Smoke and Mirrors (Smoke and Mirrors Series Book 1)

by S. N. Nair

  My musing was interrupted when a loud bang echoed through the house, the sound of people shouting followed and I quickly tied the bag close. Running to the large mahogany shelves that sat on the other side of Antony’s room, the wood started to splinter as I gripped it tight so as to give me enough leverage to cast it aside.

  My hands roamed the cracks in the stone wall behind it, trying to feel the abnormality that would be a give-away for the fake wall. Antony ran to my side when the sound of footsteps making their way up the staircase grew louder. My hand movements became more frantic before a small wave of air came through one of the larger cracks.

  “Angel, please step back.”

  I took a deep breath before punching against the spot with all my might. My knuckles screamed in pain as the grey stone became flecked with red, but I kept going till it gave way under the pressure. I pushed out enough rocks such that there was a small hole that was enough for me to go through, I hoisted Anthony inside before grabbing a couple of matchsticks that I took from his drawers.

  I struck it against the stone wall before placing it against a tapestry that had hung next to the shelve, it caught fire and began to burn. I struck more against the wall before dropping them on Antony’s duvet. I quickly crawled into the hole in the wall before turning back to see the room that held so many memories for Antony and me go up in flames. I grabbed Antony’s hand and raced down the tunnel, to get us as far away from the smoke and fire as possible.

  The passage we were now walking through was small, dark and smelly, the skittering of rats echoed down the hallway. Antony’s grip on my hand tightened with each noise that echoed in our ears, his other hand squeezing the life out of his bear.

  This passage was built centuries ago by our ancestors when they needed a way for the children and women to escape when they were at war with Man, and as the years went by, the passage was soon forgotten until I dug up the old records in our library when I was hiding from our Elders. I traced the scratch marks that covered the walls of this passageway they were left by the people who ran from the chaos aboveground centuries ago, just like us now, however, unlike them, we were never coming back.

  Chapter Three: Outcasts

  Sapphire Nightborne

  The fresh air was a much-welcomed change to the stale scent of blood that once filled the air. We were now a good distance away from the place we once called home, my heart ached to know that we would never be able to go home.

  My nose scrunched with disgust knowing that we were now doomed to live amongst humans, the descendants of those who had oppressed and slaughtered our kind, and that we would have to hide who we really are due to their fear of the unknown and different.

  I was proud of who I was and what I was, it pained me to know that I would have to conceal it. I traced the intricate tattoos on my bicep knowing that from now onwards, I had to hide it. Most of Mankind may have forgotten that we exist, but there are still some who hunt us just like their ancestors before them did.

  My marks were once shown off proudly as they were proof that all my hard work was not in vain. That I, Sapphire Ragna Nightborne, became the first female Head Warrior Commander, these tattoos showed my rank as well as my pack's crest, they were the first and only ones of their kind.

  My lips lifted by a fraction as I looked down at the gold necklace that rested on my chest. It was a tiny pendant, nothing fanciful, a simple circle of gold with a tiny sapphire in the middle. It had been the first and the last gift that I received or will ever receive from my mother, it was very special to her at least that was what my father told me. If it was any consolation to me that I would still be able to wear it proudly even when we live among humans.

  I remember clutching on to it when the hunters took me and some of my comrades, crying to my mother to protect me and to give me strength to continue fighting. Even now, as an adult, I still clung on to it in times of need.

  A small noise caused me to look down at Antony who was now peacefully sleeping in my arms, hugging his teddy bear without a care in the world. He would assimilate well into the human way of life, he was never put to training but what worried me the most was that although it was a good thing he was young as it would allow him to adapt to the new style of life better, it would be hard for him to hide and go through his first shift. I remembered my first shift, the pain was almost too much to bear, but no one paid attention to me or helped as they did not expect anything from a girl. I chuckled as I remembered their expressions, their shocked faces when they saw black fur, the colour of power to my kind, their astonishment grew as they saw golden eyes, the mark of a Lycan.

  Lycans were the ancestors of the werewolves. They were the first Wolves, the first Children of the Moon and were every bit like the romanticised legends that humans fear. Their bite was infectious as it could turn humans into werewolves. They used this to their advantage to create the first packs, which have branched out to produce the packs of today.

  This carried on for around a hundred years and brought about the first generation of werewolves. The Lycans were now the apex predator, but as the humans fought back, their numbers dwindled till Lycans were all but extinct. As the years went by, the werewolves procreated, bringing about generations of werewolves due to the inherited infection.

  Possessing Lycan blood meant that I was a direct descendant of a Pure Lycan, which was usually due to relationships between Pure Lycans and werewolves. As Lycans soon found, to continue their line, they had no choice but to mate with werewolves to preserve what little of their kind was left.

