I didn’t fear death. Death was part of life. Growing up in Elder had taught me that much. But I did fear failing to keep people safe. I may not have been born as a citizen of Elder, but it was my home. I was going to do anything possible to keep it from falling apart, even if the cost was my life.
Outside of the village, I turned into a large cat that could cross the barrier and picked up my running speed. It took almost no effort to run through the woods in my lithe four-legged form. One thing was for certain; I was born to be able to do this. I understood my life much more now that I realized that.
Maybe it was Grace and Nikkan finally getting to me or maybe something else, but when I rounded the last tree and saw Sera standing just outside the wall, searching the forest to see me, reality hit me. I bounded through the barrier without a second thought. Sera turned around to face me and didn’t fear the animal pouncing at her. In one motion, I transformed back into myself and continued onto where she was.
“Did you…” Sera began asking, but I didn’t let her say anything else.
Reaching forward and cupping her head in my hands, I pulled her to me as I stepped forward. I think the shock of my boldness stunned her as I pressed my lips to hers, but it was only a moment before she was kissing me back. Her arms wrapped around my neck, holding me to her as much as I was holding her to me.
“Castiel?” Nikkan’s voice called, breaking us apart.
I leaned my forehead on Sera’s. Life was too short the play the games Grace and Nikkan had played for over a season. I wasn’t sure what would happen, and there was death all around the village. I planned to come home unscathed, but that wasn’t really my choice. I needed to live in the present.
Even if I had denied what I truly felt, I understood it now. A serum was the girl I had always been watching. I knew everything about her and how to push every button to make her mad, but I also knew how to make her smile, those real ones she saved just for me. While I acted like I hated her, that was just easier than admitting that I liked her. I wasn’t going to lie to myself or her now.
“I’ll meet you in Azren tomorrow,” I told her quietly, really wishing we had time to finish our kiss Nikkan so rudely interrupted.
“Tomorrow?” Sera asked, still slightly stunned by my actions.
“There are kids left in the village. I need to make sure they are safe before I leave.”
Sera bit her lip and nodded. I knew she could never object to saving kids.
“Nikkan and Grace agree that there must be something to do with me that will help all this, but there will be nothing left to save if the kids all die.”
Sera looked to my lips, and I could tell she wasn’t finished with our kiss either. That made me grin.
“I promise to be there tomorrow.”
Sera nodded, still not saying a word. I dipped my head down for a quick kiss before letting go of her and shifting back into my cat form before she could protest.
I jumped back through the barrier and to my friends, who were both staring at Sera in shock.
“I’m not making the same mistake you guys made,” I commented after I was back in my human form. “I’m not going to play the game of who likes who for many, many moon cycles.”
Nikkan grinned and punched me in the shoulder.
“Then what the heck are you doing on this side of the wall? Your girl is over there.” Nikkan pointed to Sera, where she stood, still watching us.
“I’m not heading back with her. I will fly over to Azren tomorrow after we make it through tonight and get the children in town to safety.”
“Children?” Grace looked confused. “They were supposed to leave with Micco. I thought that’s why we couldn’t find him.”
“I found a kid in town. His father said he thought the curse had taken Micco. No one is coming back for the ones left. We need to save them.”
Grace gasped.
“We need to get the remaining kids to the caves. We can keep them safe there.”
Nikkan nodded.
“I’ll gather supplies if you gather the kids,” Nikkan replied.
“We can put them in the trees---”
“Just like when we were kids,” Nikkan finished for me. I nodded, and my friend took off.
One of my first times in the village, I had wandered away from Red because I was bored by her meeting with Micco. I came across Nikkan. He wasn’t the nicest to me, but he was beyond curious about how people lived in trees. It was one of his main obsessions. Every time I returned, he’d ask me more and more questions. Finally, one day, I returned to find he had made a tree village himself. It wasn’t the most stable thing. In fact, it was downright dangerous, but it was his interpretation of all I had told him, made of course, with blankets.
I turned back to Sera before we left to go back into the village. She stood on the other side of the wall, the wind blowing her hair in her face, but she was still watching us. She raised a hand to give me a nod before she turned and ran back into the woods towards Azren.
“I’ll go this way, and you go that way. Tell them to meet over at the Yael house and bring only what they can carry.” Grace took charge like I had never seen before.
I hurried back to the hut where the young boy waited. We needed to work fast. I wasn’t sure if we’d have enough time to get all the children into the trees before night came, and the wolves came out.
One by one, I looked in every house I passed. As other children joined us, it went quicker as we were able to look into several houses at the same time. By the time I had made it around to all the houses I could find, Grace had gathered fourteen kids with her. Combined with the eight I found, we had more than I expected. How the heck had they made it through the nights?
“Okay, everyone, we’re going on a hike,” Grace said cheerfully. “It’s going to be boring and tiring, but we need to keep moving as a group. No one gets left behind.”
“And then we have to work quickly to make camp,” I added. This wasn’t going to be all fun and games, even if Grace used her cheerful voice.
