Coven of Wolves (28 page)

A subtle whisper on the wind says into my ear, "Gaea's earth".

A memory of the last fight with Malik comes back to me. I remember Tobias creating an earth pillar to help block one of the coven's energy attacks. I ask Mother Gaea to come to my aid, causing various height pillars to come from the ground. Immediately the ground shakes and 20 to 30 pillars rise from the dirt below, filling the arena. Several strike the still charging wolves while others merely block their path.

Astonished, Damon tells me, "Just how powerful are you?"

Unsure, I answer, "Since I've had Fenrus on my side? I really don't know."

Once we reach the end, Damon prepares a new battle stance, ready for another attack and says, "At least now they can't attack us from behind. For our sake, I hope you've got a lot more tricks up your sleeve."

Using the pillars as climbing platforms, the wolves continue their attack, leaping into the air directly at us. Devon kicks one aside while I cause two to collide into one another magically. One wolf reaches Damon and they begin their sword duel. Two more wolves then manage to jump on top of me, knocking me to the ground. Before hitting ground I see several more approaching Damon, swords in hand. I panic and summon forth my full werewolf form, gathering enough strength to throw both attackers off of me. Leaving my swords on the ground, I then race over to Damon and swipe several wolves off of him with my claws. They wince in pain, somehow surprised that such an attack would hurt them. Most fall to the ground, seriously wounded, but a few stay standing, attempting another attack. I can see them trying to shift into their full werewolf forms as well, but are too wounded to accomplish anything other than the half wolf transition. They swing their swords at me, but I knock them down easily.

The other wolves who have yet to engage us see what has happened. Angered that none of the other attacks have been successful, their eyes change to a brighter shade of yellow and their bodies increase in size. Their faces form more of a lupine quality, with their mouths and noses forming into more of a snout. Their ears become more pointed and raise their location towards the tops of their heads. Their hands become larger and their claws more defined. Their feet stretch and grow until they resemble those belonging to a canine. The transformation becomes too much for their clothing as the majority of their battle gear rips apart and falls to the ground. Where once military style warriors stood now stands huge oversized fur covered beasts. Their numbers grow as the wolves Damon and I had wounded earlier, now healed, join their fully transformed comrades. All gloves are cast off, obviously. The nature of the fight has just changed completely. The audience roars their approval, hoping to see as much blood spilt as possible.

Damon's voice snaps me out of my trance when I hear him say, "Devin, the wolves you just attacked with your claws...their wounds aren't healing. You've managed to truly hurt them somehow."

I look down at the wolves on the ground and see that he's right. They have shifted back to their human forms and continue to bleed. More flashbacks go across my mind, as I remember Nicholas being bandaged after our first fight. My wound had somehow slowed down his naturally rapid healing process. Is this something I can use against the others as well? Is that my loophole?

In a guttural voice I say, "They're done playing Damon. You need to change now."

Without hesitation, Damon alters himself into his full werewolf form as well. He grows several inches taller and becomes just as beastly as the wolves across from us. One of the wolves in the arena howls, sending the others into a frenzy. The audience wolves join in with the howling. A chill goes down my spine. I may match their size and appearance, but they still have lots more experience on their side. I have to come to terms with the fact that the imprinted battle skills I swiped from Nicholas just might not be enough. Knowing we're outnumbered, my mind races to possible scenarios where my magic can give us an advantage. I try to push out Jason's last taunting words, 'Good luck using your magics in the trials. Wolves are immune', but it's very hard to do. Doing so can't change the fact that he's right. In their full werewolf forms, they will hardly feel anything I magically send at them.

All at once they charge at us. Damon gives a guttural growl and opens his claws, ready to take as many wolves with him as he can. I race toward the wolves, hoping I can get the majority of them to focus on me and not Damon. As I run I become aware of different pressure points that I might be able to use to my advantage. More of Nicholas' imprinted skills? Either way, I take the first wolf and swipe him with my claws across the chest. I then move on to another wolf, biting him on the back of the neck. I then use the claws on my feet to rake against a third wolf before being thrown on the ground by a fourth wolf. As I land, I can see that the three wolves I attacked are now laying beside me. They slowly revert to their human forms, wincing in pain at where I had attacked them.

