The Rising Azimuth

by D D Mathews

  Chapter 7

  Nuri was haunted by her dreams. Tonight, the scene opened with her in Were form already fighting the same male werewolf she had killed. The setting was an alley while rain poured from the clouds. Her enemy roared at her. The moon was massive and covered the alley in light. She could see every detail from the glint off her sharp claws to the slick wetness of his fur. It was like a movie.

  “I’ll kill you all,” he screamed, like at the warehouse.

  The dirty alley was empty, except for them. His threat made no sense. Nuri had no reason to fight him; she had no reason to kill. He advanced and swiped at her. She dodged, never fighting. The rain poured down harder as his attacks increased. Nuri didn’t defend herself. His claw opened her shoulder, blood spilled from her like a Japanese cartoon. He kept attacking, relentlessly, opening her bowels. Her insides spilled out making a splat noise on the wet pavement. She fell back in pain. The drops of rain fell on her face as she looked up at the dead werewolf who had killed her. This was a better outcome because she wouldn’t feel guilty anymore. Her life drained out of her onto the muddy alleyway as she stared up into the moon. At the last moment, the entire world went from vivid movie colors to dull browns like an old western. It seemed appropriate for the color to fade away as she did.

  It felt like rain was still falling on her face when she woke up. She opened her eyes and saw rain falling from her bedroom ceiling. The world was dull like the end of the dream. These waking dreams lasted only a few seconds. They disturbed her almost as much as the nightmare decision to kill or be killed.

  ***

  Joseph spent most of the ride to Chicago slipping between reality and sleep. Luckily, his dreams were just disturbingly weird, not burning corpses and bloody vultures. Between Sioux City and Des Moines his dreams featured a gigantic wolf riding a massive motorcycle east. The ridiculous image plowed over fields, houses, through bridges and skyscrapers. The destruction was cartoonish, the wolf’s grin monstrous. He was enjoying every second. Between Des Moines and Davenport, Joseph’s dreams featured an even larger wolf batting the moon out of the night sky like a cat. He hopped around and pounced on the moon, which would rise back up into the sky when the wolf got bored. The purring from the wolf’s belly rattled the entire dream world. He woke up from these concerned, not terrified. Between Davenport and Chicago, everything changed.

  Joseph stands in the badlands chewing grass in a ravine. The world is brown and dull red. His body is unbalanced on his thin legs. He is happy, not a care in the world when a wolf bashes into his side. He runs away, afraid. He needs to escape. He feels the heat from the predator’s breath. He hears the jaws snapping to kill him. He runs as fast as he can. He doesn’t look back, that would guarantee his death. His body can’t go any faster or longer. He turns and sees a school bus-sized grey wolf. The wolf’s jaws chomp down.

  Joseph awoke, heart racing. The bus was stopped at the Chicago depot. He pulled the sticky XXL shirt from his body. He didn’t have anything to collect so he squeezed his way around an elderly couple and exited the bus.

  ***

  Nuri sat on the floor in her bedroom shoving clothes into a moving box. She had already filled two boxes with clothes and mementos. Gretchen honked her horn announcing herself, hopefully staying with her might help. The combination of guilt from killing a stranger and the bizarre dreams that followed stressed her so much she dropped out of school. Her best option was to take up her aunt’s offer to join her sisters. It still felt surreal

  Nuri had moved her furniture and kitchen utensils to storage so Tamara could sublet the apartment. She taped up the last box, walked around her apartment thinking about how this was the last place she considered herself normal. Gretchen helped pack her boxes into the automobile. The last thing she did was collect a small box of pictures, glanced around, and left her former human life behind.

  During the drive, Nuri was lost in thought while Gretchen sang in German to some weird Punk band. The duality of Gretchen’s looks with the violent singing and cussing was jarring. Gretchen was going to be Nuri’s introduction to werewolves and Amazons. Trying to understand everything by herself had broken Nuri, she felt like she was a freak. She missed normal.

