THE EVENT

by Jamie Heppner

  Donovan marched back up the staircase towards the main floor. "Ok all my pets!" Donovan shouted into the quiet. "Tonight we move out! It's time to get you all organized!"

  Donovan went to pick up his moonstone and get to work. It would take some control to organize his army for a forced march in the dark. He had better get started.

  As he walked the silent halls, Donovan reached out and began placing Nightwalkers that were already ranging around the mall closer to the daylight. He felt their resistance to the sunlight but pushed them through it. Soon enough it would get dark and they would be less resistant. Donovan moved one of the Nightwalkers towards a window with a silent command. He felt the Nightwalker resist the light but move closer if only sluggishly. He was about to lock his movements and hold him in place when he felt the connections break off. Donovan stopped dead in his tracks. "What the hell?"

  He reached out with his mind once again and tried to find his Nightwalker, there was nothing. A moment before it had been there. Donovan ran his fingers through his matted hair and renewed his walk to the moonstone. Sometimes the Nightwalkers just burned out. It had happened a few times while he was experimenting on them.

  "That's what must have happened." Donovan spoke to no one but himself.

  While he renewed his walk to the moonstone, he mentally commanded another moonwalker to take over the placement of the last one. Once again, he met with the resistance to the light and pushed his Nightwalker through it. Once again, his connection disappeared. The Nightwalker was just gone.

  "FUCK!" Donovan sprinted to the moonstone as fast as he could.

  Chapter 23

  The General, Dawn and her army of Werewolves had run all night and part of the day to get the mall before the sun set. The wolves had pushed themselves as hard as they could, knowing that the more daylight they had left the safer they would be. There hadn't been enough time to go over the attack plans with everyone but word was spreading as they sprinted to their destination. They arrived at the parking lot above the now sunken mall with a quite a few hours of daylight left.

  "We need to start preparing now. We should have the strongest start collecting the wood while the rest take a short break. Everyone must know that it is dangerous to roam around. If they discover us, we will lose the element of surprise. I don't need to tell you how important that is."

  Dawn nodded her agreement as she picked out a half dozen of the wolves that didn't even appear tired yet. She sent out her mental commands to gather the wood they would need. A few of the werewolves had kept their swords and they were strapped to their backs. The General had agreed it was best to keep all options open. It still amazed her, how easily she commanded the respect of these wolves. Every one she talked to simply stood still while she spoke then raced to do her wishes. It was much the same as when she had spoken to Kai.

  Dawn's thoughts went back to the cabin as they had left. The Oracle had insisted at first that she come along. The General had forbid it.

  "You would be too hard to keep safe. If you were here, I would always be trying to keep an eye on you and not working to win this fight."

  In the end, the General won out with the help of Dawn.

  "I will have Kai, and another, remain behind to keep a watch over you. If anything should happen they will rush you to us, or to safety."

  The Oracle gave in. With a hug for her husband and one for Dawn she whispered into her ear."Watch out for him. I haven’t said it again since I don't want his attention any more diverted, but I still see his grave when the plans point to him going back there. I cannot change his mind. Bring him back for me please?"

  Dawn pulled away from the hug and her eyes flicked to the General for just a moment. "I will"

  The group had taken off at break neck pace. Bonetwister himself insisted on carrying Dawn as he did his best to keep up with the added weight.

  Dawn's thoughts snapped back to the present. A formidable pile of wood lay in piles. The wolves were careful to place it out of sight for the moment. The General and a handful of others were pulling the best pieces to turn into clubs and handing them out. Dawn walked over to the General and placed her hand on his shoulder. "We should have someone go down to watch for movement inside. We need to know if they have changed their plans or not."

  The General looked back over his shoulder at the ravine and then at the woodpiles that were forming faster and faster.

  "Yes, we might as well start moving this wood down below. If we are quiet we should be ok for a while. You must stress that they stay quiet though."

  Dawn turned to the closest group of werewolves and sent out her commands. "I need two to scout the entrance, stay out of sight and stay quiet. The rest of you please start bringing all this wood to the front doors. We will need it there very soon. Stay as quiet as you can. We must not be discovered yet."

  Bonetwister of course was one of the two chosen to scout the entrance. Dawn gave her head a shake as she thought about how she would have to deal with this puppy love or guilt of his. Whatever it was, it was becoming annoying.

  The work progressed well. The strength of the werewolves was a huge help as they grabbed armloads of the wood and almost soundlessly moved them down into piles out front of the mall entrance. Dawn crept to the edge of the ravine to look down over at the progress. The sight of the ruined mall in front of her brought back a flood of memories. Their trip inside, the fighting, being trapped, and the narrow escape all rushed back at her with the sight of the broken front doors.

  "I had been so close to him and didn't even know who he was. Maybe if I had known I could have stopped this whole thing. Or at least not come at all." Dawn watched the work in silence as she struggled over the mixed feelings of her brother being behind this mess and the loss of Shade. Dawn saw the two wolves she had sent to scout enter the building for a moment then move back. They were off to one side of the building, the edge farthest from everyone. They seemed to be having some kind of a discussion. The two were facing each other and hunched over talking. Dawn could barely make out that one of them had a sword drawn. It looked like the color of blood. "No!"

