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

by Michael Lampman

  “I did.” He looked back up. “I did it to protect you.” Was this enough? He didn’t know. Only time would tell him if it was or not.

  Kalima scoffed some with hearing this. “To protect me?” The growl came again. It rumbled through his chest. “You call that protecting?”

  Devish winced with this. “They did not harm your family Kalima. They did not attack them, mull them, or shoot them with arrows. They were not the ones that took your child away from you or were they the ones that shot her out of the sky. They did none of this.” He motioned with a bob of his head to the entrance of the tent. “They did that. The humans did all of that, not me. Not the wolves.”

  Kalima bowed his head again. In thinking about all of this, he was right. The wolves could have torn his wife and child apart when he was in the fields, but they didn’t. The humans did kill his wife, even if it was a miss that was meant for him. The humans took his Sima and they were the ones that forced her death. They were the ones that have now placed him in chains. They were the ones that decided that he should be destroyed. This Devish did none of those things.

  Devish watched him thinking, not sure if he was getting to him or not, but the fact that he was at least thinking about it, it made him feel calm. He felt confident too. It was time to go even further than this.

  “You are still not alone in this world.” He moved back over to him and stopped right in front of him. He then fell down to his knees so he could see him, face to face. “You will never be alone again.”

  Kalima looked up. He saw his eyes. He saw his face. He saw nothing of the animal that the Wanderers claimed he was, but even with this thought, he still didn’t want to join him. He just wanted death. He wanted to die and leave this pain, this heart-wrenching agony of his life.

  “You may be correct Devish, but why would I join you?” He stared directly into his eyes.

  Devish stared back. He firmed his chin. He firmed his eyes. “You are more than just an average Walker Kalima. You are more than any other wolf.”

  He did know this. The blind Wanderer told him this already so it didn’t surprise him with hearing it now.

  Devish saw this on his face. He saw it in his eyes.

  “You are more to me than any other living thing on this world.”

  “And what is that, exactly?”

  Devish went in for the kill. “I am your brother Kalima. I share your blood. I am your bloodline.”

  His mind exploded with this thought. He truly didn’t know what to think or what to feel about it. What he did know is that he still didn’t trust this being, or whatever he was, so he wanted to know more. He knew some things too.

  “If that is true, then we share the same parents?” It was time to see what he knew, or didn’t.

  Devish knew this question was coming. He didn’t need to see his thoughts.

  “Our father’s name was Satar. Your mother was not mine.”

  Kalima blinked. The name was the same. He wanted to know more. He needed it. “My mother was human?” he had to ask next.

  Devish kept his face as firm as stone. “Our father was a great Walker, but he had a weakness. He loved a human female. He loved her, and thus you live.”

  Kalima locked his stare back onto his eyes, and saw nothing but truth behind them. Still, he wanted more.

  “What happened to them?”

  Devish broke the lock, and stood up. “Your mother disappeared from the world around the time you were born. I am not sure of how she died, but I know she did. I do know that you were taken from her after birth, and passed to those that raised you.” He walked to the opposite side of the tent again, and stopped staring at its white colored walls. He kept his voice calm and inviting the best way he knew how. He spoke as soft as he could.

  Kalima looked down to his knees as he listened. He thought of his mother Georgia again, and of his father. He remembered only them, and not the woman he saw standing at the flames. Everything made sense, so he looked back up.

  “Who took me away from her?” He wanted to know this next.

  Devish sighed before he began. “Rochie and Kenar did it. They took you from her.” He turned and looked back at him with a solemn glance. Again, he looked as sad as he thought he should.

  Kalima took him seriously, and suddenly, he felt his rage flare through him like thunder rolls through a narrow valley during a storm. It nearly boomed as he felt the eyes again move. They were starting to get closer to the front of his mind.

  “They did this.” He looked down. “They knew all of this.” He looked back up. He remembered everything they told him, but none of this was there. They must have hid it from me. They played me for a fool.

  Devish heard his anger rolling—hell he could smell it ooze out of him with the heat blaring through his body. Oh, he is so close now.

  “What happened to our father?” He wanted this next.

  Devish was more than happy to tell him the full truth. “Our father, Satar, was killed by them. They started this war. It started with his death.” He let his eyes flare to their red Walker shine. He did it to prove his own anger for what they did. He hoped it would be enough.

  It was. “They killed him.” The eyes moved. They seemed to bounce inside his own skull. He could almost hear them bang inside his own mind.

  Devish heard his voice beginning to change. He could see the hint of yellow in his eyes. The change would come next, he felt so sure of it. He just needed one more good push to send it over the edge of never going back.

  “So you see you are not alone in your anger brother.” He turned fully back in front of him. “The sons of Satar shall rise again, and together, we can change the tides of this war. We can avenge what the Wanderers and the Humans have done to us.”

  The anger exploded. The rage flared. It burst out and with it, the eyes flew forward with such a great force that it nearly felt like his face had just broken into two halves.

