He grabbed him, flung him up onto his shoulders and threw him on to the back of an empty horse to his left. He then climbed the horse with his king lying on his lap. Secured, with his friend fighting him some, he kicked.
The horse flared, but it did run.
They headed to the fields to the left of the trees. The horse ran hard, so it didn’t take long for them to reach the safety of the forest. They didn’t stop there. They wouldn’t stop until they were heading back south.
47
Rochie and Kenar stepped outside the walls, saw the humans running, and likewise felt the need to do the same thing. Also like their human friends, they just didn’t know where to go.
Kenar did. He saw Jameson’s mind and saw that he was heading south. He saw Donte with him, along with maybe a dozen others that just happened to be riding in the same direction, so he finished with the sight, and turned back to Rochie.
“We must head south. We must find Jameson and the rest of his people.”
Rochie only nodded. “What about them?” He saw maybe a hundred young men being slaughtered out in the field. He saw their blood. He heard their screams. He watched their deaths.
Kenar knew the truth even though he wouldn’t look at them. He didn’t want to feel them dying like that, so he kept with what he had.
“We must go Rochie. There is nothing we can do for any of them. They will have to find a way on their own.” He took his left arm with his right hand and pulled him with him to the direction of the trees. It was their only way.
Rochie didn’t fight him. He didn’t do anything, but turn, and together they made their ways to the trees. They then also headed south.
48
The blood had been spilled. The bodies lay out. The fight lasted only a few more minutes, and when it finished, Devish made his way to the gate of the camp. There Vincent and Michael Gorhan joined him.
“It has been a great victory my lord Devish.” Vincent was the first to speak. He was the first to stand at his side. He took pride in everything they had done.
Devish, covered in blood, with some dripping from his lips, wasn’t finished yet. “Burn down this human refuge will you please Vincent.” He could smell their filth. It reeked of human vanity and waste.
Vincent simply moved to the wall. He took several other Nightwalkers with him and simply did what his master had asked him to do.
Devish watched him start the wall in flames. He watched the tents each begin to burn. He felt the heat as the entire place suddenly burst with fire. It was such a magnificent thing to see.
Michael Gorhan watched everything at his master’s side. He had more things to talk about than just standing there and watching the place burn.
“My master, what do we do with the black wolf?” It was the only thing on his mind.
Devish could only laugh with what he felt from his friend. He liked feeling it. He loved the fear that his brother had wrought.
“You will treat him as you treat me Lord Gorhan. You pay him with your respect.” He stopped laughing, turned to him and turned stoic fast.
Michael bowed his head, saw someone coming to his left and watched the black wolf come into the light of the fire now burning behind them. He was human again, and like all of them, was covered in blood. His naked body looked no longer white but red.
Kalima felt winded and out of sorts. He felt lost within the haziness of his own mind. He always felt like this after he turned. He always felt like this when he was enraged. The wolf had many different thoughts than his human side ever did. Sometimes, it was difficult to put them both together again.
For Devish, just turning and watching him step out of the darkness and into the light of the fire was like watching a god step out from the shadows. He looked magnificent, seeing him like that.
Kalima came into the light. “Where am I?”
Devish saw his hesitation on his face. He saw the confusion there too. He knew why. “It is difficult sometimes to put the animal back inside the body. It is more difficult to put the mind back inside too.” He looked at Michael and gave him a nod. “Please leave us my friend. Gather the remaining humans that are alive and shackle them. I do not wish to leave a good meal dying on the ground.”
Michael gave him a simple nod, looked at the black wolf one last time, and then left them. As for his fears, he would talk with Devish about this some other time. He would have to do it sooner rather than later. His master must see the truth. The black wolf could not be trusted. He was too broken for that.
Alone again, Devish gave his brother a smile. “You do not remember our conversation do you?” He could see this on his face too. “You do not remember what we spoke of before you turned.”
“I remember some things.” He shook his head. He looked down at his chest. He saw the blood. He saw the pieces of flesh, and just as slowly, he saw what he did to get all of it on him too. Soon, he hoped to remember everything. A part of him hoped he never would.
Devish knew this, so he didn’t mind explaining it again. “Do you know who you are Kalima? Do you know what you are?” he asked him. His eyes felt large and full, and they were.
“I know what I am. I know what I can do.” Kalima looked hesitant. He felt afraid, but at the same time, he didn’t.
For Devish, he felt more than right. “You never knew your mother. You never knew your father, did you?” He could see it in his eyes. He could see the wolf. He could see his father’s eyes shining back at his.
Kalima kept himself calm. “I know that they were different. I know my mother was human. I know what my father was.” He saw her face again by the fire. Slowly, everything she told him was there again too. His memories of her came back as strong as ever.
Hearing this, Devish moaned some. “Your father was also mine.”
Kalima did not once blink. “I know.”
