The Ancients E-Book

Natalie Virginia

• Herausgeber: via tolino media
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

BOOK ONE - promised series When a new family moves to Everett Valley, Catherine vows to find out what they are searching for in her secluded hometown that doesn't normally welcome new people. Catherine must choose between the council and her pack leader, her brother, once their safety becomes unstable and deaths rake through their home. When her Promised mate steps into her life with one, fiery sweep, he sets her life ablaze entirely. Leaving Everett Valley seems an easy choice, but life changing decisions never are. Especially because Catherine is connected to a much bigger war than the one sparking to life within Everett Valley's walls. And she certainly wasn't gifted with the power of controlling emotions for nothing. Even in war, emotions rule their leaders. And Catherine rules them all.

Leseprobe

Also written by Natalie Virginia

The Ancients – Book One

The Sentinels – Book Two

The Heretics – Book Three

Fragments

Black Raven (German Edition)

Copyright © 2022 Natalie Virginia

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN: 978-3-756540-49-5

This is a work of fiction. Any references to people, circumstances, or places are used fictitiously and a creation of the author’s imagination.

Front cover image and book design by: Charlotte Mallory.

First printing edition 2022.

The Ancients

A novel about the bonds of family, friendship, and love, all intertwined. Wrapped up in mystery, drama and humor, an adventure awaits you within the next pages.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX

XXI

XXII

XXIII

XXIV

XXV

XXVI

XXVII

XXVIII

XXIX

XXX

XXIX

XXXII

XXXIII

XXXIV

XXXV

XXXVI

XXXVII

XXXVIII

XXXIX

XL

XLI

XLII

XLIII

XLIV

EPILOGUE

D E D I C A T I O N

This is for you.

To find solace in who you are, grow and learn, despite others making you feel like you’re not good enough.

You are.

And you always will be for me.

-N

PROLOGUE

P U Z Z L E S

“Papa, I want to know! Please,” the four-year-old girl whined, pulling on her father’s sleeves. She pushed her bottom lip out.

“Mother won’t tell me––you have to!” 

She’d been asking to hear her dad’s story since he started talking to his wife, Iliria, about how he found Everett Valley, one of only a few towns hidden behind the Denhid Forest. And since they both had the tendency to lead those kinds of conversations in the kitchen rather than locked away in the study, Catherine as well as her brother, Reece, were bound to catch wind of it. Reece was standing in the living room, out of sight but close enough to see a part of the kitchen and hear what they were saying.

“Please, please, please!” Catherine continued to whine. A warm smile lit up Xenon’s face as he grabbed his little treasure and placed her on his lap. He caught his wife’s grin, who rolled her chocolate-brown eyes at Catherine’s impatience. Iliria sat just across from the two, on a bench pushed against a weathered, wood plank wall. The only thing between them was a round, oak table.

“Calm yourself, little one. Or else Papa won’t tell you”, Xenon said calmly.

The gold-blond haired girl threw her head back and groaned, not wanting to wait another second. 

Iliria chuckled, reaching across the table to run her hand through Catherine’s unruly hair. Her soft eyes reflected the warmth of her love. She tried smoothing out the tangled mess but to no avail––it was uncontrollable and couldn’t be tamed. Quite like the girl herself.

The eight-year-old boy, Reece, decided to join them in the kitchen, a small room that fit a large, cream-colored fridge, an old rusty stove, and two counter-pieces between the two. 

He stepped over Xenon’s long, outstretched legs. The sun’s golden rays shone through a small window above the stove on Xenon’s left, who was sitting in the centre of the room. The rays illuminated Reece’s handsome features.

Reece touched his sister’s shoulder and looked at her. “C, you need to be patient. You know, when you’re patient, you don’t have to wait so long.”

The little girl stared at her brother without answering. Both Xenon and Iliria glanced at their son, pride swelling in their chests. They knew his sister would always be in good hands when she was with him. They had raised him well.

“Alright, who would like to hear the story?” Xenon asked, levelling the pitch of his voice, enthusiasm leaking out of his words as he glanced between his son and daughter. 

Catherine’s face instantly lit up, her forest-green eyes sparkling expectantly up at his dark ones. They held more mysteries and stories in them than even Iliria, his own wife, could fathom. 

The pregnant mother of two stood up from the bench and took a few steps closer to where her husband was sitting. Her hands cradled her womb, a tingling warmth spreading through her when Reece placed his small hand on her stomach. When Xenon cleared his throat, Reece snapped his attention back to him.

Iliria listened, just as fascinated as her children, to what he was about to say. Despite his secrets, there was a deep connection between the two that tied their souls together. It wasn’t just a connection drenched with love; it was one that left scars behind should it ever be severed. It was the most sacred bond imaginable, and nothing exceeded its value. The separation of two interlocked souls was a fate worse than death.

