Awakening the Beast (3 page)

Her mother studied Ohanzee for a second. A small smile came upon her lips and then she met Illiana’s eyes. The gray in her mother’s hair was more pronounced. The lines around her mouth and her eyes were tighter than ever. Her mother had aged in the past year that she had been gone. Whatever had happened, it had given her more of a roadmap to her life than she had ever expected spread out on her face.

“Well, I’m glad that you’ve found a place for yourself. You never really had one in the flock, and certainly not in the pack. About saving my life, well I barely remember how I got here. I had a few strange dreams with you in them…they could have been hallucinations.”

“Think whatever you want. You never accepted me for what I was anyway. Since we’ve caught up, can you tell me what sent you all this way?” Illiana could not quell the severe edge in her voice. Were her dreams true? Had the forest burned? How many had died? Those questions remained stuck in her throat and only one came out. “Is Christopher still alive?”

Lelana nodded. “He’s alive.”

Relief flooded Illiana’s being. Knowing that her wolf was safe was the most important thing. That gave her hope that she would one day see him again. “Thank the spirits.”

“You won’t want to thank them after you hear the rest of the tale.”

“Then tell it,” Ranolo insisted.

“Can I have some water first and a place to sit?” Lelana asked.

“Of course. This way.” Ranolo took her mother’s arm and led her into the common room. He poured her a glass of water from the pitcher on the dining table. Her mother sipped it slowly and then took a deep breath. At that moment, Belik slipped inside of the house and flashed her a small smile.

“Lelana, you’re awake and moving.” He gave her a quick hug and went to Illiana’s side.

He brushed Illiana’s cheek with a kiss and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Good to see you two are still together. Two months after you left, a man and a woman came to the edge of the wood claiming they wanted to trade with the ravens and the wolves. They had a letter written by you, Illiana, saying that I should consider trading with them. They were a cougar clan from the plains. Does that sound familiar?”

Illiana nodded. “Yes. We went into their village and when they discovered I was two-natured, they were going to kill me. In order to leave, we made a deal with them. I wrote the letter to get out of there.”

“I took it before Christopher and the wolf council. I also talked to Coret to be sure it would be okay. She saw some possible misunderstandings between our peoples, but nothing we couldn’t work out. Once all parties agreed, we invited them into our homes, showed them the village and the aeries. Things went well through the winter. Then one day, the leader of the vulture clan arrived with the cougar clan leader to finally meet us because he had been on another trading mission to the north and hadn’t been able to come before. He said that he shared territory with the cougars. People started to go missing. Then some of the wolves were found slaughtered although they had put up a good fight. We confronted the vultures and the cougars, but they declared they knew nothing about it. Three months ago during the annual initiation, we were taken by surprise. The vultures came from above, more than we had ever seen, and overpowered the flock. They pushed us out of our aeries to the edges of the forest. The wolves were fighting their own battle with the cougars and more were arriving from the plains each day overwhelming the pack. Things were falling apart. The Corvi are peaceful and haven’t had warriors in our ranks for centuries. So we gathered in secret with the wolves and decided to do the only thing that we could do, hoping it would drive the interlopers back to their territory.”

“You set fire to the forest,” Illiana whispered.

“Yes. We torched the aeries to drive them from our homes. How did you know that?”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. Oh gods.”

“During the fire, all hell broke loose. We tried to get everyone out. The fire burned some of the aeries, but then it began to rain. The fire spread more on the ground than in the canopy. It all happened so fast. The vultures and the cougars retaliated. They began killing senselessly.” As her mother imparted the story, her voice became haunted and her eyes were glazed while she remembered everything that happened to her. “Coret tried to lead the young ones away, but one of the vultures caught her in his talons and dug into her. They took the hatchlings. The ones who did not escape were rounded up by the vultures. The same with the wolves by the cats. I never thought I’d see the day where we’d be pulled into slavery. The only thing I could think of was getting here. I barely made it out and I kept on going west.”

