Vincent now had a new feeling creep up inside his chest, and this was worry. He worried for everything, if not more. “We must forge a new plan.” He worried that all of this was now for nothing. With their plans, and if they were now in danger, he felt strongly that they must move in a new direction. It felt right to do it, but it also felt wrong. “If he is strong, as he was before, we must acknowledge this and move on. We must follow a different course—one which he will not follow.”
Devish shook his head. “We must stay the course my friend. We must stand strong. We must persevere.”
Vincent now feared this more than worry. He feared defeat. He felt defeated that Devish did not intend to change his plans. This made even less sense to him than anything else did. “My master, if Kalima knows his power, would it not be appropriate to change our plans. We should prepare for this new circumstance.”
Again, Devish just shook his head. “No.” He looked back to the plane. “I still have her.” He saw her standing by the door. Deep inside, he knew that she was listening to them. This suddenly did not bother him, and he did not know why. It just didn’t.
Vincent shrugged hard and low. “She is now his equal. How would she stand against him?”
Devish turned back around. “It is not that, my friend. He will come for her. He will do whatever he must to keep her safe. He will die for her if he must.” He stared him straight in his eyes.
Vincent saw this and gasped. “She is his love?” This blew his mind. He knew none of this.
Devish smiled. “He died for her once. He will die for her again.” He walked over to his friend. “As long as I have her, he will do what I wish.”
Vincent still was not convinced. “How do we know this? How do we know he will?” And there was more. “She is a Wanderer my master. If you kill this body, she will only return in a new one. Why would he give himself to you while knowing this?”
Devish nodded. He agreed, but only partly. “I do know this. He did it before, and he will do it again.” He looked up, and then down again. “He has loved her for a long time. He still loves her.” He looked at him again. “That is his weakness. He will not let her feel pain. He will not let her feel death. He will do what he must to keep this from happening to her.”
Vincent looked from him up to the plane behind him. “Does she know this?”
Devish shrugged. “She knows some of this, yes.” He looked back to the plane and then back again to Vincent. He felt her eyes watching him. He could hear her breathing. He knew she was there.
Vincent nodded.
“He will come. He will try to find her. He will give himself to me for her.”
Vincent shrugged. “What if he does not?”
Devish bowed his eyes. “Then I will have to destroy her.” He looked back up.
Vincent’s eyes widened. He then nodded. “If you say so, my master.” He looked him in the eyes. He saw nothing but determination shining back at his. It told him one thing. He intends to do it. He will kill her if he must.
Devish saw his feelings lighten some, but not much. “You will have to have faith in me, my dear Vincent. We will move over to my home. We will prepare for him to come to me, and then when he does, we will make him give himself over to me.”
Vincent nodded. He could not argue, so he didn’t. He knew he would still have to follow him, and one way or the other, all of this will end. One way or the other, he knew that they would either live, or die. He could do nothing to change it, so he didn’t try.
He would just move on, and let fate decide everything else for him.
15
Rana walked up the stairs. She walked into the plane but stayed at the door. From there, she stood and listened. She heard everything they said.
When she heard the part about Kalima always loving her, her thoughts turned to the dream she had earlier. She could remember the moonlight. She could remember the man with her, but still could not see his face. Was it him? Was it Kalima that was with me? She cringed with the thought. She felt revolted by the tenderness she felt. How could I love someone like that? A chill flew down her spine. That’s impossible. I could never do that.
She thought about him, and everything he did. She thought about the pain he caused when he left Devish and turned against him. She thought about how he led the revolt that brought Devish down. How could I love that? How could I let him do it? It truly did not make sense to her. It truly turned her stomach, but there was also more to it than that.
Suddenly, she thought back to Jimmy and her memories of him. She remembered him by the car. She remembered him as he kissed her lips. He loved me. He truly needed me. She remembered the way he looked when they first met. She remembered that night like it was yesterday. She remembered how he looked to her, and more importantly, how she recognized him. I knew who he was. Even then, even blocked, I knew him. Somehow, in some way, she knew who he was. I recognized him. It made even more sense to her about what she just heard. We knew each other already. That’s why I knew him. I had already been with him, and somehow, I remembered him even though I was blocked. She thought back to the dream and her feelings for him were all there, and it made everything suddenly make sense. He was the one that was with me in the moonlight. She remembered how she felt with him there. I loved him. I cherished him. But her feelings suddenly turned. No. I could never love someone that turned against Devish. She looked inside herself and felt the pain. How could I do that? There was more there, or more importantly, something that she felt was missing. I don’t remember him. His face was not there. She could not see him, and that stuck out in her thoughts. Why don’t I remember that it was him? In thinking further, it only gave her one answer, and one answer only. I must be blocked. Someone blocked my memories of him. Concentrating on these details, she suddenly turned cold. Devish must have blocked my memories about him. But why would he do this? He must have hurt me. Devish blocked me because he didn’t want me to see my pain. This made sense to her so she went with it.