“There was once a magical creature,” the man began, the excitement in his children’s faces reflected in his own as he started. He did love to tell stories. “And that magical creature fell in love with a beautiful woman.”

“What creature and what woman?” Catherine interrupted, bouncing on her father’s lap.

A warm chuckle rumbled through him. “Patience, daughter of mine. You mustn’t be greedy for more.” Xenon chastised. “However, their love was strictly forbidden. You see, the magical creatures had rules. And those rules had to be followed.” He glimpsed at his wife then. 

Catherine stirred, pulling his attention back to her. “What rules?”

“No magical creature was allowed to speak to anyone but his own kind.”

“Why?”

“Because, Catherine, rules always have a reason for existing. Without them, there would be chaos and destruction.”

Reece spoke up. “So, what happened to them?”

Xenon turned his gaze towards his son. The whole family was staring at him, waiting eagerly for him to continue.

“The magical creature left his home to be with his promised. He tried to bend the rules to be with the person he was meant to spend his life with.” He paused, clearing his throat. “Together, they searched for a place that the rest of Espheros couldn’t reach easily. After years of searching, they found Everett Valley. And do you know what makes Everett Valley so special?” Xenon tilted his head, waiting for Catherine to give him an answer. He was certain Reece already knew. 

“The mountains. I know, Papa! You and Mama tell us this every day,” she said, another impatient groan following. She wiggled on her father’s lap, causing him to grunt. 

“And why are the mountains important?” he asked.

Catherine stopped bouncing around and instead grew quiet. She thought, pushing her index finger into her cheek. “I don’t know. Because they’re big?” 

Xenon moved to look at his son. Reece gave him a triumphant smile. “I know! Because Everett Valley is hidden behind the mountains. They surround us, like... like a barricade!”

Another smile formed on Xenon’s face. “Exactly. Now, once they found Everett Valley, the creature and his love had a family. They wanted to grow old and wrinkly together.” 

Both Catherine and her brother laughed inwardly. 

“But after a while, the risk of being found was too great.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “And he had to go back home.”

☼

Xenon and Iliria Black had difficulties putting their children to bed that night, for Catherine kept asking questions that Iliria didn’t know the answers to. Xenon wasn’t going to give them, either. Reece, on the other hand, accepted his father’s silence and dreamt of his own theories. 

 Catherine had a hard time recovering from the story, even years later. 

Although she couldn’t understand everything her father had said, there was something about the story that had unnerved her and resonated deep within her mind.

Even though she would forget about most of her childhood memories as she grew in age, the story her father had told them would fester. It would anchor itself inside her soul. She wouldn’t remember the smile in her mother’s warm eyes nor her father’s handsome features. She wouldn’t remember her father at all.

It would be like a dream she had woken up from, one she would never be able to remember the details.

She would always feel an itch that never went away. A little piece of valuable information planted somewhere that would have to be found first

I

S H A D O W S

Stupid. Idiotic. Outrageous!

Yet everyone was acting as if nothing were wrong. As if there were no danger, no reason to be on edge. As if everything was completely fine and dandy. That wasn’t the case, however. At least not to me.

“Lighten up, Catherine. It isn’t the end of the world.” 

But that was exactly what it was!

I couldn’t find the right words to properly support my position, and as I looked around the kitchen of our family home, I tried to find something that might be a good example of why humans were nothing but an obvious danger for our kind. Then my gaze landed on a scented candle, and I thought about perfume; that obnoxious mixture of smells that assaulted all our noses.

Steering my thoughts back to the political matters of Everett Valley, I said, “Do you know that humans spray infused alcohol onto their skin to smell better?”

When Emmet refused to indulge in my attempt to explain how strange they truly were, frustration became evident in my tone. “Seriously, how can I be the only one who is floored by the idea of them moving here?” 

My brother turned his shaggy mane of light brown hair to me and nodded. He raised his bushy eyebrows. “You’re not. I am weary as well. I just don’t hate them as much as you do.”

I huffed. “Well. I don’t hate them. I just strongly dislike their morals,” I muttered, pushing out my bottom lip childishly. Grabbing the little candle from the middle of the table, I fiddled around with the unlit candle wick. 

Emmet sighed. “I knew about the infused alcohol though. Obviously.”

Rolling my eyes, Emmet ruined a hopeful moment of me teaching him something new. Emmet always knew everything before anyone else did. “Obviously,” I snorted. “Having a memory like yours just isn’t fair,” I groaned, wishing we could swap our gifts. Mine sucked.

Then again, not everyone had a gift at all.

My thoughts wandered back to the actual matter at hand––the council allowing new humans to settle into town. Ever since someone on the council leaked new information on the foreigners, the residents of Everett Valley had been thrown into a haste of different opinions. Me included. I’d never witnessed someone move to Everett Valley before because we were extremely secluded. Having new people arrive here raised all sorts of questions.

