Volcan Knights

by Bowler, Laurie

  “Sam,” I asked. “What’s the real name of the shadows? I mean do they really have a name?”

  He cocked his head to one side; a look of deep thought crossed his eyes.

  “They don't have an official name, mainly because no one knows where they originated from, but I heard Ethan name them once as The Devourers,” he answered. “If that’s any help?”

  “So Ethan named them, interested name though,”

  “It was supposed to be a joke Zera,” he answered quietly. “Call them what you like but once I unravel where they came from I’m sending them straight back there,”

  “I want to help,”

  “You can’t,” he said. “Not until you can remember how to morph, and all the other stuff that we can do, it’ll be too dangerous for you to do anything without that,”

  “How come I didn’t morph on the day they grabbed me before they took Ellie?”

  A vital question that I wanted answered, if I was supposed to be a part of them there must have been a reason why I didn’t morph into a Volcan the day they’d attacked and then taken Ellies life, only he had the answers to many riddles that lived inside my head.

  “You tried,” he said, all the laughter evaporated, the pain had etched itself in his eyes, “But you failed, I’m not sure why and I haven’t looked into it because you were so frail in hospital and then afterwards I used all my free time to make sure you were safe,”

  Still, even with his explanation I felt like he was holding something back from me, he knew something that he wasn’t ready to tell me yet, there would be plenty of time for everything to unveil itself, and then maybe just once I would know who I was and my life would become whole again rather than the greatest mystery that it was.

  “It's getting dark,” he said to fill the silence. “Are you hungry?”

  I nodded, my stomach had begun to growl, it had been a little while since I remembered eating last, the fever had taken its hold over me suddenly, attacking and leaving me tired.

  “You look tired,” he commented, gently he stroked my cheek, tenderness filled his eyes. “Do you need to lie down for a little while?”

  “No, I’m fine,”

  I found I liked his touch, he wasn’t touching me in any other way other than concerned, but it was like a gentle breeze and I felt as if he was passing love into my soul through his hands, if that is possible to do?

  But then anything seemed a possibility now, until a few days ago I hadn’t known there were strange creatures on earth and that I was one of them, neither did I know humans stood a dangerous chance of being obliterated by the unknown force called The Devourers. It seemed ironic that I was their main attraction and something they wanted badly enough to attack whenever they saw an opportunity without any plans laid ahead to get to me, I wondered if hell had been unleashed on earth and the Volcans had been sent as saviours.

  “Where do you come from?”

  It was a simple enough question, Sam had mentioned earlier on that they’d been sent to protect the human race, but he hadn’t specified from where that place was.

  “Earth, why?” he furrowed his brow trying to work out why I’d asked.

  “Earlier on, you said the Volcans had been sent to protect humans but you didn’t say where that was from, I assumed you’d been sent from another planet you know like aliens or something,”

  Sam roared with laughter, his face creased and for once I saw a glimmer of the person he must be when he wasn’t being a saviour.

  “No Zera, we are certainly not aliens, sorry if I gave you that idea,” he said. “We were human once, and chosen by the leader of the Volcans who I presume lives on another planet somewhere,” he shrugged. He didn’t seem to know a whole lot about his race.

  “So that’s all you know? Didn’t he even tell you anything about himself before he made you a Volcan, he must have said something?”

  “He gave me this house, it acts as protection for our race when we need it, and in this house I discovered some history books that have helped me figure out parts of why we’re here and made to protect humans,”

  “So you’re still human? You have a mother and father? You were born here?” I persisted.

  “Yes,” he laughed. “Why so many questions?”

  “Because although it seems funny to you, I’ve woken up to find I’m a Volcan and that I have wings which I don’t know how to use,” I pointed out. “And you seem incredibly good a dodging whatever questions I ask you,”

  “Calm down,” he scolded, “I didn’t mean to laugh, I don’t want to overload you with answers all at once, it wouldn’t be good for you, I’d rather you remembered aspects of who we are and the nature we were chosen on your own,”

  “So we were chosen, not made?”

  “Will you stop,” frustrated with my endless torrent of questions. “In time you will learn everything but until then just be satisfied with everything you know so far, we’ve a lot of time to spend together for you to ask any questions that you’d like,”

  I nodded, confused and fuming with the entire situation, it wasn’t fair for him to think he could tell me things I needed to know in short bursts, my life had been an empty shell and now I found something hopeful to cling too.

  “Right,” he said clapping his hands. “Food.”

  Chapter Five

  I watched him leave, preferring to remain on the sofa where he wouldn’t get irritated with my torrent of questions and I where I could resist the temptation to ask anymore.

  I walked around the room again, imprinting the images Ellie’s smiling face in my soul, and wondering about the places the pictures had been taken, my tears had begun to fall, I missed her more now that I knew what had really happened than I did before with the temporary memory the doctors had given to me. It hurt to think that I hadn’t morphed the day they’d tried to take me, or that Sam hadn’t been able to prevent them taking Ellie, it seemed a giant puzzle that needed to be placed back together, but for me to do that I needed to find the missing pieces and as Sam had said, the history of the Volcans and The Devourers were held in this house, and I planned on finding the books in order to fight.

