by T. E. Joshua
“Why is he here? Did you report what I did?”
“No. I wouldn’t have turned you in to your father. I wouldn’t do that to one of my own. We don’t know why they are here.”
I grabbed Natalie and marched to the back of the house.
“Tristan, she can’t be here,” Liyah stated.
“They can’t be here for Natalie. This is our hunt,” I said, hoping that I was right.
I looked in the northwest corner of the field and sensed additional dark energies. Four dark figures had emerged from the tree line. Lyonell marched in the middle. I began to breathe slowly and grow fearful. I couldn’t stand up to him if I tried. The four were only a few minutes away from the house as Natalie grabbed my hand and whispered, “They’re here to kill me.”
15
The Wolf Clan
THE COLD, DEMONIC CHILL FROM Lyonell Lakota and the Wolf clan swept through my body like a deadly fever. I could see the fear in James’s eyes from Lyonell’s approaching dark presence. The quarrel with the Awakened Reborn and me began to crumble as a more sinister threat walked into our lives. The mere sight of him made the hairs on my neck stand straight up with overwhelming inferiority.
Lyonell Lakota, aka the master of light and spirit, the element of light, was the number eight warrior of the Covenant. He had the biggest ego of all the warriors in Red Valley; he could be described as a warrior with no limitations. His ambition and tenacity was his greatest strengths. Once he set a goal, he would never give up—never! He thrived on his power from Lucian, often manipulating light in dark places, controlling the light from energy waves, bending light with the help of the dark spirits, and calling forth lightning bolts from the earth to strike down Reborns. I noticed that he was wearing a black trench coat with a dark leather vest underneath. His black pants were made out of buffalo skin, and matching black-hair moccasins were on his feet. His hair was long. Like James, he had vowed to never cut a single strand of his precious hair lest he sin against the Covenant.
My only concern at this point was to hide Natalie Schultz from Lyonell and the Wolf clan. I immediately put Natalie behind me. I had to think quickly if she was to leave the house of Eis Lakota alive. I hoped they haven’t noticed her yet.
“Damn it,” I muttered. “Natalie, take my keys and drive away from here!”
“Okay,” Natalie quickly agreed without question. Even though she didn’t realize how dark the situation had become, she knew it wasn’t good as the four warriors drew closer to the back porch.
“Everyone else, don’t do anything irrational. We don’t know why they’re here,” I said. Those words were a lie. As Natalie said before, they were here to kill her.
As soon as Natalie grabbed my keys, Liyah Manwolf grabbed her shoulder and warned, “It’s too late, girl. They’ll become suspicious if the only pale skinned person leaves. They will chase after you.” Then she pushed Natalie back.
“Liyah’s right. It’s pointless. Earlier I could smell her fragrance from across the field,” Alope whispered to me as she walked past us.
“Then what do I do? I’m not afraid. I can handle myself,” Natalie uttered boldly.
“Shut up and be quiet!” Alope said darkly.
“Hide behind me, sit down, and don’t say a word or draw attention to yourself. Pretend you don’t know anything about the Covenant or us,” I said. She took my hand for security but I jerked it away. “As far as they are concerned, you’re here for questioning.”
Now my brother was near; close enough to spot Natalie if she hadn’t been hiding behind us. Natalie sat down on the wooden bench and looked downward. I had warned her to not make eye contact with them.
“Don’t attack unless they attack first,” I warned to everyone.
“Right,” Liyah said.
“Why should we help Tristan? We don’t want to cause any chaos with the Wolf or the Naiche clan. Let’s kill her now,” Aaron uttered to James.
“Be quiet. That’s not an option at this point. Follow Tristan’s lead. We don’t want them here regardless.” James said, taking my side. He knew better than to cross the Wolf clan. He also realized the horror of the situation if they discovered I hadn’t killed the Awakened Reborn on purpose. The result would be a fight. We needed to get rid of them as fast as possible and figure this Natalie thing out. Then I caught Alope glaring at Natalie; her tormented emotions seeped into her heart. I could imagine what Alope was thinking, probably imagining detaching Natalie’s head, but for now, she played along with the rest of us.
