“You killed Michael?” Jason felt astonished by this. It made him hurt. It made him grow angry with it too.
Vincent turned from him to the others. “Devish must remove those who stand against him. He must not be challenged by anyone.”
Jason grew angrier. “You killed him. You killed our father.”
Vincent shook his head. “We did what he had to do. Devish ordered it.”
Another of the group, Helena, rather new to all of them but at the same time still old, stepped towards the clearing. “Jason is right. How could you kill our father?”
Vincent looked back to her. “Devish did, not me.”
Brandon laughed with this. “You always wanted to rid yourself of Michael. You couldn’t take him out by yourself so you sent another one to do it for you.”
Jason and the others turned to him again. “How do you know this?”
Brandon smiled, but lowered his head. “I am the child of Michael Gorhan. I carry his blood. I carry his memories.” He looked up and his stare matched Vincent’s now turning worried glare. “That is why you and your god came to kill me. You can’t even take me on without him.” He smiled. “You are a coward.”
Again, all of them gasped.
Vincent winced.
Jason stepped to Brandon’s side. “Is this true? Are you Michael’s child?”
The young man, the one that Brandon had spared, also stepped to his side. “It is. I smelled him. He has Michael’s blood.” Kerrigan is his name, and he may be younger than all of them there put together, but he did carry some amount of strength. He did carry some trust within him too.
That trust did show to Jason. “You tried to kill him, Vincent?” He turned from this Brandon and back to Vincent.
Vincent now feeling worried, now absolutely fearing where this was going, swallowed hard. He had to stop this before it continued, and got a whole lot worse. “If you stand against me, you stand against Devish. He will destroy all of you if you stand against him.” He looked back to Brandon. “You who stand against him will die. There is no other way but to follow him.”
All of them, ten of them in total, now all looked at each other.
Brandon saw this, and inside him, his pride swelled with it. They really are loyal. Can it be true? Am I really the one to follow? He didn’t know, and right then, he didn’t care. He could feel them thinking. He could feel them debating. He could feel them wanting to follow him. It was a powerful feeling at that.
Jason watched his friends, and turned to Brandon. “You are Michael’s child.” He looked back to Vincent. “We follow our father’s child.”
The nine others stepped into the center of the park and all faced Vincent side by side. They stood behind Brandon.
Vincent saw enough. “You are all fools. You will pay for this defiance. You will all die with him.”
Jason laughed. “You know our laws Vincent. You are the one who will pay for the crime that you have caused. You will pay for our father’s death.”
Vincent watched Jason’s eyes flare to red. At the same time, he saw the same thing from all of the others around him. With it, he truly had to do what he did next. He turned. He fled as fast as he could run.
Maxwell was completely caught off guard by all of this, so he didn’t move at first. He didn’t know what to think about any of it. He did not know what to do, so when he turned too, he was not fast enough.
Something, or someone, with great force caught him from behind. Before he knew anything else, he then felt his feet leave the ground. A sharp agonizing pain then flared through his neck just before he died. He did not have the chance.
Sharlia heard everything and with it, she saw her chance. She did not hesitate as she rushed Maxwell and grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him off the ground. With all of her rage flying through her hard, she then rammed her fangs through his neck. It took only seconds to drain him dry.
Brandon watched her fly to him within a blur, but didn’t jump. He just watched her kill her former friend. With it, he understood everything about what they were—about what he was. He understood that she did only what she had to do. It was their way. This was their life. This was his.
When she finished, she dropped Maxwell’s lifeless body to her feet. It felt good. She felt right. She then turned back around to Brandon with tears still in her eyes.
Brandon watched her turn. “Are you okay Sharry?” He gave her nod.
She returned it. “I am now.” She took a deep breath. She calmed down with it.
Brandon laughed.
Jason stepped in front of him, with the others following behind him, and stopped. “My lord, what is your name?”
Brandon watched him closely. He had no idea what he was going to do next, but he did answer him. “The name is Brandon.” He let his eyes fade back. His fangs slid home.
“My lord Brandon, I am yours.” And Jason went down to one knee as he bowed.
The ten others, including Kerrigan, knelt down in front of him too.
Watching them, Brandon, now more than ever, did not know what to say. He did not even know what to think.
Sharlia watched this and smiled. She knew what it meant. I have my army. I now have my new friend and vengeance will be mine.
10
The fire was there. It burned brighter than ever with two Wanderers now looking into the flames. Kenar stood on one side of it and Robert stood on the other. They each stared into the embers. They stared into the world.
“How do we find them?” Robert saw himself floating in a deep mist. A bright white light shined behind him as he watched Kenar floating in front of him. The mist was the air of time. This was the place where everyone goes in between life. This is the place, where everyone lives, and yet, everyone dies.
“They will come, Rochie. They will be here.” Kenar tried not to look into the bright white light. It was the light of life. It was the light of death. If one stood too close to it, they may not return. It was the final destination where life would end forever.
