Covenant of the Reborn

by T. E. Joshua

  “Listen. I am sorry.”

  “You don’t get it, do you? You helped out a Reborn instead of listening to me—an Awakened Reborn at that.”

  Then it hit me. She was jealous of what I had done—protecting another girl instead of listening to her plead to not interfere. “It’s because I helped her out, right?”

  “Go on.”

  “And I didn’t consider your feelings toward the situation.”

  “Exactly, Tristan. You acted as if you needed to help her. You ignored my warning. I know you better than that.”

  I continued to caress her shoulders. I leaned my head against hers and whispered, “Forgive me, Alope. I was wrong to not consider your feelings. Natalie means nothing to me. She’s just another hunt.”

  Alope Manwolf was the crush of my childhood. We were the best of friends, but I knew deep down she wanted to be more than friends. The look in her eyes told me that she was willing to wait for me, to wait for the moment I took the radical leap of trust and love, the moment I would be ready for another stable dating relationship. We dated. But the break up was mutual, thinking it would be better for us to be single. I loved her, but I wasn’t sure if I loved more than a friend. It was a strange feeling. I thought of her as my first kiss, precious and memorable.

  James, every now and then, would ask me if I had any hidden feelings for Alope. Maybe he was asking for her. Or could he have been asking for himself? No, it couldn’t be. I knew him all too well; she simply wasn’t his type. Her bubbly, perky personality was too much for him to handle, but I didn’t mind it.

  “Do you really mean that?” Alope asked.

  “Yeah, the Awakened Reborn is nothing. We have three weeks to bring her head back to my father, and I intend to not fail him.”

  She eased the tension in her shoulders. “I’m glad to hear you say that. For a moment, I believed you didn’t care about the hunt or … me.”

  “I do care. Maybe the double failures from my first two encounters with her hurt my confidence. But I promise I won’t fail a third time. I need to be clever in my approach.”

  “Yeah, I can see that.”

  “Hey, let’s get out of here,” I suggested, lightly kissing her on the cheek. She meant a lot to me. I never wanted to disappoint her.

  “Okay,” Alope said and released herself from my arms.

  The house of Eis Lakota wasn’t far—well, not for us. I searched the area and locked onto the dark energy of James. He was near the location. We tracked him and walked a mile north.

  Then we sprinted the remaining miles, zooming through the trees and open fields of the tall green grass. We even passed a farmhouse as one young girl pointed at us.

  “Look at the pretty lights,” she said to an older man who seemed to be planting seeds into the soil. They both stared in awe. The more energy we used, whether in battle or mediation, the more visible light emanated from our bodies. It was the work of the dark spirits—or, as the Reborns would say, it was the work of the demons.

  A few minutes later, a group of coyotes scattered as we zoomed past them. They began to bark and chase us. We lost them in a matter of seconds.

  After some time, Alope and I entered the property. We both slowed down. The auras vanished and our energy diminished. If James were present, then he would have sensed the rise of our dark energy approaching him.

  “Do you sense him?” Alope asked.

  “No, but he can’t be far. Maybe he’s inside the house,” I said.

  Then Alope stepped in front of me, facing me. Her eyes were reddish, her body language loose, and I noticed her smile had widened with joy. Her breath was ice-cold. She wrapped her arms around my neck and asked in a seductive tone of voice, “When are you going to stop pretending that you don’t have feelings for me?”

  Flustered and surprised, words, I giggled. She was serious. Alope had grown tired of the misguided information and the playing hard to get. If I said that I didn’t like her, then I would be lying. But as of now, I couldn’t. The only thing on my mind was to execute the Awakened Reborn. Natalie was my priority. Nothing more.

  “Please stop leading me on. I like you, Bodaway. Getting used to your new Anglo name will be challenging; I can’t stop—”

  A disturbing noise came from the woods. Someone else was here.

  “Wait, what was that?” I questioned with suspense.

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Alope said. She was determined to satisfy herself with a kiss.

