Bound By Blood (19 page)

             
And b
efore she could
reply,
a grey wolf leaped from the bushes
and then
shifted into a dark skinned
,
black haired man as naked as the world around them. Such things did not faze her though. The body in its natural state was nothing for her to blush over. After all, she wasn't a silly Phãegen maiden, now was she?

             
“
Samanthŕa? Ah, there is your familiar fragrance. T
he
scent of your beast threw me off!”
Rameŕas Vlachŕa grabbed the reins of the exhausted beast.
Snapping his fingers, brewing up his own magic, since this was a night of festival, which meant more than just his bloodlines wondered about . . . he mustered up some clothes.
His ruby-colored shirt flapped in the heavy wind stirring, revealing hints of a toned, dark chest. His long black hair was bound at the nape of his neck. His almost black eyes sparkled with a golden tint
still clinging to that of the wolf
.
After all, Lycãons were more beast than man.

             
He studied the
panicked
animal
,
knowing it was not from
Dĩas
’s stables
, as anyone of their bloodline would know
. The scent of the horse was truly puzzling him though
,
and his expression showed it
. The way he kept sniffing at the thing spoke louder than words.
“What ails you
,
woman?
You are out of breath.
” He continued to pet the stallion and look it over.
He
pulled some honey cubes from its
satchel and gave
them
to the animal.
Rameŕas's wolf senses must have caught the scent of them being there. "What has your pulse racing?"

             
“Nosophoros
,
”
s
he
explained as she
dismounted
. “They are swarming the foot of the mountains
just
below the portal
."

             
"You jest."

             
"No.
I think the lightning has frightened them into the forest
s
. We must warn the others at the festival. I don’t think they will come this far up
,
but after the night I'
ve had, nothing would surprise me.” She said
this
gasping
as she hurried through the woods to the sacred grounds and
l
airs of the
Lycãons
.

             
“How many are there?”
Rameŕas
called out from behind her
.
O
ther wolves leaped from the shadows, some
shifting,
and some staying true to their
lupine
form.
"We will take care of this problem."
             

             
“
No Rameŕas.
Stay. This is not a swarm. T
his is an entire hive.
More than you’ve ever seen
,
”
Samanthŕa
warned. They were known to travel in packs of five to ten
,
but never in the masses h
ad she just witnessed
. “Where
are
Vlachŕa
Kaléé and
my
sisters?
”
She
nearly
shrieked
the question
with
her
dry voice as she passed through their camp in a hurried frenzy.

             
It was a large circle of meadow surrounded by
the
deep rich forests
,
and in the middle of
i
t were heavy, towering
stones, which
were revered as sacred
.
She never noticed the noises from the festival
or the Phãegens
dancing sky
clad. She
never once paid attention to all the faces
standing around the huge Drągýn
’
s mouth, drinking and dancing around its mammoth flames.
No
thing was moving the same speed as her. Her adrenaline was soaring
through her
in large doses
at
light speed
.
             

             
Wishing to know what all the craziness was about, an old crone moved from the rock cliffs and down towards the clearing
in
the
megalith
s. Her hair and eyes were silver. A flaming glow
was
reflected in them.

             
"There be your Vlachŕa
now." Rameŕas pointed at his sister.

             
“
Samanthŕa," Kaléé spread
her arms wide. "W
hat took you so long and why do you look as though you have seen the face of
a Phãegen
death?”

             
“Because I
have
seen the face of death
,
”
Samanthŕa
confessed
.
She didn’t wish to go into tonight’s events, not now, but she
coul
dn’t e
asi
ly forget what she
'd
seen and what had spooked her.

             
“The lower lands are swarming with Nosophoros
,
”
Rameŕas told Kaléé
.

             
“Impossible.
Someone has slipped you a funny root. Your sisters said you snuck off to the
Tavern
. What unearthly thing did you drink there?"

             
"I tell the truth.
Nosophoros!"

             
"
With this lightning?
”
Kaléé
said with
her
crackling voice.

