chapter 4

Chapter 4

...

When I wake up I feel better then I have in days, I jump out of bed and stretch my arm up high.

“Your awake,” I spin around to see me uncle sitting in the corner of the room with a strange look on his face.

“What are you doing in my room at this hour?” I say surprised.

“Michael I need you to give this to Miram when you go to work,” he says handing me a piece of paper.

“What is it?” I open it and read the words, “lupum est ululaverunt.”

“Just promise me you’ll give it to Miriam,” he says almost forcefully.

“Yeah, of course,” as I say this he let out an unsteady breathe.

He then walks out of the room as I put the note into my bag and get dressed. The first thing I notice when I reach the family room is Aunt Marie curled up on the couch with all three of the kids asleep around her. I go to walk towards them but something stops me, a strange feeling washes over me telling me to leave them sleep and leave the house. I ignore the feeling and take a step closer to them. With that a haze drops over my vision, thickening with each step I take away from the door, I try to blink it away but nothing happens it just keeps growing thicker, so I turn and run from the room. I stop just in front of gate, “What the hell was that?”

I start to make my way up the side of the mountain, my mind racing. My legs start to move faster and faster, the forest starts to fall away as I run. The clearing flies past I keep going until I reach a second smaller one, my body comes to a jerking stop in front of a crystal clear pool of water with a single huge mountain ash tree growing in the centre. Frozen in awe I just stare up at this great tree losing myself in its branches. A single dew drop lands on my forehead. Mist quickly filled the clearing blocking my vision of the tree. Small flicks of light start to appear in the mist, moving slowly, they come closer. Exiting the mist dozens of ghostly balls of light with flickering tails, begin to circle me growing brighter and brighter. Then they move into a single great mass, a flash follows. A woman stands before me, her eyes burning an intense green colour, a voice rings through the clearing saying “I am the lady of the forest, I was the one who saved Leosanina Lupus, the first of the hunters,” she says as she walks through the thinner mist around me.

“What does this have to do with anything?”

“You don’t yet know do you, but then how did you call me here?” she says looking almost shocked.

“Look whoever the hell you are, would you mind filling me in here?” I almost yell at her.

“Could you possibly be the one?” she says with her eyes glowing all the brighter.

“Look I don’t have time for this,” I say spinning around walking straight into the mist only to find myself look at the same clearing from a different angle.

“What the ...?”

“Michael, you must listen to the lady,” a voice comes from behind me. I spin around to see my father standing there.

“Dad?” was all I could say.

“Michael I don’t have long, you have to listen to the lady, she know all, she well...” he vanished before he could finish.

“Dad, dad... come back,” I say on the verge tears.

“So it is you, you truly are the one?” the lady says out of nowhere.

“He said I have to listen to you, so start talking.”

“It’s easier to show you.”  She threw her hand out to her side and the mist cleared. We both stood in the same clearing but it was different the trees seemed smaller, younger almost.

“The curse was created first it almost brought the world to its knees, but one  fateful night, a pack of Lycan’s attacked a small group of villagers out hunting. The Lycan’s bit the villagers leaving them to turn in the forest. But these villagers refused to become monsters, they ran.” As soon as she says this a man stumbles in to the clearing clutching his shoulder which is covered in a huge bit mark.

“One found his way here, he fell to his knees and started to pray. He prayed to save his family and give him the strength to fight. I answered his prays.” The same woman appears before him but she looks far younger. “I took the curse, changing it, creating the only thing that could stop it.” The image that’s unfolding before me is horrific. The man collapses in pain, screaming, convulsing. His eyes begin to blaze with the brightest golden colour I’ve ever seen. His body quickly goes silent. He stands slowly on uneven legs, his body starts to shimmer and shake, changing, becoming a giant pure black wolf. “I gave him the power to turn the newly bitten into hunters.”

I was stunned. The black wolf bows down in front of the woman; she leans forwards kissing the wolf on the head. The wolf takes off in to the forest at a speed I didn’t think possible.

