“Silly man, thank you” Ren replied with a muted smile, and Owen smiled softly back before hopping off the wolf gingerly. David looked back towards Dyaina hung his head sadly as he walked towards her. He did not shift back to his human form. His large paws were quiet in the grass, a mere whisper from one resigned step to the next. His fur rustled quietly as his muscles flexed and forced him forward. Dyaina approached her husband.
Dyaina rested a hand on David’s flank and smiled at him with tears in her eyes. They would be strong together. They slowly walked towards the center of the semi-circle; David led the way with the rest of the group only a few feet behind, to where a flat, impossibly smooth slab of rock lay flat. Bolts of red flashed beneath the smooth surface of the stone like an imprisoned lightning storm.
“This is… where rift wolves were created.” David began. “This is where we say goodbye to those…that have left us. If we do not send them off properly, they will not rest, and we won’t be able to move on” David glanced over his shoulder at Dyaina, signaling her to stay behind him. He walked forward alone for the last 15 feet and stopped right in front of the flashing stone.
“I David Lucien, sole remaining guardian of your rift ways do hereby commend my son unto your care. He gave his life to save his friends and family and brought honor to all rift wolves. It is my deepest wish-and his- that you use his energy to keep those closest to him safe. He touched the stone with his broad forehead. As soon as David touched the rock, a beam of rift energy erupted from the stone and shot between a pair of the stone structures creating a slow-opening rift. David was not prepared for this, neither was his group. William held his mother back as she tried to race forward towards her husband.
“You speak true guardian” came a voice from the rift, it was feminine and eerily powerful. “Both of your sons have shown remarkable courage in the face of adversity, and never wavered from their purposes. Michael’s last thoughts were those of the safety of his family and friends, we embrace his energy fully and acknowledge his honor in every way.”
“Who are you?” David bellowed over the rift crackle.
“I am your creator.” The outline of a woman appeared at the rift portal before stepping onto David’s side of the opening. “Creator of all rift wolves” she continued as she walked forward slowly; adjusting to the gravity of the realm she had now materialized in. White rift energy crackled in the unmistakably feminine form, but no details could be seen. Bolts of blue and white energy arced from her feet scorching the ground as she walked. Owen and Alex moved quickly sensing an unfamiliar energy. They tried to conjure their elements but were unable.
The energy glanced at both men with eyes brimming with azure lightning storms. “I mean you no harm, you cannot do me harm nor will I do any to you.” The elemental woman tilted her head quizzically before elaborating further. “I nullify shamanic powers.” The energy walked a few more feet before it stood only an arm’s length away from David and raised its hand to touch his broadhead. William pushed his mother behind him. William gathered himself and focused quickly enveloping himself in the energy of his core. He found that his powers still worked and charged himself for battle.
The elemental consciousness looked around David and smiled at William, “Amusing child, who do you think gave you the energy that you use now? You asked for my power to save your mother, and I gave you only the smallest of portions. That energy still belongs to me.” With a snap of electric fingers, William’s energy dispersed in a flash. The elemental hand met David’s wolfish head; petting the fur gently.
“I mean no harm, and I will not repeat myself.” The elemental’s eyes stared at David’s large amber eyes. He was transfixed- he felt at peace and safe. “You know who I am, don’t you?” The elemental asked.
David managed a slow nod. No one, rift wolf or otherwise, had ever seen the consciousness that was said to inhabit the rift. In the beginning years, it was worshipped as their creator, but that practice had died off with the dwindling numbers of rift wolves that still remembered the rituals. Yet here it was, rather she was. Through her electrically charged hand, he was transferred Michael’s last moments. No pain, just love, and satisfaction that he had done everything he could and he knew it. David’s eyes closed as tears rolled down his furry cheeks. She removed her hand from his head and turned towards the group.
“You all have done the rift wolf clans a tremendous service. The Reaper hunted my children for sport many, many years ago. He, along with a few others, are responsible for the near-extinction of my children- David’s brothers and sisters.” The shape looked at them seriously. “Make no mistake younglings. There are far worse things than an ancient demon possessing a shaman”, caution dripped from her words.
“The reaper was death…” Owen trailed off.
