Two weeks previously,
Owen wrestled inside with a combination of satisfaction and even ecstasy for what he had done, and sadness and regret. He was not sad for what he did neither did he regret it, but he did regret, however slightly, that he could no longer travel with the group. The pack had changed so much since they started migrating together that it was in no way the same. Since Aspen had been murdered he had little interest sleeping and hunting with them. It was however knowing she was alive and connected to the pack which now he had left that he truly regretted. It would be very hard to see her again.But he had no choice in what he did. They deserved to die. It was so clear and such a strong urge he could not think of another alternative. Giving in to this impulse instead of fighting it as he had been doing allowed a level of enlightenment and self awareness, he was whole. The wolf that was awakened by Tyros from with in his soul. The two halves who had been at war were now joined.
Doing so had allow him to fully join with Lucilla as well. The one loyal friend he had left. She had wanted to mate since he saved her life. And why not? She and Owen where the same he thought while smiling. The animal senses were invigorating and rewarding beyond measure. He saved her he deserved her.
He had considered finding Lucilla's old pack and claiming his position of authority there, but it was not yet sure he was strong enough. If they contested him he was just one wolf. The key would be killing Dessad.
He had taken the alpha position and the pack could not have been happy about it. To kill him would prove his strength and cause him to be seen as a liberator. He did not need to control the pack but he knew if he did not they would kill him. Until he was ready to find and face Dessad he would wait.He felt the place to go now was to see Rowenna's old Village she had left those several months ago when she got swept up into this mess. They maybe able to find shelter and friends, or at least food (by barter or elf meet). Based on her directions and description from the map he knew he had to be almost there. They had crossed the great river and had headed north up the shore line for nearly a day, night had just fallen and though the moon was small the stars were plentiful and bright.
He could smell elves on the wind they had to be close. But coupled with the smell was another, or a lack of smell. He was like death with out the decay he could not understand it. The foreign aroma filled his nostrils like a toxic gas causing him to gag. Lucilla did the same both of them hacking and spitting on the ground.
The smell made their skin crawl and Owen even found himself pacing. His insides wanted to sick up and shrivel all at once. Whatever this smell was it was not right, it was not natural. It was more than disgusting it was disturbing. Gritting his teeth he called to Lucilla, "What is that smell."
"I don't know. I can't place it but it isn't right. Makes me itch." She began transforming back and forth between wolf and elf seemingly with out control. Her lungs filled with a large gasp and then with arched back she howled to the sky in misery and anger. She would alert anything with in a days hunt that they were here. He took from his belt some soft yerri root and placed it in her mouth. It would be better boiled and the steam inhaled but perhaps it could calm her down.
He heard and smelt those things coming closure, drawn by the howl. He scooped up the continuously changing Lucilla in his enhanced man/wolf arms and tried to turn deeper into the forest. He was started to smell and then see one of the strange scents standing in front of him n the forest. He snapped at it barking and snarling telling whatever it was to go away. It stood still staring at him. He barked again and again. GO AWAY. He hated the smell it made him sick and angry. GO AWAY!!!!!!!
"So there are surviving Lycans." It said calmly. It was a female elf, or at least looked like one. She was well dressed and have three long silver claws attached to her right hand.
"My name is Miriska, I tend to the Garden of Love in the Crimson City by the will of Black Velvet the lovely. Come Lycan the Lord will want to speak with you. I presume you are Owen."
She released the tree she was embracing and with the ka of a raven that took to flight ahead of her, she strolled north toward where the greater smell was coming from. Owen distrusted the smell but she must know something so he followed her. Lucilla coming to her senses maintained one form and submissively followed Owen.
They walked in silence for a time Owen fighting the instinct to attack this walking decayless death. They walked until they arrived at a small village who appeared to have half as many occupants as it was meant to hold, and it was only built for maybe 3 or 4 dozen. Rowenna's village. He thought to himself. As they approached the huts which were huddled next to a small couple of dock penetrating into the river, an elven man approached with long brown hair and sharp features. The delicate lightfooted movement common to elves was lost to him as he seemed to march. This man had a purpose and a drive, and a smell of decayless death.
Seeing past the smell was difficult but his eyes were captivated by the Omega symbols radiating from his eyes. He had seen it before, a smell Aspen and he and found in the north caves, what did that mean?
It spoke, "All is Darkness." It seemed to great them. The large bonfire in the middle of the village cast long shadows through the night. The rest of the villagers were just standing there staring into the fire, it seemed eerily familiar but he did not know how. "You must have thought you would never see me again. Since you believed I was dead."