  After twenty minutes, the car pulled into a large yard with a spacious house. A few trees poked out over the house from the backyard. The house had a symmetrical design and a steep roof. The colors were white and grey. The front porch had a sofa with colorfully printed cushions. Nuri was impressed with the house from the outside and the inside was even better. All hardwood floors in the common areas. The kitchen was marble and stainless steel appliances. Through sliding glass doors, out the back, was another porch. The backyard was small and butted up to a wooded area. The dining room had a dark wood table. Wolves were carved into the legs, holding up the table top. The top had German words etched into it. She thought it might be a family heirloom. Nuri had never seen a more beautiful home, much less lived in one.

  Gretchen led her up to the guest bedroom. The modest bedroom had a small window overlooking the woods behind the house. A canopied bed with white curtains and a white comforter took up most of the room. Her new bathroom was four times the size of the old one. The centerpiece of the bathroom was a tub big enough for two. Nuri loved taking long, hot baths.

  “Wilkommen,” announced Gretchen with a cheerful smile. Nuri knew she was going to like it here.

  Nuri spent an hour unpacking her clothes. Afterward, she took a bath with a ton of bubbles. She hadn’t had a bubble bath since she was a child. Nothing was solved, but after the bath, she felt less stressed. She dressed in some sweatpants and a tank top with spaghetti straps and headed down to the kitchen. Gretchen was playing some Goth metal as she cooked. She was dressed to impress. She was wearing a tight grey dress hugging her breasts and hips. She was barefoot, moving around the kitchen. Bright red lipstick drew Nuri’s attention to her lips which matched a pair of red four-inch heels on a bar stool.

  Something smelled great. Nuri looked down at her own clothes and felt she wasn’t dressed correctly. She started to worry because she didn’t want to insult her new roommate, but she didn’t want to change either. She spoke up, interrupting Gretchen’s minuet around the kitchen, “Do I need to change for dinner?”

  Without even looking Gretchen answered, “Not at all. I have a meeting after dinner. I dress up so my enemies underestimate me.” She turned to Nuri, “They always treat a pretty girl like fragile crystal.” She paused and gave Nuri a wicked look, “Dummköpfe.” Gretchen giggled and went back to cooking.

  “Do you need help?” Nuri asked politely.

  Gretchen assured her that was unnecessary, “This is my treat for you.” Nuri sat down on an empty stool and listened to the music and watched the chef work. Gretchen was precise and quick with her movements. Everything was exact from her knife work, to tasting something or even when moving a pot. She danced the dinner to fruition. After three songs, the meal was served at the counter. On Nuri’s plate was a flank steak with some kind of rich creamy sauce, some red potatoes, and steamed asparagus. Nuri hadn’t eaten this well all semester.

  Before starting the meal, Gretchen took Nuri’s hand and said, “Thank you Lord for bringing me a new sister, a new friend, and new light into my world.”

  She didn’t finish with an “Amen,” but it felt like a prayer so Nuri said, “Amen.”

  Before cutting into her steak, Gretchen warned, “I undercook my steaks, you might not like it, but most wolves start to prefer it this way.” Nuri was hungry and didn’t want to offend so she cut into the rare steak, which bled all over the plate. Nuri put it in her mouth and chewed. At first, she was put off by the rareness. By the time she finished, her preference had changed. This little change was imperceptible to others, however, Nuri felt it. The meal was delicious and filled Nuri up. The bath along with an excellent meal tricked her into feeling comfortable here. She hadn’t been this content in weeks and it surprised her how quickly this gigantic change
felt normal. Nuri had simply moved in with a stranger with the same secret and now she felt better.

  Gretchen asked her to clean up after they finished so she could brush her teeth. Nuri was almost done with the dishes when Gretchen reappeared from her master bedroom. Gretchen grabbed her red heels and sat down on the stool. She pulled them on, stood back up, and swirled around.

  “How do I look?” she asked.

  “Wunderbar,” responded Nuri.

  “Don’t wait up. And I left a little present in the oven for you.” Gretchen grabbed her purse from the counter and headed out the door, looking more glamorous than Nuri had ever felt. Nuri peeked into the oven and found a scratch-made, apple turnover. Nuri thought she may have found the perfect roommate.

