Forest Murmurs
Disclaimer: I own Little/Eleece, the Collegium wolf pack, and the rogue wolf. Vanyel and company are copyright and property of Misty and them peoples.
Chapter 7
Little slapped the ground the same time the beast got near enough to snarl at her. The drop hadn't been as long as she had expected, and as her head reeled from landing, she was glad. The beast might get her, but she wanted to hurt him before he did.
: You won't get away this time. I've caught you, just like my master wanted me to. I can have my way with you, and whatever is left over goes to him.: He said smugly into her head, dancing around her lightly. : You should hope and pray that I kill you. My master is not a kind man.:
Little wondered for a moment whether or not she should feel sorry for him, because she had detected a hint of fear in his voice, but as he swiped at her with a paw, she lost all sorrow for him and leapt. Midair, she made the painful transistion from wolf to hunting cat, giving her a better advantage in size and power. Now she was the same size and fear glinted in his eyes.
: No! You are a wolf!: He screamed, finally having been pushed over the edge. : WOLF!:
Little screamed a challenge and he howled in answer, rushing at her. She dodged to the side and landed on her shoulders, and he was upon her like lightning, ripping and tearing at her. She managed to get her paws on his chest and sank them in deep, eliciting a painful scream from him as she raked her claws down his front. He tore away from her, dripping blood from his wounds and breathing heavily. She saw the discolored drool hanging in strings from his mouth.
: Don't let him bite you.: She heard Sky's small voice and remembered that she had a pup to defend, as well as the rest of her pack. With this newfound rage in her, she attacked.
She tried to leap onto his back like she had seen the other mountain cats do, but he threw up his head and caught her rear foot in his mouth, biting down. The pain made her snarl and twist herself around backwards to swat at his nose, leaving four bloody gashes in his face.
: An eye for an eye.: She spat at him, slashing out again with her paw.
He could no longer form any coherent thoughts, merely growled at her and leapt. This time it was not she who slapped him down, but a glaring white being. It was the Companion that she had seen below the window. Terick's Companion! He was helping her, which meant that Terick might have told him to, she didn't know; but she greatly appreciated the help.
She pivoted on her good foot and watched the stallion battle the wolf. Unfortunately, when the Companion ducked to avoid a hit, the beast jumped over him and landed heavily in front of Little. A heavy vase from the room upstairs landed next to them and shattered, obviously meant for the beast. it distracted him though, making him look around for the other attacker. She took this advantage to get away from him long enough that she could take a breath and think about what she could do.
She got longer than she thought she would have, because both of the Heralds and Tayledras mages came running around the corner, Vanyel's hands full of mage lightning and the other three holding what seemed to be very powerful sheilds on him, so powerful that he glowed to the human eye. She sent a silent thanks to the wolf gods and leapt back into the fray, screaming to get the beasts attention. The Companion had moved back into range and in mid leap she changed her direction, landing heavily on his back with her claws in so as not to harm him, then leaping off of him to land on the beast.
The beast howled as she sank all sets of claws into his back, the front ones ripping up his back while the hind foot held her on as he bucked and scrambled to get her off. He rolled at the same time that Little bit his neck, and when he landed, she deftly snapped his neck.
: I will not allow you to live!: Someone screamed in her mind, and it was not the beast.
Her world exploded in a firey haze of pain and she screamed, a long suffering cat scream that blended into a human one as someone forced her change back to a person. Her body stretched out, as if someone had tied her spread-eagle. She felt as if someone was opening her belly with knives, slamming rocks into her head and pouring liquid fire into her veins, all at once. The attack had come so fast that she didn't even have time to draw breath and scream.
Screams came from the forest, and everyone but her turned to look, seeing the wave of fur and teeth arupt from the forest. Her wolves set upon the beast, who was still moving, his eyes gone white in glowing. She watched them rip peices of him out, even the little year old pups. Brightfang snarled savagely as he went right for the beasts throat and ripped it out, but still the thing moved. She knew that it wouldn't matter if they ripped and tore at him all day, the body was possessed by someone far scarier than the beast could ever hope, and he had her in his clutches. The wolves were only a distraction.