He admired him for his strength. “We are brothers Kalima. We are of the same blood. Because of this, we must stand together. We must stand as one.”
His stare stayed firm. Everything he told him was starting to come back to him again. It was all still there, back deep inside his mind, and now it began to come forward again. He remembered everything he told him in the tent.
He looked more powerful than he could have ever believed he was. If he had not seen him like this, he would have never believed it himself. “You have a very unique gift. Together, we can change the tide of this world. We can make it right again.”
“You have told me that humans attacked my wife. They killed her. They took Sima away from me.” He turned and looked at the flames. He seemed to stare in them for hours. In fact, he did as he continued. “What I wish from you Devish is I want to know why? Why did they destroy my life?”
This was so easy for him to answer that it almost made him laugh. In fact, he did some anyway. He just tried to hide it and failed. “Humans are afraid of you my brother. They fear what they do not understand.” He moved to him, but kept it at one single step. “You already know this. You have seen that fear before with your very own eyes.”
Kalima crossed his arms over his chest. He nodded softly. “Yes. My human parents lived in a small village when I was young. Walkers attacked us, and I turned. They feared me after that.”
Hearing all of this he agreed. “The fear is the same. They hate what they do not understand. They fear you for the animal in which you are.”
Kalima turned back to him and dropped his arms back to his sides. “Yes, I know.” He saw his parents again. He saw the look on his father’s face as they shot him with arrows. He feared him. He feared the wolf.
This was Devish’s chance to get what he wanted, and he took it before it vanished again. “Join me and together we can end their menace to this world. Together, the sons of Satar can destroy them once and for all.”
Kalima heard this and took it into his soul. With it, he did agree. They were brothers. They were of the same blood. The humans tried to kill him. They killed his wife. They killed his child.
They destroyed his very life.
“I will stand with you.”
Devish smiled, huge and firm. He felt a warmth in him that he didn’t understand, but he did like the feeling. He now had what he wanted. He had what he needed. He had his brother by his side.
49
With what was left of the human camp still burning, still raging, Devish and his remaining people made it back to his temporary home. They had fifteen humans still alive with them. Those that had fallen made good meals for his wolves. He let them have them as a reward for their great victory. The black wolf came with him, but decided to finish his mourning by himself alone. He didn’t mind this either, because he had one thing left to do. He had one final task before he set out to reconquer the world.
He opened the door to her room. He stepped to the foot of the bed.
The Seer was gone. The bed was empty. In a way, he expected this to happen. In fact, he already knew who did it.
Sharlia, are you not the brave one. He didn’t even feel angry. He felt completely calm. After all, in a way, she did him a favor. He was wondering what to do with her now that he found his prize. Now he didn’t have to think about it. He didn’t have to plan for it. He didn’t have to doubt anything that he would have done. If that were it, he would have simply just left the room and carried out the rest of his night. What did bother him was that now he had something else to think about that was more pressing. If she can do this, than I must be careful with her. I must watch her closely. Again, this didn’t truly bother him more than it already did. He had already planned to do it anyway; just now, it was at the forefront of his thoughts. Oh well.
He turned from the bed and left the room. He walked down the hallway, two doors down, and likewise opened the door. He also expected to see what he found.
And she took the child.
The room was just as empty. Everything was just as still.
Again, he stayed calm. I am going to have to find some new guards. He thought about how they were able to get out of his home without being seen. He knew that no one did, because, he would have seen it through their eyes. The fact that they didn’t, well, this did make him angry. A feeling he was going to have to express with them the next chance he could.
He turned, closed the door behind him, and headed back down the stairs. He walked to his little makeshift throne room and took the chair. He sat down and placed his hands on his hips.
Now, let us plan on the next little phase of this war. He looked straight ahead and watched as Vincent and Rana came into the room and joined him. He gave both of them a hearty smile.
They returned to him a casual bow.
“It is time to take this to the next level my friends.”
“What do you wish of us, my lord?” Vincent stepped directly in front of him and folded his hands in front of him. He was ready to do anything and couldn’t wait to start.
Devish kept the light look on his face. “It is time for us to make some new wolves. It is time to see what our new friend can do.”
The tides have changed
Things did not go well after that night. The Walkers stayed to the north for several months afterwards, as we regrouped in the south. Kenar and I found Jameson and together he rebuilt our forces. A subtle calm breathed over the world during this time. The calm did not last.
The Walkers broke it with a thunderous blast.
They came fast and overpowered the entire island over a few weeks’ time. For Wanderers and the humans alike, we felt their wrath. We felt their pain and experienced our own deaths. Whatever the black wolf did whatever power he gave them, he did it with all of them. The Nightwalkers healed almost instantly from their wounds. The Moonwalkers grew stronger and more cunning. Our weapons, the silver and gold that were so useful against them for so long stopped working. Soon they overran us in waves as one by one of our villages and cities fell to their weight. They fell to their rule. Some did so without a fight for their fear of being eaten alive became stronger than their desire to be free. As for those of us that managed to escape, we headed off the island and headed to the great central mountains, and there we stayed. There we made our last stand.
