Nimara: Children of the Gods

by Patricia Halladay

  The sudden thought of numbers came into my head. I wanted to know how many of our clan were part of the Silver Shadow bloodline.

  “Draven, can you get numbers on our Silver Shadow kin? Species, whether they are mated or not and rank. Please ask each of the clan leaders, in our mini council for the information. Thank you” I asked as we started heading towards the clan border just a kilometer away from the end of the driveway. It is here that we start our circuit around the perimeter. A full lap around our land is 27 km and is roughly a 30-minute run. We are 4 minutes into our run, when Onyx, Mac, Rilyn and Morgana join us.

  Onyx is clan leader for the nymphs, a subdivisions of our large clan. Like Draven, Onyx is one of my oldest friends. He is brilliant and very in touch with all of his heritage. Onyx is not only Silver Shadow, but he is also Cree native, one of our Indigenous tribes here in Canada. His tall 6’4'' muscular frame makes me look like a 4-year-old. His deep chocolate brown hair brings out the rich maple color in his skin. His sharp cheekbones, and tapered nose bring out his dark green eyes. They are almost the same color of an evergreen tree, and absolutely gorgeous. He is also the only nymph to take the Warrior Head position in a clan and does it well.

  Then there are the twins, Mac and Rilyn, who total opposites. What I mean by that is Mac or Mackenzie took after her dad in both looks and faction. Making her the clan leader of the Yeti. She is 5’7”, she is taller than me but small for a yeti. Her hair and eyes are the color of a bright honey gold. Her face is slender, with soft rounded cheeks, nose and plump luscious Betty Boop lips. Even with her height, she is quick, strong and very smart. It’s why she is my tactical adviser.

  Rilyn took after their mom and is the leader of the Golden Hind. As in Artemis’s Golden Hind. She carries both sacred bloodlines. Like her sister, Rilyn holds a position of strength and is the Weapons Master and Trainer. Unlike her sister though, Rilyn has midnight black hair and deep brown eyes, otherwise they look the same in facial features.

  Morgana, both beautiful and feisty, can be a handful and I often wonder how her mother Tania, hasn’t gone bat shit crazy. She is named after the infamous sorceress of Arthurian legend, Morgana le Fay. Just like her namesake she is a sorceress, but she has a true heart of gold. Morgana has floor length white hair, and purple eyes. She is the same height as me, but has a much smaller figure, less muscle definition. Because of her heritage, Morgana is an adviser to Mac. All magic casters are very highly respected and hold a position of great importance in their pack, clan, pride and so on. They act as healers, advisers, and historians. The great covens are scattered around the world, there are usually 3 in every country. Morgana’s mom, Tania is the recorders keeper and historian for the entire Silver Shadow clan. Tania is over 200 years old but won’t tell us exactly; saying it’s rude to ask a woman her age, she doesn’t look a day over 34.

  “Morgana, can you please let the other advisers know that we have a clan council meeting scheduled for as soon as the conference is over. Thank you” I ask her through a mind link.

  “Sure thing, Nimue.” Morgana replies cheerfully.

  “Oh, that reminds me, Onyx and Morgana??”

  “Yes Nimue?” They reply in unison.

  “Can you two please speak to Tania about the Life Celebration week coming up? I will be at the conference and I just want to make sure we are ready for it.” Usually, the conference is a full month ahead of the celebration, but at last year's conference it was voted to change the conference date. Putting it closer to the celebration, making it easier for those attending both for travel and safety.

  “I already spoke to mom, Nimue. She said that all advisers have sent back messages with who will be traveling to attend this year.” Morgana said. “Some have said that they will be attending both, even if they find their goddess given mate.”

  “Ok, awesome. That means Onyx will need numbers to form the temporary living dens.” I said, “have you spoken to Tania yet Onyx about the living dens?”

  “Yes, we spoke this morning before training. Roughly 700 dens will be needed. That number may go down though, with those who find their true mate within the clan.” Onyx replies

  “Speaking of the celebration, Nimue, I have spoken to the council and the team of hunters that is providing security for the conference, would also like to come.” Draven mentions.

