The Second Coming (36 page)

“
Dark Wind?”

“
That is its true name. We renamed it the Westwood, trying to
mask what we had done.”

A sickness
settled in his stomach.

“
With Elenya’s Soul, we used what spells we could to stunt its
growth until we could find a way to destroy it completely. Your
mother even attempted to use the Soulstone Tablet to try to destroy
it.”

“
The Soulstone Tablet?”

Alwhin looked
to the night sky. “The tablet on which you saw the writing in
Lindhome. Your mother and Dïor were the only ones who could read
it. We lost track of Dïor after your mother’s death at the hands of
the Confederation so we were never able to use it.”

“
We hoped, in time, that Lya might be able to read what was on
the Tablet and find a way to destroy your mother’s
creation.”

Paine pulled
the parchment from his pocket. “With the writing like this?”

He handed the
note to Alwhin and Gregor. The woman tipped the parchment to read
it in the faint light.

“
I do not see any writing on this, other than the spell on the
back. Are you telling me there is writing on this similar to the
Soulstone Tablet?”

He nodded.

“
Where did you get this?”

“
It was left with the people who raised me. We found it when
they died and figured it was from our birth-parents.”

Alwhin pored
over it, muttering some guttural words. She tilted the parchment.
“Your mother left you to be raised by her wet nurse. She left this
with you?”

“
Gwen was her wet nurse? She was there when we were
born?”

Alwhin
nodded.

It didn’t make
sense.

If Gwen had
known about his mother, why had she treated him so cruelly?

“
She did not give you this note?”

“
Her husband did when he died. Can you read it?”

“
This is beyond my sight and knowledge.” She handed it to
Gregor to examine.

Paine pondered
the note, wondering. “Perhaps it is information on how to use the
Tablet?”

Gregor shifted
where he stood. “Even if it was, the Tablet is lost to us. There is
little we can do now, but run.” His hands shook as he handed it
back to Paine. It dropped to the forest floor.

Paine bent
over to retrieve it.

He brushed it
off and stared at the script.

“
What if it is a message on who I am?”

But Gregor and
Alwhin were already out of earshot, the urgency of Nissamin’s news
hastening their steps.

He looked for
Fang. She stood some distance into the trees. The wolf gave him a
protracted look and then left him as well.

And Paine
stood there for a time, in the embrace of a night that was warm,
but lonely.

A harsh pinch
surged through Paine's leg, jarring him from his slumber. He jerked
awake.

Fang leaned
over him, her whiskered muzzle poking him as she growled. In the
dim light, he barely made out her hackles, rising as she stared
towards the edge of the camp.

Movement
skirted the shadows and a dank smell fouled the night. Gleaming
eyes of yellow shone, beacons filled with malice. Paine's eyes
adjusted to the dark as towering demons crept from the night. The
pit of his stomach hardened.

Not again.

He rose to
wake the others, but cries at the north end of the camp indicated
the slaughter had already begun. Over the screams, Great Bear and
Truitt called for arms and order. Paine fumbled about, wondering
where to run. Fang nipped at his ankle, and bounded to the
side.

She barked and
Paine followed, dodging others who ran towards the battle. He
passed by Mira's blanket, ruffled and cast aside. Further along,
Puck's bedding lay empty and untouched. He looked north, the
screams piercing the night air. Again, Fang nipped at his ankle and
he followed her east once more.

The wolf led
him to Great Bear's horse, where she jumped up against the side of
the Clydesdale. Whinnying in panic, the horse reared back against
the rope that tethered it to an elm.

Paine reached
for the horse, trying to calm it. “Easy, Booker.”

Booker’s eyes
were wide and it yanked on the rope once more, nearly snapping the
elm in two. Fang jumped again at the side pack, yipping and eyeing
Paine.

“
What is it?”

Wishing he had
his sister's gift, he tried to decipher Fang's actions.

Was it the
horse?

The wolf
jumped up again, her teeth tearing at rope. Booker whinnied and
bucked. Fang jumped twice more and Paine noticed a gnarled branch
under the horse’s feet. Fang barked in triumph, eyes agleam.

Leery of
Booker's frantic steps, he groped for the branch. He fumbled about,
dodging the horse’s hooves. His fingers slid along its rough
surface, and he pulled it out. Fang took it from his hands and
dragged it away. He reached for it, but she growled at him.

Paine
retracted his hand.

Then Fang
dragged the wood into the dark of the trees and barked. Another
wolf bounded after her; one that was slightly smaller but with the
same coloring.

Paine watched
as the demons flooded from the north.

What I am I
supposed to do?

He pulled out
the parchment from his sister and reviewed the words of the
summoning, preparing himself.

***

Fang dragged
the oak branch into the trees, determined to have some privacy for
what she needed to do. She risked exposing herself and her kind,
but there was no choice. This boy needed protection, and not just
from the demons that butchered the witches and the people of the
longhouse.

She looked
upwards and a winged creature flew past the moon. She caught the
faint glimmer of its winged tips.

Time was
running short.

She growled
and the lone wolf that followed her approached.

One of her
own.

Fang lowered
her body and raised her tail, as if to play. The other wolf’s ears
pricked and she bounded towards him. He leapt towards her, eager to
participate. He hadn’t played like this with his mother since he
was a pup. She toyed with him awhile, nipping at his legs here,
mounting him there. She hated this, yet continued with her coy game
until he rolled onto his back and then she pounced, piercing his
throat with her jaws. The wolf’s eyes widened and he struggled to
free himself. This was not part of the game. He yelped but his
voice was muffled in his opened throat. She clamped her jaws harder
and he thrashed about, scratching her open with his claws. She
dropped her weight onto him and bit down further. The taste was
tangy.

