The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves

by Richard Heredia

  She was struck by a single thought, though it had many components - the fighting, the snow, the wind. All of it, together, was like a macabre dance of life and death, of good and evil. They, she and her siblings, and Andrew, were running through it, stuck within its’ very center. She knew they were fighting, because of the four of them. Both sides were willing to die, to possess, to save or to kill – them. She had never felt more horrified in her life.

  Why are we so special?!?

  She could tell they were at the back of the box canyon, facing opposite her grandmother’s house. It was at the rear of the property owned by the orphanage that had stood on the east side of Avenue 64 for nearly a century. They had been moved no more than a few blocks overnight!

  It was the same canyon she remembered seeing the time her grandmother had taken her and her siblings on a short hike to the large crucifix implanted atop the highest portion of the ridge forming the canyon itself. Only then, she’d looked into the canyon from above, not outward, upon its floor. She remembered there’d been a fenced-in swimming pool next to a large open area of grass, both of them at the mouth of the canyon. There had been three large buildings behind the pool and a playing field. The edifice furthest back had a small parking lot with around fifteen parking spaces.

  None of that was visible now. In fact, the cave from which they’d emerged gaped where “furthest-back” building had once stood. Now, there was nothing but snow-covered ground and dense forest all about them.

  And, of course, the raging battle between the Fenris’ Swüreg and the mysterious newcomers.

  She craned her neck to see the battle once more, her perspective having changed since Kodiak hadn’t stopped striding through the throng.

  She saw something reddish-brown and definitely feline, racing through snow, kicking up a tremendous rooster tail due to its speed. It decapitated one Swüreg warrior and took another’s throat in the wink of her eye.

  There was a flash of some sort of bright light from between the upraised hands of Vallüm, the horribly shrunken old man. Whatever it was, it smashed into a nearby tree, shattering it into a thousand splinters of wood, just missing his intended target. His intended victim looked somewhat wolf-like, but with a pug nose and fangs that gleamed white, even from a distance.

  Next, she watched Inghëldir rush forward, so fast, she was almost impossible to track. A fraction of a second later, she collided in mid-air with something Mikalah swore looked like a giant rabbit, but was somehow able to run like a man.

  Well, almost…

  She almost pointed at it in disbelief, but at the last second realized, she might lose her grip on Kodiak and fall off. She stayed her hand.

  The grunts and shouts and screams assaulted her ears, the rips and rents in flesh making her squirm with revulsion. She felt suddenly numb, her senses overloaded. It was too much for her to digest at once. There was too much to watch in mere seconds. She could only process a fraction of it.

  In a blink of an eye, the battle was behind them. They plunged through a copse of magnolia trees and onto a broader expanse of flattened land. This was where the playing field should’ve been, but that too was gone.

  Of Fenris, there was no sign.

  Kodiak slowed a bit as her brother and Andrew came alongside of her, panting and gasping for breath, but having no intention of stopping.

  “Oh my god, that was one hell of a fight! Did you see that shit, man!” exclaimed Andrew, as his wind would allow. “Jesus H. Christ, did you see what they were fighting?”

  “Yeah,” Anthony said, looking up at her and Elena to make sure they were all right.

  Mikalah gave him a weak smile and a brief nod. They all plowed on through the wind and the snow, trying to put as much distance between them and the battle as possible. She glanced around the bouncing form of Elena and then to her right and left, realizing they had passed out of the box canyon proper. They had entered what should have been the grounds of the orphanage itself, but, like everything before, there was no sign of an orphanage anywhere. Every structure was gone.

  She was about to mention it to Elena. She knew exactly where they were. The buildings of the orphanage should’ve been all around them. But, she thought better of it when she noticed her older sister’s head was whipping back and forth as well. Elena had unearthed precisely what she had moments before. They were where the orphanage should’ve been.

  Instead, she glanced around once more, at the magnolia trees and snow-slung patches of wild grass and underbrush, trying to get her mind around what she was seeing.

  Where had everything gone?