As for me, Rochie, and my friend Kenar, we have struggled to find our way in this new world. We fought alongside the humans, but even they began to doubt our resolve. Some even began to doubt our loyalty. I could not blame them, for I too have begun to doubt it myself. If only we could find a way to tell the black wolf what we knew, I was sure that we could end this fight. Without him, the Walkers would have no choice but to submit. We knew this, and so did Devish. We had to find a way, and the only way we knew how was to find the child. We had to find her, and then, we had to make him see the truth. We had to show him what Devish had done. It was our only hope but now we are running out of time.
As the years have passed, it grows harder each day. If only we could find help—the help we need to set things right, all would not be lost. Kenar and I have decided to do it together. We have set out to find other Wanderers and hopefully bring them to our aid—bring them to our side. Maybe one of them would know what to do. Maybe one of them could help us find the answers. Only time will tell and it better happen soon. The world is changing too fast to keep up.
The story continues with Changing Tides…
A Werewolf’s Saga
Changing Tides
Michael Lampman
© 2015, 2016 by Michael Lampman
All Rights Reserved
Made in the U.S.A.
Get into the entire Saga with:
A New Soul
Changes
The Pack
Redemption
Returning Pain
The Wanderer Awakens
Darkness Rises
The End Times
The Beginning Trilogy
The Dawn of Humans
The Rising Son
Changing Tides
The Gathering Storm
The Puppets and the Strings
Coming in 2016
Reemergence
Power and Pain
Or visit www.AWerewolfsSaga.com for more information
Rochie’s Journal
The years have gone by. The days have grown long, and the nights have gotten far more treacherous. The Walkers under Devish have spread out over most of northern Europe. The humans have fallen in these areas to nothing more than cattle once again. With the black wolf at his side, things have turned cold. What power does this wolf give them? What gifts has he passed on to them that have made them unstoppable? Since he has joined with the Walkers, their strength has multiplied. The Nightwalkers have grown faster. The Moonwalkers have become stronger, and the Shades have grown far more cunning. All of them have become immune to silver and gold. Whatever he has done, we have to find it out before it crushes all of us and sends the world back into total darkness forever.
Jameson, the king of the humans, has fought them, and time and time again, he has lost the fights. Because of this, he has also grown bitter to us Wanderers. He has grown to hate us as much as he does the Walkers. I cannot blame him for feeling this way. We should have helped him, but like them, we too have failed. We too have lost the fights. Our once great powers have become nothing more than just shadows of their faded glory. With Kenar, his gifts of sight have been rendered nonexistent. He can no longer see what the Walkers are doing. Whatever blocks they have placed on him they have managed to crush his very eyes and keep him from seeing the truth. He is now as blind as any blind man could ever be. As for me, Rochie, my gifts have proven to be nothing more than just a holding action in order for us to escape the latest battle. We all have been proven helpless against the waves. We are doing all that we can, but it has become pointless. We have become just as frail as the humans ever were.
Because of this, we Wanderers must find a new way to fight this war. We have decided to leave the humans and search for the answers on our own. If we can somehow stop the black wolf, if we can somehow discover the
reasons for the Walkers’ great new gifts, we feel we can stop them. It is just the matter of how. How can we do it before the humans return to nothing?
We believe we do have an answer for this. After all, we know the truth. We know about what really happened that night when we lost the black wolf to Devish. We know the truth about his daughter’s death, or shall I say; we know the truth about her life. In the end, we have nothing to prove it to him, even if we could speak with him again and tell him the truth. We decided that in order to do this, we have to find her. If we can show her to him, I believe he will. It is a tall order for sure. We have no idea if Devish has her or not. We have no idea if it will convince him to turn against Devish, or the power he now holds over him. Either way, we know we have to try. What choice do we have?
Kenar and I have decided to search for her. We headed north, back into Walker territory, hoping to find a direction to go. It has become a very dangerous trip. Surrounded by Walkers, we have had to keep to the shadows. We have had to travel with the greatest stealth. Thankfully, two others have joined us during our travels. Devin the Earth Mover and Shelley the Lightning Maker have come with us. With them at our sides, we have been able to keep hidden from the Walkers. They have proven their gifts on more than one occasion. With Shelley, her ability to strike with lightning and blow the winds has helped to guard us against the Shades. With Devin, his ability to shake the very ground has kept the Nightwalkers from chasing us down. Coupled with my ability to fight Moonwalkers with heavy objects have kept us alive. Along with Kenar’s strength of sight, we have been able to keep ahead of Devish and those he has sent out to find us. It has kept us alive, but it has also kept us on the run. I hope that our running has just ended.
A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 49