by C L Amos
She followed Sasha out the door and grabbed her by the arm. “Let’s go back to the room! You need to process what’s happened…we all do!”
Sasha stopped and looked at Julia, “I need to just clear my head. I need to run free… it’s what I do when I feel like I am going insane!” She leant down and kissed Julia, “I will be back, I promise! I just can’t sit cooped up in a room right now - I need open space.”
Julia nodded and squeezed her hand, “Just remember to be back before dawn.” Julia knew in her heart that this was something Sasha had to do on her own and trusted in the Mother Goddess’s plan.
Sasha shifted into her wolf form and ran off into the darkness, each stride drumming out a different emotion. She ran harder and faster than she had ever run before; she was looking for something she didn’t know if she could find - a drop of normality in this turbulent ocean. She tried to come to terms with the fact that her father was the man she despised most in the world, she tried to come to terms with Jim’s death, with her own re-birth not only from the void but also her new form. She felt the pressure of the world surround her in its suffocating embrace… she needed to beat it! She needed to lift everything from her mind so she could see through the fog and try and make some sense of it all. She felt her heart pounding in her chest and her lungs burning as she pushed herself faster and faster, her paws digging into the dirt as she thrust herself forward. She came to a sharp bend in the road and realized almost too late that she had run out of road and was fast approaching the edge of a cliff. She dug her front paws down and slid a short distance, stopping just short of the drop. She looked up at the stars above her and gave out a long, sorrowful howl.
The sentries stationed around the farm joined in her mournful song. Tom and Julia stepped outside and listened to the choir of wolves. Tom put his arm around Julia and squeezed her, “They have all lost something or someone today… this point will mark one of the darkest in our history. We can’t let Marcelle and the High Council get away with it.”
Julia turned to him, “I am afraid the worst is still to come! Things are going to get a lot worse before the end of this.”
Tom looked down; he could see the pain in his sisters’ eyes. He didn’t envy her gift of sight, “Anything I should know?”
A tear rolled down Julia’s cheek and she shook her head. “There are events that have to happen… people have to die and there is nothing we can do to stop it… it has become their destiny and part of the legacy that will eventually turn the tide against Marcelle and the High Council ” She turned to go back inside, “It tears me apart inside, but we have to let the horrors of the coming days unfold. If we don’t, we will never gain the support we need. WE will be branded and killed as traitors and Marcelle’s regime will last for a thousand years.”
Tom grabbed her arm, “We can’t let innocent people die! We have to try and stop this.”
She pulled her arm away. “You can’t save everyone, Tom. If you are going to be a great leader you need to learn that!”
She shook her head, “This is why I can’t tell you or Sasha about my visions. You couldn’t handle the burden.”
Chapter 2 Invoking the Sekhmet
Damien and Marcelle made their way down to a parade room on the first floor. He had summoned only 500 men. They were from the elite forces, men trained with the sole purpose of going in, hitting hard and leaving just as quickly as they had come. Their violent reputations and unquenchable blood lust had been the debate of many a High Council meeting, but Jim’s position and backing by council members like Marcelle had seen the team go largely untouched.
As Marcelle walked to the podium, the entire battalion stood to attention in one swift move. It sounded like a chair being pushed under a desk. “Good evening, gentleman, I will not take up much of your time. We are at war, and in times of war we need strong, decisive leadership! We cannot be led by pencil pushing IT nerds playing the role of a Security Chief! No! In times of war, we need real men!”
The battalion raised their arms and shouted, “Ooh-rah!”
Marcelle slammed her fist on the podium, “We need men who have fought in the trenches!”
The battalion raised their arms again and shouted even louder, “Ooh-rah!”
Marcelle lowered her voice and spoke slowly, “We need men who have drunk themselves full on their enemies’ blood and cried out for more!!”
The battalion raised their arms again and shouted even louder still, “Ooh-rah!”