  Within seconds, his eyes flared to a bright and powerful yellow hue. His tanned white skin flushed out to black, as his fur exploded all over his face. His ears grew huge. His snout formed fast with large canine fangs jutting out from his mouth. His chest turned oval as his ribs broke and mended. His feet blared out into two large wolf’s paws. He was quite a sight.

  The sound was better for Devish.

  It sounded like trumpets. He sounded like a fire cracking in the night. It rolled like large boulders down a ravine. It boomed. It bellowed. It roared.

  He watched everything, felt nothing but pride, until he saw something that shocked him to its very edge of sanity. The now formed black wolf stood up and without any effort that he could see, simply snapped the chains from his wrists. Standing, he did the same thing to those around his toes. He did it all quickly.

  This was what shocked him. Even I cannot break silver. Pride filled in the shock. Oh, the things I can do with such gifts.

  Free from his shackles, the black wolf stepped to him and looked down.

  He stood a good two feet over him, so he looked up. It was like looking at a god.

  “Oh my dear Kalima, you and I are going to do some damage.” He finally let himself smile.

  45

  “Did you hear that?” Kenar asked first, clearly hearing the sound of a mammoth animal roar from somewhere outside the morgue tent. The sound seemed to shake the ground. It felt like it broke the air with its trembling wake. He knew instantly what, or he should say who it was.

  Rochie knew the same thing. “He has turned.” He looked down, but only his eyes moved. From his current direction, he was facing the entrance to the tent, so at least he figured that way he could watch the animal come inside and kill him head on. “We have to do something.” He actually believed what he just thought. He now expected to see it. He now expected to die.

  The only thing that did come after the sound of the roar was the screams, a lot of them too. They just flowed from all directions. Luckily, for them, the sounds were fading away from them some. If the black wol
f was the one causing the screams, he was heading in the other direction.

  Kenar couldn’t have agreed more, but he felt lost with what to do. “I cannot move. Unless your sister decides to let us go, I do doubt that we can do anything.” He was right. They were at her mercy, like it or not.

  Rochie hated this. Kenar was right. Only she could break the hold on them, so it was up to him after all. He could do something, and that was to try to reach her. She had to be in my head to know where we were to hold us. After thinking about this, about her locking them down, it made sense that, she was there inside his head. She may have been there this whole time, but he didn’t know about it. Now that he did, he could only hope that she will talk with him. He had to try to get her to understand what they knew about the wolf, and about what Devish had done with the child. If she did then maybe she would help them. Again, he had to try, so he closed his eyes, and looked back deeply inside his mind. He pictured a memory of her face, and locked in onto her voice. He turned his mind over and let his powers come up. He focused onto her.

  Rana, are you there Rana? He paused and waited.

  He heard nothing but silence.

  I know you are there Rana. It is the only way that you could hold us like this. It is the only way that you knew where we were to do it. I know you are here and inside my mind.

  Again, he paused, and again, he heard nothing.

  You have to talk with me Rana. You must know the truth about what he has done, and is probably planning to do. You must know about the truth of the black wolf. You must help us, and help him.

  Again, he paused, and this time, he did hear something flash inside his head. He suddenly saw her face. He suddenly heard her soft voice. She sounded exactly as he remembered her, and that alone made him calm down some before he continued. He felt that upset.

  There is nothing you can say to me Rochie that will make me trust you.

  She sounded like an angel. She sounded like heaven on earth. Again, he hesitated some before he could continue. Thankfully, it didn’t last long and he was able to correct himself again before he lost her.

  I am sorry for everything that happened between us Rana, but I have to tell you about the black wolf. I have to get you to understand the truth about him, and what Devish has done.

  He heard her scoff.

  On the other side of the wall, on the other side of the field near the tree line, she stood there watching the humans gather in full force. Preparing herself, holding onto all of them and making them see her as Devish, that was when she heard his voice. He came in as strong as she ever remembered. She knew why. With her inside his head like this, she was a part of him now. To hold him like that, she had to be him. She didn’t have the choice but to hear his thoughts.

  I have nothing to say to you Rochie. There is nothing you can say that will change my mind. I do not exist to you, and never will again. She stressed everything she said with such a force, that it actually caused him physical pain.

  It felt like a dagger struck his mind. He felt it race down and into his chest.

  Please Rana, do not let this happen. He is something special. Devish has lied. He has forced this. It took everything he had to say this. The pain made it hard for him to think, so his words came through jagged and almost misplaced.

  I know what Devish has done. She squeezed her thoughts, forcing even more pain through him.

  It flew down his spine, into his legs, and made them shake.

  If she hadn’t been holding him so forcefully, he would have fallen to his knees. It felt that bad.

  As for what she said, he felt more than pain. He felt agony. He now felt his heart breaking too.

  I know about the child. I know about what he has done.

  His heart snapped. He started tearing up inside both eyes. They strolled down his face in nice and even rows.

  Please Rana, do not do…

  She cut him off. She forced his knees to bend, and he fell to the floor hard with a smack. Real pain raced through his legs.

  She closed his thoughts. She released his mind, and with it, his body fell limply to the floor.

