Chapter 8 #2
He was already turning and walking towards the west to a line of tall, silver-barked trees with dark green leaves that speared towards the night sky as those which he had found and called to him ran from the other direction.
It emerged between two of the largest trunks, its ghostly white pelt glowing under the twin moons.
Charlie skidded to a stop, nearly landing on his butt, but Fiona caught him before he went down. “Is that–that a–”
“Dire Wolf. Three times as large as anything you’d see on Earth,” Ryder said.
The white wolf’s head reached his shoulders in height. It stood very still with blue-white eyes tracking him. They had flickered for a moment to Fiona and Charlie, but when it was certain they were no threat, it had focused once more on him.
“Is it friendly?” Charlie asked faintly.
“He’s Weryn, Charlie,” Fiona chided, but she didn’t sound altogether certain herself and they remained well behind him as he strode up to the magnificent beast.
When he was within five feet of it, the Dire Wolf lowered its entire front body and head.
Ryder reached over and petted him, gripping the thick fur between his large ears, and making sounds of pleasure.
The Dire Wolf let out soft huffs and then rolled over onto his back to expose his white, furry belly.
Ryder got down on his haunches and rubbed the Dire Wolf’s underside with both hands.
The Dire Wolf’s tongue lolled out and his eyes slid half shut with happiness.
Grayson would love this. If only he were here…
“Oh, my, he’s so cute. Can I–oh, no! No, sorry about that,” Charlie said, quickly snatching away his right hand that had gone to stroke the Dire Wolf’s belly.
The Dire Wolf’s eyes were focused upon the Mirryr Vampire. Charlie gave him a weak wave of his fingers. The Dire Wolf turned away from him and allowed Ryder to thump his sides before getting up on his legs again.
“Magnificent animal,” Fiona breathed. “But, forgive me, how is he going to lead us to a city?”
“Wolves always know where there is meat,” Ryder said as he scratched between the Dire Wolf’s ears.
“Ah, meat? Oh, you mean Vampires and humans… ah, yes, the Dire Wolf wants to eat us.” Charlie’s shoulders twitched. “How unsurprising.”
“Don’t like being prey, Charlie?” Ryder looked over his shoulder at the foppish Vampire.
Charlie sighed. “As a Mirryr, I’m rather used to it. Our power allows us to blend in, disappear, if you will. Fighting is rather pointless against other Vampires whose powers are far more martial than ours.”
“Mirryr was the Spy,” Ryder remembered. “They infiltrated our enemies and were often right by the leaders’ sides when they slit their throats.”
“Oh, yes, that was always quite fun.” When they looked over at Charlie, he amended, “I mean it sounds like fun. I did some of that kind of work in the World Wars for the Allies, you know.”
“I admit I stayed far away from those clashes. Not that a Black woman would have been seen as much of an asset or an enemy back then,” Fiona said with a shake of her head.
“Humans are ridiculous about those things. But, then again, most species are. Us versus them. Who is safe and who is not. Very useful to stir up trouble,” Charlie remarked. “Not that I think they should ever be forgiven for disrespecting you, Fifi.”
Ryder frowned. Where had he heard that before?
The first part, not the last? He couldn’t quite remember.
While he was completely himself, memories were still skittish.
He’d lived mostly in the present anyways as Weryn, letting the past flow away like a river.
Memories distracted from present inputs and were, therefore, dangerous. He stood up.
“Khos will lead us to the city that is nearest,” Ryder said.
“Khos? They have names? Or are you just naming him?” Fiona asked, perking up.
“They have names. This is the closest we can come to pronouncing them,” he said.
“How far is that city?” Charlie lifted one mud-encrusted foot up.
“I’m afraid our clothes will be worse for wear after our trip,” Ryder answered. “Khos normally must take a rest period to get there.”
“Oh, wonderful,” Charlie replied mournfully.
Ryder indicated for Khos to lead the way. He turned and started loping into the forest. With their vampiric speed, it was only a light run for them so they could keep the Dire Wolf up for days and still speak easily.
