Alina turned down the lights in the room even more, making the whiteboard stand out. Then she pulled out a camera and set it up along with a cord to display on the whiteboard. A map of Europe showed up. Only the lines between countries were different. It was an old map of the Roman Empire.
She took out a laser pointer from under the podium in front of the class and pointed it to a kingdom within the map. Red was the Roman Empire. White was everything outside of it. And I was left wondering just how long the legends of werewolves and lycan went back before she even began.
“The true date when the first lycan was created is unknown,” she started. “Some say thousands of years ago. Others claim that it was during the height of the Holy Roman Empire. What we do know is that many of the legends trace back to an area once called Bohemia. Now we call it the Czech Republic. Legends of witchlings trace back to Ancient Scotland, as well as vampires. The lycan are another story entirely. But no one can really say when and where we originated given that those who were first turned into werewolves rarely survived the shifting process. And those who did often couldn’t control their impulses for long and would be discovered after they shifted back into human form and were promptly killed by local tribes.
“A period of great upheaval began when the first pack of lycan grew powerful and used their viciousness to tear apart many towns in old Germanic and Czech lands. Bohemia was one of the first kingdoms to fight back. They created a society. Or rather, a vigilante group, that would hunt down lycan in their kingdom and murder them before the entire population. Some suspect this was when the legends of the lycan really took form and people started creating myths surrounding our existence. Many of those myths survive today. Some of the stories are true, others are mere fairy tales used to scare children as they lay their heads down to sleep at night. But the one story that remains true to this day is that of the Dolch Erbe. The vigilante group has survived as a society meant to help protect humans from our kind since ancient times. They still exist, they still hide in the shadows, and they’re a greater threat to our existence than ever before.”
I clenched my hands under the table. I remembered Lothar and Rodrick claiming that our kind had enemies since I first arrived. Was this what they meant? Some ancient society that hunts down lycan?
I rested my chin on my hand as I continued listening. I found the stories fascinating but in some ways sad. Not because the history was brutal but because I could see the thin line between them. The narrow edge where humans were right to fear us. As Rodrick told me from the start, we are the villains. The lycan were creatures of the night. And I managed to kill someone the first time I shifted into a werewolf. This society might be our enemy but they weren’t wrong to be scared of us. Or hunt us. If anything, I found Alina’s lecture fascinating because of the blurred edges. The place where truth mingled with bias.
“Every fifty years or so, a new leader to the Dolch Erbe is born,” Alina continued, showing drawings of a few men and women on the projector. The drawings looked old. Like someone tried painting the likeness of a person in a time when art hadn’t progressed to show the intricacy of facial features. Others were rather striking and clearly done within the last couple of centuries. “This leader often doesn’t know they are born to become the leader of the Dolch Erbe until they reach their late teens or early twenties. But legends tell us that the first leader was blessed by a luxra witchling with the gift of immortality through rebirth. Their consciousness is reborn into a new body each century and they never look the same. It could be a man, a woman, old, or even young. There’s no way of knowing unless you pledge an oath to the Dolch Erbe, which by the way is a death sentence for any lycan. So don’t let me catch any of you doing it.”
An uncomfortable laugh broke out across the room.
A young man raised his hand in the back and Alina called on him.
“What methods do they use to hunt down lycan?” he asked.
“Good question.” Alina put up more slides. They showcased various devices that looked like instruments of torture. “In ancient times they used silver knives but that proved insufficient given one had to get close enough to use them. Which often resulted in the Dolch Erbe getting killed. Now they’ll lace bullets with silver to freeze a lycan when they’re in mid-transition so they’ll bleed internally. Legends also state that they have found various ways of tapping into magic to enhance their senses so they can smell the lycan if they’re nearby. And every so often, a lycan will defect from our realm and join them. And in so doing, they’ll reveal our secrets. This hasn’t happened in many decades. That we know of at least. But when more than a few lycan start to drop like flies or disappear all together, the Vontex start to take notice. Which leads me to my next point.”
