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

by Michael Lampman

  Showing him all of this, she ended the memory with simple words. I do not wish to be reborn to this world after this Kenar. I want you to take my gift as your own. I want you to continue as me.

  He saw this, and bowed his head. He had known none of this, and it shattered his mind and soul. If it were true, if she was right, this power could change the world. What would happen if the Walkers had somehow learned of this power? What if they used it to rid the world of the Wanderers forever? It felt like a terrible burden for sure.

  She didn’t care about any of this. Only her death mattered. Only her hurt for just the thought of returning to that pain carried any weight in her mind. “You must finish me Kenar. Take my gifts and use them as you wish. I am finished with the pain of this fight.”

  He saw her determination with this. He also saw the Walkers speaking amongst themselves, and with the humans watching them, with no one fighting, the pain she felt in the world was about to end. She must see this too, and it should be a reason enough to live and return to it.

  “The war ends tonight. The pain will end with it. You have no reason to end it now.”

  She sighed with this. “I have seen enough. I do not wish to see anything more than what I have.”

  He returned her sigh with one of his own. Again, he felt her determination to end her life. She was finished. She could not go on. With it all, he agreed, and told her this in his thoughts.

  She smiled when she heard it.

  I cannot believe that I am about to do this.

  He looked around him and found a small blade lying near the horse next to them. Her horse carried a small knife, which must have spilled from its saddle and so he grabbed it and brought it out in between them.

  I cannot believe that at the end of all of this, I am taking one last life and it is hers.

  He pointed the tip of the single edged blade at her chest. He tried to aim it to her heart, but wasn’t sure if he was or not. He did his best.

  I am so sorry Shelley. I am so sorry for what I am about to do.

  He cried as he drove the knife forward. He couldn’t bring himself to see where it went. Feeling her mind instantly fade out to nothing was enough. He saw her die.

  He removed the knife and let it fall to the ground beside him. He just watched her eyes, as suddenly they flashed to an overwhelming blue colored haze. His eyes returned that haze with a deep and bright blue that shined as bright as the sun. He felt a rush of heat flare through him, into him, and felt her, Shelley with everything she was, every memory, every word she had ever spoken, came into him like a flash forward of her very life. Within seconds after that, after the images, everything vanished. Only the heat he felt remained.

  Inside, he even heard her voice one last time. I am a part of you now Kenar. You are now also a part of me.

  He now finally breathed.

  He continued to cry. He had nothing left to say.

  40

  “You are a feisty one, you know that Rochie? You have a fire inside you that I have never felt before.” Elizabeth ducked yet another large stone from the wall that had once crushed her. As for what she said, she didn’t mean it. In fact, she was getting very pissed off with this fight. She was growing tired of him. It was time to end it. He just wouldn’t let her. He fought her off with the many thousand objects around them with so relative ease that she couldn’t get close enough to finish him off. He just wouldn’t let her make the final kill.

  “You cannot beat me Elizabeth, no matter what you may be.” Rochie watched the stone he just threw hit the wall near the front door of the Keep just to her left. Like her, he too was growing tired of this fight. He had to get inside. He had to find Rana. He had to find Sima. He had to get both of them to safety. He had too much to do to continue this, but she was too fast. She ducked every rock. She evaded every stone.

  She heard his words and it made it her laugh again. Does he know what I am? Does he know who I am? Does he know my family? She couldn’t help but to wonder with all of this. She just didn’t know. Quite frankly she didn’t care either. She never did and never would.

  The sounds of the fighting, the slaughtering, and the endless screams around the walls suddenly stopped. The area grew silent. Everything felt still.

  She looked behind him to the walls and felt an overwhelming calm overtake the world. With it, nothing sounded right. It seemed like the whole world had suddenly stopped.

  He heard it too, and knew exactly what it meant. They have done it. Sharlia has won them over. The fight, and hopefully the war itself, were finished right along with it.

  She looked from the wall and back to his face. She saw the glee in his eyes. She saw the relaxation on his face. This scared her even more than their little fight.

  “What has happened?” she asked him, not wanting an answer. It came out all on its own.

  He felt a grin flare over his lips.

  It lit up his face.

  “It is over Elizabeth.” He dropped his hands down to his sides. During the entire fight, he had kept them up, using them to help the objects he threw in his mind to find their target, but now he couldn’t keep them up anymore. He was not only tired, but with the war over, he didn’t need to keep fighting. He only hoped he was right.

  She watched him drop his guard. The fear exploded inside her chest like a massive burst of wind that smashed against a heavy tree during a hurricane. It told her that more had happened that she didn’t know about. His face told her that she had to fear what that was. And now she did. Now she felt absolutely terrified beyond words.

  “What have you done?” she scowled. She loathed. She felt winded like someone had just sucker punched her in the gut. She even began to shake some because of it.

  The smile only grew larger and even more pronounced on his face. “Hear that Elizabeth? Do you hear the silence? That is what has come over the world. The fighting is over. The death has ended. The world has silenced itself.” He raised his arms up over his head and smacked them down to his thighs again with a resounding slap. “If all has come to plan, the world will sound like that forever.” He looked around them, up above him, and then rested his eyes back on to hers.

