Zora's Dawn (Defender Book 1)

by Sheryl Lee

  Zora fingered her pendant. “It’s really warm now, almost like at the murder site.” Sudden comprehension had her eyes widening and her eyes were immediately drawn to the man with the odd aura who had passed them and was striding off swiftly. Samantha and Clare followed the direction of her stare, focusing on the man in the suit.

  “Zora, did you feel anything about this man?” As she spoke Samantha was gathering up her things.

  “I was practicing looking at auras, and his was really unattractive, all dirty muddy reds and greens and some black.”

  Shax stared at her. “You can see auras? But I’m guessing you don’t know what the colours mean yet, right?”

  Zora shrugged. “I can, and no I don’t know what they mean and I haven’t had time to do any research.”

  Shax nodded towards Clare and Samantha. “You guys go, we will be right behind you.”

  Samantha was already on her feet but Clare hesitated. “Someone should stay with Zora, one of us should stay.”

  Shax shook her head decisively. “No, you and Samantha should stay together, I can take care of these two and we will be right behind you anyway.”

  Sunny was looking completely bewildered by the entire exchange. “Wait, where are you going and what’s going on?”

  Shax turned to Sunny. “Short explanation, a rogue werewolf just walked right past us and Samantha and Clare are going to follow it.”

  Sunny turned pale, eyes suddenly huge in her face. “We are going to join them in following a rogue werewolf?”

  Samantha was looking agitated and Shax said firmly. “Go, both of you. We will pay the bill and follow you at a safe distance.”

  Without any further urging the two fairy guard were off, walking quickly and disappearing down a side street. Zora wondered what they were doing going that way when the man had walked past that street, but now wasn’t the time to ask. Sunny was still looking shell shocked and she herself was feeling the same. A rogue werewolf had just walked right past her and she had not even known. She was a complete failure as a defender.

  Shax pulled her purse from her bag and took out enough notes to cover the bill. “Come on you two, we will stay close to the fairies in case we need to escape quickly.”

  Sunny was still sitting in her seat, obviously trying to process the sudden turn the afternoon had taken. “I still don’t understand, you’re saying a werewolf walked past us and none of us realised? What about the fairies, why didn’t they pick up on it?”

  Shax frowned. “I don’t know, they should have. Fairies can spot all supernaturals way before we can. Zora what did your pendant do?”

  Zora shrugged uncertainly. “It was warm, not really hot though. It should have been shouldn’t it with a rogue so close?”

  “It should have been hot yes. And even though you are new you should have felt something, and the fairies should have known. It’s almost like it was wearing a cloaking spell but that’s impossible.” Shax shook her head impatiently. “We need answers, and soon. Ok ladies, let’s go. Don’t worry Sunny, we are not going anywhere near the werewolf, just staying within range of the fairies.”

  Sunny nodded uncertainly and stood up, along with Zora who was still puzzled at the fairies actions. “Shax, why did the fairies go down that side street? The werewolf didn’t go that way.”

  Shax smiled slightly. “If two people suddenly disappeared right in front of you, you’d have some questions I think.”

  Comprehension dawned. “You mean fairies can disappear?”

  “Exactly.”

  They all started walking in the direction the werewolf had gone, Sunny very obviously reluctant to go. “How will we know where they went anyway?” she asked.

  “Something you will learn soon, witches can communicate very easily with fairies.” Shax answered in a preoccupied tone which led Zora to think she was communicating at that moment.

  She was proved correct in the next few minutes when Shax passed on a request from the fairies to watch out for anything strange as they walked. Walking along Zora tried to make sense of what had just happened. A rogue werewolf had walked past them, seemingly not knowing what they were any more than they had recognised it. That apparently wasn’t normal. It wasn’t the one from her visions, she was certain of that and besides it was a male and the one from her visions was female. But it was a rogue, which meant that the theory about a group of them was looking more likely. Were they a group of dark magic wielding rogues? Even to her, new as she was, that sounded very bad. And now they were following invisible fairies which were following a rogue werewolf of unknown power. That sounded like a really bad idea, insanely bad. No wonder Sunny was walking along looking like the big bad wolf might jump on her at any second. He actually might.

