THE EVENT

by Jamie Heppner

  "Dinosaurs...flying ones, walking ones, everything else changed, why not them too? It was hunting last night, didn't...want to risk two of us..." Greytop’s eyes fluttered closed and his body relaxed. The blood that had been pouring from his wounds trickled to a stop.

  "Greytop, GREYTOP!" Shade put his hand on him and tried gently shaking him, fearful of his injuries. There was no reaction at all from the werewolf. The light inside him faded as Shade watched. The winged monster now circling overhead let out a screech, but continued its lazy circles. It already knew it had won.

  Shade could barely see. His eyes were full of tears and ashes. The beast was still circling overhead, waiting, but Shade knew it wouldn't wait forever. If he didn't get moving, it would probably just decide that two meals were better than one. It left Shade with no choice. He said a silent goodbye and began anew his rush to the oasis still far away, while always watching the winged dinosaur.

  When the beast had decided Shade was far enough away, it again plunged again to the earth and began tearing into its meal. Shade didn't watch anymore, he just pushed himself once again to a full run. He ran and ran until his legs felt like the fires that still burned off in the distance.

  Chapter 16

  Bonetwister passed by the sentries. They recognized him, but something was wrong. They refused to speak. Just a nod and then they took up their posts once again.

  Dawn still cradled in his arms. She hadn't woken the whole trip. The run had pushed him to his limits. After the first night, when he had seen that beast, he decided not to waste another night with sleep. It was much more important that he get to the clan with Dawn in one piece. Bonetwister walked on into the camp. The air inside clouded with tension. Everyone was busy doing something and no one stopped to talk to him or ask about the odd young woman he was carrying. He got a very weird feeling, but pushed it aside. Dawn was important now. If no one bothered him then it would be a lot easier to get to the healers tent.

  Bonetwister pushed the flap aside. Inside, the air was heavy with the smells of earth and plants. A low fire of mostly embers sat under a small pot. The contents were simmering and they gave off a heady aroma. A rough bed sat off to one side of the tent away from the fire and Bonetwister lay Dawn down on it gently. She still showed no signs of waking. Bonetwister backed out of the tent. As he turned to begin his search, guards grabbed him by the arms and threw him to the ground. A spear pushed down onto the back of his neck as the two werewolves still pinned his arms to the ground.

  "Shift and you are dead." The one holding the spear spoke.

  "What the hell is going on? Why are you doing this?"

  "Shut up! You will have a chance to talk soon enough. If you think to run, you will be dead before you reach the edge of camp. Everyone here knows what you are."

  Bonetwister slowly stood up, the two wolves holding his arms never letting go. "And what is that you think I am?"

  "You're a traitor."

  A new tent had been set up since the last time Bonetwister had been to the clan. It was set in the same place that the old leaders had been. He'd never been extravagant. This tent was its opposite. It was so large it looked to be in danger of falling in on itself. Instead of poles, someone had used full tree trunks and strung them together. Wrapped around the outside were skins of every known animal, and a few that Bonetwister didn't recognize. On the front hung two gigantic wings, the hands on the ends formed claws with six-inch talons. They folded together across the entrance. As the two guards came up to the wings, they were unfolded to the side.

  "Bring him in."

  The guards twisted his arms back hard, the silent warning more than enough.

  Behave, or you're dead in here too.

  Inside the tent was even more flamboyant than outside. Mirrors of gold, pictures, carpets, all piled high on the walls. There were so many you couldn't count them. There wasn't even enough room to hang them, and piles sat on the side like discarded toys. In the centre of the tent was a chair set up as a throne. It would have been laughable if the sharp pain in his shoulders, from the way his arms were twisted, had let him. The point of a spear behind his neck didn't do much for his humour either. Brokentooth sat on that throne staring at him with his twisted smile and missing teeth.

  "Welcome home. You shouldn't have come back."

  Brokentooth gave a nod to one of the guards and he struck Bonetwister hard in the back of his head. The lights went out as he crumpled to the ground unconscious.