  “What? Are they cracked? It's bad enough for them to be doing security.” Rilyn shrieks.

  “Many of them knew my parents Rilyn and helped fight to get the treaty.” I say coming to a stop.

  “I still don’t trust them.” Rilyn grumbles.

  “Do you hear that?” Mac asks.

  “Hear what? I don’t hear anything!” Rilyn says.

  “Would you shut the fuck up and listen!!” Morgana hisses through mind link.

  “Help! Help! No momma please don’t hurt me!!”

  “That’s a child crying!! Wait, where the fuck is Nimue and Onyx?” Mac says finally noticing that we are no longer standing there with them.

  “The rest of you get back to the hospital and clinic and be prepared!!” Draven orders as he runs off towards the border, shifting into Thrash, his Kodiak bear.

  “Morgana!! Get to the border now!! Nimue said there are bloodlust rogues attacking travelers! They need healing!!” Tania yells through the mind link. In a clearing just northeast of the living dens, horrifying screams can be heard, as Draven, Onyx and I burst through the surrounding tree line. The scene’s so similar to the night of the attack that I slightly freeze up. Children, women, and older men are running in all directions, while some are pinned to the ground and ripped into by rogues. I am quickly brought back, as a little girl no more than 4 years old, grabs my legs and hides behind me, as the rogue chasing her comes to an abrupt stop.

  “Onyx!! Get the other nymphs to help you take the children and elderly away from here!!” I say through mind link, as one of the rogues becomes airborne.

  “Already done!!” Onyx relies, as he grabs the small girl from my legs and disappears into a cavern taking him directly back to the clan houses.

  Thud!! A rogue from the waist up lands just in front of us. Where the other half of him is, who knows, but that is Tanner at his finest.

  “Tanner!” Morgana yells slightly disgusted, as his talons tear another struggling rogue in half.

  I am running full on into the chaos, letting Amara take control and shift slamming into a rogue. The look of shock on her face is temporary, and soon she turns her head and snaps her jaws at my left shoulder. As we both get back to our feet, another two rogues have joined in on our fight.

  “Do what you do best Amara! Rip them apart!”

  “With pleasure Nimue!” She replies, as her 6-foot-tall wolf lunges. The first rogue barely reacts to our sudden attack, but the other two meet her halfway. Amara whimpers as one sinks its teeth into her left shoulder and the other rakes its claws down her ribs. The pain is noticeably short lived, as the rogue on her shoulder screams from taking in a mouthful of silver dust from Amara’s fur. Suddenly a shrill scream pierces the ears. Massive hands wrap around the other rogue’s body and start to squeeze, crushing every bone. As Mac squeezes the life out of the rogue, its eyes pop and blood oozes from its ears, nose and mouth, I turn back around to go after the first one I was fighting. I come to an immediate stop, as I see her encased in vines. This is either Tilly’s or Rosalyn’s handy work, as I notice others are in the same condition.

  Amara and I have changed positions, and I have come forward taking control. I am furious and want answers, now! Because I can smell others of our bloodline, and they were the ones that were attacking children, families and elderly trying to get to our border.

  “Morgana, can you see if there is anything, we can do to be able to get answers from them?” I ask as I shift back, and Tanner lands beside me, pulling his shirt over my head to cover my naked body.

  “We wait.” Morgana replies.

  “WHAT?” Draven roars as he comes back into his human bo
dy.

  “We wait, I can smell the poison. They have been injected with something. Whether it was willingly or not, we will have to wait to ask.” She says giving Draven a cold stare.

  “It couldn’t be willingly. Some of the children said the ones that attacked, are their parents or other family members, like brothers and aunts.” Tilly says as she comes from a path off my left-hand side. Tilly scrunches her face up as she’s hit with the smell. “It’s a combination of poisons mixed together.” She says as she chokes to the point of gagging.

  “What is in it? How will it affect those of us who were bit?” Draven asks while rubbing Tilly’s back, helping to calm her choking/gagging fits. He looks worried, it has to be something bad for just the smell to affect Tilly.