  ***

  On the long trip to Chicago, Joseph had spent his stolen money frugally. He bought the bus ticket, some food, two bottles of water, and a pair of underwear. He had sixty-three dollars left and hoped it would be enough. He was trying to get to Ohio. A friend who had left the reservation last year was in Cincinnati. With a little luck, he hoped to find him when he got there.

  He stood in line for a ticket. The next bus to Cincinnati was leaving in a few hours. He spent most of his money on the fare with the remaining three dollars he bought a soda and a candy bar from a vending machine. He found a cushioned chair and sat down waiting for the speaker to blare out his trip destination. Still exhausted, he dozed off to sleep.

  A grey wolf stands in the middle of a wide, four-lane road in a city. The wolf doesn’t move. He is anxious. Joseph watches from a distance. He tries to control the wolf by making it lie down. Ignoring Joseph’s desires, the wolf shifts its huge head back and forth searching. Joseph is still separated from the wolf. He only watches. The beast is dangerous and evil; it burns buildings and kills people. Joseph does not want to be part of any of that. He wants to forget everything about this monster in front of him. The wolf arches its back, trying to make itself look bigger, which is odd to Joseph because the wolf is already so big. The wolf turns without warning and runs to hide at an intersection a block away. The wolf’s head pokes out from the alley and drops low. Joseph tries to see the world from the wolf’s perspective. He needs to understand why the grey wolf is scared. He feels like if the danger is real and the wolf dies, he will die too. Joseph perspective doesn’t pan over and down into the wolf’s. He simply accepts he is the wolf and immediately he sees through the wolf’s eyes. He cranes his head and looks around for danger. He feels everything the wolf senses. His spectacular nose smells a predator. Joseph’s human brain can’t understand how a predator in this dreamscape could harm a wolf this size, but his wolf side knows instinctually something dangerous is near. The animal fear overwhelms the logical human brain and he bolts awake.

  Joseph looked around thinking something bad was about to happen, his wolf instincts still controlled his brain. He smelled rancid meat and spoiled eggs. A man in a surplus military jacket tried to slide Joseph’s candy bar from his hand. Joseph growled at the homeless man and yanked the bar back. Without thinking he barked at the man, who decided this wasn’t worth it and shuffled off. Joseph watched him walk away unable to stop his feral reaction. He wasn’t angry like a human about someone stealing his stuff, he was anxious about the food. He shoved the entire whole king-sized candy bar into his mouth. He needed to eat everything before anyone else could steal what was his.

  The loudspeaker announced his bus was loading. He shook his head and cleared away the dream and the food fight. He felt human again, with an upset stomach.

  ***

  Over the next week, Nuri adjusted to living with Gretchen. Gretchen was a neat freak so Nuri had to clean up more than she usually did. Also Gretchen chauffeured her everywhere. She felt guilty imposing on her new roommate. But without a license, both simply adapted.

  Tamara ran a security consulting firm on the ground floor of a historic building in Krakow. The three floors above were owned by the Amazons as well. They sat empty and unused. All of this was cover for clan business. Nuri did simple office work to begin with. She answered phones, managed calendars, made coffee. It was remedial, however, it allowed her to watch and learn from her sisters.

  All of the Amazons worked for Tamara. Nox was second in charge of the consulting business. She also ensured the clan’s security. She was always ready for an attack, it made her terse. Gretchen was some kind of emissary. She was rarely in the office and when she was all she did was gossip. Justine did customer service for the front business while she advised Tamara on clan history. She also was a guide and teacher for the younger wolves.

  One morning, after Gretchen zipped off to another meeting, Justine requested her assistance. She wanted help building some furniture Nuri had ordered earlier in the week. The furniture was something Tamara had her purchase. Her aunt was expanding the office. She told Nuri, “Big things are coming,” half joking half serious. Nuri still didn’t understand her aunt, yet.