The Wolf clan moved like cats, with Lyonell in the lead. One by one, each of the nomadic warriors crept up to the back porch. Lyonell smiled as he saw all of us posing like statues.
My devilish brother had brought Bors Sampson, my sister, Falsha Lakota, and another warrior I didn’t recognize. He had the same trademark on his chest as Lyonell and the others—the mark of the Wolf clan. It was an image of a wolf in the desert.
Falsha Lakota, aka the dust witch, the element of earth, the number nineteen warrior of the Covenant, was the strongest first class warrior. As told by my father, she carried the younger image of my mother, Lozen Lakota. Falsha may have looked like my mother, but she had taken on the mental characteristics of my father and Lyonell. She also had long dark hair, which was braided on one side of her head, resting on her black vest. She wore brown body armor that was covered in tough buffalo hides. She carried my mother’s bow—the black bow. My mother had given the bow to her as a gift on the day she was born.
Bors Sampson, aka Massive Bors, was the twenty-second warrior of the Covenant. He was a muscular, monstrous man who had been best friends with my brother since our younger years. He was bold and not pleasant to look upon. His hair had been burned in battle by a Reborn in Florida. I heard the he was incapable of growing his hair back; I assumed his the roots had been destroyed. Even though he looked intimidating, he wasn’t the one I worried about.
“Little brother,” Lyonell called out to me. He held his arms out and waited for me to respond.
“Hey,” I said in a harsh voice, taking small steps toward him.
“It’s been awhile … Bodaway,” Lyonell said as he approached and gave me a hug. I could smell the ruins of blood on his black trench coat. I tried to ignore the foul smell.
“Good to see you too, Lyonell,” I said and released him from the hug.
Lyonell then turned away and said, “And of course the great and powerful water-rippling Eis Lakota, number twenty. How is the element of water doing these days?” Lyonell asked as he went to give James a hug as well. James said something to him in our Native tongue, but I didn’t hear what.
Lyonell passed by Aaron. They stared at each other for a few seconds before anyone said anything.
“Nodin.”
“Lyonell,” Aaron said coldly.
The two glared at each other. Aaron had never liked Lyonell. I believed it was because of Lyonell’s alpha male presence. Whenever Lyonell appeared before a group of warriors, he would always take over as the leader, unless there were more powerful warriors present, which was a rarity.
Finally Liyah Manwolf said to Lyonell, “Hey, Lyonell,” while Aaron kept his expression of harshness and continued to stare my older brother down. Lyonell responded to Aaron’s cold stare with an arrogant snicker and hummed.
He moved on to Liyah and Alope, who were sitting on the wooden rail of the back porch. “Who could forget the beautiful Manwolf sisters, Liyah and Alope? You two are the spitting image of your parents.”
He cleverly smiled and hugged the both of them. It almost seemed like a Lakota and Wolf clan reunion between all of us, with the exception of Aaron. The other members of the Wolf clan stayed in place and checked out the rest of us. My sister eventually came up to me. “Bodaway, wow, you have definitely have grown, little brother. I haven’t seen you in a few months.”
“Yeah, Father has had us traveling all over this country killing Reborns. I have barely been home.”
“Father always gives my
clan the easier hunts. We just traveled from South America. Slaughtered a Reborn family; the children lived. Not my preference, but it’s the oral laws of the Covenant.”
“Yeah, we can’t kill children. Too bad,” I uttered, trying to sound like I gave a damn.
Then Falsha looked behind me. Her eyes widened with shock.
“Who’s this?” Falsha quietly asked me.
“She’s not important. She’s helping us hunt the Reborn here in Blackfalls. We believe she is friends with this person,” I lied.
“Good,” Falsha confirmed while she slyly eyed Natalie.
Then Bors Sampson waved his left hand and said, “Long time no see to the other son of Chief Torah.” His voice was deep.
“How have you been, Bors?”
“Whose house is this? We tracked your dema when we entered this town,” he said.
