“Say something to piss me off,” I suggested, and she stuck her tongue out at me.
Nope, that didn’t get me angry.
“Safety and back,” Sera commanded. Yes, someday she was going to make a great Red. She already had the bossy part down.
I looked down at Grace, now at my feet. She hadn’t stirred at all. How was I supposed to take her somewhere safe and protect her at the same time? I wasn’t sure exactly the best way to transport her unconscious body. I needed to be an animal, but then I couldn’t hold her. It wasn’t like I had arms that could pick someone up once I changed. I had to be smart about it. How could I put her on my back without help?
The noises around me were distracting. While I’d thought it was terrible to be on the other side of the wall, I now knew it was worse to be with the wolves. It was like the foggy wall didn’t just diminish sight but also sound. Wolves were growling, people screaming, moans of pain filled the air. It was like a horrible war zone, but they were technically all on the same side.
“Put her on your back first and then transform,” Sera told me, coming up with the solution I needed without me having to ask for it. Her mind-reading skills were sometimes appreciated. “You don’t change slowly like the wolves; for you, it’s like an instant thing. Magic swirls around you, and you are something else. You don’t have to worry about her falling. If you change with her on your back, then she’ll be there when you are an animal.”
I didn’t have time to ask more as I heard more animals coming in our direction. Leaning down, I got a good hold on Grace, bent over, and put her on my back like we were kids running through the forest. With the snarls of wolves coming closer, I shifted, looking for the magic Sera talked about.
“Not a bear,” Sera complained her voice now louder in my animal form. “You need to be a wolf. Blend in. If you are a bear and walk into camp, even those that aren’t cursed yet will attack you. They’ll think you are coming to hurt them. Be a wolf and stay safe. Please, Castiel. Stay safe.”
I gave her a nod with my now furry head. I would never admit it, but I was glad one of us was thinking straight. All this new shifter stuff or just having magic at all was messing with my head.
I looked down at my wolf paws. I was a deep brown color. No one in the camp would know me, but, at least, they wouldn’t attack on sight. The scraps of Grace’s jacket were at my feet. I owed her a new one.
“Stay safe,” Sera repeated, more quietly this time as she looked into my animal eyes.
I stared back at Sera. It was as if I could feel emotion from her like she was afraid. Sera afraid? Never! That girl looked danger in the eye and didn’t blink. Either it was just the way she was or the power of the Red, but I had never seen Sera afraid once. My wolf, though, was saying otherwise. Sera was afraid.
I nodded my wolf head to her as I couldn’t speak any reassurance. I would stay safe. And I would keep my friends safe. Sera nodded back to me.
The village was right in front of us now as I took off. I didn’t have time to waste as I ran back through it. I wasn’t sure how I was going to find Nikkan, but then it came to me. Somehow my wolf nose knew exactly which scent was my friend. I hurried through the fighting and craziness of the village to find him.
Wolves were fighting wolves; some were just fighting themselves. Snarls, growls, and howls filled the air. Blood and more covered the ground. I had a feeling this wasn’t only from this night’s activities. Part of me was sad when I saw wolves going in for the kill on their fellow wolves. They would regret it in the morning, and I didn’t have the time or ability to help. I wanted to stop it all, but Grace and Nikkan came first. I was saddened not to see Micco in the mix. I worried about the older man.
Nikkan’s scent grew stronger, and I knew I was closing in on him. My friend wasn’t too far away. I could also tell that it wasn’t just his scent from his fur, but his blood I was smelling—fresh blood.
I rounded another home and found what I was looking for. Sure enough, Nikkan’s golden wolf was on the ground. Several wolves were still attacking him, and it looked like he didn’t have sufficient energy to take them all.
‘Nikkan,’ I wanted to shout at my friend.
