William scanned his right and hoped that this trip would be like the last few trips here. Then the darkness itself moved and William knew that this was not to be a quiet walk.
He grabbed Efraim who was walking in front of him and the older Enforcer turned to see where William indicated. The four stopped and gazed at the shadows dancing and moving with the mist. There was a graceful, smoky harmony to how the darkness met and swirled around the white mist. It was almost beautiful…hypnotic.
William felt his shoulder jerk and he was almost pulled off his feet as Efraim shouted, “RUN!”
He was in no position to argue. He dropped down onto all fours and ran, tightly trailing Efraim’s tail as it moved from left to right in time with his four legged strides. William glanced behind him and he could now make out the Shadows as they had given up all pretense of subterfuge. There were at least a dozen of them. They were mobbing each other trying to get to them. William looked ahead and forced his legs and forearms to carry him faster through the Plain.
Suddenly, Efraim made a sharp left-hand turn and William had to scratch and claw at the smooth ground beneath him to match the maneuver. William looked to his right and saw another group of Shadows bearing down on them. They were four werewolves, hopelessly outnumbered and running for their lives. He hoped that Pepromene knew where she was going. The only thing he could do was force his body to run faster as the three older werewolves darted ahead through the mist.
The Shadows were relentless in their pursuit. William felt the temperature around him drop and he knew that even at their pack enhanced speed they couldn’t stay ahead of them forever. The darkness that they brought with them was starting to encroach on his peripheral vision and like an approaching storm, the white turned grey, darkening by the stride.
William was sweating despite the chill in the air. The sweat dried almost instantly on his skin and fur. The Shadows were close. The dark tendrils that they sent after them were sliding along his legs caressing him, urging him to slow down his hectic pace. The touch was death but there was a comfort in it. The thought of rest and surrender invaded his mind. The thought to give up fighting, to lie down, that the world could go on without him. These thoughts infested his mind like a virus and even though he knew not to believe them, he felt his body slow down.
There was so much he was expected to do, so many people that he just didn’t want to care for. He had gone to his forest to leave all those people behind, to be his own person. The chill of the touch soothed his hot skin and wrapped around his legs and chest. The touch instantly took away the burning feeling in his lungs. This war wasn’t his. Aceso had brought him to the Mountain, he hadn’t brought himself.
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But then that was the point, wasn’t it? His mind lashed out at the false comfort that the soothing touch offered. Aceso had sacrificed to bring him to the Mountain. Ares could have died if he had been wrong about him. Was he truly ready to throw all that trust away? He had overcome his demons once. Aceso had risked her life pulling him from this place once before, there wouldn’t be a need for anyone to risk their lives for him again.
He pushed off with his hind legs to his original speed, and pushed himself even harder. The Shadows wailed loudly behind him. He couldn’t keep a smile from his face. Anything he could do to upset those creatures was a win in his book. The tendrils remained wrapped around him. Their formless shapes clung to him like smoke. He used the chill in their touch to fuel his body and force even more speed from his limbs.
The Whyte Plain stretched out forever on in its vast emptiness. He felt a renewed vigor in his stride and he caught up with the others. The Shadows were still closing the distance between them, little by little. He didn’t dare turn around to look but the chill in the air that they brought with them was getting colder. The hairs on the back of his neck were on end and his ears were buzzing with their unintelligible noise.
He drew strength from his pack bond. He felt Aceso and Katherine and Charles all ahead of him, getting closer. It was like a light at the end of the tunnel, a beacon to guide his steps. He didn’t know how to get out of this place but he knew that they were close to the Mountain.
And then the world appeared, roaring through the mist with its scents, color, and gravity.
He skidded to a halt on an obsidian street of the City under the Mountain. The other three Shape Shifters were standing up on their hind legs, smiling to each other. William stood as well and shifted back to human form as Efraim and Ryan did the same. Pepromene stayed in her werewolf form and sighed deeply.
“That was a lot closer than I would have liked,” she said.
Ryan and Efraim both nodded. “For a moment I almost thought we weren’t going to make it,” Efraim said.
William looked around at the familiar buildings around him.
Home.
It was odd that that word came so readily to his mind when he thought about this place. Had his forest seemed like home so soon after his arrival? His forest had made him a lot tougher than he had ever been. He had to be just as tough as the wolves that lived there. The forest, he now realized, was never really his home, just a training ground. His pack and the Old Grey were his trainers. Everything he had done was to prepare him for what he was now expected to do. This place was his home, it may always have been.
He turned to Pepromene with urgency. “I need to learn about the Whyte Plain. Where the entrances are, how to open them, what that place is…everything.”
Pepromene shared a glance with Efraim and Ryan. “William you may not be ready…”
“The hell I am!” William’s outburst engendered startled looks all around. He took a deep breath and regarded the floor for a moment, gathering his thoughts.