Tears slipped down Illiana’s cheeks. The guilt of it weighed on her shoulders. The rush of the elements roared in her head like a waterfall and she could not shut them out. She even covered her ears with her hands and shook her head. “It’s all my fault.”

* * * *

Belik caught Illiana and kept her from collapsing after what her mother had revealed. Ohanzee had her other arm and together they led her over to another chair so she could sit. The full implication of what the leader of the flock said hit him. The forest and all of the ravens had been decimated all because they had gone to the cougar clan, all because he was tired of being alone during their journey. He shook his head and felt the sting of tears gathering in his eyes.

“It’s all my fault,” Illiana said again.

He hugged her closer. “No. It’s mine. I was the one who wanted to go with Rama into the village.”

She stared at him and he saw the guilt in her eyes. “No. I wrote the letter.”

“Wait. What are you talking about? What happened exactly?” Lelana asked.

Belik looked at Lelana. “We were camping for the night and the next morning we were surprised by Rama. She invited us to her village. We got there and when they discovered Illiana was two-natured, Rama did the only thing that she could think of to get us out of there. And poor Marta, they were going to kill her, too, but Rama gave her little sister to us to be saved. She’s happy with a family in the village here. After walking for three weeks, I wanted to meet other shifters. I noticed the vultures while we traveled along the way, but I never thought…”

“It’s not your fault. Either of you. You didn’t know what was going to happen,” Ohanzee said and squeezed Belik’s shoulder for support.

Ranolo knelt before Illiana and took her hand. “He’s right. You didn’t know what would happen when you wrote that note to send the cougars to the forest. You can’t blame yourself.”

“Can’t they?” Lelana huffed.

Hearing that was a smack in the face and a cold chill went through Belik. He never thought he would hear something like that from Lelana. He understood that she had endured some hardships, but he never suspected that she would put all the responsibility onto Illiana. He curled his hands into fists and held onto his anger, forcing out his words. “I’ve always respected you even when you didn’t take your daughter’s side when she needed you regarding Christopher. You let the one man she’s loved since she was a child slip through her fingers. You didn’t even show up when we left the forest. Coret was the one to see her off. How could you not even care about Illiana? Now you’re placing guilt on Illiana when even Coret saw some darkness around the trading. How was Illiana to know that the cougars and vultures would overtake the forest? When we met them, their village could hardly be called a village. Their homes were in much need of mending. Their children were dirty and they didn’t show they had enough force to do much harm to a whole flock.”

“If it wasn’t for the letter that Illiana wrote, they never would’ve come. And my reasons for not seeing you off are my own.”

“Enough! All of you, enough! We can argue this many ways and place blame on this one and that one. The blame really falls on the vultures and the cougars. Sometimes things happen. Lelana, if the only reason you came here was to place all your contrition on Illiana, then I suggest you leave. I’m here to make sure that our daughter is safe and happy. Look at what you’ve done.” Ranolo gestured to Illiana.

Belik saw she had slumped forward in the chair. Illiana had a vacant look to her gaze. “Illiana, you can’t do this. You can’t run away from what’s been said. It wasn’t your fault,” he pleaded with her.

Illiana’s eyes focused on his momentarily and she whispered. “It is. You heard her. She blames me for everything. They lost their lives and the forest is gone. The wolf village is destroyed. The rest of them are slaves or maybe they’re all dead. I don’t know. What am I going to do?” She tried to get up and stumbled a few feet before she collapsed.

Fright claimed Belik because he could feel the wavering emotions from his mate. He was afraid that if Illiana did not come back to herself, she could be lost. Ohanzee scooped her up and cradled her head.

“What happened to her?” Belik asked.

Ranolo felt her forehead and her cheeks. “Shock. A lot has happened, plus I don’t think she’s slept since Lelana has been unconscious. It’s okay. Bring her over to my cabin. I’m going to talk to her mother.”

Belik grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry for what I said, but this has always been the way between Lelana and her. I don’t know what else to do.”

The shaman sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ll handle her. Make sure that Illiana’s okay. Go on.”

