Revelations (10 page)

“The elder’s bounty?” Nora exclaimed without thinking. That earned an admonishing look from Alexander.

“Yes, doll,” the woman said cruelly, running her finger over the limb of her bow, “the arrow was meant for you.”

Alexander shot another glance at Nora, and whispered harshly, “Let me speak!”

He looked to the man again. “I will harbor no ill will,” he said, spreading his arms, “nor will I seek revenge toward you or your family, for the mishap that has occurred today, on the basis of our past friendship. All I ask in return is safe passage through these woods.”

The man frowned. “You know, Alexander, my boys have not had good sport for quite some time. Today…is a thrilling time for them. We did not answer the call of the elders at first, but when the boys saw unannounced movement through these lands…well, imagine their excitement when they realized just who it was.”

“Permit us safe passage,” Alexander repeated, “and I will forget what happened here. To attack another of the Vassiz is outlawed. Your wife will avoid trial and sentence for what she did.”

To Nora’s surprise, the man laughed in return. Laughed and laughed and laughed. She could feel the tension building between Alexander and the group of four in front of them. When the man finally calmed down, his face twisted into something that resembled anger.

“You trespass on our lands without permission,” he began, “and you dare make threats against my wife? However thinly-veiled your pleasantries are, I know what lies behind them, Alexander. You are a man of great ambition, and you will stop at nothing to get what you want. Don’t deny it – I know you well. No, Alexander, I am afraid we will not allow the two of you safe passage through these woods.”

Alexander growled, a noise that Nora only ever heard before from Hunter, but the man continued anyway.

“But we are friends, no? Yes,” he nodded, “I think we are. And in the spirit of that friendship, I will make you a concession. You bring with you to our pack a precious gift. This is the girl that has been shown to us in the dream, no?” The woman – his wife – nodded. “We will help you, then, Alexander. Your shoulder – it looks badly hurt. You will need to tend to it. You should not be burdened by running around with a newborn. Allow us to take the weight off your hands. Give us the girl, allow
us
to claim the bounty, and you may go freely.”

“No deal, Korver,” Alexander said quietly.

“What’s that?” the man – Korver – asked, raising a hand to his ear. “I do not think I heard you correctly. Could you speak up, please? And this time, Alexander…make the right decision.”

“I said,” Alexander replied defiantly, “No. Deal.” He took his hand away from his shoulder, and crouched down in an aggressive stance.

“No?” Korver mused. “I must say, Alexander, I knew you as an ambitious man, but not as a fool. Consider the numbers. There are four of us and only two of you. The girl – she has no control over herself yet. She does not know her body as we know ours. That paints her out of the equation. What does it become then? It becomes quite scary for you. It becomes four of us, against only one of you. And you have a bad shoulder, now, while we’re freshly rested and without injury. Do you truly wish to risk such odds?”

“I do not want to risk anything, Korver,” Alexander snarled, “but I will do what I must if you force me. Let us through. There is no need for a confrontation.”

Korver ignored Alexander completely. “Oh,” he said to himself, as if just remembering. “We also found something in the woods.”

One of the boys, Nora realized, had stood there the entire time with his hands behind his back. Easily, he brought them around – and sheer terror clutched Nora’s heart. Gray hung limply, the boy’s hand wrapped tightly around his neck.

“No!” Nora screamed.

Korver smiled at her. “You see, we are more in touch with nature than most. That is how we found this stray running behind.” Nora saw with relief that Gray’s chest still moved with breath. Weakly, though. “Surely it is of no consequence to you, Alexander, if we take his pelt? It is such a rich, beautiful color.”

“I would not do that, Korver,” Alexander warned. Nora stepped up beside Alexander, shoulder to shoulder with him, facing the pack.

Korver frowned, this time truly with surprise. “I did not think you one to care. But that means… No. Could it be true…? The girl…she is not your prisoner at all, is she? You have no intention of claiming the bounty, or taking her to the elders. No. She is your
toy
.” He said the last word derisively. “Do you so easily forsake the Vassiz, then, Alexander? What you are doing, it is worse than treason.” He smiled to his wife. “The elders will reward us greatly if we bring them not one, but
two
outcasts. Boys – go take them.”

The boy holding Gray threw him aside gruffly, and his brother took a step toward them. At the same time, Korver’s wife locked eyes with Nora. “This one’s mine,” she told them.

Everything happened at once.

The boys streamed toward Alexander. He pushed Nora aside and charged right at them, giving no heed to his shoulder.

Nora stumbled a bit, and just before she caught her feet, something hit her across her cheek. Hard. She fell back and, at the same time, looked up. The woman, who had just been beside Korver, was standing over her. “That’s for Alexander’s threat,” she said in a menacing tone.

Nora started to get up, but received a hard kick to her side – one that sent her flying. Nora landed on her stomach and grunted.

“That one,” the woman said, “was from me.” The woman walked leisurely around her. “So,” she continued, starting to circle Nora widely, “how does it feel to face your demise? This is your destiny today.”

“My destiny,” Nora said harshly, “does not involve you!” The woman had taken Gray, threatened her, and put an arrow through Alexander’s shoulder. The anger inside Nora steamed to the top. Nora pushed herself up and locked eyes with the woman. She had been running for two straight days, making use of all her newfound abilities. Together with the anger, she could feel the Vassiz instincts inside her just begging to be let out.

She let them go.

With a snarl, she ran toward the woman. The woman’s face momentarily showed surprise, only to be quickly replaced by determination. The woman charged toward Nora, matching her stride for stride.

Nora saw a rock sitting along her path, and bent quickly to grab it, while keeping at a dead run. The large stone fit well in the palm of her hand. She kept running, closing the distance between her and the woman. Suddenly, the woman jumped, high into the air. Nora jumped, too.

