The morning broke and Storm was at his usual spot brooding over a cup of coffee. In his hand he held a copy of the Shadow Falls “Voice”; it was the daily newspaper that circulated throughout the town. The headline read “MAYOR DISCOVERS SECRET TOMB”. The headline seemed to lack any appeal to Storm, who after a short time of reading the paper, folded it and placed it under his cup of coffee to double as a coaster. “Let me see that a minute” I asked carefully slipping the document out from under his coffee. The story went on to say that the Mayor, during an excavation at an abandoned site a few miles out into the baron skirts of the town, uncovered an old coffin burdened with chains. There was no explanation as to why the Mayor was excavating the piece of land, but it did go on to say that the coffin was now being kept at a special room in the town’s library, under the heavy protection of guards. The second I read about the coffin, I knew I had seen it before. The description bore an uncanny resemblance to the one I saw in Despina’s images; the one that she tried unsuccessfully to hide from me. I knew the answers I was looking for were locked away inside that coffin and I had to get to it.
“We have to get to that coffin!” I said to Storm, who looked at me with a baffled expression on his face.
“Why…what coffin, what does it have to do with anything?” he asked.
“It has everything to do with finding Despina and rescuing my family” I replied, now more sure of myself.
I knew from the images I had seen that she was terrified of what was in that coffin and if my suspicions were correct, that coffin held the key to destroying her. I had to be certain that it was the same coffin
“Okay and how do you propose we get in there to see it?” Storm asked, “I’m sure the place is swarming with guards, who no doubt have guns” he continued.
He was right, I needed a plan. We could not just waltz in the building pass the guards. Then the idea hit me! We would have to go as wolves, Storm, would have to go outside to create a diversion, luring the guards outside. I was sure they could not pass on the opportunity to shoot a wolf. When the guards were safely out of the way, I would go in. The plan was simple but dangerous; once again I was asking my friend to risk his life for me. Storm knew what he had to do, the minute he lured the men far enough, he would shift back to human, pretending to be a victim of an attack. In the meantime, I would get to the coffin and uncover Despina’s dark secret. After weeks of having nothing but visions of a troubled Aislen and trail that was as cold as the winter winds, I had found hope.
For the moment the plan seemed to be working, the guards were gone and I was free to enter the room that held the coffin. The crystal around my neck began to glow, the closer I got to the coffin, the brighter the rock shone, until it was as if a force from inside was pulling the stone towards the coffin. The crystal lifted off my chest, suspended in the air, pulling away from the chain around my neck that kept it close to me and pointed towards the ancient box. I morphed back to my human form. It seemed that the crystal was drawn to whatever was inside the coffin. There were large metal chains crisscrossed over the face of the box, but no lock. There were no key holes about the object just a strange carving at the top that looked like branches of a tree spiraling into an unusual shape. I took the crystal off my neck and it flew out of my hand and landed on top of the spiral engraving. The crystal began to melt and the light ran through the grooves like liquid filling up the image. Suddenly there was a loud explosion and my heart sank, I turned to look at the doorway “storm” I cried. He must have been shot. I had to make sure. I abandoned the coffin, leaving the room in search of storm. I ran into the woods as a wolf and caught the scent of a wounded storm. He had been shot in the foot, but he was healing. The bullets squeezed out of his wound landing on the wet ground below him. Storm looked at me, inquiring about the coffin and I sent him my images. Storm had let the guards on a wild goose chase so we had a little time to return to the room. When we got there, our jaws crashed to the floor. The coffin was open; the chains had been broken into a million pieces. The room was filled with a white cloudy smoke that almost made us choke. It was difficult to see. Storm had almost disappeared and I could not recognize anything around me. Then Storm cried out in a strident voice “Kasha”!
To be continued
More Mary A. Andrews
Look out for the next installment of The Wolves of Shadow Falls series; Book Two: Revenge
If you enjoyed Shadow Falls: Book One then you may also enjoy The Fallen: An Erotic Paranormal Fantasy available at Amazon.com
Shadow Falls: A Sensual Werewolf Romance (The Wolves of Shadow Falls) Page 5