“Still! Humans do more questionable than logical things if you ask me. And I can’t just not talk about it. How could the council even allow them to come? It has chaos written all over it!”

Emmet breathed in and sighed deeply, probably annoyed at me for re-starting the conversation about council affairs. He never cared much for them.

He’s annoyed with me again.

We sat there for a moment in silence. My sight wandered to the weeping willow that stood in the middle of a huge field of wild grass, just behind the kitchen window. It reminded me of my childhood when we spent countless hours running around and climbing it. Hiding away in the hanging leaves and branches, pretending to be somewhere else.

On the thickest branch that reached almost entirely to our porch––like an arm grabbing a hold of the house––were three initials carved into its bark. Calmly looking up into the sky, I refused to let the memory sink deeper than it already had. Now was not the time to dwell on past happenings.

Grey clouds loomed above, covering the sun like a bad omen. I could smell the soft, damp aroma of fresh rain in the air. A gust of wind blew through the window, straight into the kitchen. Scattered across the glass were dirty flecks of something. Dirt, maybe? Or grease?

There were faint whispers laced with a strange echo I had never heard before. It was probably a few younglings in the forest running about. Still, it made me uneasy.

The window was the only source of natural light in the small room we called a kitchen. Beneath it were two counter-pieces. Small and practical, the entire room was furnished fittingly. Being very open it allowed entry through two arches. In the back, the rounded arch lead into the hallway.

Looking at the hallway wall, pictures of us siblings hanging there, something dark, like multiple, slithering shadows snaked across the wall. Tearing my eyes open, I wondered what it was. Slow and tantalising it crept higher and higher, putting me into a trance-like state as I watched it climb all the way to the ceiling. 

Was that smoke? No. There was no fire to cause it. But what was it?

Closing my eyes shut, I shook my head and re-opened them. I frowned. The shadows, smoke, or whatever it was, was gone. 

Huh.

That was strange. Perhaps I had just imagined it. 

Emmet’s voice brought me back into a reality I would have liked to stray from a little while longer. “The council’s votes must have been in their favor. I suspect Jonathan had his hand in it.” 

I frowned. “Jonathan?” 

What would Jonathan want with more human residents?

Emmet moved to the counter, leaned over it, and opened the previously tilted window. 

A strong gust of wind hurled into the kitchen and blew into my face. Its touch instantly caused my skin to prickle. Breathing in deeply, I let the smell of rain wash over me again. I loved rain. There was nothing more soothing than the cool air and the quiet, humming sound of the drops drizzling against the wooden walls of our home.

Emmet sat back down. “Because, as a representative of the Immortals, having more humans in our community means more resources. You know how Jonathan is.” 

Frowning again, I stared at him. What did a blood-consuming, half-dead-half-alive immortal being want with more resources? I still wasn’t following... 

Raising his eyebrows Emmet said, “As in food?”

He made it sound like I was daft. 

I moved to punch his arm, almost falling from the bench as I leaned towards him. When I landed the punch, I sat back down. “Then I guess I have my answer. Immos vote for more humans, humans vote for more humans. Leaves us shifters to deal with the inevitable mess it will cause.” 

Groaning, I tried to keep my emotions balanced. 

I’m not supposed to get emotional. It won’t do anyone any good. 

A few strands of his wavy hair fell into Emmet’s boyish face when he nodded. Eighteen winters old but still no five o’clock shadow. One would think that as a wolf shifter, males grew facial hair earlier than those naked human men. But Emmet? His case was hopeless.

“Anyway, Emmet, tell me why you don’t have a––” I stopped mid-sentence. 

With a loud, ear-piercing craackkk, glass shattered in the distance. Fear pumped into my system almost instantly. 

“What do you think that was? Reece throwing down mother’s vases again?” Emmet’s light, careless tone only made the panic worse. 

“Reece isn’t here,” I deadpanned.

Both Emmet and I looked at each other for the shortest of moments before we both jumped up and ran out of the kitchen. Emmet knocked down his chair, the sound of wood hitting wood reverberating through the walls. It was soon replaced with the frantic beat of my heart, drumming in my ears.

“What the hell––” Emmet started but never finished. Just when I passed the threshold to the hallway, I saw my brother fly several meters along the wall and crash onto the wooden floor. Trying to register what just happened, panic washed through me in a new, stronger wave.  

I watched him fall, almost as if it’d happened in slow motion. The front-door behind him was ajar. 

Those locks the humans invented might have been useful after all. 