The blond wolf looked up at me and left an opening for the first wolf to attack a second time. The attacking wolf’s muzzle was covered with Nikkan’s blood as it dove in for another bite. It only took a moment for Nikkan to recognize Grace on my back, and his fighting spirit returned. He rolled over and used his hind legs to push the wolf away. The second wolf then lunged for him, and Nikkan maneuvered this time for the second wolf to hit the first wolf. Yips and growls followed as the two wolves attacking Nikkan now were looking at each other as the enemy. I stepped forward and gave a growl myself, and as soon as they saw me, they both retreated. They seemed to be fighting two against one, but a fair fight wasn’t their concern.
Nikkan let out a low growl. He wasn’t happy with me carrying Grace, but I had no way to tell him who I was.
How the heck was this supposed to work? It wasn’t like I could turn human in the mess that was the wolf village. I would be food for any nearby wolf. The only reason they weren’t attacking Grace on my back was that I had her. I was sure of that. I was still healthy and strong, too much of an opponent for most of them to easily take on, so they left me alone.
I wanted to scream at my friend, Nikkan, it’s me, Castiel.
But it was impossible without being able to talk.
My frustration began to build as Nikkan growled at me and was looking for a way to get Grace from me. How could he be such an idiot? Did it look like I was going to harm Grace? Really? I was carrying her. If I wanted to hurt her, she wouldn’t be on my back.
“Nikkan, stop,” I screamed in my head at my friend. “It’s me, Castiel.”
His growls immediately hushed. I stared at him for a moment before cautiously taking one step towards him.
Images flashed in my mind. Nikkan and Grace were inside a hut, both human, as howls began outside. Wolves beat against the door to the home. Grace was scared, and Nikkan shifted. Wolves broke into the house, and Nikkan defended Grace as she ran. He tried to follow, but it was too much. Several wolves attacked him at the same time.
I was seeing exactly what happened but from Nikkan’s perspective.
‘Can you hear me?’ I asked cautiously.
Nikkan said the wolves could communicate in wolf form, but he never said it was in words. In fact, I think his only reply on that subject was that it was complicated.
Wolf Nikkan nodded his head.
‘We need to get Grace out of here. She passed out by the wall and was being hunted. We need to get out of here now before someone else attacks.”
More memories passed to me. Grace was standing with Nikkan as he begged her to transform. She repeatedly told him no. She was too afraid of losing control. The curse was getting stronger each night. She wouldn’t transform as long as she could hold out.
I figured that much. Grace was pretty stubborn. It was strange to be seeing my friend’s images, but it felt natural like it was how we were supposed to talk. I had no idea how to send him images, but it seemed like he understood me.
‘We need the quickest way out of here,’ I commented, trying my best to get my ideas across to Nikkan.
Wolf Nikkan actually rolled his eyes at me before nodding for me to follow him. I didn’t waste any time and kept close to him as he limped his way out of the village. We made it without any more wolves chasing us. They all probably assumed that Grace was our meal, and they didn’t want to fight two to one.
Nikkan led us further into the wolf territory and away from the wall. I knew Sera was going to be mad at me, but it couldn’t be helped. I was going to make sure my friends were safe before anything else.
As soon as we left the village, we slowed our quick pace to a walk. I was thankful for that as it was easier to keep Grace on my back the slower we moved. She didn’t stir at all as we made our way into the woods.
The whole place was quiet and empty. It was strange to be in a forest that should be teeming with life and not hear a peep. It was as if the life of the great forest of Elder had been sucked out of it. It was dead. Nikkan didn’t seem to notice or care as he kept his lead, occasionally looking back at Grace. But I cared. This forest was my life. I didn’t want to see it die.
While I didn’t like it, the quiet forest made perfect sense. No animal in its right mind would want to be around the crazy wolves. I didn’t want to be around them. They were tenacious and fighting, but worse, they were cruel. Wolves in a pack only fought for dominance. Now, it didn’t seem to be the case. I wondered if Micco had any control of his wolves anymore. Did it matter that he was alpha?
Nikkan kept his pace and kept leading us for what seemed longer than possible. The wall had to end at some point, but so far, we hadn’t found it again. I felt terrible knowing that Sera was probably going crazy outside the wall, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I could pass through the wall, and she couldn’t. At least, I hoped I could still go through it.