  "Bind him in the tormentor till I decide what to do with him."

  One of the guards easily tossed Bonetwister over his shoulder and carried him out of the tent.

  "I hear he brought that bitch back with him. Where is she?"

  "He left her in the healer's tent. She's unconscious and shows no signs of waking up. She should still be there now."

  "Good, then I will go pay her a visit. We must be sure to welcome our guests properly." Brokentooth's twisted smile showed large on his face. The guard shivered behind his back as Brokentooth pushed his way out of the tent.

  #####

  Bonetwister woke to blinding pain in the back of his head. He couldn't have been out for long. Werewolf healing made it hard to knock one out at all. Bonetwister moved his arm up to feel the back of his head. Surely, there would be some blood from that blow, but his arm stopped half way. The metallic clink of chains rattled as he let his arm fall back down.

  "Chain's... does he think I can't break them?" Bonetwister spoke to the darkness in the tent.

  "No, he knows that, that’s why you have the tormentor on your neck as well."

  Bonetwister jumped sending a burst of pain into his neck. He thought he was alone."The what?" Bonetwister reflexively tried to reach his hands up to his neck and feel what was around it, but the chains rattled again as his hands stopped half way.

  "I call it the tormentor." The voice chuckled behind Bonetwister. "It's what keeps you from getting smart and changing into a wolf to run away." The voice moved around where Bonetwister could see him.

  Brokentooth came into view holding an overlarge collar, a crudely made one with spikes on it. The biggest difference is that the spikes pointed inside towards the wearer, instead of out.

  "It's my own invention, do you like it?" Brokentooth grinned showing his twisted smile. The grin never touched his eyes. "You are more than welcome to shift if you want to. It would make things much easier for me if you do. The spikes here would puncture your neck and no amount of healing would help you. You'd be dead in minutes and help me out of this stupid situation you put me into."

  "What do you mean? I haven’t done anything to you at all."

  Brokentooth backhanded Bonetwister across the face breaking his lip in the process. The spikes around his neck broke his skin from the jolt and sent small trickles of blood down his neck.

  "You brought that bitch back here! You should have stayed away, both you and her! When I came back and told of the treachery that you two had stirred up the whole clan decided on the spot that I would be the leader, even if they didn't feel the pull to me. It didn't matter to them. They wanted someone strong, not a little girl. There were a few who thought she would do, but with some convincing and a few patrols into the fire wastes they aren't a problem anymore."

  "You had them killed?"

  "Of course not, not publicly of course! I wouldn't do that so soon into my leadership. That would have been stupid. I just sent them on patrols into the wastes. Sometimes they came back, most times they didn't. I'm surprised you made it across, actually. The lizards that are growing out there are getting surprisingly large."

  Bonetwister tried to wrap his head around everything that had changed.

  "I don't want anything to do with this place, the leadership is yours. I just brought Dawn here to try to get her healed. She was hurt in an attack and hasn't..."

  Another backhand came out of nowhere and jammed the spikes farther into Bonetwister’s neck, renewing the flow of blood. His lip now bled freely
and his mouth started to fill with blood.

  "Shut up! If you hadn't waltzed right though showing her off to everyone, she would be dead already. The stupid healer won't even let me near her yet. If we didn't need a healer for the young who haven’t turned yet, I would send her on a few patrols. Those lizards are surprisingly good at cleaning up problems for me. Maybe you will get to meet one..." Brokentooth trailed off and tossed the spare tormenter to the side of the tent.

  "I already did." Bonetwister spat the pooling blood onto the ground.

  "Really...And you lived. That’s a shame."

  "I ran. It was wary of me because I wasn't alone. It didn't know Dawn was unconscious or I'm sure it would have attacked." It kept flying overhead waiting for us to split up I think."

  "Did you just say flying?" Brokentooth lunged towards Bonetwister. His face inches away. "Don't even think about lying to me or ill ram this collar down your neck right now." Brokentooth pushed the collar into Bonetwister’s neck to illustrate.

