Kenar agreed. “I understand.” Every time he has looked inside a Moonwalker, any Walker for that matter, he could also see the eyes. It was like seeing eyes flaming from the dark. It looked like animal eye-shine coming out from the darkness of the trees. He saw the same thing with his mother every time she turned. He knew what he meant, but then the latter part struck him so he continued with that next. “What do mean that it happens when it forces you to change?”
Kalima matched his blind stare. He couldn’t believe how natural this felt for him. He had hoped for years that one day he would get answers about everything he was, and now, here he was getting it and it nearly made him want to cry because of it. It took everything he had not to do it too.
“Every month at the full moon the wolf cries to come out. It is relentless and pushes me out of the way. I cannot stop it.”
Rochie heard this and turned back to the boy. “You talk about it like it is another person and not you.” He had never heard of a Walker talking like this before and it sounded intriguing, so he couldn’t help but to ask the question.
Kalima bowed his head back down. “It is not me, but it is. It feels like a part of me, but at the same time, it does not feel like me at all. I cannot explain it any better than that.”
Kenar now wished that he could see his thoughts. He so wanted to see what he felt like. If only to see it—to feel it, so he could help this boy, who had no idea of what he was or why he lived. But he couldn’t, so he had to do it the old-fashioned way. He had to figure it out for himself.
“Do you know of your parents?” This seemed to be the next obvious direction to go so he went with it.
He shrugged. “My parents lived on a small farm over the ridge. After the day I changed, I left them. I could not allow them to see me again.” A tear strolled down his left cheek.
Kenar didn’t agree, but he didn’t have a choice either way with that. The boy only knew what he did. “I am sorry for what happened with your family. I am sorry for what happened with them and your village, but they cannot be your true parents. I do not know what happened, I do not know how it happened, but something made you what you are. No matter how different you seem to be, you are still a threat. You are extremely dangerous, not only to the humans but also to the Walkers. Both will try to destroy you if they can.”
Rochie nodded with this.
It made the boy look up. “Why? I have done nothing to them. What do they want with me?” He felt stunned by such a statement. He felt lost. He felt dumbfounded.
“You are something that can possibly strike fear into both worlds. What that is, I still do not know. I do not know what you are.” Kenar’s mind turned. It moved to place that he had never seen before, but yet knew that he did. He saw blackness in his mind. He tried to go into it, but couldn’t. It felt odd. He didn’t know what it meant, or why it was even there. He just shook it off, and looked back to the boy.
Kalima bowed his head. “Whatever I am, I do not care. I do not care about me.” He looked back to the trees with Alana and Sima now blasting through his mind.
Rochie felt his fear as he turned. He saw his face from the side. “Who are they?” he had to ask. He knew the direction of the woman and the child.
Hearing this made he turned back hard. “They are innocent to all of this.”
Kenar heard the anger in his voice. He sounded more fearful than angry too. “They do not know what you are, do they?” That voice stated as clear as day.
Kalima looked at him but only briefly as his head went back down again. He couldn’t look him in the eyes. “I will do what I must to protect them. Know it and understand it.”
Rochie thought he did. “She is your wife then?” He also heard a lot in his voice. “And the girl?”
Kenar nodded with all of this. It made sense.
Kalima scoffed some as he turned. “I am done speaking to you. I have done and said too much already.” He took a step to the trees. The wolf had instincts and so did he. It was time to answer both of them.
Kenar knew his fears, but he felt the need to tell him everything so he did. “Devish, the last Blood Walker knows about you. Because of this, he will also learn of the woman and child.”
He did stop. “I have done all that I can to keep him from seeing me. I will do what I must to keep them safe.”
Kenar swallowed hard with hearing this. He knew what he meant. Whoever or whatever this boy is, he can block out our thoughts. Can he also block Devish? He looked towards the boy’s voice, searched his mind but found nothing but an overwhelming darkness, and right then he feared something—something that he may have done. If he can block him, block out Devish, than we may have just caused more harm to him than good. We may have just exposed him. Devish has done well to know my thoughts. Have we just done this, found him, when he could not have? He truly didn’t know the answer to this, but now he feared that he did. It made sense to him as only Devish ever could.
Rochie thought none of this, so he stayed with what he had in mind. “You could come with us Kalima. You could come and join us. We will do what we can to protect you and your family.” He meant all of this, but then Jameson came to his mind. He knew right then, he would never allow a Walker in to his circle like that. In fact, he would probably kill him, and so after saying it, he regretted that he did.
Kalima would never do such a thing anyway. “I am the only protection they will ever need.” He turned back to the trees. “You will leave me now and never return again.” He started to the trees, and felt the need to express one more thing before he vanished from them. “If you know what is good for you, you will stay away. The wolf is a lot more vicious than I will ever be.”
Rochie watched him leave. He then turned back to his friend. “What do we do now?” He felt lost so he needed the help.
Kenar couldn’t get what he just thought off his mind. He truly felt fear with it. He felt anger too. How could he have been so stupid to do this without thinking about what it meant? He was better than this, or at least he should have been.
