She crossed the foyer to the back of the large and oval staircase that went up to the second floor, and there she hid. There she watched as Devish walked into the foyer and headed to the front door. She watched him leave just as fast.
He is heading to find the woman. He is going to bring her back to his father. She nodded to herself. Is it possible? Is she really her? She thought back to what the Seer told her, and remembering it, she just shook her head. Walkers do not have a soul. She cannot be the one. She felt sure of this. No Walker had ever returned to them. No Walker had ever returned to the flesh. No, it cannot be. Now she didn’t know what to think, but she did come up with something. She needed help. I need to inform lord Odan. I need to tell him about what Devish has done and what he intends to do. She felt sure of this, so again, she nodded to herself. I will tell him and let him decide what to do next.
She turned, left the back of the staircase and quickly climbed the steps.
She immediately made it to the second floor to the guest quarters down the right hallway, and went straight to Odan’s bedroom door. She then quickly knocked.
Thankfully, he answered her quickly.
She opened the door, and found him standing in the center of the room. In fact, he stood just in front of the large fireplace at the back wall, just to the left of a large wooden chair. He even smiled at her once she closed the door behind her.
“What can I do for you my dear?” He turned from the chest high mantle and gave her his full attention. The smile never once left his face. “Have the Wanderers arrived?”
She stepped to the center of the room. She stepped to him.
“No my lord. I have come to inform you of something that I have just learned.” She spoke swiftly. She felt rushed.
He noticed this within her voice.
“What is wrong my dear?” His pearly white teeth sparkled brightly within the smoothness of his face. His white hair only added to the look. He always looked clean and neat. He looked fatherly as he intended to look.
“I am not sure of how to say this, so I will say it plainly.” She had to slow herself down, so she took a deep breath before she began. She wanted to make sure that she told him everything as clearly as she could. He really needed to know. “My lord Devish has known about his father for some time now. He has known of his plans.” Now that she said it, she did feel better. She calmed just as well.
“I know my dear.” Odan heard this and kept the smile. He folded his arms behind his back, and clasped his hands together there. It made him look even calmer than his voice sounded to her. “I have always known.”
This surprised her a lot. Now, she just didn’t understand.
“Why? Why have you allowed him to do this?” She just needed to know.
He sighed before he answered her. “I have not allowed anything my dear. I have just let things happen as they should have happened.” He took a step to her, wanted to take another one but kept it at one. Being this close to her always made him want her more. He just couldn’t help himself.
“I do not understand.” This she felt in spades. “Why?”
He gave her a gentle nod. “My reasons are my own, my lady Sharlia.”
His voice didn’t change once. Hers on the other hand sounded rushed again. “I think I deserve to know why. With everything that happened, why did you allow Satar to continue his rampage? If Devish was seeing his actions, then why did we do what had been done?”
“Have you ever loved one my lady? Have you ever desired to fulfill that love?” Odan did understand her question. He also understood his reasons, but at the same time, she was right. She did deserve to know. His smile vanished, but his face stayed calm. In fact, he also looked sad. His eyes screamed nothing but sadness if not more than that.
She watched him, and her mind switched back to her mother. She saw Sharlia again just as if she were right there with her now. She could smell her casual scent.
He saw her longing written all over her face. “I see that you do my dear.” He looked back to his chair and waved over it with his left arm. “Please sit down my lady Sharlia.”
She accepted the offer, walked past him and sat down.
He watched her gratefully, moved in front of her to the mantle and leaned against it with his left arm. Comfortable, he began, “I grew up with Satar. I was his friend. I was his strongest ally. I even introduced him to Permona. When they mated, I stood by his side. I saw his love for her. I witnessed that love through my own loving eyes.”
She listened intently and suddenly felt sad herself. Maybe it was his voice, or maybe it was his words, but she did feel it. She felt it stronger than she ever had for him.
“When she passed during the great dying, I was there. I saw his body break. I witnessed his death that day.”
She nodded, understanding this. But there was more there that she also didn’t.
“I know of his love for her. I understand it, but I do not understand why you let him do this. Why did you let Devish assist him with it?”
He turned to the mantle and stared at its marbled stone face, but saw only Permona’s face instead. Her cool white smile he watched cross her lips. She was so lovely that he always felt mesmerized by that smile.
“I loved her too, just as much as I loved him. They were my family. With her passing, and with his devastating pain for it, I too felt that pain. I felt for my brother. I felt for my friend.” He looked back to her beautiful dark brown face. Her equally silky black hair sparkled within the orange glow of the room. In this light, she looked more beautiful than ever. He watched her bow her head. “I will do anything for him. I would give him the world if that is what he needed to have.”
She looked back up. “So you let him do what he did.”
He pouted some with this, as his head went down. “I could not let him continue, but at the same time, I had to let him do what he had to do. I had to let him find what he was looking for.”