They flew toward each other, bodies streaming through the air. The woman bared her teeth harshly, and Nora did the same.

They collided, like two rams meeting head-on, came to a dead stop in mid-air, and fell to the ground.

The woman was like a viper. She already had one hand wrapped around Nora’s wrist – on the same hand that held the rock. But Nora had the woman’s other hand. They tussled on the ground, both vying for advantage, and neither getting it. Nora found herself on her back, defending more than attacking, and the woman moved to slam her knee into Nora’s side harshly. Nora wiggled out of the way just in time. Using the momentum, Nora flipped them over so she was on top, but cringed as the only weapon she had flew from her hand.

The woman’s face flamed red with anger, and her eyes shone with a vicious intensity. Instead of fighting against Nora’s grip, she rolled back, flipping them both over again so she was on top. Nora tried to hold off the woman’s hands, but they were quick and strong. Slowly, Nora began to feel overpowered. The woman was stronger, and she had more experience. Staving off the woman’s hands was quickly draining Nora’s energy.

With alarm, Nora realized she couldn’t win on the ground. The woman was too experienced, too much stronger in such close combat. She had to get to a different terrain, gain some kind of advantage, or else… or else she would lose.

Nora let her body go limp. . The woman fell for the trick, grinning as she positioned herself more securely above Nora and darted her hands toward Nora’s neck. Just at that moment, when the woman thought she had the advantage and let up her defense, Nora used the leverage of both her legs to fling the creature off, away from her. The woman flew backward through the air, but righted herself nimbly before landing on both feet. That was just enough time for Nora to get up, though.

From the side of her vision, Nora caught Alexander taking on the two brothers. They were both jetting around him, mocking him. Suddenly, one of them was down, cringing in pain. And Alexander was right on top of him, finishing with a lethal blow to the head. She had no idea how it happened so quickly, but if he could take on two…surely she could take on one.

The woman rushed back toward Nora, but instead of facing her head on, Nora turned and ran. She had to get away, to find some place where she could have an advantage. Her mind raced.

She ran through bushes and trees, around ancient trunks and fallen logs. Turning her head back, she saw the woman was right on her trail. She doubled her speed, until the lines of her vision started to blur. She had never gone this fast before in the real world, and it felt…liberating. She was moving so fast she had no time to think about where she was going – and she let instinct completely take over. She dodged past branches, sidestepped boulders, and twisted through narrow gaps between trees, all without losing a step.

She glanced back again, and realized she had gained quite a lead over her pursuer. Wait. That was it! Nora was
faster
, most definitely, and she could use that to win.

She darted ahead, zipping through the trees and turning at random to throw off the woman behind her. If she could just get out of her line of sight, maybe she could take her by surprise. Nora ran, going left, then right, then left again, in an effort to get farther and farther away. But also in an effort to get out of sight.

She glanced back – and saw nobody. She stopped, pressing herself up against the trunk of a thick tree, and waited. A few seconds later, she started to make out the sound of the other woman running.

The faint rustling sounds moved closer and closer. Nora held her breath. Waited. Then, the sounds stopped and there was nothing but silence. She tried to breathe as quietly as possible, taking shallow breaths in and out through her mouth. She still heard nothing. Nora dared to peek ever-so-slightly out from behind the tree.

The woman stood completely still, looking around. A flood of relief washed over Nora. The woman didn’t know where she was, which meant Nora still had the element of surprise on her side. Hmmm…Just maybe, with a little bit of luck…

Nora reached down and picked up a small rock.
One.
She took a deep breath in.
Two.
Held it.
Three.
She threw the rock as far into the forest as her new strength would allow. It flew through the air, hit a tree trunk, and fell, rolling over some of the dead leaves and other foliage on the ground. The sound it made was barely audible, but to Nora’s ears, and to the woman’s ears, it was loud as a roaring avalanche.

Nora held her breath until her lungs screamed. The sound of the woman’s footsteps grew quieter as she took the bait and moved deeper into the forest. It worked!

Nora pressed herself closer against the tree and edged a quarter of the way around. She snuck a peek, and saw the woman’s back as she passed within inches of Nora’s hiding spot, crouched as if stalking prey.

With all the force she could muster, Nora jumped her. She landed forcefully against the woman’s back, knocking her off balance. She smashed her fist into the side of the woman’s head. The woman tried to flip over, to fight Nora off, but it was too late. Blow after blow connected – hard, uncompromising jabs that made Nora’s entire body shake with effort. But they were working. The woman shielded herself, tried to fight them off, but she was weakening. Another hit connected, and then another, and another, until finally the woman’s arms fell uselessly to her sides, and her eyes glazed over.

Nora was breathing hard. She looked at her fists and saw that they were bloody. It wasn’t her blood. It looked like her knuckles – in fact, all her bones – had hardened enough for her to do serious damage. The woman lay limp beneath her. A small amount of blood had started to pool around the woman’s head, where she had sustained the most injury.

Nora stood. The woman groaned and weakly rolled over. Nora felt no pity for her. She had taken Gray, hurt Alexander, and
dared
to hunt after her. Anger started to boil up again – anger tinged with an animal madness. The woman lay motionless, but she was still breathing.

The anger surged through Nora. Anger at the woman for trying to take her. Anger at Hunter for abandoning her. Anger at the elders, and all the Vassiz, for chasing after her. Nora’s heart started to beat with a renewed vigor, and that familiar feeding instinct started ebbing to life.

Nora stopped fighting it. She let the natural urge take over. Snarling, she threw herself viciously at the woman’s neck. The woman glanced up weakly at the noise, realizing at the last moment what was happening. She shrieked out in horror, but Nora’s teeth had already sunk deep into her neck.

Chapter Twelve

~Damage Done~