Chapter 7 Third meeting
Zoey
On our way to the conference hall where we had our meeting before I thought about Rysen's history with Kalona. On one hand it was good that she knew him and his story because that saved me and my friends a lot of explaining. On the other hand is their history a bad thing because Rysen seemed incredibly pissed just now. If even Rysen can't hide her emotions anymore then you just know that things aren't good. Hopefully they could make amend as for now I just hope neither of them do something to hurt each other. Kalona is immortal and no matter how old Rysen might be, she can still die. I don't think the full moon is helping Rysen's mood. I don't know her that well, but she does seem more on edge now then she did at my grandmother's house. It was why she wanted us to come tonight so we could see them as they are when they're the least focused and I have to say that it is interesting to see the changes in Rysen.
We came into the conference hall and sat down at the table. More seats were now filled because of the arrival of Shay, Axel and Mike. Shay's show of affection had reminded me of the moments when Stark got jealous because of Erik or Heith. I do think he remembered it himself because he had looked at me with his eyes slightly closed looking through his lashes with that lazy grin of his. We had all walked back in silence and even now no one opened their mouths. The wolves weren't saying anything because of Rysen's bad mood but even Kalona who had to give the explanation remained silent. Suddenly the most unlikely person asked how long we had to wait on an explanation. It was Damien. "One thing I've learned when she's in a bad mood" Kalona nodded in Rysen's direction "Is to let her simmer for a while and then start a conversation or she'll keep insulting you." I hoped Rysen or any other wolf would step in and say that it wasn't true, but they didn't. We all understood now that we should never get on her bad side.
"Might as well start explaining so we can get this business over with. It's not like you like being here or you would have stepped by already" Rysen practically spat Kalona's way. Never had I heard anyone talk to him that way, not even Neferet. "Maybe we should postpone this meeting until tomorrow so you and the rest of the wolves can concentrate better and your guests are less afraid you'll leap at my throat." Kalona then offered. He shouldn't have. The look Rysen gave him for daring to suggest it gave me the chills. "Maybe we should talk about it now so we don't have to come back here tomorrow and ruin another pair of shoes." I never think I would think this but Aphrodite saved this meeting. In her own special way but she lifted much of the tension in the room. "You heard her, start talking." Rysen then coldly said. "Fine." Kalona spat her way.
"The white bull feeds on chaos, destruction, death and the like. This world has experienced a lot of that lately. Even the humans are out of balance and the gun violence is rising. More and more people have some kind of mental problem or a label because people can't seem to get things organized. The vampyres here in Tulsa have had a lot to endure partially because of me." He looked apologetic for a moment and then continued. "Everyone is giving in to the darkness in their hearts and with that the power of the white bull only increases. It also means that the black bull's power is decreasing. Vampyres and wolves have been natural enemies for eons. Wolves were created long before the vampyres and they did not like sharing. I already noticed their hatred towards sharing the supernatural world when the raven mockers and I came along." He got an incredibly angry look from Rysen but then again, he had been stupid enough to look her way when saying that. "The white bull never came to power because the wolves were the superior species in the supernatural world and their powers are greater than that of vampyres. Vampyres have risen in power over the years and now the species are equal. The wolves must live in secrecy because humans would never accept their kind and they despise vampyres for having the opportunity to walk among humans even though the wolves were the ones protecting the humans."
"I don't need a history lesson, Kalona, besides I could give a better history lesson than you considering I didn't have my head up my ass. You do know it isn't a hat?" Rysen interrupted rudely. This girl, woman, female, whatever you call someone who's been around for an unknown amount of time, could give Aphrodite a run for her money. The easy-going and cheerful Rysen was completely gone and here was someone who has an attitude that shut everyone up. Everyone except Kalona. He's lucky he's immortal. "I get that you're pissed, Rysen, but these vampyres don't know the history and that knowledge is needed to understand everything. And I never wear hats, ruins my hair." I saw a ghost of a smile on Rysen's face when he added that last piece. They had been friends for a long time and you didn't just throw that away. She was pissed, but it wasn't impossible for Kalona to make amends. I hoped.