Who was this? Owen had never seen him before. "I don't know who you are."
"You do, you just do not want to believe what you see. A lie is often more comforting than truth. It is only lies that allow you to continue, to love and to prosper as you see it. But you must know the truth, you must know that it was not I you killed with Cumin's urn."
Darkness? "I."
"Silence hound." He cut in with a sharpness that caused Owen to unknowingly slump his shoulders and tuck his head, "The den lied to you. You thought you had the opportunity to kill me and then be free of our agreement. You trusted the Den and let them use you to contact me in a dream. But it was not me you killed. The Black Raven has many resources at their disposal. You killed three vampires that night but not the three you aimed for. Lord Tyros, Tatyana and myself survived with the world now assured that heroes had saved them. I excused your betrayal because it aided me. Now I feel as though I should kill you."
Owen raced through spells in his mind, this person Darkness or not, was going to kill him he had to be ready. An illusion of he and Lucilla running into the woods while they hid the creatures would chase them and once they were gone they could escape quickly.
Taking a deep breath the man calling himself Darkness continued, "You survive for the grace of my bride. She feels that people are better manipulated by love and loyalty than fear and death. I wish to prove her wrong. I have been controlling the werewolves through Dessad, I think I will give them to you. With the prophecy being what it is, a lie propagated among the werewolves for comfort in their forsaken state, it will make the perfect lie to make them love you. We will see if they follow you with love as well as they did Dessad with fear."
He started to realize he was not going to die but was afraid of something now much worse. "What do you want me to do?"
"And I did not even need to break you first." It smiled, "I have used the souls of this village to donate their blood to awakening the superior beings left abandoned in the Crimson City. But there are a great many more left to wake. You know what is here, where may I find food stock."
Owen thought and then quickly replied, "There are tribes of elves in the dessert North and East of here."
"That is good. I'll have you take the pack from its place in the woods to that dessert and collect me the elves needed to awaken the starved children of my bride. You will have power, safety and influence that you deserve."
Lucilla spoke up, "There are others travelling through the woods. They are trying to find your Dessad. They would be good food stock all intelligent humanoids. We killed some of them west of the river and fled their pack."
He smiled and looked to Miriska, "Send your familiar Raven to search the area west of the river, find them. I may need them for something else. Owen now you will go to sleep and you will dream of Dessad and awake in his presence. From there the pack will be yours. I will make sure he knows."
Owen had again made a deal with Darkness if only to survive.
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One week later....
"Dessad, is planning on doing something to the group. I would just let them die but it was important to him that they are warned. Tell them they can not follow Dessad, tell them its a trap and its too dangerous. Darkness already has you tracking them so you can get close and Alpha believes you don't want to see them dead either. Stop them from going north." Lucilla said to Katsumi
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Present ...
Owen's pack was at a stalemate. The lightning sworn were not soft targets. He knew that he he suggested them hoping to cause Darkness and the Lightning sworn to fight each other and kill each other. Here he was a victim of his own scheme, forcing the pack to continually move so the Blue Dragon did not find them and eliminate them. Their orders had been added to. There was a piece of the staff Rowenna was looking for being held by this dragon and Owen was suppose to capture the elves to feed the vampires and the staff piece to give to Dessad.
The smell of decayless death came again. He had trained his stomach not to sick up but he still found it distasteful. He rubbed a thin ointment he made in his nostrils to dull their lack of stench. When he saw them his heart sank. The smell was coming from the party of approaching travellers, Nial, Duncan, Keshala, and some elf he did not know. Dessad was with them, his smell was one Owen never figured out.
Nial spoke with Omega symbols in his eyes, "Owen, I see love has failed to take the battlefield. Perhaps it is time fear had its chance." He nodded at Dessad and Owens body burn racked with unfilterred pain until he would do anything to make it stop.
She released the tree she was embracing and with the ka of a raven that took to flight ahead of her, she strolled north toward where the greater smell was coming from. Owen distrusted the smell but she must know something so he followed her. Lucilla coming to her senses maintained one form and submissively followed Owen.
They walked in silence for a time Owen fighting the instinct to attack this walking decayless death. They walked until they arrived at a small village who appeared to have half as many occupants as it was meant to hold, and it was only built for maybe 3 or 4 dozen. Rowenna's village. He thought to himself. As they approached the huts which were huddled next to a small couple of dock penetrating into the river, an elven man approached with long brown hair and sharp features. The delicate lightfooted movement common to elves was lost to him as he seemed to march. This man had a purpose and a drive, and a smell of decayless death.