Ohanzee and Belik went to Ranolo’s cabin and laid Illiana down on the shaman’s bed. The hawk shifter moved the hair from her face. Over these past few months, Belik had grown close to the other man. They were wrapped up in one another’s lives and Belik realized he would not have it any other way. The most important thing was to make sure Illiana was okay and that nothing happened to her.

“She said her mother was not the nicest woman in the world, but how could Lelana accuse Illiana of starting all of this, and putting it on your shoulders too? It’s none of your faults.” Ohanzee glanced at him with panic in his eyes. “What’s happening to her?”

“This has happened before. It’s shock. The last time it was this bad was when Christopher told her that he didn’t love her. Illiana slipped away and the wolf disappeared into the darkness of her mind for a while. She stopped eating. I went to Christopher and asked him to come to her. It worked and she snapped out of it, but I don’t know what’s going to happen now. This never should’ve happened.” Belik pressed his lips to her forehead, noticing how cold her skin was. “Something’s wrong with her. I reach along our connection and all I can hear is this raging wind. Can you sense anything since you can feel the elements?” Belik asked.

Chapter Three

Ohanzee took Illiana’s hand, closed his eyes, and stretched his awareness along the link they shared. He listened and felt the air blasting against him. The farther he went he was surrounded by a raging storm that nearly blinded him. There were trees and nothing else except darkness. “Illiana, where are you?”

A raven’s echo resounded high among the trees. When he glanced up, he saw more darkness. He tried to shift into a hawk in this mental landscape, but his body did not respond. So he tried to climb one of the trees, but was immediately surrounded by a ring of fire. The illumination gave him a better view of the landscape. The wind carried heavy snow on it. He ran his hands over his arms to try and warm up. The battering snow pounded ice crystals into his skin, and the longer he was in her mind, the stronger the elemental maelstrom became.

“Please snap out of this. You have to face it. I know you don’t want to, but your mother can’t drive you to this. I know you need to think about your flock, the pack, and Christopher, but you need to be strong. You didn’t cause this. Please, we need you, too. Belik and I love you. You’re not alone in this.” Ohanzee reached his arms out to her.

The raven studied him. After a moment, the fire died down around the tree. It was then she opened her wings and flew down. Illiana transformed back into human form and went into his arms. When she did, she buried her head in his shoulder and cried.

“It’s best to stay here so I don’t have to worry about the rest of the world. The flock will be better without me. So will you.”

He pulled away from her and lifted her chin so he could look into her captivating eyes. “You’re needed in the real world. The flock is best with you in it. We’ll find out what happened to them. You can’t let your mother treat you that way. It’s not your fault. You have to know that. Yes, you wrote the letter, but you didn’t know their intentions. Come back out of your mind. The elements can’t take control of you. Bad things will happen if they do. Ranolo said if you let them win then they’ll rage on and you will only become their conductor. Please come back with me.”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “I know. It all happened so fast. I wasn’t sure what was going on and then it collapsed inward.”

“I know. It can happen, but please come back to me. Belik’s waiting for you and your father’s going to talk to your mother. Please, I love you.” Ohanzee took her face between his hands and kissed her lightly.

“Okay.”

Ohanzee released her and stepped away. He drifted back toward his body and opened his eyes. Illiana’s body temperature had risen and her breathing had evened out. The tempest raging inside her mind had quieted. He glanced over to Belik. “She’ll be fine. She’s coming back.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded and felt a slight touch along his arm. When he looked down, Illiana had opened her eyes. “Welcome back.”

“Are you okay?” Belik asked.

“I’ll be fine. I’m sorry if I worried you. The elements swarmed and took me over. Normally, I can keep them off of me. If I focus, they don’t get the best of me, but I guess they figured I was vulnerable and took advantage. I don’t know.”

Ohanzee nodded. “Ranolo mentioned that you had to gain control of the elements or they could take you over. Has this been happening a lot?”

“Yes. We’ve been working on it, but it’s so hard. He expects me to be some kind of mystical healer when I really don’t know what I am.”