by Alicia Banks
“I believe he is telling the truth, Dominque,” an elderly looking man said.
“Elder Lawson, do you truly believe him?” Dominque asked.
“Yes. I can sense it,” the man called Elder Lawson replied. Dominque gave a curt nod and walked away. Another man came forward towards Eric and said, “I am Taylor. I am the right hand of Dominque. Why don’t you come with us? We need you to tell us every detail that you remember about this man."
Eric spent the next few hours telling every little detail that he could remember. Everything from Antoine’s look to his behaviour had to be explained. It was made complicated by the fact that the wolves weren’t aware of much about the human world.
“You have no idea where that man took Bellatrix?” Taylor asked.
“No. I can tell you the city he lives in and the places he frequented. I have a very strong reason to believe he sent the Teil wolf behind me. I was getting too close to his past,” Eric replied.
“Are you sure it was a Teil wolf?” the elder asked.
“That’s what Bella called it,” Eric said. “I don’t know anything about it, except what she told me. She said that they were hybrids. Humans forced to turn into wolves?”
“Yes,” Dominque replied. “I have never seen one myself, and there is only one man I know who has dealt with it.”
Dominque turned around and looked at the elder. “Marco Farkas. He is the only one I know.”
“Marco Farkas?” Taylor asked frowning. “Why does the name sound so familiar?”
“The wolves of Kuluni used to be one huge pack, many, many moons ago. Then there was a divide. Half of the pack wanted to integrate into the world of the humans. They wanted to travel and explore. The other half believed in staying here in the woods, following the traditional way of life,” Elder Lawson said.
“Eventually we divided into two, with one pack living with humans and the other living in the forest. The two sisterly packs eventually even developed some differences, such as their belief on the Oracle, and ours on the seer,” the elder continued after a pause. “The leader of that pack is Marco, and ours is Dominque.”
“Yet, both the packs are wolves of Kuluni. They are our sisterly pack, and they have always been willing to help us,” Dominque said.
“They are a part of us,” the elder said.
“And currently, our only hope.”
Chapter 16
Bellatrix
Bellatrix was thirsty. She didn’t know how many days it had been since she had been kidnapped. Antoine would often visit, just to gloat and tell her how much limited time she had. She was glad that she managed to get in touch with Eric, and she hoped that he had somehow managed to get to the pack.
She swallowed her saliva, closing her eyes and trying to concentrate. She felt her wolf awake deep inside of her; it was weak but alert. She mustered the power of her wolf together, pulling it into a concentrated ball. She imagined her home, her forest. She mustered the force of her wolf, and then lashed it out.
“Dominque!” she shouted with her mind. “Can you hear me?”
She had been trying to contact her brother for days, but the walls around her held some sort of spell. It caused her telepathy to rebound and disperse, instead of reaching her brother. Eric had been close enough that she had managed to force her thoughts through the walls and into his mind, but she was too weak now. She could not overcome the spell on the walls, and all her attempts led to failure.
Blood began to leak out of her nose, as it did when she overexerted her mental powers. She started to struggle against the chains holding her once again, but they were impossible for her to break. She stopped eventually, realising that she needed to conserve energy.
“Are you still struggling, my love?” Antoine asked, walking in. For a second, she didn’t even recognize him, his appearance was so completely grotesque and altered.
“I am not your love,” she spat out.
“Come now, don’t be like that,” Antoine said, laughing. “The blue moon is just two days away, then we will be united as one.”
“United as one?” Bellatrix snarled. “As if. Over my dead body.”
“It will be over your dead body.” Antoine laughed. “I will kill you, and in your last moments, trap your soul as mine. You will join me as one, making me the most perfect hybrid of wolf and vampire! Then I will sacrifice myself for my master, and he will be set free to rule this world!”
“You will sacrifice yourself?” Bellatrix asked. “For power?”
“I will do it for the pleasure of my master,” Antoine replied, smirking.
“You don’t have to,” Bellatrix said, desperately. “You don’t have to give up your life for some demon. You can set yourself free. You can set us both free.”
“Fool,” Antoine shouted. “Watch! Watch!”
He projected a force towards her, and Bellatrix felt a sudden sharp pain exploding in her head. The wolf in her withered and howled in excruciating pain. There were images flashing before her eyes, horrible, terrible visions. She could barely breathe, all she knew was the horror of what she was seeing.
She screamed. She screamed and screamed. The torture was unending. Her wolf was contorting with pain, regressing deeper and deeper inside her. Bellatrix couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe. All she knew was the horror of the visions. When the images finally stopped flashing before her eyes, she sat there frozen.
“You see?” Antoine asked, laughing. “You see what this world will come to when my master comes into power? You see what will happen to those who defy him? Count yourself lucky, you will not live to see your world destroyed.”
Bellatrix didn’t reply. She couldn’t. Her mind was still absorbed by the terror of what she had seen. The tortures that awaited this world once this demon came were horrendous. Her mind refused to accept it. It was too horrible. Too evil.
“Eric,” Bellatrix thought, as tears started to stream through her eyes. “Eric. Please. Help.”
