Chapter 12

Eneres paced back and forth at the entrance to the keep, her fur messy, her eyes wide and twitchy. She was in a craze, one of the biggest that Kiba or any of the others had ever seen her in. She forever paced, mumbling Citegrene's name in hysterical tones, her eyes large as china saucers. Eneres looked like she was having a nervous breakdown.

Nobody went up to comfort the she-wolf, for they were all a bit frightened, and had all agreed to let her meltdown take its course, hoping that Citegrene would return and end this madness. The only reason they watched her is because they weren't about to let her dive back in and try to save Citegrene, endangering herself and possibly the others who would've had to go in and get her.

"Is she going to be all right?" asked Kiba.

"Who knows," replied Hige. "So . . . who are you?" he asked, turning to the strange black wolf.

"No one you need to concern yourselves with," he said, seeming withdrawn and almost eager to get away. Hige eyed him, then turned back to watching Eneres, who had just gone into a frenzied laughing fit.

"Hello, Citegrene, have you caught the rabbit yet? I can't wait for the daisies to come up, they'll look so pretty next to Modnar," she shouted into the keep, ears pricked, seemingly waiting for an answer.

"Okay, I can't take this anymore," growled Tsume, walking forward to tell Eneres off. He walked up to her, hackles raised, but when he got to her, she merely smiled at him, dazed and confused, and Tsume seemed to have lost his bearings for a moment. "Hey, will you quit blubbering? I'm sure that . . . hey!" he shouted after her, for Eneres suddenly bolted, sprinting away from the baffled wolves before they even had a chance to register what she had done.

Kiba recovered first, running past Tsume and back into the keep, trying to cover his nose as much as possible.

Eneres spurted down the corridor, not caring where she ran, as long as her paws somehow got her to Citegrene. She realized that she had taken many wrong turns; her brain was quite messed up from her psyche, and from the gas that was seeping throughout the building.

"Citegrene? Citegrene! Damn it . . ." she called, looking frantically every which way she turned. Eneres finally made it to the same chamber that all the madness had begun, her eyelids drooping heavily, her crazed state beginning to quiet. A loud noise at the back of the room made her start, and she whipped around, following the noise that continued, getting quite loud, then beginning to get gradually softer. "No, no, no, no . . ." repeated Eneres over and over as she used one of her last energy reserves to dash around the back and out a large door that was flung wide open.

A large, sleek black airship lay hovering in the air about fifty feet above Eneres' head, a rope ladder hanging down from it. The masked figure stood in the open part of the airship as a few men were loading up a golden body, spiked with red. The body was not moving, and just as the door began to close was when Eneres' exhausted limbs decided to move towards the rope ladder. Hoping that her now-human muscles would be able to climb just as fast as she could run, she leaped up about 20 rungs to get a head start, placing hand after hand up the ladder, occasionally her feet slipping from the gas that she had breathed in. Eneres moved quickly, but still it seemed like an eternity as time slowed before her eyes yet once again. She was almost there; almost to the top where she would be able to take out the people inside and save Citegrene and Cheza.

Eneres got to the top, but without warning, the masked figure lashed out, kicking Eneres in the hand, sending her back a couple rungs. Then, even more unexpectedly, the masked figure pulled a sword out of his cloak, and Eneres watched on in pure terror as he took one swing at the rope ladder, severing it cleanly. Eneres screamed, one of the rare times she did, as she plummeted back towards the ground. The door to the airship closed, and Eneres' wish for life almost extinguished altogether. The wind whistled past her ears and she closed her eyes as the ground came closer, not even bracing for the impact. She landed with a crunch, pain shooting up her leg and from her stomach; her elbow had dug into her stomach when she landed.

"Eneres!" shouted Kiba, nose in arm as he came running towards her. That was the last thing Eneres saw before she blacked out.

Eneres woke up with a gasp, sitting up and clutching her stomach, only to gasp again and clutch her arm, which hurt terribly.

"Are you all right? Are you okay?" came the flurry of questions all around her as everybody asked her basically the same thing.

Eneres was silent, and everybody else fell silent also, seeing she did not want to answer. Except Toboe, of course.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt badly?" he asked.

"Yes," she whispered, meaning something far deeper than her physical injuries. "Yes, it does."

"Your leg is fractured, and you have a pretty bad bruise on your stomach," diagnosed Kiba. "You'll be out for about a week or so."

