To my fellow readers: I changed the name "Zakaria" to "Zakarius". If anything changed in this chapter, sorry. This is the original one before I edited it. Anyways...
Chapter Fourteen
John
The hydra's nostrils flare, sniffing us. Loric, all seven of its head say, with a voice raspy and old but beaming with pride and majesty. The remaining men, totaled three, get speared right through their chests by the hydra's tail, suggesting it has a sharp point. Loric, like my master, says the hydra, its clawed feet digging into the earth as it walks towards us. Bernie Kosar steps protectively beside me, ready to jump into action at any moment. Two of the hydra's heads snarl at BK, and to my surprise, BK backs off, back hunched towards the ground, making low growling sounds. The other Chimæra do the same. I now wonder how special this Chimæra can be and who is its master.
"Um…who is your master?" Nine asks, as if he is reading my mind. The heads of the hydra turn towards him, red eyes glowing with a look that makes me feel like I'm being tested. The hydra sits down on the ground while the other Chimæras lie down, shrinking back to domestic dogs with their heads on their paws. Some are whining, while the others, like Bernie, remain their harmony of growling noises.
The hydra's bloodstained tail loses its scales, shrinking down to the length of my arm. The seven heads merge with each other, contracting to a single broad neck and head. The gigantic serpentine body reduces in size, and its scales are replaced by long and coarse black fur. The Chimæra takes form of a huge black wolf, merciless to hunters in the night. When it opens its eyes, they are no longer red and glowing. They are a silvery blue color that seems to glow in the dark. The wolf speaks and we listen, My master is great and powerful and intelligent. He left me here to do my mission, a mission I accepted freely. Not once in my miserable life here in this planet did I ever complain or regret my duty, for it is my master's will, and I honor my master.
His name is Pittacus Lore, Greatest of the Elders, and I, his faithful servant Zakarius, will serve him until the end of time. I continue to await his good remarks, for he always does that every time I win battles for him. For more than twenty years I have guarded this place, killing unwanted trespassers, just to make my master proud.
"What exactly did Pittacus ask of you?" I ask, and the wolf replies once more with his majestic voice, Master told me to guard the way back home. As much as I want to go back to my master, I know there is nowhere to go, and I would be defying my master's orders. For years I have ignored the temptation to go back home, where I know my master is waiting for me, like a common dog patiently waiting to go on walks in the afternoons with its master.
"What did he say?" Meredith asks. I forgot about her. She can't talk to animals unlike Nine and me, so I tell Nine to translate for her while the wolf and I continue the conversation. "What are you guarding?" I ask.
The wolf stands on all fours, and in the shadows of the night, he looks like a furry horse. Let me show you, the wolf says, and with a nod of his head, the other Chimæras take the same form as him, only with a variety of colors; medium gray, silvery white, gray with dots of white, chocolate brown, but none of them tower over the black wolf, their alpha. Bernie Kosar, the wolf with gray fur, gives me a ride on his back, while Meredith and Nine will run with us. "Wait!" I say, "What about our stuff?"
I'll guard it, says the wolf with gray and specks of white, and he turns around and bolts back the way we came, tail flopping. He needs another, Zakarius says, Pittacus' servant. The wolf with brown fur hastens away without another word, so to speak. Follow me, Zakarius says, and with great speed, he runs, disappearing into the darkness. Bernie Kosar follows him, running at a speed that makes me clutch his long fur for support. Zakarius leads us west, far from our house. Nine runs along Bernie Kosar while Meredith flanks him, her red hair whipping across her face. Master told me that a ship with ten children will disappear and delay their return. So, he left one with me, just in case, and told me to protect it from those horrible people of Mogadore. Oh, if only Master could see how many I have killed since the day he shipped me here, he would be beaming with pride. "How long have you been here?" I ask again.
Master sent me here when the first child was born, twenty years ago. That is how early Master prepares for the future, and how intelligent he plans it. He makes sure that those ten children will get here safely, and return the same way. Duty or not, I am prepared as well to take higher risks just to save the remaining children, as my master would have done if he was here.
