Chapter 6: the cruel tutelage of taha aki
The sliver of moonlight seeping through between the lid and the box disappears with each slam of the hammer, until finally… Leah is engulfed in pitch black. The sounds of her breath and the dirt landing on top of the lid are her only companion in the darkness.
For a few seconds, she's quiet, and then she lets out a loud sob as panic settles into her brain. Her breaths grow rapid and her heartbeat pounds in her ear as sweat drips from every pore, sliding uncomfortably against her leather jacket.
The heat trapped within the tight space becomes unbearable, but each slide of her exposed skin against the silver interior makes her skin hiss and sting.
Still, she thrashes about, kicking out her feet and clawing at the lid until her fingers are singed raw, hoping that somebody, anybody would just–
"Help," Leah screams.
As soon as the words escape her lips, the hysteria is abruptly snuffed out of her system.
Panicking will get her nowhere.
She stills, clenching her chain-bound fists as she takes a deep, shuddering breath. In through the nose and out through the mouth. It stomps out the frightened child she almost succumbed to, allowing her to think.
Once she's grounded, Leah glances around the coffin.
There's no easy way to get out. Paul made sure that. The space was too small to phase, and the amount of silver she will have to break through first is too much to take on with her limited air supply.
She's only left with one option of escape, and it's a complete shot in the dark. The irony.
"Fucker," she mutters to herself.
Leah closes her eyes, relaxing her entire form, and steels herself for what she's about to do next.
It was an ancient technique called spirit walking, exclusive only to those with werewolf blood in their veins. And even then it was a rare ability to master.
It was even rarer to find a willing teacher.
By chance, Sam knew of one master that lived in the secluded mountains of northern Canada. Sam was his apprentice once, and like many others, he failed to learn spirit walking. He bet his chances on Leah being successful- he'd hoped she could gain some magical aptitude with her then dormant werewolf blood.
"If you can't use phasing in your arsenal," Sam said once, "I'll make you the best damn assassin with what you can do."
Leah appreciated his vote of confidence, although she was skeptical of her skills at the time. If her blood was dormant, how could she access the magic within it? Would this master even bother accepting her as a student?
Still, they made the long journey by air until they reached an area inaccessible by planes or cars. They continued on foot, climbing treacherous, snow capped mountains by day and feverishly entangling with each other for heat at night.
They finally made it to a nondescript cave entrance, where Sam told her to wait for him. He went ahead alone, returning an hours later with bruises coloring his face and a limp in his step.
"Sam," Leah cried, rushing forward.
He took her in his arms and brushed the snow from her hair. "Shh," he soothed. "He wasn't too happy to see me, but he'll take you as his student."
"Who is this man?" Leah asked.
"Taha Aki," Sam replied quietly. He nodded when Leah stiffened. "He was one of the first wolves in existence. The only one left of the originals, in fact."
"Sam," Leah hissed. "Did you forget he's a purist?"
"It'll be okay, Lee-Lee," Sam assured her. "You're a pureblood."
"I'm a deadblood," Leah argued bitterly.
"But you come from pure lines nonetheless. Strong lines. And I convinced him to take you on. He won't try to kill you, I promise."
"Sam..."
"Just do what you do best and he'll see your worth."
Leah reluctantly nodded. They parted after a steamy kiss, and she continued the walk through the cave entrance on her own.
The entrance was quiet and cold, but the temperature gradually rises as she walked further inside, enough to make her shed her winter gear.
She came to a stop when the path split off into two exits, and by instincts alone she took to the left. The hall was covered in darkness for all of thirty seconds until torches lining the wall appear, lighting the rest of the way.
What she saw at the end of the tunnel was completely unexpected.
Bathed in candlelight, there was a labyrinth of stone staircases along a cavern that led to a large, open plateau below. Distantly she could hear rushing water, and she could feel the humidity of the air dampening her skin.
"Come, little girl," a deep voice echoed from below. An intense pull in her chest urged her to listen.
