Crow - The Awakening (26 page)

Quite abruptly, the trees gave way to the pasture and his car. As Laurence left the forest, he tossed the last two grenades forward this time. As he ran by they went off closer to him but more importantly closer to his car, startling the wolves that had flanked him and were attempting to close in. That gave him just the barest of windows to get into his car.

He slid, slamming into the side of his car as he reached for the door handle. The wolves had recovered faster than before and were nearly on top of him. He got the door open and dived in, kicking at the biting snout of the first wolf to reach him as he reached back to grab the door and close it. Two more wolves slammed into his car in their rush to get him before the door closed. The rest of the pack circled the car and one jumped onto the hood, staring in at Laurence with the darkest look he had ever seen from a predator. The wolves stood there, a few sitting down, all staring expectantly at Laurence, daring him to exit his car again.

Laurence lay across the front seats gasping for air. After a few moments he closed his eyes and worked to bring his body back under control. Gradually, his heart rate lowered and his breathing leveled out. Sitting up, he took stock of his situation. The effort to get back to the conflict would likely be greater than the reward, since it was certain that by now the kid and his pursuers were no longer there. It was entirely possible that the aliens now had custody of the kid. So fighting through the wolves and heading back into the forest was no longer a viable option.

He removed his rifle from his shoulder and disassembled it calmly as he considered his next move. It took just a few moments to put his weapons away out of sight just in case Laurence got pulled over for some reason. There was no need to tempt any more delays. He removed the night vision goggles and the landscape around him went quite dark, even in the full moon. His eyes adjusted slowly and after a few minutes he finally saw the shapes of the wolves skulking around him. It was time to depart and try to assess the status of the kid, the aliens, and anticipate the kid's next move.

As he put his car into reverse, he pondered on what had transpired. He saw trees and vines grabbing people, watched a kid moving as fast through the treetops as he would running on the ground, saw the top of a tree blow up and a little girl fly up into the sky, and watched a boy knock down a very large person who could have easily doubled as a large linebacker. These are not things that normal people typically see. But then, he wasn't normal. His people have been tracking these types of creatures for many centuries. And now he was finally in the ranks of personal witnesses. So, tonight was not a complete loss.

Penipe cried out in pain as Sirel tightened the bandage around her chest. Cracked ribs were a certainty. But their medical tools were back at their cave so there wasn't much more that could be done but immobilize her as best as possible. She inspected the punctures in her back, making sure none penetrated deep enough to be a problem. Except for the broken ribs, Penipe was still able to breathe and the holes were not sucking wounds. Sally held out a first aid kit, then set it on the table beside Penipe when Sirel didn't reach for it and went back to sit with Jonah.

After treating Penipe's wounds, Sirel took a deep breath and looked up, glaring at Sally and Jonah who both sat sullen on the wood bench by the little bar that served as their dining table at their safe house, then walked outside to check the perimeter and cool off while Penipe reclined on a wooden bench. Everyone in the room was quiet. Sirel's anger was very uncharacteristic for such a bubbly person and added another layer of disquiet to the atmosphere in the room.

Migalo crouched in a corner, still pulling off torn fur and picking out pieces of roots from around his neck. He grumbled as a cut started bleeding again when he pulled matted fur away. "This is ridiculous," he snarled as he kept pulling at the hair until it finally came away. "Roots. I was defeated by roots." He growled as he threw the bits of fur on the floor.

Lohet was a statue, looking out the window at the mountain pass the cabin overlooked. It was a quaint little cabin, well stocked with provisions that could keep the cabin's owners set for over a year. They had used the cabin before when they first arrived, and Penipe stayed there when she was incapacitated for a period of time when their passage was forcefully closed. Then it was a place of refuge. Now, failure hung in the air.

"How did it get this bad?" Lohet asked calmly, still looking out the window. The glow of dawn was starting to light the sky, which made things all the brighter to him. Sally looked over at Jonah who didn't respond. Lohet turned to them, bestowing them with a withering stare. "Your job was simple."

"Simple?" Sally exclaimed. Jonah jumped a little when she responded. "Have you tried to raise a kid lately?"