Marcelle raised her arm and pointed to Damien, “Let’s hear it for the new High Commander, the First General of the High Council…”
The battalion were in a frenzy and shouted, “Ooh-rah! Ooh-rah! Ooh-rah! Ooh-rah!”
Damien took to the podium and raised his hand; the battalion fell silent. “Each and every one of you was handpicked by Marcelle and I! You are going to be our elite strike force! The days of sweepers are gone!” He leant in and spoke with intent, “We have one objective and one objective only - and that is to bring the Faction to their knees. We need to be ruthless! Merciless and heartless!”
The battalion raised their arms and shouted, “Ooh-rah!”
Damien raised his hands to the roof, “I invoke in you the spirit of Hathor the Sekhmet.” He pulled his knife from its sheath and cut his hand, letting the blood drip onto his face and hair. “Bless those who stand here before you and anoint themselves as we prepare to flood the earth with the blood of our enemies. We dedicate the blood of our enemies to you so that you can drink yourself drunk on their destruction. May our blades be sharp, and our aim be true.”
The battalion one by one started drawing their blades and cut their hands to anoint themselves before the spirit of Hathor the Sekhmet. They started shouting “Ooh-Rah! Ooh-Rah! Ooh-Rah! Ooh-Rah! Ooh-Rah! Ooh-Rah! Ooh-Rah! Ooh-Rah!” and finally a red light shot through the room, filling everything with a bright red hue before exploding through the windows and shattering the glass.
Damien smiled and clenched his fist in the air, “The Goddess rides with us. Prepare to leave, for we attack at dawn! Dismissed!!”
The battalion shouted one final Ooh-rah, stood to attention, and saluted their new commander before scrambling off to get ready.
Marcelle walked up behind Damien, placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. “You are a man of many talents. I have never seen anyone invoke the Goddess with such fury and blood lust. Just remember I still have unfinished business with the twins. If we can harness the power of the fivelings we can secure our leadership for the next thousand years; nothing will stand in our way.”
Damien smiled, “And Sasha?”
Marcelle smiled. “She is all yours! Besides…I know the two of you have some unfinished business.”
Chapter 3 Clarity
Up on the hill, Sasha looked down over the farm below her. The sentries’ somber song reminded her that she wasn’t alone and that everyone was going through their own battles. She sat down on a rock, her mind slowly clearing, when a voice suddenly broke her daydream.
“I used to come up here with your mom when she was pregnant with you.”
Sasha turned; she saw a woman standing in the shadows. “You knew my mother back then?” The elder from earlier that day stepped into the moonlight. There seemed to be something strange about her, but Sasha couldn’t put her finger on it.
She came and sat next to Sasha, “I have known your mother for a very long time… and I even know your Father.”
Sasha raised an eyebrow… “Which one?”
The woman laughed, “Both!”
Sasha threw a stone off the side of the hill, “Is he the reason I…I am a fourling?”
The elder nodded, “Let’s just say that your real father gave you a few very unique and special gifts. Many of them you will only start realizing now as you approach womanhood…”
Sasha shook her head, “None of this makes any sense.”
The elder shook her head, “Most things in life never do. You must remembe
r that you were sent here to learn and grow spiritually. You are all here for a reason, and without the Marcelles and Bernard’s of the world, the Toms and Julia’s wouldn’t exist. The two need each other to survive, and as soon as you dispatch one Marcelle, another Marcelle will rise to take her place and bring balance. It is the natural order of things. One man’s truth is another man’s sin and vice versa.”
Suddenly she heard Julia scream at her in her mind’s eye… “We need to leave now!” She glanced down and saw them climbing into the back of the van…even from this distance she could see Julia looked nervous.
The elder burst out laughing, “She is right… they will be here soon… you’d better go!!”
Sasha stood up, uncomfortable. She looked into the elder’s eyes and saw them flash red… “Who are you?”
