Kenar felt him breaking emotionally, and like all of them, he didn’t know why he was. Whatever he saw at the flames, whomever he saw, it must have affected him more than he was prepared for.
Donte just thought he was losing his mind. “My king?” he offered to help him.
Jameson just stared at the black wolf named Kalima.
No one answered him, so Kalima turned back to the reason he was there. It seemed pointless to be polite. “I have come for my child. I have come to bring her home with me.” He stressed his voice but kept the wolf quiet. Being surrounded by humans, humans that he could tell were nervous with him being there seemed like a good time as any to keep the animal inside him contained. He didn’t come there to fight, or at least not yet. He would leave all of that up to them.
Kenar finally turned to him. He knew he would have to be the one to do the talking. No one else seemed to know anything.
“It is good to see you again Kalima. It has been far too long.” He even tried to smile, but it felt forced, and probably was. The area felt like nothing but a heavy tension. It felt like the slightest move by any of them would snap everyone to death. It was very intense.
He just tilted his head to him. “Blind one.” He looked back to Rochie. “Rock Thrower.” He turned his attention to the humans. He could feel their hearts racing. He could smell their sweat. He could sense their rawness. They were ready to kill him with the slightest chance. All but the Wanderers and their king gave off such feelings. With them, he felt them calm. He felt them expecting. It told him all that he needed to know. It was hard to comprehend. “You knew I was coming.”
Rochie bowed his head.
Jameson continued to stare and cry.
Kenar shrugged. “No, not entirely anyway.” He moved a little towards him, and stopped immediately after he did one-step. He then gasped. He then almost felt like crying himself.
Kalima saw this, and heard his heart nearly skip several beats at once. It just made him tilt his head again at him.
Rochie heard the gasp. “What is wrong now?”
Kenar blinked. “I can see you.” It didn’t even sound real, and it made him look back at Rochie. Surprisingly, no that was a bad thought about this, stunningly is better, he saw him standing there by the end of the log. Knowing this, seeing this, he then turned to Jameson and Donte and also saw them. Intensity and shock flew through him when he realized this, and it made him look down at his own hands as he brought them up towards his face. Again, they were there. He saw them clearly. He could see with his own eyes.
Rochie not only felt shocked, but he absolutely didn’t understand any of this. “How can you see us?” The sun was rising fast. It should have now blinded him entirely. He would not be able to see them as he described it. It just didn’t make sense.
Kalima felt his shock. Inside his mind, he heard her voice childishly laugh. I did it. I need him to see you father. He blinked. He astonished.
Kenar heard her too, except he heard you and him in the last statement. How can you do this to me? He so wanted to know.
She giggled again. I can do many things. This is just one of them. I can give you back what you lost or have never had.
He thought he understood this. That is your true gift. You can somehow turn my eyes on. He somehow knew this, but didn’t question it. He just felt happy that he now could see.
Kalima heard both of them so easily. He had to know more. “You can hear her too. You can hear her inside your head.” He had always hoped she could talk with everyone, because it meant that she also talked with Alana. It made him happy that they could. A mother should always hear their child as much as their father did.
I have always been able to do it father. She knew everything.
Again, he felt better than ever. His greatest hopes had felt justified again.
Kenar only nodded.
Rochie wanted more. “Could you all tell me what this is about?” He looked to Kalima. “How did you know to come here?” He looked at Jameson. “What is going on?” He felt so suddenly left out that he didn’t know how to think about anything. He felt completely confused.
Jameson stared down Kalima. He saw his tall stature. He saw his black hair. He saw his broad shoulders, and his equally broad face. He saw his eyes as he turned to his. They sparkled with a heavy brownish color. Inside them, he saw sadness and yet joy. He saw pride yet humility. He did see something that looked familiar. He saw his sister. He saw her eyes. He saw her face.
Kalima saw him staring at him and didn’t know what to think. It told him that it was time to get back to why he was there in the first place. “Where is she?” He looked at all of them. He tried not to look at the humans. He felt uncomfortable with their stares. He felt unsafe with them too.
Kenar took a heavy sigh before he began. “She is not with us. She is back with the Seer. She is back with the others.”
Kalima felt surprised with hearing this. He didn’t know who the Seer was, but only cared about Sima. If she was safe, it was he wanted to hear.
“She is unharmed then?” He remembered what the humans did with her the last time they had her, how they locked her up inside a cage meant for an animal. If they had done this again, he didn’t know what he would do. He didn’t know if he could keep the wolf inside him long enough not to find out.
Kenar looked at Rochie and back to him again. “She is well. She has grown. She is so strong.” He heard pride in his own voice, and realized that he was more than just that. He was so very proud of her.
Kalima could feel this from him too, and that was when he realized that he could also see something else. He could see inside his mind. He could hear his thoughts.
Again, Sima laughed a young woman’s childish giggle.
Kalima thanked her quietly.
