Rochie shrugged. “Maybe but,” he paused and looked back to the wolf. “Why did you not go with him when you were given the chance?” He wanted to know this, but not for any other reason but as to why a wolf would not join with his fellow Walkers. Trust in him was another good reason to know why.
Kalima put his hands on his hips. “I have not decided that yet.” This felt like it was becoming wasted time again. “You told me that you could help me find her. I am trusting you with this.” He bowed his head as he talked, and when he finished, he looked back up. “If you cannot help me, I am sure others will.” He stressed this. A growl ebbed in within the words. He meant all of it.
Kenar understood. “The humans may not know what she is. They do have her, I am sure of this.” He looked back to Rochie, and watched his golden colored aura sparkle in the nearly full moon. His eyesight was nearly at its peak.
Rochie nodded.
Kalima grew impatient again too. “Then we go and take her back.” He stepped to Kenar, he meant to pass him, but he stopped him with a simple right arm out in front of him.
He did stop.
“The humans will not let you go to her Kalima. As far as they are concerned, you are an enemy. You are a Walker and nothing else will matter to them. They will kill you where you stand.”
He huffed again with this. “And they will trust you?”
Kenar dropped his arm. “We are their guides in all matters. We can explain to them what we have discovered and ask them for her. They will listen to us. They always have.”
Rochie shrugged with this.
Kalima saw him do it. “You do not seem to be so convinced about that Wanderer.” He dropped his arms too.
Kenar just shook his head. “He has his doubts, as all of us do about this, but they will trust us in this. Where Devish is involved, chaos always follows. They know that as much as we do.”
Rochie could agree with this. As for Donte just handing over the child to a Walker, that may be harder to do than Kenar thinks. He just wasn’t all too sure they would.
Again, Kenar agreed with his friend, but they had to keep to the plan that he now had. He just hoped that he was right and not Rochie, because he wasn’t sure himself.
“We will go and talk with the humans. Stay here and we will return with her here after we have her. I promise you that we will come back.”
Kalima huffed again. “I will stay. I will trust you.” He said nothing else. What he thought to himself was something else entirely. He didn’t intend to just sit there and wait for them. He made a promise to her—to himself, and it was time to keep it.
Kenar shook his head, turned, and headed back to their horse. He climbed it without looking back.
Rochie watched the black wolf carefully, before he turned himself. He walked back to the horse and climbed it in front of Kenar. He then took the reins.
Kenar looked back to Kalima and gave him a soft and comforting nod. “We will return shortly.” He turned back to Rochie and took his waist with both hands. “Let us go. We have a long ride to take in such a short amount of time.”
Rochie turned the horse and headed back to the fields. He headed back to the road.
When he reached it, he turned back to his friend. “Do you really think he is going to sit there and wait for us to come back?” He knew he wouldn’t do it. He knew he was right. He just had to make sure that Kenar was aware of it too.
He was. “I know, but that is why we are going to have to hurry my friend. He will follow us, and we had better succeed or a lot of blood will flow because of it. We cannot let that happen. We cannot let Devish win.”
Rochie couldn’t agree more. “Whatever he is doing…” He pouted some, and decided to add, “I hope you know what you are doing?” He had nothing else left to say.
“I know. I hope I do too.”
And they rode on.
33
“Did it work my lord? Did you get what you wished to find?” Vincent asked Devish when he returned to their spot out in the trees. What Devish was really looking for he didn’t know. He just knew that it had something to do with ending this war in their favor. He couldn’t ask for anything more than that himself.
“I did to a point.” He passed him, moved to the center of the small clearing and stopped. He stood by the huge fire they lit for him to find them. From there, he lifted his head up. He took in the air, and let it caress his mind. He closed his eyes, taking in the feeling and letting it blow through his chest. He then looked into the darkness and the endless void and found what he was looking for. He saw Kenar. He saw his mind turning. He saw his thoughts. He loved all of it. He opened his eyes.
Vincent watched his master, turned to Michael, his father and maker, and looked back to Devish. He had no idea what was going on, and just marveled at it all.
Michael said nothing. He just shrugged. Like Vincent, he had no idea what Devish was looking for. He of course could see his thoughts, but with this, he saw nothing. He had no idea who this black wolf was or how he could help them. Also like Vincent, he hoped for the best.
Devish looked down to Michael Gorhan. “He has taken my ruse my friends.” He turned, looked back to Anna and gave her a smile. He felt pleased beyond words. “It is time to correct your mistake my friend. It is time to get what we have come here for.” His red eyes sparkled.
Anna thought she understood. “The black wolf is ready to come with us then?”
How wrong she was. “Not the black wolf, but his child my dear. We have come here for his child. She is the one that I now seek.”
She accepted this without question, but still didn’t know why. “I do not understand my lord. I thought the black wolf was the one you wanted. Why do you now want the child?”
He returned her a glistening look. “She will make him see the light to his error, my dear. She will convince him to join me.” He looked at the others with him, four wolves, and six Nightwalkers in all surrounded him and the circle. He matched every one of their stares. “All of you will attack the camp and keep the humans occupied.”