Fang let the
blood soak into the earth and held her offspring until enough blood
spilled, until he was nearly dead; almost, but not quite. She
needed his soul. The wolf no longer resisted her and lay still, but
his eyes were still aware. There was confusion there and it pained
her to see it.

One of her
own.

But that was
the purpose of this spell.

It had to
be.

Fang dragged
the oak branch over and forced one end into the moist ground. She
then drew from what little power was available to her and summoned
a spirit that was born of the Earth itself. She reached deep within
the wells of her ancient soul and brought forth everything she
could muster — a spell to create a staff that would act as a
buffer. She had witnessed its creation once before.

She leaned
over the wolf, her own offspring. His breathing slowed and his eyes
glazed over. As the last raspy breath escaped his gurgling throat,
Fang inhaled his soul through her nose. She carried the offering
towards the pool of blood and exhaled.

One of her
own.

***

Paine watched
the slaughter play out before him. He paced in the darkness, close
to the woods, waiting for Fang.

What was he
supposed to do?

He eyed the
note again in the faint light, muttering the words in his mind,
cautious not to speak them aloud. Fang was in the brush; he could
hear yipping and growling from the two wolves. There was silence
for a time, the occasional padded movement and the sound of
something being dragged across leafy ground whispering through the
trees.

What was going
on?

Facing
northward he clenched his fists as Nissamin fell. The demons
pounced on her and ripped open her chest as she wailed for help. It
did not come and after a few moments, one of the demons raised her
lifeless heart to the sky before devouring it. Paine turned away,
unable to bear the sight and found Fang behind him. The branch was
placed between them. One end was dark and moist. She nodded her
head. Paine picked it up.

What was he
supposed to do with it?

As he placed
the butt of it to the earth, something surfaced within him, a
multitude of thoughts and desires. All at once they were there,
screaming in his head. They were the souls he had called upon
before. They surfaced from a secret place within him, hidden from
his knowledge. They had been living inside him. They called to him,
begged for his command.

*We are
yours.*

Paine bit his
lip, waiting for the cold and vomit to spew forth. Yet there was
nothing, nothing but the taste of blood in his mouth. And the
impatient waiting of the dead. They were eager to serve. He gripped
the staff and called upon others. The land released hundreds more
to his summons.

They, too,
whispered to him.

-We are
yours.-

Paine laughed,
a mad howl he could not stifle.

They are mine! I am in control
.

Fang nuzzled
him in the leg.

He looked
north. The demons flooded from the trees, spilling into the camp.
He ran towards the fight, the screams summoning him. He followed
their call, feeling the strength of twenty men and the courage of
fifty.

I am Little
Badger.

He jerked his
head at movement in the shadows. Before him, with its hoofed feet
and matted fur crawling up its legs, a horned demon towered over
him. It smiled with stained teeth and nodded its head. Fang bounded
from Paine's side into the thick of battle, leaving him to face the
creature alone.

I am in
control.

He laughed and
fear flitted in the demon's eyes. It lasted for only a breath, and
the creature lunged forward. Paine winced and stepped back as he
held aloft the staff. He thought of a ring of fire and it was so.
The demon hesitated as a circle of flames flared to life before it.
It snarled and summoned a fire of its own, green flames that sat in
its opened claws. It flung it at Paine. The fire struck him, and
the searing pain soaked into his skin. He groaned.

No!

He clung to
the staff and the fire winked out. His skin was untouched, yet the
memory of the pain was still there. It smoldered. The creature
slashed at him, its claws swiping inches from his face. Paine
ducked. The demon crept around him, hissing. It slashed at Paine
again and flung green fire once more.

No!

The ring of
flames that surrounded Paine blazed and consumed it before the fire
could reach him. He opened his palm and divined a fire of his own,
crimson and smoldering. It caressed his fingers and he toyed with
it, laughing.

Was this how
Lya felt? This powerful?

He held up his
hand, outstretching his palm and let the flames dance. He blew upon
it and the ground around the demon flared to life with fire. It
screamed as the flames engulfed it, dropping to the ground. Its
hooves kicked as the fire consumed it. The smell of burnt hair and
rotting flesh soured the air. Paine licked his lips and smiled.

Die!

He turned away
as the demon lay still. Its knowledge and memories did not come to
him. It had no soul. It was a mindless beast, knowing only to hunt
and slaughter.

Another
approached.

Like the last,
this one had horns, but a goat's face. It cried out, a rumbling
bellow. Paine summoned the fire from the earth once more. This
demon dropped, thrashing on the ground. Another approached, and
Paine dealt it the same fate.

Two more
.

Euphoria
welled inside him to match the power he wielded, taking demon after
demon.

Five.

He closed his
eyes and summoned forth locusts that swarmed the demons. He called
upon the ground to swallow them. Fire fell from the heavens,
striking them down.

He took the
parchment from his pocket and read the spell.

It required
blood.

The land was
soaked in it.

He summoned
the five souls listed there, no longer frightened.

I am Little Badger
.

A chill wind
swept through the trees. He heard their wailing in his ears, and
their ancient souls touched his own. They were his to command and
he sent them forth. The spell worked and demons were dropped and
pulled into the forest where their screams were short and
agonizing.

Paine
continued on. The staff was cold in his sweaty grip. The demons
lurched towards him, and tumbled at his feet.

Ten
.

He brimmed
with ecstasy, slaughtering all before him. Some fell from a
sickness that weakened their bones, their legs splintering into
pieces; others crumpled over and were consumed by beetles and
scarabs that flooded from their mouths.

From among the
crowd, Puck ran directly towards Paine through the crowds. A demon
was on his heels.

“
Paine!”

Paine summoned
scarlet fire once more and with a wisp of a thought he struck the
creature down.