Rochie saw this on his face. “What is wrong?” With Kenar, it could mean anything. He rarely feared much, so anytime he saw that look, he knew that he should fear it too.
Kenar quickly tried hard to push everything out of his head. He only hoped he could, but he also knew that he couldn’t. Somehow, in some way, he felt that he had already failed.
“Kenar, will you please answer me?” Rochie took his right arm into his hands and squeezed him firmly.
He started breathing fast. “This was a mistake.” He moved back towards the horse, feeling the animal just to his right. He felt for the saddle and quickly tried to climb it.
Rochie watched him try and knew that he would never be able to do it without his help. His friend was very good with some things, but groping in the dark was never one of them.
“Why is this a mistake?” He grabbed his hands and held them to his.
Kenar felt his hands. He felt his mind and his concern. He felt his fear for what he himself must have been thinking. He didn’t want to answer him. He didn’t know how to. He didn’t know what to say.
“Kenar? There is something wrong, and I need to know,” Rochie forced his voice.
Kenar had a single tear roll down his right cheek. “I,” he started but stopped. Again, he was lost for words.
Rochie squeezed his hands again.
Kenar tried to pull his thoughts back together again and when he felt ready, he began, “I think we made a mistake in trying to find the boy.” After saying it, he felt even more convinced that he was right about all of this. His heart clinched his chest.
Rochie felt dumbfounded with hearing this. It made him have to swallow a shallow throat. “What are you talking about? I thought we needed to do this.”
He started to feel cold. He started to shiver within himself. “The boy was able to keep his thoughts from me. If he can do this to me, he can also block out Devish.” He took another deep breath. After finishing it,
he began again, “If he can do that then Devish did not know how to find him, but by reading our thoughts, and knowing we could, I could, he let us find him for him.” He felt the dread in him grow with every word he spoke. It only confirmed in him what he already knew. He was right. He was sure of it now.
Rochie understood without needing to know anything else. In fact, now knowing it, he too feared the worst. “He will be coming for them then.” He turned from his friend, dropped his hands, and looked back to the trees. Whoever the boy was, he was now gone. He vanished so fast. “We must warn him.”
“He is gone. I cannot follow him.” He felt blasted by the cold of the world. He was right to feel it too. He deserved more than that.
Rochie knew there was more to it than this. “What about the woman and the child? Surely you can track them.”
“I am not sure that I can. I cannot see them clearly.” Kenar could only shrug with heavy weight. He had nothing left.
Rochie could just shrug too. He also felt worried. He had never seen his friend this baffled before and he didn’t know what to think about it. What it did do is make him accept it. He had no other choice but to do it.
“We have to prepare.” Kenar continued trying to swallow, but continued to fail at it. “They will be coming for him as soon as they get here.” He knew he was right about this too. Devish would wait to come after him at nightfall. They would come for him with everything they had.
Rochie agreed with this, but again, he needed help. “What do you want to do?” he had to ask it.
“We owe this boy for what we have done. We are going to have to wait here and help him when they come.” He didn’t see that they had any other choice.
Begrudgingly, Rochie accepted this. “Alright then.” He looked back to his friend. “I am not sure how we can help him, but we will give him our best.” He didn’t like this. He and Kenar rarely carried weapons with them, and now was one of those times that they didn’t. All they had was their gifts.
“We have our greatest strengths. I will see them when they come. We can then help him.”
Rochie only hoped that would be enough. He wasn’t too sure that it was.
15
Elizabeth reached the wolves moving as fast as she could. The daylight felt warm, but with overcast skies, she managed the heat. It didn’t bother her as much as she thought it would. Being in her bat’s form, she felt liberated. She flew through the morning until she reached the gap. Smelling them with their musty stench, she found the sixteen wolves all gathered in one place, and it made it easy for her to do it quickly. She landed directly in the center of their group.
Bethany saw her land and it obviously startled her with it. She growled with a low sounding boom. The sound seemed to rumble through her entire body. She watched the large grayish white colored bat crouch on its hind legs. She watched its long wings fold up on its sides. It used the single finger, the thumb, at the top bend of the wing to push its face up to hers. The bat’s oval nose curled as it smiled showing deep ivory white fangs. Its pointed chin bounced.
She watched its face then swarm as if it turned to water flowing over a stone. Within seconds, the face turned oval and the chin grew round. Its tall pointed ears flattened and then rounded at the sides of its head. Its deep red eyes grew pale and then turned brown. The skin turned tanned, a very human color, as the wings slid back to human fingers and hands. The membrane between the fingers slid back with the hands.
Seeing that it was Elizabeth, she growled again. “What are you doing here?”
Elizabeth changed from her bat’s form fast. Returned to her human look, she stood up and turned to Bethany. “I bring you news.” She kept her smile during the entire transformation. Only her teeth didn’t move.
Bethany cringed. “We could have mangled you,” she huffed, trying to prove her point. She kept the low roaming growl deep within her voice.