Kalona continued: "I'll skip a piece of the history since I don't want to waste anyone's precious time." A dirty look in Rysen's way. "The rivalry between vampyres and wolves is what the bull has been feeding on. The rift between the two has only become bigger as the vampyres assimilated into the human community. Wolves have lost a lot of their ancient power of protection because humans don't believe in them anymore. Rysen was once a force to be reckoned with and no one dared oppose her. Nowadays she has to do a lot to maintain her status as High Alpha. In the past year alone, she has had to face six challenges. Every wolf has the right to challenge their alpha and every alpha has the right to challenge the High Alpha. Before the vampires were known to humans she was challenged about once every century. The wolves don't want to hide anymore and the vampyres don't want to share their supernatural spotlight. The bull is feeding on this tension. It's one of the reasons why all of you have to do this together. The other reason is because wolves are still the better warriors and they have more warriors. The white bull isn't alone. He has an army of creatures of Darkness. The wolves have fought these creatures time and time again. Rysen found a way to lock them away, but Neferet tore open that prison. You're going to need the numbers and the wolves can provide that. I know it's all a lot to take in. If there are any questions, feel free to ask them."
"So the red vampyres were created by Neferet to be her loyal army. How do we know the white bull doesn't have any control over them?" Thalia asked. I realized they had been keeping tabs on us since they seemed to know exactly what had been going on ever since I became a vampyre. They were probably making sure to know what their rivals were up to. The fact that they knew why the red vampyres were created was troubling. I never told anyone besides the people I trust. Everyone else thought Nyx had saved these vampyres from Neferet and had then decided to create more red vampyres. The wolves knew the truth and I didn't know how. Maybe I could ask one of them. When they were in a better mood perhaps. "You can never know for sure but may I remind you that you were once controlled by darkness and you are doing quite fine and aren't scared to be controlled anymore." Thalia did not like Kalona revealing a bit of her past. Rysen didn't either because she growled slowly and very low. "You may not reveal such things about me and mine, I am not telling everyone about the horrors you put this world through so you sure as hell won't talk about periods of Darkness that we have had." I was most certainly going to ask about all their information on us at a later time.
"Is there a way we can defeat the bull of Darkness without going to war or is that the only way? I've heard about two times Rysen was able to imprison minions of the Darkness, can't she do that again?" I asked no one in particular.
"Darkness knows the way I operate so that alone puts us in a precarious position. I'm also not as strong as I was back then. The human need to believe in magic for our powers to work. These days even shifting is for the newer generation a hard thing to do. It either hurts them or they can't manage at all. Those people have the mundane jobs since their lives are not ruled by the wolf underneath their skin. The new generation is frustrated of course but appreciates that we make them invaluable with giving them jobs we'd have difficulty with. They have provided us with a lot of information so we're all happy we worked it out that way, but it still sucks that they can't shift. The supernatural wolves are a dying race." Rysen said sadly. Seeing Rysen go from cheerful to angry to sad made me dizzy. She didn't like to admit that she wasn't powerful enough to beat this threat to her family and friends.
"We'll help any way we can. Maybe with our powers near you, you might be able to do more. I still don't know how it all works. I do know that I want to help. Even if we're natural enemies and all that. The enemy of my enemy is my friend so instead of rivals or natural enemies, let's get back talking about friends." I said to her. She put her hand on mine and smiled a little. "How can you be so optimistic?" Rysen questioned. "Because my best friend's optimism rubbed off on me." I answered while giving Stevie-Rae a knowing look. "Yeah, and besides Z has gone through a lot and she's still standing so that's gotta count for something right?" Stevie-Rae said pleasantly. Stevie-Rae Johnsen, for your daily dose of love.
Then Jaerah spoke up: "Hey Ry, you probably should've died a couple times over and you're still standing too. Don't be so bummed about your powers, the white bull cursed you and with that all the wolves. So what? We're strong. We can take this bastard. If we have to work with a couple bloodsuckers…" Rysen gave him a warning look. "… apologies, I meant couple of vampyres, then we'll make things work. Let's make that bull pay for everything bit of bullshit he has put us through." Rysen looked all her wolves in the eyes. Every time her eyes settled on a wolf, he or she would give her a nod. "Everyone, whether their a wolf, a vampyre, human, former ravenmocker or immortal, we've all been wronged by that beast. Let's end this once and for all." Thalia said fiercely. Thalia was a calm person, but she could be as intense as her alpha. Thalia was water to Rysen's fire. People tend to forget that water can be just as destructive as fire.