"A WEEK?!" exclaimed Eneres, jumping up, only to collapse again, roaring with pain.

"I'm guessing you shouldn't move your leg, or use your abdominal muscles too much," added Hige, looking at her concernedly. She gave him a scowl, but sat up, crawling over to the entrance to where they had stayed for the storm, which was their shelter now. It was there that she stayed and sulked for a few hours, nobody willing to test her temper for a while.

Everybody milled around the shelter for a while, and Tsume and the black wolf agreed to go out and try to scrounge up a few scraps to eat, hoping to kill some time. Eneres just stared at them as they went out with disgust, her bored, plaintive look never changing.

"Hi," mumbled Kiba, sitting alongside her once Tsume and the black wolf left, and Hige and Toboe fell asleep.

"Hi."

"So . . . your friend?"

"She's gone. And once this damn injury heals I'll set off at once to find Cheza," replied Eneres sarcastically. "Hopefully Cheza can help lead me to Citegrene."

"She was really brave going back in for Cheza, being wounded and all."

Eneres made no reply, swimming in the guilt that maybe if she had just pushed a little harder at her restrainers, she might have been able to stop Citegrene from going back in. This was the second time she had failed. It was heart-wrenching with the thought of what a disgrace she must seem to Tor and Fenris, who had trusted her with such a seemingly easy task.

"You are really brave; risking your life to protect her and Cheza."

Eneres looked at Kiba, slightly startled, and found that he was looking at her too; his eyes full of wonder . . . and something else. Eneres felt herself move forward as Kiba moved forward, too, and her eyes closed as she let her body do the rest. Their lips met, and Eneres saw fireworks in her eyelids as she felt sensations burst inside of her, the many different emotions just exploding. She wished she could just stay like this forever; Kiba's and her lips never parting, the sereneness and tranquility of it all. They finally separated after what seemed like hours and hours, looking into each other's eyes; ice blue and piercing golden-green. Sighing, and feeling slightly refreshed, yet completely worn out, Eneres scooted next to Kiba, putting her head on his shoulder and gazing out at the barren landscape, wishing that tomorrow would never come.

Tsume made his way back to the abandoned tower, a scrawny rabbit hanging from his mouth. The mysterious black wolf had parted from him once they had each spotted something to chase.

How are we going to divide these wimpy little scraps of meat up? Should we give more to Toboe 'cause he's small, or should we give more to Eneres because she's wounded? he thought confusedly, shaking his head and snarling at himself for his mention of Eneres. The silver she-wolf was all he seemed to think about these days, her name always popping into his head.

He saw the small tower about fifty yards away and began running towards it, almost wishing to run away from his thoughts. They all came crashing back into his head as he stopped dead, the rabbit falling from his mouth as he stared at Kiba and Eneres, at the entrance of the shelter, their lips together in a kiss.

What the hell, Tsume. Why the hell do you care about what Eneres does with Kiba? You don't care . . . he growled at himself. He didn't care, but then why were his insides burning with every passing moment?

"I have Cheza."

The burnt air stunk horribly as Citegrene sprang away from the evil grinning lupine into the darkness of the trees, leaving the helpless white wolf pup behind. She ran for what seemed an eternity, her legs pumping beneath her, pounding the soft forest floor, never stopping. All she wanted to do was die. The pain in her heart was unbearable, and though a small part of her knew that Eneres' death wasn't her fault, in a sick, twisted way, it felt good to blame herself. Guilt clouded her thoughts, and all happy memories vanished, only to be replaced by darkness and despair.

And so, Citegrene ran, through forest and valley, desert and gorge; through day and night, rain and snow. Her guilt and anger coalesced into actions full of despair and self-hate. Animals fled from her for the dark killings she committed. Many times Citegrene lay awake at night, wondering what was the best way to end her life. For what was the point of living if life was just one giant death trap?

Over the months and years, as much as Citegrene wanted to with all her heart, she could not find the courage to kill herself. Somehow, whenever she saw a tempting gorge or raging river, she could not move herself towards it. As much as she wanted to stop the pain, she couldn't risk delving into the unknown. Something held her back, forcing her to remain alive in the world. It made her angry at her own weakness that she couldn't make this seemingly simple decision, but it was far more complicated than it had first appeared.