  She scanned both sides of the street as they walked but saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was hard to believe what they were doing or that any of it was real when they were walking down a perfectly ordinary street surrounded by perfectly ordinary people. This other world she now lived in seemed more like a dream than reality.

  Zora had no idea where they were going, or what they were going to do once they got there. The werewolf was wearing a business suit so it seemed likely he was going back to work or was running a work related errand. A sudden vision of Michael J Fox as he looked in Teen Wolf popped into her head and made her smile. Sunny raised an eyebrow at her and Zora gave a quick explanation which made Sunny smile as well.

  Shax however kept up the pace, Zora assumed she was anxious they catch up to the fairies which did seem like a good idea on this fools errand. They were going so fast they must surely be getting closer, although the werewolf had been striding along at a pretty fast pace. Realising her thoughts were distracting her from her surroundings Zora focused again on looking for anything unusual. They kept on walking for several more minutes, turning here and there until Zora knew she was lost. She hoped Shax had a good sense of direction.

  Finally Shax turned into a narrow alley that appeared to be nothing but the back entrances to local businesses. There was nobody there that she could see, and nothing for anyone to hide behind except the large rectangular bins about halfway down the alley. Shax put up a hand for quiet and concentrated on something only she could hear. Zora and Sunny leaned against the wall and waited.

  After a few more minutes Shax smiled at them. “I know this must all seem very strange to you both, you’ve never had to do anything like it before I’m guessing. The fairies have followed the werewolf to his place of work and they will get a fairy watch put on him so we know where he goes and what he does. It seems reasonable to assume he will lead us to the group, if there is one. So we can go back to the house now, as soon as the fairies come to us here. Best that they become visible without human onlookers.”

  Sunny sagged in visible relief, and then straightened. “You know I’m relieved we didn’t have to do anything, but still it seems like such an anticlimax. I thought there’d be some sort of confrontation, or a fight, or something. This just seems a bit tame.”

  Shax raised an eyebrow at her. “You wanted to go fight the wolf? We can do that if you want. I don’t think Marcus or Powers would be too thrilled about it though.”

  Sunny sighed. “No, I don’t want to fight him. I just thought we’d learn something, that’s all.”

  “We have learned something. We’ve learned that there are at least two rogue werewolves, and we’ve learned that this one is still able to hold down a job. He’s a lawyer by the way. Sometimes the rogues lose touch with the human world completely. We’ve also learned that rogues may be able to disguise themselves from fairy detection. That’s a lot to learn from an afternoon shopping.”

  Sunny looked unconvinced. “I guess so. I suppose I thought it would be more physical.”

  Zora remembered her supposed ability to torch the werewolves and shuddered. She didn’t know if she would be able to do it if the opportunity ever presented itself. Once again she doubted her ability to fulfil her role in this miss
ion – if mission was the right word for it.

  Hearing movement from the street end of the alley she turned, expecting to see Samantha and Clare. The sudden flare of heat from her pendant warned her seconds before the appearance of a youth dressed in scruffy jeans and a t-shirt. This was very obviously not the man she had seen before, yet her pendant was hot and that feeling she had been ignoring all day was now screaming DANGER loud and clear.

  Shax swung around and put herself in front of both Zora and Sunny in one swift movement while also putting herself in the path of the youth. He came to a halt, a puzzled expression on his face. Zora stared at him, he looked harmless, a kid around 18 or maybe a bit older. But her pendant and that feeling deep inside told her a different story. In the next few seconds she used her other senses, seeing his aura come to life coloured dark muddy green with flashes of red. It was a sullen, angry colour and it perfectly matched the sullen angry expression on his face as he took in Shax blocking his path.