  Hers were scathing with fire. They sparkled even stronger to red.

  He saw them and it only made him happier. “You are now alone Elizabeth. Devish is alone.” God he wished he could see people’s thoughts. Everything he was saying was completely on a whim. He didn’t even know if he was right or not. It felt good saying it anyway. It felt good thinking it. It felt good to be alive again.

  Elizabeth felt everything too, but her feelings were completely dark and contrived. She hated him, his overwhelming sense of himself, even more now than she ever had. It brought out her anger tenfold, but when he said what he did about Devish, that anger exploded out from her chest like fire would burst from gasoline inside a small container. It blew her mind away.

  She moved. She moved faster than she ever had, and rushed him with all of her hatred blaring through her entire body.

  He saw her move, felt a slab of wood that must have been a part of the wall that he had brought down on top of her, and moved it just as quickly. With it, he flung it right at her from behind.

  She called on the eyes at the back of her mind, and started turning, forming, into the bat, but she didn’t get far.

  The slab went straight into her back, striking her right between the shoulder blades. It stuck her through her flesh, and it pierced her chest, moved through her rib cage and went through her heart.

  The feeling of pain struck her some first, but what made her stop cold, was her heart as it stopped beating inside her chest. The wood made everything come to a standstill just as quickly.

  Feeling rather surprised, not for what he did but more for how accurate he was with the strike, he watched her fall to her knees just as her hands formed in to wings. She didn’t even try to avoid it. She didn’t have the chance. He felt even more so when he saw her instantly reform back into her human shap
e. She stopped breathing before she even hit the ground.

  Seeing this, seeing her still, he dropped the power from his mind. He let the shock of it slide away. He let himself relax.

  You should have listened to me Elizabeth. Sadness now coursed through him, and it made him feel surprised again. He felt bad for her too. He didn’t know why he should have, but he did. He felt bad that she didn’t listen to him and forced his hand in causing her death. He felt sorry for her that she couldn’t break the hatred that permeated her very life. He felt bad that it was now all too late. She would never again have the chance to change herself now.

  With it done, he took a deep breath, and after finishing it, he turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand. He had to get back to finding Rana and Sima. He again still had work to do.

  He moved. He ran.

  He headed past the mess of debris of stone and crushed plaster, and headed up the steps. He ran through the front door and went inside the castle’s Keep.

  41

  “We cannot do this. We must stand with Devish.” Vincent saw Michael’s mind and knew what he was thinking, but even with this said, he still couldn’t grasp the idea of why. Why did he do what he obviously agreed to do? It was too much to take in at once.

  Michael shook his head. “It is over my friend. We cannot continue down this path. We must set out a different course.” He wasn’t just speaking to Vincent, but he was now speaking to all of them. All of the Walkers, both Moon and those of the Night, stood around him and listened to every word. Some looked worried. Others looked confused. Some looked scared beyond their years. He knew why. They feared the future and what it would mean to all of them. They feared Devish and how he would react to this change of course. He understood it, so he continued with what he had to say. “We Walkers cannot continue to fight against the future.” He looked to the humans who were now also gathered around him, behind the Walkers. He was now standing within the center of the field. A thousand eyes were now staring at his and it showed him what the future would show to all of them. They were united at that moment. They were united listening to him. “All of us need to stop fearing the future.”

  Jameson came to his side, climbed down from his horse, and joined him.

  Michael watched him and gave him a fast nod. “The King of the Humans stands beside me, not as an enemy but as a friend.” He looked back to the other’s eyes. “We stand together as the world can now see us.”

  Jameson returned his nod. “Lord Michael Gorhan is correct. I have offered them my hand in friendship, and I will honor this agreement.”

  Michael heard this and looked back to Vincent. He saw the doubt in his eyes, and he felt it in his mind. He also saw the way he looked at Jameson. He saw the hatred in his eyes for him.

  “We can forge a new path with the humans.” He moved in between Jameson and Vincent. He faced his old friend. “I know that many will doubt this, but we cannot go on like this. We cannot keep spilling their blood and having ours spilled by them. We can start anew.”

  Vincent watched him, looked over to Sharlia and saw Jameson. One person was now on his mind. “What of Devish? He deserves more than this. He deserves our loyalty. He is more than all of us, even you.”

  Michael saw a tear in his right eye. He knew this question would come so it was time to tell all of them the truth. “Devish killed Gorhan our father Vincent. He has played us so he could have this war. He took away he who was so much more than him.”

  Vincent didn’t believe this, and he shuddered with the thought. “Why would he kill him?”

  Michael took his right hand and placed it on his left shoulder. He squeezed him gently. “Our father saw the truth; it is the only reason for him in taking his life. Our father was greater at seeing the truth than all of us ever were.” He looked at all of them, including Jameson, and down at Kenar, who had now gone to Devin’s side at the horse. “Devish wanted the blood of the humans. He has lived with the Blood thirst for most of his life. He used us to fulfill that need.”

