by Bella Ward
She hadn’t been able to shift in months and the wolf inside her was dying to get out and run free. Hamachi shifted all the time, but she knew there was a large change with the way her magic was that she would shift and not be able to shift back.
Hamachi walked into Odessa meditating in the middle of the floor. The others had gone outside to leave her to her thoughts. He knew she was trying so hard to connect to Hunundi or find the logs on the witch, but he never wanted her to think she should risk her or Takeshi’s health. He walked up behind her and gazed upon her beauty.
He looked at her long hair that hung over her shoulder as she was sitting in an attempted lotus position. Her large belly was making it difficult to achieve it fully, but he knew she had tried hard. Her hands were resting on either side of her legs with her middle fingers and thumbs touching slightly. Pypachi laid beside her, close, but not touching.
He had noticed that him touching her in the state she was in meant Odessa’s nose would bleed and she would pass out, so the wolf avoided it at all cost unless she called him to help.
Hamachi wanted to go for a run with them so bad like they use to, but there was no way Odessa could do that, and Pypachi would not leave her side long enough to go on a run with Hamachi.
He walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing a bit of his magic in her like he did nearly a year before when her magic was still bound. Odessa’s perception and meditation deepened at the touch of her husband, she knew who was touching her by the feeling she had when their magic swirled together in her stomach.
If she thought hard enough, she could feel a little of Takeshi’s magic, too. It was hard to believe it, but for the first time, all three of their magic mixed together, causing rays of bright purple to mix with the royal color Takeshi’s parents auras made, when mixed.
When she broke her trance, Hamachi helped her to her feet as they kissed deeply and passionately. They hoped so desperately that everything would work out and they could be a happy family one day.
Both Hamachi and Odessa had lost their parents at such a young age, they didn’t want Takeshi to be alone at the age of five or even seven, they wanted him to be theirs forever. They wanted to defeat the darkness and Laurna LaFae more than ever.
They laid in bed that night with the mixed thoughts of what was soon to take place. They could hear the distant howls of wild-born wolves and shifters alike, they knew what was coming, it could be felt in the air.
The air didn’t hold the darkness yet, there was still the protective bounds on the camp, but they knew what was coming and they were prepared to do their best to win the battle.
Odessa slept fitfully as she could not get comfortable. There were only four days left until she would be in labor and between the excitement and worry, she didn’t want things to go badly. She threw her feet on the cold floor, hoping a walk would do her some good.
Odessa paced around their hut a little while before deciding to walk outside. She knew Aaroni and the wolves would be outside along with Liannah and Rainnah who had insisted on camping in a tent just outside their hut. She walked out the door and past the tents, not knowing where or what she was doing, she just wanted to get some relief. Pypachi was behind her the entire time.
After a few minutes of aimless wandering, Odessa looked over into the woods. She was near the hut, yet close enough to the woods that she could see the wolves running through it.
Suddenly, a flame sprang forth in the fire pit in front of their hut. The fire dance with flames of dark red, blood red, and orange. She tried to feel what was coming from it, but nothing was coming could be felt other than her own magic.
“What is it?” Aaroni asked as he ran up behind her, shifting back into human form, causing Odessa to jump a little.
“I don’t know,” Odessa said, as she held her chest from the scare. “Get Hamachi please.”
Moments later, Hamachi was piling out of the hut with sleep in his eyes. He noticed the flames in the fire immediately.
“Why are you out here?” Hamachi asked Odessa.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said. “I was getting some fresh air…that is all.”
Hamachi came up behind her and hugged her from behind, brushing his hands over her belly. Rainnah and Liannah came crawling out from the tent, also with sleep in their eyes.
“What’s going on?” Rainnah asked.
“We don’t know,” Odessa admitted.
She told them that she was getting a breath of fresh air when she saw the flames burst forth from the pit. They circled around it to see what it was made of, they knew they were not normal flames.