She nodded with this.
He looked back to her eyes and watched them glisten with tears.
“Now that he has returned, I hope he has discovered that he has not found it. I hope he now realizes that he has not found her.”
She shook her head with this. “But he has found her. He believes he has.”
Odan shook his head. “That is impossible. We Walkers have never been able to pass on ourselves as Wanderers do. We lack what the humans believe they have. We carry nothing with us unto death.”
She stood up in front of him.
“He believes that she has.” She stressed this point.
“It does not matter what he believes. The truth is the truth.” He heard her and could do nothing but shrug.
She agreed with this, but at the same time, she had to stress what she knew. “Devish is going to go and find the one that Satar believes is Permona. He intends to bring her to his father.”
Again, he just shrugged. “It does not matter. If she makes him happy, I do not care about anything else.”
She didn’t understand this, but then again, she did after thinking about it some. After all, Walkers have mated with humans before. That was how the Wanderers had come to be. With this thought, the only thing she could do was nod. She had nothing else left to say, so she turned, and headed back to the door.
He watched her lovingly. “Do you have plans this evening my lady?” He didn’t want to see her leave. “The feast time is coming soon. I have some blood left from the last one. You could join me.” He stepped around the chair.
She stopped just as she reached the door, and grabbed the handle. The feast time was when the human chiefs would offer their sacrifices to their gods. Those chosen would then be bled with their blood distributed to the Walkers of that realm. The Elders received more than the others would.
She turned around, faced him, and gave him a thankful smile and nod. “No thank you my lord.” She wasn’t hungry. She felt nothing but a searching. She felt the longing still strongly in her heart, and with it there, she
could think of nothing else.
He shrugged. “Very well my lady.” And he gave her a slight bow.
She returned it and opened the door. She left him alone.
She now knew what she was looking for but she also knew something else. I am not going to find it here. I have to search for it. I have to head back and see the Seer. I have to find out more about what she told him. I need to know the full truth.
She headed back downstairs. She headed through the foyer and went straight through the front doors. She didn’t stop until she was again heading south.
23
“Jameson?” Lina woke up well after midnight. It had to be even later than that, but she couldn’t be certain. Her mind felt scattered. She felt lost. The shattering shock of the night was still there, but it was beginning to wear off some. Her wits were starting to come back too. In other words, she woke up. Now that she was, she only thought of one person and this was her brother. He was everything she had left.
“I am here.” He was standing at the door of her bedchamber with a sword on his hip and venom in his mind. As long as it was still dark, there was a threat. Daylight would bring safety, but for now, he had to stay vigilant. He had to be ready in case anything came back. Hearing her voice, he turned from the door. He went to her. Any readiness he had vanished just by the sounds of her voice. Thankfulness replaced everything so fast.
She sat up on her bed, and embraced him fully.
He sat down with her and hugged her so tight.
“I thought I had lost you.” He did. She had been gone for hours. She didn’t speak. She didn’t move, but now that she was, he couldn’t contain his relief. It felt like days since she had acted alive.
She pushed her face into his chest as she held him. His heart’s beating made her finally breathe.
“It was so terrible. It was…” The tears came fast and strong.
“It is over now. It is over.” He let her cry with everything she had.
She pushed into him harder. Her arms hugged his waist tighter. She wallowed within his touch. The thoughts of everything seemed to vanish some just with the sounds of his life.
“I will never let anything happen to you sister. I will protect you until I breathe no more.” He cradled her head. He held her closer until she felt like she was a part of him. He meant everything he said. He would die for her. He would fight to keep her safe.
Finally seeing again, she looked up to him.
“I was so scared. I cannot believe what happened.” Her voice cracked some but otherwise sounded calm. The teary sobs started to subside.
“I know.” He didn’t look down. He just held her close.
“Why did it do that? Why did he have to kill father?” She had so many questions running around inside her mind that it was difficult to bring them together long enough to understand all of them. She started with the most pressing ones at that.
He shook his head. “It does not matter now. It is gone. It will not return.”
She knew that he was only telling her this for her own sanity. He could never make such an argument. Even she knew this.
This time he did look down and their eyes met.
She stared into his.
“What did it want Jameson? Why did it want me?” In the time she took to regain her mind, she thought about everything. She saw what the beast had done, but more importantly, what it didn’t do. It could have killed her but it didn’t. In fact, it seemed timid with her. She felt it’s longing. She felt it want her, and she wanted to know why.
“I do not know.” He shook his head.
“I saw its eyes. I saw its want.” She continued thinking aloud.
Again, he didn’t know.
They sat there for moments, until a knock came to her chamber door, and it opened before they could even turn.
Mantha ran into the room. “Chief? A Walker has been seen flying over the village. A Shade has returned.” He felt rushed, and he was. It seemed like his greatest fears had been realized and it made it hard for him to think straight. It made it hard for him to move even though he did.
