Chapter 4: Foes From Hell
Hey guys this is probably the last time I'm going to put an authors note at the beginning I'm just getting kinda tired of it. Well anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.
Midnight was proud of what his son had done. It took a ton of courage for him to face the girl he loved like that. He was starting to seem more and more like his old man, and the thought of that made Midnight smile. But that night, as he laid down Midnight could feel something was wrong. The close call with the shadow stalker had him on edge for the rest of the day but this was different, it was a very unsettling feeling, like he had a lose end that needed to be tied.
As soon as he closed his eyes he fell into a dead sleep. Which was unusual because he like to lay awake for a while before going to sleep. Then his dream began. He saw himself just standing in the middle of an open field. No one around him, no trees, just miles of open plains. The grass was low and soft, blowing only slightly in the breeze as I passed by.
Midnight felt the energy of the land, he had been here before. He could not remember ever seeing this place, but he had been there. He could feel it, it was like a part of him was left in the land and he was coming back to retrieve it. Again he remembered the feeling of the loose end and tried to bring together his thoughts. That's when the sky began to pull away. All of the blue sky and clouds were just melted away leaving only blackness and, and, the eyes.
It were the most nightmarish eyes that Midnight had ever seen. He hoped that he would never see them again, and that was one year ago. For the second time the hazy purple, red, and black eyes beamed down at him freezing him in his tracks. Dread and fear overcame him as he began to remember that horrible nightmare of an opponent. He shook his head trying to shake the thought but he couldn't.
"Remember me Midnight," a deep voice bellowed through the valley.
"No, no we killed you, you were dead," Midnight screamed.
"You may have killed Nightshade, but you aren't quick enough to ever stop the Oculos Mortis," he laughed.
"Your wrong, I stopped you before and I will damn sure stop you again," Midnight growled.
"Fool, no can kill Mortem, I am death," he laughed. Midnight could feel the eyes burning images of death and destruction into his mind. He shook his head ferociously, trying to get rid of them.
"Get out of my head," he shouted before shooting awake wit sweat pouring down his body. He was thankful that he hadn't woken up anyone in the den and walked to the edge to gaze up at the moon. It was shining brightly in the sky, reminding him of the time when he and Lilly had first met.
He sighed quietly and thought about the dream. Was it real or just his mind playing tricks on him? He didn't know, but the image of those eyes terrified him. The last time he saw them was when he fought Nightshade a year earlier.
"What's wrong Midnight," asked Humphrey as he walked up beside Midnight.
"Just a bad dream, but, I think it was more than that," Midnight admitted.
"What do you mean? What was it," Humphrey asked.
"I saw… I saw those horrible eyes that Nightshade had, I thought for sure it was him but a voice told me its name was Mortem, and that I could not kill Oculos Mortis," Midnight said shakily.
"In English please," Humphrey replied in confusion.
"They are old Latin words, his name Mortem it means death, and Oculos Mortis, it means eyes of death," Midnight explained.
"I feared this would happen," Ricoh said to the two as he emerged from his slumber.
"What do you mean," asked Midnight, a little shocked to see his brother awake.
"You may have killed Nightshade but you didn't kill the root of his power the Oculos Mortis. It is a very dark force, almost as bad as the dark phoenix. All of those who have seen the Oculos Mortis will never forget it, and it can be used as a weapon to stop opponents in their tracks. I was hoping that it wasn't able to escape but it looks like it did," Ricoh sighed as he sat beside Midnight. Every one of his fears was coming true, and it would be nearly impossible to stop it.
"So how do we stop him, or it, or whatever the hell Mortem is," Humphrey asked.
"I can honestly say that I don't know, he is death so we can't kill him, plus we don't even know where he is," Ricoh shrugged. Midnight's eyes widened and he gulped loudly as a thought shot into his head.
"You don't think that maybe, he is hiding somewhere in the underworld," Midnight asked quietly. Ricoh's eyes widened and he looked over at his brother.
"As much as I don't want to believe that he is, it would make sense, that would explain how the shadow stalker got out," Ricoh said shakily.
"I don't want to do this, but I think I should go to the underworld, just to make sure, and guys, keep an eye on Draco. He has part of the phoenix inside of him so chances are he will have a partial memory of those eyes," the two wolves nodded and Midnight walked back to Lilly and licked her on the cheek.
"When she wakes up tell her why I left, and while I'm gone I want you guys to watch after the pack for me,"
"Anything for you brother," Ricoh nodded.
"I'll do my best," agreed Humphrey.
"I'm glad my pack is in safe paws, I must go now if Mortem is down there the other phoenix's will need help taking him on," Midnight walked to the edge of the den and waved one last goodbye before a column of fire engulfed him and in a flash he was gone.
"Damnit," Humphrey cursed and stormed from the den.
"What's wrong Humphrey," Ricoh asked rushing after him. Humphrey just shook his head in anger and frustration.
"I was hoping that I would get to raise my pups in a place where there was no war, and what's even worse is I'm too weak to defend them if anything happens," Humphrey dug his claws into the ground and started to cry.
"It's so humiliating to know that Kate is the only one who can protect our pups," he cried. Ricoh just looked at his friend and nuzzled him.
"Humphrey, I can see where you're coming from, and even though I do not have a family of my own, I can see why you are frustrated but trust me, if you can find someone to help you I promise you can get stronger. I bet even this pack would be willing to take you into some of their classes and help train you," Ricoh said in hopes of cheering up his friend. Humphrey un-dug his claws and breathed shakily.
"But I don't want everyone to know that I'm weak, so what if, what if you taught me," Humphrey said hopefully. Ricoh was surprised at first but then smiled at his friend.
"Of course I will Humphrey," he said happily. Humphrey smiled and returned his friends nuzzle.
"Thanks Ricoh, I will try my hardest," Humphrey said sniffling.
"Anything for a friend," Ricoh replied smiling.
"But could you do me a favor and not tell Kate, I don't want her to know," Humphrey said shamefully.
"It's safe with me, now come on, we should get back to the others," Ricoh suggested. Humphrey smiled and nodded to his friend. The two turned and walked off to the den side by side. They tried to stay quiet as they walked inside so they didn't wake up the others and laid down. Humphrey snuggled up against Kate and his pups and sighed happily. In no time he was asleep.
But Ricoh wasn't as lucky. He couldn't even think about sleeping with all that was happening. From the time he spent in the underworld he knew that destroying the Oculos Mortis was impossible. But there just had to be some way to trap it, a way to keep it contained so it couldn't terrorize them. Then there was his promise he made to Midnight.
Ricoh watched Draco sleep, looking for any sign of him growing uncomfortable. The slightest twitch or toss was noted and he kept watch on Draco like a hawk. He didn't mind sacrificing some sleep. After what happened last year it felt good to be awake as much as he wanted. He slowly forgot his objective and his mind drifted and he began to wonder what Draco was dreaming about. But the truth was Ricoh didn't want to know, even though Draco appeared fine he was under attack, in his dreams.
Hey guys, I know this was a pretty short chapter but cut me some slack I'm working on like 3 stories here haha. Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you enjoy the story. Don't forget to leave a review. Chapter 5 coming soon. Until then pd007 out.