They all marveled at how gleefully he looked.
“Occupied, my lord?” Michael felt astonished with this, to say the least. They had so little left with the humans now outnumbering them by nearly ten to one. Attacking them now, at their camp felt foolish, especially for a simple deception. It didn’t seem worth it.
Devish kept his heart feeling free and light. “I need the humans occupied from the task that Elizabeth and Anna are going to do. He turned to Anna and simply spoke to her with his mind. You are going to play a very important part in this my dear. I need you to be something that no one has yet seen.
She heard everything, including everything he meant for her to do.
He meant it only for her.
He then turned back to the others. “We are going to get what we need this time. I do not care what it costs us. We need to get this correct this time.”
Michael bowed his head.
Vincent did too.
Anna only nodded, feeling refreshed that he trusted her with such a task. She wanted to do everything she could to set herself right again in his eyes. She owed him so much for everything he has done for her.
He said nothing else. He turned from them, brought out the bat’s eyes from the back of his mind, pushed them forward and immediately felt his body begin to moan. He felt it break. He felt his muscles turn and boil beneath his skin.
Within seconds, he turned in to a large and monstrous bat.
They watched his skin turn to a light gray, and watched his hands form out into two massive wings. Fully formed, they watched him crouch and then bounce up, and off with graceful ease.
He flew off into the darkness of the night.
They stood there and wondered what to do next.
Elizabeth did know, as she stepped out from the trees behind all of them. She went to the center of the group and stopped.
“We are going to head to Jameson’s camp. You will attack the
m. I am going to sneak in and take the child.” Devish told her everything, like he always did.
Anna blinked, but right then, listening to Elizabeth, she realized that she didn’t know what Devish’s plans really were. This made her feel proud. She knew something that Elizabeth did not. He trusted her after all, and it made her even more determined than ever to make him just as proud of her as she was of him.
Elizabeth smiled to all of them, but mainly to Anna. She knew how much Devish didn’t trust her. She couldn’t help herself.
“When we have the child, we will flee. We are not there for anything more than just the child. Nothing else matters more than this.”
The all looked at each other, and truly said nothing. Like always, Devish would have it no other way. He loved telling them only what they wanted to hear. It was their gravest weakness.
To Michael, he did more than the rest of them. He began to hate all of this. He hated the games. He hated being used like this, and was growing tired of him. His gifts kept this from Devish, and he felt determined to keep it this way. Now was not the time for anything else. He did not have the strength to challenge him—yet.
Vincent agreed with his master’s thoughts.
Finished with everything that she had to say, Elizabeth turned back to the trees.
They followed her towards the human’s camp.
34
He watched the child. He watched her closely. Her neat shoulder length hair was black. Her skin looked slightly tanned. She looked normal. Her face looked scared; again, this was normal for any child who was brought into this circumstance like this. She looked young, maybe three, maybe five—maybe younger than that, he couldn’t tell. What he did see was what he already did. She looked completely human. Nothing about her stood out as anything else, or anything more.
Jameson heard someone come into the tent behind him, so he turned. He saw Donte and he looked concerned.
He was also relieved. “My king, the Wanderers have returned—both of them.”
Jameson felt relieved too. “It is about time.” He turned from the small child, locked away in the animal’s cage that they used to capture wolves, and headed to the doorway outside. He never thought he would use it on a human. If that was, what she was. Donte wasn’t sure, and he trusted his friend’s instincts.
There was more. His king needed to know everything, so he stopped him with a grab of his right arm. “The blind Wanderer needs to speak with you about a very pressing matter.”
Jameson just shook his head. “That is great, because I can say the same.” He sighed some, as he turned to his friend. “Maybe now we can get some answers to everything I need to know too.” He looked back to the child. That everything had everything to do with her.
Donte understood this, so he released his grip.
Jameson left the tent, made his way down the row of tents on his left, and headed straight to the gate.
Donte followed him until they reached the two Wanderers that were still standing by their horse.
Seeing his friend Rochie again made the entire world feel right again. He would never know how to live, or fight this war, without him by his side.
“My king.” Rochie bowed at his waist and quickly looked up again.
Kenar did the same thing.
Jameson acknowledged both of them. “Please tell me what all of this is about?” He took Rochie by both shoulders and squeezed him softly. Since losing his strength in his right arm, he couldn’t do anything else.
Rochie took his forearms into both hands, and returned the grip. “I will my king.” He released his arms, and watched him drop them to his sides. He turned to Kenar. “You remember Kenar, do you not?”
Jameson did. “I have not seen him since that night by the river.” He watched him, saw his age with his graying hair, and felt somewhat pleased by seeing it. It made him realize that humans were not the only ones dealing with such curses. Even Wanderers as powerful as he was had their limits.
Kenar nodded. “I am sorry for leaving you King Jameson, but there was much that I had to do.”
Jameson accepted this. “I would have thought you were gone for good, if not for your friend here reminding me of such things.” He smiled some, but kept it simple. He had no joy left in him for such things anymore. The past years did this to him. All of the death, and all of the blood that he has seen and spilled, did the rest.