Nikkan finally slowed as we neared the mouth of a cave. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but the sun was going to rise soon, and we had been up all night, trudging carefully through the woods.
Images came into my mind from Nikkan. He wanted me to put Grace down by the mouth of the cave.
‘Sure thing, puppy,’ I wanted to say back but had no idea how to convey that in images.
Nikkan yipped at me like he got my message, and I placed Grace on the ground. Nikkan walked over and lay down beside her, sharing his warmth with her human form. She was shivering.
I hadn’t thought about that. It was a cold spring night, and I wasn’t feeling it in the least. My nice furry covering seemed to be good enough for me to ignore the elements.
Nikkan lifted his head and nodded to her other side. I moved in to keep Grace warm as well. I was slightly worried that the wolves would be able to find us, but Nikkan relaxed and was quickly snoring. That had to mean it was safe.
Part of me wanted to leave my friends and go find Sera, but I still couldn’t do that yet. I needed to speak with them and know what was going on before I went back to Sera and my mother. I needed to know what I could do to help. Without another thought, I closed my eyes and drifted off to a warm sleep beside my friends.
Birds chirping brought me back to consciousness not too much later. Some sort of animal sense had alerted me that morning was coming, and now, it was here. I lifted my animal head and looked at my two sleeping friends. They were more exhausted than I was. I stood and stretched. It was actually much more comfortable to sleep in my wolf form than human form on the ground all night.
Using my new sense of smell, I made my way over toward the interior of the cave, following a weird odor. As I neared, I caught the scent clear as day. Someone, or rather, something had marked the cave with pee, and it smelled horrible. Human pee was bad enough, but to smell it with my super animal senses was awful. I gagged.
“Doesn’t smell too great, does it?” Nikkan asked as he walked past me naked. He made his way into the cave and pulled out a bag from behind a rock. A piece of clothing landed at my feet.
I changed back into human form and pulled on the pants while Grace still slept.
Nikkan had pulled on his own pair of pants.
“So, when did you get bit?” Nikkan asked as he dug through his bag more. He pulled out a sweater and went over and laid it on the still sleeping Grace like a blanket to keep her warm.
“I didn’t,” I replied and watched his reaction. He paused and stared at me. He didn’t reply, so I had to continue. “And I’m not a wolf.”
At that, Nikkan burst out laughing.
I waited for him to finish before I took off the pants I had just put on and transformed into a bear right in front of him. Nikkan had always been more the show than tell type of person. He wasn’t going to believe my words since, even to me, they sounded a bit outrageous. Nikkan stopped laughing and stared at me. I sat down on my haunches and stared at him. Raising an eyebrow, I challenged him to say something. I let it sink in a moment before turning back into my usual self and slipping the pants back on.
“Yeah, so not sure what I am, but I’m not a wolf. Well, I can be, but it isn’t that simple. Really, man, your guess is as good as mine.”
While most people would have been afraid, especially in Elder, where the only magic was with the wolves, Nikkan just grinned at me.
“That’s great. I’d give my right arm to have those powers. If I had that ability, becoming a legend would be simple.”
I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted, but I could see the wheels turning in Nikkan’s head. Being famous was something he wouldn’t mind. Growing up as the son of the Red made me know that it wasn’t anything like he expected it to be. And besides, I didn’t want to be a god of anything. I wanted just to be me and help my friends. But it seemed likely that I’d need to learn more about my background to do anything to help them.
“Were you able to pack food in that sack or just clothing?” I asked, getting away from Nikkan’s new dreams as he thought about my unique abilities. I wasn’t a performing monkey, and I wasn’t joining Nikkan’s grand circus plans that I knew were brewing in his mind.
“Just clothing. There’s no food around the village, and if I was able to sneak something out here, it would attract the wolves.”
That made complete sense. I nodded at him.
“I’ll go get some breakfast,” I commented as I saw Grace still sleeping on the ground. “We can talk more when I get back.”