Lohet looked at her without responding. The Terran had no idea just how long he had been around, but this wasn't a competition. "And yet, children are raised around the world by people of less abilities than yourself with no problem at all," he countered coldly. Sally fumed, holding her tongue.

"He controlled the forest," Migalo growled, holding up a piece of root. "How can that be? He's just a boy."

"He wasn't controlling the forest, Migalo. But I don't know who was." Lohet looked back out the window.

"He's connected to it. You know that. The animals. Remember the puma?" Migalo recalled the report from back when a much younger Steven was rescued by a mountain lion. "All the animals tonight were there for him."

"Yes. There is Elvish in his blood thanks to his mother. But this..." Lohet turned around, looking at Migalo, "...this was different." Lohet sat down. "It was like someone else was there."

Penipe winced as she sat up. "Lohet. He said my daughter's name. I felt her in him as strong as any bonding."

Lohet raised an eyebrow. "Your daughter was protecting the boy." He looked around at the Terrans, waiting for an explanation.

Penipe held her ribs with her arm as she looked angrily at the Terrans. "How can this be?" Sally looked at Jonah. "How!?" Penipe stood up, screaming at them, furious and terrified that her daughter had been brought into this. Sally jumped at the outburst and Jonah reflexively put his arm around her.

"We didn't know who she was. He was drawing her." She fumbled in her purse and pulled out a sketch, her hand shaking uncontrollably as she held it out. Penipe took it from her angrily and walked back to the bench and opened it. Shocked, she sat down ungracefully and Migalo reached out to support her. The drawings were as good as any photograph, better than many. There was no question about it as Penipe wiped tears from her eyes. The faint familial markings on her daughter's fur were unmistakable. Asherah's eyes matched her own. Penipe caressed the page with her hand, crying openly now.

"That's her." She took a painful breath. "That's my daughter." She forgot the pain in her ribs as she cried. "My daughter." She leaned against Migalo as she stared at the drawing.

"What happened, Sally?" Lohet asked. "How was it possible for him to find Asherah?"

Sally looked at him blankly. She didn't fully comprehend how they got to Earth in the first place, much less able to arrive at any kind of answer that could possibly satisfy them.

Penipe glared at Sally, holding the drawing up. "What is a deviant doing with my daughter?!" Her disgust and malice dripped from every word.

"You call him what you like, but I raised him from a baby and love him and he is a good child!" Sally stood up, defending Steven. "He's not some kind of monster!" She looked at Lohet. "He never gave us any trouble and is the kindest kid I have ever known!" She was trembling. "No matter what the circumstances, he is my son."

"No. He was your responsibility," Lohet said calmly. "You knew this day was coming. Why didn't you tell us about Asherah?"

Sally looked at him, crying. "Because I love him!" She knew what would have happened if they found out. Steven was seeing their world. That meant he was a threat to their mission and they would have taken him away immediately. "Don't you have children?"

"We put him on medication to control the problem," Jonah offered quietly, pulling Sally back to him.

Lohet looked at him, shocked. "Medication?"

"It worked. He stopped seeing her. He still thinks she is just his imagination," Jonah said. "We stopped him. That drawing is at least a couple of years old."

It started coming together for Lohet. The severity of the incident that night was worse than any of the others, even causing landslides many miles away. And he was already burning, far sooner than he would have expected. The medication had no doubt altered his development. Trusting him to the Terrans was a mistake. Lohet glowered at Jonah, who sat back and lowered his eyes. "You didn't stop him, Jonah. You stoppered him. And that stopper popped tonight and could have killed us all." Lohet leaned forward. "You included."

Lohet turned back to the window then looked at Sirel who was standing in the doorway. "Young Steven had a capacitive event tonight."

"He didn't take his medicine yesterday," Jonah tried to explain.

Sirel grinned, showing her teeth and skipped up to Jonah, looking at him eye to eye, her face millimeters from his with a psychotic look in her eyes. "The Terran doped a deviant?"

"It worked," Jonah insisted.

"Dopes don't work on deviants." Penipe shifted on the bench, still looking at the drawing. "It just causes them to store up energy."

Lohet sighed and turned back around. "His being off his medicine may have actually saved us," he postulated. "If he had to erupt through his medication, it could have been catastrophic."