Little/Eleece could only writhe on the ground while her body was savaged by magical energies from whomever was possesing the beasts body, but the wolves were proving to be a problem, and whoever it was, he had to lessen his hold on her to concentrate on the wolves. She felt herself being able to breathe again and with breath her anger returned, but still she could not move from the ground. She watched in sadness as Brightfang and a few other wolves, including Snowheart, flew threw the air as if swatted by a giant invisible hand. She checked with her magic and saw that the bright coppor glow had not faded in any of them, but then saw another dash out and attatch itself to the beast.
: Sky! NO!: She screamed with her mind, and watched him be swatted also, flying into the wall with a sickening thud of small bones breaking. He fell to the ground and did not move, a small puddle of blood collecting under his small body.
" NO!" Little/Eleece screamed, finding her anger burning away the hold on her.
She rose to her feet, her foot having been healed in the transistion from cat to human, her hands balled into fists as she stalked towards the beast. " You can hurt me, you can batt my mate arond like a toy, but you cannot," She grabbed the beast by the face and yelled into it. " Kill my children!"
Little/Eleece pushed all of her wild magic into him like a bolt of lightning, feeling it blast through her and into him, his eyes glowing a bright clear blue before he burst into a cloud of ash and she fell to the ground, unconsious with a trickle of blood seeping from her nose.
Vanyel felt like he was in a trance while he watched Eleece rise from horrible pain and blast the beast away like he was nothing more than a feather. He had seen an attack like that once, but it had been a Final Strike, and she shouldn't have been able to survive that. At least, her body should have been gone too, but it still lay there, bloddy and battered.
At last, sound came back and it was calm. The wolves picked themselves up and ringed themselves around Eleece's body, sitting back on their haunches and starting a long, sadness filled chorus, something like he had heard the first night. It stuck Vanyel to the core, and now he understood it. That night they had known that she was going to be lost to them, and again they lost her, after finding out that she had been well and alive. But now...
" Vanyel, do something, please." Savil chockingly asked, and he turned to her to see her with tears running down her face, held between Moondance and Starwind who both had their eyes closed and their mouths in a grimace of pain.
He nodded and walked softly over to her body, where the wolves had stopped upon his intrusion. The big black one, with eyes as light blue as his were silver, stepped up and growled.
" I helped her the first time, remember?" He held out his hand for Brightfang to sniff. " It would be wrong to promise that you will have her back again, but we will do our best."
Little bounded through the forest, leaping this way and that after a blue and gold patterned butterfly. Just when she thought she had it, she leapt for it and missed, landing in a small pond of very cold mountain water. She yipped in surprise and scrambled out of it, shaking herself off and then crouching down at the edge to take a drink. She yelped and scooted away from the edge, pawing at her face and sniffing her hand, wondering why she wasn't covered in fur anymore, why her nose wasn't long and why her mouth wasn't filled with teeth. Well, she had hair, but it all seemed to be growing out of the top of her head and her ears had slid down the sides of her face. She was all soft and fleshy, and now she felt cold and wet.
IT IS HOW YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE, LITTLE SPIRIT CHILD OF MINE. A voice boomed in her head and she leapt back, searching for who had spoken.
There was a wolf behind her, dark colored like Brightfang, only his dark fur was that: dark. No shine erupted from his coat as he moved into the sunlight that filtered through the trees, his eyes were two drowning pools of shadows as he stalked towards her. He sat, regally instating shimself in front of her as she crouched low and humble. Little tipped her head up and carefully bit him on the chin, showing him that she accepted his leadership and he brushed his lips across her nose, accepting her submission. She smiled and rolled onto her back, offering him her neck, but he moved quickly and cuffed her softly into the pond again.
LOOK AT THE HUMAN YOU SEE IN THAT POOL. THAT IS YOU. YOU ARE ELEECE, MATE OF TERICK AND BRIGHTFANG OF THE SHADOW PACK. YOU MUST GO BACK TO THEM, THEY MOURN YOU AND CALL YOU BACK TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING. He said, and she looked at the person in the pool, memories slowly coming back to her.