I turned back to the patio doors when something punched me in the face. Hard. My vision shattered. The force of the hit sent me flying to the ground, my back colliding with the hard floorboards. I gasped. The air was completely knocked out of my lungs with a painful sting that went through my entire ribcage. My nose throbbed as thick, dark liquid ran down the side of my mouth. My stomach churned once the coppery taste of blood clouded my senses. After a few moments of heavy coughing, I began to swallow more blood in my mouth. 

I hated the taste of it and spat out as much as I could, utterly disgusted.  

A figure stepped into my view then. Another slow, cold feeling of raw fear went through me and immobilized my body. The ghost of a person loomed over me, standing almost two meters tall. I couldn’t move, even if I’d wanted to.

The shadow’s towering height only magnified the panic coursing through my body. He had a dark grey, torn hood pulled down that covered half of his face. The other half should have been visible. 

But it wasn’t. 

Dark shadows that looked like thick, black smoke, lingered beneath his hood in a sinister display of menace. It had been him. In the hallway. I hadn’t imagined it. The same shadows hid his face and formed one at the same time. When I realized that the smoke began to resemble a skull, a scream travelled through my throat and came out as a pathetic croak.

A hissing sound surrounded him yet seemed to come from every direction. I couldn’t tell if he was the source or if he was causing it somehow. 

Ssssssk. Sskkkkk. Clack. Ssssssk.

Sneaking around the lower part of his face, the shadows made it impossible to see what was beneath. It was some sort of magic I’d never seen before. It was so surreal, I started questioning the level of my sanity and wondered if my mind was playing tricks on me.

How––What the––

Before I could utter a word––if it had even been possible––I watched as his fist smashed into my face a second time, unable to react. Blind pain seared through my cheekbones and spread throughout my entire skull. 

I screamed as loud as I could. The gut-wrenching pain made white dots obstruct my vision and my head spin. Blackness obscured my vision. My agonizing screams faded.

The last thing I saw was a grey, torn, and ragged cloak sweep across the hall and out of the shattered doors that led to the patio. The figure disappeared into the darkness of the forest what seemed only a split second later, smoke dancing around his body as if he were aflame.

Finally, I welcomed the darkness––and forgot all the pain and fear.

II

G I F T E D

I heard muffled sounds before anything became visible. Turning from seeing the backrest of the sofa to look at my brothers, I noticed they were both standing in front of me. It didn’t feel like I’d been out long. However enough time had passed that Reece, my older brother, had returned home. Damn, my entire face throbbed.

“What do you mean he just walked in and knocked you out?” Reece, as usual, was agitated and on edge. I could barely concentrate on his words, for a searing pain sizzled through my jaws like acid moving through my bloodstream. It hurt.

Holding a bloodied, wet cloth in between the palms of his hands, Reece whipped it around in the air as he spoke. Reece’s shoulder-length black hair swayed. 

He paced up and down the small space between the creme-colored couch I was on, and the armchair Emmet stood in front of. Emmet shuffled, exhausted. “I’ve told you four times what happened. I don’t know what else to say!” He threw up his arms and let them fall to his side again. The impact of Emmet’s distress and Reece’s frustration was as relieving as it was smooth. It slithered slowly onto my radar. Only intense emotions turned into a whirlwind of chaos in which sorting them out became increasingly difficult, especially because my core acted like a magnet and drew everything in without filtering anything. Detecting less intense feelings was more like being trapped out in the ocean. One could float on its surface and barely notice the rippling waves, but when the ocean grew angry and the waves would start thrashing, anyone would notice the difference.

 As much as I wanted to influence the ones floating in the air––mostly so I could be free of them––I refrained from meddling. My brothers both didn’t appreciateit whenever I did. Apart from that, I wasn’t sure I would have been able to, considering my jaws kept pulling my attention to the painful throb, pulsating in my ears.

“What the hell do we do if he decides to come back?” Reece said, his agitation growing.

“We haven’t even started any physical training yet”, Emmet remarked darkly, referring to the After-Iarhus training that all those who finished their education underwent to be assessed and then given a fitting job.

“You’re not done with classes at the Iarhus, though”, Reece answered.

“I’ll just drop out and start with training right away.”

Reece huffed at Emmet. “You know everything already anyway, so I guess that makes sense. If we go to the council with this, I lose control over what happens. I don’t know what to do, really, but getting some combat training would surely help a little.”

“We should be able to trust that the council will do whatever they can to protect us, even if they keep us in the dark about it,” Emmet argued.

Reece disagreed. “I don’t trust the council to do anything not in their own interest, these days. Letting those humans into our borders proves that.”

I nearly clapped happily at that, glad that I wasn’t the only one in the family opposed to the drastic change that awaited us.

Reece’s tone changed, then, and the mood darkened. “You both could have died today. And I won’t risk the council silencing this to avoid the fact it happened, as they usually deal with problems. I can’t risk them undermining my authority if I want to intensify the training regime. You, Catherine, will start with combat too, as soon as possible. If he comes back, which he very well might, you ought to be better prepared.”