∞∞∞
Time was flying by, and Eric was starting to get restless. The pack had contacted the man that they called Marco, who was apparently the leader of the other half of the pack. They were waiting on him because he was the only one who had ever come in contact with a Teil wolf. It was the only idea anyone had about how to find Bellatrix.
“You are restless,” a voice said behind him, and Eric turned around. It was the elder.
“Time is flying by. We seem to be doing nothing. She is in trouble. Bella and,” Eric said.
“You love her,” the elder stated. It wasn’t a question; it was a statement.
“I,” Eric stammered. “Yes. I love her. And I am going to lose her. I had this horrible dream and I saw her. Bleeding, suspended in the air.”
“It is wise not to tell your dreams to others,” the elder said, cutting him off. “Dreams hold a hidden power. It can be deadly.”
Eric didn’t know what to say to a proclamation like that.
“You love her. You will do anything for her,” the elder stated.
"Yes. I will,” Eric said.
“There is a ritual I know that will allow you to find Bellatrix,” the elder said. “But it is dangerous. There is a very strong chance that you won’t make it back alive.”
Eric became silent, staring at the elder. “You know I love her, hence I will do it. But you didn’t make the same proposition to Dominque. He also loves her. Why?”
The elder did not reply, just continued staring at him. A bitter smile came on Eric’s face as he realised it. “Because I am a human. Because you know Dominque will agree and you don’t want him to live out his life in danger. I am expendable and he is precious,” he stated.
The elder gave a small nod but remained silent.
“I will do it,” Eric said eventually. “For Bella, I will do it.”
Chapter 17
Eric
Eric sat in the middle of the circle that the elder had drawn. The elder sat across from him, outside the circle. He
was cross-legged, with a bowl in front of him. The bowl contained some herbs that the elder had spent time mixing and had eventually set on fire. The elder closed his eyes and started to chant an ancient melody.
Eric closed his eyes, remembering the instructions the elder had given him in the beginning. From what Eric could understand, the elder was going to force Eric’s consciousness out of his body and project it towards Bellatrix. The elder would monitor where Eric’s mind went, and once he had the location, he would bring Eric back. Of course, there was a very strong chance that Eric’s mind might never return back to his body. Instead, it would be lost in a darkness that the elder called ‘The Abyss.’
Eric started to feel himself get lightheaded, as the elder’s melodious chants occupied his thoughts. He didn’t know what any of the words meant. All he knew was that they were pulling him into some sort of trance. The elder had warned him that having your consciousness detached from your body was a very painful process. Even though Eric was prepared for the pain, when he first felt it, he almost screamed.
It was like someone was forcing boiling metal into his veins. The agony was so great that he froze. His mind refused to compute what was happening. His body was slipping into shock. Then, the pain suddenly got worse. He felt as if someone was trying to tear his body in two. He gurgled, feeling his throat fill up with blood, as a powerful force tore him apart.
Then, there was a snap. His mind suddenly broke away from his body, and he felt like he was floating. Images flashed past his eyes, until he settled on one. Bellatrix.
Her beautiful eyes were watery and filled with tears, her jaw set as she refused to cry. Her eyes were determined despite the pain. She looked like a strong, resilient queen. Like a leader who knew the fate that awaited them but refused to go down without fighting. She looked like the queen that held onto her dignity and respect till her death.
“Eric,” she whispered.
“Bella!” he shouted. “My love. My Bella.”
Suddenly, there was another powerful snap. The agony started once again, burning through his veins. He tried to scream, but his body refused to respond. Crushed. He was being crushed under a heavy weight. It was suffocating him. It was killing him. His vision was dimming, and everything around him was slowly getting dark.
Eric wondered if this was death. If, perhaps, he was breathing his last. As long as they got the information needed to find his Bella, it didn’t matter.
“Tell her I died for her,” he thought. “Tell her I love her.”
The pain got excruciating, and Eric felt his body give up. His vision continued to dim, until he could take it no more. He blacked out.
∞∞∞
“You should not have put him through that, elder.” Eric woke up to hear an angry voice shouting. “I was willing to do the ritual, had you asked me!”
“It was dangerous,” the elder replied. “You are important.”
“Just because he is a human does not mean that his life is worthless.” Dominque snarled. Eric slowly opened his eyes, to find out that he was lying in a bed. Dominque and the elder were standing close to him, clearly arguing.
“We have the location,” the elder said. “And the human has survived. We can argue about the ethics of what I did later. We must save your sister.”
Eric slowly sat up; his head was pounding. The elder looked up and walked towards him, holding out a bowl.
“This has herbs that I have mixed for healing. I realise you must be in pain,” the elder said.
Eric didn’t want to take anything from this man after what had just happened, but he still took it. He sipped on it and instantly felt a bit better.
“You did well,” Dominque said, looking at him. “You found my sister. I owe you a debt for life.”
“I-.” Eric started to say, but at that moment, the door opened. A tall, powerful looking man walked in.
“Marco,” Dominque said, walking towards him. The two men hugged, and then Marco came to sit down with Dominque.
“It has been a while,” Marco said. “I hope the forest is treating you right.”
Dominque smiled and said, “Thank you for coming on such short notice. I am surprised you managed to come here so fast.”