Alina put up another slide. It held a symbol that I hadn’t seen before. It was an array of broken triangles that met at the corners and melded into one another. Next to it was the shape but with the edges unbroken.
I nearly fell out of my seat when I saw them.
‘Oh dear god.’
“The symbol to the left is that of the Dolch Erbe,” she said. “It signifies the breaking of our kind. The symbol to the right some of you may recognize as the symbol of the Vontex. Each pack of Vontex has it branded just above our right collar bone.”
She stood before the class and showed off the brand on her shoulder. The class gave the usual sounds of awe when she displayed it. It looked similar to the brand I had on my left shoulder. Only I knew Alina’s was much more difficult to earn.
“The Vontex were created by the vixra witchlings when the lycan problem became too much to control,” she went on. “Unlike the Dolch Erbe, the vixra saw that our kind can be used for both good and evil. They chose those among the lycan who held the most merit and the best skills to become a member of the Vontex. A group of assassins and warriors for the lycan. One could say the Vontex were created as a reaction to the Dolch Erbe. The Dolch Erbe seek to destroy all lycan to protect humanity. The Vontex seek to destroy those who are unworthy of living through the trials and those who kill indiscriminately. Which is often any untrained werewolf or lycan who runs under our radar and isn’t brought to the academy. But if they can pass the trials and learn how to become productive members of our realm, we protect them. We become a collective. We might not have the lives we always wanted but we can still be productive and live life to the fullest.
“Where the Vontex differ from the Dolch Erbe is that we believe in life. We seek to preserve it in its best form. Unfortunately, not all lycan can meet their best form. They fall prey to their most brutal instincts and refuse to learn discipline or control. The Dolch Erbe believe in death. Death to all werewolves and lycan regardless of their ability to control their animal impulses. This is why the Vontex exists. This is why we fight.”
For the briefest moment, Alina made eye contact with me again. Then she averted her eyes away before anyone else noticed. I sat up a little straighter, knowing that her words were meant for me specifically.
I took the trench coat on my left arm sleeve and pulled it down, hoping no one noticed how uncomfortable I was. Alina went on talking but I was beyond hearing her. My mind was elsewhere. I had seen the symbol on the left side of the slide before. It was the symbol etched into my brother’s bracelet.
‘Was Dirk hunted down by the Dolch Erbe? Did they kill him?’
Then my thoughts went from bad to worse.
‘Could he have joined them? Was he the one who let out secrets about the academy? Could that be why the shield over the fortress started getting weaker?’
“All of you must be mindful every single second of the day,” Alina continued. “Especially if you receive permission to enter the human realm after you’ve graduated from the academy. Members of the Dolch Erbe could be anywhere. They could be anyone. They hide in plain sight with ease. And unless you were to get close enough to one to see their brand, you won’t know who they are. There are rumors that they’ve discovered how to wield
enough magic to hide their brand, making them even more difficult to detect.
“We have reason to believe that a new leader to the Dolch Erbe has been reborn. We don’t know if this person is male or female, we don’t know their age, and we don’t know if they’ve learned how to use magic to their advantage. This puts us at a direct disadvantage and gives the Vontex more just cause to kill any werewolves or lycan who put our identity and our well-being at risk. Being a Vontex is seen by many of you, I’m sure, as a sort of glamorous pursuit. But make no mistake, it’s serious work. We are the bringers of death to our kind. We must assess who is worthy of keeping alive and who isn’t. And when we make a mistake by placing our faith in the wrong person, there are real life and death consequences for both humans and lycan.”
The desperation I felt inside of me to find my brother before it was too late only grew stronger the more she spoke. If the Dolch Erbe found him, he could be in hiding. Or worse, maybe they found him and made him do something terrible.
‘I know my brother. He wouldn’t betray his own. He’s loyal to a fault.’