“It’s my father’s brother’s house, Eis and Nodin’s father. He is temporarily allowing for us to stay here until we behead our hunt.” Then I turned to see the unknown warrior. He looked young and inexperienced. “Who is he?” I asked Falsha and Bors.
Falsha smiled and responded, “His name is Sean. Well, that is his Anglo name, a descendant of the Winddick bloodline. He is a former member of the Shadow clan, the Covenant’s thirty-seventh warrior. Lyonell recruited him awhile back.”
“Oh, I see.”
Then Sean spoke up, “So you’re the one they call Bodaway … the fire maker, number nine and the Promised Child.”
“Yup, I am he.”
“Strange, I imagined you … to look … more … like Lyonell. Tough,” Sean said disrespectfully.
I snickered a bit and answered back, “Don’t let the look fool you. I am a Naiche and the son of Torah, the number one.”
Sean Winddick grinned in agreement.
“Take it easy, Winddick,” Falsha uttered to him. “He loves to fight,” she said to me.
“Don’t we all. So what are you guys doing here?” I asked her.
Lyonell answered for all of them as he disengaged from his conversation with Liyah and Alope. “Father sent us to assist you on your difficult hunt. I believe you’re hunting an Awakened Reborn—if such Reborns exist.”
“Yeah, Father said we were to kill this one on our own. Didn’t you four journey from South America?”
“Yes, the Reborn family there was quite … surprised by our appearance, but aren’t they all? Our orders were to assist your clan as soon as we finished up in Brazil. So here we are. Besides, sending you to slay an Awakened Reborn without ever killing one was a mistake.”
“Maybe he wanted me to get the experience on this hunt. Regardless, we have the hunt under control. You traveled all this way for nothing.”
“Do you? We thought we killed her a few times, but we were mistaken. So we have been wandering the southeast side of Oklahoma in search of a particular family. I guess isn’t on our side, so far no sign of her. I know it’s your hunt little brother, after we found out from other clans that your taking this one on alone, I couldn’t help but come to your aid.”
“How long have you been here in Blackfalls?” I asked.
“Not long. We kept our distance while you five worked the area. It seems your time is nearly up. I would say a few days, am I right?”
Liyah glared at me and then answered for us. “Yeah, the deadline is just shy of four days.”
“You killed random Reborns?” I asked him.
“Not Reborns. Young girls who looked like the one we were after.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. However, you’re wasting your time. We have located the Awakened Reborn and are planning an execution after midnight tonight. She will be beheaded. Her head is mine. I’ll report back to father once we have finished the hunt here.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, big brother. I don’t think we will need your help.”
“But you never killed an Awakened Reborn. How can you be so sure you can do it without our assistance?”
“Well, then this will be my first. I want to savor this victory with my clan. No offense. You understand?”
“I understand well enough, Bodaway. But Inca Manwolf received a message from Lucian himself, who told him that this hunt would be more than you can handle. He ordered the death of three daughters, not just the one who has awakened.”
“When did this happen?” I asked him.
“Soon after your departure from Red Valley, and little brother, we both know that Lucian wouldn’t lie to us,” he said as he saw through my words. He was a lot cleverer than I had originally remembered.
Bors Sampson then jumped in the conversation. “We thought we had taken care of one of the girls four different times, but we were mistaken.”
Aaron then rapidly walked toward me and said to them in a harsh tone, “It seems your hunting activities have become a problem in Blackfalls. Mistakes like that can cause unnecessary media attention and guess what? It has.”
“Our apologizes,” Sean Winddick said to him in an aggressive tone.
Aaron then turned to him and said, “You know what—”
I interrupted him. “Aaron, I’ll handle it.”
Falsha added, “By the way, we led the authorities away from here and toward the southwestern part of the state. So you guys should have nothing to worry about.”
“We appreciate that, sister, but this is my hunt, my territory, my kill,” I answered. “But like I said, she’ll be without a head come sunrise. We will go to work tonight.”
The rest of the Wolf clan was convinced, but I knew my brother wasn’t.