  “Here we go,” Sam appeared with two trays crammed with food. “Listen, I’m sorry if I seem hostile when it comes to answering questions, it’s just I want you to be able to remember everything on your own without any prompting,”

  Before I knew what was happening I was in his arms, some how he’d crossed the room, when I was blinded by my tears and had taken me in his arms, holding me gently cradled against him, my hands clutched his shirt.

  “More than anything,” he choked. “I want you to remember me,”

  I nodded, I understood what he was telling, but my tears were coming fast and I wasn’t able to answer him with words, I could feel his love, the tenderness through his hands when he stroked my hair and whispered words of love that I hadn’t heard before, I needed him more than anything, even though I didn’t have a clue who he was.

  One thing was clear to me, since seeing him at the hospital beside my bed when I had woken up from my coma, and seeing him morphing in front of Barry, I wasn’t scared of him and neither was I was afraid of who I was, only confused with the origins, and I had fallen completely in love with him.

  “I’m sorry,” I managed to say. “Its seeing the pictures, reminding me of Ellie, I thought I was doing so well getting over her death but being here and knowing that you remember far more than I do, hurts like you’d never believe,”

  “I know it does,” he whispered. “Are you afraid of me?”

  “No, funny though, I know I should be afraid of the whole situation especially of who I am but I’m not, I know you wouldn’t hurt me and that your here to protect me more than anything,”

  “Don’t ever forget that,” he said gently pulling away, “I’ll never let anything happen to you, and neither will I hurt you myself,”

  I leant towards him, not being able to resist the moment or t resist his mesmerising eyes tha
t captured me, he kissed me, lightly restraining himself a little.

  “I can’t be with you fully,” he sighed. “The way we make love is stronger than a human does and I don’t want to frighten you, it’s not that I don’t want to kiss you or show you how much you mean to me, it’s just I don’t want to scare you anymore than I’ve already done,”

  “You won’t,” I promised remaining hopeful that he might show me a little more. “It can’t hurt if I’m one of you, can it?”

  “I don’t know, because you don’t remember who you are or what we are it’s a chance I’m not going to take,” he admitted, “I’m never chancing hurting you, ever,”

  “Ok,” I settled for the fleeting kiss that we’d shared, never the less, I had felt more from that kiss and I didn’t think it was a possibility to show me anything more.

  “Let's eat,” he said and led me back to the small sofa.

  He’d laid snacks on the trays, delicious mouth watering snacks that would undoubtedly fill me up for the rest of the day, I watched him eat thoughtfully, he was muscled in the right proportions, and his eyes mesmerised me making me forget to breathe whenever I looked at him to deeply, and I knew we went deeper than human love that existed on earth.

  I ate slowly, picking small morsels at a time, and allowing the creamy savoury bites to tease my mouth, he’d even collected a small bottle of wine and offered me some, and I accepted and was given a small glass in comparison to his.

  “I’ve given you a small glass, purely because you’ve been so ill and again,” he smiled. “I’m worried about making you ill again,”

  “You won’t,” I said laughing at him, would there ever be a day when he wouldn’t worry about me?

  “After this, would you like a tour?” He offered.

  “Yes please,” I answered. “Can I see where the history books you mentioned are kept please?”

  “Of course,” he replied, “Are you hoping it might refresh your memory a little?”

  I nodded my fork in mid air.

  “I’d quite like to take a book to bed with me, if that’s ok?”

  “Sure, whatever you like, treat this as if it’s your home,” he remarked. “You did live here once,”

  “Did I?” I asked eagerly picking up on a new thread of conversation about my old self.

  “Yes, you and Ellie, it was our family home,” he answered. “Most of your clothes are still here, but I don’t think any would fit you now though,”

  “Are you saying I’m fat?” I teased.

  He laughed. “No, in actual fact you’ve lost a lot of weight, every time I saw you at work I wanted to force feed you, for a long time I’ve been worried about you,”

  “Did you ever watch me sleep?”

  For some time I’d woken in the middle of the night, plagued by strange dreams that I now guessed derived from the creature that I was and the sights I must have seen, each time I’d woken I had the strange feeling that someone had been watching me, scurrying to switch the light on and finding no one there.

  “Sometimes,” he said. “When I couldn’t sleep, I would watch you instead, we’re all linked telepathically as well so I always knew when you were dreaming,” he said, “You must have connected to me subconsciously,”

  “Is that how you knew I was in trouble and being confronted by Barry?”

  He nodded, pushing his empty tray aside and sipping his wine.

  “I couldn’t believe you went in there, didn’t you hear someone following you down the alley way?”

