William began to feel very heavy. His legs were unusually tired, and his body began to feel like a massive weight. Moving, even at this trotting speed, was draining him of most of his energy. He kept looking back at his two friends. Katherine’s neck was bowed, and her head was down. She seemed to be using every scrap of her energy just to keep moving. Charles was a little better off but not by much. William knew what was happening but just because he knew what was happening didn’t mean that he knew anything about how to fight this sensation. The urge to slow down back to a walk was almost undeniable. He knew that the longer he fought this place the less he would have when it really mattered. His friends on the other hand were another story. They couldn’t keep up with William and had already dropped back down to a walk. William couldn’t afford to lose them so he slowed down too.
“It’s not you, it’s this place. This place drains you of…everything.” The words rang hollow, with no conviction, even to his ears. Maybe this place worked mentally as well as physically. He had to try to keep them positive. “We just have to keep moving. The feeling will pass.” Yeah, the feeling will pass… once we’re out of this hell hole.
The more he moved, the more sluggish he felt. He could not imagine what Charles and Katherine were going through. He had increased reserves of strength and stamina granted to him by the Lunar Mother, but the Tracker and the Sage? They had no such abilities and if he was struggling to move it must be a monumental effort for his friends to keep pace with him.
“What’s the point?” Katherine grunted from behind him.
William whirled in place to look at the Sage who had sat down in the mist. Charles wasn’t too far behind her as he sat down heavily as well. He looked at Katherine who couldn’t even seem to lift her head to look at him anymore.
“If Achelois is here, she’s dead already and we will be too if we don’t get out of here,” Katherine whined.
William was dumb struck. His shoulders sagged as the hopelessness of Katherine seemed to be contagious. He wanted nothing more than to sit down with his friends. To rest for just a moment. The ground looked so inviting. He shook his head violently. That wasn’t him talking it was this place, and sitting down would lead them to their deaths.
“We won’t be able to save anybody here,” Charles said. “The Elders had every right not to tell us about this place. We should leave before we die too. I just need to rest for a minute.”
William forced his shoulders back and his back straight. He lifted his head and walked in between the two sitting shape shifters. “If we rest, we die.” He reached down to grab both of them and pull them to their feet. Charles let himself be lifted but Katherine pulled away from him.
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“I’m not going to throw my life away for someone like Achelois. She was such a high and mighty bitch anyway. She doesn’t need any of us.”
William stared at her wide eyed. He had never expected Katherine to say anything like that about anyone. Charles sagged against him. “Charles, I need your help here, pal.”
“There’s nothing that can help us here, William. We might not even make it back ourselves. Even if we turned around right now, they would eventually find us and kill us.” He looked at William as his weight was being supported by the other. “This is useless. Better to die now and get it over with.”
William almost dropped his friend. He had never thought he would hear any such thing from his friend before. He looked up at the dense smoky whiteness of this place. It was this place. He remembered being here and what he had convinced himself to do. Maybe this place affected everyone differently. His first time here it had taken on a sweet, lulling, heavy persuasiveness. His friends seemed to be being beaten down by shear hopelessness and despair.
The weight of Charles was becoming almost too much to hold. He knew he was supporting the entirety of Charles’s weight now. He looked down but Katherine was already lying on her back with her eyes closed. He practically dropped Charles and knelt down by her side. He shook her gently, then more violently. She refused to open her eyes. He looked over and Charles too was lying on his back with his eyes closed. William stood up not knowing what to do. The two on the ground had very peaceful expressions on their faces. The mist swirled around and over them, caressing them with its cold light, obscuring their features.
For minutes, an eternity of time, William had no idea what to do. Looking at his two friends lying there peacefully he wanted nothing more than to join them. Sleep sounded so good right now, but he knew that way led to the shadows, quite literally. He could feel Aceso making progress moving away from him. He had no idea how fast she was moving but she was moving, getting farther and farther away from him. He couldn’t let her walk into that trap without him there to support her, and he couldn’t leave his friends here to die either.
Aceso.
The thought struck him like a hammer blow to his skull. How had she gotten him out of this place? His hand wondered idly to his side. The memory brought back the phantom pain that he felt as she had sunk her razor-sharp teeth into his side. Without hesitation he knelt next to his friend and clamped down on Charles thigh with his jaw and teeth as hard as he could. He could taste the warm copper of his friend’s blood as it oozed into his mouth.
Charles sat bolt upright as he yelled out into the stillness of the Whyte Plain. The mist swallowed the sound but who knows who could have heard it. Charles looked around wildly and swiped at William’s snout and face with his claws, raking him good behind the ears. The stinging wound helped to clear his mind as well. He remained attached to his friend as Charles dealt him one or two more good blows then let him go.
William leaned back to sit on his haunches watching his friend rub at his wound. Charles didn’t seem too interested in William at the moment, just massaging the blood slicked fur of his leg. Charles looked up at William. “I’m sure there was a reason for that?”