One day, Citegrene stumbled upon a small human village being ransacked by wolves. Screams permeated the air as women and children ran around hysterically, while men vainly tried to grab pike and axe to defend themselves. Varg chased them down, lunging and ripping out their throats. Blood saturated the ground, and maimed bodies lay everywhere. Black as night, a wolf latched onto a young child, savaging it and shaking it vigorously in its jaw. His claws flashed, spilling entrails onto the red-stained ground as the child screamed, still alive. Citegrene couldn't keep watching the horror, yet she couldn't tear her gaze away from the devastation that nature's creations were capable of. The black wolf looked towards her with eyes the same shade as the blood dripping from his muzzle. In one leap, he was on top of Citegrene, ripping into her as the bloodlust clouded his gaze.

"Yes!" she cried, crazily. "Yes, kill me! KILL ME!"

The black wolf lunged for her throat.


"Well, well, well . . . It seems that the wolfie is awake at last." Citegrene groaned, feeling a wave of guilt wash over her, threatening to take over once again. Dreams came to her more and more often now, and she found it difficult to completely wake from them.

In the dim light, the horrifying clown stood before her, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. Well, there always was a smile on the corner of his mouth. Corners would be more accurate.

Rekoj initiated what Citegrene could tell would be one of the worst days of her life as he opened his mouth to speak. "You talk in your sleep; do you know that? Something about . . ." He coughed, straightened up, and then said in a horribly high voice, mocking Citegrene's accent, "Kill me! Please kill me!" His tongued darted out, leaving a wet film over his red lips. Deeply now, he growled, "Well, it is very well possible that your wish will be fulfilled today . . ."

Citegrene cringed, tensing up her muscles only to find that she wasn't bound in any way. She tested her limbs, and was equally surprised that no poison was clogging her veins, although she did feel a slight choke around her neck. Subtly, she readied herself for a quick escape while nervously eying the strange apparatuses that hung around her.

Knives of every size and blade style imaginable stood on dark metal shelves, lining the opposite side of the bleak room that was her cell. Thick chains hung from random points in the walls and ceiling, and razor blades lay on a counter behind Rekoj, gleaming from a recent wash.

Rekoj leaned on a rusted metal door, the only chance at freedom Citegrene had. He was lovingly fondling the blade in his hands, the very one marred by the she-wolf's blood. His gaze pierced it with some sadistic question as it glinted in the half-light, then his dark orbs landed on the she-wolf.

"So . . . Citegrene, Citegrene, Citegrene." Rekoj shook his head in disappointment. Curly green locks flared out into the air briefly before he stopped to speak once more. " . . . Can I call you Citty?" Her lip curled, showing off white fangs. That was the name Eneres had dubbed her with when they were pups. Only she was allowed to call her Citty.

"No? Citty it is, then."

Rekoj started pacing, casually stalking back and forth, but pointedly staying by the door. His pinstriped pants rustled as he walked; a gloved finger was placed on his lip as if thinking. Citegrene waited tensely, fear pounding in her heart. Though she felt like the smallest noise would cause her to start, she had to act like she wasn't afraid. Rekoj wanted her to show fear, and she wouldn't give it to him. She knew well enough how freaks like him worked.

Finally, Rekoj stopped, swiveled on his booted heel, and spoke in a conversational tone. "Well, Citty, I'm in a predicament. And I've been in it for a looooooong time." As he extended the "o" vowel, his voice dropped to a gravelly growl. "This Darcia character; well, he tries my patience. You see, after my many many years of hard work trying to track down Cheza, this noble comes and thinks he can do a better job than me." Rekoj pointed at himself in mock disbelief. "Me!" His cackle echoed around the cramped room and echoed into Citegrene's twitching ears.

"But then . . . I stumbled across something . . ." A red tongue darted out to lick his equally red lips as Rekoj slowly turned towards Citegrene, eyes glinting. "I stumbled across you, Citty. And there was just something about you that I found fascinating. Your . . . hatred of the world; your unfeeling little heart; your . . . carelessness for yourself. You killed your best friend, and now . . . now, you've left her to die . . . again. Along with her ragtag pack and your little black traitor friend."

Guilt and anger prickled Citegrene's fur and made her body quake. Rekoj had a golden tongue, and he knew exactly how to use it. Already, Citegrene was being sucked into the influential vortex that was the reality he weaved out of lies. Everything was silent when she realized that the clown was staring hungrily at her.

