“Horses do not do that Rochie. They do not comfort one another like that.” He looked at his friend. “They are different.”
Rochie shrugged. “I will give you that much.” He saw Rana’s face again, and she warmed his heart. “They do seem to be able to grasp what the feelings mean.”
Jameson let his sister cry. He heard what they said behind him and it made him have enough. Any sadness he had instantly vanished from his soul.
“You Wanderers are so contrived.” He left her on the step. He moved to his father’s lifeless body and kneeled down over him. He touched the side of his face with a gentle caress.
Rochie and Kenar heard him and they both turned to him at the same time.
Only Rochie answered him. “We understand this feeling human.” He left Kenar’s side. “You must be thankful that we arrived when we did.” He sounded every bit as he felt. Humans were truly nothing to him. They were only food. They were cattle, and nothing else mattered than that.
Jameson truly turned angrier. “We have names.” He stood his ground. Normally most humans would bow to a Wanderer. They would just accept what happened, but not this time. This time everything was different. His anger wouldn’t let him be anything else but what he now felt. “My father had a name.”
Rochie did understand some of this. He knew who this human was. He knew who his father was. Chiefs were normally off limits to the feedings of the Walkers. They needed them to help maintain control of the humans. They therefore tolerated the balance.
“Your father should not have died, young Jameson.” His voice went softer. He meant it. “I am sorry for this.” He also meant that.
“You have no idea Wanderer how sorry you will be.” Jameson’s face started to burn. His mind caught on fire.
Kenar felt everything. He felt that Rochie was having trouble handling this, so he thought it was best for him to come in and help him with it.
“Much has happened this night. We must all take heed to what is left.” He looked to the girl on the steps. She has so much emotion. He looked back to the boy. They are so much more than I ever thought they were. They are more than even this.
Rochie nodded and agreed with Kenar. “Yes. We must be thankful.” He looked back to the boy.
But Jameson was having none of it. “That beast took away my father. He nearly destroyed my village. He nearly took my sister’s life. What is there to be thankful for?”
Rochie bowed his head. To say that he wasn’t used to this would have been an understatement if there ever were one. A human had never spoken to him in this way. He was downright confused with how to continue with it.
Kenar kept going for him. “We regret what has happened.” The rage in the boy was becoming focused some, but by only a little. He suddenly realized where that was. The boy, Jameson, had revenge on his thoughts. He had hatred in his heart. After seeing and feeling what he had, he wasn’t sure any more about anything. Things were now moving down a road that he didn’t even know existed and this worried him some. Other parts of it didn’t. He just wasn’t sure.
Rochie did finally find his voice. He did clear his mind some. He did have something that he could give the boy. He did have one last job to do before he headed back to Devish’s home.
“As the eldest male child of your father I name you chief of this village.” He walked closer to the boy and stopped a few feet from him. “You are their leader now.” He even smiled.
The boy only continued within his rage. “I will see to it that my father’s life is avenged.” And he turned. He left Rochie and headed back to the steps. He sat down next to his sister and held her to his chest.
Rochie watched him closely. He then turned to Kenar.
“We are finished here.” He left him and returned to his horse. As for what the boy said, he just didn’t pay it much mind. The task was still not finished, and again, it was all he cared about doing. He just didn’t have any other choice in the matter and treated it that way.
Kenar couldn’t have agreed less. Something is happening here. Something has begun. Something has changed.
Rochie climbed his horse. “Kenar? We must go.”
He heard him and nodded. He might not know what was happening, but Rochie was right. They had to make it back up north. Besides, he figured that he would have the time to figure things out later. He hoped that then he would understand. He would only hope he could figure everything out.
He turned and went to Rochie, and let him help him climb the horse.
With their job finished, they all turned.
The Wanderers left the square and headed back through the gate.
They headed back north.
16
Sharlia made it back to Devish’s castle fast. She carried Satar the entire way. She did so in record time.
Odan was waiting for her just at the gate at the front of the castle’s main courtyard. He greeted her with a full and hearty smile.
“Well, well my dear Sharlia. What have you returned with?” He felt so excited that he could barely contain himself. It seemed that all of their pain had finally ended and he couldn’t wait to gloat with it. He couldn’t wait to gloat over his friend.
Sharlia put Satar down at his feet. She did so ever so gently.
Seeing him so helpless like this almost made him cry, and not for the helpless part. His friend should never have found himself in this position in the first place. If he had just listened to him from the beginning—if he had let him help him through all of his pain—things would have been different. This would have never happened.
Satar looked up to him while still being in his Blood Walker’s form. “Odan.” He could barely say this. The weight of the silver had not only pressed down his muscles but it was now beginning to suffocate him. The weight was pressing into his lungs feeling like a giant snake was slowly squeezing his chest. “It is…” He could say nothing more.
Odan bent down to him and with total shock, he saw the shackles. He saw the color. He knew what it meant.
“What are these?” He stood back up quickly. Rage flew through his chest. He couldn’t believe it.
