"Oh...Ok." Bonetwister moved to step back outside, but his head remained where it was. With a great effort, he barely missed the support pole and managed to get himself wrapped up in the tent flap while exiting.
"I think I made my point." Kai stood with a smug look on her face.
Dawn looked at herself once again in the mirror. "Is there anywhere I can take a bath around here?"
Kai smiled and put her arm around Dawn."It would be a pleasure to show you where."
Dawn felt better then she had in a very long time. Everyone left her alone to soak in a bath separated from the rest of the clan. No one had bothered her at all. Kai was insistent on it. Bonetwister was the most put out. She could feel his energy as close as Kai would let him wait. Kai kept him away though and that left Dawn with nothing to do but think.
In hindsight, she had mixed feelings about that. The first thing she couldn't get away from was Shade's death. This was the only time she had to think about her loss, and it hit her full force. The tears flowed down her face freely as she remembered the good times they had had.
Then they renewed when she remembered it would be up to her to tell Shade's family he was gone. Kai looked in once while she cried. She simply nodded and went back outside. She knew instinctively what was wrong and left Dawn alone to work her way through it. Eventually, Dawn pushed the feelings down and regained control. As her mind wandered, it brought her to the more important problem at hand.
She would have to mount an attack on her brother’s strong hold. She needed information and a plan. Oh how she wished the General were here to help her. This was his strong area, not hers.
"Maybe I will have something for Bonetwister to do instead of pestering me all the time. Sometimes he's worse than a puppy dog." Dawn removed herself from the bath and redressed in her new cloths. It took her a long time to brush out her matted hair. She decided she needed a haircut now to.
"How long has it been?" Dawn found herself wondering if she could remember her last hair cut at all when Kai peaked in again.
"Would you like me to braid that for you? It will be a lot easier on you I think."
Dawn looked at herself in the mirror placed in one corner. Her hair hung down way past her shoulders and looked the best it had in a long time. She turned back to Kai and simply nodded to her at first. "Please, I have a feeling it would be handy out of the way for a while."
Kai smiled at her again in that motherly smile and set about weaving an intricate pattern in her hair. Once she was finished, Dawn had made up her mind.
"Bonetwister, come here a minute please." Dawn sent to him easily. In a flash, he was there.
"He must have been waiting in wolf form already." Dawn thought in surprise.
Kai moved to stop him as he entered the tent but Dawn put a hand on her shoulder. Kai nodded as she realized she had sent for him.
"Yes Dawn? What can I do for you?" Bonetwister's gaze was having a hard time not ranging all over her. He concentrated on her eyes.
"Well, since you insist on becoming my personal body guard."Bonetwister flinched at that. "And I know you have started your own little gathering of helpers in that same area. I have need of them."
Bonetwister had never been the largest wolf in the clan, however, when Dawn spoke her wishes, his eyes took on a glow and he seemed to grow larger in front of her. "Who is offending you? Who do you need taken care of?"
Dawn was a little shocked at his ferocity and how quickly it came to the surface."No! It's not like that."
Bonetwister seemed to deflate, but only a little bit.
"I need some recon work done. I have to find out what my brother is doing, if anything. What he is planning and how far along those plans are. We are almost ready to leave, but it will still be a few days to prepare the defences while we are gone. As well as a small side trip we must take along the way."
Bonetwister tilted his head to the side when she mentioned the side trip but asked no questions.
"I need you to send two of your most trusted and quietest wolves out to his encampment. Have them look around and find some answers. You must tell them to be very careful though. My brother isn't a fool. He will be watching and he will have traps set at the very least. I need information, not heroes. Can you do this for me?"
Bonetwister's back snapped straight and his eyes shone. "I will have two wolves on their way within the hour." Bonetwister stepped out of the tent to find the two he knew to send. Halfway out he stopped and turned back. "I will need to know something else...I think."
Dawn nodded to him to continue.
"It will take them a few days to get there, explore and come back. We will be gone by then by what you say. Where would they look to find us on their return?"
Dawn stood up and Bonetwister's eyes once again flicked over her.
"Have them meet us at the Generals Cabin. You can tell them where it is. We have unfinished business there."
Bonetwister’s face fell at the thought of having to go back there and face Shade's parents.
"It will be so."
He turned and left to find the two guards he knew to be perfect for this job.
#####
The General had his bags packed. His wife hadn't stopped him, but she hadn't encouraged him either. It was as though the life in her had gone out. Repeatedly he had tried to engage her in conversation or ask her opinion on something out of the ordinary. She would just shrug and turn away. The frustrations of inaction were causing the General's temper to flair more and more often. Simple things would send him into a fury. He did his best not to take it out on his wife, but her lack of input was not helping. Eventually he had had enough.
"We are leaving to find the werewolves. If they won't help me then I will just have to find someone else to help, or do it myself. One way or the other I can't wait any longer. I need to do something."
