Chapter 14

"So . . . you came. That's more than I expected," a silky voice purred.

There was a snarl from the shadows. "I don't intend to live down to your expectations."

High, maniacal laughter sounded. "I see why you two get along so nicely. Now, about the silver."

"What about her?"

"Did you fulfill your duty or not?" Each word was punctuated with the inflection of a mother speaking to her young child.

"She is taken care of."

"Goooooooood. But where is the golden one?"

There was silence, then, "Her mind is too far away for me to reach." Something clicked, followed by an audible exhalation of breath as a large body fell to ground.

"What now? I did what you asked of me!" The voice sounded weak as it struggled to breathe through apparent pain.

"You liar. Tell me what you truly see. Where is the golden one?"

"She . . ." the voice huffed, trying to catch its breath. Slowly, its breathing died away into silence. "She's in the forest by Harja," it said. Its voice was deeper now.

"Hmmm . . . It travels through your veins faster than ever nowadays. This new stuff works rather well," the voice laughed. "Well, I see that Citty is the one variable that is doing what we want her to. Kudos to her. What do you say you go relieve her of her loneliness and . . . escort her to her next location of need?"

There was nary a sound as the second voice growled an unfathomably bass utterance, "With pleasure."

Eneres actually smiled as she picked herself up from the tower floor, its warmth radiating up from where her body had lain. This was the day! Her arm was completely healed, although it was still sore since she had used it so much the day before. The large bruise on her stomach had yet to go away, but she could easily block out the pain from the spot.

"Come on, lazy asses," she screeched at the top of her lungs, feeling reenergized. Kiba and Tsume sprang to attention, each with 'what's wrong?' looks on their faces, while Hige and Toboe merely woke up, looking grumpier than ever. "It's a beautiful morning; shall we go for a stroll?"

"What?" said Hige, confused by Eneres' joyful mood.

"Which one of you . . . er . . . gentlewolves will be willing to escort a pretty lady out into the cold, cruel world to search for the elusive Cheza?" she questioned in a rather damsel-in-distress manner, fluttering her eyelashes over her golden eyes at the utterly baffled group.

"Eneres are you all right?" asked Toboe, taking a small step towards her.

Eneres' good mood was broken, and she groaned, cursed, and spun around, taking off out the tower entrance, slowing her pace just a tad to wait for everybody to catch up. She had no clue why she was actually letting them catch up; perhaps it was because she almost didn't know how to function on her own anymore. Maybe it was because she was never alone. She had never been alone in her life. When she was a pup she had her siblings, Yngrina and Etah, and her loving mother, and then Citegrene came along and became her adopted sibling; they were rarely ever seen without each other. Even when Eneres' siblings had all passed their lives, she had still had Citegrene, and then Cheza had been granted to her. When Cheza was taken away, Eneres was whisked away to Myu's land, and still, she had not been alone. And now here she was again with Kiba, Tsume, Hige, and Toboe. Even without Citegrene, Eneres' mind didn't completely lose itself. It was just knowing that there would always be someone there, she supposed, that kept her from crazily jumping over the edge. How strange her mind worked.

"So where are we headed to?" asked Kiba, whose stride now matched Eneres'. He had gotten much friendlier and more forgiving towards Eneres' mood swings and sharp retorts since they had shared their kiss.

Eneres took a sniff of the air, but cringed and almost stopped altogether as her stomach pained again. "I can't get a good whiff. It's the damn bruise, but I think I caught a southern scent."

"Of Cheza or Citegrene?"

"I'm not a magician here," she snapped.

"So Cheza, then," he concluded, not at all offended, which sent steam metaphorically whistling out of Eneres' ears, but she decided to humor him and held back her insult as he slowly drifted closer to her. His white fur was barely brushing against her silvery sheen, making her shiver, though not from the cold. It was actually quite nice having someone running next to her, although it wasn't the same as Citegrene, who usually ran at the same proximity. It felt different, too. Perhaps it was because Kiba was a male, and usually males only involved the prophecy.

How much of the prophecy does he know, I wonder? thought Eneres, narrowing her eyes a tad. Many of the males they had run into had just thought and/or wanted to be part of the prophecy, therefore forcing themselves into the pair's lives. It was not a comforting situation to be in.

The pain in Eneres' stomach returned as she thought of her sister, Yngrina, and her traitorous mate, Reyatreb, the handsome dark brown wolf with the smug expression and the humongous footpaws. Eneres could feel the agonizing flashback creep up on her, daring her to let it come forth and make her lose concentration and trip. And that's what she did.

"Well, well, well, sweet-one, how about we go for a stroll?" sneered Reyatreb, gesturing with his head to the wide open canyon.

"I don't think so. Besides, Yngrina is looking for you, and you know how protective of you she is," Eneres scowled back.

"Ah, forget about Yngrina. She'll be just fine by herself." His smoldering eyes scorched Eneres right to her very core as she struggled to keep her narrow face calm and unrelenting.

"No?" he continued, walking towards Eneres, his huge paws making the gravel crunch. Soon he was right beside her, staring into her piercing golden-green eyes, nudging against her, throwing his weight unevenly, making her sidestep. She was being herded. Like prey. But she couldn't resist being caught; caught in those burning topaz eyes, falling into his gaze. "Soon, you will be mine, and Paradise will be opened," he whispered into her ear menacingly.

And that was it.

"No! You bastard! How much do you know!?" she screamed at him, but that's not what sprung the tears into her eyes.

There was Yngrina, standing near the edge of a cliff with her tail straight out, her ears forward in shock and anger. A similar expression as Eneres' was upon her face for a moment, before it turned into a mask of pure hatred.

"YOU!?" she screamed, hesitating for a second as to what to do next. Eneres guessed that her sister was deciding to leap onto her, which would have pulled forth a fight against her own sibling. "Why must you always . . . always STEAL from me!?"

"Yngrina, what are you talking about?" gasped Eneres. She sensed tragedy creeping up behind her, ready to stab her in the back. The pain in her sister's eyes was enough to rip her heart apart.

"You've stolen the respect I deserve, the duty I deserve, and even mother's love! Even my own mother's love I deserved and I have never felt it! And now you steal my mate," Yngrina cried furiously, her last sentence barely above a whisper.

"Yngrina, I . . . " stammered Eneres. She was only a year old, she had never thought of such things before. Why was her own sister suddenly turning against her?

"And now I do not deserve you," whispered Yngrina. Somehow, her speaking it softly, that voice dripping in untold amounts of hate and pain that had been bottled up for so long, was so much more worse than if Yngrina had yelled it.

With that, Yngrina threw her head backwards to the sky, lifting her front paws up in a rear. At first, Eneres had no clue what she was doing. She was just going to hit the ground on her back . . . what was the point of that? But Yngrina's back never touched the ground. Over the edge she went, into the warm summer air. She fell . . . and fell . . . and fell. There was nothing that could be done. And then Eneres saw of her no more.

Eneres choked and gasped out at the unbearable pain that wracked her body, and her footpaws got tangled in one another. She tripped, sprawling across the snow, creating a large pile when she finally stopped.

"Whoa, are you okay?" asked Hige as the wolves all gathered around her.

Kiba looked at her concernedly, and cocked his head; Eneres' heart almost melted as she looked into his eyes, for they looked just like Yngrina's.

"I think I need a break," she croaked.

"What the hell are they doing?" she whispered through narrowed blue eyes. This was all too strange for her right now; both the silver and white one's expressions, his of something like love, hers something of horror. This was all too strange . . . even the scar-faced one who paid her and somewhat forced her to do this job.

Ah, but she must pay attention to her tracking. Her prey was getting away.