Sharlia blinked several times. “The Wanderers used them to bind him, my lord.” To her they meant nothing. They needed them. Without them, she would have never had the chance to bring him home.
Odan thought entirely differently, and it made the rage only get stronger inside his heart.
“How did they know about such things?” It seemed that the Wanderers knew more than he ever thought they had. It seemed worse than that. It meant something even more.
Sharlia said nothing. Again, she didn’t pay it much thought.
Devish, who had listened from the front door to his castle, at the top of a great set of steps to the courtyard, did. “I told you Odan what it meant for them to do this.” He felt somewhat vindicated in his fears. If it weren’t for what it meant to all of them, the Wanderers knowing their weaknesses, he would have danced with glee at the very idea. This was however not the time for such things. Even he knew that.
Odan turned to him with his eyes flaring to a bright and glaring red.
“You knew about this.” If he was right, then there must be hell to pay for this. As for him, he knew nothing. He saw none of this.
Devish walked down the steps. His eyes went straight to his father down on his knees.
“Remove the shackles Sharlia.” He stopped by Odan’s side.
Sharlia nodded. She turned to Satar but stopped.
Thankfully, Odan stopped her before she had to try to figure out how to do what he wished her to do. Silver hurt her just as it did him.
“Wait.” Odan turned to Devish. “We must get him inside first.” Even though he feared the Wanderers knowing this, he still feared Satar and all that he could do if they released him now. That thought weighed heavier on him than anything else ever could.
Devish growled. “You would let him stay in pain for a minute more?” His eyes also went red.
Od
an understood this, but as said, he had more troubling things on his mind to consider than this.
“I know what you fear Devish. Whether or not they know this, we still cannot have him running amuck through the world.” He turned back to Sharlia. “Please remove him to the dungeons. Make sure he is locked inside the moon metal cell before they are removed.”
Devish turned to her with his fiery gaze.
Seeing it, feeling those eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to move.
Odan noticed this. Again, he understood what he felt, so he gave him more of his thoughts on the matter, “We will deal with the Wanderers when they return, my friend.” He offered him a smile. “We will stand as one and discover the reasons behind all of this, one way or the other, we will learn the truth.”
Devish had none of it. “You never said anything about locking him up.” He cringed with just the idea of such a thing.
Odan also understood this. “He is too dangerous to be left to his own devices Devish. We must protect him from himself.”
Devish swallowed hard with this. “I will not allow my father to be treated like a human Odan. He is more than any animal ever would be.”
Odan nodded, agreed with him, but he had more. He knew more too.
“So much has happened Devish. So much has come and passed. We must learn more before we can let him go.”
Sharlia understood this. She knew more than they did.
“He did go and see the Seer my lords. I know what he was searching for.” She looked down at Satar, and watched his face turn to hers. He moved so slowly that right then, she felt his pain. She felt his gaze. She felt his heart racing hard inside his chest.
Odan and Devish both turned to her at the same time. Their eyes went wide.
“You can inform us of this when he is safe.” Odan smiled to her.
Devish turned his back. He still didn’t want to see this, but at the same time, he already knew what she was going to tell them. After all, he saw it already from his father’s own thoughts. If he continued arguing this, it would prove to Odan that he did. He couldn’t allow him to know this. He had to continue to play the game this close to his chest. He didn’t have the choice if he wanted to know more from his father’s own words. He had to do this first, so he turned. He turned his back to all of them.
Odan nodded to Sharlia.
Sharlia lifted Satar back over her shoulders, and with grace, she left the courtyard and climbed the steps.
Odan waited for her to vanish before he moved in front of Devish.
“I know how this feels for you my friend. I know it because I feel the same as you do. I do not wish to see your father, my good friend, like this, but we do not have the choice. With him safe and secured, we will know the truth to all of this.” He turned and looked back to the front door. “We have graver problems now.” He looked back to Devish and placed his right hand to his left shoulder. “We may need your father to help us against the Wanderers if it should come to that.” He dropped his arm back to his side. “If they know one of our weaknesses, they may know all of them.” He thought of gold. He thought of the burning pain it caused. He cringed from both thoughts.
Devish met his stare. He agreed with this.
“They do know more.” Devish took a huge and heavy breath. “I have seen their thoughts. I know what they know.”
Odan blinked with hearing this. He now wanted to know everything that Devish knew, and he felt bound, and determined to learn it all. Again, he didn’t have the choice. They would return to them soon enough and by then, it may just be too late.
17
Kenar nudged Rochie to stop. He said as much.
Rochie didn’t and could never understand his friend. “Why? We must reach Devish’s home before it is too late.” He kept the horse moving.
“Something has happened Rochie. We must stop.” He nudged him again, harder this time. “We must all discuss this before we reach them. Everyone must know what has just happened.”
This time, he did stop.
The others did as well. Rochie led the group, so with him stopping it made all of them do it without knowing why.
“What is it?” Rochie sounded every bit as being disturbed, in which he was. They were wasting time.
