Empyreal: Awaken - Book One (3 page)

As Coralie moved closer and her eyes
came into focus, she could see that the figure was wearing a
dark-colored – black, maybe charcoal – jogging suit, with a hood
pulled over its head. The hood was large enough that it hung low
over the figure's face. She couldn't see their face. It was like
looking into a black-hole of nothingness.

The large animal-like figures moved
around the close proximity to their
'master'
. Their fur
looked wild and untamed and when they growled they showed their
jagged teeth. They stood tall and stout, much taller than any
domestic dog, more the height of a Bengal Tiger. The both of them
were pacing back and forth like a pride-ruling lion.

The furry, feral creatures paused
aside the human figure for a moment, staring at her and Jacques.
This made Coralie slow to an abrupt halt. Her heart started to beat
faster, causing her breathing to speed as well. Her chest began to
rise and fall in quick motions, as if she had been running at full
tilt.

The figure and its furred sidekicks
stared straight ahead, directly at Coralie and Jacques, titling
their heads slightly, in unison, then pausing. Though she could not
see the figure's face, Coralie almost felt as if the figure was
smiling at her, and she began to feel sick with fear.

She scanned her surroundings in a
quick, but unnoticeable motion. The bestial beings were still
paused, watching Coralie and Jacques as a predator would watch its
prey before they began their chase.

With another tilt of their
master's
head, as if speaking in silence, the furry
creatures crouched in waiting for the next command. The both of
them let out a deafening howl, followed by a low growl that came up
from their throats, both in flawless sequence.

Then, as if given some silent signal,
both of the hairy, muscular animals both crouched even lower,
wriggling their bodies, as if preparing for a predacious mad dash
toward their game.

Jacques started to bark wildly,
jumping their direction, but Coralie continued to hold tight to his
leash.

She quickly scanned her eyes to her
right. She could see the next street through the wooded area that
split them.

Her chest was rising and falling even
faster between breaths. Coralie looked back at the figure, and
although she could not see their face in the blackness underneath
the hooded jacket, she knew that his eyes were focused solely on
her.

Suddenly, she stopped. Coralie saw
something that made her freeze in her motion. She saw something
frightening. Something alarming. A simple, miniscule flicker of
green appeared underneath the figure’s hood. Startled, Coralie held
her breath for only a mere moment. For that moment, there was
silence.

Then as if a switch had been flipped,
all sound surrounding them returned. The wolf-like creatures were
still growling low rumbles from their throats, standing close aside
their master ... and then,
they
were given the signal. The
tall, but slight, manly figure gave a slight nod of his hand and
his ferocious, furry sidekicks took off from their predatory
stance.

* * * * *

“Cal –,” Katelyn called from the back
door, into the backyard. She grinned as she watched her husband
complete one of his meditated, Grecian Pankration fighting
moves.

Cal looked up, breathing still steady.
“Yes, dear love of my life...”

She smiled at him, still standing at
the door. “Pank-ra, today, huh?” she asked, as she walked out
toward him. She was walking in the shaded part of the grass, which
felt cool to her bare feet.

“You know, it's my favorite ...
besides, it's a good work-out. Gotta keep the ol' body in shape …
Can't let myself go, you know...” Cal said with a smile.

Katelyn returned it, as she approached
him.

Cal reached for her and she took his
hand. With a mischievous look in his eye, he abruptly pulled her
close to him, holding her arms in a restraint hold. She eyed him,
silently questioning his next move.

With his face close, he looked deep
into her eyes. “You've always been too trusting.” He said, smiling,
playfully down at his wife.

“Isn't Trust and Faith supposed to be
a portion of our Heavenly Virtues...?” Katelyn countered,
teasingly.

Unexpectedly, in a single, hastily
maneuver, Katelyn whipped out from within his arms, flipped up and
over him and appeared behind his back. Cal found himself in a
firm-armed headlock, with none other than his wife's arms around
him.

“Is that all you’ve got, Love?” Cal
playfully taunted. But just before he could finish his sentence,
Katelyn released Cal just as she swept his feet out from under him.
Cal fell backward, but just before hitting the ground, Cal threw
himself into a back-flip landing on his feet, like a
cat.

“You've been practicing...” Cal said,
offering a congratulatory grin to Katelyn.

“So have you, Dear...” Katelyn said
with a smile. “Before you go back to 'getting into shape', could
you go check on our daughter?”

“You got it!” Cal answered, with a
martial arts style bow. Katelyn reciprocated the bow. When she
lifted her head, he was already gone.

Coralie spun around quickly, shouting to
Jacques to
'run'
. Both darted through the wooded area,
running fast ...
faster, faster, run faster,
she thought.
She could hear them getting closer. It was just like her dreams.
Only this time, she was the one being chased.

Dodging low lying tree limbs, trunks
and brush, Coralie pushed herself to run faster still.

The growling and snarling behind her
was getting much closer. Close enough that she thought she could
feel them snapping at her heels, with every stride that she took.
Pushing herself not to slow, she could feel the hanging branches
and tree limbs scratching her skin as she flew past them, knocking
them out of her way. She could feel the stinging of those
scratches, but continued to push herself forward.

A dream, this must be a dream,
she thought.
Wake up, Coralie, wake up ...

She kept running full throttle until
her legs felt as though they may collapse right out from under her.
Though it seemed it impossible, she continued to push forward
through the trees that surrounded her.

A dream, this has to be a dream ...
could I really run this fast, if it wasn't?
Coralie asked
herself.

