Book 2: Chapter 78
John
We were equals in size and power, possibly the worst case of any fight. We clawed at each other, missing vital organs and veins by inches. If either of us were stronger with a clear difference, I would have left him here in exile, but took the gauntlets to their rightful owner.
I would have let you live. He snarled as if he already had won, but I slashed his left leg deeply. I would fight fair, but I also wanted to keep this quick if I could. Matches with one’s equal were the most perilous of fights, since it would be a mistake that would determine the winner, not strength.
No you wouldn’t. You want me to pity you and side with you. I snarled, being bit on the shoulder, and he shook, letting go only because I’d gotten his face. He screamed while growling, clawing at my arm, but it didn’t connect. Just Surrender! I yelled loud enough that I hurt my own ears. That had to have hurt his left, since I only let go to break away to lunge at him again.
He leapt back, but didn’t charge. His eyes became a darker brown, almost black, but the faint light of the moon showed me their reflection.
You really want to die? He asked, and his aura changed. He held his head low, but his tail was up as an Alpha. He bared fangs that reflected the light back, but they looked almost as gemstones.
All I really want is for you to come peacefully. Shiny teeth or not, we are still equal in strength. What’s the point of doing this if the winner still dies in the snow? I said and shifted into my human form. If he charged me, he would regret it, because I’d learned things he didn’t know either, and I had way too much to lose…. It’s a shame he lost his mate, but mine was right here. If I failed, he’d either kill her, or she’d never make it to safety with a broken heart….
“You’re right, but I’m going to die either way.” He said standing tall, shifting. It was the only way to keep our wolves from just fighting.
“But it could be Your way.” I said with the wind catching my long hair. It flowed freely, but I was still cold.
“I Faught mother, I Attacked what was left of our pack, and Dragged you across the world to find a way to kill my King. I have no honor left, there is only survival...” He said flatly.
“But wouldn’t you rather show the world not only Brutus’s deception, but die with some dignity if you have to?” I said shifting back. There was something that didn’t sit right here. I didn’t know what, but he shifted, charging me.
------Heidi------
They clashed blows I could barely see they were so fast, but John was faster. There was a shine to his brother’s mouth that told me he had a special ability that he wasn’t letting on, and for some reason, I knew my words wouldn’t reach them.
They were too engrossed in their battle to listen, and there was almost as if there was a strange film over them… like they were somewhere else that I could not go.
“I cannot help them before you ask. I am not permitted there.” Said Rahrraam.
“Where are they?!” I asked running to them, but he walked next to me since he was so big, letting out an agitated sigh. No matter what I did, they got no closer, and I got on my broom, waiting for him to turn into a rat and hop on, but he didn’t.
“I don’t know, but as a demon, I have no rights to enter. If you do manage to figure out how they got there, I cannot protect you. I suggest letting them figure it out. John and his brother are equals, so either could win.” He began to make a fire, splitting large logs from a fallen pine tree, and breathing flames on its resiny center. He sat cross legged in the snow and reached into my bag, putting the saved meat on a stick and roasting it by holding it over the crackling campfire.…. I couldn’t understand how he was hungry at a time like this.
“Things are different than in my dreams…. In my dream they fought as men, and you weren’t there but every time john won….” I said looking at them go at it.
“Fate ever changes. I thought I would never be of service to the Master as he intended since you were a broken vessel, but look at you now.” He gestured me. “You’ve been mended well enough, and I am here serving you, pleasing the Master. I don’t worry about the boy, if he was in danger, your dreams would have been different.” He said putting the stick in my hand. “You will need this energy in case he is injured. Also, I’ll retrieve something living for you in case Herrakken dies.” He got up and walked off without any further words….
But I never thought to use him as a conduit to heal John…. I barely could stomach the rabbit….
They snarled at each other in wolf, but I couldn’t really catch what they were yelling at each other…. but the howl of another Alpha didn’t stop them. They seemed not to notice, but I stood, seeing in the distance there were wolves, but they made no approach to us. They looked far off…. But I wondered where they responsible for the reality shift… the smallest of them seemed to be the size of grandma….
“I think I know where we are…” I whispered. “We have to stop them.”
“No, if you go in, I cannot help you, also you are only half wolf…. you too are denied access to that place since you side with the Master. It is not that the Moon Goddess does not love you, it is that she cannot take from him what is his.” He said plainly, holding a squirming rabbit by the scruff. It wasn’t much it could do like that, but it wanted to be let go.
“Then I have no choice but to watch….” I said defeated, and he looked at me with an expression I couldn’t read.
“Eat your meal. It will take much out of you to heal any bruises he has, and still fly your broom.” He said quietly.
“Alright.” I said looking down. “But there has to be something I can do.”
“If you pull them from where they are, you’ll only retrieve their bodies, as they are at the edge of the afterlife already. One nearly froze to death, and the other… I don’t know. I can tell something is off, but I can’t tell what.”
I didn’t say anything, seeing them shift and stalemate, their fingers were interlocked, trying to shove the other, or have an opening. John retracted his claws, then shifted only halfway. Only his top became a wolf’s, and his brother dodged his bite.
“I see you’ve learned some things from the Shadows.” He chuckled, but I could see even from here that he was worried.
“That isn’t all of it.” Said John, full shifting to gain speed, then half shifting to reach for the pendent. Herrakken dodged again, and his claws raked across my mate’s chest before he shifted and charged him.
They were on back legs, snapping and snarling at each other, all the while the small necklace glinted like a shimmering coin on the neck catching the light. It was probably keeping him alive, and as a challenge, if I helped, even if my mate won, I doubted he would appreciate it.
They both held the pride of Alphas, but it was hard to watch and not help…. I couldn’t reach him, and worst of all I had to watch him fight his own family. He didn’t see him as such, but it still bothered me that they all agreed to allow John to come out here.
I could only assume that it was to show the others that even though he was younger than them, that he could still hold his own. They did it to show the rest of the council that he earned his right to be there, and that he wasn’t just given the title of Alpha and Heir because of his lineage.
I wouldn’t let the words of others affect me however. I may have been adopted, but I was still me. I was still who I was, and no one could take from me anymore. I was denied my birthright, my heritage, and my dignity for so long… but now I had what I needed. I had my mate and even a familiar.
“Rahrraam, I know neither of us can go beyond whatever this barrier is, but is there a way to summon whatever that is in the distance here?” I asked and he looked as if he were thinking.
“Maybe.” He stood, and his tattoos flashed red light that caught the attention of the wolves. They growled, and Rahrraam walked close to a now shimmering transparent barrier, putting his hand on it. He hissed in pain, and the wolves came running, seemingly teleporting right in front of us.
He snarled, but my familiar translated. “He said You will not disturb.” I didn’t speak wolf, but …. It sounded like words, but I could not understand what they meant.
“I am Heidi Charred-Stone, the mate of the man who fights for the gauntlets… and the adopted grandpup of your son, the Wolf King.” I said looking him in the eye. He sounded like he chuckled in chuffs stepping through the barrier. His smoldering paws melted the snow, and steam rose as he breathed out ash passively. He growled again, and he was translated.
“He said that none may interfere. The Goddess is judging their souls, and will determine if they both live or die depending on their battle. That is the In-Between, the realm of the Living Unshifted and First Ones who live. They guard the gates of the many afterlives, as they live, but the dead here will not know that they are.”
“Crap.”
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