The problem was that only I knew that. Others would judge his actions in an instant. I held my head up high and kept listening to the lecture even though my thoughts were far away.
‘I will find him before they do. I have no other choice.’
7
The stench was the first thing to assault my senses. It smelled of burned meat and sulfur. I nearly started gagging. When I opened my eyes I saw what looked like an ancient circle. Ruins stood all around me along towering stone pillars. A huge cauldron sat in the center with a mixture bubbling inside. I got closer to feel the skin inside my trench coat practically roasting. It was getting hotter. Black smoke barreled up from the center. I barely had enough time to scoot back before the entire black cauldron was consumed by flames underneath it. The iron started to melt as the flames got hotter and hotter, turning bright red then blue as the flames shot higher into the sky, reaching toward the full moon. I could feel the heat from a safe distance back.
Men started entering the circle of stone pillars with furs covering their backs and head. Furs of bears and wolves. Their faces were painted and their chests beastly with muscles and markings, none of which I recognized. The furs and their leather trousers were the only things they were wearing. But that wasn’t what really caught my attention the most. It was the fact that they couldn’t see me. I stood there out in the open as they continued with what looked like some sort of ancient ritual.
One man brought in a live wolf. He pulled it along as it resisted, gnawing at the rope around its neck. It tumbled to the ground, wrestling the rope as his captor drew him in closer. Then he yanked a dagger from his side and plunged it into the wolf’s chest as it cried the second it was close enough to touch.
“No!” I shouted.
They didn’t hear me. It was like I was only there in spirit.
The man dug the dagger deeper and ripped the wolf’s heart from its chest. Then he tossed it into the cauldron. He took the blood remaining on his hand and drew lines over his cheeks, making him look practically demonic. The other men circled the cauldron until the flames inside rose higher and higher. I could feel my sweat from the heat drip down the center of my back.
One by one, they began chanting words I couldn’t understand. They stopped when one man among them was standing opposite of me. He removed the fur from his head and I finally got a clear look at him. It was Devon.
‘Of course. Who else would do something this weird?’
His eyes began to glow a bright shade of gold. The iron of the cauldron melted into a thick layer of metal, forged into something new from the flames. Devon stepped into the flames and let them overpower his body. Only just like in the ceremony I went through, he didn’t burn. That was when I saw it. The brand on his right shoulder was that of the Dolch Erbe.
‘My god. This is them. Is Devon their new leader?’
I stood there feeling as though I might start hyperventilating.
Devon stepped off the thick layer of metal and away from the flames. His eyes wandered the forest as if he was looking for something under the moon’s bright light. Then his eyes found me. I backed up right into one of the stone pillars and placed my hands before me as if I could defend myself against him somehow. He smiled at me. That same flirtatious smile he used when he was using Rodrick’s form. The second the thought crossed my mind he shifted into Rodrick. He took a step closer to me. Then another. And another. I felt trapped. Unable to move and even less able to run. My arms rose above me. I had no control over them. They were tied to the top of the stone pillar with locksin. I never even saw him move to tie me. He trapped me without me even knowing what was happening.
His form shifted again. Only this time, he took the form of my brother. Dirk was standing before me with concern written all over his face. He shook his head at me. “You shouldn’t be here,” he mouthed.
‘Trust me, I don’t want to be here either. This is beyond creepy.’
“Dirk?” I stammered. “This isn’t really you. It can’t be you.”
He inched closer and closer. I couldn’t get away. Nor could I keep my eyes off of him.
Who was he? Was it Devon? Or had Dirk become a master shifter and I never knew it? Maybe no one knew.
Then he smiled once more. I knew the truth. It was Devon. He was taunting me.
He shifted back into his own form and stood so close that I could feel the heat coming from his body touch my skin. A sensation I regrettably recognized all too well.
I closed my eyes and focused on the moonlight above me. I had to shift into a lycan. It was the only way to fight back. But before I could even make a fingernail start to transform, Devon tied a chain around me. He brought my shirt up enough so it would touch my skin. And I knew why. It was made of silver. He was preventing me from shifting.