  “Get out of my way witch,” he snarled as he started forward again. Shax held her ground, right hand raised. “Who are you? Why are you here?”

  “None of your business, now move or I’ll move you.”

  She snorted slightly. “As if. Did you come here after us?”

  The look of astonishment on his face was almost comical. “Why would I want to go after a skinny little witch and her friends? I’m just minding my own business.”

  Zora stared at him carefully, trying to use all of her senses. She could almost see the wolf under his skin but she knew he couldn’t change. Maybe it meant he was a new one, which made him highly unpredictable. Her pendant burned hotter, distracting her and then suddenly she knew what it was doing - warning her of an impending attack.

  She shoved Shax against the wall and rushed forward to meet him as he made a leap forward, a snarl bursting from his as he attacked. Her mind was screaming in panic but her body knew exactly what to do. Zora parried his attack with her hands and her feet, pushing him towards the opposite wall and evading his attempts to bite her. She knew she was immune but ewwwww, wolf teeth had to be gross. He was strong even in human form but she was stronger and faster. She had him face against the wall in a few moves that amazed her, his arms twisted behind his back and his legs pinned. Stunned by her own actions she had no idea what to do now she had him.

  “Zora, look out!” The shout came from Sunny and Zora looked over her shoulder at the entrance to the alleyway to see three more rogues running to aid their companion. Four against one? She didn’t know how she had overpowered this one; she was sure another three were three too many. Zora blinked as a flare of fire lit up the alley. Shax was throwing fireballs at them, which distracted them momentarily.

  One of them changed direction straight for her but the others kept coming to Zora who pulled her gaze away from the sight of fireballs sizzling down the alley. Blinking to dispel the stars that seemed to float around the edges of her vision and settle over Shax she assessed her situation. She couldn’t continue to hold the one she had and fight two more, so with a quick economical movement she tapped his head against the wall and knocked him out. Letting him fall to the concrete she turned to face the new threat.

  Shax was compromised, protecting Sunny at the same time as throwing fireballs at her opponent. Zora pushed her panicked mind to the background and let her instincts take over. She crouched, ready to spring at the two new combatants. A fire was building up in her pendant, a burning hot distraction. She glanced down at it quickly and was shocked to see it glowing with white heat although it did not burn her skin. There was no time to ponder what that meant though, as the two men came at her with hands and feet and teeth, and then one produced a knife.

  For a second the world seemed to stop as she processed this new threat. Then movement started again as Zora fought desperately at a level of skill she didn’t know she had. Every time she thought about what she was doing she would falter, so she turned her mind off and let her body take over. She managed to knock one of her assailants against the wall which his head hit with a satisfying crunch, before he slid down on top of his unconscious compatriot. Now it was one on one, still uneven odds since the one left was the one with the knife. Zora ducked and weaved, gasping with shock when a knife parry hit home on her arm. She glanced down to where blood was welling and then back up to the man, furious fire burning in her eyes.

  He hesitated, caught by something he saw in her face. Zora was so angry she felt like sparks were coming from her eyes. She had been knifed! Something was building up inside her, she could feel it gathering. Her pendant was burning, her eyes were burning, the pressure was begging for release and the man with the knife was her target. Zora advanced on him, surprised when he began to back up.

  “Drop the knife!” At the imperious call the man with the knife jerked around sharply to assess this new threat. Zora didn’t even think, just kicked out and got him in the solar plexus. He collapsed to the ground and she leaned down to pull his knife from his hands, then swung around to face Axel, Powers, Samantha and Clare. Shax had taken advantage of the surprise to throw what Zora assumed was a magical rope around her assailant, while Zora had three fallen men at her feet. She dusted her hands off and waited for Axel and Powers to come. Samantha and Clare went to comfort a shaking Sunny while Shax herded her capture to where his fallen friends lay.