  “Morgana and Tilly, please take them to the medical cells. They can burn the rest of the poison off there safely and have any help they may need.” I ask, anxiety creeping up throughout my body.

  As they all nod in response, Morgana opens a portal directly into the cell level. Onyx has opened the cells up, and Tilly uses creeper vines to move each of the affected rogues into a cell. Once inside, Onyx closes the doors and Tilly removes the vines. Draven passes through the portal to help calm Tilly while she helps keep the poisoned rogues safe.

  “Were any of the rogues killed part of our bloodline?” I ask looking at the bodies that litter the ground.

  “A few of the innocents were unfortunately.” Tanner looks at me with tears, “I only went for those attacking that I could were not our kin.” I give Tanner a tight hug, I know he was hoping his mate was in the group.

  “Collect those of Silver Shadow descent, so that we can give them a proper resting place. Burn the others, so that the smell will dissipate.” I say while still holding Tanner in a hug.

  Rogues smell like they have rolled in dead worms after a rainstorm. It stinks, but bloodlust rogues smell of death and true evil. At least those who have chosen to become pure evil do. The ones from today didn’t smell like that. They still smelled of their natural scents and heritage. This is probably because of the poison.

  “Nimue?” Surrey mind-links me

  “Yes Surrey?” I mind-link.

  “The first of the poisoned rogues, has healed and you are able to speak with him if you wish.” She states.

  “Thank you, Surrey, I am on my way.” I say, heading towards the path Tilly came from earlier, I pass by Ivy. She is moving quickly and starting to burn the rogues that have been left. The others have already taken our fall kin to be placed in the clan’s tomb and a ceremony will be held tomorrow. I look back one last time to take in what has happened, that’s when I see him. A large figure just past the northern tree line, just outside of our territory. When we lock eyes he bows, then the image of a dagger enclosed by wings is sent to me. Knowing the crest of the Highland Tribe, Amara whimpers and I bow in return, sending the image of our clan crest. A silver dagger surrounded by a howling wolf fills me with pride, as it was the mark Gaia gave us. The others have noticed the figure as well and all bow showing their respect. With this, he leaves and then there is a sudden whooshing sound, a large creature flies towards the Tiger Lily Pride.

  “A gargoyle? Or a dragon?” Ivy asks, a little confused.

  “I don’t know. What do you think, Nimue?” Tanner asks looking at me, we start heading back again. I shrug not knowing what to say and Amara makes a comment.0

  “That was truly a gift from Gaia.”

  “I know, but how was I able to receive his mind-link of his clan crest?” I ask Amara, as I am still feeling a little shocked by the experience.

  “It’s because he is an alpha. But why is the Highland Tribe this close to our border? Their tribe is a three-day travel to the East. They are part of the tribe that came from Ireland and settled in the Maritime provinces.” Amara’s statement and question have me thinking about it too. It seems strange, but I am sure we will get answers at the conference.

  Chapter 2

  ~ Nimue ~

  The way back to the clan hospital is an 8-minute run on the path which goes through thick brush and fallen trees. The path is well worn but I am cutting straight through the brush at a full run. You think this would take longer but it doesn’t, as Rosalyn is moving thing out of my way, so that it doesn’t get trampled and crushed under my feet.

  I make it back to the pack house in less than 3 minutes and go straight to the large 2 story building off to the right. It is the clan hospital, and it looks more like a hotel than a hospital. With balconies from each room on the second floor, it gives all patients outdoor access from their rooms. The first floor has small terraces from each room, are separated with a divider fence and railing, giving each patient privacy. I love that we are so different from other packs and clans, it makes us unique. The roof is looking a little rough right now, we are expanding and adding another 2 floors.

  Heading through the main entrance, I peel off towards the elevators and hit the down button. The medical cells are located on the second and third underground floors. These are also completely blocked off from the rest of the hospital and clinic, as there is a long corridor that you walk to get to the security gate to get in. When the elevator opens, I hit UG2. Then before the doors close, Tania slides in and swipes her security card. Signaling the guards that it's not just a random person coming down. The doors shut and the elevator moves.

