Awakening the Lion

by Crymsyn Hart

  * * * *

  Belik awoke and heard the rustling of the grass around him. The moon was lower in the sky so he had slept for several hours. His fingers scraped the ground where Illiana should have been next to him, but all he found was her folded-up dress, shoes, and the necklace she wore. Where in the world did she go? He glanced up, but did not see anything except the clear night sky. The stars winked at him. He had gazed up and saw a pair of brighter-than-normal stars. His father had always told him those were his mother’s eyes watching out for him. It was a great thought he always kept close to his heart. He smiled up at the stars. I really wish you could have met Illiana. You would’ve liked her. Maybe you would’ve had a better influence over Father and made him see that we could’ve all been mated. Now I’m on an adventure. I never thought I’d leave the aerie.

  He moved his arm and tried to flex his fingers. Pain shot up into his shoulder, but at least he was able to move it. Luckily, it was a clean break. What good is a raven who can’t fly? Or a weaver who can not use both hands to weave? Maybe he could figure out something with one arm, but he would never be as good as his mother.

  These past few months while they were together, he had come to settle on the idea of his trade. He was going to weave. His mother had taught him before she died, and he had always loved watching her work and the intricate details she could incorporate into the design. He also had a small handheld loom he could use to make cloth that he brought with him just in case his arm healed and he could work while they sat by the fire.

  Illiana had always been raised thinking she would lead the clan, following in her mother’s footsteps. His father wanted him to become a priest, but Belik did not want to sit in a hut away from the rest of the flock and learn about spirits, the elements, or whatever training he would have to endure for it. His father never understood that. Belik pulled his gaze from the stars and searched their campsite, wondering where his mate had gone.

  The grass stirred again, but it was not from the wind. Something was moving through the grass. The longer he listened, the more he realized that it probably was a large animal. He inhaled and did not pick up on Illiana’s musky scent. The image of her as the black wolf turned him on. Never would he have thought he would have been attracted to a wolf, but seeing such fierceness from his mate only made him itch to be inside her. The grass swished again, and he caught the deeper scent of feline.

  He reached to his belt and pulled out a knife he had packed with him. It was not the sharpest in the world, but it would do the job he needed it for. He tightened his grip on the hilt and stood slowly, trying not to make a noise. Belik went closer to the fire. The coals had died down, but at least the orange glow gave him enough light to see by. Every instinct in his body told him to shift, but that was impossible. If it was a cat, then it would be so much easier for him to fly away and avoid the sharp teeth that could make a meal out of him. In the forest, he did not have to fear predators. The wolves ran off anything that ventured in. The flock shared the forest with eagles, hawks, owls, and other raptors; the predators mostly left the ravens alone because they seemed to know the ravens were not ordinary birds.

  The sounds got closer, and a small yowl sounded from the reeds. His heart slammed against his chest. He tried to steady it and keep calm. This was not the time to show any fear. If he did, the predator would detect it and be on him in an instant. Gritting his teeth against the dread that rolled up his spine, he waited for the cat to appear. After another moment, the grass parted and a cougar came into view. It locked its eyes on him and flashed in the darkness. Long curved canines filled its mouth. Its claws were hidden, but one swipe from those deadly paws and he would be in trouble. Show no fear. Belik locked gazes with the feline, and it advanced another step into their campsite and sniffed around but never took its eyes from him.

  “Go on! Get out of here!” Belik shouted.

  The cat hissed at him. Behind him he heard more grass being crunched down. He spun around expecting to see another cat, but instead he saw Illiana breaking through the meadow. Her gaze darted to him and then to the cat.

  “We have company,” he murmured to her.

  “I’ll take care of it,” she replied.

  “I should be the one taking care of you.”

  She did not reply, but instead kept her eyes locked on the cougar. The cat remained perfectly still while Illiana challenged it. Her fury made her all the more beautiful. Her ears lay flat on her head, and she bared all her teeth, growling at the creature, warning it not to come any closer. She gnashed her teeth at it and waited. The tension in the air raised the hairs on the back of his neck. A breeze stirred up and circled through the campsite, growing stronger the longer the standoff between the two creatures continued. The fire sparked and what was once coals was now a blazing bonfire. The cat stepped back. Illiana advanced on the cat another step, trying to gain ground on the predator. She snapped at it once more. Before it backtracked into the brush, Belik saw the air shimmer around the feline. In a second, the cat propelled itself from four legs onto two. Its features changed to human.

  Another shifter. She put her hands up. “Whoa! Call off your wolf. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “Why were you sniffing around our campsite?” Belik asked.

  Illiana still had not moved and had her teeth bared. The fire died down some, but it still blazed. From its light, he could see the toned body of the woman before him. She had long brown hair that hung to her waist, covering her breasts. Her eyes were almond-shaped and honey-colored. She was shorter than him with scars and cuts adorning her torso. Where had she come from? The map did not indicate there was a village around.

  “Sorry. I was making my way back to my village and caught your scent. It was different than a nonshifter and not exactly wolf either. I was curious. Can you call off the wolf now?”