The Oracle had been sitting outside the cabin with her face up to the sunlight. She hadn't been crying but her face was still red and swollen from tears gone past.
"You don't have to wait any longer. Dawn is back, she has come for some help of her own it seems." The Oracle's unseeing eyes looked past the General and up the trail to the ridge far in the distance.
A column of wolves broke through the trees and headed straight towards the cabin. Their pace measured. It wasn't a full run, but it was much faster than a normal person was. The General nodded to himself.
"They would have made good time, but not tired themselves out. Where is Dawn?"
As though he had summoned her, she broke from the cover of the trees as well. She sat on the back of one of the larger werewolves and rode him as though she would ride a horse. As the front of the column reached the cabin, the wolves ranged out to the sides. Not a one of them spoke; they simply shifted back to human form and waited. The column ended and Dawn herself reached Shade's parents. With ease, she leapt from the back of the wolf.
The General noticed her hand had healed to full. There were scars yes, but it didn't seem to bother her at all. His gaze swept out across the gathering in front of him. With a quick count, he figured there must be close to one hundred wolves here, all of them strong and of a good age to fight. His eyes once again looked to Dawn as he waited for her to speak.
Dawn reached into her pocket and pulled out the moonstone. She held it in her hand and offered it to the General and his wife. "I'm sorry. Shade is dead."
The General's shoulders lowered a little as she told him the terrible news.
"Yes, we already know." The General looked back at his wife. She sat still on the bench behind him. Her eyes were closed now and showing signs of tears ready to fall again.
"You should keep the stone now though. I know Shade would have wanted you to have it. Perhaps it will come in handy for you."
The General curled Dawn's scarred fingers over the moonstone and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Tell me how he died."
Dawn did her best to retell the last few days for the General and the Oracle. She
didn't keep anything back; she told them every detail no matter how small, or how bad. When she told of Shade's last act, the Oracle couldn't take it and went back into the cabin with her mumbled apologies between sobs. All of the werewolves bowed at that point causing a start from the General.
"Why are they doing that?"
Dawn looked around at the ones that had chosen to fight for her, for her and Shade. "Shade gave his life for one of them. Even though he wasn't a werewolf, his last act saved the life of a werewolf who had saved mine. Even though he is gone, he holds a place in the heart of everyone here. They are offering you their respects, and their promise. They will repay his sacrifice. This is where you come in though. My brother is the one behind the Nightwalkers. I need your help to find a way to deal with him, once and for all."
As one, the wolves all stood again, waiting.
"Thank you." The General spoke aloud so they could all hear him. "I will do my best. What do you need?"
Dawn smiled and pulled the General inside to talk.
"I need your mind, and your training."
As the door closed behind them, the werewolves began to range around, and make themselves a little more comfortable. They wouldn't be here long.
Dawn went over her plans with the General. The Oracle had regained control again, but Dawn could see it was a thin scar over a fresh wound. She would need time. The General however didn't seem as affected. His mind was clear but he wanted action.
"I have two scouts out. They should be here tomorrow, or the next day at worst. They are under strict orders from Bonetwister to not get into danger, but to find out as much as they can."
The General was still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that the person who was ultimately responsible for Dawn's formerly lost memory. The attack on himself and the attack of the Nightwalkers was her twin brother. A man named Donovan.
His mind wandered a moment as he thought about what he could have avoided. His wife used a gentle cough to snap him back to the matters at hand when it was apparent he was thinking of something else.
"That's good then. Information can make the difference here. What will you do if he has left already, if he has moved out to attack your Clan?"
"I think that would be even better. With his Nightwalkers, he can only move at night. It would slow him down and make a day attack greatly in our favour. I honestly don't think he has moved out yet. Something tells me he isn't ready. What could be holding him back though? I don't know."
The General scratched idly at his beard that was growing longer in the last few days.
"Well it leaves us little choice then, seems we have to wait even longer."
Chapter 21
Sylvia was turning out to be more of a problem then Donovan had anticipated. He took her every night. Every night she resisted until he was forced to control her himself. The stress was starting to take its toll. Donovan did have one good thing going for him. His army of Nightwalkers was turning out very well. He had well over one hundred prepared now. The mistakes he had made in his first few batches now ironed out. Every one that left his lab now was a piece of art, art that would crush the werewolves forever. Donovan laughed silently to himself.
This would be perfect! All he needed to do now is send out the unarmored Nightwalkers first to break the wolves’ ranks then hit them with the upgraded ones. It would be a total wipe out. Donovan closed the doors to his lab and sealed it against intruders.
"Now back to my other problem. In the morning, I will send out my army and wipe the werewolves off the face of the earth."
Sylvia didn't try to leave Donovan's bedroom anymore. There was no point. She had tried to run away so many times now she couldn't remember them all. One time he had even let her get out of the building. The sunlight was so bright she couldn't even stand it with her eyes covered. It pierced her brain and it was all she could do to crawl back into the shadows of the ruined mall. She lay there crying to herself until she heard the muffled laughter as Donovan walked to her. He always knew exactly where she was. She hated him.