  “Seriously, I sense something or someone but don’t know who it is,” I whispered. Alope finally backed away, looking disappointed.

  “Okay, now I hear it,” Alope uttered as the sound increased in volume.

  On instinct, I lit the flame from my lighter and watched aimlessly for someone to come out of the murky woods. If it was another Naiche warrior, then they wouldn’t be able to sense my element of fire. They could only sense our dark energy and vice versa.

  “Who is there?” I asked loudly, expecting someone emerge from the dark of the woods.

  No one responded.

  To my left, a dark figure appeared from the bushes. Alope immediately hopped away from the approaching entity as I withdrew my dragger from my back pocket. The flame in my left hand grew as I prepared to burn the mysterious figure to a crisp. The entity held up its hands and called my name. “Whoa, Bodaway.” The figure leaped out into the open.

  Then the mystery ended as the light revealed his brown skin tone. He raised his hands even higher, and his eyes glowed reddish with a sheet of ice covering the eyeballs. The dark spirit within him began to rise to the surface, as did mine. He had raised his dema to the first pillar. His hands were covered in ice, and I could feel the cold breeze of frost running over my nova flames. The element of water turned into ice—it was just James.

  “No, Tristan!” Alope yelled as she jumped between us. She reached for my hand to relax the killer within me. Slowly, the fire died from my palms, and my dema was suppressed.

  “Are you … okay?” James asked hesitantly.

  “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t sense you in the woods or recognize your dark energy,” I explained. The ice in his palms melted and dripped onto the ground.

  “Well, now that is settled. What the hell happened in the mall today?” he asked in anger. Wait—how did he know about the encounter with Natalie? Surely he hadn’t been there. Maybe he sensed the rise in my dema and returned to his father’s house to wait for our return. I couldn’t deny what I did.

  “How do you know?”

  “Never mind that, Bodaway.”

  “The name’s Tristan, not Bodaway anymore,” I chastened him.

  “Whatever! The police are looking everywhere for the two mysterious characters who ran off into the woods near the highway.” He paused for a brief moment and continued, “Five students are in the Blackfalls Metropolitan Hospital. You two drew unnecessary attention. What did they do to deserve a beating from you?”

  “They got in the way,” I uttered gruesomely.

  “I sensed the rise in your dema earlier, which means you had to display some supernatural elements. I would be surprised if you didn’t.”

  “Just like old times,” Alope commented. She tried to calm the situation by adding a little light humor. It didn’t work.

  “This isn’t a game, Alope,” James voiced loudly. He stood directly in front of me, demanding to know the answers to his questions.

  “Listen, Eis, I can take care of myself. Don’t worry about Alope or me. Besides, you know as well as I do that the police won’t find us,” I said. He looked appalled and speechless, his mouth hanging open. “Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it. I’m going to go inside and get a glass of water.” I was mildly thirsty and using my dehydration as an excuse to leave the conversation.

  Immediately I left James baffled, standing outside in the evening light. I walked through the back door to avoid a dilemma.

  “Uncle Eis, are you home?” I hollered.

  James rushed th
rough the back porch, his hair swaying back and forth. He trampled over to me, slamming his right hand on the kitchen counter. He was furious with my reluctant attitude to explain my behavior for unleashing my dema energy upon Anglos and helping out the Awakened Reborn.

  “Listen, Tristan, I don’t mean to correct your judgment or character, but I don’t want what we have here to be ruined because of your ignorant and careless actions. Our hunt was clear. We are to bring the head of Natalie Schultz back to your father as ordained by the Covenant. That’s it. We are not here to interrupt Anglo affairs, or we are not on vacation,” James said ruthlessly.

  “Okay, I helped out Natalie, all right?” I yelled. He stepped back, giving me room to breathe.

  “Why?” This time his voice was calmer, but there was still a sense of anger being withheld.

  “I don’t know. Maybe I was protecting what is mine. My father, the great Naiche chief, number one warrior, entrusted me with the hunt. No one harms her besides me. Understood?”

