The Comyenti Series Book Bundle, Volume 1 and 2 (Epic Romantic Supernatural Fantasy)

by Natasja Hellenthal

  The path led to the mountainous area Felix and Aigle had come from that very morning, with the village of Trinidas being its destination. From there these men could go in any direction, even over water, and that would make following them very difficult. Sula hoped the hunters wouldn’t know they were being followed by someone with extraordinary senses but it was more than likely that they did. This could hardly be a coincidence. Although that lizard man had died and crumbled to dust in front of her, she had always worried there would be more of them out to get her and her family, so she had strengthened and perfected the protective Shield Of Light around their home. She had even taught Fay how to do it and they had been taking turns to protect themselves and their home. Even on holidays they would travel with an invisible, but effective, force-field of love and goodness which was impossible for evil to penetrate. Her daughter had soon become just as talented as Sula. They had forgotten to train Aigle though, thinking him too young, and now Sula was paying for her mistake…

  She slowed down, staring towards her right where dense spruce trees grew with nothing underneath them.

  ‘Through here?’ Felix asked.

  ‘They must know they’re being followed.’ she replied.

  Sula turned white-faced when she knelt down and saw a track through the pine needles and dark soil. There were footsteps and a smooth trail, shallow, but deep enough to follow.

  Felix placed a hand on her shoulders when he realised what it meant; Aigle was being dragged along, most likely unconscious, as the trail didn’t show any signs of a struggle.

  After a couple of dreadful miles through the deep, thick woods, the trail suddenly stopped. Sula’s heart almost did too when she realised what it could mean.

  She sharpened her ears and eyes even more. There was a rustle above them in the trees.

  Quickly, she whispered to Felix, ‘Split up and hide!’ before she pushed him to the side with force. Next thing she knew a weight was coming down on her, landing on her shoulders, then a dagger flashed before her eyes. Felix had to fight off the other man, and she could see him swinging his hammer at his opponent, who had a spear and tried to hit him back. Her own opponent was clumsy and although she could feel strength radiating from him, she managed to bite his hand, wolf or not, she could still use her own teeth all the same!

  He let go of his dagger with a sharp cry, and she quickly grabbed his weapon whilst giving him a firm kick in the groin. Sula stood, ready to lash out with the dagger. The man quickly picked himself up, grumbled, and plunged forward, landing on her stomach, knocking the air right out of her. The dagger fell from her hand.

  Dizzy and seeing stars, she met his eyes, dark brown with vertical pupils, and felt pure evil coming from him. So much so that it hit her hard, but at the same time she felt something else, and that confused her. The man raised his hands, clasped them together before taking a deep breath and letting out a load roar. He was thrown to the side by the force of Felix’ hammer on the head. The hammer appeared to be more of a weapon than a tool today! With a huge crash the man dropped to the ground. Immediately, he started changing, and soon he had crumbled down to nothing but salt.

  Sula’s eyes grew bigger and she stumbled on her words, ‘You’ve…you’ve kkk…killed him.’

  Felix stared in horror at what was left of the man, and then at his hammer. He dropped it to the ground as if it had burned him. Then he quickly looked back at the other man he had hit and he gasped. He too had turned into a pile of salt.

  Sula pulled herself together. Felix helped her up and looked concerned when he noticed she was in pain. Her stomach really hurt from the force of the blow she had received, and she felt nauseous.

  ‘Felix, you were amazing!’ she managed to say with a tiny voice.

  ‘But I’ve killed them?’

  ‘Never mind that, honey. They were pure evil. They would have killed us. I saw it in his eyes. Such hatred…’ and she heard a small sound and looked up on impulse. ‘Aigle!’

  He was hanging in the trees; upside down, like a spider would have done to its prey; with a rope tied all round him and his mouth gagged.

  Sula breathed in and out a couple of times, concentrating as fast as she could on a monkey, ‘Your heart, my heart, your mind, my mind, your hands, feet and tail, mine…’

  She looked for the dagger, placed its cool blade into her mouth, leaped up and climbed the tree, as agile as a monkey. She reached Aigle rapidly and started cutting the rope that was attached to the tree.

