Eternal Changes (Mikah) (21 page)

Lucy grabbed Michael’s hand and led the way. The scuffling of feet echoed in the cave as they hurried along. Lucy puffed a small breath in and exhaled as a shimmer of light gleamed in the dark cave a few hundred feet in front of her.

“Do you see that, Luce?” Michael asked.

Lucy glanced back at him. “Yes,” she breathed as her heart skipped a beat. “We need to hurry.”

Lucy held Michael’s hand and ran to the light and stopped as she came to an opening in the cave’s wall. The opening was low to the ground.

 “We’re gonna have to crawl through,” Lucy said as she got on her hands and knees.

 Lucy grimaced as tiny rocks scraped across her yellow pajamas. She couldn’t look back to see if Michael was following her. She was encased in rock. Lucy took a shaky breath as she kept her eyes on the light. “We’re almost there, Michael,” she whispered.

“I’m glad,” Michael whispered from behind her. “I feel like a sardine.”

Lucy took a deep breath as her hands touched the soft ground as she squirmed her way out of the cave. She turned over and sat down as Michael crawled out of the dark hole. Lucy looked up at the moon. It glowed in the sky like an orb.

“We did it,” Michael said as he sat down. “We actually
did
it.”

Lucy smiled and looked over at him. Michael’s face was streaked with dirt, but he looked better. The color was coming back to his skin and joy twinkled in his eyes as they sat in the middle of the forest. “We did do it,” Lucy said. “Are you ready for the rest of the trip? We need to get as far away as possible.”

The sound of clapping rung through the air.

Lucy and Michael stood up and looked around. 

“Bravo!” a voice whispered from behind them.

Lucy whirled around and her heart dropped to the floor as she stared into Karver’s black eyes. She glanced back at Michael. His grey eyes were solemn and his shoulders slumped as he stared at Karver.

“Run for it!” Lucy said as she shoved Michael in the opposite direction.

Michael looked at her and then took off running. Lucy turned and ran away from the direction Michael went. She leaned forward as her feet flew across the ground. “Come on,” she whispered as the power whirled within her. It zapped in her veins as it flowed through her.

Lucy skidded to a stop as lights flickered in the distance. A truck was plowing across a dirt road a few miles in front of her. She attempted to propel herself forward, but couldn’t move. She looked down at her legs as she tried to push forward again. Her legs wouldn’t budge.

“What’s wrong, Lucy?” Karver yelled from behind her. “Why aren’t you running?”

Karver’s evil laughter floated through the night as Lucy turned her head around and glared at him. His black leather jacket rustled in the slight breeze as he glided towards her. Lucy glanced back down at her legs. “Come on,” she muttered. Her right leg jerked forward a step and then her left. She smiled and looked back at Karver as her legs propelled forward.

“I don’t think so,” Karver yelled as he waved his hand.

Lucy legs suddenly felt like a bag of bricks and her eyes lowered. She tried to pop her eyes back open as she stumbled. She landed on the cool ground as her eyes slid shut.

Karver flew over and stared down at his niece before picking her up in his arms. “You’ve got spirit, little girl,” he said as he flew up into the air. “For now.”

Karver arrived at his room and laid Lucy on the bed. “Now for the boy,” he hissed as he dissipated. He solidified in the woods and sniffed the air. The boy’s scent wafted into his nostrils. “Ah ha,” Karver whispered. The boy was a little over a mile away. Karver smiled as he propelled himself up into the air. “This should be fun.”

A mile into the woods, a flash of white captured Karver’s attention. Karver smiled as the boy’s feet pounded against the ground and his arms pumped back and forth with a vengeance. “You better run faster than that, boy,” Karver yelled as he swooped down and flew right up behind the boy.

Michael glanced back and his eyes widened as he looked into Karver’s black eyes. “Leave me alone!”

Karver propelled forward and grabbed the boy underneath his arms and lifted him up.

 “Let me go,” Michael screamed as his body left the ground.

“Are you really sure that you want me to?” Karver asked as he reached the tops of the trees.

“Yes!” Michael said.

Karver shrugged and let go. “Ok”

“Noooooooooooo,” Michael screamed as he fell. His arms and legs flailed wildly.

Karver waited and then darted back down into the woods and grabbed the boy before the boy hit the ground. “Now, be a good boy and be quiet,” he said as he began the flight back to the caves.

Karver landed on the ground and tossed the boy over his shoulders as Karver carried him through the caves. The caverns were quiet as he walked up to the room. Karver opened the door and tossed the boy inside. This time he locked the door before he left.

Chapter 19

Caoilainn left the caves of the Dragomir before sunrise and entered Euphranor. A sigh escaped her lips and her heart sank as she walked into her bedroom. She changed her clothes and put on the ceremonial robe. The blue velvet robe was intricately designed with the cougar’s way of life. A small male child stood proudly in one design and the next design showed him transforming into a cougar. The cougar roared as it ran through the woods.  She gently touched the soft robe. It portrayed love, laughter, courage, honesty, and loyalty.

Caoilainn turned and unlocked the chestnut dresser drawer on her vanity. Inside the drawer, a small crown sparkled and the red rubies glowed. The rubies represented the blood that gave the Daroch life. Caoilainn placed it on her head and braided her golden hair into one long braid.