He spoke in a deep tone. "Now, you've changed things . . . forever. There's no going back. See, to them . . . you're just a freak." He threw up his arms suddenly and laughed. "Like me!"

"I am NOTHING like you!!" Citegrene roared, her voice cracking with anger as she lunged towards the clown's throat. Instantly, her eyes rolled into her head, and agony wracked her body with unimaginable pain. Her muscles felt like they were a raging inferno as electricity passed through them, causing them to jitter and shake uncontrollably. There was a thud as she fell back to the floor, the she-wolf furiously yelping in pain, high-pitched squeals that resounded around the room.

Rekoj tutted, uncurling his gloved fist to show the miniscule remote within. Then he sighed greatly. "You really need to work on that temper. After all, do I not recall, 'One of pure soul, heart and mind, shall open up the gates of fate?'" Citegrene's heart hammered against her chest as the pain slowly abated. How much of the Prophecy did her enemy know? Despite her muscles' protests, Citegrene staggered onto her feet and snarled with all of her might at the clown.

"Ooooo, you are just too much fun! It doesn't matter, for what matters now is whether or not you are willing to make sacrifices to save others." Rekoj's tone dropped low and serious. "Will you have the courage to do what's right? Or will you give in to the real choice: the choice of selfishness . . ."

Slowly, he slid one arm, and then the other out of his purple jacket and threw it in a corner, straightening the emerald vest that lay underneath. There was a pop as he cracked his neck, then his gaze slowly slid onto the she-wolf's. Those eyes; they pierced right to Citegrene's soul. It was as if he had the ability to bring up all past deeds that she had thought were buried, as if he could lay them bare for the entire world to see. Guilt instantly welled up in her, making her forget everything accept for the past. All she wanted to do was to make it go away; make the memories disappear.

The green-haired man causally sauntered over to Citegrene, grabbed a handful of her fur to pin her against the wall. She gave in without a struggle, for Citegrene was lost now, lost in the memories of all her transgressions. Rekoj raised the knife to the cheek that was still intact. "Shall we even out that scar for ya?"

The cold metal pressed into the wolf's mouth, sending warning spikes of pain to her brain but not yet cutting through the flesh.

"Hmmm . . . we'll wait with that. Here's the choice," he breathed into her ear, the hot air caressing her face. She struggled slightly, but his grip was like iron. "Either you decide to be at my side . . . or else I'll make the choice for you." His eyes flicked to the ceiling briefly, then rested on Citegrene thoughtfully. "No . . . better yet, either you make the choice to be at my side, or I will carve your little silver friend . . . so that we all will be matching." His tongue pressed against the knotted blemish on his cheek, showing it off to Citegrene.

She snapped out of the guilty sea in her mind, anger boiling in her blood. She whispered menacingly, "If it's the Prophecy's promise you are after, then you will not receive it. And you will never, never, talk about Eneres again, or I will rip out your throat, mutt." She spat. "I swear it." Rekoj raised his eyebrows and leered.

"Ahhhhhhhh, so despite everything you've been through, you still have chosen to save yourself over everyone else. Well done. For the only sensible way to live in this world is without rules, and you certainly don't have any qualms about that, do you?" He transferred the weapon from Citegrene's cheek to her neck. She coughed, glaring.

"You're crazy."

Slight irritation sparked in his dark orbs. "No . . . no . . . I'm not. I'm just . . . ahead of the curve."

A searching howl rose up, far in the distance. Rekoj rolled his eyes impatiently. "So, what's it going to be? Hmm?" The golden wolf snarled, then punched her leg out with as much force as she could muster. Rekoj released his death grip on her and doubled over, but instead of yelling in pain, he cackled harder than ever. Citegrene saw her chance at freedom and dashed past the psychotic clown towards the exit as fast as she could. She never made it as her muscles exploded into flames of pain and she skidded across the concrete floor with the force of her collapse. Slowly, deliberately, Rekoj straightened up, grinning with an intent that made Citegrene's skin crawl.

"I figured that we could have a little time to . . . get to know each other. Wouldn't that be grand, Citty?" The she-wolf growled her answer. Rekoj smirked, a gleeful twinkle in his dark orbs. "I had concocted this treatment for your silver wolfie friend, but seeing as how she's being taken care of already, I figured I could afford to try it out . . ." He swiped a razor blade from the sink counter, then advanced towards Citty. " . . . on you."

