As they advanced, the shadows themselves seemed to falter. They buffeted to a stop as their forms lost cohesion and came back together again brightening and darkening as their forms moved and swayed with some unfelt wind. The shadows watched as the Shape shifters approached. The shadows were now more than outnumbered. They brought themselves together and faded back and dissipated like smoke into the mist of the Whyte Plain.
William watched them go as Ares turned back toward his former student. He nodded and looked over at the two elders. Ares bowed to them both, but it was a black furred werewolf that had slight grey striations throughout his fur who spoke, “Elders, I’m sorry we got here a little late, but the direction and path that you gave to us before you left was a little off and we had another little party of our friends here to deal with first.”
Ansuya nodded her head, “I apologize for the misinformation, Mr. Davis.” She gestured back behind her toward the scout who was still holding onto the unconscious stripper. “Nicolas could not give us completely accurate information until he got closer to the target. Our entry point was not on line with what we had predicted. Are any of your pack mates injured?”
Mr. Davis smiled broadly, “No, elder we’re all fine. It’ll take more than a few shadows to get the better of Ares and our pack.” He said proudly.
Ansuya looked back at the girl in Nicolas’s hands, “We have to get the girl back to the city.”
“We’re here to escort you the rest of the way.” Mr. Davis said.
Ansuya nodded and turned back in the direction that they had been traveling. Mr. Davis’s pack fell in around the young shape shifters. Ares took up a shared rear guard position with Alexiares, while Mr. Davis took point.
William took the girl back from Nicolas who was a little stunned. William grabbed at the scout’s hand to shake him out of it. Nicolas shook his head and nodded. He fell back in step with Katherine and Charles with his head down. The group was walking swiftly but Nicolas kept his head down with a pensive look covering his features. William wondered what it was that was bothering him.
The walk back through the Whyte Plain was uneventful. He didn’t hear the buzzing in his ears, nor did he feel anything wrong with their surroundings. He was extremely alert though. He could never bring himself to relax in this place, not after his experiences here.
Soon they all stopped and gathered into a rough circle. And with a nod of Ansuya’s head, they were back in the real world, just outside of the city entrance inside one of the many shallow caves that ringed the mountain which housed it. Mr. Davis did the honors of opening the gate with his howl and the large party moved into the city entrance closing the way behind them.
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The procession moved down through the tunnel, deeper and deeper down into the bowels of the mountain. The girl slung over William’s shoulders whimpered from time to time but she remained unconscious for the most part.
The long dark tunnel stretched itself out into the infinite black. He only mildly acknowledged the fact that they had not taken a torch with them. He could feel his way forward. Between the sounds of their breathing and their soft padded footsteps leading them down the tunnel he would just as soon not have a light.
The unconscious stripper’s breath was harsh and quick. The thick fur of his shoulders gave her some padding but his pace and gait jostled her endlessly. He tried to soften his steps to ease her ride, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. So, he walked normally and hoped that the trip wasn’t as long as he remembered it getting here. The girl wasn’t heavy but his raised arm, used to steady and secure the girl to his shoulder, was getting a little sore, even his pack bond had limits, it seemed.
Without warning he heard Mr. Davis’s howl ring out through the dark quiet of the tunnel. The girl jerked herself awake as the tunnel gate slid open. Suddenly fists were raining down on William’s head and ears. The once dead weight of the girl’s body had turned into that of a writhing snake that kicked and squirmed and jerked back and forth on his back. Without thinking about it and without really meaning to, he dropped the girl. She fell with a shriek that was punctuated by a loud thud.
The light from the city spilled into the blackened cave. William turned around to find the girl sliding backwards on her butt. The thirteen werewolves who turned to face her must have been terrifying for her. She was so fear stricken she couldn’t get to her feet. She could only gasp, much like she had done in the Whyte Plain. William tried to reach for her but that triggered something much more primal in her and she was able to turn around and bolt down the black tunnel.
Without thinking he tore off after her. Her stumbling and heaving, hyperventilation gasps was easy enough to find. She was making so much noise sobbing and crying out for help a deaf man could find her. William saw her fall down again in front of him and he shifted back to his human form. He caught her up in his arms and held her. “It’s alright, you’re ok.”
The girl clutched at him like a toddler. She was sobbing and crying and wiping her snot oozing nose all over his clothes. She wouldn’t stop crying. William tried to stand up, or pull away, but that just made her grip him harder. He looked up at the dim ceiling of the cave. If this is what having a child was like he never wanted to even think about having one. After a few minutes of listening and feeling her sobbing into his chest and shoulder, with no end in sight, he wrapped his arms around and her and lifted her up into a standing position.
He started to move back toward the city. This brought about another series of short gasps and half uttered pleas that sounded like baby squeaks. She dug her nails into his back trying to make him stop. The only thing he could make out was, “No” and “please” and at one point he thought that she may have cried out that she wanted to go home. The short trip back to the city entrance took a really long time. When he reached the gate, thankfully, the rest of the group had shifted back into their natural born forms.