24.
3403 Words
I looked at my blood-covered hands, let go of the sword I held in my fists and closed my eyes, leaning against the wall, helplessly. When I opened my eyelids, I suppressed a nervous burst of laughter when I saw the head of the giant who stood in front of me. He looked stunned by what had just happened.
Note that the only thing he had seen was a fury which, blade in hand, had cut off the head of an invisible enemy that he had heard howl anyway.
He walked around me to observe the scene behind me and remained dumbfounded for a few more seconds as he saw his men flay themselves alive. Finally, he screamed Gaelic words that I didn’t understand and, as if by magic, all the Weres calmed their fury and stopped fighting. Galgacus held up a hand full of five silver rings and instantly all the crinos dissipated through the passages. When they returned to human form, they would remember nothing of what they had just experienced.
My eyes wandered over to the great leader of the community. Galgacus was about seventy years old, probably older, huge, white hair cropped short, deep blue eyes and deep lines on his face. Despite his advanced age, he exuded a charisma, energy, and natural authority that made him, and without a doubt, the rightful leader of the Sutherland community.
“What happened here?” he thundered, his nostrils quivering with anger.
Everyone shook their heads, unable to answer. So, with the guts that made her personality, from the height of her five feet, just barely, Christy intervened. She approached a few steps and stood erect in front of the hispo who towered above her.
He looked at her from head to toe, frowning.
“Who are you?”
She approached him, her nose red and her head held high.
“I belong to the Raven-stone community of witches and I have come to warn you of imminent danger. But, not only did your men not believe me, but in addition, they imprisoned me! Then, not content with having confined me in a stinking cell, they decided that I should be torn to pieces at the hand of a crinos! Let me tell you that your hospitality leaves something to be desired! Maybe our two communities haven’t done business together in ages, but it seemed to me that we had remained on good terms anyway. Take my word for it, I will...”
“Stop! Shut up!” Galgacus interrupted brutally with a murderous look. “Stop talking or I’ll cut your head off!”
Christy immediately obeyed, swallowing a sneeze at the same time.
“And you, who are you?” he asked Jeremiah and Al who had regained consciousness and were standing to his left.
“Jeremiah and Alastair Sutherland,” I answered quietly for them.
He stared at them for a moment, then his gaze suddenly froze on Bonnie who had more or less withdrawn, half-hidden by her husband and her brother-in-law.
“By the Spirit!”
Timidly, the magnificent wolf took a few steps forward to show herself better, her eyes fixed on Galgacus who seemed not to believe his own. His weathered face had suddenly softened, as a large tear escaped Bonnie’s right eye and was lost in her long, thick black hair. Shaken, Galgacus immediately pulled himself together to stare coldly at Al and Jeremiah.
“Are you responsible for all this c*****e?” he questioned them, pointing with his arm to the large room in which many bodies lay in the middle of a pool of blood.
“They’re not,” Christy answered for them.
He beat the air with his right hand.
“There are clothes in the first room after the passage behind you. Take human form and come and explain yourself!” he ordered them.
He readjusted the cloak he was wearing.
“As for you,” he added to Bonnie, “I’ll have to tell your older brother that you’re back. No doubt he’ll be very surprised to learn that his younger sister who died after committing suicide is still alive! I’m waiting for you all in the communion room, hurry!”
He glanced around the room one last time, assessed the damage, and shook his head. Finally, his gaze met my eyes again.
“Do I owe you my life?”
Impressed by this man’s authority, I hardly dared to nod my head.
“So, I owe you a debt, young wolf.”
After that, he disappeared from where he had arrived.
One hundred and eighty candles burned on the immense metal chandelier above us and that I had carefully counted. Their glow danced against the bare, cold walls of the cave, drawing figures that seemed to set the room on fire. There was no other source of light. What time was it, exactly? I had no idea, but I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that night was about to fall, I hated this place, the hours went by too slowly. This had to be done quickly.
“This is completely unexpected!” cried Galgacus, placing his glass of beer on the large monastery table around which we were seated.
Christy had just told him why she had come here and what exactly happened in the weapons room.
“Yet it is the strict truth,” she confirmed, blowing her nose in a piece of red cloth. “You don’t see them because the original incantation doesn’t allow it, however, your men won’t question their existence.”
“I should put you in jail for causing such c*****e in our community. Many men are dead!”
Christy carefully folded her makeshift handkerchief and put it slowly on the table, then raised her head and gazed at Galgacus.
“Well, let this be a lesson to you.”
Suddenly a Siberian cold filled the room we were in.
“Sir, technically Christy didn’t kill anyone,” I interjected. “I cut Lachlan head off, who wasn’t worthy of your respect anyway.”
He looked at me with the utmost seriousness and ended up smirking.
“He was a traitor, and it’s not a big loss… I have a question for you: why are you the only one to have seen the beast among us?”
I held his inquisitive gaze.
“I have no idea, sir.”
Christy looked at me intensely, as if she wanted to say something about it. But she was silent.
Galgacus watched me for a moment longer, then turned to Bonnie.
“Why did you come back from the dead? What justifies that you took so many risks? You were never to come back. Never. I said I found you dead, swallowed up by the waters of Loch Eriboll. I warned your brother.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise by widening my eyes. I had always believed that Bonnie had organized her disappearance with the members of her family, precisely to avoid being put to death by the Garoll authorities, that is to say, by Galgacus himself. And now, I learned that not only did he have an immense affection for Bonnie but in addition, he had participated in her escape while even Bonnie’s brother believed her dead. What did Galgacus represent to her for risking so much?