I stand there frozen as a deep sorrowful howl comes out of the forest, five more answer the first. The mist fills the clearing once again blocking everything out. The lady suddenly says, “You have just seen the beginning of your people.” She moves to stand in front of me and places a hand of my shoulder. “You Michael William Lupus are the end, many spirits have awaited this day, the day that the world would be set right.” She stares down at me before grabbing my arm hard, “I’m sorry but it must be done.” A burning pain starts to cover my arm, she closes her eyes and says, “The five together created the war, the five will lend their strength to end it.” She just finishes talking as the pain becomes so great I can’t help but yell out. I grab her arm trying to pull it off but it’s as strong as stone. I open my eyes as vines begin to grow across my arm, covering from my hand to my shoulder and I can feel them run down my side. The lady lets go of my arm and steps back. The vines start to glow before falling away like dust. I look down at my arm once again and I see black lines running from just below my elbow, past my shoulder in an intricate pattern. Pull my sleeve up as an image of a green rose blooms on my shoulder

Breathlessly I say, “What did you do to me?”

“Michael you are a Nexus, one born to bring the five great powers together, some would call you a spirit caller, but it doesn’t matter, I have given your first mark. You will have to find the others on your own,” the lady says with a strange tone.

“What are you talking about? What others?” I yell starting to feel rage boil through my veins.

“Fire, water, wind, earth and the forest. The five greater spirits that keep the worlds working, I am the lady of the forest and I have given you my mark,” she says as a smirk moves across her face.

“None of this makes sense,” I yell as the rage continues to grow.

“It will, trust me.”

“Trust you? I don’t even know you, not to mention you just branded me.”

“I know how this looks, but you have to fight you’re the only one who can.”

“And if I won’t?”

“You will, it’s in your blood,” as she says this she fades back into the lights that made her. All i wanted to do was run, but not from fear. The mist slow pulls back in to the forest revealing the clearing as it was when I first entered it. I turn and leave the clearing as fast as I could, the rage boiling through me slowly starts to subside.

When I get back to the house, I go in through the back door, heading straight up the stairs. I slam the door closed and pull my fist back. I punch the door and to my surprise my fist continues through the door splitting it in two. I just stand there stunned as my uncle comes running up the stairs. “I... I... I... I... I” is all I could say. He just sighs “it’s alright Michael, I was going to wait till you got home from work but I think it’s time you move in to the guest house”

“Huh?” is my reply

“You don’t want to?”

“No I do, but when I asked last year you said no so what changed?”

He just smirks and says “you have” before turning and heading back down the steps

I shake my head and start to get dressed. I walk over to the bed and see that the amulet that the wolf gave me is sitting on the bedside table; I pick it up but this time when I look at it, it no longer confuses me but it seems to be making me feel angry. I glare at the amulet as though it would give the answers that I need. I make my way down to the kitchen, as soon I set foot in the room all eyes lock on to me.

Tom was the first to speak “Michael, what happen last night?”

“Tom!” my aunt hisses, Tom shrinks down lower in to his chair.

“Michael a girl by the name of Leah called she said something about she’ll met you at the gateway so that you don’t forget again” Aunt Marie says in a forced normal tone.

I sit down at the table looking at the three young kids all around me, seeing that all of them a falling asleep. “Tom, what did you mean what happened last night?” I ask, but before he could answer my uncle walks in and says “Michael you can get going I take the kids to school”.

“Ok sure thanks” I say unsure.

I grab my keys and head to the door. I get in my car and back out of the driveway. On the way down the road I see Leah walking on the footpath, she looks angry so I pull up beside her. Pushing the button to wined the window down, I say “hey, need a lift?” she jumps before saying “ah, yeah, thanks”. She climbs in to the presager seat, sifting nervously she closes the door. “Didn’t your dad every tell you not to get in cars with strangers” I say as I pull back out on to the road. She lets out a small giggle before shaking her head “yeah he did but who ever listen to their parents” we both laugh at that but she suddenly inhales sharply. Before looking down at her hands knotting her finger “hey Michael you know the harvest moon dance that’s on next week? You going?”

“No I don’t think so, I have no real reason to, why?”

“Oh it’s just Rachel conned me in to going with her and Joe and I’m worried I be a third wheel and I don’t know anyone else so will you meet me there?” she says slow losing volume as she goes. We pull up in front of the school before I can get over the shock and answer. “Um... yeah sure” I say with a smile.

“Really that’s great” she suddenly has a smile spread across her face. She looks out the window and see Rachel’s car pull up. She jumps out of the car running over and starts whispering to Rachel. I just get out, lock the car and start to walk to the school building

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[StillShorterThanYou]

ohhh, what's going to happen next?