“Will my mom be alright?” a little girl asked. Her dress must have been blue at one point but was now covered in blood and mud.
“I hope so,” I replied. “But more than anything, she wanted you to be alright. My friends and I are going to do our best to make sure you are alright. Your mom will be happy if you are safe.”
The girl nodded and reached for my hand. Without hesitation, I took her and tossed her onto my back to be able to walk faster and lead the other children away. She was by far the smallest child and would slow us if she walked. This made her feel safer, and we could move quicker.
We took off, and in no time, Nikkan was able to catch up with us. We were lucky that we were with wolf children, as most of them spent their days running free in the woods and didn’t have any trouble keeping up. I couldn’t imagine any of the tree people being able to make the trek we were on. Most of the children had left the village feeling down and distraught from the last few nights, but I could see their spirits lifting the further we got away from the camp. Memories of their depressing nights would haunt them for seasons to come, but we were now giving them hope.
“Castiel,” one of the older boys called to me. I slowed to let him walk beside me.. He looked over his shoulder at Grace and Nikkan as they walked with the children behind us.
“Samuel, right?” The boy lived a few homes down from Micco. I had seen him many of the times I had come into the village.
“Yes.” He nodded at me. “Um… I was wondering.” Samuel looked back another time at the kids behind us. “Are they safe?”
“They?” I looked at the gaggle of children marching through the woods. I would do anything to keep them safe, but could I actually say they were safe?
“Grace and Nikkan,” Samuel clarified. “Are they cursed yet?”
Oh, were the children safe from my friends? Everyone knew I was human and safe, but they didn’t know about Grace and Nikkan. That was a tricky one. I wanted him
to know that Grace and Nikkan would do all they could to help keep them safe, but he also needed to know that any of the adult wolves were susceptible to the curse, and he needed to be on guard, not only for them but for other wolves that might show up. “Neither one has succumbed to the curse yet,” I explained carefully. “But that doesn’t mean that they or any other wolves are always going to be safe. That’s why we need to get you all away from the camp and then Nikkan, and I’ll make you beds in the trees to spend the night in.”
The boy nodded. I wasn’t sure if he understood that I was protecting my friends or not, but he had to know nowhere in the wolf village was safe.
“We’re sleeping in the trees?” the little girl on my back asked.
“Yes, it’s the safest place to sleep,” I replied. And it was. That was why the tree people lived up there. It wasn’t because they hated the ground or anything.
After what seemed like much longer than I had thought it would take, we made it to our cave. Everything was just as we had left it. Grace and Nikkan got busy making the hammock beds, and I headed out to hunt food for the children.
Hunting was much easier when you could leave the barrier. I had no idea how the wolves were going to continue their lives in the barrier. They were out of food, and I couldn’t hunt enough for a village. But I could hunt enough for twenty-two children. I returned with a deer, and the older children all came to help as Grace prepared it to cook over the fire.
Nikkan was ready with all the beds by the time I returned, and we quickly went to work climbing the two largest trees near the cave. One by one, we tied the hammocks to the tree. To be on the safe side, we nailed the two boards Nikkan brought with him to give extra support to the middle of the hammock beds. It wasn’t the safest way to sleep, but we were out of options. The tree people were right about one thing; the trees were the only place you could go to avoid the wolves.
As the night neared and the children were all fed, Nikkan and I boosted and arranged all twenty-two children in their hanging hammock beds. As the last one was slipped into the fabric cocoon, I sat down on the branch holding the beds as near as possible to the truck of the tree. Nikkan stayed below with Grace.
Grace was losing control of her wolf every day. I could see the strain that staying human was having on her, but she didn’t want to scare the kids. As the moon rose higher in the sky, I could see that she was visibly having trouble with her human form. All of the children were asleep as I hopped down to the ground.
“Grace,” I said quietly to my friend.
I could see her nails were already elongated into claws. She growled back at me.
“Nikkan, she needs to complete the shift,” I told my friend.
Nikkan just grunted as Grace elbowed him in the gut.
I held my hands up to indicate I wanted no argument from her.
“Grace. Shift.”
She blinked her eyes. I could see the wolf in her.
“I can’t,” she gritted out. “What if I lose control?”
“Then Nikkan and I will stop you,” I replied. “We won’t let you hurt the children.”
Grace glanced up to the beds. We made sure the strongest wolf wouldn’t be able to jump up to where the children slept.
“But….” Grace gasped as her body started to change on its own.
“I’m changing with her,” Nikkan said as he began to rip off his clothing.
As was I. Without a moment passing, I went from two feet to four feet. I met Grace eye to eye as I shifted at the same time as her. Her reddish wolf growled at me. Wolf form or not, I wasn’t about to let Grace boss me around, so I leapt forward and pinned her to the ground. Nikkan gave me a growl as I stared down at Grace. I didn’t acknowledge him. I was too busy telling Grace I was in charge.
“Hold onto your wolf,” I told my friend. “And don’t fight me.”