"Anyone any ideas on how to proceed?" Ciara, Rysen's third in command, asked all of us while looking around the table. Her gaze rested on Kalona. "You're the messenger. Care to tell us anything we didn't already know." She asked him. Ciara was a good friend because she did not accept the way Kalona had treated Rysen. I know Stevie-Rae would act the same way, maybe less harsh. "For this to work you need to find Nishra." I had no idea what that was. Neither did any of my friends. "Nishra is the Moon Spear. It's the spear that the god of the moon, my father, used to create the wolves. If Rysen feels like another history lesson she can explain it better than anyone considering her grandfather was the first of the wolves."
"How old are you?!" My entire company exclaimed. "I've been around for 3042 years." My mouth fell open along with every mouth of my friends. "I was around when the gods still deigned this world good enough. I was around when they got tired of Earth and moved on to the next world. You can see it as parallel universes if that helps with painting a picture of their sudden departure." She took a moment and then she started to tell us about the history of the wolves. I didn't even know how vampyres were created and now we would hear the story of the creation of the shapeshifters from the granddaughter of the very first wolf. Immortality is a very strange thing.
"As the first gods started leaving the Sun and the Moon decided that this world needed a guardian or multiple guardians to keep it safe. The god of the Sun did a great many things like giving people fire. Yes, that story from the Greek mythology has pieces of actual history in it. Sun did a lot of things, but it never seemed to satisfy the both of them. America wasn't found by Columbus yet and wouldn't be for a long time but that didn't mean it didn't exist nor that there wasn't any life there. The gods took a great liking to the to humans unknown land. We believed in magic and the rest of the world was too busy trying to prove that there wasn't any magic, only science." For a moment Rysen was quiet. I guess it was to gather her thoughts. This story is more than 3 millennia old. She is more than 3 millennia old. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the immortality. Sure, vampyres lived a lot longer than humans but there was still an end. We did grow older and we could die from old age. Rysen looked, well not exactly 18 or 25 or any age, she looked ageless. Forever young and beautiful. I guess immortality isn't so bad after all.
After a small moment of absolute quiet Rysen continued. "In a quiet but prospering village there lived a man who was in harmony with everything around him. He was the village greatest warrior, the champion of the village chief, and every man wanted to be him and every woman wanted to be with him. When another war broke out, we had a great many back then so we didn't bother to name them unless they had cost us greatly, he was sent out to war. He said goodbye to his wife, the village chief daughter, and went to war. On the night of the first full moon since he had left, he was ambushed, and all his men were slaughtered. He fought fiercely but lost his life as well. Or so he thought. The Moon had been following my father for the harmony he had in his heart. The god of the Moon didn't want my father to die but Nyx was very clear that his life would soon be over. Then as fate would have it a wolf had followed to smell of death. Moon got an idea and with Nishra he cut the soul from the wolf and put it in my father's body. My father got a second chance at life. He returned to us with great despair as he had still lost all his men. It was a miracle he had not died. The next full moon my father felt uneasy and when he went outside to enjoy the night's cool breeze to clear his head, he shifted into a wolf. He became the guardian of our village and soon the guardian of many people all around the village. Later on he conceived some children with his lovely wife. He found out he was immortal, that his children had the gift of shifting. He conceived more children with other woman. He spread the word about wolves, made sure his children continued the bloodline. Eventually more wolves were born from two human parents because of mutations or magic whatever you want to believe. One of his sons was a bad seed but he did decide to share his seed and so we…" She gestured to herself and her brothers. "…came around to play. Lots of drama later I became the new guardian of the wolves and over the years that became the title High Alpha or alpha of the alphas. Sun and Moon disappeared right after they had created Erebos and Kalona. Kalona was left in charge of looking after us and failed miserably and gave me even more work to do. So that's the creation of the wolves. Any more questions?"
I had to let all of that information sink in. I had seen that Damien had asked for some paper and a pen and had been taking notes. Stark and Darius seemed deep in thought. Everyone else seemed lost. My company just got an overdose of information. "Quite the story…" I started but I never finished my sentence. I didn't know what else to say.
"How about you let that all sink in. We need to find the Moon Spear. I'm sure mister 1000 Watt smile can give us a tiny hint as to where we can find it but nothing more. Why don't you go home and make sure no red vampyres are going to burn to death and we'll swap numbers so I can call you or you me about any other plans. We can come to the House of Night if you'd like to be more at home for once. We'll behave, I promise. We'll discuss the details later. Sounds like a plan?" Rysen suggested.
"Sounds like a plan." I said