Kenar bowed his head. He heard the mocking in his voice. He saw it in his mind. He didn’t need to see anything else.
“I am glad that you have returned to us.” Jameson turned his thoughts back to the matter at hand. He looked back to Rochie. “What is all of this about? What is Devish now up to now?” He looked back and watched Donte stand firmly behind him. He saw his eyes bow down as he listened, so he turned back to the Wanderers. “My people have told me that he has not moved since arriving here. He has not turned to fight us. He has done nothing but sit and wait.” He watched both of them, one at a time, but settled his eyes back on to Rochie’s solemn face. “This is not like him to do nothing.”
Rochie had so much to tell him that he had to start somewhere, so he turned back to the only thing he had on his mind. “Did you find a child, a young girl, not far from here?” It was time to begin this.
Jameson looked back to Donte as he answered him. “Yes, we have recovered a child.” He saw his eyes as he glanced up to his, and felt his needs. He felt his need to know. He shared it. He looked back to Rochie and their eyes met.
Rochie blinked.
So did Kenar. “Is she well? Is she safe?” He felt rushed. He feared what this feeling meant. He could see it. He could see the black wolf suddenly blast through the walls and come flaring at them for his child. He saw it so clearly that he felt like it was only a matter of time before he saw it for real. He only hoped that he was wrong. He didn’t know what would happen if he did. Thankfully, nothing came. No wolf blasted. No sounds came from anywhere on the other side of the walls. Even with this said he still felt like he did.
Jameson heard this in his voice. “What is she?” He looked from Kenar and back to Rochie. Needless-to-say, he trusted him more than he did Kenar. He always did. Years of fighting by one’s side would do this to anyone, least of all to a king of people. It made it that much more of a trust.
Rochie bowed his head. He didn’t know where to begin.
Jameson saw this too. “Donte informed me that she was with a strange wolf that several Walkers were trying to subdue. They fought them off, but only managed to bring the child.” He saw their faces even though they seemed to be trying to hide them from him, and that made his feelings worse. He felt afraid with all of this. “You both know what she is. I can see it on both of your faces.”
Rochie looked up. “Donte is correct. A new and a very powerful black wolf has emerged in the world. We do not know what he is exactly, but we do know that he is different from other Moonwalkers. He is special somehow, in some way.”
Hearing this didn’t help Jameson feel any better at all. “What does that mean?”
Kenar felt that this was his time to come in, because he was the only one that could. “She is the child of the wolf, the one that Rochie has just told you about.” He met Jameson’s stare. “She is his child.”
Jameson heard this, and truly tried to make sense of it. Only one thing did. “Then she is a Wanderer then.”
Rochie shook his head. “I am not sure.”
Jameson turned to him fast.
Kenar was something else entirely. “I do know the truth to that.” He spoke so fast that he even startled himself with the sounds of his voice. In fact, he wasn’t even sure that he said it.
Rochie turned to his friend and felt just as stunned. “What are you talking about Kenar? You told me that you were not sure what she was.”
Jameson turned to Kenar too.
Seeing all of them look up at him at once, he felt even more shocked than he already was. Quite honestly, he didn’t know what to say, so he
spoke his mind. “I do not know what she is exactly, but I do know what she is not. She is not a Wanderer. She is not one of our kind.” He looked at Rochie. “She is not one of us.”
Jameson started asking a question, but Rochie cut him off.
“How do you know this?” He was dying to find out.
Kenar shook his head. “I do not know exactly, but I do know what I see, and I do not see a Wanderer in her. I do not see her thoughts move as ours does. I see her but I do not see the spark.”
Rochie nodded. “Does that mean that she has no soul then?” This made sense to him.
Kenar didn’t. He just shrugged. “She does have a soul, I feel it in her, but she is something else. I do not know what that is, but I do know that she, like her father, is different. He is not a normal Walker, and so it seems logical to conclude that she is not a normal Wanderer.”
Jameson listened and didn’t understand anything. “Then what in hell’s fire is she?”
Rochie ignored his king, and continued speaking his mind. “What was the woman? What was her mother?”
Kenar looked at him and felt surprised. “You already know that.” He looked at Jameson, and watched his yellow aura sparkle around his hunched over frame. He looked older than he should have looked. “She was human, I felt that, but the child is not, or at least not entirely. She carries something of her father in her, but I cannot see it. I do not know what she is exactly.”
Rochie dropped his head. He stared down at his feet, saw them dance within the shadows of the many torches burning around them, and then looked up again. His friend made no sense at all. They had to get back to the matter at hand.
“We must see the child.” He looked straight to Jameson, and again, their eyes met.
“Very well then.” Jameson still didn’t understand any of this. He didn’t know what to think, but they obviously did, so he didn’t see a problem with allowing them to visit the child. He looked back to Donte. “Show them to her.” He turned back to the Wanderers. “When you are finished I call on you to visit me in my tent. We have much to discuss.” He did. He had a thousand ideas running around inside his head. If seeing the child would help them answer them, he had to let them.
A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 43