Chapter 41
Benny
They ran until Benny struggled to breathe, and then they ran more. Askold lay atop Aurora’s back and groaned through rasped breaths. Every time Benny glanced over, he saw that the swelling on his face was getting worse by the minute, and he no longer looked like himself.
Sephyr and Vira flew beside them like black shadows that blew the air around their faces.
“How much further?” he gasped, pushing himself harder with each stride.
Vira let out a loud caw, and Benny looked ahead. The marshlands were slowly abating, and in the distance, the wreckage of a town lay ahead, alight with massive bonfires that lit up the buildings.
Rooftops had been torn off, and houses smashed, but there were people there, slowly working to rebuild the devastation left by the Jotnar.
He ran harder, and Aurora picked up her pace.
As they approached the town, a large man stepped into the middle of the path, blocking their way. He had richly colored skin that shone against the firelight and graying, curly hair.
“Who the fuck are you? And why do you have a Unipaca?” he grumbled with a deep, growly voice as they approached.
Vira and Sephyr shifted forms, and the man stepped back quickly, unsheathing his sword.
Benny gasped through ragged breaths, “Please, sir. We came to find our friend, Ojore, but my friend was stung by a giant mosquito on the way here. He needs help!”
The man watched them with narrowed eyes, turning his gaze to Askold on Aurora’s back. “Ojore, you say? Follow me.”
They followed the man into the village. Dozens of people were within, doing varying tasks to clean up the town. Benny also noticed that animals were helping amid the chaos.
Bears helped to lift heavy beams. Large, fluffy-looking wolves helped to pull heavy loads on carts. One wolf transformed into a human next to them and snarled as he watched them pass, his hands fisted alongside his nude body, mismatched colored eyes boring into them.
The man led them to a makeshift tent, where he opened the flap and called in, “We have another sting.” He looked back at them as he closed the flap and watched them, crossing his arms back over his chest.
Askold began to cough loudly. Benny felt his panic rise, and he looked at the man. “Will they be out soon?”
The flap opened to reveal a tall woman with long gray hair and mismatched eyes—one blue like the ocean in Umbrea, the other brown like the richness of the soil.
When her eyes met Benny’s, they carried the weight of wise years long lived.
He looked down to see a syringe in her hand, noticing a freshly inked black moth tattoo on her wrist.
“Who are you?” she asked with a thick accent that rolled off her tongue.
“Our friend, please. He was stung by a mosquito,” Benny pleaded, pointing to Aurora and Askold.
The woman’s wrinkled eyes shifted to Aurora, and she gasped, taking a step back. “Impossible,” she choked out.
Askold coughed once more, and the woman’s eyes moved to Aurora’s back. She took a hesitant step forward and asked Aurora, “May I approach, please?”
Aurora huffed loudly, flaring her nostrils, and the woman slowly walked to her side, peering at Askold. She looked at Benny. “I’ll need to inject him, and he’s going to pass out as a result. We’ll need to bring him into the tent after.”
Benny nodded before looking to Vira and Sephyr, who just watched the exchange.
The woman lifted Askold’s sleeve and plunged the needle into his shoulder. He let out a pain-filled scream and immediately blacked out, slowly slipping off Aurora’s back. Benny ran forward with Vira and Sephyr, and they caught him before his body slid to the ground.
They lifted him together and brought him into the tent. Benny looked over his shoulder at Aurora before the flap closed. “I’ll be back out in a minute.”
They set Askold on a makeshift cot of hay bales covered with a sheet. The woman placed her hand on Askold’s forehead and looked at them. “He’ll be okay. It’s going to take some time. You’re lucky you made it before his heart gave out.”
Benny felt exhaustion weigh down on him heavily, and he let out a ragged breath of relief.
He sat down on the ground beside Askold, his arms resting over his knees, and ran his filthy hands over his face.
He was covered in gore, and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he could smell just how awful the mess was on his clothing and skin.
“It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen Corvids and a human in Tuath. What brings you here?” the woman asked from the opposite side of the cot.
“We came to find our friend, Ojore. Is he here?” Benny asked, looking up at the woman.
“Aye, he’s here. You just met his cousin, Arzhel.
I’m Yepa, pack leader of the Lycanthropes.
Ojore had some friends arrive for him earlier today as well.
Glad to see one of our own had fared so well living in Joro.
We’ve heard awful things about that place.
” Yepa watched them with a worried smile forming on her face as she looked back at the tent flap.