“What are you doing?” I hollered. “What is this?”
He yanked the chain tight so I couldn’t budge. I gasped as it squeezed around my abdomen and pushed against my insides.
Devon raised his hand to touch my cheek. He held it as if he was my lover, caressing me in a way only a man who truly cared would. I thrashed my head back and forth, trying to get away from his touch. He refused to let go.
“I’m waiting for you,” he whispered. “We all are.”
“Wake up!” A shrill voice screamed at me. “Wake up! Damn you! Wake up you stupid slag!”
I bolted away and sat up straight. My eyes were blinded the second I tried to open them. I lifted my hand up to block away the bright light streaming all around me.
McKenzie was sitting in her bed with a look of horror on her face, drenched in red and struggling to see me through the fog circling the room.
‘Wait. The red is me. It’s my crowning magic.’
Somehow I managed to let my magic engulf the room in the red fog. It floated along the wooden floor and was slowly seeping up around the edges of both our beds. But that wasn’t all. It was sparking. And wherever the sparks landed, it caught fire. Within seconds McKenzie’s bedspread and sheets were in flames. She screamed and tried ripping her sheets off, tossing them off the bed. That didn’t stop the flames from spreading. She risked burning her hands and tried to put more of the fire out. It was no use. It kept spreading.
I shut my eyes and tried to focus. I had to get control. I lost it in my sleep. The nightmare took over all my senses and allowed this to happen.
I heard McKenzie trying to get away. She even went so far as to stand on her bed and tried getting on top of the canopy of the four wooden posters of her bed. It was no use. They weren’t strong enough to support her.
Then I heard the screams. The flames were starting to lick her toes. Then her feet. Until they were crawling up her legs and burning her calves.
“Riley, stop!” she shrieked. “You have to stop!”
I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter. Which I was certain she would take as a sign that I didn’t c
are or I was ignoring her. Quite the opposite. I was envisioning the room without my magic engulfing it. I extended my palms out only to feel the flames starting to reach my feet. I pulled them in only for the fire to spread. It was starting to burn me too, distracting me from focusing as my skin began to sting.
I didn’t have a choice. I had to sit through the pain. If I didn’t get my magic under control we would both get killed.
“Riley!” McKenzie screamed at the top of her lungs. The flames had caught on her nightgown and she was burning alive. “Fire! Fire! Help! Help me!”
Her voice ripped through my ears, making me panic.
I let my palms outward and imagined my magic being sucked back in. It was starting to work but not fast enough. It was a full fifteen seconds before I had my magic firmly back inside of me. And by that time, the room was completely charred by the flames, the space was drenched in smoke consuming my lungs and forcing me to cough uncontrollably, and McKenzie was passed out on her bed. Her body was covered in burns all the way up to her scalp. Even her hair had been burned away.
I rushed over to her bed, ignoring the searing agony of the wood floor still being hot and burning the bottom of my feet. The door to our room slammed open and students rushed in with a fire extinguisher and buckets of water. A few gasped when they saw the state McKenzie was in. I was sitting on her charred bed checking for a pulse and waiting to see if her body would start to heal on its own. It was trying. I saw the skin on her cheeks starting to heal over but it wasn’t fast enough. She moved. Then she started twitching. She was waking up. And I knew she would be in complete agony if she did.
“What the hell happened, Blackburn?” Xavier asked behind me with wide eyes.
I ignored him and placed my hands over McKenzie’s burned skin, one hand over each side of her head. Then I closed my eyes and thought of the way my magic had protected me. It always came out when I was in danger. It must have come out of my body when I was dreaming. It knew instinctively that something was wrong. And if it was willing to protect me, maybe it could do more than just hurt others. Maybe it could help them.
Restrike: (Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting: Operation Shift, Book 2) Page 7