Aaroni tried to pour water over it, but it did nothing but made the flames grow bigger.
More and more people came out of their living quarters as they heard the commotion in the middle of the night. Some of The Council tried to break it by the deep magic, but even the magic could not bind it.
Two days they tried to figure out where the flames had come from with no luck. Odessa grew worried that the flames were from the darkness even though she couldn’t figure out how the darkness could have leaked into the camp.
After day three of the flames, the elders wanted to move Odessa and Hamachi, but they would not have it. That was their home and it was set up for the baby, they had trained everyone to work around the hut…there was no way to change that at less than twenty-four hours before Odessa was due to deliver. Energy buzzed around them all as security increased around the hut and the mystery flames.
Chapter Thirteen
Odessa screamed out in agony as labor pains wracked her body. They were real labor pains and not like the ones she had after Astral Projecting, she could feel the difference. Liannah and Rainnah ran around as they found what they needed to help Odessa be more comfortable. It was late in the day if the prophecy was to come true that Rainnah saw then the baby would be born by midnight during the highest full moon. She was having an interesting birthday for sure.
Hours later, Odessa screamed as Hamachi and Aaroni listened from outside the hut. They were on the lookout, but even more so, they tried to send their energy inside the hut for things to go smoothly. They knew they would have three days still until the darkness and Laurna LaFae came looking for them, but the air felt like something was coming that was bigger than they thought.
Suddenly, cries filled the hut and the air outside it. Hamachi smiled with joy, but in the back of his mind, he prayed for light to fill his baby boy. They watched as Liannah, covered in blood stepped outside, with a baby glowing purple in her hands.
Rainnah followed her with the athame and amulet in cloth in her hands. Odessa hobbled out behind them, followed by Pypachi. Hamachi knew she would risk her life for her son and for that, he did not say a word.
Rainnah held the athame in one hand and the amulet in the other. Hamachi pulled his beads out of the pouch and placed them around his neck. Liannah held the babe high in the air as Hamachi began to chant as his aura came forth blue. He touched Liannah’s arm as his magic flowed through her, into the baby, and towards the full moon. Odessa felt bad because she knew a binding spell at a full moon was what had created the shifters, she only wondered what would come from what they were about to do.
Aaroni grabbed Hamachi’s arm, giving him as much of his strength and magic as he could as his turquoise bled into the blue. Liannah’s aura came forth in indigo to join the mix. Rainnah held the items ceremoniously as she was instructed.
Odessa stood in front of Liannah with dry blood on her gown. She took the athame in hand as Pypachi sat on her right foot, their red aura mixed with the others as a symphony of rhythmic chanting came from Hamachi and Odessa.
With the tip of the blade, Odessa cut the end of her son’s foot as blood spilled from the tiny cut. Hamachi reached up and spoke the one word he knew would heal the little guy as Hunundi’s magic had instilled in Hamachi. Rainnah gave the amulet to Odessa, she placed it on her son’s chest as his cries filled the air.
&nbs
p; It hurt each of them to be doing what they were doing. He should be nestled against Odessa’s breasts in a warm bed, but instead, his magic was being bound less than an hour after he was born, years before he would know he had magic inside him.
“I call for to the powers of the full moon,” Rainnah said, as Hamachi and Odessa chanted. “In the name of this child Takeshi for the spirits of Odessa’s parents to bind the magic of this child for three score and one-half days.”
Chants rang forth as Rainnah repeated herself until silence fell on the crowd and the purple glow of the child seeped into the athame and amulet and away from his flesh.
Odessa, weak form the whole ordeal, collapsed on the ground.
A few hours later, Odessa held her son in bed as he fed off her. She smiled at Takeshi as she held his little hand. Hamachi sat next to her with the same smile on his face.
“Happy birthday to you both,” Hamachi said softly.
“Happy birthday little man,” Odessa kissed the top of Takeshi’s soft head.
