The nights were worse. Even in their world, hearing voices wasn't considered normal. Sleep during the night had been slow in coming. Kassuim tossed sleepily in bed without having touched dinner.
Come to me...
There was an appeal impossible to ignore in that commanding tone.
Getting to her feet, still confused, she stopped by the door. Those dreams were so real. She walked out into the cool night, feeling her skin tingle in the stronger breeze.
The silent village was deserted. Everyone slept.
You are mine. Come to me...spells cast and curses. A lich always chased its victim.
Someone called in the darkness and for a moment she thought it might have been Rick. Anything was possible when she was dreaming. She wasn't even walking the earth barefoot walking away from the village towards the forest. It was just a dream. Maybe too vivid.
She walked in her nightgown through the vegetation, following the unpaved path until she stopped again near the forest where the trees made the path difficult. The terrain was uneven, and dark and the bushes made access difficult. A branch caught in the fabric of her nightgown and she stopped.
Everything was too real to be just a dream. The cold wind, the wet earth, the dew on the trees. She could easily hear the stream nearby. She stopped once more, looking around and shivering.
I am moving away from the village. I have to go back. The forest is not safe.
You must not be afraid. I can feel your magic. I am...
Kassuim widened her eyes, pale and unable to move. She was inevitably screaming in terror at the face of Captain Jackwill, trying in horror to free herself from the gnarled claws that were her hands as they tried to touch her. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. The deck around her was dark and shadowy and oppressive. Around her, several ICHICHOS looked at her hungrily, ready to drain energy and emitted frightening hisses.
She went back to screaming, even more, struggling with the hands that held her.
It was just a damn hallucination. Just it.
Even so, she had the impression that she might pass out. Another voice, female and afflicted, echoed beside her.
-You can't let him restore the amulet. The Pieces of Four: the strength of an alpha, the power of a transformed, the skill of a half-breed and the magic of a sorcerer... Kassuim, the light of creation seals the strength of these energies with enough power to restore the amulet. You shouldn't mess with the balance of nature.
Kassuim, struggling to free himself, looked to the side. It was the image of a very young and translucent woman who looked before his eyes. The girl wore white clothes like a tunic. Around her neck, an amulet gleamed faintly.
God, was it Faith?
-Light of creation? What is the light of creation? – she struggled. No ancient writings spoke of the light of creation in ritual.
- He's not real, Cassie. He's just a spirit that still roams his world and doesn't know he's dead. His life was abruptly cut short and he seeks revenge. He needs to free James' soul. This will take the power out of JackWill.
Wasn't he real? Now ICHICHOS were very real. She cried out as she felt one of the advances on her, fangs deepening into her pulse, sucking her blood and draining magic as well as life force. She fell to the ground, dizzy with blurred vision. She couldn't feel her own body with the overwhelming cold that enveloped her. Was that going to kill her?
Enough!
She could still hear the furious shrieks of those creatures from a distance, echoing in alarm at Jackwill's unbridled rage as he drove them away. Kassuim no longer knew her screams echoed in the silence of the night as she continued to struggle and struggle against the hands that held her back without being able to perceive anything around her. Light of creation? They were going to put the pieces together.
-Check for more of them. Rick's voice thundered angrily, casting murderous looks.
Knowing that the Gaia offered no security infuriated him.
Michael and the other wolves were looking for weapons and torches of fire accompanied by Vladimir after the transformed had been spotted by the lookout sentries in the vicinity of the village. Villagers had been gathered in the centre of the village while warriors were called to the rescue to secure the village. He had heard his livid wife scream as he noticed the bed was empty, flinging himself into the forest under Padraic's furious protests. They were about to board and lift anchors with survivors.
Kassuim did not recognize him. The frantic movements to break free made him curse even more. The girl is pale, terribly cold and sweaty. She had lost blood from that beast's attack, but not enough to kill. Even so, she starts to lose the disorderly movement before falling into a worrisome semi-consciousness. The healing ability didn't manifest and it was hell. Rick quickly made a tourniquet on her wrist, stopping the bleeding with a curse.
- I'll gather the men and...
-Nothing like that, Michael. Keep everyone together. They are turned stray after their leader is killed. Prepare bows and arrows soaked with aconite.
-Rick. - Michael exhibited doubts. He preferred to gather the wolves and attack.
-What the hell, Cassie! – Richard complained, noticing the improvised bandage soaked in blood. The wrist was cut.
-She won't heal like us or she'll feed, Rick. - Michael approached worried.
The alpha glared at his brother. What was she doing here far from the village and alone? Since the attack he had kept as far away as possible, watching her from afar. He braced the woman's body against him as he cut the vein in her wrist with his fangs and brought it to her cold lips with a curse. She hadn't fed with the rest of the pack.
- Come on, drink. he-he ordered it dryly.
She tried to turn her face away in weak protest. The movements were disordered.
-You need to drink, girl. She lost blood. She won't heal that way.
Kassuim
Mentally, Rick forced her mind, trying to keep the telepathy between them in surprise. He experienced with the girl the repulsion that it caused him, for some reason her wolf ability seemed to be dormant. Still, the throat is parched. He felt a mad thirst.
Kassuim. Do not think. Just do it.
Richard found it hard to believe he used the alpha command tone for this. Damn, she was still a werewolf. She should act like any of them. He relentlessly forced his will on her without letting her protest until he felt her fangs on her skin, sucking the blood slowly.
-That's right. Good girl. - He sighed as he snuggled her against him, noticing that the woman was shivering with cold.
She also didn't have the elevated temperature as they did about her body. It was a problem that he didn't know the habits of a half-breed. Maybe he made it easy and could help her. Her wrist slowly begins to heal, remaking tissue and skin that had been torn apart by teeth. A slight scar remained at the slightly reddened spot. The child in her womb was going to need more care.
For the first time, Richard wondered what was wrong. First had been her lack of control in shifting. Her scent was strong and appealing, terminating the magic. Why did he get the impression when he faced Michael that something was being hidden from him? What had that fool not told? He mentally replayed everything that had happened after he'd found her. James. She faced the damned without any recklessness. She had almost died in the clutches of the transformed. And Valerius. She looked very serious at Michael with an annoyed face.
-What did you or that fool not tell me? – he exploded with fury. – I'm an alpha. Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on around here?
Michael cleared his throat tensely.
-Looks like it's a blood curse. A spell. - He explained very awkwardly. - I do not know what is. Kassuim cannot transform like the others. Probably forbidden magic. James is versed in black magic.
Rick rolled his eyes stunned. Blood curse? Rays. Sorcerers and their damn spells. Perhaps an elder. God, Padraic would not willingly help.
-She didn't tell me. His voice was low and angry. -But you? She knows that without transforming she wouldn't be able to feed Mike. What the hell! Did you intend to tell me?
Michael sighed.
-I did, of course. - She said hiding part of the truth. – The attacks, the portion of the truth, the transformed and now this curse. I think you should take into account that we now know who's after the girl.
Richard cursed several times. He shouldn't be surprised. It was natural that if Kassuim was going to have someone lurking around ready to kill her, it wouldn't be just anyone. Not with her lack of prudence and inconsequences. James! Just James. Why?
-I need you to talk to Padraic. I want him in my cabin. The man is an elder.
-I already asked him. Don't you think I didn't ask?" Michael looked annoyed. - He did not say anything.
Richard Morgan shook his head, dismayed as he rose with his wife in his arms, unconscious.
-We'll see, Mike. – he just said.