Zakarius' words hit me. He's saying it was okay for him to die at the hands of the enemy only to keep us safe, like our Cêpans. I am so touched by his words that when Bernie jumps over a log, I nearly fell off his back because I slackened my grip on his fur. I apologize and he keeps running, telling me it was his fault. Truly, the Loric, animals and people alike, are really unique. We are different from the other beings in the galaxy, which care not for the others that love them. "Zakarius, what did Pittacus mean when he said that the ship will disappear?" Nine asks.
Zakarius stops at the edge of the triangular clearing, and the moment Bernie Kosar crosses the tree line that protects us from prying eyes, I can feel a different kind of connection to this part of the Earth. I feel a different energy coursing through me. All of a sudden, as I slide down from Bernie's back and onto the soft grass, I feel like a four-year-old. With that fresh night breeze and this lush grassy land, I don't see Earth anymore. I see Lorien's finest, and I'm happy about it. I want to go home so badly that I forgot about my purpose to this world and ours. I no longer care about the fact that the Mogadorians are trying to erase any signs of life in this planet. All I want to do is go back home.
Follow me, Zakarius repeats, breaking me from my reverie. The clouded image of Lorien disappears before my eyes, and it takes me a few seconds for me to react to Zakarius' order. By the bewildered and slightly disappointed look on Nine and Meredith's faces, I can tell they felt it too. Zakarius trots to the middle of the clearing and sits down, his fur rippling with the wind. Bernie Kosar turns back into a beagle, his tongue dangling from the corner of his mouth as he walks beside me. Must…not…roll…on…the…grass, BK kept muttering to himself. I roll my eyes at him and stand beside Zakarius. "So…what'll happen now?" Meredith asks with awkwardness thick in her voice. Master told me that only a Garde with his Legacies can locate his ship.
"Six!" I yell, and fumble for the iPhone in my pockets, but I remember it's in the house. I'm about to turn on my heel to get it when Nine yells, "Hold up, man."
"What?"
"What if this is a trap? Why would Pittacus even bother to put another ship here when two of it—ours and Crayton's ship—are here on Earth?" There is a blur of black and Zakarius is on Nine, front paws slammed against his arms, strapping him in place. Zakarius' eyes release that red glow as he stares angrily at Nine. His lips are curled back and his ears are erect, and Zakarius begins to snarl, showing off his incisors threateningly. Zakarius' teeth are far sharper than I expected. If Nine makes one wrong move, I bet those sharp, pearly whites will rip his throat to shreds in less than two seconds.
Do not question my master! He is intelligent! He does everything with a purpose! Zakarius snarls. His hackles rose. Nine does not move, his face a hard emotionless mask and nearly touching Zakarius' nose. Whatever Nine is thinking, I hope he's considering every option. The guy is just too unpredictable. "Stop it! Zakarius, what would Pittacus say about you attacking of the Ten?" I say, trying to talk some sense to Zakarius. He steps off Nine, tail between his legs and he was whimpering. I dishonored my master. I defied his wishes, he says, sitting down with his back hunched, head bowed low. Zakarius sucks in a deep breath and howls loudly in misery of having disobeyed what Pittacus would have commanded. I leave him to his mourning and run as fast as I can back to the house, ignoring Nine's persuasive comments and Zakarius' agonized howls.
I understand how Zakarius feels. I always felt that way when I deliberately disobeyed Henri, many times over in Paradise. When I refused to leave, and what did I get as punishment? Henri died because of me. And now, like Zakarius, I want to shout out everything I regret to lift this weight from my chest. I'd give anything to go back in time, change everything and bring Henri back. But I know what's done is done, and now I have to live with that kind of pain clinging tightly to me for the rest of my life.
When I break free from the tight-packed trees, I don't see the Chimæras on guard. What I see in front of the house is a red motorcycle and an SUV.