  Powers was first to her side, tearing a piece of his shirt off and using it as a tourniquet on her bleeding arm. Zora felt herself shaking, and leaned gratefully into his strong arms. She didn’t complain or pull away when she felt his strength seeping into her, a comforting and steadying warmth. Shax was looking a little shaky too, as she stood looking down at the three men lying at Zora’s feet.

  Sunny came over with Samantha and Clare, face pale and eyes huge. She also looked at the prone men and then at Zora. “Where did that come from? You were amazing, and at the end I swear I saw sparks coming from you! Your eyes and your hair are still glowing. Zora when did you learn to fight like that?”

  Zora stirred but didn’t move from Powers side. She was shaking worse now, both amazed and horrified by her own actions. “I didn’t,” she said flatly. “I don’t know how I did that.”

  Axel had been conferring silently with the fairy guard – Zora knew that because Cameron, James and Arthur appeared in a swirl of mist. They too stood looking at the three men on the ground. Zora was starting to feel a touch irritated at the surprise shown by everyone (choosing to ignore her own astonishment). When Axel held out his hand she silently handed over the knife, an action that made everyone there widen their eyes as they took in the blade which was stained by some of her blood. Zora averted her eyes, pleased when Axel passed it onto Cameron who took it wordlessly although his eyes spoke volumes as he looked at their captures.

  It was Sunny who asked the obvious question. “Where were you all? What good is your mist travel if you don’t come in emergencies?”

  Zora had been wondering the same thing, especially with the bond between her and Powers. She looked up at him and then at Axel questioningly. Shax was silent, staring at her toes. Shax, wasn’t she supposed to be in constant communication with Axel? Zora turned her questioning gaze onto the witch who was actually scuffing one toe on the ground.

  Axel sighed. “Shax, what happened? The first I knew about all of this was when the girls came to get me.”

  Shax peeped up through her fringe. “Axel I’m so sorry, I was so surprised by the attack and then I was fighting this guy here, and I had a protective shield around Sunny and I was trying to keep an eye on Zora and I just lost my connection to you and the girls for a bit there. I didn’t realise straight away. I’m so sorry, this is all my fault.”

  Axel stepped closer to her and smoothed his hand across the top of her head. “Shax, you are a strong brave girl, I know how much power you used to keep a shield around Sunny while wielding those fireballs. It takes enormous concentration to be able to use magic against another supernatural to a
ny effect. He’s looking a bit singed here, you nearly set him on fire! No wonder you lost your connection to us.”

  Zora stirred again. “What about you Powers, why didn’t you see what was happening through our bond?”

  Powers rested his chin on the top of her head. “I lost my connection to you, it happens sometimes and I didn’t think anything of it. As far as I knew you were shopping, not fighting rogue weres. I wasn’t worried until the girls appeared in front of us.”

  Sunny looked at Samantha. “Samantha? Why did you go to Axel and not straight to us?”

  Samantha looked a little surprised at the question. “We were about to come back here when the connection with Shax was lost. Naturally we were a little concerned but not too worried. We thought maybe Shax let the connection drop, knowing that we would be with you soon. But then the connection snapped back in and we of course knew we must get the Prince. We went to him immediately, and brought him and Powers back here. You seemed to have the situation in hand Zora, good fighting skills.” Samantha nodded approvingly at Zora.

  While they were speaking the male fairy guard had been busy trussing up the four werewolves. Cameron handed the rope back to Shax who with a flick of her wrist made it disappear to wherever it had come from. Sunny looked impressed, probably that was going to be high on her list of things to learn thought Zora.

  Shax looked at the four men trussed up like chickens. “What will you do with these?”

  Axel smiled briefly. “We will hand them over to the Melbourne pack, they can question them.” He smiled a little wider at the look of apprehension that passed over the faces of all four of the weres. “Take them now please Cameron, and then come back to the Melbourne house. We will meet there and debrief.” Cameron nodded and he, James and Arthur disappeared in the mist, taking the four weres with them.

  Axel looked at Shax. “Are you able to travel Shax? You have used a lot of energy.”