  Dawn scrambled to her feet and tried to send out a mental command to the two to come back but they were too far away. Sprinting as fast as she could, she ran to the General. "I think we have a problem!"

  Both the General and Dawn raced back to the edge of the ravine. The General pulled out a pair of binoculars he had brought with them and pointed them towards where Dawn was pointing. He saw Bonetwister arguing with another wolf. The unknown wolf had his sword drawn and it was red with blood. The blood was not from Bonetwister as far as he could see. That left only one other place it could have come from. The General grabbed Dawn by the arm and pulled her down into the ravine. "You have to stop them now!"

  Dawn raced as fast her legs could go. She kept sending out her thoughts to the two but the distance was too far to reach.

  "Stop! Come back here now!" Repeatedly she sent it, they didn't respond. As Dawn got close enough that she knew they would hear, the one with the sword twisted around as something came up behind him. With a fluid motion, his arm swung out and there was the slightest hesitation as it hit something then continued its arc. Dawn saw a spray of thick red as a shadow slumped to the ground. "Stop what you are doing right now!"

  Both wolves snapped still at the command, but it was too late. Dawn could see the bodies of two Nightwalkers behind them.

  The General swore under his breath. "There goes our element of surprise."

  The whole group of four pulled back away from the entrance, they left the bodies where they lay. It was too late anyway. The odds would be that Donovan knew something was up now no matter what they did.

  Dawn demanded an explanation, a short explanation. The wolf had acted on impulse. He had seen a Nightwalker that was defenceless and struck it down. Bonetwister knew it was a mistake and was trying to convince him to come back to Dawn right away, even though they hadn't finished scouting. The other wolf had refuse
d saying that they had to finish scouting first. That was when they other Nightwalker had shown up and been cut down like the first. Dawn didn't say a word but projected her displeasure to the wolf. He understood very well. Bonetwister even shied away from her look. He had seen it before, this time he was glad she didn't direct it at him.

  "Well, now what do we do. If my brother didn't know we were here before I'm sure he does now."

  "Nothing has changed." The General replied after a moment. "The fight has just gotten a whole lot harder that’s all."

  The four took a roundabout route to stay away from the doors as well as the bodies. Dawn sent a message to the wolves' still hauling wood. "Be on guard, our cover has been blown. Stay safe and watch your back."

  The pace of the wolves hauling wood sped up with that. The sounds of wood piling higher began breaking the silence as they worked harder and faster.

  #####

  Donovan kept the wall of Nightwalkers in front of him as he pushed them closer and closer to the entrance. It had taken some time to bring his armored ones out of the darkness, but whatever was going on outside he couldn't trust his life without some kind of backup. Donovan's hand pressed hard up against the moonstone he cradled like a football. Its power was there, ready if he would need it. He just had to know what had happened to his scouts first.

  As he got closer to the entrance, he literally had to push his Nightwalkers ahead of him. The sun was setting soon, but the power of it still hurt them.

  Donovan called a halt and crept carefully forward to see what was happening outside. The sight made his blood boil in anger. Werewolves, hundreds of them, they were rushing towards the entrance with all kinds of wood. Boards, tree branches, benches, any kind of wood, they were piling it high in front of the doors. Donovan watched for a moment then pulled his personal guard back into the darkness. They were all too eager to comply.

  "What do they think they are doing? No matter what kind of barricade they create, I will just pull it back down again. There is no way they can keep this army from coming out." Donovan stared into the depths of the moonstone, his main source of light in the darkness that surrounded him.

  "There is something I’m missing. My sister knows that I can pull down her barricade. So why would they even be bothering to build it? No matter! As soon as that sun sets I will show them what a real army looks like." Donovan laughed to himself as he watched the shadows outside grow longer and darker.

  #####

  As the last rays of sun dipped down behind the mountain, Dawn began calling the wolves closer. The piles of wood stood over twenty feet tall and there were a good half dozen of them. Most of the wolves stood in their human form and watched the entrance to the ruined mall. Some of them still held out and were holding old swords, while the majority had followed the suggestion of using clubs.

  Dawn wondered at the size of weapons so many of the wolves held. It would take all her strength to lift one of them yet these people, these werewolves, her clan, flicked them between their hands as a child threw sticks into a river. Only a few stragglers came over the lip of the canyon. They deposited their wood onto the pile and then stood shoulder to shoulder with their brothers and sisters and waited for the command to begin.

  Dawn too stood next to the General and waited. This was his plan. She was the leader of the werewolves, but here he was the one in charge. Dawn knew listening to him would save more lives than not. Her gaze kept shifting from him to the entrance, waiting for his command to begin. The shadows grew longer and the sun no longer lit up the highest mountain peaks. One by one the stars began to peak out.