“As you can see, we’ve had quite the run-in with the Jotnar.
But now with the Fae’s help, we’ll have more support. ”
Benny furrowed his brows. With the Fae’s help? How did they manage that? He glanced at Askold and saw that the swelling of his face was receding, and he was beginning to look more like himself.
“Your friend will be okay. Let’s get you to Ojore and check on your magnificent beast you have out there. May I ask, how did you befriend a Unipaca?” She looked back at Benny. “The Unipacas are very powerful, but they do not like mankind. They tend to stick to themselves.”
Benny pushed himself back onto his sore legs and shrugged. “She found us.”
Yepa walked to the flap and opened it, looking back at the others. “Coming?” she asked.
“I’ll stay here with Askold,” Vira said as she glanced back down at his sleeping form. “Sephyr will join you.”
Benny and Sephyr followed Yepa back outside the tent. Aurora stood outside, huffing and stomping her front foot at people who walked by and stared at her for too long.
Feisty thing, Benny thought as he neared.
“Thank you, Aurora. You saved Askold,” he said as he ran his hand over her fluffy back.
Her molten eyes met his, and she hummed in response.
They followed Yepa through the town, Aurora trailing behind them as she snorted at others watching them, her steps crunching into the dirt road.
“Ya know,” Yepa started. “We’re a community of shifters. The Corvids and Amaru were once considered our kin.” She peered over her shoulder at Sephyr. “But that was thousands of years ago, before the world shifted.”
“How do you know that?” Benny asked her, intrigue quickly slipping off his tongue.
The woman shrugged and chuckled. “We have stories that have passed down from generation to generation. They say angels were born for the Corvids and Amaru. Now we wait for our angel to find us, as well. All that remains of the Lycanthrope community are the Mauls and the Pack. We fear the world is shifting again, as the sun has failed to rise.”
Benny looked up at the twinkling stars above. He didn’t even know what time it was now.
“What do you mean?” he asked, looking back at her.
Yepa pursed her lips and said sharply, “Did you not realize? It should be early afternoon right now. But the moon lights up the sky, not the sun.”
He cleared his throat. This town just went through a lot.
Why would the sun not rise? He changed the subject, seeing that her irritation was growing.
“The Lycanthropes… Are the packs the canines, and Mauls the bears? And you’re a canine shifter, yes?
” Benny asked as he stepped over lumber scattered in the middle of the road.
“Aye,” she responded, her voice softening. “But we’re a community nonetheless amongst our two shifter breeds.” She looked at Sephyr. “Has your angel returned? I heard rumors. I wonder if she’s the reason for the moon’s everlasting glow.”
Sephyr pursed her lips but didn’t respond, instead choosing to look ahead at the dozens of people working.
They walked for a few blocks before stopping at a small house with a straw roof that looked like all the others. Yepa knocked on the creaky wooden door and stepped back.
“Who’s there?” a deep voice gruffed through the door. “I said I didn’t want to talk to anyone today.”
“You have company, Ojore,” Yepa replied.
The door swung open. “Sorry, Yep—” Ojore started, but froze when he saw Benny standing there. His eyes shifted to Sephyr. “Who the fuck are you?”
Sephyr’s lips curled into a smile before she pursed them back into a scowl. “Sephyr,” she replied.
“You one of those Corvid weirdos?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
Benny interrupted, “Yes, she is. We came for you. Askold is with us also, but he was stung on the way here. He’s healing now, thanks to Yepa here.” He pointed to the woman with his thumb. “Why the hell did you leave like that?”
“Get in here quick. Yepa, you need to hear this, also.” He held the door open, and they walked in, leaving Aurora right outside the door. He looked around a few times before closing the door behind them.
The small home was a disaster, greeting them with a thick animal smell. Mismatched furniture with tears and cabinets with doors hanging on hinges overwhelmed the space.
“Sorry for the mess,” Ojore said. “I lost my temper.”
Yepa gently smiled at him and sat on the small sofa. Benny sat in a chair in the corner that creaked under his weight, and Sephyr stood by the door.
Ojore paced back and forth, clenching his fists open and closed.
“What’s wrong, lad?” Yepa asked as she watched his hands unfurl.
He looked at Benny. “Where are Seda and Ael?” he asked.
“They traveled north to retrieve the Stone of Peace from some beast called La Uma,” Benny replied. “Why?”
Ojore growled and scratched at his curly beard, as if in irritation.
“Can you confirm that?” He looked at Sephyr. “Are the other Corvids with them?”