  Nuri and Justine spent most of the morning putting together two new desks and four new desk chairs. They would replace the busted single secretary set-up now sitting in the front entry. She assisted Justine, who didn’t need the help. Basically, she held things and passed tools to her older Amazon sister while Justine told her the story of how the Amazons formed as a werewolf clan:

  “The initiation stories about the Amazons, the ones barely mentioned in Roman histories are a name here and a place there. The truth is far more interesting. The first human Amazon, Thalestris, attracted many to her cause. She wasn’t a seven-foot-tall bikini-clad woman with amazing hair and a lasso of truth. She was a normal woman of the time who was fed up with crappy second-class status. She convinced a few like-minded women to take up weapons and defend themselves. And they were good at it; fierce. Probably because if they failed, their fates would be more brutal and harder than the men they fought alongside. This created a myth about women in battle being supernatural; they weren’t; at least not at first. After successful battles and campaigns, Thalestris hoped to achieve citizenship on par with Roman men. This was denied her and her fellow warriors. No surprise there.

  She used her reputation and willpower to move away and found her own city. This was when werewolves got involved. At that time, lots of female Weres were dealing with the same problems she was. They saw this human female stand up and so they stood up. Dozens came from Europe and the Middle East, some from Africa even joined. This was revolutionary. But it wasn’t easy. To gain freedom from controlling patriarchal societies they had to abandon their clans, their families and hide what they were. Many didn’t survive. Attrition among the Amazon Weres was three times higher than the humans who had started this empowerment movement. Most early Amazons returned to male-dominated clans.

  What helped those early werewolves were the fights. Human men came at the city many times and the combined strength of humans and Weres females together repelled every attack. They became legendary.

  Another type of attrition was happening to them. The Amazon werewolves were hiding among human women so they often married or copulated with human men and had human offspring. This was desperate times for them and none of their options were great. They had to mate with male werewolves however they had forsaken their clans so no clans would touch them. Those women took matters into their own hands. You may judge them. Most do. When the human men came to attack the Amazons, Unbeknownst to them, a male Were would sneak into their ranks and try to “tame these wild women.” He would slaughter the human Amazons by the dozens before the Amazon Weres could snuff him out. After a few of these attacks, the Amazons changed their tactics. They captured these young fools and dispatched in the kindest way possible. Sexed to death.

  From then on the Amazon werewolves flourished. They spread out of Asia Minor into Eastern Europe. They also adopted easier ways to propagate their blood. They created a fertility rite inside the human Amazon culture where they would invite lucky males from other Were clans to. It was sort of a side
secret sex orgy inside a religious ceremony. Some male-dominated clans created a contest to choose who would have the honor, quite bizarre how a fake ritual creates another fake and another until that becomes a real important rite of passage. They also started adopting lone female wolves from other clans.

  What I what to impart is, Amazons are strong and proud and smart. We are rebels and survivors. You are one of us now and you must start believing this about yourself. We are sisters and would die for each other. But we also have a responsibility to protect each other and other female werewolves. More importantly, we must push and challenge each other or when an outsider challenges us, we will fail. And that would dishonor you and me, your aunt, your sisters and all of our ancestors including Thalestris. Do you understand?“

  “Yes, I do,” Nuri answered, starting to understand.

  “Good. Hand me that screwdriver so I can finish this fucking chair.”

  Chapter 8

  Even though the Rise and Ephemeris were sacred rituals, they still had the haphazardness of a county fair. The crowds of werewolves hung out migrating where they wanted. Listening to music or dancing, drinking a lot, getting into heated debates about some long dead relative. The gathering of Celts was more important than the introduction, news report, and finances. Werewolves like people were social creatures. The Rise was the excuse to gather.

  The crowd moved organically around the countryside between the kegs, to the archery or over to a secluded spot to talk privately. The largest group hung out near the boxing ring, waiting for the final event.

  Archery was straightforward, five arrows at sixty yards. Colleen started and then Seth, Ryan, Mandy, and Colin. Best shooter wins. Coleen was good, scoring: 10, 8, 6, 6, 2. Seth did as he expected: 6, 5, 1, 0, 0. Ryan was strong with a score of 10, 9, 9, 8, 6. Mandy’s short arm length affected her score: 8, 5, 5, 1, 0.