  Kodiak trotted up a small rise leading to the intersection of what should’ve been Avenue 64 and Church Street. Mikalah wasn’t surprised to see where the Episcopalian Church should’ve been to their right was nothing but a thick meadow, thick layered grass under fluffy snow. Beyond that, there was only a large, dirt road where Avenue 64 should’ve been and a small trail bisecting the road at the exact location where Church Street would’ve crossed. There were no stop signs, no sidewalks, and, above all, as far as she could see, there were no houses. There should’ve been scores of them in her line of slightly now.

  “Wow,” began Andrew as Kodiak looped over what should’ve been the front lawn of the church, but was now just a large clearing randomly covered with dead leaves and snow, “everything is gone.”

  “Still sharp as a samurai sword, eh Drew?” added Anthony sarcastically, and was about to ask Kodiak a question.

  “What did I say? Look around, man, everything is freakin’ gone!”

  Anthony rolled his eyes still in mid-stride. “Yeah, I get it.” He looked back at Kodiak. Mikalah heard him ask, “So what now, where do we go from here?”

  One of her huge, brown eyes glanced his way, but only for a gallop and a half. She focused ahead once more, not once slowing her pace. They were traveling fast enough to get away and yet, slow enough so she didn’t outrun the boys. “We have to run up this trail a ways until we come upon smaller footpath. From there, we make a left, passing quite a few more paths until we run down a hill. At the bottom of the hill, we’ll run to… well… to what we have found. One of us has found a safe place to hide for the time being until our next course of action can be determined.”

  Mikalah turned to see Elena’s brow wrinkle at the answer.

  “So, we’re running to La Loma Road and then all the way downhill by Vons?” inquired Anthony through a few large gulps of air. He was running with long, fluid strides. Mikalah hadn’t known he move with such fluidity. She had never seen him run before.

  “If you say so, I’m not acquainted with the names of Human streets. I merely remember the way, child,” replied Kodiak.

  “Who’s ‘we’? Who’s ‘one of us’?” questioned Elena, making Mikalah shake her head. It was true – her sister never missed a single detail.

  “Why, the rest of us, of course,” came Kodiak’s simple reply as if the girl should’ve figured it out.

  “You mean there are more like you?” She eyes were burrowing into the back of Kodiak’s skull as the bear-dog continued to run.

  Kodiak chanced a quick look over her shoulder briefly gazing upon Elena’s bright curious eyes, before she returned her vision to the road.

  Mikalah could tell that her sister was trying to keep her mind off the strangeness of everything about them. She was trying to find something – anything – to think about other than their tenuous situation. She always did that when she was scared.

  “Well, yes and no.”

  At Mikalah’s right knee, Andrew giggled blew air between his lips explosively – a sarcastic gesture.

  “Hush, boy!” uttered Kodiak with a rumbling out of the corner of her jaw.

  “Sorry.”

  She began anew. “Yes, it is true, child. We are alike, since, not too long ago, we are all your pets and had been for years. But, it is not true at the same time, for we are all very much unlike one another,” she explained in a motherly fashion
, slow and concise, so as not to confound. She somehow was able to manage this while she was trotting across the one-time lawn of the historic church.

  “You’re talking about those creatures fighting the bad guys back there, aren’t you?” concluded Mikalah, remembering how big and strong they’d all looked. What Kodiak was saying rang true. She recalled they hadn’t look alike at all, not in the least.

  Oh my god, our pets came with us!?!

  “Yes, child, I am.”

  Anthony thought intensely for a few moments. “How many of our pets are with you?”

  “There are five of us. We are called the Fingers of the Lord of the Light,” she announced in a tone sounding proud.

  Anthony looked puzzled, asking, “I keep hearing that title over and over again. Who is this Lord of the Light?”

  “Later, my child, it will have to wait for later. Right now we have more immediate issues at hand,” said Kodiak smoothly, still lumbering on through the snow.

