She nodded, firmly and stronger than ever. “I will.”
“Very well.” He retook her right hand with his left, and held her firmly.
He led her by the hand to his throne room, and led her to his chair. He released her only after he took his seat.
Odan was there, standing at the left side of the throne. He gave her a soft bow when she was standing in front of him.
“My lady Rana.” He saw Rathia there too. “Greetings lord Rathia.”
Rathia stood quietly. He never knew how to act when being this close to the Elders like this. He never knew what to say. He never knew how to feel. He was after all so new to this world, so he stood there silently and just kept still.
Odan turned back to the young woman with a soft sigh.
“Do you know why you are here?” He kept his voice soft and calm. Although she looked young, he knew that she wasn’t. Although she looked soft, he also knew that she was stronger than most creatures ever dreamed of being. Her gifts outpaced even them, even his.
Rana agreed. “I am. My brother has spoken everything to me.”
Odan took a deep breath while hearing this. He had to turn to Devish to his right.
“I believed that lord Gorhan was preventing this?” he had to ask. He was right of course.
Devish didn’t move. “He must have decided against it before heading home.” He just kept his gaze on her beautiful green eyes.
“I cannot believe that he would do this to me, to us.” Odan still couldn’t believe that Gorhan would have left them like this. It wasn’t like him to leave so abruptly without first telling him of it. It didn’t fit his character. He thought he knew him better than that, but apparently, he didn’t. Devish told him all about it. He just didn’t know what to think about any of it, so he left it at that.
Devish smirked some, but kept his head down so Odan wouldn’t see it.
“He is his own creature lord Odan.” He stood up from the chair. “Let us get back to the matter at hand, shall we?” He took a single step to Rana. “Your brother has been accused of blasphemy against this house and against the elders Rathia, Rana. He must stand for this crime. He must stand for his lack of honor.”
Rathia stayed quiet.
Devish liked this. No made Walker would ever question one of them who were born. He never doubted that he would.
Rana knew this too, so she did the talking. She did all of the pleading, “I beg the Elders to consider that he had never brought this to the attention of those closest to him. He never mentioned it to anyone, until now.” She stepped closer to Devish, but kept it at one move. She didn’t want to be accused herself for defying them, and wanted to keep looking like it. Her brother would have no chance if she were with him in the cell. “Being that he did not, it shows his intentions. It shows you, my lords that he did not prove to be a threat to you.” She looked at Odan; saw his lack of attention for this, so she looked back to Devish. There, she could see a glint in his eyes. She didn’t know the truth behind it, but didn’t care. He was at least listening to her, and that was all she needed to see. “If he wanted to harm you, he would have, but he did not. He would never hurt an Elder. He is not the type to even try to do something as foolish as that.”
Devish noticed the hint of a tear in her eyes and it made him melt some by seeing it. He loved her so much. One day he hoped she would see it. One day, he knew she would.
“I agree with you my lady.” He came right to her and stood in front of her, and again, he took her hands in to his. “I understand, and accept your pleas.” He gave her a huge smile.
Hearing this, Rana gasped. She squeezed his hands in return.
Odan felt nearly floored. “What?” In fact, he nearly fell to his knees. “What game is this?” He left the throne’s side and moved to Devish, and stood beside him and the Wanderer. He felt completely stunned by the difference. He felt very shocked beyond words.
Devish carried the smile to Odan. “I believe the lady and grant her plea.” He looked back to her lovely and smooth skin. “I will release him to your loving care.”
Rana’s relief flew through her like a thunder clash. It came so quickly—it came so strongly, she almost burst from her own flesh.
“Thank you my lord Devish.” Her face lit up like the sun.
Devish loved the look. “You are welcomed my dear.” He looked behind all of them to the door. “Please head down and release Rochie.”
Vala, the wolf, only nodded.
Devish looked back to Rana.
“He will be in your care. Please keep him out of further harm. Protect him from himself.” And he released her hands and turned back to his throne. He then retook his chair.
Odan watched him carefully, trying to take everything in that he just heard. He understood nothing, but as of right now, right then, he kept this inside him. This was not the time to question him in front of Rana or her father. He would wait for the time when they were alone, and then—well—the questions will fly.
Rana turned back to her father with outright glee.
“I told you father that he would listen.” She did say this to him before they left their home. Now that it had happened, she just couldn’t wait. She just couldn’t contain all of her feelings at once.
Rathia only smiled.
In the matter of moments, the Moonwalker Vala returned with Rochie by her side.
Rana watched him come, and didn’t hesitate to fling herself in to his arms.
“Rana?” He hugged her tightly, not knowing what had just happened. He only knew that she was there. He only knew that he was with her again.
She released his embrace but kept his arms in her hands.
“I have pleaded your case to our lord Devish.” She gave him a full a lighted smile.
He returned it, but only slightly. He had a thousand questions that needed answering, but didn’t know where to begin so he only smiled. He was too exhausted for anything else.
Devish watched them. He felt their thoughts. He wallowed in her feelings of joy.