Suddenly, a woman appeared within the mist. At first, she was nothing but a mist herself, but soon, she became human. She became real.
Kenar looked to her and watched her float up to both of them. He knew who she was. “Sandra, is that you?” He watched her come right in front of him and stop. She looked as she always had. She looked so young. She looked so strong. Her black hair fluttered all around her head. Her golden skin glistened in the bright white light.
“Kenar, I thought that was you calling to me. How have you been?” Her voice sounded like a deep echo flowing through a damp and dark cave. It seemed to flow on the mist. It seemed to ring in the clouds.
Kenar returned a smile. “I’ve been well Sandra. I truly am pleased to find you here. I’m also thankful that you came.” He knew Sandra for many years. She was always kind to him. She was always his eyes when he needed them. She always helped him find his way home.
She smiled too, and saw Rochie there with him. “Rochie, my God, it’s been a while.”
Robert nodded to her. “Yes it has been. How are you Sandy?”
She laughed. He always called her this. Seeing him like this, never aged, she could not help but do it. “I see you’re still alive.” How one could live so long always amazed her. He had the one gift that so many of them would die to have. Death was painful. Without it, it meant the end of having to go through that pain. Who would not love that? Who would not envy it some too?
He nodded again.
She turned her attention back to Kenar. “So…why have you called me here Kenar? Why now after all of this time?” She truly did not know, but at the same time, she did know something. She could feel the world turning colder. She could feel the world turning stiff. Something was happening. Something very bad was coming. She knew it, but still didn’t. This was her way. This was also a part of her gift.
Kenar laughed with this. “I see you haven’t changed. You’re straight to the point as always.” He shrugged. Floating li
ke this, caught on nothing more than a breeze, the action almost made him move away from her, so after finishing it, he had to wave his arms some to get back to being in front of her again. “It’s time Sandra. It’s time to gather again.”
She looked from him over to Rochie, and then back to him again. “Has he returned?” Her face went pale. Her thoughts turned cold. “Devish has come home, hasn’t he?” She hated thinking this. She truly feared it too. It explained what she felt. It explained what she saw. It explained so much more than that.
Kenar nodded. “He has.” He looked back to Rochie and then back to Sandra again. “And so has Rana.”
Her face felt even colder as she nodded, taking everything in. “Then he has everything back again the way he had it before.” She bowed her head some. “He has the pieces back to the game.”
Kenar nodded, but there was more. He had to tell her everything. “Kalima has returned as well.” Now he had to wait for the inevitable anger to come next. It always had after he mentioned the name. Fear of what it meant would always follow it too.
She looked back up to him and felt her whole body seemingly go limp. “The end times are back.” She shook her head. “How did this happen?” She looked to Rochie. “How did you let this happen again?” Her voice turned colder than she felt.
Robert’s did too. “Devish returned and set all of this in motion. He’s played us. He has turned the key.” He spoke the absolute truth. He felt ashamed for everything that happened, but there wasn’t anything that he could do about it now. All they had left was what they were. He could only hope that it was enough.
Hearing this, Sandra nodded and swallowed hard. The mist caught her breaths so doing it made it hurt some too. “Can we return to the flames? I need to think about all of this.” She even felt a shiver flow through her soul. The feeling felt like a thousand needles pricking her skin. Feeling any more of it would definitely drive her insane if they stayed.
Kenar nodded. “Yes.” He looked behind her with nothing but regret in his mind. He hoped that others would have come. He was sure that more of them would, but seeing only her, he could not help but feel this way. “Let’s go back.” He looked back to Rochie and gave him a nod.
Rochie returned it.
They each closed their eyes.
The fire was there. The flames burned brighter than ever.
Now, Sandra stood beside Kenar around the fire.
He turned to her and smiled.
She noticed that it did not look real. “You have more to tell me?” That had to be the reason for the look.
He shook his head. “I only wished that the others were here. I hoped for more.” He bowed his head.
She nodded. “I’m not good enough then?” She caressed his left shoulder with her right palm.
He accepted her touch. He always had. “I thank you for coming. I’m truly pleased that you knew who you were.” His smile now turned real. “I feared that no one would.”
Robert left his side of the flames and joined them. “When can you meet up with us?” He had to get back to the plan.
Something that Kenar was growing tired of hearing. “Rochie, please, we will get there.” He watched him come, and shook his head with it.
Robert shook his head too, but for a different reason. He recognized what he heard, and hated him for it. “I’m sorry Kenar. I’m afraid. I’m scared that things are beginning to spiral out of control.”
Kenar recognized more there than just that. “She will be all right Rochie. We were able to stop him the last time. She survived all of this before too.”
He shook his head with this. “I don’t know what happened back then. I don’t know how she did.”
Kenar truly felt for him. He understood him too. That too, he always had. “I know.”
Sandra listened, not really understanding any of this, but still felt the need to come in to it anyway. “What is going on guys? How did everything happen?”
Robert bowed his head.