             
“
Sister,
”
Dezarãe
cried out from be
yo
nd the big fire. She nearly stumbled over
,
having had to
o
much to drink already.
Vlachŕa
wine was potent
,
especially the kind they prepared for the festivals. “Finally
,
”
s
he laughed. “I was about to send poor
Dǒntáe
after you. He wouldn’t have complained
,
you know
.
Why do you resist your Awakener like you do?
"

             
"Her
what
?" Rameŕas raised a brow.

             
"Oh hush
, Uncle and go howl at the moon." Dezarãe giggled,
swiping her hand across his chest.
Nearly falling right into Samanthŕa,
"
H
ow is that possible
, sister
?”

             
She fell
anyway
.
The Priestess struggled to hold her up, still out of breath.
The fumes from the spirits on her breath slammed Sama
nthŕa hard in the face.

             
"How can any Vii
avoid
her Awakener?
" Dezarãe threw herself back and raised her hands, staggering."
I will not. No, I will not at all!" She hiccupped.

             
"She is drunk." Samanthŕa shook her head.
Ignoring whatever gibberish her sis
ter was speaking, Samanthŕa pushed her away slightly and said,
“
Dezarãe
,
find
our sisters now. We are leaving.
Hurry
.
”
             

             
“What?”
Dezarãe
hiccupped
,
looking at her sister as though she were mad.
"I speak truth and you punish us? You are becoming just like Dĩas, Sister--"

             
“Nosophoros,
Dezarãe
.
" Samanthŕa's words brought an unnatural silence. "Now f
ind our bloodlines
and keep silent of this. We don't want a panic
.”
Samanthŕa
didn’t need to explain any further.
As her face went starkly pale,
Dezarãe
hurried away
.

             
At this point,
Samanthŕa
was ready to mist them all home. She didn’t care how angry
Dĩas
was. Better to be home and facing his wrath than having the jaws of the Nosophoros clamping down on them.

             
The creatures were still a mystery. They seemed to have
crea
ted themselves from absolutely nowhere. Not even Evil claimed to know their source
,
which was strange
,
considering Evil was very
possessive of
their territory. Yet Evil had no control over these creatures
,
and the creatures didn’t seem to mind
whom
they made a meal out of
.
Whether
it be of Light
or Evil, hunger was hunger to the Nosophoros.

             
"Kaléé, I must take my sisters and go--"

             
“Where did you get this horse?”
Rameŕas
yelled
his query,
for the wind was becoming fierce
r
. Storm clouds formed above them
, n
ot clouds of
energy,
but ones holding moisture. This was strange for such a storm
, even s
trange
r
because the clouds now were blocking the storm of energy above
them,
as if another hand of power wielded it. He held tightly to the reins as the horse bucked.

             
"Now is not the time to talk horses, Rameŕas." Samanthŕa told him but then a familiar grip tightened around her arm.
Kaléé’s
wise gaze
flashed towards the beast
;
she noticed an a
ncient glyph burnt in the flesh
. Her eyes grew curiously wide.
She even leaned into Samanthŕa and sniffed.

             
“There be an imprint on you
." Kaléé said. A chill raced over Samanthŕa's skin. "I
cannot name it but it is on the
tip
of my tongue. How about you
,
brother?”

             
“The same as the h
orse,” Rameŕas replied, inhaling
the animal. “Where did you say you got it?”

             
“
I didn’t say. No time to say. But if you must know,
I stole--
”
Samanthŕa tried
to rep
ly
as horrid screams and wailings sounded from the darkness. She realized now why the horse was bucking. Th
os
e Creatures were upon them. “Impossible! They could not have followed me here! They could not have moved so quickly! They have not the power to track my magic
!
”

             
Kaléé
whirl
ed around as
Rameŕas
threw back his head and howled
with the tongue of a
wolf
,
calling back the clans from the forest. By the sounds of those creatures and all their
thunder
ing, he knew he needed his warriors here and now!
Flesh falling to the ground and turning to ash, fur replaced what was, and a giant of a wolf replaced the false image of man.

             
“Something is aiding them.”
Kaléé
eyed
the dark clouds swirling above as the beast paced back and forth in front of them. Above, all in the sky
were
smoldering black
, moving beneath the electrical storm
and snuffing it out
“I don’t like the looks of this.
This is
not
the prophecy I had visions of.
”