“Now go home Rochie. You have your reprieve from this. Go home with your sister and keep in the shadows. Stay out of the light.”
Odan sighed heavily.
Rana turned to him one last time.
“Thank you my lords. I will not forget this generosity you have shown us on this day.”
Devish gave her a slight bob.
Rochie watched him and suddenly felt relaxed. He had no idea what was going on, but didn’t care. He was going home. He was getting the chance to leave, and that was all that mattered to him now.
Rana agreed with him, turned, took his right hand into hers, and together, they headed to the door.
Rathia bowed at the waist to his master, and followed them through the foyer and back outside.
The three of them moved quickly and headed back to the gate without looking back.
With them gone, and now finally alone again, Odan turned to Devish with the greatest speed. It was time to let his thoughts fly.
“What was that about Devish? Why did you let him go so abruptly?”
Devish didn’t look up to him once.
“She made her plea and I believed her.” He kept his eyes on the door. His mind was still locked on to hers. Her joy was like feeling the warmth of a summer’s breeze. It felt intoxicating. It felt downright too wonderful to feel it right.
Odan shook his head with violent ease. “You had no right to make the decision without speaking with the council first.” He stood his ground. He stood as strong as he had ever felt before.
Devish laughed with this. “With my father returned, I felt that it was time to put things right again.” He stood up and faced him. “We have far more pressing things to concern ourselves with than those two.” He turned back to his chair.
Odan felt surprised with this. “What are you speaking of now?”
Devish walked behind his throne, took the back of it with both hands, and gripped it so tightly that his knuckles w
ent white.
“Kenar has joined with the humans. He intends to fight with them.” He tried hard to look serious, and seeing Odan’s face turn white, as white as his hair, he knew that he had pulled it off.
Odan felt the need to sit, but lacked a chair, so he forced himself to stand as straight as he could. He did his best. He suddenly felt weak in the knees.
“What?” He felt a lump in his throat. Again, he knew none of this, and it made him think again about Gorhan. “Lord Gorhan would have known this. He would not have left us if he had.” He felt so sure of this that he could hardly contain it within his words. His voice shook like never before.
Devish only nodded. “Of course he would have, but he still left did he not?” He bowed his head some, but lifted it again just as quickly. “He made his choice.” He offered him a solemn gaze.
Odan felt ashamed with seeing it. He took it to mean what Devish had intended it to mean.
“You are saying that he left to protect himself from the humans. He would never do such a thing Devish. Gorhan would never do that to us.”
Devish only nodded slightly. “But yet, here were are, alone without him.”
Odan blinked hard. “When are they coming?” He thought about Kenar. He remembered his face before he left to fetch the human, and saw the look in his eyes. He saw the confusion. He saw everything. He couldn’t doubt this now. It was there the entire time.
Devish only agreed. “It will take them a day to gather their strength. It will take them another day to make the journey. We are safe for two days.”
Odan didn’t like the sound of any of this. As far as he was concerned, it was time for action. They had to defend themselves.
“I am bringing all of the Elders here. We must gather together in full strength.” He turned.
Devish stopped him. “There is no need to take such drastic measures my lord.” He already got rid of one elder. The need to have to take out another eight of them just didn’t sit too well with him. Not that he wanted to do it; it was just the matter of time. He didn’t have the time to do it.
Odan stopped before reaching the door to the back rooms, his intended destination.
“We must gather all of them. With Sharlia gone, and now Gorhan too, we do not carry the numbers. We must have our full strength.”
Devish kept to the plan. “We do not need much Odan. Adollo is still here with us. My father and I are here with you. Together the four of us can manage this task.”
Listening to the sounds of his voice was enough for him to turn back around and face him. He heard the confidence in it.
“You already have a plan?” He didn’t doubt this much. Devish had always been good at scheming with things. He figured it was a part of his gift of reading thoughts. It gave him an edge to manipulate people. He used it well.
“I do.” He stepped around the side of the chair to him.
Odan took a deep breath. “That is why you let Rochie leave. You did not want him here for the fight.” Suddenly everything made complete sense to him. It also gave him a level of confidence in this too. It seemed Devish did know what he was doing after all.
Devish gave him a simple grin. “I could not allow him to intervene to assist his friend Kenar.” He stepped back to his chair and sat back down on it. “Now with Rana making sure he does stay out of this we will be able to set things right again. We can reset the balance.” He folded his hands together over his lap. He felt better than ever.
“What is your plan?” Odan still wasn’t very sure, but now he didn’t seem to have the choice. He would have to follow him. He just didn’t have to like it.
Devish locked his fingers together, and when he was ready, he explained.
32
“How is he Wanderer?” Donte asked after watching him come back from Jameson’s bedchamber. He heard the screams. He heard the pain in his voice. He felt for his friend.
Kenar smiled, as he wiped his hands with the damp cloth. He had never set such a badly broken bone before so he could only hope that he had done it right. Time would tell him if had or had not.