Three more wolves are now on top of me and are about to dive in with their own teeth and claws to finish me off. Just before they do, I close my eyes and will for a bright light to appear in front of me. Through my closed eyes I can tell the trick worked. In a second the dazzling bright light disappears and I am able to open my eyes again. The wolves on top of me are temporarily blinded and holding their claws to their eye sockets. I take advantage of the small window of opportunity and slash their chests with my claws, then slip away.

Across from me I can see that several other wolves are engaging Damon. His ferocity and cunning surprise me. The battle skills his parents and Nicholas taught him have definitely paid off. For every swipe of claws made against him, he has either a block or pivot to counteract it. He uses his amazing agility to jump from place to place, never allowing his opponents an opportunity to grab hold of him properly. More wolves are approaching him though so I pick up a portion of broken earth pillar and throw it at them. Once it hits, they whip their heads at me and growl. Good. Come at me you bastards.

Before they reach me, I am slammed into my side by someone behind me. We land hard into a pillar, and I hear it crack behind me. Angered, I hit the forceful wolf with the back of my fist before he can get any more licks in. The hit sends him flying away from me. Seeing that the wolves are almost at me now, I use the loose pillar to my advantage. I will for it to break apart completely and fling itself at my oncoming attackers. It strikes them in their midsections, knocking the wind from them. I run over to them to finish the job the pillar started, but see that they are now unconscious on the ground.

I count 14 werewolves left. Five are trying to take Damon down and the remaining 9 are gearing up to charge on me. Gaea help me, I'm getting tired. Not wanting to wait for his companions to finish strategizing, one wolf charges at me and we begin a bloody brawl. In the middle of it I look over at Damon. Just at that moment I see one of his attackers slashes him across the face, knocking him backward. The others are about to pounce upon him to finish the job. Something inside me snaps and I give out a growling howl. I then grab my opponent, pick him up and throw him at Damon's attackers. As they impact one another I race over also and begin clawing and slashing away at Damon's would be murderers. Staggered and hurt, they fall. I then turn to Damon and see that his facial wounds are slowly beginning to heal. Ignoring the now almost deafening cheer from the arena stands, I offer my claw shaped hand to him. He takes it, using my weight to help him to his feet.

When I see he is fully recovered, we turn back to the remaining wolves. 8 left. For the first time I see something in their faces I hadn't seen before: fear. I can feel Damon senses it too. We both roar at the others, showing to them our confidence. The wolves keep their eyes locked on us, but slowly begin to back up. We charge at the remaining group, each of us taking half. I lose myself in the battle. All of Nicholas' fighting skills seem to almost flow out of me. When I can, I also manage to include some of the techniques Mika had taught me as well. Looking over, I can see that Damon has already taken out two of his opponents. Despite his tired state, the other two seem manageable for him to handle. It's almost as if their fighting spirit has all but left them due to the insecurity at seeing so many of their once large number of comrades dwindle down to only a few.

As I smile to myself, one of my opponents uses my distraction to her advantage. She slashes at my stomach, kicks me in the groin, and savagely bites me on the neck. Howling in pain, I knock her away from me and fall to the ground. In seconds the others are on top of me, biting and scratching as quickly as possible. I become disoriented. My only thought is to try to punch and kick as many as I can before I begin to bleed to death or lose consciousness, whichever comes first.

In my hazy vision, I think I see one of the wolves attacking me stop to grab at their neck. Is that one of the bolo weapons Damon used earlier I see around his neck? Another wolf stops their attack also and I can see a long red feathered needle sticking out of their cheek. I take the last two wolves by the neck and slam their heads into one another. They fall to the side and suddenly I realize there's no one left attacking me anymore. I try to get up but can't. I can feel some of my bones have broken. The pool of blood beneath me also tells me that I'm probably a lot worse off as well. Inside my head I can hear Fenrus telling me, "Lay still. Your wolf body will heal itself but it needs time."