“Maybe she won’t die or maybe not. Regardless, you could use our help, Bodaway,” Lyonell insisted. He really wanted to help kill the Awakened Reborn. If he had arrived a week earlier, then I would have welcomed the offer. Times had changed. New feelings had been discovered. Natalie meant more to me than some kill. She was special, a friend.
“All of you obviously know the area a lot better than us,” Lyonell said. “I’m sure you’ve been here scouting the town and getting to know townspeople. You can kill the one you were assigned to kill, and we can help with the other two. With your help it shouldn’t take long to track down the remaining family members called the Schultzes.”
There was no getting around the problem. He was stronger and faster than me. He ranked number eight, and I was only number nine. Technically, he was considered my superior.
“Well, if you insist, meet us in downtown Blackfalls after nightfall, before sunrise, and we can go over the plans for the execution. But the beheading of the Awakened Reborn is mine to complete. Understood?”
“I wouldn’t want to ruin your moment of victory, Bodaway. We agreed. Where in downtown would you like to me?”
“Just look for our dema. You can’t miss us,” I said.
Then Sean Winddick stared behind me at Natalie Schultz. He clearly noticed her sitting on the dirty picnic table, looking away from everyone in order to not draw attention. Lyonell hadn’t noticed her yet. Every single one of us had reddish brown skin, but the little blonde girl stood out in the distance. She was behind all of us, so from Lyonell’s angle, she wasn’t visible.
“Who is the white girl?” Sean finally pointed her out. Lyonell and Bors looked over to see her. Damn it!
“She’s no one,” Alope quickly said. Given her tone, she wasn’t hiding her real feelings for Natalie—so quick to envy.
“She’s someone we’ve captured. She knows where the Awakened Reborn will be after nightfall,” I said gruesomely, trying to sound dark.
“That’s interesting, Bodaway. It seems you have taken all of your options in finding the Awakened Reborn,” Lyonell said. But then he changed his tone of voice and asked me in our Native tongue, “Does she know who we are and what we do?”
I answered back in our Native tongue, “No, of course not.”
Then, James added in our Native tongue, “We tortured her. She told us where this Awakened Reborn is located. The process was brutal, but
you know how we work.”
“Is that so?”
Lyonell walked past me to go talk to Natalie. Everyone stared at each other as I went to assist Natalie with her talk with Lyonell. Be calm, Tristan! Be calm.
“Hi, little girl,” Lyonell greeted and put his hand down to shake hers.
“Hi,” Natalie bashfully returned the favor. As soon as they touched each other, Lyonell immediately leaped back, and his eyes were bloody red, involuntarily unleashing 10 percent of his dema. A small shockwave traveled from her hand to his, implying that they shouldn’t touch each other.
“What’s wrong?” Falsha asked him. Lyonell looked at his palm; it was smoking from the shock.
“Interesting,” Lyonell whispered to himself as he stared at his palm. I went over to Natalie and said to her, “Go inside and don’t say a word.” She looked confused but quickly rushed to stand and leave the back porch.
“Girl, what was your name?” Lyonell kindly asked her before she could take a step away from him.
“Natalie,” she answered. Hopefully he didn’t know the name of the Awakened Reborn. Surely Father would have given him her name as well.
“I am Lyonell,” he said, smiling. The others kept their guard up.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
The two locked eyes though I had told her not to. Lyonell was known to lock eyes with those he’d decided to shed.
I interrupted and said to them all, “So tonight. Meet us downtown.”
He took his eyes off of Natalie and looked back at me. “Then tonight it is.”
“Sure.” I said, hoping they would leave and not discover her true identity; however I still noticed Sean staring ceaselessly at Natalie. It was more than a gawk. It was lustful and curious, the same expression I had when I saw Natalie in the Castleton Park Mall. Surprisingly, their dema wasn’t triggered, but Sean’s seemed to be bothering him.
“Okay, we go now,” Lyonell ordered to the Wolf clan. He turned around to walk down the steps. The other Wolf clan members followed his lead, except for Sean Winddick.
“Let’s go, newbie,” Falsha said to him.