Jameson didn’t need to hear anything more. He stood up fast.
She watched him stand.
“It has come back to kill us.” Her fears came fast again.
Jameson looked at her and forced a smile. “Not if I can do something about it.” The venom was there again. The rage flew through him like the wind blazes down a hill into a valley during a storm. In fact, he now felt like he was going to explode from it. He felt like lightning was about to burst from his skin. “Gather everyone. Protect the homes. We must not let the animal land, and if it does, we fight it. We kill it.” He turned to Mantha and drew his sword from the sheave on his hip. It was made of the basic metal, not the kind he wanted or needed, but it would have to do. Until they could forge the moon metal into swords, he didn’t have any other choice.
Mantha just shrugged. “We can still salvage the peace Jameson. We can negotiate with it. We can talk with it.” He still didn’t agree with his need for revenge that was obvious. He still believed in what he said. They didn’t need to fight. They didn’t need to die.
Jameson shook his head hard. “We will not let it land.” He nearly shouted this. His rage felt hard to contain, and he meant it that way. He was their chief. He was their leader, and hell had to be paid for it whether they liked it or not.
Mantha just shook his head. He turned and headed back out of the room, but made it to the hallway when a loud and crashing sound blared throughout the world.
Jameson not only heard it but felt it as wood and debris crashed down behind him, in between the bed and the door. He turned in time to see a large and grayish white bat slam into the floor, landing on top of the debris from the ceiling.
The bat, a Shade of such great size that it had to be a Blood Walker, crouched on the floor, smothered with dust and small pieces of wood. It folded its wings. It looked right at him. Its red eyes sparkled. Its fangs glistened. Its head perked high.
“No!” Jameson swung the sword fast. He swung it wild.
The Shade ducked down and away from the blade’s path. It missed it badly, but just having it happen was enough. It didn’t stay a bat for long.
A large snout formed from the bat’s nose, and quickly pushed out into a large and powerful set of jaws. The fangs grew larger into huge canine teeth. Dark gray hair flushed out over its entire body as its wings grew small and formed into two large and powerfully clawed arms. Its long toes shortened into large wolf’s paws, and its legs stretched out into tall canine hind legs. The bat was gone in seconds, and a large gray wolf now stood up from the floor.
It stood huge, about two times his size. Its huge muscles rippled beneath its fur. Its hot breath coursed its way down to his face as it snarled.
He brought the iron sword back to his right, still in his right hand, and swung back to the beast.
This time the beast didn’t duck. It just reached out and caught his arm in mid swing.
The impact made him lose his grip. The sword flew out of his hand, flew past the beast and clanged somewhere behind it on the other side of the room.
The beast kept his arm, and with full power, it squeezed. It pulled.
Jameson felt true pain as he had never felt before in all of his young life. He felt his arm snap. He felt his bone break. He watched it with his own eyes as his arm went limp halfway between his wrist and elbow as it bent. The sound was like a branch breaking. The pain felt like fire burning his flesh and then a sharpness that flared to his shoulder, down his back, and raked his mind.
Mantha watched the boy scream in immense agony, and continued watching as he fell to his knees. He then saw the full breast of the wolf. Its size is what caught his thoughts first. Its swing he saw second, as its left arm came backwards towards his chest. He felt the pain next, and felt his own chest bang in hard and then out again as obviously several ribs shattered beneath his chin. The downright burning of that pain rippled through hi
m like water ripples from a stone, and its momentum blasted him backwards, through the door, and caused him to smack the wall on the other side of the hallway behind the room. He slid to the floor with a reverberating thud.
With the room cleared, Devish turned to the girl on the bed. As he finished it, he let the human shape within him out again.
Lina watched everything but saw nothing. She heard the sounds. She heard the screams. She saw the dust, and nothing else but movement. That’s all she knew until the young man’s face came to hers through the chaos. His black hair looked neat and well kept. His face was as smooth as a windless pond. His teeth were perfect in form and as white as ivory. She next saw the red of his eyes, and the voice in her head.
You will hear me human. You will hear my words. You will hear my thoughts.
I hear you. She shook her head with a subtle nod. His voice sounded soothing and confident inside her mind. She saw them almost as if she heard them with her own ears. It sounded as powerful as thunder rolling over her head.
Devish smiled. Good. You will come with me. You will follow me wherever I will take you. You will not fear me nor anything or anyone you will see. You will give your life to a man with black hair and gentle words. You will give him your will. Do you hear me?
I hear you. Again, she nodded. She saw a young man’s face. His brown eyes looked soft and pure. His smooth ivory skin showed with a vibrant tone. He suddenly looked familiar to her but she didn’t know his name. He just looked like an angel. He just looked like the sun but it didn’t hurt to see his face.
A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 11