Nodding silently, I tried to find my inner calm. Withdrawing myself, especially because Reece was making me feel more afraid now, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then I changed spheres––kind of like levels of consciousness––and stared deep into my emotional signature. It was a light, faded blue color of mist that surrounded my body and filled it at the same time, but couldn’t be seen except by me whenever I changed spheres. At the core of the mist there was a little midnight blue drop, shaped like a tear. As my mind touched it, a deep sense of tranquility washed through my entire soul and turned the mist surrounding me a dark, blue. 

The energy it required to grab and hold on to tranquility began to leak out of me. 

Though I was drained and exhausted, I felt a sense of pride that my will and influence had worked. Had I panicked, all three of us would have spent the rest of the day losing our minds over what had happened. I felt slightly dizzy when I looked up to my now arguing brothers. 

Suddenly, a cold grip of fear tried to break through. Concentrating once more, I forced myself to withdraw and search for the fickle emotion that began to create doubt inside my concrete walls. The dark stain of fear threatened my emotions, trying to break into a stronghold that took years to build. 

I had to keep everything separated like oil and water, or else they blended, and bubbles of slick, negative emotions would become mixed with the smooth liquid of my positive feelings. 

So, I tried to get the fear out. The stain of black in my cobalt-colored ocean––but like sand, every attempt at filtering it ended up slipping through my fingers. Everything demanded to be felt, even if I was able to put in a forced pause; there was no deleting an emotion, not even if I could stare at every detail of it.

I nearly plumped back into the cushions, the exhaustion of trying to manipulate emotions overwhelming me. My jaws continued to hurt and my face burned.

Returning to the normal world, I left my own just behind my barricades. When I spoke, small jolts of pain went through my cheekbones and jaw. That hooded figure had broken half of my face. The bastard. 

“Whoever it was is long gone. He or she had their face masked, somehow, so I’m guessing they didn’t leave a trace to follow either,” I said with a feigned calm voice, trying hard to pretend that I was okay. 

“For heaven’s sake, have you seen yourself?” Reece screeched, as if he’d only just seen me now. Furrowing my brows, I looked up at him. 

“Do I look that bad?” I asked hoarsely, my vocal cords scratching. 

Reece practically shoved the bloody rag into my face. “This is from your forehead. You didn’t have any bruises all over your face when I got home. Now, you look like Emmet when he’s finished in the bathroom,” he said, waving the rag in front of me. Chuckling at his comparison, I threw a glance at Emmet, who huffed annoyedly. “It’s the damn mirror,” he muttered. 

“Emmet, how the hell is it possible she didn’t have any bruises before but now her whole face is full of those ghastly splotches of color?” 

Though I was slightly offended at Reece’s very delicate description, I wondered the same. Emmet didn’t take long to answer, since his special ability was flawless remembrance. “The force of the hit was strong enough to cause small blood cells underneath your skin to pop. Once these cells pop, or rupture, you can see the dead blood cells beneath your skin. Depending on how hard the blow is, they don’t always appear right away. It’s like a decomposing body. When it’s dead, the blood is still warm. It takes a while for everything to completely die if you know what I mean.” 

Reece scrunched his nose. “Why do you always have to make things sound so disgusting?” he huffed, “Well anyway. C, you’re right, there was no trace to follow. Even more reason to be prepared for the future”, Reece snapped, clearly not experiencing the impact of my calm I’d hoped he would. 

I glanced to Emmet, who wasn’t shuffling around anymore and instead lazily lay slumped into the armchair like he’d just done some heavy lifting. His arms were outstretched on both arm-pieces of the chair and his legs spread widely, the tips of his toes almost touching the little, glass coffee-table that stood in the middle of the set. 

“I came home and saw nothing but you two lying unconscious on the floor.” Reece turned his head, his glare now directed at me. “With blood all over your face. Do you have any idea how terrifying it is to come home to something like that?” 

He whipped the blood-red cloth in the air as he gesticulated with his hands.

I was going to tell him to stop doing that––I could almost see the blood from the rag spray onto the walls––but I refrained from doing so.

He’ll just have to clean it if it does.

“I scoured the entire house and tried to sniff out his scent but got nothing. Absolutely nothing!” And thwakk, a few drops of blood now stained the wall behind him. 

Sighing, I glared at him. “Look at what you just did!” 

Opening my mouth hurt a little. I tried moving my jaw to the left and right, in circular motions, to try and release the pressure. The healing had already kicked in––but breaking a jaw still hurt like hell. 

Reece glanced at the wall and turned his head back to me. Wrinkling his nose and pulling his eyebrows together, he tried hard not to let himself grin. “Oops.”