  “Wait,” James muttered as he placed his right hand over his lips. He looked away and said, “Are you telling me the same girl who defeated you in battle, twice, a trained killer, couldn’t handle a group of punks at the mall?”

  “Yeah, maybe her powers only work in the face of real danger like us. But I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.”

  James began to march in a circle. He pondered for a moment. Alope walked in the back door and asked, “Is everything okay?”

  We didn’t respond to her question.

  “We should be fine. As long as my father and your father don’t find out about what happened today, we should be okay,” he said. “Did the Awakened Reborn see you? Do you know if she recognized you?”

  “Maybe, I hope not,” I answered.

  “Well, now is probably not the best time to bring this up, but I believe we have bigger problems,” James said, he more vicious. Alope followed my lead to lean against the peach colored wallpaper of the living room.

  “What kind of bigger problems?” I asked. The Natalie incident seemed to fade away in light of what James had to say. It had to be more serious if he wasn’t as concerned with what happened at the mall.

  “Listen, I think Aaron had something to do with the murderous crimes that have been taken place in Blackfalls,” James said.

  “What crimes?” Alope asked.

  “There have been killings lately. Random Reborns have been murdered in the Blackfalls woods.”

  Alope’s attention was stuck on James’s story. He continued, “Unfortunately, I have seen these mutilated bodies for myself. They look like the killings of a Naiche warrior; the heads have been removed, and the hunter scalped the hair of the victim.”

  “How did you find out about these incidents?” I asked him.

  “When I visited the campus yesterday, rumors spread about a missing Kappa Omega sorority girl. Later that day, the police found her body near a creek, not too far from here. The investigators reported that the dead girl had been scalped with a rusty blade.”

  “What?” Alope gasped. She stood right next to me in shock, tightly holding on to my left bicep.

  “I think these killings are the work of one of us. If it’s anyone, then Aaron is the least content of our clan. He did pursue the pastor in Woodland, even after you ordered him to stand down.”

  “Yeah, he is very reckless and has issues with killing. He lacks control over his lust to kill Reborns,” I said.

  “How many Reborns have died?” Alope asked.

  “I think two have been killed. I found the second body last night after taking a walk in the woods. The dead girl was also a Kappa Omega, the same as Natalie; she still had on her sorority jacket. She was halfway buried near the Canadian River, just outside of Blackfalls. No one would have found the girl if I hadn’t smelled the fumes of her carcass.”

  “Did you call the police?” Alope asked.

  “Yeah, I called in a random tip. I am sure they have found the body by now.”

  I thought for a moment and answered, “We must confront him.” They both stood silent. I didn’t want to waste any time debating Aaron’s incompetence. I was willing to bet my own head that he killed these two Reborn girls in spite of the hunt. He was probably sneaking out during the night to satisfy his lust. He needed to relearn self-control over the spilling of blood.

  Then the sound of James’s truck echoed into the kitchen. James rushed over to the window. He quickly turned around and said to Alope and me, “Look, I rushed home to wait for the two of you because of the Blackfalls police. Liyah and Aaron went to investigate the energy we all sensed from the mall. I still suspect my brother to be involved with the random Blackfalls murders,” James expressed, his tone bitter.

  “If you’re right, I must find out from him firsthand,” I said.

  “Should we confront him now?” James asked.

  “No, I’ll confront him at the right time,” I said.

  “Let’s talk about this later,” James said. As soon as he finished talking, Aaron and Liyah came through the door.

  Liyah immediately noticed me and said, “There you are, Tristan. I told you, Aaron; I thought I sensed his dema when we pulled up to Eis’s House.”

  They both immediately walked up into our circle of conversation. Liyah asked, “Well, did you encounter the Awakened Reborn? We sensed your dema aura rising and rushed over to find out what had happened.”

  “Yes, I encountered her. Nothing happened. She is still alive. We didn’t fight, but I fought some Anglos who got in my way.” My logic was simple: The Awakened Reborn was mine to behead, and I wasn’t going to allow someone else to harm or harass her. I was justified in my own mind, at least.