  “Yes, but when the footsteps stopped and retreated I assumed whoever it was had given up,”

  “It was me, when I saw you on your hands and knees, digging of all things,” he said, “I wanted to throttle you for being so stupid, that’s when I decided the only thing to do was to get the others and appear whenever I felt you needed us, I told you,” he shrugged. “Nothing is going to hurt you, I will stop it this time, I did last time but I failed to save our daughter, Zera, it won’t happen again,”

  “I trust you,” I exclaimed. “There’s nothing that says I shouldn’t trust you, what happened with Ellie wasn’t your fault, if only I’d morphed and saved myself you could have protected her properly instead of rushing off to save me, then she’d be alive,”

  “Stop,” sighing loudly. “Shall we agree that it wasn’t either of our fault, and leave it at that, all we’re doing is finding a way to shift the blame onto ourselves, there’s so many if only’s but none of them matter now, she’s gone, I wish it wasn’t true but it is, there’s no point in trying to pretend and change what happened, unfortunately we weren’t made with the power to turn back time,”

  “I know,” I agreed wholly with everything he was saying, “I’ll agree for now,”

  He raised his eyebrows, a small smile at the corners of his mouth.

  “For now?” He questioned.

  “Yes,” I replied smiling, “Until I find out anything else that throws particular blame at me then the deals broken, agreed?”

  “You drive a hard bargain,” he laughed. “Agreed though,”

  “I miss her,”

  “So do I, even more so now your back with me,” he said, speaking the word aloud that I’d just been thinking, “I loved her so much,”

  “I can see that you did,” I gestured behind me at the pictures. “She was always such a happy girl,”

  We agreed and reminisced together on the life of our daughter, Ellie. In some parts he explained when I asked him too because my memories faltered and refused to let me see particular happy times, I wished so much that I could remember. He was patient and kind, gently explaining trips we’d all taken, the other Volcans had joined us many times, and they too adored Ellie.

  “Let's go on this tour then before it gets too dark,”

  Walking hand in hand, comfortable with each other’s company, he walked through the house, it was large in comparison to my own small house that I’d left behind to be here, but it was easy enough to find my way around, stopping longer than other room in the study.

  He showed me where the history of the Volcans had been laid down for me to study, I selected the earliest copy that I could find, if I was right, they should be the same kind of fights but in different times but with the same tactics whenever Volcans were selected.

  I’d already guessed that since we were human, from everything Sam had said earlier then we must grow old and eventually die like humans did, and then a new group of Volcans were selected to carry on the protection of the humans against The Devourers.

  “I’d like to show you something,” He whispered, breaking my reverie.

  I followed him and waited patiently as he pulled down some switches, walking outside through the back patio doors, my breathe caught and I stopped, enraptured with the display in front of me, never had I seen anything like it before.

  Truly magical, the scenery was breathtaking, overwhelmed and sensitive when it came to the facts of romance; this was beyond anything my dreams could have developed.

  The tiny lights that had been strung around the tops of the trees, draped carefully around every rose bush that was visible, along with the small stream that ran across the far end, it seemed like I was dreaming, and I felt like pinching myself to wake up.

  “Do you like it?” He whispered, coming up behind me and putting his arms around my waist, I sighed and leaned back on him, allowing him to hold me closer than before.

  “It's a lover’s dream,”

  “It was your dream,” he corrected, “I was hoping you might remember, you wanted a place where we could go and be romantic together, you were always clued up with new ideas of how to keep up close so we didn’t lose any of our love for each other, this was one of your ideas,”

  “Did I ever see it?”

  “No,” he said, “I did this while you were in hospital, the short visits I made home, I prepared everything and the others helped, I was always hoping you would wake up and remember what had happened and then I was planning on sur
prising you with this,”

  “I’m sorry,”

  “You have no need to be,” he said, “I was foolish enough to disbelieve everything the doctors said about your condition, but I think I prefer it this way, to show you this place, your reaction was well worth the wait,” he continued. “Come and walk around,”

  Together we walked, he was pointing out further plans that he had for the small private garden, the statues had been carefully placed around the stream and stared back at us, I couldn’t ever remember feeling so much love all in one place and neither did I feel alone anymore.

  When I looked up, the sky had darkened considerably and the stars added their own magical special glow down on the garden which only accentricated the feeling and power laid out here in the garden, Sam had stopped to show me the gentle waterfall he’d placed, it flowed easily into the stream and he’d managed to add the touch of small lights in the bottom of the clear watered stream and they too shone back.

  “Its beautiful,” I said. “Did I really plan all of this?”

  “You did indeed; I still have the plans you wrote down in a book upstairs, I never forgot every detail you described to me, I just wish you could remember,”

  “So do I!”

  Finishing with the tour and feeling the irrevocable pull of love, I didn’t want the day or the night to end, and I didn’t want to be parted from him not now that I’d found I was a part of something and someone.

  “It’s getting late,” he said, “I’ve got work tomorrow, are you tired?”

  “A little,” I admitted, but I was too overwhelmed by the day’s events, and fat to eager to get stuck into the book from the study, remaining hopeful that some light might be shed and I might remember something.

  He wished me a goodnight by my bedroom door, not asking or venturing one foot over the threshold, and I really wanted him too. We’d shared a lot of memories tonight and I wanted to him to hold me, to continue with the love that I felt emanating from him, completely taking over my every nerve inside my body and not leaving anything left.