Do you love me?”
“I do,” he kissed her on the forehead. “I have since the moment our magic mixed, the night I brought you to Camp Sacred Moon.”
“What does this all mean?” she asked.
“It means that one day, in the near future,” he paused, “we will know if the ceremony is something we should do. And if it is, we will have a decision to make. But for now, we need to discover each other a little more to know how well me match.”
“That sounds perfect to me,” Odessa whispered.
They kissed each other as Pypachi went to play around them. Odessa couldn’t help but think they already had a ready-made family with her, Hamachi, and baby Pypachi. Perhaps their mixed blood connected them more than they thought it had.
Chapter Twelve
Hamachi and Odessa spent the entire day asking each other questions to get to know one another better. They loved every moment they were together, and neither one of them wished it would end. If things went the way they hoped it would, they might be together forever. The idea of the ceremony both intrigued and frightened Odessa. She knew she needed to know Hamachi better before deciding anything like that, although she felt connected to him more than she ever thought she could be connected to someone who was not blood. Although, after the unbinding ceremony, they were as good as connected by blood.
Odessa told Hamachi a bit about her parents; what she could remember about them. She didn’t like to talk about them much, but wanted to tell Hamachi everything. He grew sad when she talked about the numerous shelters, foster homes, and group homes she had been in. She understood after coming to Camp Sacred Moon that the darkness was what kept things going bad for her, but none of them would have taken that as an explanation. They would have thought she was crazier than they already thought she was, and would have committed her.
Hamachi told Odessa about when Hunundi found him at the age of eight, wandering the streets. He, too, was near death. Child protective services had not taken him, because they didn’t know he existed. His parents had sent him out the back door of their home when the hunters came in. He had watched them get killed through a window. That was the first time his wolf was triggered. He broke down the back door, killed the two men, and took off on pawed feet.
His parents had taught him the deep magic and that he was a shifter, so that part did not
come as a shock to him. But, when Hunundi found Hamachi, he was surprised, because Hamachi was the youngest shifter Hunundi had ever seen.
Odessa wished she had learned about her magic and wolf shifters when she was younger, but she knew why her parents had kept it from her and bound her magic. They were trying to protect her, even if it meant they gave their own lives doing it. It made her sad to think about their sacrifice, but had they not done it, who knew, she might have been working as a hunter for the darkness a long time before she got the chance to meet Hamachi or the people at Sacred Moon.
The night was approaching as Hamachi and Odessa packed their things up. They were both happy to have things in the open. They both had been able to talk about things to each other, they hadn’t previously talked about at all. It made their relationship deepen, and so their magic grew.
They sat together on their stump, which they decided to carve their initials into. It had been their stump from the first time they had walked together on Odessa’s first day there. Odessa never thought life would offer her someone as good as Hamachi, and doubted she was good enough for him, but didn’t dare ask. He would surely protest. She couldn’t understand why she felt like she was not good enough for him. Perhaps it was because he was already tapped into his magic and his heritage, when she had only just begun to learn and understand who she was and where she came from. She felt unworthy, but didn’t want to make Hamachi feel bad, therefore, she squeezed his hand as he held her tight. They watched as the sun began to go down in the evening sky.
Afterwards, they walked hand in hand along the line of the woods, still on the side of safety, with Pypachi just behind them. They knew they would have to work the next day with the pups, and should be heading back, but they didn’t want the day to end.
Out of the corner of her eye, Odessa saw a blur cross the front of the woods on the side where there was no protection spell. She couldn’t place it, but she could almost sense the darkness from it even though it was on the other side of the shield. Odessa stopped dead in her tracks as she saw it run across the facing of the woods once again, bringing another slight wave of fear with it.
When she was sure she had seen it instead of imagined it, she felt Hamachi needed to know what she was seeing.
“Hamachi,” she began, “when you have your magic, can you see the darkness?”
“No,” he said. “It is still nothingness. Why?”
“Because,” she gulped. “I just saw something in the valley, just over there.” She pointed towards the tree line.
Again, the dark shadow flashed across the tree line, allowing Hamachi to see it too. He stuck his hand over her mouth as Pypachi nestled against her leg. The thing flashed in front of them again, and Pypachi began to growl. Out of the corner of her eye, Odessa could see Hamachi’s aura light up a little. Suddenly the image of the scar faced hunter stopped in front of them, still on the other side of the shield, his face menacing and dark as it locked eyes with them both.
Chapter Thirteen
The man looked at them with wild hunger in its eyes. He was trying to figure a way to get to them. Odessa was sure of it, as was Hamachi.
“He’s trying to find a way in,” Hamachi whispered.
He lowered his hand from Odessa’s mouth as they looked bewildered. She looked over to see Hamachi’s wolf standing next to her. She hadn’t seen him shift. She reached down and grabbed the pup quickly, before it got the bright idea to run after the hunter.
“No,” Odessa screeched as she saw Hamachi, the wolf, jump through the barrier of the shield to the side the hunter was on.
