A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3)

by Michael Lampman

  She noticed this like only a sister could. But he did have a point. He will do it when his time comes and it made her feel conflicted now, more than ever.

  “You are right.” She hated saying this, but at the same time, it did feel right. “I have to do it.” Her father’s face crossed her mind. She saw him so clearly that it made her blush some. He always did that to her. “I have to do it for father.” She sighed with a heavy flow of relief, and it made her feel even stronger about it. “I will go.” She decided faster than she ever thought she would.

  His face lit up instantly. “Great. I will tell father that you will go.” He turned from her fast.

  Not fast enough, she grabbed him and stopped him dead in his tracks before he could take a single step.

  “I will tell him.” She held him, and herself, firmly.

  He turned back with her arm, as it dropped again to her side.

  “I understand.” He gave her a smile and a bashful nod.

  She returned the smile. She took another deep breath and said nothing else. She just turned, took a firm handle of the basket, and headed through the gate.

  Jameson watched her leave, feeling more proud of her than he had ever felt before.

  She reached her home, the largest of the village, in the center of town just as night ebbed over the roof of the three story brick and timber building. She reached the front door. She dropped the basket to the ground just by the three front and stone steps that went up to the door. She managed to climb the first step, and there she stopped. Her blue gown spun around her knees as she turned back to the front stone lined street. At first, she wasn’t sure why she did stop. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t just go inside, but when she finally heard the screams coming from behind her, she realized that something terrible was happening.

  She saw a young couple run by her so fast that she didn’t see who they were. All she saw was their tan colored clothes. All she heard was their bellows of fear. All she felt was a slight breeze.

  What is happening? She looked up, back up the road that led to the main gate. Several more people were running. Several more flew past her in full sprint. Looking up the street, she saw her father’s face next. All she saw was his terror. His eyes flared with it. She didn’t have the time to say anything when he ran to her side.

  “Get in the house Lina. Get in and lock the doors. Hide there until I come and find you.” He even sounded rushed. He sounded even more scared than what his eyes flashed.

  Behind him, up the road some, a young man fell down to his knees. He fell to his hands. He fell hard.

  That was when she saw it. That was when she realized what was wrong.

  A giant Shade, a deep gray bat landed on top of the boy. Its hind claws landed on his back.

  The boy screamed in obvious agony. He shouted with an utmost flare of death.

  The Shade reached for his head with the single finger at the top of its wings, and while holding him firmly, tore off his head.

  Seeing this, seeing death as she had never seen it before, she felt lost. She felt battered. She felt nothing but a jumble of emotions all at once. All she could do is look to her father and ask, “Father?”

  Her father did see her. He did see the Shade. He saw his beautiful baby girl.

  She saw his eyes. She saw them turn from horror to hollowness almost instantly. At first, she didn’t know why they did that, until he moaned. She didn’t see the thing sticking through his chest until she saw the blood. She didn’t even know that he was already dead.

  The Shade was no longer a bat, but it was now a massive gray wolf, flushed with hair, and standing on its hind legs. Its right clawed hand was plunged through Aldera’s back between his shoulder blades and sticking out of his chest.

  Lina watched the hand. She saw blood now covering her once beautiful dress. Its blue color now drenched with red that made it look purplish in color. To say that she was in shock wouldn’t have done her feelings justice. She felt downright blasted away from any sense of known reality.

  The wolf pulled. Its hand came free.

  She watched her father briefly. She watched his eyes. She watched his lifeless face as he fell limp to her feet.

  The wolf then moved in to her.

  She watched its massive chest. She watched it move down; it must have bent at the knees as its face was now to hers. The nose was there. Its sharp and protruding teeth showed. She now only felt its hot breath.

  The wolf moaned, sounding demure. It sounded calm.

  She looked into its deep red eyes, and saw something that she could not explain. She didn’t see death. She didn’t see anger. She saw longing. It longed for her.

  13

  “He is here.” Garreth was back on his horse as he caught his scent flaring on the wind. Following him, they rode hard and fast.

  With darkness now surrounding them, Sharlia was able to leave the trees. She kept with them as they rode along the river and came to a small village surrounded by fields. Walls surrounded the village. It already reeked with the stench of death. She could see it on the air. It smelled like decay. It smelled like rotting meat.

  Riding along the wall, Garreth went through the gate first.

  Rochie was right behind him, and Sharlia ran along the side of his horse.

  What they found made all of them wince. Bodies were everywhere. They were at the gate. They were lying in the street. They splattered the walls. Blood pooled around all of them. It was a horrific sight.

  “By the gods, they are all gone.” Rochie passed the gate. A long road went straight, and then veered left. Another road followed the inside of the wall. He didn’t know where to go.

  “Not all of them.” Kenar could see once again. He could see life. He could hear their thoughts. He could hear their fears. “They see him.” He reached inside his mind, trying to find Satar but he saw nothing. “He is blocking me, but I can see the humans. He is in the center of town near the chief’s inner keep.” Walkers were always aware of his gifts and when they were, they could hide their minds from him if they wished. Humans had no such abilities.