Odessa and Hamachi kissed in the bliss of their love, they felt complete and whole for the first time since they were children and saw their own parents killed.
They knew there were worse things to come but took the time to love each other and their newborn baby.
Day two fell on them quickly as Hamachi had to leave his wife and child to join Aaroni, the shifters, and the wild-born wolves to run a protective perimeter on the camp. They could feel the darkened evil coming even closer than they had before.
Three hours before day three, Odessa stood with Takeshi in front of the strange fire. She felt it calling to her and hadn’t noticed the white wafts of cloud that was dancing off it.
“I need Rainnah, Liannah, and Hamachi,” she said to Aaroni who stood by her side as her personal guard.
“Very well,” he said.
In a few minutes, the team was assembled for Odessa to address them.
“I think I know where this fire has come from,” she announced as she handed Takeshi to Rainnah. “It is from Hunundi.”
The entire group gasped at what they saw next. It took Aaroni and Liannah to hold Hamachi back from following Odessa as she walked into the flames of the fire, followed by the wolf that went everywhere with her.
Chapter Fourteen
They watched on as Odessa and Pypahi’s bodies flailed in the flames, but they did not burn. None of them could understand how she was so certain the fire was from Hunundi. Hamachi wanted to pull them out so bad but knew if the fire was from Hunundi, Odessa needed to be doing what she was doing.
An hour later, and only two hours until the start of day three, Odessa and Pypachi walked out of the fire. Hamachi ran up to her and took her in his arms. She was not hot at all, in fact, she was cold.
“What did you see?” Rainnah asked as she handed Takeshi back to Odessa.
“I saw the log on Laurna LaFae,” she smiled.
The entire group smiled maliciously at the new knowledge that Hunundi had given Odessa. She guessed that her magic had started the fire the night she couldn’t rest, leaving it open for Hunundi to speak to her through it.
“The witch will only die by this fire,” Odessa said.
“How can we get her in with the protective field up?” Aaroni asked.
“The witch will lift the shield no problem,” Odessa looked down. “She will be inside camp within the next two hours, along with several shadows, and hunters.”
“There are still loyal hunters?” Liannah asked.
“Apparently Laurna LaFae is more powerful than we knew,” Odessa said.
“What of Jarneth?” Rainnah asked.
“You will not have magic for the battle,” Odessa said to her friend, “but if the darkness is defeated, we may know more.”
“There is hope then,” Rainnah said as she looked at Takeshi. “And it rests in the arms of this small cutie.”
“I will ready everyone for battle,” Hamachi said. “Aaroni, guard my son at all cost…we all know Odessa will be stubborn.” He laughed a little which seemed strange but refreshing to them.
Two hours later the camp was ready for what was to come. The darkness had been defeated once before, they held hopes they could do it again.
They knew the second the witch made it in the shield when the darkness began to swirl around them. Both wild-born wolves and shifters nipped at the transparent sheets of wind that flew above them.
In front of their eyes, just like the day Jarneth died, small puffs of black mist descended from the air. Once one got around a shifter, it sucked the aura out of them, killing them and taking the magic of their family. Liannah was the first to notice it when her magic went away altogether, she breathed her sister's name as she was the only family she had.
Liannah picked Takeshi up and held him close to her chest. Odessa was at the door watching shadows fall all over. Out of the mist, a beautiful raven-haired woman walked. She held her hands out as if she herself was controlling the mist that was killing them.
Hunters came in from all around as they began to fight the wolves and shifters alike. The hunters fell dead much faster than the black mist, but little by little with great attack, the mist could be taken also, one at a time. Still, at the rate, the wolves were taking the hunters and darkness, the mist was going to override them if they couldn’t figure it out.
Pypachi sat at Odessa’s feet as she saw the witch walking unharmed through the masses towards their hut. Odessa knew what the witch was looking for, but she wasn’t going to get what she came for.
