Midnightstar (Creatures of the Lands Book 5)

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Midnightstar (Creatures of the Lands Book 5) Page 3

by Natalie Erin


  “What are you? And why me?” she questioned.

  She didn’t expect the voices to answer, but this time, they did. We are inside your head, Midnightstar, they said. We are the ones you turn to when no one else will listen. Save them, Midnightstar. You are the last. Only you can save them.

  “And what if I just ignored you? What then?” the wolf asked.

  You can’t turn your back on what’s inside, the voices replied.

  “Midnightstar!” Tatl called. “Hurry up! This is your mission, remember?”

  “I’m coming, Tatl!” Midnightstar ran after the group, terrified of what was happening to her. The deep gash did not throb or ache as she pressed her weight on it.

  “Wounding yourself is not a good sign.” Xiuh commented, coming out of the trees as she sprinted after her friends.

  “I didn’t do it on purpose. I was dreaming,” Midnightstar argued.

  “Dreaming about what?” Xiuh questioned.

  Don’t tell him about us, Midnightstar, don’t tell anyone, the voices called.

  “I don’t remember,” Midnightstar told him.

  “Well, if you happen to recall, I am here to listen,” Xiuh put in, obviously not believing her but not wanting to press.

  “Thank you for that, dragon.” Midnightstar nodded, but her gratitude was cut off as something bit her tail, grabbing her from behind and tossing her to the ground. A wretched, awful smell filled her nostrils as she stood to face a white wolf with blood in its coat, one that had eyes that weren’t those of an animal.

  “You filthy false wolf!” she barked angrily, and she growled lowly, preparing to bite the Ortusan.

  The Ortusan laughed. “What makes you think you can take me on? I have friends.”

  The large group of Ortusans from earlier began to show themselves, emerging one by one from the large trees. There were at least thirty of them. Far too many for them to handle on their own.

  Run, Midnightstar! You are the last! You must survive to save them! the voices insisted. She turned to run, and Xiuh took to the sky.

  She bolted past the other three wolves, and as she did, she yelled her warning. “Ortusans! They’re right behind me!”

  “We should split up!” Tatl called, glancing backwards. The coven of Ortusans was quickly gaining. “It would force them into smaller groups, and maybe we could get a couple bites in to kill a few of them!”

  “Are you crazy!” Rabika replied. “That would just get us killed faster!”

  “Got any better ideas?” Tatl questioned. Rabika didn’t answer, so the group split off, each of them taking different directions. Midnightstar continued straight, while the other wolves chose various paths that led them deep into the forest.

  Midnightstar rushed forward, never looking back at the Ortusans who were hungrily pursuing behind. But even without looking, she knew the spots upon her back were glowing.

  The voices urged her forward, calling her away. Don’t look back. Life has no real meaning, no purpose. Just like a grain of sand in an ocean, you are always moving elsewhere, never looking back.

  Suddenly realizing she was alone, Midnightstar stopped and looked around. “Tatl! Adelaide! Rabika! Xiuh!” she called, spinning in a circle to take in her surroundings.

  The large white Ortusan crept up behind her, baring his teeth. He snapped his jaws tightly on her leg and she whipped around towards him, trying to sink in her teeth to poison him with her bite. He let go, and sprinted away before she could do so. The others began to show themselves, some in wolf form and others not. They pinned her down and held her captive against the ground, keeping her mouth shut tightly with their hands while several bodies laid upon her.

  Then came the colors again, flashing around her. A glimpse of green high up in a tree, a small blue bird in the sky, the red blood dripping off the Ortusans’ teeth. Everything had new definition, and the shapes smudged until everything ran together in a great blur.

  Everything was so new, so strange, and so lovely. Why was she seeing these colors? What was the purpose of them? She felt herself being crushed beneath the weight of six Ortusans, but then, the sensation was gone. She felt nothing, smelled nothing, but the colors remained.

  You must live, for you are the last, Midnightstar. Only you can save them. You must survive.

  Tatl ran through the trees, jumping over stumps and bushes as he went to make it more difficult for the Ortusans to follow him. Ahead, he saw where the trees stopped. He thought he could lose them there, so he ran towards the break in the foliage, freezing when he came to the last tree.