She didn’t know if she should run for help, but something inside her would not allow her to move. The puppy wriggled out of her arms and ran back towards camp. Odessa didn’t run after him. Something in her told her he was going for help, perhaps to find Hunundi.
She stepped forward, to the very limits of the shield. She knew she was not strong enough to step out of safety, and would surely die, but she didn’t want Hamachi to get hurt either. She tried to remember that he was a huge wolf against a hunter, but she had seen what hunters were capable of when they killed her parents.
The great wolf jumped on the hunter, as the scar faced man pulled an evil, twisted looking blade out of its holster. The hunter tried to slash at the dog, but Hamachi slid to the side just in time, hitting the ground with a thud. Odessa tried to breathe in the earth around her as her magic strengthened inside her. She was not sure what she needed to do after that, but she was determined to find a way to help the man she loved and the camp she called home.
As the wolf, with his claws and teeth, went after the hunter with his blade, Odessa stretched her hands out. She willed her magic into her palms as the cut on her hand made by the athame began to seep a purple glowing light. Surprisingly, magic began to flow from her hands and right into the wolf. She knew then and there, she was making Hamachi stronger, yet she didn’t know quite how it was happening. In what felt like hours, the wolf ran his claws across the hunter’s neck, causing the hunter to fall in a heap on the ground, bleeding. Odessa ran out into the valley, but thought twice about it when the sick, oily feeling hit her. She backed away, into the security of the shield when she started to feel desperate. She wanted to know if the hunter was alive or not.
Hamachi shifted back into human form in front of her, still on the side of the barrier where he was no longer protected. Little by little, he stepped closer to the man who laid in a crumpled pile on the ground. He reached down to feel for a pulse.
Once Hamachi’s hand contacted the hunter, a look crossed Hamachi’s face that suggested fear. Before Odessa knew what was happening, the hunter, still bleeding, but not dead, drove the blade through Hamachi’s side. A huge, white wolf jumped out of the shield from behind Odessa, and killed the hunter in one large leap. Pypachi whimpered up to Odessa as they both ran for Hamachi, who had hit the ground, writhing in pain. They both reacted to the darkness which swirled around, but tried their hardest to ignore it.
The great, white wolf shifted back to human form to expose Hunundi. Pypachi had gotten the great shifter and brought him to help. She didn’t question how the little pup got the old man to come with him. She didn’t care. All she cared about was the fact the hunter was dead, and Hamachi who laid lifeless in front of her had stopped screaming. His protests of pain had gone silent altogether.
Instinctively, Odessa tried to access her magic again, but was having trouble in the oily, dark night. Two more wolves came from the woods that quickly changed to two of the council members once they noticed the hunter was dead. Neither one had noticed Hamachi or Odessa yet. They were frantic over a hunter being that far out.
Odessa began to drag Hamachi back into the protection of the woods. Pypachi tried helping her by grabbing ahold of his pantleg, but with little usefulness. Finally, Hamachi was laying in the woods, his breath short and his heartbeat barely audible. Odessa began to cry in desperation as she tried her hardest to center her breathing and connect with the earth.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw Hunundi standing there with a grave expression. Two men were dragging the hunter towards Hunundi’s hut, most likely to examine him to see if they could find out why he was near the camp.
“He is fading fast my child,” Hunundi spoke softly.
“Will he live?” Odessa cried, looking up at the man.
“That is up to you, young Odessa.”
“How do you mean?” she squealed. “How is it up to me? I want him to live. I love him.”
“Your blood is connected, so only your magic can heal him,” he spoke softly. “I had a blood connection once. I wasn’t there to save him, but you are here to save young Hamachi.”
He patted her shoulder, then walked towards his hut with the other men. She looked down at Hamachi. His shirt was wet with blood from the cut on his side. She had no idea what to do. She had not been taught, and had only had her magic for herself a couple of days.
She
leaned down and prayed for something to happen; for her magic to strengthen or for the earth to produce a sign. Odessa’s lungs began to pick up the elements on their own. She didn’t have to work hard to center earth in her breaths, and for the first time she didn’t have to think so hard about what she was doing.
Something was happening to her. Her magic was growing and helping her. She rubbed her hands together, placing them on Hamachi’s bloody ribcage. He did not so much as make a noise in pain.
She shook with fear, but knew if he was going to live, it was going to have to be her that did it. She began to send her magic through her hands as she thought about what she wanted to do. The same as before, magic began to flow out of her palms and into him, but with more urgency. Her red aura brightened the woods, but she knew somehow deep within, her magic was not going to be enough to save him. Hamachi was dying in front of her eyes.
She had lost every single person in here life that ever meant anything to her, and the darkness had kept her from feeling anything for anyone else, until Hamachi. She prayed for more help, and before she knew it, she was praying in the language of her people. The deep magic was helping her, but she didn’t have an item to ground it.
She began to look around for something that could be hers to connect the deep magic to. Instinctively, she threw the backpack off her back, hoping her parent’s items would not hinder her. However, when she looked at both the athame and amulet to see if either of them called to her enough to use, neither did. So, she went on giving magic to Hamachi and praying with the ancient words.