Suddenly, she had an idea ... a wild,
crazy, senseless, idea.

Coralie thought of the Black-Racer
snake that she had heard her father speak of in one of his
lectures. Suddenly, she couldn’t remember if it was a true example
or an old legend. But, it was worth a shot. She replayed her
father’s words in her mind.

The Black-Racer will only chase you
as long as you run from it,
she thought. She commanded herself,
Turn on them! It'll work ...
and if it doesn't, it's just
a dream ... right?!? What did she have to lose??? Turn,
now!

They could see her. They could smell
her. This is what their master had trained them for. Their orders
were set. There was no turning back. Coralie knew this to be
certain.

The two of them pushed their legs
harder, faster in front of them, propelling them closer towards
her, closer towards their prey. They were getting closer. Even
through the brush covered ground and intertwining trees, they would
surely find her.

Hesitant to slow her speed at first,
she looked around for a good turning point, though there was none
to be found. There were trees and brush all around her. She knew
she had to turn now. The next street was coming into view, through
the trees. If they reached the approaching street, she would have
nowhere to run but straight, with no shrubbery or earthy growth to
slow her trailers. They would surely gain on her then and catch
her. It had to be now. She had to stop now ...
Now,
she
commanded to herself.

Coralie was starting to slow, but no …
she had a plan.
It had to work, or
– Coralie paused,
realizing that there was no ‘
or’.
She didn't want to think
anymore. She only felt the notion to act.

She caught sight of a large upcoming
tree trunk. The base was big enough to get a good
footing.

A dream, it's just a dream... If
you can't wake up, you might as well have some fun with it, right?
Come on, Coralie, you can do this ... it's just a dream ... just a
dream … a dream …,
she thought to herself, allowing a slight
grin come over her.

Suddenly, it seemed as if something
natural, beyond her control, was taking over her.

She released Jacques leash, but he
didn't stray. He halted watching her every move.

Coralie leapt forward onto the large
trunk base and scaled up two or three feet before turning and using
an adjacent trunk to propel her back toward the approaching
animals. Jacques was directly underneath her in a protective
stance.

The galloping, mongrel-like creatures
quickly advanced upon the two of them, gnarling and gnashing their
teeth. The beasts were ready to pounce onto their prey. But Coralie
was first.

She came down on the first of them
with a crushing blow, causing it to crash down hard onto the ground
and roll, smashing into the firm base of the tree. The animal leapt
to its feet and charged her once more; this time, catching her
off-guard, sweeping her feet out from underneath her. As her legs
gave way, she fell backward, landing atop her left shoulder
awkwardly.

Agony shot through her, causing
Coralie to let out a painful cry aloud. Pushing aside the ache in
her shoulder, she rolled up onto her feet slowly and painfully, and
then planted them into a cautious stance.

The canine creature turned around and
charged her again, beckoning the aid of its friend. As the first
charging animal reached Coralie before its companion, she hit the
beastly mongrel in its side, knocking him sideways and causing him
to slide a few feet from her. It rolled to a stop just before the
second furry beast came hurdling over him, flying towards
Coralie.

Jacques bounded into Coralie's
charger, knocking him aside, causing him to stagger. When the first
creature got up stumbling to its feet, Jacques jumped at him and
collided forcefully into his side. This time, the first beastly
creature did not budge from the place he laid.

The second fur-coated brute of a
creature turned snarling at the sight of his canine cohort lying
still against the hard ground. This angered him, almost into
oblivion, until all that he could see was Coralie and all he felt
was the need to destroy her.

Coralie could read him. She could read
his every thought. She swallowed hard, knowing that he was
meditating his next move.

The wild-eyed beast started to rush
toward her again, barring its jagged teeth and snarling at the very
sight of her. He had been ordered to retrieve her by his master,
but now his comrade lay still at the base of a tree because of
her
.

Angry, the beastly creature leapt into
the air. Coralie lifted her arms over her head and jumped for the
nearest, lowest tree branch. She grabbed a hold of the branch and
pulled her body upward, causing the creature to miss her by just
inches. The creature hit the ground and rolled back into its
fighting stance. It was as if he were a machine, programmed to do
one thing
– to kill her.

Coralie twisted around, dropping from
the branch, landing gracefully on the ground. She caught sight of a
low lying branch, about the girth of her own arm, just within her
reach.

She stared at it for a quick second,
not knowing if she had the strength. But the chance was worth a
shot. She reached out and swiftly ripped it from the tree trunk
with sheer success. She looked toward her onslaught
opponent.

Now armed, Coralie used the large
bough to strike the beast square in his jaw. The striking blow
stunned it just long enough for Coralie to strike it once more
across its body, sending it crushing into the side of another tree
trunk.

Coralie watched its body for a moment.
She was expecting another movement, another charge, another
attack.

But there was nothing.

She looked around. Her eyes soaked in
the two heaps of lifeless fur lying still and unmoving on the
ground. Jacques joined her, back by her side, as if he'd never
left.

She shifted her sight back to the
motionless masses, and sighed. She noticed that her breathing had
begun to slow.

It's over,
she thought,
Wake
up
Coralie
... this is a dream, I just
know it … so,
why am I not waking up?

Maybe it's not over,
she heard,
maybe it's just the beginning...
the voice said.

She tried shaking the eerie feeling
that spread throughout her body.
Just my imagination …
She
took another long look at the dark heaps that lay on the ground.
Coralie grabbed ahold of Jacques' leash and said, “Come on boy,
let's go.”