When their conversation ended outside, and she saw them moving up the stairs, she turned back to the inside of the plane. I must keep to the plan. I have to keep with Devish. Realizing more than she ever had, she sat down in her seat. I have to stay with him. She looked ahead, and felt Devish step to her right.
He looked down to her, standing beside her. “Are you all right my dear?” He could feel something different from her and he did not know what it was. I wish she would let me see her thoughts. He gave her a smile.
She kept her eyes forward to the seat ahead of her. “I’m fine.” Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up. “I want to go home.” She knew that she did. She wanted more. She wanted calm. She wanted the peace that she had back then, and knew that being back there would make everything feel right again. Besides that, she was convinced that she was right about everything she felt.
He smiled with hearing this. “So do I, my dear.” He knelt down to her and took her right hand into his. “We will all feel better when we are home again.” He squeezed her gently.
She accepted the touch, and feeling him with her, she then gave him a hearty smile.
He released her hand. “We will be home soon, my dear. Rest now. When you awake, we will all be right again.” He stood back up.
She gave him another smile and closed her eyes. Everything she thought about slowly slid away. Nothing else mattered but the nothingness that was now flashing deep behind her eyes.
He watched her sleep. Soon my dear we will be home. We will be surrounded by everything we loved—everything we cherished. He turned to Vincent who was now standing behind him. “You may now tell the pilot that we are ready to leave.” He gave him a solemn nod.
Vincent returned it, said nothing, and left him.
When he was gone, Devish sat down in the seat besides Rana, and watched her closely. He watched her calmly. He watched her relax. He loved seeing her do it. Can I destroy such a beautiful creature? He thought about this some. In the end, he did not know. He was
not sure if he could. I may have to do it. Kalima will never give me what I want willingly. I may have to take her away from him to get it. After several minutes, he too closed his eyes.
He would sleep until they arrived back home.
It did not take long and when he was, he was right. He felt right again.
He felt whole.
16
The day felt calm. A slight breeze coursed through those trees and caused a floral quietness that surrounded the world. The sun was beginning to wane.
The castle stood tall next to the hill in the center of the plain. The trees surrounding the plain stood dark and subtle, looking almost like sentinels guarding the land. The stones of those walls around the castle glistened in the sunlight. The wall looked tall. Its height easily stood ten feet high, and it caused a deep shadow to flow in front of it, which made it look taller than it was. At each corner of the wall stood four towers, also made of stones, and they stretched out ten feet above the wall. The castle itself looked slightly darker with some of it made out of bricks. Four great towers cornered the castle. In a clockwise motion, each tower was taller than the one before it, and it ended in the farthest tower being the tallest one of all of them. Only the towers of the castle had coned peaks resting on top of them, while all of the others were square. Just to the left of the walls, a rolling hill sat along its side. It looked Medieval. It looked typical of any castle of a European plane.
Robert stood there and watched the walls. Before it, he watched the plain. He watched the sun slowly slide behind the tallest of the four towers of the castle, and seeing it, smelling the air, seeing the walls, he nearly lost his mind. It all looks the same. It looks, it feels, it smells just like it did all of those many years ago. Thinking this, it made him blink several times. Seeing all of it, he felt it was just yesterday when he was there. It made everything else feel disjointed and almost lost.
“Odd isn’t it?” Kenar stood behind him. He could not see anything, but knew what was there. His memories were complete as was Rochie’s. He also saw it all through Rochie’s eyes. It was like seeing a memory standing again before you. It was like reliving a dream.
Robert nodded. “It does.” He turned back to Kenar and bowed his head. “Is he here yet?” He saw the dirt beneath his shoes. Even that looked identical to what he saw before. The place hadn’t changed at all. It felt odd knowing how it all looked. “Is Devish here?”
Kenar closed his eyes, searching the blankness around him for any signs of him within the void of life and death. He felt nothing there, but he did feel others there in the castle. With it, he opened his eyes. “He is not here yet.” He looked back to Rochie. “There are others though. He has many here with him. All of the families have come.” He did swallow. “We should go back to the cabin before nightfall.” He could feel a dozen nightwalkers and dozens more moonwalkers all around the castle. There were just too many to feel. In all fact, he truly did not want to know.
Robert agreed, but there was one more. “Is Kalima here yet?” He only hoped he was. “Has he come?”
Kenar shook his head. “No. I can feel him near but not here yet.” He closed his eyes. He still could not read his mind, but he could feel him. He felt the wolf. He felt its heat. He felt its mind. He’s still blocking me. He opened his eyes again. I do hope he knows what he’s doing.
Robert nodded. “And what about Rana? Is she here yet?” He swallowed. He sighed. He even winced.
Kenar felt everything. “No she isn’t.” He touched Rochie’s right shoulder with the back of his hand. “You miss her, don’t you?” He patted him there. He did not need to ask, because he already knew.
Robert took a deep breath, and when his head felt clear, he began. “Am I that obvious?” He looked to his eyes. He chuckled some beneath his breath, but knew that what he said wasn’t funny. In fact, it felt more painful than it ever has. Being back here, back at this place, it always would.
