The first thing he noticed was that he could move his eyes. The oxygen he was breathing was kept at a small amount so he wasn’t sure he could stand up even if he wanted too but he could at least move his eyes. He felt the fear diminish inside of himself even more and the more the fear left him the more control he was able to take over his own body. He felt his hands move at his command once more. He was able to wiggle his toes and he felt his head twist against the pressure of Ares’ arms when he commanded his head to move. The more he moved, the more control returned to him. Ares’ arms tightened against the wiggling of William’s body.
“Ares, it’s me.”
William surprised himself. He had never spoken in his werewolf form but the words of the werewolf language came out perfectly and Ares released the pressure from around his neck. Ares did not let go.
“Where are we?” Ares replied.
“It’s a little hard for me to know since I was unconscious when someone threw me into that cold lake over there. How the hell am I supposed to know where I am?”
William felt Ares arms remove themselves from his body and he fell forward on the hard ground, gasping. He was overcome with the relief of being able to breathe . He stretched out his body on the hard rock ground. He laughed out loud as all of his body parts responded perfectly in turn. His toes wiggled, his arms moved, and his nose sniffed at the cool air of the underground cavern. He could smell the clean scent of the lake and everything that was around him.
He rolled onto his back and sat up. He turned his head to look at the far side of the cavern. But when he concentrated on the spot where he thought he had seen something, there was no evidence that that spot was any different than any other part of the cavern. He could have sworn that he had seen something down there but there wasn’t anything down there now and whatever it was, could have been just a result of him not having any control over his eyes.
William stood up and was met by Ares who offered William his hand. William took it and Ares shook it. “What the hell happened to me?”
Ares let go of his hand and cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”
William couldn’t stop his jaw from dropping just a little bit. “What I mean is I gave up a little control and then my other side took over, I could see and feel everything that was going on, but I couldn’t control it. I couldn’t speak; I couldn’t even move my own eyes. But I could feel everything that was happening to me. I felt every punch you gave me, and I could see where my eyes were pointed. I could even feel its emotions. When you put me in the hold, I could feel its fear as if it were my own. It almost was my own and I could barely think.”
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Ares nodded. “But you can control everything properly now, right?”
William rotated his arms and head once more just to be certain. “Yeah, I can move ok now.”
“And you can speak in the werewolf tongue without problems.”
“I have been speaking to you this whole time, right? Or am I imagining this?”
Ares face darkened at the unappreciated sarcasm. “Do you feel this other side of yourself anymore?”
The look on Ares’ face was not lost on William. “Yes, but it is very faint. It’s in the back of my mind like the beginning pressure of a headache without the pain. It’s almost like its sleeping.”
Ares nodded. “That other side of ourselves lives in each and every one of us. What we have to do is make sure not to lose ourselves to it.” He jabbed a single claw toward the middle of William’s chest. “You have to keep yourself here.” He pointed to William’s forehead, “and here.”
William nodded. He wasn’t quite sure how to do that, but he understood what Ares was trying to say. “What happened to me?”
Ares heaved a deep sigh. “I wish I could tell you, William. I don’t know. Maybe because I was born a wolf. I was a creature of instinct before I changed that first time. So, when I did, I was lost in this body, but I was still myself.” Ares shook his head. “But you were human born. I have heard of some shape shifters changing and losing themselves to their animal side. Most of them become werewolves like you were.” Ares stopped and inhaled the air around him. He turned his head back around toward William. “But you were a werewolf and from what I know about you, you were able to keep your humanity in your valley.”
“Exactly.” William leaned forward. “So what happened this time that made me lose myself so entirely to the monster that I could very easily become?”
Ares paused and thought for a moment. The waterfall continued to empty itself into the lake. Aside from the dull roar it produced, the cavern was completely silent and still. “I don’t know, William. The only thing I can do is take you to one of the Elders and we can ask them what they think.”
William lowered his eyes and nodded.
Ares led him out of the underground cavern. William studied his surroundings. It seems so much smaller than it had when I was in the lake. Of course, he was a foot and a couple inches taller than he had been too. William looked down and tried to see the striations in his fur. The light tan fur coat that he wore was crisscrossed with thin black lines. He had never noticed before, but now it reminded him of a camouflage pattern.
Ares led William around the lake in silence. William was glad; it gave him time to think about what had just happened. He turned his concentration inside himself, and he probed the sleeping consciousness that was his other. That beast had been more terrifying than he had ever imagined it being. If Ares had been any less than he was the fight between the two of them might have gone a lot different.