  “I think it’s okay to let her be,” he said to Illiana.

  Her ears lifted, but he sensed her trepidation. “If that’s what you want. I’ll keep an eye on her anyway.” She backed away and returned to human form. Illiana towered over the other woman by at least a foot. “Who are you?”

  “My name’s Rama. I’ve watched you for a couple of days, traveling through the grass. We don’t get a lot of visitors. And you’re on the way to my village if you keep heading toward the river. I thought you might want to come back with me.”

  Belik glanced at Illiana. It would be nice to be with other people. “What do you say? We could get some fresh supplies. It’d be nice to meet with other people. Maybe you could get some information.”

  She walked over to him and slipped an arm around his waist. Illiana glanced between the two of them and ran a hand through her hair. Rama stayed quiet and watched them. Illiana nodded. “Okay. You’re right, it would be nice to talk to some others. How far is your village from here? My mate is hurt, and if you have a healer, it would be good to see if he is mending okay.”

  Rama nodded. “We do. It’s not far, about half a day’s walk. We have to head upriver to cross the bridge, and I have to gather my kills. It’s almost dawn. We can leave now before the heat of the day gets to us. Or wait a couple of hours.”

  “Give us a minute to talk between us,” Belik said.

  “Of course.”

  Illiana pulled him to the side. “Do you want to do this?”

  “I do. It’d be nice to meet others along the way. I slept some . . . where were you anyway?”

  She smiled and kissed him. “Sorry. After you fell asleep I had to stretch my wings and I wanted to scout out the lands ahead of us. I found the river she was referring to and saw a cat paw track by the edge, but I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t know there were shifters out here. I went into wolf form and fell asleep. I came back once I woke up. I didn’t mean to leave you alone. Sometimes I forget that I’m attached to such a good man.”

  He cupped her cheek. “It’s okay. I know this an adjustment for the both of us. I think we can trust her. What do you say?”
>
  Illiana glanced at her. “Okay. I’m good if we packed up and left now. Gets us there earlier rather than later.”

  “Okay.” He separated from her and went to Rama. “We’ll accompany you back to your village. I’m Belik and this is my mate, Illiana.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m going to switch back. It’s not customary for us to meet others unclothed. Forgive my rudeness, but I did not expect to meet people in the grasslands.” Rama smiled, and before Belik could answer she had morphed back into a cougar.

  Illiana dressed and began gathering up their things. Rama waited for them in the tall grass. He could not see her, but he knew she was watching them. What does she think about us? How many other shifters are out here? I wonder what the village will be like.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. I was thinking about all the new and exciting things that await us.” Belik smiled.

  She nodded, but he saw her trepidation. “Yeah. We have to be careful.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She wrapped her arm around him and pressed her lips close to her ear. “She knows I’m a wolf because she saw that. I’m not sure how their village will take it with me also being a raven. Or that you are. They might have taboos against mating outside of their species as ours does.”

  “We’re outcasts if they ask. That is all they need to know.” He kissed her cheek and released her.

  Illiana nodded.

  Belik grabbed his rucksack and slung it over his good shoulder. He slipped his fingers through hers, and they waded into the grassland after the cougar.

  Chapter Four

  Ohanzee woke with a start. The dream began to pass from his consciousness. He tried to catch his breath from what he had seen and wiped the sweat from his brow. He grasped for the bowl of water and took a sip, quenching his thirst, and tried to wipe her from his mind, but it was nearly impossible.

  “Was it the dream again?”

  He glanced over to his sister, who was preparing breakfast for her family. He felt bad having to sleep in the common area of her house, but he had nowhere else to go. None in the village would have him, and he was too old to dwell within the adolescent house with the young men who were waiting to be marked for one of the tribe. Asha had two children and another on the way. She reminded him so much of their mother. Both of their parents had passed away years before. Asha had raised Ohanzee since he was twelve, right on the cusp of manhood before he made his first kill. Her dark hair was braided with turquoise beads that he had carved.

  His sister blew on the fire to make it spark. A gust of wind wove through the hut and made the flames jump a little higher. He envied his sister for having such control of the fire element. Most of their tribe had a grasp on an element or two. Ohanzee ran his fingers over the earth and felt it tremble underneath his palm. To him it was a living, breathing thing that he could feel. Deep below the dirt stirred water. His other element he could call upon. Many said he was gifted for being able to control both elements so well, but he would give it all up if he could.

  “So? Was it the same dream again?”

  “Yes.” He cleared his throat and spoke again. “Yes. It was the same woman.” Ohanzee thought about the woman he saw in his dreams. She was strikingly beautiful, with long, black hair that had purple and red highlights. Her laugh was melodious, and she had tan skin. All of her curves were in all the right places, and every time he slipped out of a dream with her in it, he had to switch his mind to other things to not be turned on by her.

  “You know what the shaman says. If you’re dreaming about her, she’s your mate. That was how mother knew father was for her.” Asha began beating several eggs into a frothy mass for their breakfast.