What he saw was what Kenar had just told him. He saw her strong and grown, much more than he thought she should have been, but he didn’t doubt it. In fact, he expected it. He too grew fast when he was her age. Seeing her face, that was another story entirely. She looked just like her mother, and seeing her eyes, he felt tears filling up in his. She was so much more than he ever dreamed of her being and he felt it. It felt him.
Kenar couldn’t believe that he saw tears in his eyes. It was more than seeing them in the first place too. This was when he realized what Kalima was doing.
“You can see my thoughts?” It shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. He knew what Sima was doing now. She was making all of them equal to each other. He didn’t know why she was, but right then he didn’t care. It felt liberating and frightening all at the same time. It also brought him some hope.
Kalima simply nodded. “I can. Sima is allowing us to see everything between us.”
Rochie kept shrugging hard. “Why would she do that?” He began to hate that he wasn’t experiencing any of this as they obviously were. He felt more left out than ever.
It wouldn’t last long, when suddenly, he too heard her laugh. He then had his mind explode into a thousand different pieces that nearly brought him down to his knees. It didn’t. He just grabbed both of them with both hands, and held himself up. After a few seconds, everything passed, and when it did, he saw everything. He knew everything. He could hear everyone except the black wolf.
Kenar heard all of this in him, and it made him feel somewhat relieved. At least he would stop asking them questions on everything. It would save them all so much time if he could.
“Are you all right?” he asked his friend.
Rochie stood back up straight. He shook his head.
Kalima sighed. “I guess she is done now.” He watched all of them. He felt complete joy in seeing what his baby can do. He felt like a proud father. He felt true happiness with her gifts. He knew she was special, and now everyone knew it too. It also made him feel relieved too. It turned out she didn’t become an animal. She wasn’t like him. He liked this. It made her stronger than he would ever be.
Kenar nodded. “She does. She wants a
ll of us to be equal to each other for whatever is coming. I can feel it.” He looked back at Jameson. He still couldn’t see his thoughts, but now it didn’t seem to matter to him as to why he couldn’t. She was right. Some things were meant to be private. He would leave it at that.
Rochie caught his wind. “Now what? What do we do now?”
Kenar looked back at Kalima.
That was easy for him. “I am going to go and find her and bring her back to me.”
Rochie shook his head. “You do not know.” He saw it. He felt it. If he loved his sister as much as she thought he did, he should have felt something with what happened to her but wasn’t showing it. It told him just that. He just didn’t know.
Kalima turned to him fast. “Something has happened to her?” He saw it in both of their minds. In another second, he then saw everything that happened. He felt her pain as Rochie felt it. He saw her blackness overwhelm her mind, as Kenar knew what it meant. He saw everything.
“Devish?” He growled low and deep.
Rochie now knew why she was doing this. Their reaction time was now completely fluid. They could fight together without having to tell each other what they were doing or why. It made every worry he had vanish as fast as he ever felt it. His fear went with it.
Kenar agreed with Rochie. He also nodded to Kalima. “He took her away from you.”
Kalima closed his eyes. He saw her face inside his mind. He saw her eyes. He saw the way they cried for him when he confronted her by everything she had done. He now truly felt shame for feeling the way he did. He felt horrible with every word he spoke. He felt lost with how he left.
He opened his eyes.
Rochie saw them burn with a yellow glow. “It is not time for that Kalima.” He took a step towards him with his hands up. “You cannot help her by just using rage alone.” As he said this, it sunk into his chest too. This was what Kenar was trying to tell him not minutes ago. Realizing this, he nodded to himself.
Kalima knew this already. His eyes flashed back to their normal brown color. “When did this happen?” He controlled his rage. In a way, he expected this from his brother. In other ways, he didn’t know how it could have happened. Rana was stronger than this. She should have fought him. He couldn’t figure out why she didn’t and obviously lost that fight.
Rochie bowed his head. “A day ago.”
“How?”
Rochie shook his head. He knew how. Wanderers could lose their concentration, through either pain or confusion, and when they did, they couldn’t use their gifts. He didn’t say anything because he didn’t want anyone else to know this, especially the humans. When one had a flaw, a weakness, it was best not to share it with anyone. He had to keep it close to him. This was one of those times.
Kalima nodded. He heard every thought. He also understood enough to keep it inside him too. “I see.” He looked back to the humans.
Jameson couldn’t take his eyes off him.
“And what are the plans now?” he asked this instead.
Kenar just nodded with everything. “We are on our way to him—to Devish. We intend to end this once and for all. We intend to fight them.”
Jameson finally blinked.
Donte stood his ground.
All of the humans just stared.
Rochie nodded too. “Are your coming with us?” It was time. The time was now to stand together. He wanted to see how far the black wolf would go.
Kalima looked at all of them and now felt true power for the first time in years. He felt right again too. “I will come with you, but it will not be easy.” He looked at the human king. “They are all still immune to your weapons.” He looked at Kenar and then to Rochie. “If what you believe happened to Rana is correct, she will now help him fight us.” He saw what the block could do, and he feared it. However, he still didn’t fear her. He knew her better than all of them, even more than her brother. He knew how strong she was even if he didn’t.