Sylvia did what she could to pass the time. If she thought about what was happening she would go mad. Donovan had a few books lying around, mostly some old books on wars that would be now long forgotten. There was a manual on the basics of electricity, as well as another on the moon and the roles it played in human history. Sylvia missed seeing the moon. She had asked Donovan one night, before he had taken her, if she could see it again. He had just laughed at her and forced her onto the bed. She couldn't just let it happen so she fought him yet again.
That was until she felt herself slip away and Donovan stripped all her freedoms. Sylvia was going to go crazy waiting for Donovan to show up again. She didn't want it, but this time she was going to try a different tactic. She had to; it was that or suicide. Something told her though that could be worse.
Sylvia had rummaged around the room looking for clothing the minute Donovan had left that morning. It had taken most of the day but she had managed to sew together a new outfit for herself. It would have been laughable anywhere else but it was the best she could do here. Donovan would be back soon. She didn't know exactly how, time was impossible to tell inside the mall but an instinct told her he would be. Sylvia did her best to clean herself up. Donovan had thought her crazy when she had asked for water to wash with. He never did much to clean himself up. He had said no out of habit at first but then reconsidered later. A Nightwalker carried in a large bowl not much later, Donovan's way of saying."I'm always watching."
Sylvia didn't care. She stripped down and used a rag to clean herself up as best she could. It took a while for her to get the tangles out of her long black hair, but with time though she managed to wrangle it back into shape. With the worst of the grime off her, Sylvia pulled her new dress over her head. It was still a tight fit.
Sylvia noticed her skin as she smoothed the dress down over her wide hips. The bruises were gone again. Donovan always healed the bruises he made. She never mentioned it though. It was one small act of kindness from an unkind person. She didn't want to lose it.
The patchwork dress was all black, at least as much as she could tell. Donovan didn't leave the candle on when he left and she didn't really need it to see so she never relit it. Color was hard for her to make out in the darkness. It wouldn't matter much. The effect was more important. The dress was a tight fit with the seams going down the sides or in the back. She didn't want to detract from her assets, at least not the assets that Donovan was interested in seeing.
The front was a low cut, much like the one that Donovan had forced her into before, only this time instead of her breasts trying to burst out of the top the dress held up her tight. The material pushed them together forming the V shape she knew men to go crazy for. She had no doubt it would work on Donovan. The waist came in a little too tight for her liking, but it did the job of making her hips look even wider. Donovan liked her hips so she would give them to him. This dress also cut off lower than the red one had, but it was easily undone with a zipper down the side. Maybe this time, she would be able to keep the dress. She had to distract him with whatever she had. She knew her body could do it. This time she would fight him differently. She would be what he wanted even if it detested her. She would be a woman.
Donovan opened the door to his room. He was tired but excited; tomorrow he could launch his attack. The moonstone again charged to full. His own power was as full as ever. Color's blasted him from everywhere from the store of power he held. He had more than enough power to take his still unwilling woman. Then he would rest through the daylight.
He would start the first march as soon as the sun went down. Donovan lifted his head and looked into his room a much different sight caught him. Sylvia was standing in the middle of the room. The single candle he left was relit and burning behind her on his desk. Her hands folded loosely behind her back and she looked clean. Donovan had almost forgotten what clean was. Being clean wasn't important to him at all, but th
is was a nice change. A faint smile played across Sylvia's face as she saw the shock in Donovan's.
Donovan recovered quickly. Here in front of him was what he had wanted all along. Sylvia was clean. Somehow, she had fashioned herself a new dress. It wasn't red like the last one he had forced her into and then torn off. This one was black. The black on black of her eyes set against the contrast from her skin was very appealing to him. Donovan's eyes took in the look she had made for herself. Her chest was still very prominent in this dress. Not like the last one where it had been pushing her so hard it barely contained her. This time it was better. The look hinted at what Donovan knew she had underneath the clothing. It didn't take long for him to feel himself rising to the occasion. All thoughts of the war with the werewolves fled his mind. Only one form of conquest remained.
"So, you have finally given in to the inevitable then?" Sylvia flinched at the words but regained her posture quickly.
"I have come to realize that it's best to be the woman you want. Do you like what you see?"
Donovan's heart was already racing with the anticipation of what was inevitably to come. Even if it turned out she were lying he would make this night one to remember.
"Yes, I like it very much. How about you go and lay down then, I will be right there."
Sylvia didn't move. Her smile grew a little larger.
"I have another idea. Why don't you lie down? I can promise you it will be worth your while."
Donovan cocked his head to one side."This had better not be a trick or anything. You know I can control you completely if I want to."
Sylvia's smile faded a little.
"Yes, you have already shown me that, more times than I care to remember actually." Then carefully Sylvia shifted one side of the dress down and showed just a little more of her ample chest.
"I think you will enjoy what I have planned for you."
THE EVENT Page 23