  "Yes it was flying...It circled around us at night watching. In the day time it stayed higher up but if you looked you could see it."

  "Fuck! That explains how they have been doing it. I would tell you to stay there, but you don't have any choice now do you." Brokentooth kicked at one of Bonetwister’s legs sending a bolt of pain up it.

  "I will be back to deal with you later." Brokentooth pushed his way out of the tent and the flap closed only for a moment. Seconds later the guard came back in. Bonetwister assumed it was the same guard from before. He took a seat across from him. A giant spiked club on his lap.

  "I'm glad you used the dull side of that club, but I'm starting to wonder if things would have gone better for me if you had used the other side."

  The guard just showed a grin much like Brokentooth’s and watched him without a word.

  "Great, at least the conversation will be stimulating."

  #####

  Brokentooth shifted the moment he was out of the tent and rushed to his border guards. The attacks on his clan had been relentless. He knew it was the lizards, but it never occurred to him that they might be coming from the sky.

  He had already learned the people on single patrols died. No one had ever survived from one of those attacks. At least, not long enough to tell him who was doing it. At least the Nightwalkers had stopped attacking for the last little while; he didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

  Within moments, he'd reached the outskirts of the clan's land. He shifted back and told his guards to spread the word as fast as they could.

  "Look up as well as out. We have seen the land walkers already but there are fliers as well."

  His guards nodded and did as he asked. He made sure to put his most trusted people as guards but there were only so many of them and their numbers were dwindling quickly under the attacks.

  "Now to deal with that bitch that thinks she will lead us." Brokentooth shifted back to wolf form to make better time and charged back to the healer’s tent.

  "For the last time, neither you, nor anyone else is going to be seeing her until she regains consciousness."

  Brokentooth glanced back over his shoulder and saw many of his clan forming behind him. The looks on their faces told him what he needed to see. He wouldn't win this fight without causing even more fights.

  "Ok Kai. You can keep her for now, but I want to know the minute she wakes up...not one second later. Do you understand?" Brokentooth gave his patented grin. He knew the way his teeth were it always put people on edge.

  "Let me know when you want me to take a look at those teeth." Kai grinned back, showing her perfect teeth. Without a pause, she turned and stepped back into the tent. The flap rustled as it settled in place behind her, leaving Brokentooth to fume in silence outside.

  "When will he learn that stupid grin doesn't affect me?"

  Kai turned and looked once again at her latest patient. The diagnosis had been easy. She had a major burn to her right hand. It was healing on its own fairly well, quickly too. Not as fast as if she had been a werewolf though. Kai had seen those injuries heal right before her own eyes. It never ceased to amaze her how fast werewolves could heal. She couldn't help but think back before the event.

  "If we could have figured out how to heal people like this before our world would have been a much different place."

  Kai remembered her time when she had been a healer of sorts, but not a doctor...no. She had never had the money to go to school for that. Instead, she had turned to herbs, medicine found in the plants. It was that knowledge that kept her place here in the clan. Children born of werewolves didn't turn until they hit puberty. A lot could happen before then, that was where her skills came in very handy. She had no enemies in the clan, except perhaps Brokentooth. She knew he would have her gone if the others didn't like her so much.

  Kai turned again towards her patient and tried once again to fathom why she hadn't woken up yet. She was a little thinner then she should be. Kai had made sure she took water as soon as she had seen her.

  "What was it the others were calling her? Dawn, yes, Dawn that's what it is."

  "What's your story Dawn? Why does Brokentooth hate you so much? And why do I find myself liking you for it, even though I don't know the first thing about you."

  She got no reply. Dawn was keeping her answers to herself for the moment it seemed. Kai shrugged her shoulders and went back to the stew she had been making. She filled it with more herbs that were helpful with healing, Gotu Kola as well as Echinacea. Kai knew both these herbs were useful at healing burns. She let the pot boil low until its contents we almost a paste.