  Sula shouted to Felix, ‘When I say ‘now’ be ready to catch him!’

  Felix stood underneath them, arms spread about ready to grab his son.

  The blade had cut nearly through the rope when Sula called out, ‘Now!’ as the rope broke. It was up to her husband to catch him, would he be able to do it? She had no time to wonder, but had to trust him on it, just as she trusted him before.

  Aigle fell heavily from a great height down into his father’s arms. Felix’ eyes met his son’s. Aigle was breathing fast through his gag and sweat drops showed on his forehead like pearls, his forest-green eyes wide open. He had been so scared, like never before, but when he was in his father’s strong, toned arms like the baby he once had been, a smile reached Aigle’s eyes and memories flooded his mind. Felix held him, like he had done all those years ago whenever the boy was frightened, close to his chest. He may not have had Sula’s ability to communicate with their son in his mind, but Felix had his soft and kind nature and compassion.

  Aigle put his head in his father’s neck gratefully and they both cried. Sula climbed down to join them. She undid the gag over Aigle’s mouth and kissed him on his cheeks.

  The two of them held their son and stood in a hug for some time with only birdsong around them.

  ~~~

  ‘They were talking in a language I didn’t understand,’ Aigle talked fast and excited now that he had calmed down when they were walking back home. ‘And their eyes, did you see their eyes?’

  ‘Yes, a cold kind of brown with intense black, vertical pupils,’ Sula replied. ‘I’ve never seen men with eyes like that, not even in remote places in the south. It is as I suspected.’

  ‘Are they from a different planet too?’

  ‘Hm, perhaps,’ Sula answered her son, touching his hair like she used to when he was little. She was more than glad to have him back, and she would start to teach him the Shield Of Light as soon as they were home.

  ‘What if they’re from the same planet as us and they followed us here?

  She had told her children what Shazar had informed her years ago about comyentis originating from the stars. Bhan was not their home planet and humans were not even remotely related to comyentis. He even had some kind of proof, the pendant he wore around his neck was made from an otherworldly material that seemed to draw her from the moment she laid her eyes upon it. After she and Shazar had parted, she sometimes suspected it was the pendant, and not Shazar himself, that had somehow created a hypnotic effect; aside from the pheromones he had also used to lure her.

  ‘But if they are from the same planet,’ Sula said puzzled. ‘why would they show up now after so many thousands of years? And if we are from the same planet, what do they want from us? Why would they want to hurt and kill us? It doesn’t make any sense!’

  Felix was bewildered and deep in thought. He carried his hammer under his belt, and now and then glimpsed at it with a feeling of disgust.

  ‘How can I ever use my hammer again and not think of what I’ve done?’ he mumbled.

  Sula turned to him sighing. She couldn’t believe he was being so self-centred right now! But she said soothingly, ‘You defended your family, honey. You did what you had to do and I’m proud of you for that.’

  She bit her lip and a look of worry showed on her face and in her green eyes. She did feel guilty that she had brought this upon him. Before he met her he had led a reasonably calm and uneventful life, filled with his love for his sculptures, nature, his cats, goats, mum, dad,
and his sister. Ever since Sula arrived, everything in his world had been turned upside down, as if he stepped into a horrible fairytale. She knew he said or even never thought as much, but still… She also realised he was no longer the naïve and carefree artist boy she had met that winter day, some eighteen years before.

  The three of them came across their cart with the load still on it, but there was no sign of the bear.

  Sula sighed with relief. ‘Good, I thought you killed him too.’

  Felix, not understanding, gazed at her with tilted head and raised eyebrows.

  ‘What? How can you say such a thing and be glad about it! What exactly is the difference between killing those men and killing that evil bear?’

  ‘There isn’t a difference. I just wanted to find out who he truly was. There is never an excuse for killing, but you were defending me,’ she pondered absently.

  Felix nodded, understanding her now, glancing around, still on the look out.

  ‘And why, when you hit the bear with the hammer, didn’t he too turn into salt?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know, love. I don’t care about the bear, but remember there were three men that took Aigle? We hit a bear and killed two men. What happened to the third one?’