Rochie bowed his head. He thought of her. He thought of how she felt to him.
Kalima smiled with seeing this. “She has not forgiven you for your past Rochie.”
He looked up to him and their eyes met.
“She does still love you and always will.”
Hearing this, his eyes went down again. It answered his greatest question when it came to her that he couldn’t help himself. His eyes watered over instantly.
Kenar looked at him with a marvelous stare. “Will you help us fight him? Will you fight Devish?” He needed to know. Coming with them was one thing, but fighting them was something else entirely.
Kalima nodded. “I am the only one that can.” He looked back to the humans again. He saw the king. He saw him look down. Whatever makes him tear for me, I do not care. I still do not trust them, but I do trust her. He heard Sima’s voice again as clear as day.
He has his reasons father. He has them as you have yours.
It made him smile harder. She was also so much wiser than he would ever be.
“I will fight him.” He stared all of them down.
And fight them they will.
24
So, he will come for me then. This made sense to him. He didn’t know how he knew it but he did. It seemed to fit his brother’s motives. I will have to be ready for them when they come. He knew that his brother would not be alone. That too fit him.
Devish stood up from his chair and moved out in to the center of his room. He was alone. Rana was still coming to grips with what he had done to her, so he didn’t fear this. He would not have to stand alone against the world. It would not be as it was before.
Why father? Why did you leave me? He thought back to that night when they captured him and they had him placed inside the cage in the dungeons. He thought about how distant they had become to each other. There was a time when they stood as father and son, but it felt like eons ago. He never understood why he did what he did.
Did I hurt you that much? He had asked him this simple question a thousand times before as he grew into the being he now was. He asked him but he never heard an answer for it. It made him come up with one of his own. I did kill her. I know I did. Permona, his mother, died while giving birth to him, he knew this, but he also knew there was more to it than that. His father was cold to him. He was harmful to him, but he also loved him. He felt that. He also felt the longing inside his father’s heart for something more than what he had. He did hate me for taking her away from him, but he was also proud of me. It must have been hard on him for doing what he did. He knew this too. He too did something wrong to him and regretted himself for it. Oh but that was so long ago.
He killed him then. He took his life to prevent him from mating with a human—a human that eventually—finally—took him away from him. In the end, he didn’t regret it all that much.
You fought against me to save her life. You tried to kill me, your own son for the love of a human female. He felt that familiar rage erupt inside him again. It made him feel raw. It made him feel justified, as he did on that night by the river. You tried and you died because you could not kill me after all. He saw this in his thoughts just before he tore out his heart. He felt this from his dying mind. In the end, I beat you for not beating me. He turned back to his chair.
Why did you hate me so?
He moved to the chair but stopped right in front of it. He looked down at it and felt a tear form in his right eye. He then felt it streak down his face to his chin.
Why does he hate me too? His thoughts turned to his brother. They turned to Rana too. Why did she try to fight me? Why do I love her? He had so many questions. He had so few answers to them that it literally made his mind burn from inside out. Why does the world burn to see me destroyed? The rage burned in him too. It made him thirsty. It made him want blood. No! He screamed, turned back to the center of the room and stared at the closed door. He felt his hands begin to shake too. Feeling them, feeling the need, he realized something that he hated even more. He now hated himself. Why did
I let this happen to me? I am stronger than this. I should be so much more than what this has made me. The rage now flared to him, to himself. You are weak. You are pathetic. You are worthless all because of this thirst! He reached back grabbed the chair by its arms, and tossed it out to the center of the room.
The wood shattered as it smacked the stone floor with a loud and reverberating crash.
No! I hate you!
He watched it broken into a thousand pieces of tattered chards. It was his favorite chair too.
I hate you.
It also made him calm down some too.
I hate you for making me do this. He thought of his brother again. He thought of everything he was and everything he needed from him. I cannot kill you brother. I need you. He always felt how funny things were when he talked with himself. It amazed him with how strong he really was. It helped him to think. You will come back to me to help her and to take her away from me. He knew this. He felt it. Again, it fit his brother so well. But in the end, you will choose to stay here with me. I am your brother. You are my father’s son. I loved you for both. He walked to the chair. He stared down at the largest piece he could see, and wiped the tear off his face. Now was not the time for tears. You will join me and together we will retake this world. We will force it to its knees. He felt strong again too. If you do not, you will die. I will destroy you if I must. He felt calmer than ever. You will end your life as our father did.
He looked back up to the door.
So come to me. Come and we will set this right again. He nodded to himself stronger than ever. He also felt proud again too. He loved how his mind worked at times like these. He could always help himself to figure out the world.
He stepped through the mess of the chair and made his way to the door. He opened it, and headed out to get something to eat. Elizabeth should be back by now to give him just that. Before she did, he thought of one last thing before he finally left to find her. First, I am going to need a new chair. I will have one of my wolves fashion me another one.
A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3) Page 63