“Just remember … we are all here to serve our purposes!” The elder’s eyes closed, and her body collapsed to the ground. Sasha rushed to her side and checked to see if she was still breathing, but she was dead and icy cold at that. In fact, it felt like she had already been dead for a while. A red smoke exited her nostrils and hung thick in the air… Sasha heard it laugh like a banshee before it shot up into the sky. A shiver ran down her spine and she shifted back into wolf form. She let out another long cry and followed it with three short bursts to signal to pack there was fallen member. She started running back down the hill; she could feel the approaching danger in her bones. She heard the roar of several heavy-duty vehicles approaching at speed …she needed to get back and protect the twins.
Sasha made it to the van just as the first few rays of dawn started licking the landscape, and she looked at Julia, “They are coming… we have to warn the pack.”
Julia snapped anxiously, “There is no time… we have to leave now!” She pushed Sasha up into the van and shouted at the driver, “We are all in… let’s go…let’s go! The light is approaching!”
Sasha looked at Julia and braced herself as the van sped down the dirt road, shifting them violently from side to side in the back. She heard gunfire in the distance and her blood went cold. She turned to Julia, “What did you see? Will the pack be safe?”
Julia shook her head and a tear rolled down her face, “We can’t protect them… I am afraid that this is the only way. If we stay, we will be captured and this time there will be no escape…we will be killed, and no one will be able to challenge Marcelle.”
Sasha shook her head, the apparition’s words echoing in her head… “As you dispatch one Marcelle another will rise to take her place!”
Julia raised an eyebrow, “What are you suggesting?”
Tom snapped, “Sasha is on the same page as me…You can never rid the world of evil and sitting back and doing nothing is just as bad! I think we should go back and help.”
Sasha interjected, “That’s not what I meant! It’s my job to keep the two of you safe!”
Tears streamed down Julia’s face, “Having sight is a curse more than it is a blessing. Don’t think for one second that making the decision to do nothing is easy. I see each life that is lost, and I feel the fear and pain they do as they are taken from this world, but I do not have the luxury to intervene because doing so has dire consequences further down the line. I have seen the bigger picture and, like you, I will do whatever it takes to keep the people I care about alive.”
Tom motioned to say something, but Julia raised her hand, “I have to be strong and stick to my resolve… I cannot look away when they die, and I cannot let their deaths be in vain and for that reason I will not let us fail. We need to stop this Marcelle and the Marcelles that follow in her footsteps - the task of shifting the balance into the light to follow the paths of the good and just for the next thousand years has fallen on us.” She paused, “Like I said to you earlier, Tom, it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better, so you’d better put on your big girl panties and toughen up. We are going to be in for a ride.”
Sasha stood up and went and sat next to Julia and kissed her forehead, “I know you have a good heart and I wouldn’t be able to take it.” She laughed, “I would be like that guy in the movie who started running one morning and came back five years later.”
Julia smiled and placed her hand on Sasha’s leg. They rode in silence for a while, with everyone deep in thought. Julia glanced over at Tom; each of them had to prove their worth to the Mother by overcoming seemingly impossible odds. So far both her and Sasha had passed. She took in a deep breath, knowing that his test would begin shortly.
Chapter 4 Scorched Earth
The smoke rose thick against the breaking dawn, choking the sun with thick black smog. Damien had given the order to torch and burn every square inch of the Silver Moon. Nothing was to survive their wrath; not a blade of grass, not a tree, not an insect or a bird … everything would die in their wake. If this didn’t send a message to the Faction and those sympathetic to their cause, then nothing would.
Damien’s Jeep came screeching to a halt. His men had already surrounded the farmhouse and outbuildings and were in the process of rounding up the people and pushing them into the paddock. He jumped off the back of his car and called a young soldier over, “Any sign of them?”
“Yes sir, we traced their sent to the square little outhouse around the corner. They left shortly before we arrived; we have two vehicles in pursuit.”