  Later, no other words were spoken about the incident with Natalie. It was my third encounter and still no results. James and Alope didn’t mention the killings again for the night. We kept eyeing each other, in secret, thinking of the same thing. Had Aaron murdered two Reborn girls because he couldn’t control his lust to kill? He had forced me to kill the small boy in Woodland, South Dakota. Forgiving him would be hard. The thought still haunted me.

  Liyah fixed all of us meat patties and had poured us orange juice and a glass of milk for Alope. Once again, James led the discussion about a new plan of action. I remained silent as he spoke about stalking Natalie and catching her off guard. Every now and then, he would give me a disappointed look. His eyebrows lowered and whatever he was thinking was etched across his face. He expected more of me. I had never failed to kill a Reborn until the incident in Woodland and now in Blackfalls. Yet, I was conflicted of not giving a damn about the Covenant. If this were to be my last hunt, then I’m going to kill her!

  7

  The Decision to Befriend

  IT HAD BEEN TWO WEEKS since my first encounter with the Awakened Reborn. Twice I had failed to execute her. First I had been pinned down with some sort of light energy, and then I had been overcome by some kind of divine power emanating from her body. Next, I had defended her from a group of boys and nearly killed them. Was I going crazy? I hoped not. I needed a new strategy, something witty and deceptive. Uncle Eis pointed out the idea of a false friendship with the Reborn. It was a radical move on our part but almost stupid enough to work. At this point in our hunt, I didn’t see the point in arguing with him.

  James and Liyah planned to meet at a local restaurant to discuss possible next moves. James wanted to attack her home in an all-out assault that would force her to fight us. Yet we still didn’t know the limits of her Awakened abilities. He was willing to risk it all, despite the fact that we hadn’t come close to beheading her. I believed it was a foolish idea: she had nearly killed me in her bedroom.

  “That’s never going to work,” I said, doubtful.

  “Well, do you have any better ideas, Tristan?” James asked me. By now the others had come to accept my new Anglo name.

  I stopped eating my hamburger, placing the soggy bun down on the plate. They both glared at me, hoping I wou
ld say something astonishing. I needed to bring new ideas to the table, a new angle to work with, but honestly I had nothing to say—not one single thought.

  “I don’t know, but forcing her to fight won’t work in our benefit. If we push her, then she might use her powers, and the result could be our deaths. Regardless, we want to be cautious. She could obliterate us if we forced her to defend herself.” Liyah and James listened intently to my words. If I knew anything about this girl, it was to not openly attack her. Pushing her into a corner would force her to fight back. If she had easily overpowered me in her bedroom, I couldn’t imagine what she would do to the others.

  “We need to be sly, more deceptive—to do something that no other Naiche warrior has done before.”

  “What? Befriend her?” Liyah questioned. Maybe that was the answer! I knew she was tossing around the idea sarcastically, but Uncle Eis was serious when he suggested a false alliance—or in this case a false friendship. This could be our answer. Befriending the enemy? I liked it. The idea was radical and, yes, implausible. But we were getting desperate, and stalking her wasn’t working in our benefit.

  “Yes, it just as good as any other plan. I mean, why not? Uncle Eis suggested it to me the other day.” James smirked. “What is it?” I asked him.

  “Come on, Tristan. You wouldn’t do that. I know you better than anyone else. You wouldn’t want to risk stirring up your dark energy, much less your dema. The slightest misjudgment will potentially unleash more unnecessary energy from your body than normal. Your inner demon could take control, and you would be helpless to revert back to your sane mind,” he warned.

  “I can do it. I just need to focus on the hunt. We, what, have two weeks till her head needs to be lying on the stone floor of the Naiche Temple, right?”

  “Well, more like thirteen days,” Liyah corrected me.

  “Regardless, we must act quickly. If not, then we will have no choice but to attack her head-on in public,” James said darkly.