  “Howard, Kevin, Michelle and Scarlett have finished the first rounds of the scent marking and border patrol. They found 3 men with dart guns a couple hundred feet from the clearing.” Tania says as her eyes go a deep silverish purple, showing she is pissed.

  “Are the fuckers still alive?” I respond.

  “Yes. They are in the cells. Tilly and Morgana are there with them.” Tania says as a purely evil smile comes across her face. I know this look; it was the same one she had when she went after the rogues ten years ago. It’s a horrifyingly dark side to Tania that I am always thankful for, especially when she uses it to help those in danger. Morgana is like her mom that way, coming up with truly evil and creative things to do to our enemy. I have seen both women at their darkest, it’s not something I recommend witnessing in person.

  “Do I want to know what those two girls are doing to them?” I ask, raising my eyebrow as the elevator dings and the doors open.

  “No, not if you want to be able to eat for the next 3 days.” Tania replies and her smile grows. I nod my head and walk to the security desk to see where our healed wolf is.

  “He’s in room 6.” The guard says. I nod and walk to room 6 and knock.

  “Come in.” I hear Surrey call. Tania swipes her security card again and we walk in. As we do, we are met with a large brown wolf pacing back and forth. When he looks at me, he drops the dart in his mouth and hits the floor to show submission.

  “It’s okay, we know that this was not something you willingly did. We want to help all of you.” I say. I realize he is horrified by his actions caused by the poison. I grab the dart and ask Tania to have it analyzed immediately. I mentioned not having Rosalyn or Tilly do the testing, as the smell made Tilly extremely nauseous and I didn’t want it to harm them in any way.

  As Tania leaves, I hear the familiar cracking of bones and turn to grab a towel to give to him. Once finished shifting back, I notice there are tears streaming down his cheeks, and I walk over to give him a hug. He is shocked by this but is soon returning the hug and whispers in my ear.

  “Please tell me I didn’t hurt my baby sister. She and my older sister are all I have left from our pack being attacked and destroyed!!” He said through sobs.

  “I truly don’t know; can you tell me what she looks like?” I ask as I pull away and wipe the tears from his face.

  “She is the youngest member traveling in the group.” He says still shedding tears, but slower as he has started to calm down a little.

  “Oh, yes she is fine. She has a death grip that’s for damn sure.” I say with a light chuckle. Surrey just give me a quizz
ical look. “When I entered into the clearing a little girl of about 4, wrapped her arms around my legs to get away from some of the infected.” I said, the look on her face is replaced with an “ooh” expression.

  “Thank you, Moon Goddess!” He says with a sigh of relief.

  “What is your name and which pack were you all from? I am going to the conference today and I will be able to bring it up and see if there are others who made it out safely….” I say, “hopefully we can bring all of you back together and get you all settled somewhere safe if you don’t want to stay here.”

  “I am Brad, that little girl with the death grip is Tia and my older sister is Lee. We were from the Crystal River Pack. We were attacked a week ago. The group I was traveling with is what is left of us, at least those I was able to get out of the death trap the other pack set.” Brad says as his expression changes to one of anger.

  “Do you know which pack attacked you?” Tania asks, also looking like she is ready to kill when she walks back in. I know Tania has or had a sister and niece in the Crystal River Pack. I hope they were able to get out to safety.

  “Yes, but unfortunately your leader here isn’t going to like it.” He says looking at me cautiously.

  “It's okay, we will be able to verify and go after them, as I will send trackers to your pack to pick up any scent we can.” I reply already knowing who it was that attacked them, and his death will cause a tsunami of relief with neighboring packs, clans and covens.

  “It was Alpha Timothy, of the Black Shadow Pack.” Brad says, taking a step back thinking I might lash out at him.

  “I fucking knew he was a scumbag, but to attack his brothers-in-law pack is fucked up!!” Surrey says the heat of her anger is rolling off her in shock waves.