  The edge of a cliff crumbled beneath him. Holding his breath, he managed to leap up to solid ground, clawing his way towards the top until he was safely upon hard stone. Tatl got up, looking over the edge. That had been too close for his liking.

  He turned, wanting to run another way, but it was too late. While he was trying to recover from his leap, the Ortusans followed, and now had him surrounded. He had no choice but to fight.

  Tatl lashed out, catching a leg in his jaws. The victim of the bite let out a squeal and ran off to die. Tatl snapped his jaws at the others, but he doubted he’d be able to actually wound another one. They were too fast, too strong, and too many. It would be easy for them to get him down for good.

  Adelaide plunged into a small stream, hoping the water would slow down her attackers and disguise her scent. The cold fluid covered her and she shivered, trying to keep up her quick pace. The wolf-like Ortusans jumped in after her, splashing through the water and growing ever closer.

  I must keep running, Adelaide thought to herself. She charged forward, calling on all her muscles to push her farther. Running faster than ever before, her body screamed, but fear made the pain irrelevant as the Ortusans advanced.

  In her frenzy to keep moving, she never noticed the large rock in her path. She turned to go around it, but she caught her side against the stone. She felt a gash open at the rock’s sharp edge, and she yelped as she toppled over into the stream. Her blood dyed the water red as the Ortusans approached, licking their lips eagerly for a feast.

  Rabika jolted when she heard the small yelp she knew to be little Adelaide not so far away, skidding to a stop and turning around the other direction, to face the chasing force. “No,” she whispered. She crouched downwards, lips curled at the coven of Ortusans who were following. “If they hurt her, I’ll kill all of you,” she growled.

  “I’d like to see you try, little wolf,” a female remarked.

  “I will!” Rabika’s temper rose, fueling her as she jumped directly at the Ortusans, fangs exposed as she dived right where they wanted her.

  Chapter Three

  A Connection Unwanted

  Midnightstar couldn’t breathe. The group of Ortusans was smothering her, cutting off her air while they loomed closer and closer, ready to bite into her flesh and drink her blood...

  Then…then…

  She wasn’t seeing things out of her own eyes anymore. Midnightstar saw herself from the high tops of the trees, pinned under the Ortusans and struggling with all her might. Whatever she was now gave a growl, and it leapt from the trees and tackled the beast on top of her, sinking its claws in and ripping out the throat of the young monster. It gave a squeal, and all the other Ortusans leapt back in fear, off of her body. Out of the corner of her new eyes, Midnightstar watched herself stare blankly ahead, unmoving on the ground, her mouth open in a strange stupor. The injured Ortusan got up again, but whatever Midnightstar now was let out a liquid-hot burst of flame from its belly. Roasted, the Ortusan sank to the earth, dead.

  The other Ortusans let out howls and growls, angrily closing in on their attacker. This new body of hers belted more flames towards them. The Ortusans scattered, turning for the hills, their tails tucked between their legs, faces twisted in portraits of rage.

  Whatever she was gave a grunt of satisfaction. It then glided over to her still body, looking it over, scanning it from side to side…

  Whatever she w
as shook its head sadly. I’m dead? Midnightstar wondered, but the thing that held her captive wasted no time. It took off in the opposite direction, where you could hear Adelaide’s screams.

  Midnightstar tried to fight whatever was holding her. She didn’t like not being in control of her movements. It was terrible, being forced to do everything, unable to tell the thing that was holding her to let her go. Worse was the sensation of flying. Many times she had rode upon a dragon’s back, but there was always something under her paws to catch her if she fell. The thing she was imprisoned in walked upon nothing but air, and she could feel the wind as it trickled underneath what she supposed were her wings.

  The creature spotted something below. Midnightstar would’ve screamed if she could as her new body went into a nosedive, spiraling over and over to earth as it head-butted several Ortusans over the side of the cliff. Her new body hovered in midair, only to see Tatl standing there with wide eyes.

  “Thanks!” he cried. “I thought for sure I was done for!”

  “No time to waste! Rabika is surrounded, go help her while I find Adelaide!” the creature holding her mind said.