With a gulp, Leah hurried down the endless winding staircase, avoiding the hot wax of the candles that lined them. When she reached the bottom, her feet moved on their own accord against the smooth stone. She came to a stop in front of a raised platform, promptly lowering to her knees and pressing her forehead against the floor. Then, she waited.
"Your name?"
"Leah Clearwater," she said.
"Samuel thinks you're a worthy student. Are you?"
Leah hesitated. "I'll do my best."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I don't think I'm worthy," Leah said honestly. "But I would be grateful for the opportunity to learn from you."
"I could kill you right now. There's no need for defects tainting my bloodline."
Leah shivered.
"But... As much as Samuel is an idiot, he also has a good eye. If he thinks you have potential, then you must have some." A pause. "Raise your head."
Leah did so slowly. A rough hand grasped her chin, and she was suddenly eye to eye with Taha Aki.
His eyes were narrow and black, the same shade as his hair that fell to his waist in a thick braid. He had strong facial features, making him look like every bit of the warrior he was since birth. His skin, a rich brown and completely unblemished, belonged to someone in their early 30s rather than a thousand year old being.
He tilted her head left and right, examining her features with a keen eye.
"Interesting," he murmured.
Taha Aki released her chin, and without warning, slammed the palm of his hand against her chest.
The force knocked the breath of out her, sending a burning sensation through her chest that radiated throughout her entire body. As abruptly as the pain spread, it disappeared, and Leah suddenly felt as light as a feather.
When she opened her eyes, she screamed.
Before her stood a massive brown wolf, larger than any she'd seen in her life. It was easily twice the size of Sam in his wolf form.
Around him the world looked... off. Dull, almost.
Through her eyes, all color appeared muted and objects were faintly translucent. The only things that maintained any kind of vibrant color were the golden light from the candles and the giant wolf, who was outlined in his own golden light.
"This is the spirit realm."
Leah jumped. The wolf's mouth didn't move, but she could hear it speak perfectly.
"How-"
"Look behind you."
Leah turned. She screamed once again, jumping back.
Crumbled on the ground was her own body.
Leah glanced at her hands in panic. She was outlined in gold too. Was she... was she...-
"You are not dead," Taha Aki said. "I extracted your soul from your physical body. This is spirit walking. This is what you will learn to do on your own."
Leah stared at him in disbelief.
From that moment on, she underwent intense training for months.
For the first few months, Taha Aki would shove her soul out of her body without warning. He would leave her to figure out a way back into her physical body on her own.
Her longest record outside of her body was just shy of 72 hours, and it was pure agony.
When she finally managed to fit her soul back into her body, the separation had already taken a huge physical toll. Her muscles were weak, and a ceaseless migraine rendered her blind and immobile. It took her two weeks to fully recover.
They eventually worked toward having Leah leave her body on her own, but it was a feat she couldn't nail down. Meditation did nothing. Fasting did nothing. All methods of sensory deprivation did nothing.
After burning through different methods, they eventually learned that pain was something Leah could concentrate with the best. She would often wake up from a trance with several aching wounds, and Taha Aki would praise her for her success...
But she realized upon waking that she couldn't fully remember what she did to push herself beyond the physical plane. It was like trying to recall details from a dream. Like clockwork, her memory failed over and over again.
Leah left the mountain after a year, not a complete failure, but not a complete success either.
There was no room for an unsuccessful attempt this time. Leah will run out of oxygen within a few hours.
"Come on, Leah," she murmurs. "Just wade to the other side. Chase the fucking rabbit and you're golden…"
She takes another deep breath, pressing her forehead and hands against the metal of the coffin. The sound of her skin burning sounds like bacon sizzling in a pan. Swallowing against the pain, Leah grits her teeth.
At first, there's nothing. Just burning, burning, burning.
A piercing ring threatens to burst her eardrums. She open her mouth to scream–
The burning stops.
Leah's eyes fly open. Above her, the night sky is grayscale, but the light from the stars twinkle with an intense gold.
"Shit," she gasps, holding up her glowing hands. "I did it."