“Odan?” Kenar jumped off the horse, and turned to the others. Their auras sparkled within the trees. His mind flared into a thousand different directions at once. He heard so much just then, Odan, Devish, even Satar was there again, and they made it very hard for him to put all of them into perspective long enough to tell them everything clearly. He hoped that the pause would help, but it didn’t. He seemed more confused than ever.
“What has happened?” Patrice saw this on his face, maybe because he was facing her dead on.
He shook his head trying to put it all together. It took a lot of effort, but he did manage to begin with something, “We should have not used the silver to capture him.” He took a deep breath when he finished it.
Rochie didn’t agree with this. “What were we supposed to do? He is a Blood Walker. There was no way to capture him without them.” He replayed what had happened and felt justified by what they did. He was right. They would not have been able to take him alive without the silver.
Kenar turned to him fast. “Are you sure?”
The speed of his turn made him jump some. He couldn’t help himself.
“We had no choice.” He gathered himself quickly, and again, he replayed what happened, and again, he agreed with having to do it.
“We have just shown the Elders what we know. We have just shown them what we can do.” Kenar felt animated by this. He even started shaking some because of it.
Garreth listened to everything, and now he felt like it was his time to come in to this. “Rochie is right Kenar. What choice did we have but to not use the silver? We would not have been successful with capturing him and bringing him home without them.”
Kenar continued shaking. It was noticeable now to all of them, and seeing it, he could see the worry running through their minds.
“They fear this. They now fear us.” He looked at each of them in turn, but finished a strong gaze back on Rochie.
“They are the ones who called us to help them. It was there task to us.” Rochie shook his head and shrugged his shoulders hard. He apparently didn’t understand where Kenar was heading with this, and it began to scare him some. He didn’t have his gifts. He couldn’t see minds and thoughts. He didn’t doubt him. He didn’t doubt what he saw and what he was now telling them. With all of it, it was shaking him to his core. A shake he now tried to talk himself out of, and he was failing at it fast.
Kenar walked up to his friend, took his left shoulder with his right hand and squeezed him firmly.
“I know Rochie. I know.” He smiled just as firmly. “They did not know that you knew about the precious metals. At least, not all of them did.” He looked back to the others.
Shandra always remained calm and quiet, but not now. Now she just couldn’t do such a thing, and she had to come in. “What are they going to do?”
Kenar looked at her and gave her an honest look. “I do not know what they are going to do. I do not think they know of such a thing as of yet.” He looked at the others. “I know you fear this—I am doing the same—but we have to stay together. We have to stay strong. We must stand as one—united.”
“What are you speaking of Kenar? What do you mean by that?” Garreth now came in, stronger than ever before.
Kenar shook his head. “I am not sure.” He looked at each of them again, one at a time. “We are brothers and sisters. We are the Wanderers. Together we can stand. Together we are strong.” He saw their auras slide in and out of brightness and the dark. They were showing him their fear. He was hearing them scream it within their thoughts. “Our fathers will not harm us, I am sure of this. We must stand together as one to confide with them about what we know. We must stand together and answer their fears. We must prove to them that we mean them n
o harm. We must show them the truth.”
Garreth continued his thoughts, “It sounds to me that you think they will punish us for knowing what we do. It also sounds to me like you are preparing us to stand up against them. Is that what you wish to happen, Kenar? Is that what you are telling us?”
Kenar shook his head. He didn’t feel like the Elders had such plans, but at the same time, he did feel the fear they had about them. He knew what fear could do. It could change the world, and not always for the better.
“We stand or fall together.” He smiled at all of them. “We stay strong no matter what happens.”
Rochie heard all of this, but in some ways, he believed none of it. Kenar’s gifts aside, he couldn’t see his family turn against them like that, even if they did fear what they knew and were. It didn’t make any sense to him at all. It felt wrong. It felt downright dirty to its very center. Besides, one Walker already knew the truth. He will tell the others how I came to know about the moon metal. He will tell them everything. This he had no doubts about it. He would prove to Kenar that he feared nothing at all.
“We should get back to Lord Devish. We should show them what we have accomplished for them.” He reached back to the saddle and pulled himself back up on to his horse. “We must head home.”
Kenar nodded. He understood Rochie more than any of them ever did. He lived with the Walkers far longer than any of them. He was the oldest. He saw them as nothing less, nor nothing more than a true family. He didn’t have any other choice. He saw this too. The others did not have such preconditioning. They lived normal lives. They died in normal ways. They seemed to know only those normal things.
Hesitantly, all of them climbed back on their horses, and said nothing else.
Kenar climbed back up behind Rochie and did the same thing. He kept quiet. He said what he had to say, and could only hope that they heard him with it.
18
“How could you do that?” Devish made his way back to his throne room, and stomped there with thunderous strides. He was angrier than ever, now that he and Odan were once again alone. He may have agreed with the action, but it didn’t sit well with him at all.
A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 8