Kenar laughed as he dropped his hand back to his side. When he finished it, he kept his smile. “It is.” He turned back. “She is stronger than you ever gave her credit for. She will be fine.” He felt like he needed to add, so he did.
Robert looked back to the castle, and winced again. “That’s what scares me.” This did. He did fear what she could do. He always did. She bested him so many times before that even he lost count. But that wasn’t everything. He feared himself more. In all of those fights, in all of those times she faced him, he never fought back. He just could not do it. He could not risk injuring her. He could not risk her life. In the end, it always worked out. Apparently—thankfully—she could never harm him either. This he respected, but he also feared it. One of these days, she won’t stop. She will kill me. He swallowed again. If she tries, can I fight back? He wasn’t sure. He did not want to find out, but knew, one day, he would, and that was what he feared the most.
Kenar nodded. “You will get her back, Rochie.” He looked to the castle but saw nothing but a deep echoing blankness all before him. Without the moonlight, he saw nothing. He needed it to be his eyes, and when it was not there, he felt helpless without it. He truly did feel blind.
Robert looked back to his friend. Of course, there was more there than just a simple fear. There was a lot more than that. “I miss her Kenar. When I had her back—after Devish blocked her—I couldn’t believe how lucky I felt. It felt like the old days when we were still young. It was like the days before we started the war.” He looked down to the plain. The shadow of the castle had already started to cross the green long grass of the field. “Sometimes, I wish that things stayed the same as they were before everything happened. I want my sister back.”
Hearing this, Kenar looked back to where he thought his friend’s eyes were, and smiled. He completely understood. “I know how you feel my friend.” He thought back, and could remember her through Jimmy’s eyes when he came to him back up in the Adirondacks. He saw how beautiful she looked. He felt her strength. He felt her passion. She was a good soul. Jimmy saw her as an angel of purity. Seeing her, seeing how she was without the memories, he saw her as Jimmy did. With it, he, himself, saw her as the person she was supposed to be.
“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want all of the hurt and all of the death back as it was before the war. I don’t want the pain. I don’t want the evil that permeated the world, but I would do anything to have the way she was again.” He took a deep breath. “You know, when we were young, we were so close. We were almost inseparable.” He looked back to the ground. Inside, he saw everything that he was saying replaying through his mind. Seeing it, as he said it, he smiled. “I loved her and she loved me. Those times felt like magic. They felt so innocent that I can’t help but to feel like it was. I miss those times. I miss those days.” He could see them running around their parent’s castle in what would become France. He could remember them playing in the water of the creek that ran around the walls. The feeling of being free was the most pleasurable of the feelings. He missed the calm. He missed the way they felt around each other. It was like having a mirror with you at all times. She was like seeing himself standing beside you every day of your life.
Kenar understood what he said and with it, he took a deep gasp of air. “Those times can be again Rochie. They can live again, if we win this fight.” Kenar smiled too as he watched Rochie’s memories flash before his face. He never knew Rochie during that time. He never knew Rana before the war. Seeing them, frolicking in the sun, and looking so happy, he suddenly wished he had. He would have loved them, he was sure of that much.
Robert shrugged long, hard, and deep. “Well, that’s what I had when she was blocked. It made everything feel right again. We moved from one place to another, staying together—staying close. Every twenty years or so, we would move on before anyone noticed that we were not aging like everyone else. The whole time, we just lived. We were happy. We were content.” A tear formed in his left eye, and it streaked down his face. “One day they attacked us when we lived in Buffalo. I
don’t know how they found us, but they did. A Moonwalker almost got her. They hurt her badly. After that, I couldn’t risk anything happening to her, so I fixed her mind. I gave her a new memory. I gave her a new life, and that’s when I left.” He looked back up from the memories. “I broke my soul doing that. I should have stayed with her. If I did, none of this would be happening now.”
Kenar shook his head. He obviously did not agree. “This would have happened, Rochie, one way or the other. Devish still got out. He would have still come after her to get her back. You would have been helpless to stop it.”
Robert sighed long and hard. He also shook his head. “I should have stayed with her. I should have kept to watching his prison.” He felt anger building within him, and it made him have to take a deep breath of air. It did help some, but not enough. The feelings were too raw for that. “If I had stayed with her, and kept to watching him instead of trying to keep her as she was, innocent, I would have seen it happening. I would have known that he came back.”
Kenar again did not agree. “You cannot blame yourself for this, Rochie. You did everything that you thought was right.” Tears now filled his eyes too. Feeling everything made it hard not to feel the same things. It too was too much for him.
Rochie walked to a tree on his left and leaned against it with his left hand. He needed its support. He needed anything to help him to keep standing. “If I wasn’t so concerned, I would have known. I could have stopped him.”
Kenar shook his head. “What has been done is done, Rochie. You couldn’t have stopped it—stopped him.” He moved to him, felt him there, and patted his back again. “That’s why we need to end this Rochie. When we kill him like we should have done from the very beginning, we can get back to life. We can make things right again.”
A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2) Page 50