  The Lycan gene, although weakened through the generations, could still pass on some of the Pure Lycan’s abilities to their werewolf descendants through a recessive gene. My case was not unheard of but was rare enough to garner the ‘special attention’ of my Pack Elders.

  The horrific memories of the numerous tests the Pack Elders carried out on me would remain with me for the rest of my life. There have been no reports of someone possessing an active Lycan gene in the last two hundred years. So, they told me it was just for research, to study this rare occurrence for the good of the pack, of course. The naïve child that I had been, so desperate to be accepted, I believed them.

  Day and night, they tested my speed, endurance, strength as well as my resistance to silver and wolfsbane as Lycans were rumoured to be countless times stronger and faster than the wolves now, they were also rumoured to be immune to the effects of wolfsbane and silver. The constant exposure to those elements showed that I was resistant to wolfsbane, but silver affected me like any other wolf.

  My hand subconsciously ran across my torso brushing against the fabric of my shirt, feeling the raised skin from years of scar tissue forming. I brushed against the raised vertical line down my wrist as I remembered yet another group of people who took interest in me. Till today the scars they left on my body remained, reminding me of what it meant to be ‘special’.

  My trip down memory lane was interrupted when a hand tugged gently on my necklace.

  "How much longer are we going to travel?"

  I looked at the little angel in my arms, he scrunched his nose as yawned completely oblivious to the chaos he just escaped, his tongue stuck out and curled like a puppy.

  "Just a day's journey Angel."

  I glanced up at the darkening sky and knew that we would have to soon camp for the night or risk being sitting ducks for whatever lived in this forest. I knew I had to hunt as well, my body had started to ache with hunger and it was only time before it started to feed on my muscles which was something that I could not afford at this critical moment.

  However, I could not leave Antony alone to go off and hunt as he was still young with no training to defend himself. At this point, even a baby wolf could pose a great threat against him.

  My dilemma was soon answered when we walked towards a huge tree with a dense canopy. It was near a small clearing where I could see a family of deer grazing.

  **********************************************
*****************************

  I wiped the blood from my mouth as I looked down at the young doe I had just killed, it was so beautiful that I almost felt guilty about killing it, but what other choice did we have. I raised my eyebrows as I looked up amused due to the little whimpers coming from the tree above me.

  "Angel, I needed to kill it or we would have nothing to eat today."

  I looked up in the trees as Antony turned his face from me and sniffed with tears welling in his eyes.

  "We could have eaten some fruit or something, we did not have to kill it."

  I scoffed as I reached out to him.

  "Angel, we are wolves remember, we require more meat than the average human does and besides, the night is closing in on us, it is not safe for us to venture into unfamiliar territory in the dark even with our heightened senses. Did I waste the breath I spent on your lessons because it seems that nothing went into that little head of yours?"

  His lips formed an adorable pout at my comment but he still jumped straight into my arms, I could not help but let out a sigh, he was never like the other children of Alphas. They lived to train while he preferred to stay at home to read or listen to my battle stories, his soft heart frustrated his father numerous times as there was no way he would never be a good leader for our pack due to his soft nature, in his father's mind anyway.

  He used his sleeve to wipe away the stray streaks of blood on my face, I nuzzled my head to his touch savouring this peaceful moment as I knew that there would be few in the days to come. The scent of blood that once blanketed his own was now gone with the exception of a slight undertone. I made sure we cleaned ourselves as good as we could at the first stream we passed before putting on fresh clothes and leaving our dirty ones behind.

  “Can we at least cook it this time? I always hated when Daddy made me eat raw meat. It’s gross.”

  My lips curled into a smile as I remembered the times where Ryder chased Antony through the house trying to get him to eat. Our kind could eat raw meat without worry of sickness but most preferred to cook their meat to add flavour, but Ryder was adamant that we stuck to the old ways.

  “It’s already late, Angel. A fire would attract who knows what and that is something I cannot risk. How about you eat it raw today and tomorrow morning, I cook it for you for breakfast? That sounds good to you?”

  He pouted before giving a small nod.

  I started to drag the deer carcass back to our camp when the birds stopped their singing and the forest turned dangerously quiet. Instantly I went on the alert, a quiet forest that on other circumstances was filled with the sounds of wildlife meant that a larger and more dangerous predator was in the area. I caught slight movement in the dense foliage around as with my peripheral vision before taking off with Antony in my arms, I had only gotten so far before the sounds of large paws making contact with the forest ground chased us.

  Chapter Four: Missing Knight

  Damien Black

  The crunch of bones announced my arrival as I walked on a sea created by the bodies of my enemies and fallen comrades. Their glassy eyes focused on me, but I paid them no attention. The smell of their blood polluted the air, I took a deep breath and smiled, it smelled amazing to me, it smelt like glory.