“Fiona, you said you felt Grayson and Roan go when you teleported. Do you think they remained on Earth?” Ryder asked.
That had been his assumption, but what if he was wrong?
What if Grayson was out here in the Ever Dark wilderness somewhere?
His mind reached for Khos’. The Dire Wolf had not heard of any young, soft ones in the area.
Ryder shared Grayson’s scent with him. Khos would remember if he encountered his mate, but he had not so far.
“If I’m honest, I don’t really know. Thinking back on exactly what I felt, it seemed to me that Roan was like an anchor,” she said thoughtfully as stripes of darkness and light flowed over her as they raced underneath the canopy of trees. “I felt Grayson slip from me afterwards.”
“Meaning that Roan might have remained, but Grayson might have been teleported someplace else?”
That sounded infinitely worse.
She bit her lip and nodded. “That could have happened. It almost felt like my gift unraveled. I cannot explain it better than that.”
“So Grayson could be anywhere?” he clarified.
“Yes, he could be, but we arrived not long after him so perhaps… I don’t know!” She admitted with a fierce look. “I don’t even know where we are now. Normally, when I’m in the Ever Dark, I know where I am by the stars, but they aren’t right.”
Ryder frowned as he heard this. “Not right? What do you mean?”
“They aren’t in the right places,” she answered and bit his lower lip again. “They aren’t altogether unfamiliar to me. Somehow I feel like I know them, but I haven’t seen them in this life, Ryder.”
“So you know them from when you were Wyvern?” he clarified.
She nodded. “And I think I don’t like these stars.”
That alarmed him. “Are the stars different in each city?”
“They are,” she said. “And I haven’t been to every city yet. Most are locked. Some, like Lasting, I simply haven’t wanted to go, because Caemorn hasn’t been inclined to. I suppose I understand why. Lasting was Artemis’ playground. I’m sure he must have terrible memories from that time.”
“Yes, I’m sure he does,” Ryder said. “So these stars are from a city you haven’t been as Fiona, but knew as Wyvern. And there is something about them that makes you uneasy.”
“Exactly. But I can’t place where we are. The memories won’t come,” she said.
“That would indicate that the cities are on different parts of the globe if the stars are different, wouldn’t it?” Ryder asked.
“Perhaps. Or at different times,” she explained.
“The Ever Dark, other than Moonfall, appears frozen in time to me. On Earth, we know that the stars are not in the same locations they were in the night sky 1000 years ago due to the Earth’s rotation.
But in the Ever Dark that movement does not occur. The stars are where they are.”
“I see,” Ryder said. “The life cycle of creatures here is quite different as well. Most don’t die unless they are killed by another or by accident. And new births are rare.”
“I think that some things are allowed to move forward freely, but not everything,” she said.
As Weryn, he might have fully understood all of this at one point, or perhaps he hadn’t cared to.
It had not affected his hunts. It had not caused him any worry.
The sun stayed from the sky. There was eternal night.
And that was good. Now he had questions.
So many questions and wondered at how one life had changed everything so greatly.
“Khos is slowing down,” Ryder said as the Dire Wolf’s lope decreased to a slink.
“Oh, thank the gods, I do hate running. These shoes are squelching and pinching and are only truly for show,” Charlie wheezed though he could not possibly be out of breath.
They, too, slowed down and crept forward. Khos’ ears were flattened as they abruptly came to a complete halt. Ryder went up to his side as the others hung back. He sensed no life up ahead. It was strangely bereft of animal life.
Yet there were sounds.
And smells.
He closed his eyes and let his senses slip outwards again.
He heard grass being trampled under many clawed feet.
He heard a creak of bones and dried sinew rubbing together.
He smelled the sweet scent of rotting meat.
His eyelids flew open even as his heart started to race in his chest. He crept back to Fiona and Charlie, using his hands to indicate that they should whisper.
“Up ahead is an army,” Ryder said.
“An army?” Fiona’s brows furrowed. “But I don’t hear any–”
“Not that kind of army,” Ryder said.
“What kind then?” Charlie asked.
Grimly, Ryder said, “An army of the dead.”