Zora's Dawn (Defender Book 1) (9 page)

As all
eyes focused on her Zora realised that she must now try to explain what she had
seen and heard. Before beginning she turned to Sunny. “Sunny can you write down
what I say? It was such a mess of sights and sounds and smells and taste, I’m
not sure I can recall it all in a coherent fashion.” Four sets of eyes widened
but Sunny simply reached into her bag and pulled out a thick notepad and pen.

 Marcus
blinked, Powers smiled and Axel said only, “Sounds too.”

Oh, right,
sounds were also unusual. Zora wished with all her heart that if she must be a defender
that she was a regular one who saw only visions – no sounds, no smells and no
taste. It seemed much easier. Then she closed her eyes and allowed the visions
to fill her mind.

The first
vision was of the victim at the side of the road. Zora tried to figure out her
angle of vision and decided it was probably the trees, the same ones that Axel
was looking at she realised. It felt like she was looking through the eyes of
the werewolf, a thought so nauseating she almost lost her lunch. Remembering
her audience Zora belatedly began to voice what she was seeing.

As she/the
werewolf approached the man she became visibly distressed at needing to
describe what was about to happen. Seeing this Axel touched her arm. Opening
her eyes Zora raised an eyebrow in his direction. “You don’t need to describe
everything little Zora, it is enough that you have seen it all and in much
detail. Please, only tell us things that may help us to identify and find the
werewolf.”

Marcus
frowned, “But what if there is something Zora misses unknowingly? Shouldn’t we
hear everything?”

Axel shook
his head, “No, there is no need for her to put herself through the details of
the murder, only the parts of the visions that will help us to identify the
werewolf. Zora is a reporter, she will know what is useful and what can be
disregarded. Please Zora, continue.”

Marcus
shrugged, and Zora obediently closed her eyes again, wishing that she had as
much faith in herself as Axel was demonstrating with her. Relieved that she
didn’t have to describe the terror on the man’s face or the smell of fear as he
recognised his impending death she began to sift through the visions.

“Ok,” she
began, “I think I am seeing through the werewolf’s eyes. I can see the victim,
and you were right Marcus, the poor man was played with like a cat would play
with a mouse. He was terrified and the werewolf liked that, I can feel its
pleasure. I can see that it is very tall, the fur on its arms is a light gold
colour and it has very long sharp claws.” She shuddered at that visual but
pushed her own fear away and continued, “It spoke to him – I didn’t know
werewolves could talk – and it told him that he was an important sacrifice and
that he should die knowing that he was helping a very important cause. He
didn’t die quickly, and he suffered much pain but the werewolf told him that
the quality of his blood was changed by his pain and so it was necessary.” Zora
was unaware of the tears trickling down her cheeks as she spoke, focused
entirely on searching her memory to be sure that she didn’t miss anything that
might be important. “He was eviscerated as the police report described and the
werewolf put the missing body parts into an esky.” She hesitated, it seemed
such a prosaic thing to do, to use an everyday esky for such a macabre
collection. Gathering her thoughts, Zora continued, “It also collected some of
his blood in a bottle and took that as well. I’m afraid it didn’t tell the
victim anything other than his death was important.”

Zora
paused, and took a large mouthful of her coffee. Sunny was writing furiously
and the others were watching her intently. She kept her eyes open as she
finished off. “The werewolf’s voice, I don’t know why I think it as it was not
a human sounding voice, but I think it was a female. And there was music,
violin music, but there was no violin there. And at the end I was not seeing
through the eyes of the werewolf, it was like I was there. I could see it, very
tall and covered in long gold fur. It was really very pretty fur - such a thing
as that should not be pretty, it seems wrong. It picked up the esky and it
turned to look at the victim.” She shuddered again, “And then it was like it
looked at me, right at me. It had pale gold fur on its face and yellow eyes
with long eyelashes. It bared its teeth at me, or that’s how it seemed, and
then it left.” She looked at Axel, “I don’t know how I know, but it was going
to Melbourne.”

Axel
frowned, “Was there anything else you can tell me? Any impression about why it
was going there?”

Zora
replayed the visions, as much as she could. She was worried that she might
forget something important, there was so much detail. Mostly she had seen
through the werewolf’s eyes but there was a point where she was seeing the
werewolf through the victim’s eyes. She hadn’t said anything about that as it
was just too overwhelming. At that point the smell of the victim’s blood was
strong, and the werewolf’s face was so close she could see those long
eyelashes. It had licked the victim’s blood off its fingers in a gesture both
delicate and horrible. It was very disturbing and she didn’t want to voice that
vision. She thought about how she knew it was going to Melbourne. Had it said
so? She didn’t think it had, she just knew. She knew too that there would be
another murder in Melbourne, but she could not find any knowledge or
information about why that city was chosen.

Meeting
Axel’s eyes she shrugged helplessly. “Sorry Axel, I can’t find anything to
explain why Melbourne. I know it will kill again there but I don’t know why.”

Axel
leaned back in his chair, “Do not worry little Zora, you have given us much
information. I thank you for reliving your vision for us, I know it was
difficult for you.”

Marcus had
also leaned back in his chair and was steepling his fingers under his chin.
“Why violin music? Do you have any idea Axel?”

Axel
shrugged elegantly, “No idea. This is the first time a defender has had sound
in the visions. Maybe the music is pertinent to this case. Hopefully we will
find out.”

Powers leaned
forward and gently wiped the tears from Zora’s face before he took her cup and
stood up. At her questioning look he said, “You really want a cup of Earl Grey,
I’m going to make you a pot. You stay here and eat that last piece of cake
you’re coveting.”

Sighing,
Zora reached for the cake and watched Powers’ retreating backside just a little
bit resentfully.