  Mikalah could see her brother wanted to press the issue, but decided not to, opting to focus on keeping pace with the bear-dog, silent for now. Mikalah knew he was just biding his time. The time for questions would come later. Rather, he settled himself, wading into deep thought.

  She looked from her brother to what lay ahead, seeing they’d already passed the slight left hand curve of earthen road and were entering the second curve. The trail was positioned exactly as it would’ve been back home, except it wasn’t paved. There were no houses. All the people were gone. She knew this second curve would be a bit sharper and angle to the right. From there, La Loma Road was only a city block or so farther up the steady incline they were traversing. Again, she glanced around, hoping for any signs of human habitation as her vantage slowly changed through the dense trees. The homes that should’ve been hanging to the steep hillsides on either side of them were gone. Some of the side streets that should’ve been there, branching off in either direction, weren’t in evidence. As they continued up the trail, there was no trace of them.

  She shivered slightly in the gloom surrounding her, hanging on with all her might, as the bear-dog’s huge muscles flexed underneath her. The snow had not abated since they’d left the cave, but it hadn’t increased in intensity either. It fell steadily, a continuous, falling drapery, cutting down visibility to just over forty yards - ok, but not great. The temperature had stayed the same as well. It was cold. Each of the children had blotchy, reddened noses and cheeks chapped to a light blush, but no frost bite or anything as severe as that. About them, the wind blew in short, swirling breezes, barely touching the white flakes falling around them. The gentle play of air did make them eddy in unison, slightly from side to side as it did so.

  Kodiak and the boys reached the second bend in the road and the full view of the road beyond cleared when a deep resonating voice said, “Mother!”

  Kodiak stopped in her tracks, peering through the snowfall toward the left hand side of the trail where Mikalah remembered a street had once intersected Avenue Sixty-four. It wasn’t there now. It had been replaced by a gradual incline of grass, weeds, and a few bushes as well. The cleared stretch of land reached upward over a hundred feet or so before it was obscured by the weather. The entire expanse of it was laden with snow, uneven and lumpy.

  Through this, Mikalah saw another bear-dog creature, much like Kodiak, only not quite as tall at the shoulder, with a body at least a foot longer. The beast ambled forth. Its’ fur was the same color as Kodiak’s, though the hairs looked half an inch longer. Its eyes they were as black as coal. Kodiak’s were brown. Other than a slightly shorter snout, she was the spitting image of the taller Bear-dog.

  It searched over the five of them as it came closer, its’ nose flaring as it snuffed at their scents, committing them to memory.

  “Why are you so far from the sanctuary, girl? I told you to stay behind and guard it, to keep it secret!” growled Kodiak at the other creature, obvious disgusted. “How many times have we been told how important are these children? They are the saviors of their kind. How many times, my daughter, have we been told we must always put their care above all else?”

  “I know, mother! I know! Trust me. I have been planning for this day for a long, long time. There is no way I could ever forget the importance of these magnificent children. But, circumstances changed since you were away,” replied the other bear-dog.

  “Oh, really, how?” Kodiak’s thick brows arched.

  “I saw two other children running from the fell minions of the Storm Lord just down the road. They were in need of aid. Since I couldn’t offer assistance to them alone, I came to see if I could find you and the others. We need to help them.” Although, its’ voice was low and gruff, Mikalah could tell it was resoundingly feminine in her ears. If Kodiak hadn’t alluded to its’ gender already, she would’ve figured it out soon enough.

  “Sorry, my child, I spoke hastily, but did you say there are two others? Do you mean children such as these?” asked Kodiak in a rush.

  The four of them exchanged surprised glances between them, but otherwise stayed quiet, listening.

  Two more children? Could we have found more of the twelve kids supposedly here, already, this fast? That would be awesome! Mikalah’s eyes were riveted to the other bear-dog.

  “Yes, mother, but where are our brothers-at-arms?”

  “They still engage the enemy, but should be following soon, if everything has gone according to plan,” responded the larger creature. “But please, daughter, what can you tell me of the enemy? What are their numbers? Where are the children of whom you speak?”