Outraged, I stared at him with my mouth slightly agape. The grin on Reece’s face clearly won. “I’ll clean it?” 

☼

All three of us sat in the kitchen, trying to figure out which courses of action we were to take. Though this classified as a matter that our mother should have been part of––Reece still firmly stood with his opinion that alerting the council was losing control and since we were directly involved, he wouldn’t let that happen. It was safe to say that he was frustrated. 

“I don’t trust the council. All they’re capable of is sitting in Council Hall and debating how many quiles will be distributed to the three sections. As if money were the most important thing in the world.” He huffed. ”I will need to talk to Jarred. At least I have a damn beta.” He pulled his brows together, wrinkling his forehead, and closed his eyes. They continued to move underneath his eyelids, like a person asleep but dreaming. 

It was the weirdest thing about Reece––and Reece wasn’t exactly ordinary. Well, technically, none of us were, even for shifter-standards. 

Glancing up to the old analogue clock hanging over the small fireplace, I realized I was running late. The clock made an irritating mechanical sound. Another one of those inventions humans came up with. I couldn’t understand, for the life of me, why mother found use in those things. Judging the time of day by the position of the sun would suffice. Return home before nightfall, go to your classes after first-light. Goodness! That reminded me. I was really late! 

“Emmet, you’re still taking history class, aren’t you?” Maybe if Emmet came along Kendra wouldn’t grill me about being late.

The sudden change of conversation left Reece completely unfazed. Still sitting on the kitchen-bench, his face was strained. One vein stood out––one in the middle of his forehead that stopped between his brows.

“I’m not, actually. Decided to drop it last week,” he answered to my dismay. “Wasn’t necessary to attend anymore. They’ve been talking about how Everett Valley’s council works time and time again. They’ve started repeating themselves, probably because their knowledge doesn’t reach any further than the books they’ve read. By now I suspect I know as much as they do.” Emmet rolled back his eyes, closing them, and held his hands as if to keep them from shaking. “I can’t believe we were attacked.” 

A wave of anxiety became tangible around us and before my nature could suck it into me, I slammed my walls up. 

No, no, no. I’m calm. I’ll stay calm. I will be calm. 

Emmet continued. “Reece is right. We couldn’t even fight back. I’ve never felt so hopeless and defenseless in my life.” 

I crunched out my next words as fluently as I could. “Well. Anyway. I––I need to get to it. I’m supposed to meet... uh, with Kendra. In the park. To prepare before it starts.” 

Quickly standing up from one of two chairs, I glanced at my eldest brother. Reece was still withdrawn, not paying much attention to his surroundings. When I turned to Emmet, his body still trembled slightly. 

I placed my hand on his shoulder and watched as he relaxed. “We’ll train with each other and do our best during training with our elders. We’ll be fine.”

Nodding, Emmet sucked his lip between his teeth and released it. He took a deep breath and looked at me. “Alright, alright.”

I wish I could have believed my own words. The charade of downplaying what had happened. 

But in truth––I was terrified. 

Terrified that it would come back and finish what it started. Had it wanted to kill us? To torture us? What was it after?

Whatever it was, I hoped to all the gods willing to listen that the shadows wouldn’t attack again.

III

A F T E R M A T H

Walking down a wide, gravel road, I hummed silently. After a while, I reached the first few houses of our neighbourhood. They were all wooden constructions, each of them the same as the next. Before my habitual rumination over the architecture, my mother’s figure appeared in the distance. My heartbeat sped up and my brain instantly went into problem-solving mode. How was I going to explain all the bruises? 

“Hello, Mother,” I greeted once she was within earshot. Though she looked at me, the way her face was cold and distant, it seemed that she was more likely staring right through me. 

“Busy day?” I asked when she didn’t say anything. 

Her hair shone red as the sun touched her from behind, illuminating her silhouette as it outlined each edge, curve, and line as if she were an intricate painting. She was truly beautiful even though her plump lips weren’t curved upwards and her eyes weren’t smiling. Her features were delicate and the auburn shade of her hair made her pale skin glow. 

Nodding, she briefly closed her eyes. The distance felt gone then, but returned as soon as she reopened them. “Yes, very. Where are you going?” Her voice was feminine and held a calm melody. Though even in her words I could hear a distance that only ever got replaced by resentment. Thinking back to my bruises I wondered if the healing-process had already kicked in. Couldn’t Mother see the blotches of color staining my face? According to Reece, they were hard to miss. 

“I’m heading to the Iarhus. I have class soon.”

She nodded again, very slowly, which only empathized the tired look on her face. I would have liked to ask her about her day in more detail, but I wasn’t ready to be shot down. As much as I felt with her, I couldn’t deal with more distance. More pain. 