Most of them were pleasant, but then the ones full of pain and sadness came, and she gritted her teeth and whined. She remembered seeing her pup get killed, and then remembered speaking. She could speak, right?
" I have to go back." She said, standing tall like the human she was.
Great Dark nodded serenely, and Eleece had the feeling that if he were human he would be smiling.
" Will I still be able to speak to them, my wolves? Will I still be able to become an animal? Would I be able to heal them?" She asked, stepping delicately out of the pool and holding out her hand to Great Dark.
He snelled it and sniffed it, then butted his head against it. Eleece could not believe how soft he was, like a newborn pup's fur, but with a strong fire coursing through him. This was Great Dark, the wolf god. He aided the wolves in their hunts, had taught the very first ones how to live, and then they had passed it down to their children until the wolves of Eleece's pack. He looked sorrowfully into her eyes.
ELEECE, LITTLE ONE, I CANNOT UNDO WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. SKYSONG CANNOT LIVE AGAIN. He said, and she fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around him and sobbing. He sighed heavily. HE CANNOT LIVE, BUT I WILL LET YOU SEE HIM BEFORE YOU GO HOME TO YOUR HUMAN PACK.
He stepped away and made a yipping sound, and a ball of grey and silver fur jumped into her arms to replace Great Dark.
: I missed you Mama.: Skysong said, covering her face in joyful licks and puppie kisses.
" I missed you too, love." She said, burying her face in his small body while he sniffed her wet hair.
ELEECE? Great Dark had stepped into the shadows and was slowly fading. YOU HAVE UNTIL DAWN. THEN I WILL SEND YOU HOME.
She nodded, night black eyes meeting green pools in a stolid agreement. " And my gifts?"
I CANNOT TAKE AWAY WHAT I HAVE GIVEN IN LOVE. THEY ARE YOURS TO KEEP. JUST- His body faded into the shadows and only his eyes remained, now lit by a inner fire. USE THEM WISELY. GOODBYE, PUP OF MY OWN HEART.
Great Dark faded completely from their sight and Skysong took off running across the forest, his mother not far behind him, laughing in pure joy and happiness.
Terick stretched slightly, looping his arm around a wolfen shoulder as he tossed in his sleep. The wolves accepted him as readily as they had Eleece, which meant Brightfang had to talk them into it. He'd explained to them that while Brightfang was her mate, the human Terick was her human mate; her soulwatcher, the wolven equivalent of a lifebond. They all slept in a pile around Eleece's bed, a cot that had been lowered onto the floor so they could be near her and touch her.
The first of the suns rays touched Brightfang's eyes and he sat up, slowly shaking the sleep from his eyes. When he felt he was awake enough, he walked around his pack and settled himself at Little's side. He knew that the humans called her Eleece, but she would always be Little to him, and to the rest of the pack. He licked her cheek as he had every morning for the past seven days, hoping that she would wake up and greet them all again. She breathed, which was a good thing, but her eyes did not yet open and she had not moved at all.
" Brightfang?" Her voice was little more than a whisper, but he heard it, as did Terick and the rest of the pack.
Everyone was up on their feet and surrounding the nest. Eleece's eyes opened enough to see her pack and her lifebond there, everyone that she loved. She blinked and tried to lift her hand to touch them, but she was still weak from her journey back from the Forest of Dreams. Terick took one hand and Brightfang wormed himself under the other arm. Eleece looked from one man to the other, then to her pack. She felt their love like a soft blanket, enfolding, surrounding, warm and sure.
" I think," She drew a trembling breath. " That I have been gone far, far too long."
Terick nodded, tears in his eye. Snowheart leapt away from the group and scratched at the door, yipping and yelping like she was caught in a trap until someone came and opened the door.
Vayel saw the boy and the pack surrounding Eleece's bed, and the soft whisper of a voice. She was awake! She was alive! He yelled down the hall and Savil and the others came running.
Eleece grasped Terick's hand and hugged Brightfang closer to her, laying kisses on both of their faces. " I went to the Forest, and Skysong was there. But now I am back." A fire blazed in her eyes, the fire of life not yet lived. " And I intend on staying."