  ‘The big bald man,’ Aigle said hoarsely, rubbing his throat. The rope had been tied around his neck as well, and he hurt all over. ‘He’s right, Mum… the third man got away.’

  ‘Don’t you two get it? The bear was the third man! It was one of the shapeshifting lizard people I told you about, remember?’

  Felix’ face showed instant fear, and Aigle’s hand grew damp in hers. Sula could think of nothing else on their way home.

  He will tell and the world will know…A dread so horrifying and overwhelming got hold of her. I have failed…

  Chapter 10 Strength

  Five years later

  ‘Most boys do this sort of thing with their dad, not their mum!’ Aigle grumbled and pulled on the oars for another stroke. Going really fast, they seemed to almost soar over the surface of the river like a dolphin, lifting the boat slightly as it went.

  ‘Steady now, love,’ his mother called out as her jet-black hair billowed in the river wind. ‘Ease off, we are going too fast too soon! Wait until we’re out of sight, darling. Focus!’ Her eyes darted to and fro across both sides of the river. Luckily there was no one to be seen. A kingfisher shot past them in the opposite direction, missing them by a hair! Bugs, butterflies and dippers had to make way. Aigle wasn’t even using his powers yet! He grinned. Their boat was heading for the wooden bridge and Aigle held the oars in for a moment. They both stared at the bridge whilst going under it in silence, and Sula smiled to herself and calmed down, remembering. Aigle knew what she was thinking and rolled his green bright eyes. Parents!

  The bridge, of course, was where they had first met and where his father proposed to his mother. It was a special romantic place for his parents, but Aigle, however, at seventeen, could not fully fathom it yet. His hormones hadn’t kicked in yet as his development was years behind a normal human male. He had yet to experience romantic love. However he was, like his mother and siblings, an empath. He had the ability to envision and experience the feelings and emotions of others. His voice had not even broken yet, and he sounded and looked no more than a well-built thirteen year-old with a delicate, almost feminine face.

  ‘Most boys your age don’t have your strength,’ Sula responded to her son’s earlier question, sternly. ‘So if you want to give your dad a heart attack…’

  ‘Why? I’m the one who’s doing the rowing!’ he said defiantly. His headband, which covered the tips of his ears, was as jade green as his eyes were at the moment, though they could change to as bright as emerald, depending on his mood. In the village, no matter how careful he was to hide his changing eyes, they called him ‘Green Eyes’.

  ‘True, but you know that your dad would want to compete with you, he wouldn’t be able to just sit here and watch you row! So…I will have to do,’ and she looked back at the bridge growing smaller until it was of sight. She saw some otters playing in a bend in the river, diving and chasing the waves, and she smiled. They reminded her of her own children at their innocent play not so long ago. They were growing up too fast.

  ‘Now continue, Aigle and you don’t need to hold back this time. We need to work on those lazy muscles! If you have the need for speed, here’s your chance!’ She flashed him a mocking but loving smile.

  Aigle was by no means fat, nor was he too thin. He had long lithe limbs and good muscle structure, but he needed more training than a human. He hadn’t shot up yet, like most boys his age. Comyentis aged and matured slower than humans. However, as young as he was, if he didn’t use his comyenti abilities much, he would soon grow overweight. Sula knew this as her mother gained a lot of weight in her later years, especially when she grew ill and too weak to exercise. The comyenti body, normally exposed to extreme physical exertion which no human body could ever cope with, had to be kept fit. This was not only to contain and maintain the unique genetic link, but also to be able to deal with the strain on the mind and body caused by using comyenti powers.

  Because Aigle and his siblings were not allowed to use their powers near people, or near the village yet, out of fear of exposing them all, the training had to occur elsewhere. Soon he would be able to leave the village if he wished to, just like his older sister Fay had at seventeen. She travelled around Bhan and visited her family once in a while. But Aigle wasn’t ready like his sister had been. Girls matured faster, humans and comyentis alike. Perhaps in a couple of years’ time…