“You should be preparing before it starts. Why aren’t you already there?”

Where her voice had been melodic and calm, it now carried a feathery whisk of disapproval. Like a song with a sad melody but aiming words. Her words aimed at my heart, ready to plunge into it and make it feel the way her own heart must have felt. 

Fiddling around with my hands, I wasn’t sure how to answer. “I’m just running a bit late.” 

“I bought that clock in the living-room for a reason,” she shot back, arching an eyebrow. 

Aimed and hit. 

“Yes, Mother.” 

She turned and walked away without sparing me a single glance. Rooted to the spot, I wanted to continue my way to the Iarhus as if nothing were amiss. As if I didn’t feel like my heart hurt. I wanted to walk away like she did. 

“Learn to be punctual, Catherine. It’s a virtue, an important one. You’ll do well to remember that.” 

When I turned around I expected to meet her cold stare but instead she had her back turned to me and continued her way home. She hadn’t even asked about the bruises. Touching my cheeks, I checked to see if they were already healed. When I found three spots that hurt by lightly running over them with my fingertips, the pain in my heart proved greater. 

Clenching my hands to fists, as if they would actually protect me, I huffed. What did I expect?

Trying to talk myself into letting my mother’s nonchalance go, I passed through a small part of the woods and quickened my pace when I finally managed to drown out thoughts about my mother. Jogging the rest of the way, I soon reached the end of our section. I continued down a steep hill that overlooked the human part of town. It was much more colorful than the neighbourhood beside it––the Immortals’ section. The liveliest area in Everett Valley, its streets bustled with human life. The town was drenched in the colors of diversity. Where there was one house painted in a burgundy red, the house next to it was a forest green. The neighbourhood was one canvas with all the colors of the painter’s palette. 

It seemed out of this world, so different as it was. But it mirrored the human principles like looking at one’s reflection in still waters. They were known for their artistry, their creative inventions, and their busy way of life, trying to find a balance between it all. Staring down at it, comparing it to the spacious living style of our section, I admired humans in that regard. Their capability of adapting, of progressing and living with so many differences was prodigious. Still, with it came an arrogance and a strong belief of being superior.

As I reached the border from our section to theirs, I took a step over the threshold and walked through an invisible barrier. The protection barrier. Instantly, the atmosphere shifted and wasn’t as lush and nature-soaked like ours. Strange aromas wafted in the air instead, carried by a soft breeze. I smelled cinnamon mixed with peppermint and cardamom. A small hint of lemongrass reached my nose, ultimately creating a boom of smells that tasted both good and bad. 

At the end of the street, one that was stubbornly straight and cut off from where the bustling life began, was a junction. The junction was like the entrance––either it led to the Iarhus, a building that stood on neutral grounds to my left, or if one wanted to reach the Immortals section by passing through human grounds, the street continued straight ahead. On my right, the mundane section bloomed with an explosion of artists. 

I crossed the junction with quick steps and finally entered Iarhus grounds. Another protection barrier needed to be passed here, since the Iarhus stood on neutral soil and was a place that utilized the council’s magic. If the barriers weren’t here, teaching the three races simultaneously would not have been possible. The magic in the barriers pumped a spell through the crossers blood that kept their feral instincts dormant. If it didn’t, shifters would attack humans and Immortals would fight shifters. 

Without needing to scour the place, I already spotted a curly mess of hair sitting on the surface of a round, stone table. Breathing heavier than usual, I smiled as my Maecena turned around to face me.

“What’s happened to your face?” Kendra asked incredulous, her wide doe eyes staring straight at me.

Caught off guard, I had halfway started to believe that they might not have been visible after all. A stabbing pain in my chest nearly caused me to tear up. How little my mother truly cared...  

Slipping my half-open bag over my shoulder, the contents sprawled out on the table. Once I hopped onto it, I sat beside Kendra, workbooks and pencils all around us. 

A strong breeze hurled our hair into every direction, causing me to shudder with the sudden coolness of the air. It was a serene atmosphere that surrounded us––one that didn’t mirror the chaos brewing inside me. I let my gaze wander to the freshly planted trees that stood in a row reaching the Iarhus. Here, the atmosphere wasn’t similar to the one in our section or the human one. Since it was neutral, it contained a little bit of all three races. It wasn’t lush nor was it full of spices. It also didn’t emanate the odor of old age. It much more smelled like a weathered house out in the woods, residue of an earlier time smothered in between the wooden planks of its walls. 

“In all honesty, C, talk to me. What happened? Did someone punch you?” 

Unfortunately, Maecenas didn’t give up easily, especially not mine. We’d been bonded since childhood––which had led to our souls interlocking and forming the Maecena-Bond. Bonds, in the shifter community, were like creativity and art for humans and immortality for the Immortals. We couldn’t survive without the bonds of our family and friends. Even if I’d lied, she would have seen through me.