Disclaimer: I own Little/Eleece, the Collegium wolf pack, and the rogue wolf. Vanyel and company are copyright and property of Misty and them peoples.
Chapter 7
Little slapped the ground the same time the beast got near enough to snarl at her. The drop hadn't been as long as she had expected, and as her head reeled from landing, she was glad. The beast might get her, but she wanted to hurt him before he did.
: You won't get away this time. I've caught you, just like my master wanted me to. I can have my way with you, and whatever is left over goes to him.: He said smugly into her head, dancing around her lightly. : You should hope and pray that I kill you. My master is not a kind man.:
Little wondered for a moment whether or not she should feel sorry for him, because she had detected a hint of fear in his voice, but as he swiped at her with a paw, she lost all sorrow for him and leapt. Midair, she made the painful transistion from wolf to hunting cat, giving her a better advantage in size and power. Now she was the same size and fear glinted in his eyes.
: No! You are a wolf!: He screamed, finally having been pushed over the edge. : WOLF!:
Little screamed a challenge and he howled in answer, rushing at her. She dodged to the side and landed on her shoulders, and he was upon her like lightning, ripping and tearing at her. She managed to get her paws on his chest and sank them in deep, eliciting a painful scream from him as she raked her claws down his front. He tore away from her, dripping blood from his wounds and breathing heavily. She saw the discolored drool hanging in strings from his mouth.
: Don't let him bite you.: She heard Sky's small voice and remembered that she had a pup to defend, as well as the rest of her pack. With this newfound rage in her, she attacked.
She tried to leap onto his back like she had seen the other mountain cats do, but he threw up his head and caught her rear foot in his mouth, biting down. The pain made her snarl and twist herself around backwards to swat at his nose, leaving four bloody gashes in his face.
: An eye for an eye.: She spat at him, slashing out again with her paw.
He could no longer form any coherent thoughts, merely growled at her and leapt. This time it was not she who slapped him down, but a glaring white being. It was the Companion that she had seen below the window. Terick's Companion! He was helping her, which meant that Terick might have told him to, she didn't know; but she greatly appreciated the help.
She pivoted on her good foot and watched the stallion battle the wolf. Unfortunately, when the Companion ducked to avoid a hit, the beast jumped over him and landed heavily in front of Little. A heavy vase from the room upstairs landed next to them and shattered, obviously meant for the beast. it distracted him though, making him look around for the other attacker. She took this advantage to get away from him long enough that she could take a breath and think about what she could do.
She got longer than she thought she would have, because both of the Heralds and Tayledras mages came running around the corner, Vanyel's hands full of mage lightning and the other three holding what seemed to be very powerful sheilds on him, so powerful that he glowed to the human eye. She sent a silent thanks to the wolf gods and leapt back into the fray, screaming to get the beasts attention. The Companion had moved back into range and in mid leap she changed her direction, landing heavily on his back with her claws in so as not to harm him, then leaping off of him to land on the beast.
The beast howled as she sank all sets of claws into his back, the front ones ripping up his back while the hind foot held her on as he bucked and scrambled to get her off. He rolled at the same time that Little bit his neck, and when he landed, she deftly snapped his neck.
: I will not allow you to live!: Someone screamed in her mind, and it was not the beast.
Her world exploded in a firey haze of pain and she screamed, a long suffering cat scream that blended into a human one as someone forced her change back to a person. Her body stretched out, as if someone had tied her spread-eagle. She felt as if someone was opening her belly with knives, slamming rocks into her head and pouring liquid fire into her veins, all at once. The attack had come so fast that she didn't even have time to draw breath and scream.
Screams came from the forest, and everyone but her turned to look, seeing the wave of fur and teeth arupt from the forest. Her wolves set upon the beast, who was still moving, his eyes gone white in glowing. She watched them rip peices of him out, even the little year old pups. Brightfang snarled savagely as he went right for the beasts throat and ripped it out, but still the thing moved. She knew that it wouldn't matter if they ripped and tore at him all day, the body was possessed by someone far scarier than the beast could ever hope, and he had her in his clutches. The wolves were only a distraction.