  Victory was sweet indeed. I had overthrown the Great Blackwater pack, the so-called 'unbeatable' pack, something that even my father could not do. He had spent years dreaming of the idea of burning this pack to the ground, but I managed to actually do it. He arrived here ten years ago, trying to persuade the Alpha to form an alliance that would give him an opening to weaken the pack till the Alpha had no choice, but to sign his power away to my father. It was the only way he could conquer Blackwater and truly expand his power. The land a pack lives on is bound to its Alpha and his family, nothing would prosper in the land unless the entire Alpha bloodline was wiped out or the Alpha signed away his power in blood. The latter was how my father conquered most of the other packs, but Blackwater was different, Alpha Edan and Head Warrior Commander Xavier were too strong, leaving my father no choice. Luckily, the Alpha’s son was nothing like his father, just like how I was nothing like mine. I had made sure to tear the Great Oak from the root, ensuring that it would never be able to build itself back to its former glory. I made sure that today I erased the Blackwater line, there should be no living survivor of Ryder’s line. This would be my legacy, I, Damien Black, had brought almost all the packs to their knees. I had either taken their land or forced their Alphas into submission where they could keep their status and their precious packs but had to give me their best warriors as well as pay me tribute every year, and it need not always be gold. Blackwater was just another chess piece that fell into my hands.

  A small cough interrupted my thoughts, I turned to smile at the man who dared to interrupt me. My grin widened as he visibly started to shake at my expression.

  "What do you want now?''

  My grin faded, and my eyes narrowed to when I saw the lowered heads of his group. He belonged to my scouting team who should have returned with their heads raised...or not at all.

  "Sir, no one can find the body of the Alpha's child."

  That caused my body to stiffen, if the boy was still alive it meant that I could not be the true owner of the land I stood upon. I could not let all my hard work go to waste, I had some loose ties to attend to.

  "Are the survivors rounded up?"

  "Yes, Sir."

  "Bring them to me."

  I hummed as my men raced to carry out my orders. I walked up to the doors of the once magnificent stronghold that Ryder used to boast about. He bragged to many Alphas that nothing could breach it, that nothing could ever destroy it and yet, here it stands, barely being able to support its own weight.

  Moving to the east of the house, I stopped at the entrance of Ryder’s study. It was the furthest from the main entrance to the house but was the closest to the Guard-stead. The fire had not been able to breach the thick wooden doors.

  I turned to face my men who were now dragging a group of men towards me. They were covered in soot and blood, individual features almost indistinguishable. I met their glares with a smile before gesturing to the study.

  “How about a cosier setting?”

  My hands ran across the polished oak of Ryder’s desk, it had been ten years since a member of the Black Blood Pack had ever set foot in Blackwater. My father came here with a proposal only to be turned away and banned from crossing their borders, tarnishing our reputation with all the other packs causing them to refuse our attempts as diplomacy. I remember standing in this very room, watching as Edan and Xavier berated my father for his methods. They ran him out before exposing his methods to the other packs, driving us into ruin. Their defiance empowered our enslaved to rise up against us, the mighty pack my father built dwindled into a mere hundred of our most loyal. Never again will I allow that to happen, I will sink my claws into this very land even if I have to kill that child with my own hands.

  I smirked as I saw this pack's so-called "best warriors" on their knees before me. The entire room was as silent as a grave with exception of the sound of their blood dripping onto the concrete floor.

  "Where is the child?"

  My voice was soft as I saw no reason to waste energy, they were going to give me the information I wanted, and they knew of the consequences should they be defiant. The smirk that was on my face twisted into a frown when I was met with nothing but silence, I tilted my head to my men and a scream as well as a crack bounced off the walls of this room. The echo of it still rang even after the scream stopped.

  I got off my seat and walked to the man who was now clutching his broken hand. I waved my hand, two of my men stepped forward to force his palms onto the ground. He screamed as I placed my booted foot on his hand applying enough pressure for one to hear the soft splintering cracks. I grabbed his jaw and forced him to look me in the eye.

  "I will only ask this one more time, where is the boy?"

  My ey
es closed as spit splattered my face.

  “You dare sully this place with your presence. You are a coward coming after us at our weakest, you are even weaker than your father.”

  I chuckled as I stroked the man’s hair, his eyes widening when he felt the pressure I applied on both sides of his jaw.

  “If you knew your Alpha like I did, you would be doing anything but singing his praises… and since you were on the topic of my father, send him my regards when you see him.”

  I rolled my eyes as blood splattered on my clothes, it was so hard to wash out. I kicked the man to the side and made my way to the rest of the captives who lowered their heads but when their eyes met mine, they were filled with defiance. This was starting to get quite irritating. Every moment they stalled allowed for the child to run further, he could either slip into another pack seeking asylum or disappear into the human settlement. I needed to make an example out of their strongest, once I broke him, the rest will be fighting against each other for the chance to sing for me.