Finally, I turned my head back to my persistent friend whose curls were being blown into my face.

“Something hard hit me,” I said, moving to get her hair out of my lashes. She flipped it to her right and held it back while another gust of wind blew.

Well, it wasn’t that far from the truth, actually. “I don’t really want to talk about it. Give me some time and I’ll come to you, alright?”

“You know you can talk to me, right?” Kendra still peered at me with those big, brown eyes as if she were looking straight into my soul. So different from the look with which my mother walked through the world. 

Freckles dotted Kendra’s nose and part of her cheeks. “I’m your Maecena for a reason. I know when something’s wrong without needing to see it. Something bad happened a few hours ago, I know it. I felt it then and you’re displaying the evidence in your face, now.”

Trying to keep the ocean inside of me calm, just a stone’s throw away from breaking into a storm, I tried to give her a reassuring smile. My smile faltered, however, when I noticed the internal struggle brewing inside of her. She battled silently with curiosity and concern, knowing that I wasn’t ready to talk. 

Exhaling, Kendra quickly washed away the struggle. I couldn’t feel what it was––which usually meant that she’d masked her feelings not with other emotions but by preoccupying herself with other thoughts. Thoughts, unfortunately, were something I couldn’t read. 

“Alright, fine. Take your time, then.” 

Nodding silently, I could no longer hold her gaze. Instead, I looked back at the trees. They threw tall, bulky shadows behind them. They reminded me of the ones that had attacked me, not long ago. I still felt residue of that shattering fear––residue that threatened to resurface.

Kendra noticed the heavy air around us and quickly managed to pull me out of my haunting thoughts. “Have you seen them yet?”

Seen who?

Staring at her, the confusion must have been written on my face. Kendra opened her mouth as if outraged that I wasn’t catching on. “Seriously? Everyone has been talking about them!” 

“Uh...” I said lamely.

She threw her arms into the air. “C! The settlers. The ones that you’ve been cussing about the entire last week ever since someone leaked the information? Ring any bells?” 

It took me another few seconds until it finally clicked, and I realized what she was talking about. Yes, of course! The humans. How could I have forgotten about them? “I thought it was like a family of at least four or five men,” I answered nonchalantly, lifting my head so the sun shone directly onto my skin. The warmth that hit my pale face felt good.

I inhaled and exhaled steadily. No, I didn’t want to think about those people. I didn’t want to think about anything. The last time I had gotten worked up about it, I was knocked out cold. I couldn’t talk about this, not now when it was all so fresh. So, my sight was locked on what was in front of us. The Iarhus. At least one thing that could let me forget, even just for a little while. 

The Iarhus yard was about as large as the Iarhus itself––it fitted around fifty people, no more than that. Considering Everett Valley had a large chain of mountains surrounding our town, our numbers weren’t high to begin with. 

Seeing a new face here was about as rare as our human scholars inventing something useful.

And then something tore me out of my observations like a cool blade slicing through the air.

I shifted uncomfortably on top of the table, trying to listen to the sounds of which origin I could not pinpoint. They were like whispers in the wind, in accents and dialects I had never heard before. My hearing ability was normally good enough to hear sounds from great distances, one of the many perks of having an animal side. Now, however, the voices didn’t seem like the normal sounds my hearing was able to process. 

And that’s when it struck me. Those voices sounded just like what I had heard, moments before the attack.

Frantically I looked back and forth, color draining from my face as my heart stopped and pumped ice through my veins when it continued.

Then, like a light-switch being turned off, everything inside my head went silent. The voices were gone.

Am I going crazy?

I needed to pull myself together. There was no one here. There couldn’t be. The Protection barriers would repell whatever he was, since he wasn’t an Immortal, human or a shifter. He couldn’t come here.

“What do you think being with your promised is like?” Kendra piped up suddenly, turning her head to me. She looked at me, almost dreamily, as she averted her gaze and continued looking into the distance. “I imagine it being pure gold.”

I frowned at her comparison, caught a off guard by her statement. I tried to drown out my terror and focused on Kendra. She liked to pop out questions that came out of nowhere. She often just said exactly what came into her head without filtering any of it. It was a trait of hers I was still trying to get used to. “What do you mean, pure gold?” To me, pure gold was a type of metal, nothing more. Or it was the color of compassion. How would finding one’s promised be compassionate or like metal? I was glad that her strange inquiry distracted me enough to feel less tense.

“Like all the light in the world. Rich and valuable. Something to treasure. What if Holden were your promised? Do you think it would feel different than it does now?”

I took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on giving her an answer. I didn’t really know what Holden and I were––two pack mates that had more than just a friendly affection towards each other?

---ENDE DER LESEPROBE---