"Go to hell, clown! Tor and Fenris will prevent this from happening." The words just came out of her mouth. Citegrene was shocked at herself, she hadn't intended to say that at all.

Rekoj halted, then stared at the ceiling in mock disbelief, his mouth open in a silent "o" as if waiting for a bolt from the heavens to smite him. Nothing happened. His intense gaze returned to Citegrene, a smile slowly creeping over his features. "I do believe that Tor and Fenris are the ones who put me up to this."

"Bull."

"Believe what you will. I'm sure your mind will be changed when the day is done" Rekoj ungracefully leaped for Citegrene, grabbing hold of her collar. Almost all fight had been sucked out of her by the random shocks she had been receiving, but all of a sudden, the she-wolf had a cunning idea. She could do anything while Rekoj was holding on, for if he decided to press that button, she wasn't the only one that would feel the heat.

Snapping and snarling, the great golden she-wolf fought with all of her strength. Rekoj's laughs could be heard over her defiant utterances as he yelled, "Calm down, Citty! This won't hurt one bit . . ."

All sound stopped from Citegrene as, instead of an electric current, she felt the first clean cut on her skin. "What the hell are you doing to me?!! Get off!!!!" She squirmed maniacally, trying to release his grip from her. Each individual slice was a hot burn on her skin; the immense stinging pain overpowered her brain.

She could feel his raunchy breath on her neck. "You see . . . I do what I want . . . when I want it. Now, what's your choice? Stand by my side . . ."

"No . . . I won't do it!"

"C'mon . . . you really don't want to hurt the ones you love, do you?" His hand dropped the razor and trailed down her back. Serenity fell over Citegrene as he petted her. It felt so good. That made her so furious. "Natas . . ." Citegrene felt a small pang of guilt, but pushed it aside.

"Cheza . . ." Worry overwhelmed her now. Cheza was vital to open Paradise, as was . . .

"Eneres." Citegrene stiffened. She heard Rekoj inhale, then his low growl spoke into her ear, "I will teach you all I know; I will teach you how to hate again. And then you won't be able to resist the dark side. You won't be able to resist me."

Why does he frickin' care about having me at his side?

The room went dark.

Above the exit, a red emergency light flashed into life. Rekoj's face was bathed in a bloody hue as he stared hungrily towards the ceiling, then released Citegrene and suddenly skipped towards the door. He reached for the knob, then nonchalantly veered to pick up his purple overcoat that was crumpled in a corner. Gingerly, he slipped his arms into it, then opened the door and stalked through. "Oh, Eeeeenaaaaaaaaaaaaarehhhhhhhhhhhhhssssssssssssss . . ."

Citegrene struggled onto her feet and leaped angrily towards the tail of his coat, but deliberately fell short so that she wouldn't bash her muzzle in as the huge metal door slammed shut. Electric pain took over her being again, and she could hear Rekoj's laughs fade away as she slumped to the floor, whimpering, waiting for the current to lessen. What have I sentenced Eneres to? What's going on?

She recalled something Rekoj had said earlier. Is Rekoj just bluffing, or has Natas really betrayed me? The golden wolf laid her great head on her outstretched paws. Well, I always suspected it, so perhaps it is true.

Citegrene's side hurt like a wound from hell, but she didn't dare look at it. If Rekoj is going to torture me, why doesn't he get it over with?

But it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore except staying on her feet in Rekoj's little game. There was once a time when she would have given anything to die, but now Citegrene was selling out her best friends, the ones who were destined to open up Paradise. She had now sold them out so that she wouldn't have to suffer more pain at Rekoj's side.

But, wouldn't she suffer pain anyways? Wasn't the past few minutes proof enough? Rekoj would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. But . . . what did he really want? That was the million dollar question.

"Power, who will redefine the laws of nature, as her mate." Citegrene wished the Prophecy had never been made. Why can't everyone just forget that stupid verse of the frickin' Prophecy and just go on with their own damn lives!? Woooo, it has the word "power" in it; that means that it is oh so important. Citegrene snarled to herself, then stared blankly at the wall. Screw it. Screw this stupid journey if it's going to cause Eneres more harm. I bet Paradise doesn't even exist at all. Tor and Fenris are nothing but myths. There is nothing in the world but death and despair . . . maybe Rekoj was right . . . If you can't beat him, join him.