Okay, so the bottom is under me but it’s too deep for me to reach. I guess it can’t be part of the solution that Ares is talking about. What can he possibly want me to learn in this lake? He let himself drift along on his back for a few minutes. What could he possibly hope to learn being in a lake? He let his body drift along not really paying attention to where he was going. What is it about water that Ares wants me to learn?
William focused his eyes on the ceiling and he could just make out the slight tendrils of reflected light from the water’s surface, dance along the ceiling. He kicked himself forward on his back in the water. It was easier to stay afloat with forward momentum and he was conserving all the energy he could. He let his legs splash slightly as he moved through the black water.
He drifted along the water’s surface. Why am I here? Well, Will you’re here because some eight-foot-tall werewolf threw you in here. He shook himself. That kind of thinking was not going to get him out of this mess. Why am I here? He thought back to his escape from his valley with Aceso. He lost himself in the memories of the last two weeks as far as he could tell. The midnight run out of his valley. The day long runs along the open rock of the mountains. He remembered the narrow escape from the forest and the briar thicket that Aceso had found. The run up that river as they had outrun the helicopter and police dogs. He thought about Tasha and everything that happened once he had entered the werewolf city. But, why am I here?
He had followed Aceso almost blindly as she had led him to safety time and time again. It was her that had rescued him from the shadows. She is being punished right now because she took me into Tasha’s forest and because she had accepted my oath of fealty. I didn’t even know what I was saying when I said it. He had spoken the words but she had accepted them and now he couldn’t even see her. I won’t be able to see anyone if I don’t figure out what Ares wants me to figure out and leave this lake.
What does Ares want from me? He thought about calling for a lifeline, or a street shout out but somehow, he knew that only his echo would answer him. From what little he knew about his teacher; Ares wasn’t exactly the type to just talk for no reason. He also wasn’t in the department of clearly explaining what his intentions were. I am talking about the same werewolf that broke two of my limbs the last time I asked him something, right? No, he knew that he was on his own. Until he found the solution to Ares’ riddle, calling out for help would be a waste of breath and energy.
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William found himself thinking back to when he woke up. Ares had shaken him from his bed. ‘The first thing I will teach you is how to change without our lunar mother.’ Yeah, he said that then he went into this whole, ‘never attack the same way twice’ crap. He was getting really tired of these half answers and coy responses to his questions. Even Jacob hadn’t been entirely forthcoming with any information. Why can’t I get a simple straight answer from anyone around here? He thought that the only person he was likely to get a blunt answer from was Ansuya.
Look, Ares wants to teach me how to change without the lunar mother. Fine, what does that have to do with being thrown unconscious into an underground lake? The moon does control the tides of the world’s oceans, could it have something to do with that? He nodded to himself. His heart seemed to drop as he realized that this was an underground lake and how can the lunar mother influence it when it’s underground.
I have to learn how to change when I want too, not when the lunar mother tells me to. He stopped kicking his feet and let his body become vertical in the cold water. His drying chest constricted by the reintroduction of the cold water around his body. He felt his teeth wanting to rattle. He tucked his arms in close to his torso, preserving what body heat he could. He was beginning to feel the acute cold of this lake again. That is never a good sign. He was running out of time.
He tried to ignore the cold as best he could and force his mind to concentrate on the problem that would get him out of this water. He had to learn how to change into a werewolf without the lunar mother. Did that mean he had to undergo the change now or just figure how to undergo the change? His head was beginning to get cloudy and he was having difficulty concentrating. Change…without the lunar…lunar mother’s help. Jesus…I’m even thinking in…thinking in shivers. He barked out a laugh that sounded a little desperate to his ears as it echoed off the walls of the underground cavern.
I’m not going…going to…to die here…not without a…a fight.
He turned around and plowed into the cold water. He pulled his body forward with his arms and he kicked his legs in a powerful, though unpracticed, flutter kick. He pushed his body as hard as he could to try to generate heat. He couldn’t shake the cold from his body and even with the new exertion, his body didn’t seem to be warming at all. He pushed forward and kept his body working. The chill left his mind, if nothing else, and he was able to think relatively clearly again. As his arms pulled, his legs propelled him through the black water. He wasn’t sure about where he was going but the lake was sizable and he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to beach himself anytime soon. As he swam, he started working on the problem again.