  “There are just a handful, mother,” replied the younger bear-dog. “If we are to find them we must range along the small path ahead.”

  “Good, lead the way, daughter. May your nose be true! We’ll track down these miscreants and save the children before anything bad happens to them.”

  At once, they were off again, down what was left of Avenue 64 and made a left onto what should’ve been La Loma. It was no more than a three-foot wide pathway now, zigzagging through trees, bushes and boulders, as it angled upward and out of sight.

  They had run on the smaller track for only a few moments when Anthony suddenly gasped, so loud all of his companion’s heads swiveled to make sure he was ok.

  Mikalah could easily read the shock on his face.

  Yet, it was what he said in the next second that sent shock throughout hers.

  “Kenai… is that you?”

  The lead bear-dog just turned to peer behind back at him. It was only for a stride or two, but Mikalah saw, as plainly as the snow falling through the trees, the beast had winked at her brother. A small smirk had pulled at one side of its’ mouth and no more. She resumed leading them through what looked like the beginnings of a true forest.

  Kenai, her brother’s dog, lost for nearly half a decade, had come back…?

  …Or had we found her?

  ~~~~~~~~<<<<<<{ ☼ }>>>>>>~~~~~~~~

  ~ 41 ~

  Kenai

  Day One, Thursday, Immediately Thereafter…

  Since the trail was too small for them to run side-by-side, they ran in single file. Kenai in the lead, followed by Anthony, then Andrew, and finally Kodiak with the girls perched on her back, each with a double-fist full of her fur. Anthony trotted behind Kenai lost in thought as they continued up the winding trail. It had been a paved road almost twenty feet wide in the world he was from. He paid it no mind. His mind was elsewhere, meandering somewhere back in time.

  He’d been Elena’s age when he had jumped into the front passenger seat of his grandmother’s car. It was a Friday like so many other Fridays in the past. He remembered he’d been excited, eager to get his weekend started – the video games, the cartoons, the continuous building, breaking and re-building of his Lego’s. All of it was ahead of him with no bedtime or busy schedule or alarm clock in the morning. He used to take full advantage of his weekends back then, completely indulgent in childhood adventures and
not have a care in the world.

  He’d been about to give his grandmother an enthusiastic hello when his eyes fell on her face. Instantly, he knew she’d been crying. At once, his thoughts of playtime popped like a soup bubble. His full attention was on his grandmother.

  “What’s wrong, Grandma?” he had asked wanting to make her feel better, but a little wary of her answer just the same.

  “I have something to tell you, Anthony, but first, I want you to know that I’m sorry,” she replied. Suddenly, she burst into tears.

  He’d been totally shocked. He felt his guarded feeling melt into something else. He had been downright scared. “Why, what happened?” He’d been surprised at how small his voice sounded in his own ears.

  “Tony, I’m so sorry, but Kenai busted through the back fence last night and ran away,” she said quickly, like she was taking off a Band-Aid. Do it quick, get it done and over with. Don’t prolong the pain more than was necessary.

  He’d sat there taken aback. Her reply had been the furthest thing from his mind, but, her reaction to it had truly frightened him. He was almost relieved it hadn’t been something worse, maybe involving his parents. It took him a few seconds before he made the connection. Kenai was his dog, his responsibility. Now she was gone and on the streets, where just about any bad thing could happen to her. Aside from posting fliers around the neighborhood, there was very little he could’ve done about it.

  The drive to his grandmother’s house, though short in distance, had seemed long. He couldn’t help but reminisce about the only dog he’d been able to call his own. She’d been a puppy when he had first met her. Only six weeks old, she was already beautiful. He couldn’t remember all of the details, but he knew one day his grandmother had gone out looking for a dog at the local dog pound. After a few hours, she’d come back with Kodiak and six puppies, one of which was Kenai. When the pups had grown large enough to leave their mother, his grandmother had told him, he could keep one for his own. He’d chosen Kenai. The other five puppies had gone back to the dog pound, where other families adopted them within hours.