  "This will be much easier for you to take in, and easier for me to pour into you." Kai did her best to spoon bit after bit down Dawn's throat, taking care to let Dawn's reflexes swallow it for her.

  "So, what else is wrong with you? I can find no bumps, no bruises and no punctures. Other than your hand I can see nothing wrong." Kai let out a big sigh. "Well, since there is no way I'm leaving your side tonight I may as well give you another full once over."

  With gentle care, Kai once again began searching Dawn for any signs she may have missed the first time.

  #####

  The pain inside Dawn's mind had decreased. She was more than capable of controlling her thoughts now and she could feel sensations from her own body. Hot, cold, hunger, thirst, they were all there. She couldn't do anything about them though. She could feel the pain inside her hand. She spent much of the time trying to heal it from inside her own mind. She wasn't sure if it was working or not, but the pain was growing less regardless.

  For the longest time she had felt movement. Someone was carrying her. She had been moving for a long time. Dawn thought she felt the sun on her body and the cold of night, but without being able to open her eyes, she wasn't sure about anything. She had been very hungry and thirsty a while ago, but someone was feeding her. It tasted terrible, but she was still in no position to complain about it. It did take the edge off the hunger, so she was thankful for that. Dawn felt the briefest of movement as someone lowered her head. Whoever it was began placing their hands all over her. At first, Dawn became frightened.

  "What are they doing?"

  As the actions continued though she realized it was more like an exam. The hands moved in a practiced pattern. Dawn's attention drifted from the sensation and she began again to try to fathom the way out of the box she had placed herself.

  She knew it now, in her own desperation to separate from the pain of the shock Shade had unknowingly given her. She had found a safe place inside her head. It was a lot like the place that Donovan had tried to force her into when he tried to make her a Nightwalker.

  The memories of her brother caused her to give a mental shiver. How could she have forgotten him! What had he changed into now? He must know she was alive again. They had spent so much time inside that mall's warehouse there was no way he couldn't know. Dawn got angry with herself for that.

  "Anywhere wou
ld have been better then to go into that place again, if I had only known!"As Dawn's anger grew, she felt the fingers on her burned hand curl up into a fist.

  #####

  "You moved!" Kai stood staring at Dawn watching her hand that moments ago had turn into a fist. She moved in closer to Dawn and placed a hand on her head. Gently she opened her eyes and looked deep inside. They didn't move in response. The pupils didn't even react to light.

  "I know you are in there, I think you can hear me too. Whatever you did to move your hand do it again."

  Dawn's anger faded as she realized she had moved her hand. It was the first time in what must have been days that she had been able to move. With her anger fading, she lost control and her hand relaxed back to its resting state. Someone touched her head and her eyes blasted with light. She couldn't focus but there was someone looking at her intently. The person’s lips were moving but Dawn couldn't make out what she was saying. She could feel touch she couldn't hear yet. Then Dawn remembered that after her brother she couldn't speak. She had to use her mind too. Oh what had he done to her! The anger boiled up inside once again. With conscious thought Dawn sent a short message to this person touching her, praying it would work.

  "Hold tight."

  Kai fell back as the words hit her inside the head. She looked all over the room for the source of the sound but she was still alone in the dark. Alone except for Dawn. Kai swallowed deeply and held onto Dawn's good hand. She thought she felt the fingers twitch a second and she held on tighter.

  "Ok, I've got you. What now?"

  Kai didn't expect what came next. It was as if someone opened a door into her and all of her life just fell out. Except she was still standing, still breathing, everything around her just looked, dull. It looked like it had before the event. She hadn't noticed before how bright and alive everything had looked. It had come on so gradual with the happenings of the event and the fight for life since then she just never noticed. Kai's hands let go of Dawn and she fell back to land hard on the ground. The rocks of the floor weren’t kind to her rear end. As the realization of what happened, she looked back up at Dawn and noticed her chest rise and fall in deep, cleansing breaths.