“Do not
resent him little Zora, the bond is strong between you both which is
astonishing given the neglect for most of your lives.” Axel frowned a little as
he spoke, “You need his support, and his strength. You have felt him give you
strength through the bond already I think. And little Zora, you give him a
sense of purpose in return that has been lacking. A guardian without someone to
guard is a lonely creature. Together, you are complete and you should never
forget that.”

His
expression was so serious that Zora wondered if he meant more than his words
said, and his words were scary enough. Zora made a mental note to only let
Powers give her his strength if it was absolutely necessary. Surely it must
deplete his own reserves. She touched her cheeks where he had wiped the tears,
the skin tingled a little where his fingers had rested. Then she set it all
aside to examine later and returned to the thing that had been troubling her
the most since her foot had touched the ground and the visions had assaulted
her senses.

“Axel, at
the end, it really felt that the werewolf could see me. Could it?”

Axel
looked shocked at her words and hurried to reassure her, “No little Zora, your
ability is only one way. The werewolf cannot sense you, or feel you, or see
you. It may have known a defender would come and sense it so perhaps it felt a
desire to give a general warning.  But that is all.”

Zora
smiled uncertainly at him, “Thank you Axel. It really seemed as though it
looked right at me.”

Sunny
finished writing and looked up. “Well if it did you probably terrified it, you
damn sure terrified me! And by the way, thanks for the whole body parts in an
esky visual. I’m never going to get a cold drink from an esky again without
checking for grossness. Now, when do we go to Melbourne?”

Marcus,
Axel and Zora stared at Sunny in bemusement. Zora was beginning to wish Sunny
could indeed travel with them, she seemed always to know what to say to make
things feel less frightening. She wondered if they should go to Melbourne, even
though they were supposed to be going to the site of another murder and at the
thought raised her eyebrows at Axel in enquiry. At that moment Powers came back
out bearing a pot of tea and more cake. He seemed to have a never ending supply
of food, especially cake. At her unspoken question he responded, “I don’t like
to shop often, I have a large freezer that I keep full.”

Zora
shrugged, trying not to show her surprise at this display of domesticity from
him. She herself never had any food or supplies in the freezer. She mostly
lived on tea and toast at home.

“Exactly,
that’s why I’m trying to get some decent food into you. You need your
strength.” Powers frowned disapprovingly at her and Zora wondered just how the
staff playboy had morphed into her Aunt Susie who was always trying to feed her
up. She accepted her tea gratefully, sighing with pleasure at the aroma
drifting up from her cup.

Axel
reached for the cake, this time a light and fluffy sponge that Zora recognised
as coming from her favourite cake shop. She had to hand it to Powers, he was
the perfect host. Probably the result of multiple girlfriends sleeping over she
thought sourly, pasting an innocent smile on her face as he turned to frown at
her.

Taking a
huge bite of the cake Axel took the time to enjoy the flavour before saying, “We
will continue on to the first murder site and not go to Melbourne. We will warn
those there of course, but we do not have sufficient information to be of any
real use in Melbourne. I think we would be better seeing if Zora can pick up
anything from the site. It is probably a faint hope given the length of time
that has passed, but perhaps the werewolf said more to the first victim. In any
case we must wait for the fairy guard. Zora and I will use this time for her
training. Sunny, you go and pack and Powers you let Malcolm know she is coming
with us. Marcus, perhaps you should rest, I know it is difficult even for you
to be awake during the day.”

Marcus
nodded, “I am indeed feeling weary, I shall rest until the fairy guard arrive.”
He rose to his feet as did Powers who said, “I have plenty of room, come this
way Marcus.”

As they
disappeared Sunny leapt to her feet, grabbed a slice of cake and her bag,
kissed Zora on the cheek and said airily, “Back soon!” and left around the side
of the house, the way she had come.

Zora
stared at Axel in slight shock. It had seemed like nothing more than a
conversation and yet he had given orders to everyone there and had instant
unquestioning obedience. She had a feeling that he would elicit the same
obedience in any situation. She felt awed, it made her remember he was royalty
and used to getting his own way. It also made her remember he was a
supernatural being, a
magical
supernatural being. She felt fragile and
all too human.

Axel
smiled gently at her. “Do not ever underestimate your importance or your power
little Zora. It is you the fairy guard is to protect before all others. Do not
be afraid of me, or any of our group. I know you feel anxious about Miss Sunny
but you must trust me that we need her with us. There is more to her than you
know. And always remember, in a time of need, you have abilities beyond what
you think. Listen to your instincts, always. Now, first on our agenda is how to
set a pesky rogue werewolf on fire.”

Zora
swallowed, he made it seem so easy but surely it couldn’t be. Two minutes later
she was shaking her head in disbelief. That was all it took? She wasn’t
entirely sure Axel was being serious but if he was then this was ridiculously
easy. So easy in fact that she worried she would accidently set a friendly
werewolf on fire.

However
when she voiced that concern to Axel he became slightly insulted. “You think we
would not consider that and include a failsafe? Think little Zora. If at dawn
you are within eyeshot of a rogue werewolf, you need only stare at it, hold
your pendant, use your willpower and it will combust. Should you find yourself
in this position, what will you be thinking?”

Zora
stared at him, nonplussed. “I don’t know. I expect I would be too afraid to
think much of anything!”

Axel
sighed. “Ok, let me rephrase. If it is a friendly werewolf, what would you be
thinking?”

“How to
tell the difference?”

She was a
little startled when Axel smacked himself on the side of the head. “Little Zora
I apologise. I was forgetting that you have not yet met a werewolf.”

“And that
matters because?”

“Because one
of the things you experienced at the site also occurs in the presence of a
rogue. Tell me little Zora, what did you feel at the site?”