Seeing past the smell was difficult but his eyes were captivated by the Omega symbols radiating from his eyes. He had seen it before, a smell Aspen and he and found in the north caves, what did that mean?
It spoke, "All is Darkness." It seemed to great them. The large bonfire in the middle of the village cast long shadows through the night. The rest of the villagers were just standing there staring into the fire, it seemed eerily familiar but he did not know how. "You must have thought you would never see me again. Since you believed I was dead."
Who was this? Owen had never seen him before. "I don't know who you are."
"You do, you just do not want to believe what you see. A lie is often more comforting than truth. It is only lies that allow you to continue, to love and to prosper as you see it. But you must know the truth, you must know that it was not I you killed with Cumin's urn."
Darkness? "I."
"Silence hound." He cut in with a sharpness that caused Owen to unknowingly slump his shoulders and tuck his head, "The den lied to you. You thought you had the opportunity to kill me and then be free of our agreement. You trusted the Den and let them use you to contact me in a dream. But it was not me you killed. The Black Raven has many resources at their disposal. You killed three vampires that night but not the three you aimed for. Lord Tyros, Tatyana and myself survived with the world now assured that heroes had saved them. I excused your betrayal because it aided me. Now I feel as though I should kill you."
Owen raced through spells in his mind, this person Darkness or not, was going to kill him he had to be ready. An illusion of he and Lucilla running into the woods while they hid the creatures would chase them and once they were gone they could escape quickly.
Taking a deep breath the man calling himself Darkness continued, "You survive for the grace of my bride. She feels that people are better manipulated by love and loyalty than fear and death. I wish to prove her wrong. I have been controlling the werewolves through Dessad, I think I will give them to you. With the prophecy being what it is, a lie propagated among the werewolves for comfort in their forsaken state, it will make the perfect lie to make them love you. We will see if they follow you with love as well as they did Dessad with fear."
He started to realize he was not going to die but was afraid of something now much worse. "What do you want me to do?"
"And I did not even need to break you first." It smiled, "I have used the souls of this village to donate their blood to awakening the superior beings left abandoned in the Crimson City. But there are a great many more left to wake. You know what is here, where may I find food stock."
Owen thought and then quickly replied, "There are tribes of elves in the dessert North and East of here."
"That is good. I'll have you take the pack from its place in the woods to that dessert and collect me the elves needed to awaken the starved children of my bride. You will have power, safety and influence that you deserve."
Lucilla spoke up, "There are others travelling through the woods. They are trying to find your Dessad. They would be good food stock all intelligent humanoids. We killed some of them west of the river and fled their pack."
He smiled and looked to Miriska, "Send your familiar Raven to search the area west of the river, find them. I may need them for something else. Owen now you will go to sleep and you will dream of Dessad and awake in his presence. From there the pack will be yours. I will make sure he knows."
Owen had again made a deal with Darkness if only to survive.
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One week later....
"Dessad, is planning on doing something to the group. I would just let them die but it was important to him that they are warned. Tell them they can not follow Dessad, tell them its a trap and its too dangerous. Darkness already has you tracking them so you can get close and Alpha believes you don't want to see them dead either. Stop them from going north." Lucilla said to Katsumi
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Present ...
Owen's pack was at a stalemate. The lightning sworn were not soft targets. He knew that he he suggested them hoping to cause Darkness and the Lightning sworn to fight each other and kill each other. Here he was a victim of his own scheme, forcing the pack to continually move so the Blue Dragon did not find them and eliminate them. Their orders had been added to. There was a piece of the staff Rowenna was looking for being held by this dragon and Owen was suppose to capture the elves to feed the vampires and the staff piece to give to Dessad.
The smell of decayless death came again. He had trained his stomach not to sick up but he still found it distasteful. He rubbed a thin ointment he made in his nostrils to dull their lack of stench. When he saw them his heart sank. The smell was coming from the party of approaching travellers, Nial, Duncan, Keshala, and some elf he did not know. Dessad was with them, his smell was one Owen never figured out.
Nial spoke with Omega symbols in his eyes, "Owen, I see love has failed to take the battlefield. Perhaps it is time fear had its chance." He nodded at Dessad and Owens body burn racked with unfilterred pain until he would do anything to make it stop.
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