  Midnightstar felt her soul turn to ice. She knew that voice.

  “I will! Hurry!” Tatl said, bounding off.

  As the creature watched him go, Midnightstar seemed to be paralyzed, falling into a pit as the truth swamped over her…she was seeing everything through Xiuhcoatl’s eyes. She wondered if he knew she was here, inside his head, but she doubted it. He hadn’t done anything to indicate he did.

  Xiuh slithered like a snake through the air, weaving faster and faster as he and Midnightstar both scanned the ground below for the tiny red wolf. It wasn’t hard to find their target. A pool of garnet was swimming throughout the stream below, and the Ortusans were cupping their hands into the water to drink while others lapped, enjoying the taste. The water splashed everywhere as they both watched a small paw rise up over the water and back under again.

  She’s going to drown! Xiuh thought wildly. He dove downwards once again, and Midnightstar’s mind screamed as the dragon’s body was submerged into the icy cold stream. Swimming beside Adelaide, Xiuh positioned himself under her body and charged upward, emerging from the depths and letting out a giant fireball to consume the Ortusans, lashing out his tail and catching quite a few in the face as he did so.

  Midnightstar’s preoccupation with being stuck inside Xiuh’s head was forgotten when she saw that Adelaide was bleeding.

  “You alright?” Xiuh asked Adelaide as he carried her through the air. Midnightstar was amazed. For a dragon not much bigger than Tatl, he was very strong.

  “I got hurt!” Adelaide whined, coughing up water.

  “It’s not too deep,” Xiuh said quickly. “We can fix it when we find the others.”

  “Xiuh...where’s Midnightstar?” Adelaide asked.

  When Adelaide said her name, Midnightstar returned to her own body. Gasping for air, and nauseated because of the feeling of flying, she got up and wobbled around, slamming into trees and bushes…

  She had to get back.

  Wasting no time to gather her bearings, Midnightstar simply ran woozily, not knowing which direction to go into. Barks from her left side were calling to her. With only half a brain she followed the sound, disjointedly making her way through the forest.

  She arrived to see Tatl and Rabika chasing off the last of the Ortusans. “And don’t follow us again!” Rabika yelled, snapping her jaws in victory.

  “That was a close one,” Tatl said, breathing heavily. “I thought we…Midnightstar!”

  “I’m here,” she said, stumbling. “Xiuh saved me, burned them all.”

  “Xiuh?” Rabika asked.

  Just at that moment, Xiuh came gliding down from a tree top. Adelaide slunk off his back, and as everybody began fiddling over Adelaide’s wound, the tiny wolf said, “No, it’s alright. Xiuh dried me off with his hot breath, and he was right, it’s really not that bad. It’s already stopped bleeding.”

  “How in the world did you manage to not get your teeth into them?” Xiuh pressed Tatl, breathing heavily as he turned to the large alpha.

  “We got a few, but we were outnumbered,” Tatl said. “You can only poison so many before one of them gets you down.”

  While the other wolves agreed, Midnightstar started shaking, unable to control herself. The sight of Xiuh was enough to make her sick. She didn’t know what was going on. She was terrified that she had been out of her own body and within his mind, and didn’t know how or why.

  “Mids? You okay?” Adelaide asked gently, looking over at her friend. As she asked the question, Xiuh’s head whipped around and Midnightstar felt something within her leap and quiver like a fish. There was relief in his gaze.

  She tried to still her shivering. “I’m fine. Just a bit shaken from the fight, is all.”

  “I thought you were dead,” Xiuh said, blinking at her with those large, reptilian eyes.

  Midnightstar’s quivering increased. Did he know? Did he have any idea that she had slipped into his head and seen everything he had seen, done everything he had?

  That gaze was blank. He had no idea. Now Midnightstar was thinking it had never truly happened at all. She must’ve been seeing and hearing things after all. Maybe this was just another fantasy of her mind. But if that were true, then why was Adelaide hurt, just like in the vision?

  “Come on, let’s go,” Rabika said. “We’re never going to make it to the Ice Borns at this rate.”