“I used my private jet to get to the nearest city, and I ran here as a wolf. Tell me, what is going on?” Marco asked.
The story was told once more, and as the mention of the Teil wolf was made, Marco’s expression hardened.
“There is only one man I know who has used Teil wolves. It is a cruel process to make the humans into wolves, and they are ruthless creatures. If it is the same man who made them earlier, then we must move fast,” Marco said.
“Then let’s move. We have a location,” Dominque said.
“I put my warriors at your disposal. We will need our best, if this is the man I think it is,” Marco said.
“Who do you think it is?” Dominque asked, frowning.
“My brother,” Marco replied.
Chapter 18
Eric
This. This evil looking place was where that man had brought his Bella. Eric stood outside the abandoned monastery, where apparently Bellatrix was being held. From what the elder had told him, this place saw great bloodshed and slaughter of the monks that lived here. The terror of the memories made this the ideal place for many evil spells.
The wolves surrounded him, as they slowly circled around the place. They had all shifted in wolves and stood around him with gleaming coats of fur and sharp fangs. They were all huge, much huger than normal wolves, and twice as powerful.
Suddenly, the door to the monastery opened and Antoine stepped out.
“When my master told me that wolves were swarming over this place, I did not believe him,” he shouted. “But I see that the insects have completely surrounded me!”
“Let her go.” Dominque growled, his body hunching with anger. He was ready to pounce.
“I am afraid not,” Antoine replied. “Marco? You came too, brother.”
“Sebastian!” Marco snarled. “You tried to do something evil once before, and I thought I had defeated you. But it seems you have resumed your evil actions once again.”
“So, this man’s real name is Sebastian,” thought Eric.
“I have called upon an ancient demon. A vampire that is even more powerful than before. The only way to return him to his full glory is by an ultimate sacrifice,” Sabastian said, laughing. “The blue moon is here, and my master has lent me his powers. He made me into a half vampire, and he gave me powers you wouldn’t believe. I will untie myself with the wolf, and I will be the ultimate sacrifice.”
Dominque snarled, instantly jumping into action. The wolves followed him, snarling and growling. As Eric watched, hidden behind a pillar, he wondered how Sebastian would ever be able to survive the fury of the wolves. They seemed so strong and powerful.
Sebastian laughed, before raising his hand. A force erupted from his palm, a force so strong that even Eric felt it. The wolves fell back, instantly, but immediately got up and started lunging towards him again. He raised both his hands, gestured towards the wolf nearest to him. The wolf raised up into the air, and his neck snapped before he fell down onto the ground, his eyes vacant.
“Do you see?” Sebastian shouted. “Do you see the powers my master has lent me? Isn’t it truly marvellous?”
Eric watched in amazement at the power that Sebastian had. He killed wolves with a single gesture, snapping their throats instantly. There were some like Dominque and Marco, who were too fast for him. They dodged his gestures and lunged at him, only to be repelled by a strong shield that surrounded Sebastian.
He watched as the wolves started to fall one by one. He knew that the wolves would not be able to help. He would save his Bella, himself. He snuck around the back as Sebastian was distracted by the wolves. He managed to find a way into the monastery and ran as fast as he could. The building itself was huge, but he needed to find her.
He heard a horrible sc
ream and realised that he had been discovered.
“You fool,” Sebastian shouted, appearing in front of him. “You thought you can sneak in? My master is ever present. He sees everything!”
He raised a hand towards Eric, but Dominque suddenly came in front. He lunged towards Sebastian, catching him off guard. His claws penetrated through Sebastian’s body, and he started to bleed.
A demonic voice suddenly echoed. “You fool. The blue moon is waning. Finish the ritual.”
Sebastian cursed and gestured, disappearing from in front of their eyes.
“Find her,” Dominque said, looking towards Eric, and they both ran.
Eric followed Dominque as best as he could. They found her on the roof, tied to a chair with chains. Sebastian stood beside her, a knife in his hands. A second later, what remained of the pack appeared, completely surrounding Sebastian.
Sebastian started to chant, and Eric recognized the arcane words he had heard in his dreams. He saw the wolves start to howl, collapsing on the ground as they withered in pain. Eric felt the familiar pain, only this time it was real, and much worse than before.
He could barely move from the pain that was lashing through his body. His vision dimmed, and he watched as the wolves started to bleed heavily from their ears. Even though Eric was a human, he could sense the horrible evil behind these words. He withered and thrashed, screaming endlessly. He had thought he had experienced pain during the ritual, but this was real pain.
This pure agony. This torture. This anguish. This was pain. Eric thrashed, trying to crawl towards Bellatrix. His body barely responded to his commands. He slowly crawled, pushing his body towards the very edge. He struggled to make his body move, even as his body fought against him. All he saw was Bellatrix. His Bellatrix.
Sebastian’s voice boomed and echoed, getting more and more powerful as he chanted. His own body was changing. He bled openly from his eyes, ears, and mouth. It was obvious that this ritual would destroy him, yet he was determined to sacrifice himself for his master. Eric crawled, slowly inching forward. He knew he would never make it in time, but he couldn’t give up. He could never give up.