She walks through the graveyard in search of signs of life anywhere. In the distance, she sees two sparks and runs after it.
A man is walking his black lab near the graveyard. He doesn't notice anything unusual, but the dog does. It freezes, staring at the spot where Leah stands.
The dog only moves when the man tugs on the leash.
Leah approaches until she's walking in step with the man. The dog glances back at her every couple of seconds.
Well, here goes nothing.
"Listen-" Leah glances at the dog tag. "Juno. I need you to do me a favor. Run into the graveyard."
Nothing.
Leah growls. Taha Aki had no problems talking to animals whenever he demonstration. Why did nothing come easy for her?
She stops walking and lowers into a crouch.
"Juno," she calls in a sing-song voice, holding her arms out. "Juno, c'mere girl! Come to me!"
The dog stops, turning around and giving one slow tail wag.
"Juno, come!"
The dog stiffens, as if electrocuted, and barrels toward Leah. The force tugs the leash free from the man's hand, and he shouts after his dog running in the opposite direction.
Leah runs too, yelling over her shoulder, "Come, Juno, come!"
The dog skids to a stop when Leah pauses near her temporary grave. It sits, wagging its tail and looking to Leah for more instruction.
"Good girl," Leah coos.
The man approaches after a few minutes, gasping for air as he catches himself on his knees.
"What's gotten into you, huh?" he asks.
As he bends to grab the leash, Leah stands behind him. She shifts closer until her spirit is aligned with his, closing her eyes. When he straightens, Leah forces herself within his psyche. His own spirit struggles with hers for a minute until she overcomes him entirely.
When Leah's eyes open she's holding the leash in her hand, staring out into the empty field. She glances down, and her hand is a pale, masculine one. A wave of vertigo passes through her.
"This is insane," she murmurs. She jumps at the sound of her– his voice.
That was going to take some getting used to.
Scowling, she steps forward and drops the leash. The idiot who helped bury her left behind a shovel. She grabs it and begins the three hour agony of digging herself out of the grave.
The first hour was smooth. Midway through the second hour, Leah has a hard time getting the man's limbs to cooperate as seamlessly; the man's psyche was beginning to push back against hers. By the third hour, Leah is fighting through the ache in the man's arms. She forgot how quickly human bodies tire out.
Leah screams in frustration, cursing when the man's arms shake with exhaustion and become clumsy. That, and she's slowly losing her grip on his body. Any minute now, she was going to be kicked out.
Ding.
The vibration travels through the man's bones as the shovel meets metal.
Finally. Fucking finally!
She knocks away the soil and gets to work prying the screws out of the lid with the lip of the shovel. It takes an agonizing amount of time until she's able to pry the lid open.
And there her real body lies, covered in sweat, grime and third degree burns. She looks hideous.
Leah closes her eyes, pushing until the connection tears and she's ousted from the man's body. He collapses beside the casket. She mirrors him, falling backward into her physical body.
Another wave of vertigo, and she sits up with a groan. One flex and the chain around her pops. She staggers onto her feet.
She leaps from the coffin and lands in a heap among the pile of upturned soil. She moans at the dirt agitating her burns and prays that the blackened, bubbling skin will heal faster.
"Fuck," she hisses. She rolls over, picking out the silver shrapnel from her chest piece by tiny piece.
Beside her, Juno whines.
It took hours for a human body to undo what a werewolf would've been able to accomplish in minutes. But even then...
She spirit walked. She still couldn't fucking believe it.
Leah rests for a few more minutes. She eventually forces herself to her feet, and she follows her nose until she comes across a 24-hour diner in the middle of nowhere.
She stumbles through the door, and collapses into a stool at the counter. The lone employee at the cash register stares with wide eyes, bewildered at the sight of her.
Leah awkwardly folds her hands together. "May I have-" She stops to cough out some dirt trapped in her throat. "May I have a glass of water, please?"
The cashier picks up a plastic cup without breaking eye contact.
"D-Do you, uh, want ice?"
Ya girl finally made it out of the coffin. Now she has to go clean up the trash ;)