  Many of the Walkers gasped with hearing this.

  Michael saw their thoughts and understood it. “I know that many of my kin many of you Walkers did not know of the truth of this, so I tell you it now. The blood thirst is an infliction that some of the old families have had to live with for centuries. It corrupts the mind and makes you insane.” He looked back at Vincent. “Devish is inflicted with it. It is his curse to bear. It has become ours, and we cannot continue dying for it.”

  Sharlia watched him and couldn’t have said any of this any better than he had. She just nodded with everything he said.

  Vincent finally began to understand this too. He had always seen Devish as a father, and if what Michael was saying were true, it made everything seem much clearer than ever. He still wasn’t convinced about a deal with the humans, so much has happened over the years for hatred to set in on all sides, so he wanted more. How could they trust humans not to turn on them again?

  “And what of the humans?” He looked only at Michael.

  Jameson listened to this and he felt the need to come in. It was his time. “We humans are also tired of this war. I have learned the truth about what Devish has done to my family and to me. He has corrupted all of us—Walker and human alike.” He looked back to the humans—his beloved army. “We have spilled enough of their blood. We will give them the night. We give them the night to hunt and exist. We will have the day to do the same. Together we can live in peace.”

  This made Vincent turn to him. “And what happens when one of your humans kills one of my people? What happens if one of my people does the same to you? How can I trust this? How can you trust us?”

  Kenar stayed out of this for the most part, sitting next to Devin, after pulling him out from under the dead horse. He could feel from him the pain in his legs, and it told him that they were shattered. He did the only thing he could, and blocked the pain from his mind.

  It worked. The pain vanished from his legs.

  When he heard this between Jameson and Vincent, he knew it was time that the Wanderers spoke up in this. He was the only one there who could. “Rochie.” He stood up and faced them. “Rochie has the life gift. He can help enforce the truce that we have made here today. He can punish those who break it. He can be the one to speak for the humans and the Walkers alike.”

  Vincent scoffed some with this. “How would we Walkers trust him? He is a Wanderer. He has sided with the humans in the past.”

  Kenar nodded. “Rochie had lived with the Walkers and the old families. He is not blind to the feelings he still has with them. He also knows everything that the humans have suffered. Remember, it was Devish that violated his loyalty to the families, not him. He forced him to choose the sides he did.”

  Vincent still had his doubts. “You are asking us to place all of our trust in Rochie to do the right thing. What about his sister? Will she also abide by this agreement?”

  Kenar would do his best to answer this. He told them the full truth. “Devish has blocked her mind, so we can control her. We can block her back.” He hoped he could. He wasn’t sure if he were right or not.

  Vincent turned back to Michael. “And what of Devish? What becomes of him?”

  Michael again knew this question would come. “We will let him exist but without his heading the family. We will let another rise to head the council.”

  Vincent felt surprised with this. He could only think of one person who could do such a thing, so he turned to Michael, the one he thought of.

  Michael saw his look, and shook his head. “There is only one who can do this—Kalima. He is the only one strong enough to take a firm hold of the families.”

  Vincent again scoffed. The sound echoed all around the field as nearly every Walker did the same thing.

  Michael understood this. As did all of them, he too didn’t fully trust the black wolf. But he also knew he was right. Kalima was the only one of them who could lead the families as one.

  “I k
now how many feel about the black wolf. I know how we do not trust him, but I also know that he is the strongest of all of us. Only he can lead the families.”

  Vincent shook his head. “He is an animal Michael. Why would he even choose this for himself?”

  Sharlia now came in. “He will. I can feel it. I have been told that it will come to pass.” She saw the Seer’s face. She told her this. So far, everything she said has come true, so this she knew would too. She had total faith in her wisdom and in her gifts.

  Vincent looked at her feeling somewhat surprised with such a statement. Just hearing her words about her beliefs always made him cringe. He shared none of it.

  Kenar was about to say something, but Jameson cut him off too quickly before he could.

  “I will support the leadership of Kalima as head of the families.”

  All of them gasped again.

  No more than Kenar who simply couldn’t believe his change of heart when it came to the black wolf. Whatever he saw at the flames, whatever happened, it changed the man in ways he would never understand. It was like seeing someone else entirely. He had become someone else in deed.

  Jameson looked to Michael, and to Vincent. “If the black wolf agrees to lead the families I will support it and make sure that all of the humans will too. If he does not, I will support Michael Gorhan.”

  Vincent felt stunned with this. He turned to his master, Michael, and sighed.

  Michael felt honored with such an endorsement. He felt lost for words.

  Sharlia knew all of this already too. “Then it is settled. We will all stand with Kalima. We will all stand with Michael Gorhan. We will support Rochie to uphold the truce we make here today. The Walkers will gain the freedom of the night, and the humans will possess the day. Devish will live, but will not be allowed to head the council again.” She stepped to both Michael and Vincent, just to Jameson’s right side. “It is agreed.” She held out her right hand in between them, palm side down.