Damien smiled, “Good, tell them to keep their distance, I don’t want to spook them. I want them to think they have gotten away.” He clapped his hands in feverish excitement, “Mark my words; by this time tomorrow, both the leaders of the Faction and the miserable Trio will be in our holding cells, begging for their own deaths just to put an end to the bloodletting!”
The soldier smiled, “The transport units are pulling in as we speak. We should have them back at the complex within a few hours.”
“Good! Bring me three young men… make them around the same age as Tom and set fire to all the surrounding buildings. I want them to see the flames in the background.”
The soldier followed his orders and within minutes three men were bound and tied on their knees, their faces beaten badly, with the farmhouse in flames behind. Damien took position and nodded for them to start filming, “This is what is left of Silver Moon, hallowed ground according to the wolves… but their Gods chose not to intervene, and do you want to know why?” He smiled and walked to the paddock, “You see, the pack behind me chose to place their allegiance with the Faction… the very terrorist group responsible for the bombing that killed one of our elders and prestigious Council Members.” He looked up at the sky, “Rest in peace, Jim.” He looked back at the camera, “But this pack didn’t stop there… yesterday they helped three dangerous criminals linked to the Faction and the bombing escape our custody, and they let them sleep in the building right over there.” He walked up to the three men and pulled out his knife, “Your pack committed treason against the High Council and will be put to death for their crimes.” He stood behind each of the three prisoners and slit their throats one by one and let their bodies fall into the dirt. “We call upon the leaders of the Faction and the three fugitives to hand themselves in and end this war. At present we have over 3000 wolves in custody who have suspected links to the traitorous rebellion. We will proceed to exterminate three every hour until our demands are met. So, to the leaders of the Faction, I say… let’s see how much you really care… let’s see how many lives it will take before you step forward and end this war.” He smiled at the camera and cleaned the knife on his pants. “See you in an hour… tick tock.”
The soldier nodded. “Got it, sir! I am sending it to the number on Dr Dylan’s burner phone and uploading it to every social media site… there is no way they can miss it… this thing is going to go viral.”
Chapter 5 Ignorant Bliss
Janey lay in bed next to Pete. She traced her finger around his nipple and down his muscular rib cage and tight six-pack, and smiled, “You have always managed to say in impeccable shape.�
��
He flashed a mischievous smiled, rolled her over and climbed on top of her. Looking deep into her eyes, he lowered his lips slowly to hers. “I have missed having you in my bed.”
Janey lifted her legs and locked her feet behind his back. She could feel his erect cock inching closer and closer to her dripping vagina. Her hands searched as she dragged her nails down his back, “Don’t tease me… fuck me already!”
Pete obliged and thrust himself down hard. He felt her back arch and her vagina clench around his penis, she groaned in pleasure and he thrust down again, his rhythm quickened by her moans of pleasure until finally they both reached their peaks. Pete exploded inside her, his head collapsing forward as every muscle in his body contorted with orgasmic pleasure. Janey wasn’t far behind and gyrated furiously to get her clit into the action, her body pulling tight against Pete as she joined him in riding out the orgasmic explosions that rocked their bodies. Pete kissed her before collapsing back onto his side of the bed.
Janey took in a deep breath, still panting heavily. “Oh God, I really missed having you in my bed… promise you will never leave!”
Pete rolled onto his side and rested his head on his hand, “It has been way too long.”
Janey’s phone beeped, “That’s probably about the kids, they should have left Silver Moon by now.”
Pete nodded, “It will be good to have all of them here… you and Sasha have a lot to catch up on.”
Janey pulled her face, “Not sure I am ready for all those questions!!”
Pete laughed, “At least you didn’t have to have the sex talk with her… I heard that one is pretty daunting for most parents.”
Janey slapped his chest playfully, “Oh, shush, I don’t want to think about my daughter’s sex life.”
Pete widened his eyes, “I don’t think you are going to be able to avoid it… from what I understand she is sleeping with both Tom and Julia.”