I didn’t wait for Nikkan to agree. It was already daylight, and the wolves would all be sleeping, exhausted from their terror-filled night, both the ones in human form and those forced into their wolf forms. The woods were safe for now.
“Fine, but don’t be gone too long; otherwise, Grace will worry.”
“Sure, blame the sleeping girl. Good one,” I jabbed back at him. It was great to have him as my friend again.
I wasn’t exactly sure where the fence around the wolves was, so I took off heading east. If I ran into it, then I’d deal with it then, but until then, I kept my ears and eyes open for something we could eat. I was looking for anything. Berries, plants, or an animal if I could find one, but the woods were stripped clean of everything and anything. There were berry bushes I passed but no berries on them. Typical tuber plants had the tops thrown on the ground from someone else finding and eating the roots. And the animals had basically vanished. I needed to get a better view and sense of all of it.
I didn’t hesitate to change forms, and soon enough, I had a wingspan wider than a sapling is tall. My golden-brown feathers ruffled as I gave a hop and took flight. I was beyond thankful that the ability to change animals also came with a natural ability to be one. I didn’t have to learn how to fly; I just knew how.
Once I got above the tree line, I took in the view. It was a sight to be seen, and I wished I could share it with my friends. There was nothing but blue sky above me as I caught an air current and held my wings out to steady myself. I floated in the air. I didn’t have to do a thing. Part of me wished I could stay up there forever. It was simple up in the sky. There was the sun and the clouds, but nothing beyond that: no noise, no distractions, no worries.
I flapped my wings in two powerful strokes and broke free from the air I was floating on. Soaring in the sky and watching the ground pass below was a surreal feeling. I was a man, and yet I wasn’t. I was flying.
Continuing my journey east brought me to the wall. I didn’t hesitate as I flew through it and luckily didn’t crash into it. The ground was still a bit below me, and it would have hurt to hit it at the speed I was going, but I didn’t need to worry. The wall let me right through. As a man, it stopped me, but as a bird, it didn’t. The wall was keeping wolves and humans apart, and I had a feeling that I couldn’t cross as either of those. Right now, I wasn’t either.
With a few more f
laps, I brought myself closer to the treetops. As I found one larger branch protruding in the woods, I landed softly on it. It was a great vantage point to see all around me and the ground below. I wasn’t sure when I set out how I was going to hunt as I didn’t have a weapon on me, but now I knew it didn’t matter. I was the weapon.
I waited, sitting perfectly still. It was strange not to have to move. My sense of sight told me all I needed to know. I could see further than I ever could imagine; I could see more colors. It was a strange feeling yet comforting. It felt natural. I sat on the branch perfectly still and waited.
It didn’t take long for prey to arrive. I didn’t hesitate as I swooped off the branch, nose-diving to the wiggling creature on the ground. It didn’t stand a chance as my talons tore into the creature. I landed with a thud on the ground to see if I needed to do more. I wasn’t about to fly around with a half-dead creature. While I ate meat, I understood it was still a life. The animal deserved respect and not to spend its last few moments alive, being terrified.
Transforming into my human skin felt natural as the tingles coated my body, and I instantly was standing on two legs. Reaching down, I could tell the rabbit I had found was dead. That was enough for me. I needed to return to my friends and make sure they were safe before I headed back to Sera and tried to figure out what more we could do.
Before I could change back, I noticed a brown piece of cloth hidden just where the rabbit had come from. I reached down and pulled it loose. It was a pair of trousers. The wolves occasionally hid clothing, so it was blind luck that I had found it. At least, I thought so until a piece of paper fluttered off it.
I glanced at the note and then back at the pants. Someone had left them for me. The note was addressed to me and told me that it was a present. Who in the world was leaving me a present in the middle of the woods? Who would know this was where I would be? It was like magic that someone would know that I would be there at that exact time. I glanced around the forest. There were no humans within my sight or hearing distance. Whoever left it for me did so more than just a few moments ago.
Castiel: Son of Red Riding Hood (Kingdom of Fairytales Boxset Book 3) Page 24