  Aigle soon gained speed as they left the village domains behind, and he held his fast pace steady, with a concentrated but content look whilst rowing effortlessly.

  It was clear that he was using an animal’s strength now, not just his own. His irises had changed from olive to apple green with orange and yellow specks. They only changed this way when he was having fun. They were like shafts of sunlight, just as Sula’s were at times. This made the meaning of her comyenti name, which was “Sun”, even more appropriate.

  ‘Aigle, I’m warning you! The whole point of this exercise is to use your human powers, not your comyenti’s! Break the link, now!’

  ‘Oh, Mum!’ He stopped rowing for a moment and then tugged on the oars again with more effort than before, going considerably slower.

  Sula sighed, ‘What did I tell you?’ and she added, ‘Why are we doing this? You think I don’t know how fast you can be? You don’t have to show off, you know. I’m not your dad.’

  Father and son competed regularly as Felix felt he needed to keep up with his comyenti family somehow.

  ‘It feels so good! It’s so much easier, why shouldn’t I, if I can?’ his voice squeaked.

  ‘I told you, because you need to-’

  ‘Work on my muscles, I know, I know’ Aigle interrupted her as he could read his mother’s thoughts which were as clear to his mind as the river water was.

  ‘Yes, and they won’t hold if you continue like this. Your body might let you down and you might get hurt!’

  ‘I’ll be as fat as Humphrey!’ the boy laughed, referring to one of their cats. Throwing his head back, his half-long dark hair gave way to his long ears.

  ‘That’s right, muscles need to be stretched and toned in order to be able to rely on them. You need to build up real strength and your sister Valera will be next.’

  ‘Mum, I get it. But once I’m trained, after we’re all trained, to use and maintain our powers, why don’t we just move away and we could use it all the time? It’s so easy to use our powers. Sure, it’s a little straining, but we can easily restore ourselves through sleep. We wouldn’t have to hide. We could just be ourselves.’

  Sula looked a bit sad at that. Although happy, she had indeed wanted to move, especially after losing her dear friend Feline. Sula had found it hard to cope with all the memories and reminders of her absence in the village. Surely Feline’s
spirit would have to move on with Sula!

  It also didn’t sit well with her that she had been attacked in the Moany Mountains by a shape-shifting lizard man who had crumbled to dust before her eyes. Then there had been the trap near their home years ago. Luckily no one had gotten hurt, and the dwarf prince had been rescued by Felix, but he and Sula had both had to look hard to ensure there weren’t anymore traps in the area. At first they had decided it must have been a one-off-incident, a trap set by a hunter perhaps, who had travelled on since then and hadn’t known the Rosinhillers’ rules of non- violence towards animals. Then they had been attacked by slave hunters who had been shape-shifting lizard people. Was it them who had set the trap?

  Aigle had revealed to Sula that he had found out, by picking up fragments of speech and thoughts from these three attackers, that they knew about her. Aigle suspected that he had just been bait to get to her. Sula had created a Shield Of Light to protect herself, and her family, and had surrounded their home with it since that event. She had even extended its protection to the village. No harm could come to any of them within its borders. However, the simple thought of knowing that she had been found wasn’t a comfortable feeling to say the least. Rosinhill had somehow lost its sense of safety and innocence.

  Felix loved his unique wife dearly and her safety meant the world to him, but he had his aging parents to think of too, and he didn’t really want to live in hiding, or live as a nomad.

  He still went to the mountain meadows with his goats, but he had never used his magic hammer again. Ever since that day five years ago, it was forever stained, and it would never be the same again. Instead, he carried a walking staff that he had learned to use as a weapon and he worked harder in the orchard to make up for the loss of the hammer, which was safely locked away.

  Felix had tried to persuade Sula and his children to remain within the Shield Of Light as much as they could, just in case. They weren’t as frightened as Felix was though. She had a deep need to remain free, and the comyenti way of life required that they discover new animals to receive their special abilities from. In order to be able to teach and practise their gifts, they needed to travel.