"But what about Damon? Is he okay?", I ask.

Soothingly, Fenrus says, "See for yourself."

I close my eyes and will for my spirit self to rise out of my body. I look down at myself and see a bloody mess. How can I still be alive after looking like that? I then search the arena for Damon. He is a few feet away from my body. He's reverted back to his human form and is doubled over with his hands resting on his knees. His last two opponents lay beside him, dead. He's breathing in heavily from exhaustion. The sweat from his face drips down to his chin, falling rapidly to the ground. After a few moments he staggers over to where my body is laying. "Devin...Devin, it's me. Are you...are you alright?"

I move my spirit self to his ear and whisper to him, "I'm fine. I just need a few minutes to heal."

I then return to my body, feeling the pain it is enduring, wishing it could stop. Damon takes my hand and says, "We did it."

Pushing through the pain, I move my hand raise into the air and place it on top of his. Another roar of cheer can be heard across the arena as I succumb to the agony and fall into unconsciousness.

• • •

When I wake I find I am laying on a cot and surrounded by not only my father, Damon, and Gabriella; but by Nicholas and quite a few Archon leaders as well. Fenrus, I also see, is laying beside me in vigil. He licks the skin on my hand, helping me realize I'm back in my human form. Turning my head, I can see that I am in one of the arena window boxes. The sun has already begun to set, creating a beautiful array of fall colors across the sky. My muscles are sore and I can feel a tenderness to my skin and bones. I try to sit up but my father pushes me back down.

"Don't try to move Devin.", he tells me. "You're not quite done healing yet."

Very groggy, I ask, "What happened?"

With a very concerned look on his face, my father says, "We can go over the details later, but suffice to say, you and Damon were successful in surviving the trials. The Archons just got out of conference and are ready to give their verdict."

"Verdict?", I ask. "We won. We followed their rules. Why do they have to give a verdict?"

Soothingly, and with immense gratitude on her face, Gabriella says, "Shh, mon ami. Nothing like this has ever happened. We will stand by your side but we still must see how all this plays out."

I look over at Damon. He is smiling at me. The look of hope and sincerity is etched across his young face. You'd never know he was just in a battle for his life. I smile back.

"Thanks.", I tell him. "If you hadn't have used the bolo and poison dart, I probably wouldn't have made it."

Damon's face looks slightly confused. He says, "I did what I had to. You saved me too several times over during the fight. Only, Devin, I helped you with a bolo I found laying on the ground. I didn't have access to any poison darts."

What? If Damon didn't shoot the dart to help me, then who did? I look around the room and see Nicholas. Once he realizes I am looking directly at him, he turns to look out the window, almost out of embarrassment. Was it him? Was he the one who secretly helped me from being killed?

Across the way I can see Jason glaring at me. I'm too tired to return the favor so instead I close my eyes to mediate. I can feel my body repairing itself. As each minute rolls by, my strength level increases. I focus on my breathing, imagining the stress my body has endured is expelled with each exhale. My mind then wanders to Tobias and the others. I hope they are alright.

The Archon Gregoire approaches me and my group. Speaking as if I weren't there, he asks Gabriella, "We're ready to speak to the arena. When will he be ready?"

Gabriella answers, "He's ready now, but still very weak. I'm sure..."

Cutting her off, Gregoire says, "Good. Have him and Damon meet us downstairs in 15 minutes."

At that, he and the remaining Archons turn and leave the room. I ask my father, "I already know Jason has it out for me in the worst way. What about the other Synoro Archons? Do you have any idea on which side they will be on?"

Adam replies, "They are very loyal to the old ways. Ryan, Shaun, and Brice's families have been Archons for several generations. They will side with the majority in order to keep the peace. Clayton on the other hand is very loyal to my father. They grew up together in childhood. I can almost guarantee they both will be working against us."

Gabriella says, "My father is very traditional also, as are the other Archons in my clan. He does have some affection for Damon, but I can tell he doesn't care much for Devin at all. His vote is up in the air."