Little/Eleece could only writhe on the ground while her body was savaged by magical energies from whomever was possesing the beasts body, but the wolves were proving to be a problem, and whoever it was, he had to lessen his hold on her to concentrate on the wolves. She felt herself being able to breathe again and with breath her anger returned, but still she could not move from the ground. She watched in sadness as Brightfang and a few other wolves, including Snowheart, flew threw the air as if swatted by a giant invisible hand. She checked with her magic and saw that the bright coppor glow had not faded in any of them, but then saw another dash out and attatch itself to the beast.
: Sky! NO!: She screamed with her mind, and watched him be swatted also, flying into the wall with a sickening thud of small bones breaking. He fell to the ground and did not move, a small puddle of blood collecting under his small body.
" NO!" Little/Eleece screamed, finding her anger burning away the hold on her.
She rose to her feet, her foot having been healed in the transistion from cat to human, her hands balled into fists as she stalked towards the beast. " You can hurt me, you can batt my mate arond like a toy, but you cannot," She grabbed the beast by the face and yelled into it. " Kill my children!"
Little/Eleece pushed all of her wild magic into him like a bolt of lightning, feeling it blast through her and into him, his eyes glowing a bright clear blue before he burst into a cloud of ash and she fell to the ground, unconsious with a trickle of blood seeping from her nose.
Vanyel felt like he was in a trance while he watched Eleece rise from horrible pain and blast the beast away like he was nothing more than a feather. He had seen an attack like that once, but it had been a Final Strike, and she shouldn't have been able to survive that. At least, her body should have been gone too, but it still lay there, bloddy and battered.
At last, sound came back and it was calm. The wolves picked themselves up and ringed themselves around Eleece's body, sitting back on their haunches and starting a long, sadness filled chorus, something like he had heard the first night. It stuck Vanyel to the core, and now he understood it. That night they had known that she was going to be lost to them, and again they lost her, after finding out that she had been well and alive. But now...
" Vanyel, do something, please." Savil chockingly asked, and he turned to her to see her with tears running down her face, held between Moondance and Starwind who both had their eyes closed and their mouths in a grimace of pain.
He nodded and walked softly over to her body, where the wolves had stopped upon his intrusion. The big black one, with eyes as light blue as his were silver, stepped up and growled.
" I helped her the first time, remember?" He held out his hand for Brightfang to sniff. " It would be wrong to promise that you will have her back again, but we will do our best."
Little bounded through the forest, leaping this way and that after a blue and gold patterned butterfly. Just when she thought she had it, she leapt for it and missed, landing in a small pond of very cold mountain water. She yipped in surprise and scrambled out of it, shaking herself off and then crouching down at the edge to take a drink. She yelped and scooted away from the edge, pawing at her face and sniffing her hand, wondering why she wasn't covered in fur anymore, why her nose wasn't long and why her mouth wasn't filled with teeth. Well, she had hair, but it all seemed to be growing out of the top of her head and her ears had slid down the sides of her face. She was all soft and fleshy, and now she felt cold and wet.
IT IS HOW YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE, LITTLE SPIRIT CHILD OF MINE. A voice boomed in her head and she leapt back, searching for who had spoken.
There was a wolf behind her, dark colored like Brightfang, only his dark fur was that: dark. No shine erupted from his coat as he moved into the sunlight that filtered through the trees, his eyes were two drowning pools of shadows as he stalked towards her. He sat, regally instating shimself in front of her as she crouched low and humble. Little tipped her head up and carefully bit him on the chin, showing him that she accepted his leadership and he brushed his lips across her nose, accepting her submission. She smiled and rolled onto her back, offering him her neck, but he moved quickly and cuffed her softly into the pond again.
LOOK AT THE HUMAN YOU SEE IN THAT POOL. THAT IS YOU. YOU ARE ELEECE, MATE OF TERICK AND BRIGHTFANG OF THE SHADOW PACK. YOU MUST GO BACK TO THEM, THEY MOURN YOU AND CALL YOU BACK TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING. He said, and she looked at the person in the pool, memories slowly coming back to her.