  Sharlia heard this and didn’t hesitate. She sprang fast, and ran down the center street towards the center of town.

  The others watched her and likewise needled their horse to run in full stride.

  When they reached the center square, it opened up into a large and stone lined courtyard. There, just before a large three storied home, they saw him. He was in his wolf’s form. They came at his back as he faced the house.

  Sharlia came closer to him first.

  “Satar?” She let her eyes flare to vampire red. Her teeth slid out into fangs. She readied herself for the fight that she knew was about to come.

  Satar didn’t move.

  Sharlia didn’t know why. He should have felt her there. He should have recognized her voice. He should have done something—anything more than what he did do—which was nothing.

  Rochie came in behind her, and jumped from his horse. He then turned back and helped Kenar off, just as Patrice and Garreth joined him.

  They too jumped down after they stopped.

  “Satar!” Sharlia felt forced to scream in which she did.

  This time, he did turn.

  Now, she and the others saw a young female human standing on the steps behind him.

  Rochie was the first to notice her. He also noticed that she looked unharmed. Right now, he only hoped she was, but they had a job to do and it was time to do it. He left Kenar and joined Sharlia at her side. When he reached her, he let his eyes turn blue. He brought his power forwards in his mind. With it there, he suddenly felt everything around him. He felt the stones beneath his feet. He felt the walls of the buildings. He felt every object that wasn’t alive. It was always a weird sensation for him, feeling everything like this. They were now a part of him. They were a part of his soul.

  Kenar let his eyes flare to blue too. He could see the life force of everyone there in all of their full glory. Every living th
ing carried a color that shown around them. Humans showed yellowish glows. Wanderers possessed a golden colored hue, while Blood Walkers and Vampires carried a deep dark red. It was a powerful sight—seeing everyone within all of their glory now around him.

  So did Garreth, who could now feel all of his senses, flare to life. He could smell everyone’s scent, almost as if it was flowing around him on the breeze. He could see all of their bodies’ heat. He could hear them breathing every breath. He could feel their hearts beating and the veins carrying their blood through every part of their bodies. It was all a magnificent thing to sense at once.

  For Patrice, when her eyes flared blue, she could also feel everything, just as Rochie did, but unlike him, she felt Satar. She felt his muscles move. She felt his cells bend. She felt every part of his strength.

  Shandra felt the air bend. She felt every breath breathed. She felt everything almost like it was a part of her. It felt like her body was a part of the breeze.

  They all stood there and watched his every move. They watched his every look. They now waited for what he would do next.

  He just stood there motionless.

  Kenar watched him closely, and it was then that he suddenly realized that he could see his mind. He could hear his thoughts. He must have lifted his block of me. Why would he do that? He didn’t know why, but given the chance, he looked in to his mind.

  He saw Permona standing there in front of him. Her long dark hair sparkled in what could only be the moon’s light. She looked so beautiful. She looked so young. She even spoke, “My love.” She moved closer, so close, he could smell her sweet beloved scent. “I am pregnant.” She smiled.

  He then heard a voice coming from the memory and it came from behind his own eyes. “My love, I am pleased by this.” His voice was that of Satar. He recognized the sound, even if he had only heard it once or twice before. The memory knew who was saying it. “But our food is so few. Our prey has diminished. How can you carry a child now?” The voice had started strong but now began to quiver some behind the words. He could feel the pain that this caused him. He felt it race through his heart.

  Kenar knew why. Female Blood Walkers were a rare animal. They could choose when to have children. They controlled their bodies so well. He knew the risk she took to have the child. It hurt him knowing what she had done for him.

  “I had to my love. I had to carry on our love.” Her hand moved up to his face, and he felt it caress his right cheek. “If we are to vanish from this world we must carry on. We must bring others into this world before it is too late.” Her hand left his face.

  Inside, he could feel his heart breaking hard within his chest. “But we have so little blood left. We have so little life to feed. No other animal can sustain us.” He could now feel tears swelling up in his eyes. “You cannot do this. You cannot allow this child to take your life. You cannot allow it to take us away.”

  She turned from him, took several steps from him, and stopped. She turned back around.

  “I must do it. I must allow this child to be born. He will be our salvation and the continuation of our lives. We must allow him to live. He must exist.”

  He saw himself shake his head.

  “You cannot. You will not live through it.”

  She smiled again, this time it looked larger and stronger than the one before it.

  “He will live. You will live. We will live. I will live through him.”

  Again, he shook his head. Again, the tears built up in his eyes. He could now feel them strolling down his face, and soaking his chin.

  The blackness came again so fast that Kenar had to blink several times to disconnect himself from Satar. The block came too fast.

  Now with his mind clear again, he looked back to the color of red outlined in the shape of the wolf.

  “He is looking for her.” He almost couldn’t believe it. The emotions were nearly overpowering. He couldn’t believe that a Walker felt such things.

  Rochie turned to him, and saw tears filling his eyes. What is he talking about? He couldn’t fathom it. Right now, right then, standing there and looking at the wolf, he didn’t really care. All he had in him was his obligation to do what they came there to do. They had to take him. They now didn’t have the choice.