“No, the reaper brought death. He was not Death himself.” The elemental form chuckled slightly at the lack of comprehension of a life form so young. “The lifespan of humanity has come and gone, more times than I care to count. The Reaper was created in this current lifetime. Inevitably humans grow to want power and seek it wherever their creative minds can. This leads to the creation of entities that kill, maim and destroy your race. This has happened during every lifecycle of man and will undoubtedly continue after your current lifespan has come and gone. There are creatures beyond imaging that have spanned far more generations than that. If these creatures stepped a wicked foot on your realm, they would obliterate life in a single breath. Measures were taken to ensure that they would never reach your realm. However, their cages have aged and time has only made them more powerful and angry. It is only a matter of time.”
“How can we hope to defeat those creatures?” Dyaina asked; hopelessness in every word. The oldest adversary she had ever known was the Reaper, and she had just found out that he was a kitten in comparison.
“You don’t. Not alone.” The shape continued. The consciousness now stood behind David and began to glow brighter and brighter. “With these, any of my children you encounter will help you.” With those words 8 bolts of rift energy tore the air and slammed into the shoulders or chests of each member of the group as well as David’s flank, they winced in unison. A blinding flash followed, and the shape was gone. When their collective vision cleared, they were now rift-branded with triangular runic symbols representing their elements.
“Earth,” Owen said as he rubbed his shoulder, he had a downward pointing triangle with a horizontal line through the thicker base.
“Air” Renai said, still wincing over her stinging flesh. Her symbol was the direct opposite of that of Owen.
“Fire,” Alex said, he barely noticed the burns at all. His symbol was a simple glowing triangle in the upwards position.
“Water,” Dyaina said quietly, noticing the opposite symbol to Alex’s- a downward triangle.
“I swear if I got a heart tattoo…” Brian said as he kept his hand on his chest where his brand had struck; referencing another favorite cartoon—Captain Planet. He snuck a peak and breathed a sigh of relief as he got the same symbol as Dyaina. Brian glanced towards Irys who was covering a spot between her left shoulder and above her left breast. Brian thought that she got hit by the bolt as well, but Irys was shaking her head side to side.
William looked at his brand and couldn’t understand it. “What does mine say?” he asked. His symbol was a downward pointing triangle imposed over an upward pointing triangle forming a star. Owen looked at it and beamed broadly, as did Michael, Alex, and Dyaina. “What?” William said, not getting the joke.
“It means unity,” David said William, noticing that his father had the same symbol now branded on the fur of his flank.
“Call to your brothers, guardian…” The voice came from the closing rift. “Prepare them.”
The voice trailed off as the rift snapped shut.
David looked from side to side; unsure of how to call to his brothers. How could he reach them? It dawned on him suddenly. His creator had spoken to him here, in
this sacred clearing for a particular reason. He braced himself and howled a rift tearing bellow that shook the clearing; his unity brand glowed and pulsed.
The stone structures vibrated making a high pitched tone long after the howl was gone. The pitch grew louder until rift energy erupted from them and tore individual rifts through the clearing- 3 in total.
Three different rift wolves appeared from their own tears. A red wolf with a dark blue fur tips and two long tails came from the first tear. A wolf with white fur that had black metallic tips and a shorter tail emerged from another- shimmering as it walked. The last to reveal itself, was a black wolf, with silver fur tips and three tails; all of them markedly smaller in size than David but equally magnificent.
All three wolves approached the guardian stopping about 10 feet from him. One at a time they bowed their heads to the ground.
“Respect for our Guardian.” The white wolf spoke with a rich, feminine tone as she elegantly bowed her head. This cued the entrance of 3 other white wolves that padded forward and stopped behind the first and bowed their heads low.
“You have our strength, my Guardian.” The red wolf spoke his tails wagged anxiously, obviously younger than the white wolf. Two more of his brethren appeared from their rift and followed suit.
“Honor in life, peace in death my brother,” replied the black wolf, precision in his every syllable.
“You don’t have rift friends coming?” Brian asked sarcastically. The black wolf shot Brian a contemptuous glance laced with electrical energy jumping from his pupils.
“You will need only one of my kind.” It continued. If words could cut, Brian would be bleeding out.
“What’s going on?” Dyaina said under her breath.
“We are not alone,” David replied as he howled with excitement. His renewed family echoed his emotions.
I must have her back. Must….need… my collection. Iryssssss… wait for me Iryssss… there is no escaping from my collection. Ripen for me my Irys. I will be back at full strength soon and then….the harvest! The voice disappeared into the darkness from whence it came in a burst of cackling, spine-tingling laughter.
Elemental Courage Page 21