  “This woman is not my mate. We’ve already talked about this. She’s some temptress come to haunt my dreams. If I could rip her out of my mind, I would.”

  His sister laughed. “What was she doing this time? Whispering in your ear to steal your essence?”

  He glanced down and realized that he was already aroused thinking about her and secretly hoping he would dream about the woman again. Ohanzee never understood who this seductress was, but she always appeared to him when he was in times of need. She always appeared alone, but in these last few months his dreams had changed.

  “She was with a raven, and the wolf was no longer there. And no, she was not whispering in my ear.” He grabbed his blanket and covered his lap, as he felt his cheeks burn. It was bad enough he had to be with his sister and tell her everything, but she was more of a mother to him than a sister. She accepted him for all his faults, and it did not bother her about his status within the tribe. “I’m going to bathe.”

  “Do you want breakfast?” Asha asked, but he rushed out of the hut.

  Dawn splashed purple and scarlet with a bit of magenta mixed in across the horizon. The cool air signaled winter was coming. From a chill this early, he could tell it was going to be a cold and long winter. When he went down to the river, he noticed that ice had already started to cling to the edges of it. It was a thin layer, but enough he wondered if they were going to have a long winter as well—one in which he would be stuck inside when he would rather be roaming the skies.

  He shook his head and thought about the woman in his dreams. Was she real, or was she perhaps a figment of his imagination? Ohanzee raked his fingers through his hair trying to unravel the tangles. It was already down to the middle of his back and getting longer. He should cut it, but he had always liked it longer than most. Maybe she likes it long. He curled his fingers into fists and pushed the idea of this mystery woman from his mind. There was no point in dwelling on her when he doubted that he would ever see her. Instead, he focused on his tasks for the day. There was hunting to do, and the shaman had wanted to see him. He just did not know for what. The thought irritated Ohanzee. He knelt down by the water and sank his hands into the cold water, splashing some on his face.

  “Good morning, Ohanzee.”

  He turned and saw the holy man staring down at him. The older man had a few streaks of white in his black hair. He was taller than him—about six five—but only by a couple of inches. He was still toned the way any warrior was. A string of different-colored beads hung around his neck representing all four elements. The shaman was the only one in the village who could control all four. It was a rare gift that many envied. The soothsayer had always tried to convince Ohanzee to study with him because his gifts were strong with the earth and the water elements, but that was not Ohanzee’s destiny.

  “Good morning, Ranolo. Is there something I can do for you?”

  “Yes. The spirits came to me last night in a dream.”

  Ohanzee did not put all of his faith into the spirit world. They were the ones who had taken his parents. Before his mother died, she had told him his path was to be great. How great was it to be an outcast among the tribe when barely anyone acknowledged him? The reason they did was because he was a celebrated carver and many came to see him for beadwork, statues, or other items they might want to trade with. It helped he could use his control over the earth and the water elements to help him with his carving. He was skilled enough that tribes came from miles around to trade with them.

  “Did they say anything useful?”

  The priest knelt down next to him. The breaking light caught the golden eagle feather woven into the man’s hair, a tail feather from the very being he could turn into. Next to the eagle feather was a much older feather, that of a raven. None of their tribe that he knew of was able to take that shape. Ranolo smiled and shook his head.

  “They always say useful things. One has to know how to listen in order to interpret the message. If you’d open your ears, then you’d hear them, too. Or maybe you already do, but you chose to look the other way. I know you’re still having dreams of this strange woman you’ve divulged to me.”

  Ohanzee crossed his arms over his chest and gritted his teeth. A pebble began to quiver on the ground next to him, and the loose ea
rth rolled underneath his feet. He took in a deep breath and gained control of his emotions. “My sister has no right to tell you my dreams.”

  “It wasn’t your sister, but she is concerned about you. Asha thinks your solitary lifestyle isn’t good for you.”

  “I don’t have a choice about my solitary lifestyle. We both know this.”

  Ranolo sighed. “I can’t put aside tradition and how people act upon things. Maybe if you injected yourself more into the lives of the tribe, then maybe all of those who shun you would see past your differences. You are the greatest carver we have.”

  He managed a half-smile at the remark. “I’m the only carver the tribe has. Thankfully, I learned the basics from my father before he died.”

  “True. There are many more things besides that you have a talent for. Maybe it’ll take someone else to prove that to you.”

  “No one is going to tell me anything because they don’t want to acknowledge I exist until they have to. Was there something else you wanted?” Ohanzee wiped his hands on his pants and stood up. Ranolo remained kneeling and stared into the babbling stream. His eyes were fixed on something Ohanzee could not see when he glanced in the same direction where the shaman was looking. Instead, he waited just in case the other man had some of bit of wisdom to impart. After a moment, he blinked and smiled. Ohanzee knew that look. The other man had peered into the other realm where the spirits talked to him.

  “Simply that you need to be open to the truth even if you do not see it at first. The seasons are changing, and so will the many things that are occurring in the tribe.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Only the spirits know.” Ranolo stood and headed back to his hut.