She whinnied beneath me and turned her head, baring her neck to me. I knew she was in control and let her go. We had won this night from the curse, but I wasn’t sure how many more she had left. She was fighting it, but it wasn’t something she could continue to fight. The curse always won. The question was, could I save her before it made her into something she could never forgive herself for becoming.
20th March
March 20th
I woke the next morning and found my two wolf friends curled around each other. I had already told them I was leaving at first light, but now I had to pause and smile at my friends. Only moons ago, they would have claimed it was for warmth, but at least now, they were admitting the truth. While I wanted to stay behind and help keep the children safe, it was time for me to get back to Azren and maybe admit a truth myself.
Without any pause, I shifted into a large eagle. Feathers sprouted on my arms as bones broke and rearranged in the places they needed to be. There was no pain or waiting as it happened. One moment I was a man, and the next, I was a bird. I had no idea why it was easy for me when I had seen more than one wolf struggle changing. For the wolves, it took several moments and even up to many breaths during the first changes. It wasn’t like that for me, and I had no idea why.
With a powerful push from my wings and my legs, I launched myself into the air, taking flight. It took several more powerful wing strokes to get me high enough into the air to allow me to soar. By holding my wings out, I floated on the breeze and didn’t have to use a single bit of energy. It would be easy to get lost in the air. The blue sky had always called to me before I could become a bird, but now, it was endless. I could go wherever I wanted, and I’d be there in no time. This was beyond my wildest dreams. While I wanted to stay in the air for fun, I turned myself south and headed off towards the capital and my waiting mother.
To get down from the sky, I pulled my wings in closer and began my descent. While I still had my own mind and the memories inside it, I didn’t need to wonder what to do. It was like when I was an animal; I just knew what to do. I could fly without flying lessons and had a feeling if I turned into a fish, I could swim just as naturally. The power thrumming through me made me wonder where I came from more than ever.
As the city came into view, I landed on a branch just above my mother’s office. Easily, I shifted into my human form and was thankful for my magical change of clothing. I wouldn’t have to walk around Azren naked, and whoever left them for me deserved a big thank you.
I let a few people walk by before I hopped down from the tree. I didn’t need to scare anyone. They were already on high alert. I didn’t want to get shot.
No one noticed me as I was above them instead of on their level. Without wasting any time, I was walking into Red’s office. I expected to see Red there waiting for me, but I stopped in my tracks when I found just Sera. She turned around and looked up at me from her desk that now faced my mother’s desk.
My heart hammered in my chest as I wondered what I should do. The last time I saw her, I was more than a little impulsive. I didn’t regret my choice, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to proceed now. I had thought the feelings seemed to be mutual, but that could have just been me caught in the moment. Drying my hands on my magical pants, I swiped one through my black hair. While I wasn’t flying as a human, I felt like the wind was still whipping around my body.
“I was beginning to wonder if you really were going to come or if something more happened,” she commented, standing up.
I couldn’t read her. Was she happy to sad to see me? Was she annoyed? She didn’t seem to be, but I just couldn’t be absolutely sure.
“Red already left to go to the archive building.”
I turned to leave the office, but Sera grabbed my arm before I could leave.
“Not the hall of records,” she said, not letting go of me.
I turned and found we were only standing a breath apart from each other. She bit her lip as she looked up at me. Bossy Sera, I could handle, but Sera looking at me like she was right now was something I had never expected. Sera smiled as she turned but didn’t let go of my hand.
“We have three archive buildings where we keep records beyond normal Azren records. Red wasn’t sure why your adoption wasn’t recorded, so she went to go see if the archive building had anything that could help us.”
Sera walked over to one of the trees that supported my mother’s office. It wasn’t a large space, but at the same time, it was close to the size of my home. If it had been built around a tree like many of the homes, one tree would be enough to support it, but being that it was the office of the Red, the room was held up by three trees, so that the middle was completely open, and she was able to hold meeting it the room with everyone able to see her.
Sera pushed on the tree, and a door snapped open.
“What in the forest is that?” I asked as I could see into the hollowed-out tree. There was just a small space; I doubted it could fit more than one person in it. This was new.
I had spent my youth exploring my mother’s office. There wasn’t really much for me to do at times, and being that Red was always busy in her office, I often was in here with her. When she’d leave the room, I couldn’t help from looking around, trying to find things I wasn’t supposed to know. I had never seen this tree room before. Guess there was still more to discover after all.
“Only the Red can open this door,” Sera told me, explaining my thoughts. She had caught me more than once on my hunts through the Red’s office. She never tattled on me, but she always gave me her classic Sera disappointed face. “It can be used to travel to ten different locations in Elder. Sometimes the Red needs to be somewhere quickly, and horses or running just aren’t fast enough. We need to head to the archive near the border with Oz.”
Sera’s words made sense, that is, the actual words she was speaking, but what she was saying didn’t make a bit of sense. She still held my hand and tugged me into the small space inside the tree. Once we were both stuffed into the tree, we didn’t have any room to move. She turned to be able to close the door and pressed herself back into me. Her head was just below mine, and I could smell the shampoo in her hair.
God of Shifters Page 3