Hearing her, it just made Elizabeth laugh. “You would have tried, and yet, you probably would have failed at it.” She looked back to the pack and it made her laugh again. They all looked so small. They all looked so weak. The human’s blood felt stronger within her flesh and it made her truly feel powerful because of it.
“What is your news Shade?” Bethany just shrugged off everything she heard like a dog would shed off fleas. She knew the truth of what would have happened and didn’t mind dropping it. She hated bats and always would and nothing would ever change her mind. They believed they were something they were not. Unlike wolves and their strength, unlike Nightwalkers and their speed, Shades just had wings. Without them, they would be nothing. They were not like them.
Elizabeth had other more important things to discuss. “Our great lord Devish has found the one he seeks. He knows where he is and wishes for you to find him and bring him back to him.” She took pride in her work. She was close to him, and that always mattered. They were not.
Bethany huffed as she placed her hands on her hips. “Fine then, where is he?”
Elizabeth felt her joy erupt through her heart. “He is on a small farm not three hours from here. He must be brought back to Devish before the Wanderers get to him. In fact, they may already be there.”
The entire pack, a mix of men and women, young and old, just gasped with hearing this. They collectively knew very little about who they were looking for, only Bethany knew the full truth about him, but when they heard that the Wanderers were involved that perked up their ears. It meant that humans might also be involved. That meant death was not far behind this too.
Elizabeth loved hearing their gasps. In a way, it put them in their place. Wolves needed this sometimes. They thought that because they were so easy to change, needing just a simple bite, where vampires and Shades required the exchange of blood, it made them somehow superior to them. They had the numbers but they were neither superior nor anything more than she was. There was no doubt about this and there never would be.
“I know of Kenar, the Mind Reader.” Bethany stared down her pack, gave them a quick and decisive growl, and turned back to the bat. She knew what Elizabeth was up to and she had no intentions of any of them giving her what she wanted. Wolves bow to no one.
Elizabeth watched all of them and stepped right in front of Bethany. “Rochie is with him too.”
Again, all of the wolves gasped. Some of them even groaned.
This time, Bethany did too. If they were ever going to have to face Wanderers, she would have preferred the Lightning Maker, or the Earth Shaker, or any of the other six out there that she knew of, but not these two together. She knew of Kenar the Mind Reader, but Rochie the Eternal Rock Thrower, she feared him the most. He was not just powerful, but he knew the Walkers better than they knew themselves. With Kenar, together they would see them coming and kill them before they even knew they were even there.
Elizabeth turned from the group. “Our Master believes that they might try and stop you from completing your mission, so he wished to have you be cautious. The one you seek is dangerous, you know that already,” She looked at Bethany and their eyes met. “But with the two Wanderers with him, it might make it that much worse.”
Bethany saw the glint in her eyes. It reeked all over her face. She could smell it as plain as day. “I understand our limitations Elizabeth. You may inform our lord Devish that we will accomplish our task.”
Elizabeth stepped to the center of the group.
They formed a circle around her. Their numbers tried to prove their strength.
“You might also expect to find two females, humans, with the one you seek.”
Again the gasp came.
Again, Bethany joined in with her pack. She gathered herself back together quickly. “What are we to do with the females?” She didn’t like humans being there, but at the same time, with food so short, and their supply of meat limited, it gave them an opportunity for something fresh to eat. In the hierarchy of the Walker realm, Blood Walkers ate first, followed by the vampires who stood as their generals, then by
the Shades, and finally with the blood sucked out of all of the flesh, the wolves got the bodies last. The idea of blood soaked female flesh enticed her very essence like pleasure itself was about to return to her life.
Elizabeth pulled the eyes from the back of her mind. “He does not care about the human adult female. Do your best to keep the child from harm. He intends to use it.” The eyes flew forward and pushed hers aside.
The entire pack collectively sighed. Fresh meat was for the taking, and now they couldn’t wait to get it.
So did Bethany who watched Elizabeth turn back into her rotting bat form and lift off back into the sky. Back with only her pack, she laughed. She howled and let her wolf’s eyes come forwards. She turned, but just before she did, she let out several final growl filled words, “We eat today boys and girls.”
They all changed. They all fell to their hands and knees. Their bodies shot with a deep brown colored fur. Their faces shot out to short and stubby snouts. They formed into wolves and headed off in to the trees. They headed north.
16
“I wish you all the best my lady Sharlia. She is very allusive with her answers. She has also been feeling rather ill of late.” Devish led her to the door. The wolf guarding it saw him and turned. He moved to the door and opened it for her.
Sharlia walked inside and immediately smelled the stench. The smell of bodily fluids was strong. The room simply reeked with it. The Seer herself looked even worse.
The white gown she wore was no longer white but brown and tattered. Her hair looked matted and unwashed for lord knows how long. Her face was dirty and looked bruised. Her hands were tied to the posts at the head of the bed so she was laid out with her arms straight and her body flushed to the bed. She looked downright terrible to describe it right. She didn’t look like the serene woman she saw the last time on the island of Golan. There she looked regal, almost majestic. She didn’t look like that anymore and it made her feel rather sad. She truly felt for her like never before.
A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 35
