Chapter 125

*Ivan*


“The plan to hunt you guys never changed. Does that mean that they have someone from the Navi?” I asked.
“It’s possible. Either that or you never found the answer. If you never found the answer it would explain why you’ve been there for so long. Not finding the answer to the reason you infiltrated would mean that you wouldn’t have gotten your memories back unless we triggered them back.” Drake explained.
“What if someone did mess with my memories? Why would they do that to hide the person that trained me? Why hide Ryker?” I asked.
It wasn’t adding up. Something was bugging me. Who would be able to mess with my memories? They wouldn’t be able to do so without touching me because of the mate bond I had with Ari. It prevented my mind from being messed with. Drake had locked almost everything about me in my mind. The only thing was my mission. But I didn’t remember my mission after 14 years.
*Breath, Ivan. Remember what my Mom said. Focus on remembering the beginning from when you infiltrated and the pieces should fall into place.* Ariya told me.
*You’re right. It’s just really bugging me. It’s like there’s so much more to it that I don’t know. Something bad.* I told her.
“I can search your memories now if you want. I can’t promise I’ll be able to break through the lock if there is one. But I should be able to see if there is.” Drake offered.
“Ivan’s right though, it’s not adding up. Unless…” Keo trailed off.
“Unless what? Say what’s on your mind, Keo.” Drake encouraged him.
“We don’t have any information on the Enforcers right? What if Ryker is an Enforcer?” Keo asked.
I paled at the thought, “If Ryker is the one that trained me and he’s an Enforcer now, that means that Ryker knows exactly how to beat me.”
“You’re not in the same place as you were before though.” Drake told me.
“True, but I trained Ariya. I know exactly where her weaknesses are and where she needs to improve. If Ryker truly is an Enforcer, he’ll have that knowledge. Knowledge he likely didn’t share with me. No teacher usually does. Not unless they’re trying to make the person stronger than them. People above you don’t want you to get above them.” I pointed out.
“You’re right. In the average society, no one wants you to become stronger or better than they are. But the 5 of us should be different. If we all keep working to be stronger than each other we’ll continue pushing each other to work harder. We’ll also continue to pull each other up. The only way we get through this is if we all work together.” Drake told us.
“You know, if you do end up remembering anything, you’ll also know his weaknesses.” Keo pointed out.
“What do you mean?” I asked him.
“Just because he was stronger than you or taught you, doesn’t mean that you didn’t notice any of his weaknesses. Also keep in mind, you’re a lot different now than you would have been when he trained you. You were trained as a tracker. You were trained to fight with weapons or with your hands. Not as a wolf. That part is solely yours. Besides, you’re also mated to my sister. Which means that you can also borrow our abilities as well. You’re not down for the count. You have plenty of tricks that you can use. You just need to learn how to use all of them as effectively as your hand to hand combat.” Keo added.
I grinned at Keo, “Since when did you become so wise?”
Keo grinned, “Always been this way. You were just always older than us. We had to let you try to shine.”
I laughed at Keo’s response, “If you say so.”
Everyone took in a moment and laughed. We knew there was a lot of work to do but we also had each other’s best interests at heart. We all wanted the same thing and we knew we needed to work together to do it.
I looked over at Caleb, “Ready to run?”
Caleb’s body shivered, “Yes, please. I’ve been itching to run today. Besides, I need to get faster so I can keep up with you better.”
My wolf eyes flashed as my own body shivered. I could feel Ariya’s excitement. She loved it last time when I ran in wolf form.
*Drake and Keo should use their Dragon Eye ability. Each one can watch one of you and then we can see what might be different between you 2. Caleb’s endurance is just going to be done by him running consistently and trying to make it further each time. But his speed could be the way he runs or pushes off of his feet.* Ariya pointed out.
I nodded internally to her and then proceeded to pull my shirt off. I looked over to Drake and Keo and explained what Ariya had told me. Then I kicked off my shoes. Caleb had done the same, his body continued shivering. He was eager to run. I think between the last couple times we had run that he was excited again this time. Drake had decided he would watch me and Keo said that he would keep an eye on Caleb. Seems like they were going to try to run and keep up with us too.
“We won’t be able to follow you guys for long but we can follow for as long as we can.” Drake told us.
I nodded and my body shook. My wolf wanted to come out. It was like as soon as we had decided we were going to run that our wolves became impatient. My breathing picked up and my eyes fully changed. My body shivered and expanded. I lurched forward, shifting into my wolf. I looked over at Caleb who was watching me closely. I could tell he was intent on learning.
*Don’t take it easy on him. If you do, he might not learn. Caleb is smart, he’ll figure out how to do it.* Ariya told me.
I nodded at Caleb and took off running. Drake, Keo, and Caleb following behind me. They were trying to keep up but the more time passed the further behind they fell. It took about 30 minutes before we lost Drake and Keo. Caleb was still behind me, trying desperately to keep up. He was doing better each time.
*Can you feel how it is when I push off the ground?* I asked Ariya.
*Yeah, it’s like when you land each time you propel yourself further. Like you’re kicking the ground.* She told me.
*Exactly. But I’m basically driving through the ground. That’s what’s giving me my power behind my run.* I told her.
*I wonder if that’s how it is with Caleb?*
*Can you see? I know you can touch his mind but can you focus on feeling how he’s moving?* I asked her.
*I can try. I’ll be right back.* She told me.
I felt Ariya sever the connection as I continued running. She must have helped Caleb because about 5 minutes after she left, Caleb was catching up to me. I felt the excitement surge through me as I realized Caleb was getting faster, I turned us to head back towards Drake and Keo so that they might be able to keep up for a little longer to see if anything else had changed. I lowered myself towards the ground as I continued running, gaining speed as I went. I was starting to lose Caleb again as I felt Ariya come back.
*It worked but he’s running out of steam. Now you’re going even faster. It feels like you’re even lower to the ground that you were before. Like your center of gravity shifted.* She pointed out.
I started to slow a bit, letting Caleb catch up.
*I had to do something to try to keep ahead. He might actually be faster than me if he works on his endurance.* I laughed.
Caleb caught up and we slowed to a stop. I wondered if I could reach Caleb’s mind as I stood in front of him.
*You can. But only if you want to. You don’t have to Ivan.* Ariya told me.
*We’ll need to be able to communicate eventually. It’s not like they’ll be in my mind constantly. How do I reach out to him?* I asked her.
*Just try to think of pushing a thought to who you want. He’ll have to accept the connection but once he does it will be a familiar push, like the way you scent people.* Ariya explained.
*Stay with me, princess?* I asked her.
*Of course. I’m not going anywhere.* She said and I could feel her grinning.
I looked at Caleb and thought about reaching him. I thought the easiest way would be to just call his name so I did.
*Caleb.* I pushed.
Caleb straightened up and snorted out of his nose.
*Ivan?* He asked.
*Yup, Ari’s here with me too.* I told him.
*It’s kinda weird hearing you in my head now. It’s been so long and you’ve always been silent.* Caleb laughed.
*It’s weird for Ivan too.* Ariya laughed.
*Can we pull the others so we’re all connected?* I asked her.
*Yes, you might want to let me do that though. If you pull them and they’re not in front of us it might alarm them. They have to get used to your mind connecting them.* Ariya giggled.