  He fell on to his hands and knees.

  Kenar also felt her release her grip, as his body felt like his again.

  “I am free.” He bent down towards his friend. He lifted him back to his feet with his right arm. As for what he heard, he heard everything. “I am sorry Rochie. I am sorry for her too.”

  Rochie continued crying as he gathered his mind back together again. “I know.” He looked back to the entrance of the tent. The sounds of the roars now seemed far away.

  Kenar heard them, he saw the black wolf break through the walls, and head out to the field. He saw him race to the humans gathered for the attack. He saw everything.

  “He is attacking the humans.” He also saw someone with him. “Devish is with him.” He felt the pain of a young soldier as he was struck from behind by a massive claw. He broke the connection as the man died. “We are too late.” He bowed his head. He held onto Rochie’s hands as he acknowledged what Rochie already knew.

  He knew that everything was about to change. With the black wolf with Devish, things were about to get a whole lot worse.

  46

  Jameson watched his men form into the spear formations, and that was when he heard the chaos from behind him. He heard the roars. He heard the screams. He heard the death. “They are attacking the camp.” He turned just as he was about to climb his horse. He looked back as he saw a massive black mass jump the walls and come towards his group. He then saw something else. The black mass had something with him, and when he saw its grayish colored skin, he knew who it was. “Devish!” he screamed out to his group.

  All of them turned, as the black wolf came crashing into his lines. The thing didn’t even slow down as it threw two men on their horses out from the group. It looked incredible. It looked bad.

  Donte saw this too. “My king, the animal is fighting with Devish.” He grew angry with this. He knew that they shouldn’t have listened to Kenar and Rochie. He knew that the thing should have been killed when they had the chance, and now seeing its strength, seeing its vicious anger, he knew he was right.

  So did Jameson. “We have to regroup.” He watched as Devish pounced on another three men in his half bat and half wolf form. The three people didn’t have a chance. They were moving too fast. They were moving at everyone before they could even turn, stand and fight them.

  Donte nodded to his king, he was about to say something, but he was cut off from another set of sounds blaring out from now behind them.

  He and his king turned back to the tree line and watched the wolves charge.

  They came fast. They ran in waves and they came at them head long into his two groups.

  With the commotion behind them, now all around them, he watched as their lines broke. They became dislodged. The spears lost their form and turned into something that looked like a chaotic mess.

  The wolves crashed into their sides. They smashed into horses and men alike. They spilled at least a dozen of them within seconds, sending blood everywhere. Even parts of their bodies flew with the blood.

  Donte felt suddenly exposed. He also felt fear, true fear for the first time in years. In all of this fight, in all of this death, the humans always seemed to have the upper hand with their attacks. They were always the ones on the offensive, dictating the fights, but now, things seemed to have changed. They were the ones now surrounded. They were now the ones encircled and cutoff. They were now the ones with their backs against the walls.

  “My king, this does not look good.” He then looked up.

  Dozens of Shades now crossed the skies. They swooped and hissed. They glided down into the mass of flesh and blood.

  Donte watched a man just to his right suddenly lose his head within a swooping swing. It all happened so fast. He didn’t even see what did it.

  “We must reform the lines. We must peel off from this attack. We cannot charge like this.
They will take us out one at a time without numbers.”

  Jameson knew he was right, but he also knew that they had nowhere to go. With the walls behind them, with the tree line in front of them, and with wolves surrounding them, it all felt hopeless. He felt hopeless for what to do about any of it.

  It was the first time he had ever seen his king look like this. He looked lost. He looked confused. He looked downright scared behind rational thought. For Donte, he knew that he was going to have to take command. If they stayed there like this, they would be torn apart.

  “Retreat!” he shouted out as loud as he could. With the snarls, with the screams, with the sounds of metal on metal and the breaking of bones and flesh, he could barely hear his own voice. “I order all of you to retreat!”

  Those closest to them heard his calls. What they obviously didn’t know was where to go. Some ran by foot to their right. Others ran to the left. Those on horses scattered in every direction.

  When those that didn’t hear the calls saw their comrades run off, they each did the same things. They kicked their horses. Some even dropped their weapons as they ran. The look of a mess turned into an all-out rout.

  Donte grabbed his king’s right arm. “Jameson we have lost this fight. We must flee and fight for another day.”

  Jameson felt his shock slide away, and felt it replaced with a heated rage. “No!” He suddenly felt alive again. He suddenly felt like his self. He was not about to leave the field—not against Devish—not against his mortal foe.

  Donte understood his friend, but he also understood their chances. “We cannot stay here. We will not have a chance.” He pulled his arm. He grabbed his king. “We have to run!” He pressed his shoulders, and with a firm grip, he tugged his shirt and armor chest plate.

  Jameson wouldn’t be moved. “I am not giving up this field!”

  Donte looked and saw three wolves move towards their right. They moved towards them.

  “We will have another day, but it is not now.” He had to do something, so he grabbed his king again, and this time, he didn’t just pull, he lifted.