  “We’ll never get anywhere at all if we don’t rest. The Ortusans were just on us. Let’s take a break,” Xiuh protested.

  Midnightstar stepped forward. “No, she’s right. We just slept before the Ortusans were chasing us. We have to...”

  “I only woke everyone up because I smelled Ortusans in the area. They won’t come back now, not with Xiuh here. You’re going to run us all into the ground,” Tatl protested, taking Xiuh’s side.

  “They’re still around, and they’ll recover from Xiuh’s attacks much faster than we would have,” Midnightstar insisted. “Hurry now, Adelaide,” Midnightstar said, shoving the young wolf to her feet. “We have to go.”

  “I will only fly until midnight,” Xiuh insisted. “Then we must stop to rest.”

  The group didn’t make it till midnight. Adelaide dropped just as the moon was hovering over the horizon in a vast plain right next to a woody area.

  “Hey now, it’s alright.” Tatl comforted his little sister as she began to cry a little. “We’re stopping now, see?”

  “Stop coddling her like a baby,” Rabika snapped. “She can surely go a mile more.”

  Midnightstar’s paws ached, and her belly rumbled. “No, Rabika. We’re fortunate to have gotten this far already. Let’s take a breather.”

  “But the Ortusans...”

  “Are far behind, and took a heavy hit thanks to Xiuh. You owe him.” Midnightstar walked over to Adelaide and said, “Who wants to take first watch?”

  “I’ll take first watch, and Xiuh and Tatl can go find something to eat,” Rabika said instantly. “Mids and Adelaide can rest.”

  “Look who wants to keep going, but at the first sign of rest takes up the easy position,” Tatl grumbled, but he turned to go hunt anyway.

  A little ashamed, Midnightstar laid down next to Adelaide. She felt guilty for never hunting, but there wasn’t anything she could do. In that area, she was worse than useless. It wasn’t that she was bad at hunting. Each time she fell something underneath her teeth, she felt terribly guilty, and was never able to consume what she killed, and so she relied on others to do the dirty work for her.

  She supposed it was a good thing she brought friends along the way. Without them, she would have surely starved. She tried to stick to berries, but she couldn’t go without meat forever.

  “You don’t think I chose a bad place to stop, do you Mids?” Adelaide asked, stemming her tears.

  She looked around. Normally, nobody would attack a b
unch of wolves and a dragon, but food was in short supply, even if you didn’t count the Ortusans who would pounce on anything at this point. The group could see enemies coming from the three sides of the plains, but at the same time, they were totally exposed. All sorts of predators could be in the woods on the left side, and all they would have to do was wait for the right time to spring out and attack. Midnightstar’s group might as well be painted bright red with a sign around all their necks saying, Here’s dinner.

  “You chose perfectly,” Midnightstar lied, and Adelaide beamed. As she wagged her tail, Midnightstar felt a tiny burst of happiness well up within her, the first in a long time. She would save the stealth lesson for later, when Adelaide wasn’t so tired.

  Midnightstar cast her gaze upward, the way she always did when she looked for answers and guidance. She knew everything about the stars…the way they never moved, why they always burned so brightly, then died, and turned into either a bright, shining white light or a black hole that killed everything it could manage to grasp…

  “Midnightstar,” Adelaide asked, crawling to her side and staring at the sky. “What’s that constellation up there?”

  A cluster of stars in the shape of a growling wolf shone down from above them. “That’s Shahar, the hunter. It shows when there’s going to be a feast soon.”

  “Dinner,” Xiuh cried from above, dropping a small deer he had struggled to carry over from the forest. Rabika instantly tore in, while Xiuh went to go find Tatl to tell him that the search for food was over.

  “Oooh,” Adelaide said, nearly dancing as she pointed at the stars again. “What’s that one?”

  It was a portrait of a flying dragon. “Pyralis, the protector.”

  “And that?”

  The cluster of stars, forming the body of a horse with a too long, too sharp horn, reared on its back legs in the sky. “Iyzebel. The Enemy.”

  “She doesn’t look that formidable to me,” Adelaide said, cocking her head. “What exactly do you see up there? All I see is a bunch of shiny little dots.”

 

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