Sally looked at him blankly. Lohet walked up to her and knelt down in front of both of them. "Entire worlds have been lost to capacitive events from deviants. Don't think you have tried something that wasn't attempted before."

"We didn't know," Sally pleaded. "We wanted him to be safe."

"Is he?" Lohet stood up and turned a cold gaze on her. Sally looked down, unable to meet his eyes as she cried.

"Lohet..." Penipe looked at him imploringly, "...my daughter." Penipe was scared and heartbroken, trembling as she sat on her bench. Lohet looked at her for a long while. They both knew the implications. "I am truly sorry, Penipe."

"Sorry for what?" Sally asked, alarmed.

"You already know, Sally." Lohet walked to the door. "When the deviant has served his purpose, we cannot suffer him to live."

"No!" Sally cried, escaping Jonah's grasp and running up to Lohet, grabbing his arm. "Please! He's just a kid. I love him like he's my own!"

"Dear Sally, so loving but so ignorant. It was a mistake to put him with loving guardians." Lohet put his hand on her cheek. She was shocked by the coldness of his hand, but was suddenly calmed, as if being emotionally muted. It was Lohet. She shook her head. She didn't want to be calmed. She wanted to rage at the lunacy they were suggesting. Killing her son. She looked up at Lohet, tears streaming down her face as she begged him to spare Steven. His eyes peered into hers as he almost imperceptibly smiled. "He is more a danger to you than you can possibly comprehend." He looked over at Penipe and sighed. "And it would seem he has bonded with young Asherah."

"What does that mean?" Sally shook her head.

"When we dispose of the deviant, Asherah will suffer greatly," Penipe said, putting her head in her hands, rocking back and forth as she cried silently. "My daughter will die too."

Steven lay in the meadow with his eyes closed, comfortably dozing as he soaked up the warm sun. He could hear the birds and feel the gentle breeze. The smell of the blooming meadow was intoxicating, and the aroma of the moist earth and grass that he lay on wafted and mixed with the blooms, tantalizing his senses. He shifted his head, cuddling the soft lap that served as his pillow. He felt the soft fur of Asherah's legs tickle his arms and he reached up to wrap his arms around her waist and clasp his hands behind her back as he basked in her presence.

He peeked and looked up at Asherah. She was so stunningly beautiful, even more so with the sun right behind her making her wild hair glow, form a halo around her head, and her fur shimmer. She looked down at him, the hint of a smile curling her luscious lips as she played with his hair. He closed his eyes, smiling and perfectly content. It was a good day, completely without worries and uncertainties. Asherah hummed lightly and caressed his face, following the ridges of his eyebrows and placing her hands on his cheek. His heart swelled, remembering the last time she touched him like that. It was like part of herself became part of him. Her memories, thoughts and experiences. Her love.

He recognized the song she was humming as she bent over and kissed his forehead. It was the same song she had sung to him many times over the years. Only now did he realize that it was an Elvish love ballad. It sounded Celtic to him but oddly with a bit of Goth. Every once in a while she would sing a stanza softly in her language, which so beautifully expressed the soul of the song. Her touch on his face was magical, lingering, and he felt her kiss long after she sat back up and put both her hands on his cheeks. There was a little tug in the back of his head as her presence washed over him in waves, enveloping him in warmth and joy. He felt renewed and strengthened by her and it took his breath away.

He vaguely remembered being broken. But he couldn't remember how or why. But now he wasn't broken. She had made him whole and his wounds were healing. They weren't exactly wounds, but something inside, injuries deep within. Steven furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to remember the details but it all eluded him. The pain was gone, however. What had he done to deserve this angel?

"It's going to be okay, my love," Asherah whispered to him. She cradled his face in her hands as her joy continued to wash over him and Steven gasped, putting his hands on hers. He cried, overwhelmed as her love warmed him from the inside out.

"I missed you so very much, Asherah," he said, snuggling in her lap as she wiped his tears away. It seemed that it had been a long time since he saw her last, but he couldn't recall why. Laying there, he couldn't imagine why on Earth he would have gone away, leaving such perfection behind. For what? He thought about it for a while but gave up. The now was what was important to him. He was with her and extremely relieved to be home after such a long time away.