“He will be fine.” He closed the door behind him. He joined Donte at the side of the banquet table in the center of the great hall. “He is a very impressive human for someone so young.” He finished with his hands and set the cloth to the top of the table beside him.
Donte watched him closely. “He is a very strong man at that.” He no longer feared what the Wanderer was. He no longer worried about him if whether or not he was a friend or a foe. He did still question his loyalty though. If he could so easily turn from someone that he had followed for so long, could he do the same thing again to him? He just had to know any of this before they began.
Kenar agreed with him so he felt the need to explain, “When I was young, my mother told me what I was. She told me that I was different from her. Walkers cannot have children. A Moonwalker bit my mother when she was with child—with me. When I was three, she realized that I could not see except at night. I could also see her thoughts. I could see her hunger for flesh. I could also see her revulsion with having to do it—to hunt. She fought the need, but for one night, it overcame her fears. She turned and attacked my father who was still human. I was there and saw it happen through her eyes. I then watched her turn to madness as she tried over, and over again to rid the world of herself. A task she could not do, for every time she tried, she would heal from the wounds she gave herself. Realizing her curse, she ran off and joined the other animals of the world. I kept with her thoughts as she stayed in her wolf’s form for the rest of her life. She finally perished in a fire—a fire that she set and allowed to completely devour her until she was nothing but ashes. I felt her pain. I felt the heat course through her every bone until it became too much to endure, and I was forced to remove my link with her. After that, I truly knew what it was like to be a mortal. Even as I served the Walkers, I realized that I would never be what they wished for me to be. I realized she had no inner light as I did. She had no soul to carry on after her bite. I knew she was gone forever.” He wiped tears from his face as he felt everything all over again. When his face was somewhat dry, he began telling his tale again. “No Walker possesses a soul. They lack that light inside them. Feeling it within you, you humans, it made me realize that we, we Wanderers, are more like you than we were ever to them. It makes you special. It makes you as special as we are.”
Donte listened as he heard his tale. He had never heard of such emotions before coming from a Wanderer. He of course heard of the tales of how they came to be, but he had never heard of the feelings inside them. He did feel for him too.
“Walkers lack that specialness. They lack that soul. I knew this but I never saw it in humans. I do not know why. Now that I have, there is no returning for me.”
Donte nodded. He looked at Shandra standing at the other end of the table. With everything that happened, he let her join them inside.
“You do not speak much, do you?” he quipped. He hadn’t heard her say a word, and this worried him some. He didn’t like people who didn’t talk.
She looked up to him, but quickly bowed her head again, and said nothing.
Kenar chuckled some beneath his breaths. “She is one of very few words.”
Donte didn’t understand. “How do we know that she agrees with this, if she does not speak it?” He truly wanted to know.
Again, Kenar chuckled. “She can control the air around everything, including herself.” He sat forwards some in the chair. “It makes her feel uncomfortable. Even the air from her own body she can feel. It bothers her to do it so she does not speak. She refuses to make the wind from her voice.”
Donte just shook his head. “How do we know she will not side with them?” He forced this point.
Kenar nodded to him, and to her. “Her thoughts are with us.” He looked down. With the sun coming up again, his eyesight was already beginning to fade. “She was born to a Nightwalker’s bride. Her father left before she was born. Sh
e never knew about the Walkers, for her mother forbade the mere mention of his name. She was brought up with humans. When I found her, she had no idea what she was. She never left that life, and because of this, she has never loved the creatures she has come to live for and with.”
Donte took a deep sigh. “How is it you can do what you can?” Again, he truly wished to know. “How is it you see without sight?”
Kenar turned to his voice with his aura now gone for the day.
“We are the children of the Walkers, but we are also half human. The venom that changes human to Walker is powerful, but for some reason children are immune to the physical bite. However we are not immune to the mental strength that they possess.”
“So even now you can survive their bites?”
Kenar shook his head. “No. Now their bites will kill us. The venom kills what we are.”
Donte shrugged. “Like us humans?”
“That is another part of this that makes us the same. Some humans have survived the bite and thus changed. No Wanderer has ever survived.”
Donte only nodded with hearing this. He didn’t understand it, and right then, he believed that he never would. Besides, he had other things on his mind.
“How are we going to fight them? Even with the two of you, I do not see us having a great chance of victory. How can we fight creatures that can see us coming before we even arrive?”
Kenar understood this. In all honesty, he wasn’t too sure himself.
“I would say that we should try to broker a truce with them, but this all seems difficult now.” He gripped the arms of the chair and felt its coolness race through his arms. He accepted the feeling with the greatest need. “Devish is deep within the blood thirst. I feel him with it even though he has tried hard to block me from his mind. I know I am right. His father helped him to recover his senses, but when one has it, it is hard to break from its strength. He longs for the hunt again. He longs for the blood. He will do what he must to have his way again. It drove him mad and confused.” He took a deep breath, and shot it out with one giant gust of air as he exhaled it. “We no longer have the chance for stopping what is about to come. Win or lose, death or life, we must stand and fight. It is our only hope.”
A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 16