Kenar nodded. He knew that he would have to be the one to answer the question, so he did. “Devish got out of his prison. We don’t know how, but he did. He’s been planning on restarting the war. He played us. He set all of this in motion.”
Sandra nodded, taking a deep breath at the same time. In the end, she had only one answer to give them, but before she did, she wanted to know something else first. “Is the Nightshade Samantha with him by any chance?” She swallowed hard after asking them. It took everything she had to keep herself contained too. It always was, when Samantha was involved.
Kenar nodded. He of course read her thoughts. He knew why she asked. “She hurt you during your last life.”
She nodded. “She’s the reason why I’m so young today.” She bowed her head some. What she did to her, she would never forget. Doing it to an old woman too, would always rake her soul. She owed her so much for it too.
Kenar nodded again. “She is with Devish, yes.” He then offered her a smile.
She hoped she would be. “So what’s the plan?” It was time to get to the point.
Robert scoffed with this.
Kenar again would have to answer her for the both of them. “We have to head back to where all of this ended the last time. We have to go back to Devish’s place.”
She nodded with this. She had other questions, so she asked them. “Where is Kalima? What is he planning to do?” She remembered those times. She remembered the pain that all of them caused. She regretted how everything ended. She hated what they all had done, and now apparently, had to do again.
Robert scoffed again.
“I’m not sure what he’s planning, but I do know that he is still with us. He does have a plan.” Kenar smiled, trying to show her his confidence with all of this. It was not hard to do. After all, he did have it.
She recognized what he was trying to do, and felt surprised with it. “I never thought that you would be the one to support him Kenar. You never did before.” She looked to Rochie and winced some under her breaths. “He was the one that supported the wolf, not you.”
She was right of course. Rochie was in his place now, back then, so he understood her. “I’ve come a long way from those days. Since then, I have forgiven them. I have forgiven him.”
She nodded. “If he has a plan then we should follow it. He’s the only one who can stop Devish. He always has been.”
Kenar nodded. “Whatever he’s planning, we have to do our part. We have to head over to Scotland and meet with him. We have to gather our support.”
She looked at both of them and shrugged hard. “Just the three of us?” She did not like their chances, and this explained the shrug.
He again understood her reasons for it. “We just have to have faith. Not all Walkers are standing against us this time. Some of them want to keep the truce. Some of them our helping us.”
This surprised her some. “Who?” She also doubted it. Walkers do not turn against their kind. They never have, and far as she was concerned about it, they never would.
He smiled again. “Sharlia. She is behind us.”
Again, she felt surprised by hearing the name. “She is, huh?” Sharlia was the right hand of Devish back then. She and Michael Gorhan both stood beside him. Hearing that she now stood with them made her doubt this even more. Quite frankly, she just did not believe it.
He again understood how she felt. “Many things have changed since the end times, Sandra. We have to have faith in that change.”
This she could understand. “You have changed, haven’t you old man?” She gave him a wink.
He smiled with this. “Just proving my point.” He looked back to the flames.
“Well…” She looked at Rochie and then back to Kenar again. “…I think we should do it then. I don’t have any current plans.” And she laughed.
He loved her spunk. He always did. “Then I think it’s time to go back.” He looked at Rochie, and saw that he still had his head down low. “Ready Rochie?”
Robert nodded, but kept his eyes down.
Sandra nodded too. “I’ll meet you there…in Scotland. I’m currently in Seattle. It should take me a couple of days to get to you.” She offered a smile.
This made Kenar’s grow larger. Three days? That’s what Kalima said. Did he know? Did he know all of this? He of course didn’t know for sure, if he did or didn’t. In the end, he would not put anything past Kalima, and all of the things that he could do. He never could.
Ready, and together, the three of them then opened their eyes.
11
They looked ahead to the bay window of the living room as they sat on the sofa, and saw Danny standing just in front of them. He looked worried. He also looked scared. Seeing about twelve others standing in the room with him, they understand the looks.
Sharlia and Brandon were ahead of the others.
Robert stood fast and noticed several members of the Gorhans were also in the room. “What is this?” His eyes turned blue, allowing the power inside him to come forward. He was ready to use it too if he had to.
Kenar also stood up, hearing Rochie’s fears. “You’re not here to fight, are you?” He heard everyone there. None of them was there to fight, so he took Rochie’s left arm and held him firmly to him.
Robert heard him, looked at him, and realized that he would know what he was talking about, so he let the eyes turn back to normal. He then turned to Sharlia. “What is this?” He relaxed.
Jason and the Gorhans stood firm.
Brandon gave him a smile.
Sharlia smiled too. “They stand with us. They stand with Brandon.”
Hearing this, Kenar smiled.
Robert felt stunned. “With us?” He just could not believe it. He could not believe anything anymore, or so it seemed. “What do you mean by that?” He felt like he was just sucker slapped in the face.
Sharlia nodded. “Vincent came to kill us at the meeting with my family, but when his people saw Brandon they had a change of heart.” She smiled.
A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2) Page 48