  #####

  Donovan pushed every last Nightwalker he had out into the shadows of the mall's entrance. He did his best to keep them back far enough to remain hidden. Darkness was his friend. Only once had he snuck up to get a closer look before the sun had gone completely. Outside the mall, a wall of werewolves stood waiting in the distance, too far to make out clearly. Their barricade all but stopped. Donovan laughed to himself at the futility of it. "I guess they realized that was a waste of their time." Donovan snuck back to prepare his army for the attack. It was almost time.

  #####

  Dawn was a mess of nerves standing next to a pillar of calm. The General didn't once look away from the entrance to the mall. The only sign he was even still awake was the gentle drumming of his fingers on the massive branch of oak he had personally selected. All of a sudden the drumming stopped. "There they are." His voice was barely a whisper.

  Dawn's head snapped towards the dark entrance. At first, she couldn't see anything at all. Then she saw what the General saw, a shadow here, a hint of movement there. The Nightwalkers were pushing out of the darkness and heading towards her army.

  "Wait until they pass the wood piles, and then give the word."

  Dawn nodded her approval. All the wolves were within her range so she sent out a General message; she hoped the fear that was growing in her didn't come across when she spoke. "They are moving out. Hold fast, wait for the command, we will win this, stick with the plan."

  There was some uneasy shuffling as a few of the younger werewolves felt tension, but the line held strong. The older werewolves sat waiting with an almost bored look on their face. The younger saw the lack of fear in their eyes and did their best to copy them. Dawn felt as though her chest would burst with pride. She hadn't been their leader long, but already she felt a kinship with these people. She hoped their plans would work.

  The Nightwalkers moved in their slow shuffling pace. One on one the wolves would be able to overtake them easily. Unfortunately, it was the difference in their army's numbers that Dawn and the General feared the most. They had grilled the scouts repeatedly, but had been unable to come to an agreement. All they knew was that Donovan had a lot. That was an understatement. The mob that broke free from the confines of the doors was too hard to count. Dawn's jaw dropped when she saw the sheer scope of what was emerging from the darkness. The General placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke, not looking away from the mob that was approaching. "You have to hold it together. Your clan will depend on you for their directions. We haven’t lost yet. Be strong."

  Dawn closed her mouth with an audible click.

  The Nightwalkers moved faster once out of the confines. They would be at the wolf’s front line any moment. Dawn noticed how odd it was that they didn't call out, or cry, as they moved. Other then the sounds of them walking forward there wasn't a single noise made. There were no battle cries or shouts. It made it even worse.

  The General hefted his oak club and for the first time looked away from the approaching Nightwalkers. "It's time."

  Dawn turned back to face all her friends, her new family, her army. "It is time. Remember our plan... work together. Help each other, if you are hurt retreat. I will do what I can to help you. If you can do this, we will win and your children will be safe. Attack!"

  Dawn wasn't sure if she could reach her whole army with her voice yet the entire army surged forward at her last word. Dawn lifted her sword and surged forward with them. Her part in this was to fight at first with the help of her own personal guard. Bonetwister, the General, and a half dozen other wolves all stayed very close to her. She had made it very clear they were to let her fight. Everyone needed to see her stand. If things started to go poorly, she would retreat farther back and take care of wounded.

  Dawn plunged her blade into a Nightwalker. Her weapon cut through the tissue and bone cleanly. Without a grunt, she pulled it back out again and had to step back to avoid the Nightwalker's swing. The battle noise was oddly one sided. No matter how many times she cut them, they didn't cry out, or fall to the ground in pain. They just kept moving.

  The fight was already going poorly for the wolves. They had come prepared for armored Nightwalkers, that alone was the whole reason most fought with clubs. Unfortunately, the clubs turned out to be less effective on the unarmored. The General swung his club at a Nightwalker that was getting too close to Dawn.
The sickening thud and the sound of breaking bones hit her ears as he took the Nightwalker full in the chest. The Nightwalker barely even slowed down. Dawn whirled around as fast as she could and severed the Nightwalker's head in one fluid motion. She barely caught a nod of approval from the General as he moved to his next opponent.

  Dawn's heart was pounding from her exertion. All around her the grunts, groans and occasion screams sounded as her army fought against Donovan's. Already he was winning.

  "We can't hold here. It's time to move to the next step." Dawn sent to the General.

  The General swung his club at the legs of a Nightwalker and the splintering bone caused it to drop to the ground. The General leapt out of the way of its grasping fingers as it crawled towards him dragging his shattered legs behind. "I agree. Let's turn this tide." The General wasn't even breathing heavy yet.

  Dawn signalled her self-appointed body guards and they began moving away from the front lines. When they were clear of the majority of fighting Dawn stood still, closed her eyes and sent out her next command. "Be ready, we are starting phase two."

  #####

  Donovan watched from the depths of the mall. He had only sent out the first wave of Nightwalkers. It was already looking like he wouldn't even need the second. He was over running the werewolves with sheer numbers alone. Donovan began to laugh. If he had known it would be this easy, he wouldn't have waited so long. The fear he had felt when he learned that the werewolves were at his door faded as he watched wolf after wolf drop to his Nightwalkers. True he was losing a large number of his own army, but these were the cannon fodder. His real army still stood behind him and he was still in complete control.