Pypachi sat on Odessa’s right foot to make sure that he was there for her. Odessa began to chant in the ancient tongue hoping for a distraction of sorts.
Out of the corner of her eye, Odessa saw Hamachi in wolf form all grey and black nipping at black mist that was trying to surround him. Odessa had her son behind her, the witch in front of her, and her husband fighting to her right. She knew she had to be sure about what she was doing.
Liannah and Rainnah huddled in the middle of the hut with Takeshi in their arms, neither one of them with their magic. To the other side, Aaroni was fighting darkness of his own as well as a hunter. The darkness swirled around them both until a turquoise aura pulled into the mist. Once the dark mist lifted, the hunter stood with a smile on his face while Aaroni laid dead on the ground.
Odessa glanced to the other side and was happy to see that Hamachi was still fighting. The witch was close to Odessa by the time she looked back at her, a good twenty feet or less.
“You will not get what you came for witch!” Odessa yelled through the chaos.
“You know not what you say,” the evil witch called back at her.
“So, you think,” Odessa said, “but I know more than what you think I know.”
“We will see,” the witch said as she commanded a shadow to fall on Hamachi.
The shadow turned to mist as it swirled around him sucking his air from him. Odessa was conflicted as to what to do. Suddenly, a blue aura lifted with the mist as it exposed the great black and grey wolf of Hamachi laying on the ground dead.
Odessa knew if she responded, she would be playing into Laurna LaFae’s plan, but she was dying inside. If what she had seen in the flames was true, there was a chance. Odessa stepped closer to the witch as many of the wild-born wolves surrounded the hut as they walked growling in circles, mad that their leader Aaroni had been killed.
Pypahi moved as Odessa moved, yet he whimpered a little at seeing Hamachi on the ground. She knew she had one chance and one chance alone as the war raged around her.
Odessa lifted her hands in front of her as she sent the deep magic at the witch.
“You think the deep magic will defeat me,” Laurna laughed as she walked around the fire and stood only a few feet in front of Odessa between her and the flames.
“No, I don’t,” Odessa said through gritted teeth, “but I will.”
She sent another shock wave of the deep magic as she pictured the last thing she remem
bered before coming to Camp Sacred Moon…the dark alley in the back streets of New York.
She pushed one more rush of magic at her as the witch picked her hands up to pull more darkness down. All at once Laurna LaFae’s face went placid as if she had left her body. Odessa had only seconds to work before Laurna realized her spirit had been Astral Projected somewhere else. Laurna was powerful enough to be back to her body in seconds.
Odessa ran as fast as she could, still sore from childbirth. She ran into the witches’ body as it went sailing backward. The witch’s eyes lit back up when her soul hit her body the second before, she went tumbling into the fire.
The hunters stopped and looked at the witch screaming in the flames that had consumed her.
Chapter Fifteen
The three-and-a-half-day mark met after hours of war as an explosion came forth from the fire. The binding of Takeshi’s magic burst forth also as Liannah and Rainnah walked out of the hut with him. The death of the witch and the release of his magic sent a light through the land brighter than the one that happened when Hunundi sacrificed himself.
They had kept the darkness away from Takeshi, but at a cost. Odessa looked around at the people who lost their lives including Hamachi and Aaroni. Not to mention the magic generations of their people lost and would never have. Odessa took Takeshi and sobbed.
Out of the haze through the woods, a figure was walking towards them. It was hard to see at first, but as the smog finished clearing, Hunundi came into the clearing.
“Hunundi!” Odessa screamed as she ran to him with Takeshi in hand.
“My child,” his eyes crinkled. “You have done it.”
“At a cost Hunundi,” she cried. “At a cost…Hamachi died today.”
Tears rolled down her face as the old man pushed her back a little to look at her face. He then looked down to the little baby. Lastly, he looked at the crowd behind her and winked.
“You know my child,” Hunundi looked at her seriously. “Sometimes things are not as they seem at first, and good always prevails.”