Most of them were pleasant, but then the ones full of pain and sadness came, and she gritted her teeth and whined. She remembered seeing her pup get killed, and then remembered speaking. She could speak, right?
" I have to go back." She said, standing tall like the human she was.
Great Dark nodded serenely, and Eleece had the feeling that if he were human he would be smiling.
" Will I still be able to speak to them, my wolves? Will I still be able to become an animal? Would I be able to heal them?" She asked, stepping delicately out of the pool and holding out her hand to Great Dark.
He snelled it and sniffed it, then butted his head against it. Eleece could not believe how soft he was, like a newborn pup's fur, but with a strong fire coursing through him. This was Great Dark, the wolf god. He aided the wolves in their hunts, had taught the very first ones how to live, and then they had passed it down to their children until the wolves of Eleece's pack. He looked sorrowfully into her eyes.
ELEECE, LITTLE ONE, I CANNOT UNDO WHAT HAS BEEN DONE. SKYSONG CANNOT LIVE AGAIN. He said, and she fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around him and sobbing. He sighed heavily. HE CANNOT LIVE, BUT I WILL LET YOU SEE HIM BEFORE YOU GO HOME TO YOUR HUMAN PACK.
He stepped away and made a yipping sound, and a ball of grey and silver fur jumped into her arms to replace Great Dark.
: I missed you Mama.: Skysong said, covering her face in joyful licks and puppie kisses.
" I missed you too, love." She said, burying her face in his small body while he sniffed her wet hair.
ELEECE? Great Dark had stepped into the shadows and was slowly fading. YOU HAVE UNTIL DAWN. THEN I WILL SEND YOU HOME.
She nodded, night black eyes meeting green pools in a stolid agreement. " And my gifts?"
I CANNOT TAKE AWAY WHAT I HAVE GIVEN IN LOVE. THEY ARE YOURS TO KEEP. JUST- His body faded into the shadows and only his eyes remained, now lit by a inner fire. USE THEM WISELY. GOODBYE, PUP OF MY OWN HEART.
Great Dark faded completely from their sight and Skysong took off running across the forest, his mother not far behind him, laughing in pure joy and happiness.
Terick stretched slightly, looping his arm around a wolfen shoulder as he tossed in his sleep. The wolves accepted him as readily as they had Eleece, which meant Brightfang had to talk them into it. He'd explained to them that while Brightfang was her mate, the human Terick was her human mate; her soulwatcher, the wolven equivalent of a lifebond. They all slept in a pile around Eleece's bed, a cot that had been lowered onto the floor so they could be near her and touch her.
The first of the suns rays touched Brightfang's eyes and he sat up, slowly shaking the sleep from his eyes. When he felt he was awake enough, he walked around his pack and settled himself at Little's side. He knew that the humans called her Eleece, but she would always be Little to him, and to the rest of the pack. He licked her cheek as he had every morning for the past seven days, hoping that she would wake up and greet them all again. She breathed, which was a good thing, but her eyes did not yet open and she had not moved at all.
" Brightfang?" Her voice was little more than a whisper, but he heard it, as did Terick and the rest of the pack.
Everyone was up on their feet and surrounding the nest. Eleece's eyes opened enough to see her pack and her lifebond there, everyone that she loved. She blinked and tried to lift her hand to touch them, but she was still weak from her journey back from the Forest of Dreams. Terick took one hand and Brightfang wormed himself under the other arm. Eleece looked from one man to the other, then to her pack. She felt their love like a soft blanket, enfolding, surrounding, warm and sure.
" I think," She drew a trembling breath. " That I have been gone far, far too long."
Terick nodded, tears in his eye. Snowheart leapt away from the group and scratched at the door, yipping and yelping like she was caught in a trap until someone came and opened the door.
Vayel saw the boy and the pack surrounding Eleece's bed, and the soft whisper of a voice. She was awake! She was alive! He yelled down the hall and Savil and the others came running.
Eleece grasped Terick's hand and hugged Brightfang closer to her, laying kisses on both of their faces. " I went to the Forest, and Skysong was there. But now I am back." A fire blazed in her eyes, the fire of life not yet lived. " And I intend on staying."