  Satar gave all of them a snarl before his wolf’s face began to swarm around his head. It even bubbled as it slid to a human look. Within seconds, the snout vanished into a human nose and mouth. The ears slid back down to the sides of the head. The dark gray hair over the face and around the head turned black and went to human looking hair. The frame of the animal grew small until it was only a little less than six feet tall. All of the body hair vanished to plain skin. The claws on the hands disappeared. After this, Satar looked human again.

  Seeing him in his human form, made all of them calm some. He wasn’t any less dangerous in that form, but at least he wasn’t now twice their size. At least he wasn’t also flying.

  “By the order of the Elders Satar we order you to come with us to the north. We order you to return with us to your son and stop this madness that you have started.” Rochie took a single step forward, but kept it at only one. He couldn’t bring himself to take two. He was too scared for that.

  Satar, surprisingly, didn’t move. He didn’t do anything.

  “You order me?” He huffed some after saying this and showed his contempt. “Why would I follow the orders of you?” He looked into each of their blue eyes, and stopped on Sharlia’s red ones. “And you Sharlia, why would I follow a given one such as you?”

  Sharlia swallowed hard. “You have gone too far with this Satar.” She finished with a hefty gasp. “This madness has to stop.” If he did attack, she wasn’t sure how to fight him. A Blood Walker was a thousand times stronger than one like her. She would not be a match for him, and now, she knew that he understood that too.

  Kenar listened to this, and it suddenly dawned on him that there might be another way to end all of this. After what he just saw, he knew that he had to try.

  “My lord Satar?” He stepped past Rochie and was now closer to him than everyone else was. He feared this, but only a little. He now knew him better than he had ever known him before. “I know what you are searching for. I know what you have lost.” He stopped with only two or so feet left in between them. “I understand it. I understand you.” He breathed softly, almost feeling lost within his own lungs. It made him feel suffocating and freeing all at the same time.

  Satar looked at him with flaring eyes.

  “What do you know of my loss Wanderer? What could any of you know of such things?” He snarled. He also cringed.

  Kenar noticed him doing it too. “I have seen your thoughts. I have seen her memory.”

  Satar now bowed his head.

  Rochie felt astonished, but at the same time, he now understood what Kenar had said. He understood the tears he saw in his eyes. He understood the look. His friend saw into his mind and what he saw must have been sad. It must have nearly killed his very life.

  So did Sharlia without needing to see what Kenar obviously saw.

  “I know what it is like to lose a person that you loved my lord. I understand what it feels like. I know the pain. I know the emptiness in your heart. I feel the hole—the blackness it causes.” She started tearing up as well. Inside her, she could see the first Sharlia again. She could see her eyes sparkle. She could hear her soft and sweet voice echo through time. How she has missed her?

  Now, Satar growled with a low and booming sound. His words echoed like flames burning the space between you and a fast burning fire.

  “What do you know of loss?” He breathed that fire out. “What do you know of pain?”

  “She loved you Satar. She loved you enough to do what she had to do.” Kenar raised his hands out in front of him. He needed to prove to him that he wasn’t a threat.

  A tear rolled down his right cheek and dripped off it to his bare chest.

  Kenar saw this and nodded to himself
. It is working. He understands what I am trying to say. If given more time, he would have been correct.

  Behind them, around them, the humans came.

  They came down the streets. They came to the courtyard of the chief’s home and lined it with hatred in their eyes.

  One of them, one from the group on the left, a young male with a finer wear of clothing than the others, stepped in front of all of them.

  When he saw him by the steps to his home he screamed, “Father!” He then saw his sister still standing there with lifelessness in her eyes. Seeing both of them, one obviously dead, and the other one almost there, he rushed hard. He rushed the naked man in front of his once beautiful sister and once powerful father.

  Rochie saw him come. “No!” He was too late.

  The boy went to Satar. He tackled him hard to the right side of his shoulders. He bounced off him just as strongly as he came at him.

  Satar didn’t even more. He didn’t even bounce. He just turned to the boy now at his feet. Seeing the human, feeling his rage, he brought himself out.

  The Wanderers watched again as his flesh began to boil all over his body. They watched his skin turn white. They watched his face blare out into a half bat, half wolf, monstrosity. They watched him grow taller as his feet pushed out into large and massive paws. His fingers elongated into claws.

  Fearing for the boy, Patrice let her power fly forward. She felt for the boy, and grabbing him within her mind, she pushed him back while he was still on his back.

  He slid away from Satar, moved fast, and struck the other humans where they stood. He even knocked some of them down as he crashed into them.

  Satar saw this, and was nonetheless pleased. He roared. He flared. The sound bounced off the square and boomed, sounding like an elephant ready to charge.

  Feeling the fight that was about to come, Rochie turned back to Patrice.

  “Grab him and hold him,” he said with force.

  She did just that, felt for his body and again took him within her mind.

  Satar did freeze just after he took one-step towards them. It was all he could take before she locked him in place.