Caoilainn’s head turned as several horns blew outside. The robe rustled as she slid it on and walked out of her room. People passed by, tears falling quietly from their eyes as they each carried a torch. The flames flickered and danced along the walls and floor. Caoilainn looked up at a wooden house as she passed by. A little girl’s forehead was pressed against the window as her blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears. Caoilainn touched her hand to her heart and pointed to the child.

A little girl’s lips wobbled as she nodded down at Caoilainn and she pressed her small hand up against the window. A tear slipped down Caoilainn’s cheek as she stared back in front of her.

 Caoilainn walked into the middle of Othniel. The room was brimming with her people as they stared straight ahead at the large red platform. Malachi’s body laid on it. His fur gleamed where it had been cleaned. Deidra stood by him with her head held high and tears streamed down her face. Deidra’s hand was delved into Malachi’s fur.

Caoilainn walked through the crowd and up the white marble stairs to the green platform. She looked at Deidra. Deidra nodded and Caoilainn touched Malachi’s soft fur. Caoilainn bent down and whispered into his ear. “It’s time, my friend. I will miss you for the rest of my days.”

Caoilainn stood up and turned towards her people. “We come here today to say good-bye not only to our good friend, but to our brother,” Caoilainn announced. “Malachi stood for everything that our people cherish. His loyalty and courage will never be forgotten. Let’s give him the respect that he deserves!”

Caoilainn and the entire crowd shifted unanimously into cougars. Roars rung throughout the city. Caoilainn scraped her paws against the ground and pawed at it before springing forward into the crowd. Deidra grabbed her mate and gently slung him over her back and followed behind Caoilainn. The city’s streets were flooded with gold as the cougars ran through them.

Caoilainn glanced back at the sea of faces. She nodded at them right before she flashed out of the city and reappeared in the woods. Claw marks lined the grave from where it had been dug out by Malachi’s mate. Caoilainn looked around the forest. Her people flashed into the woods and Eirians dropped down from the branches of the nearby trees. Fairies levitated in the air as they waited.

Deidra appeared by the grave and gently lowered Malachi’s body into it and brushed a paw full of dirt over his body. Fairies flittered around the grave as they began singing a sad, melancholy song. Their voices floated through the air and Caoilainn’s eyes welled up with tears. Gnomes slowly came out from a nearby bush with their hats off. Then one by one, the Daroch lined up by Malachi’s grave. Each of them used a paw to place the dirt over Malachi’s lifeless body as they passed by. Caoilainn waited until all of her people had their turn before stalking up to the grave. She took the cool brown dirt into her paw and let it slide through her claws and into the grave. She looked up as the sun started to rise and in unison her and all of her people bowed. Their brother was now at peace.

Cail and Braelyn arrived back Othniel shortly after sunrise to find the city empty.

“Malachi’s being put to rest,” Braelyn murmured as she surveyed the area.

“We
will
avenge his death,” Cail hissed, “We cannot fail our brother or our people.”

Braelyn gently touched his shoulder. “We won’t. We’ll find them and vengeance will be ours.”

They both turned to a light swooshing sound coming towards them. Caoilainn’s robe trailed behind her as she approached them.

“Have you found anything?” Caoilainn asked as she reached them.

Caoilainn looked at Braelyn. Her face was streaked with dirt and her silver hair had debris throughout it. Braelyn’s blue eyes wandered over to Cail before replying. “No.”

Caoilainn hung her head. “Lucy only has eighteen hours left before she starts going through the change,” she whispered. She looked back up at Cail and Braelyn. “What strategy did you and the Dragomir take in your search efforts?”

“Landyn and Chloe said that the Haemon would most likely be in the United States, hidden in a cavern somewhere. We split up and went in four directions. Landyn went south, Chloe went west, Braelyn went north, and I went east,” Cail said.

“Good. How far did you get?” Caoilainn asked.

“That’s the thing,” Braelyn said as she looked at Caoilainn. “There’s no scent for us to pick up. The Haemon came in, took the girl, and vanished. The area we need to search is too great for the limited time that we have.”

“We need all of our people to help in the search,” Cail stated as he ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair. “Chloe and Landyn had to stop searching before sunrise or they’d have ended up being overcooked, if you know what I mean.”

Caoilainn nodded. “Let’s go talk to our people. There’s much to get done,” Caoilainn said as she glided past them.

Caoilainn stopped as she came across Bran. “Sound the bell to let everyone know that I need to speak with them.”

“Yes, your highness,” Bran said as he bowed before he scurried down the hall.

Caoilainn arrived in the middle of Othniel as the bell chimed three times. She walked up the white marble steps with Cail and Braelyn. They looked across the room and waited for it to finish filling up. People flowed in from every direction.

“It’s been a sad day for our people,” Caoilainn said once everyone had arrived. “Cail and Braelyn have come back from their search needing more help to find our brother’s murderer. Who here’s willing to hunt down the filth that took his life?”

Every hand rose up in unison and Caoilainn nodded. “We need everyone to part and spread out across the land to help search,” she said. “We’ve been told that the Haemon will be hidden in a cavern somewhere in the United States and that’s where our search will start.” She paused as she looked into the faces of her people. “Are you ready?”

Cheers went up in the crowd.

“For Malachi!” Caoilainn yelled as she rose up a fist.

“For Malachi!” the crowd roared as they flashed from the room.