“Love, Uncle, love...”
Her uncle…
“You came with your husband, his brother and this young wolf. What is this love that unites you? Why did you go to so much trouble?”
“This young wolf is an heiress of the Sutherlands!” Jeremiah interrupted in a dry voice. “I made her!”
Galgacus recoiled as he was surprised at Jeremiah’s reaction, then he growled dully.
“Made? You’ve broken all the rules!”
“Not as far as I’m concerned. I don’t belong to your world.”
“But today you came here. Why?” he asked again.
“To save my son.”
Galgacus looked at him surprisingly soft.
“My soul mate, sir,” I whispered.
Nothing had been easy, nothing had happened as I had imagined, but the goal was indeed achieved. I was going to demand that he release Elgin. He couldn’t deny it to me.
“What can the Sutherland community do for you? I still don’t understand the reason for your presence here.”
He turned to Bonnie.
“Niece?”
“He was kidn*pped by our people, Uncle. It’s been over a week already.”
“kidn*pped?”
“Dageus Gordon organized everything,” Jeremiah explained.
Galgacus’s eyes narrowed. His name was known to him.
“Through whom? No one would dare to force a Sutherland into the Bowels without my knowledge. Our jails have been empty since I came to power. The ancestral rules haven’t changed, but the way we treat the rest of the world, yes,” he tried to justify himself. “I didn’t order the k********g of your son; I have no reason to have done so.”
I believe it was at this very moment that everything I had imagined about the Sutherland community began to crumble. This man was loyal and honest, perhaps even in the image of his people...
“Dageus Gordon did it for very bad reasons,” Bonnie began to explain.
“Tell me everything.”
Which I did, in detail. By the time I had finished my story, I had won Galgacus’s help without even having to ask him.
“Every week, newcomers join the community of their own accord,” he revealed to us. “The controls are strict and thorough because the secret of this place must be kept.”
“We’re not there already?” I wondered.
“No, young wolf. You are here in the defensive quarters of the community. The inhabitants live a little further northwest of Ben Hope. Listen,” he said gravely, looking at Jeremiah, “if your son is here, we’ll find him. But suppose he was brought in; we would have had no way of knowing who he was. I will inquire with the instructor. If he doesn’t know, we’ll continue our investigation.”
“Thanks, Uncle,” Bonnie whispered.
“Coming back here wasn’t a good idea. I’m the supreme leader of the community, but you are aware that the Council of Elders makes all decisions. I have the power to let your husband, your brother-in-law and the young wolf go because they don’t belong to the community and they aren’t subject to our rules, but you… you were born here, you were a member, a full citizen, you’ll have to comply with our laws. I can’t go against it. Your brother now knows you’re here. He’ll ask for your judgment.”
“I understand,” she said in a low voice, lowering her head to her hands. “I knew what I was doing when I set foot here.”
“I won’t let them hurt you!” Al growled, banging his fist on the table.
Bonnie put a hand on his forearm to calm him down.
“I won’t say anything about you, Uncle. I won’t say that it was you and Aunt who helped me escape.”
“If your aunt was still alive, she would assume her responsibilities.”
“Aunt...”
“She left us almost ten years ago.”
“I would have loved to see her again…”
“She too. Listen to me, my child. Am I not the father you never had?”
Bonnie’s eyes filled with tears.
“You are…”
“So let me take charge of my responsibility.”
“No!” she cried. “No…”
“I’m old and the end of my reign is near. I have kept this community at peace for over thirty years. I have nothing to fear from anyone anymore, I did what I thought was best and I’ll never let anyone convince me otherwise. I made the decisions that I thought were right, I don’t regret any.”
“Telling the truth will surely not save my life...”
“Maybe not, but everyone will know how important you are to me, my child.”
“Uncle!” she moaned, suddenly rising from her chair to throw herself into her uncle’s arms.
The old man hugged her tightly, his eyelids closed as if to contain his tears. They remained like this for several seconds and without anyone daring to interrupt them. We were all moved by the intensity of their reunion that no one could have predicted.
“An attack!” a werewolf suddenly shouted as he arrived like a madman in the room.
Bonnie and Galgacus pulled away, as I froze in my chair.
“Dark angels! There are four of them, they are holding several young lupus hostages. Others will surely join them.”
My hair stood on end on my arms, as Galgacus leapt from his chair to stride towards a hallway where he was about to disappear.
“Maximum alert!” he ordered. “Don’t spare any!”
“No!” I cried, getting up too. “They are coming for us; they mean no harm to you! They come for us because it’s dark!”
Galgacus froze before turning around to observe me.
“What are you saying?”
I walked over and faced him.
“I haven’t told you everything. Galgacus, please, these are my friends. If we hadn’t returned by nightfall, they had to come and get us here. Please, they will stop at nothing if they think we are in danger. You can avoid that.”
Incredulous, he turned to Bonnie for confirmation.
“What she said is true.”
“Very good. Let’s go meet them.”
“I’m afraid it’s too late. They’re fighting.”
“By the Spirit!” I cried.
“Which side?”
“West gate.”
“May the devil take them!” said Bonnie. “This is the last place they had to go. The army will kill them all, the heart of the community is there!”
“So, let’s hurry!” Jeremiah urged us.
We all rushed into the rocky tunnel and ran through the passages.
“Over here!” Galgacus ordered us.
It was a real labyrinth. Impossible to locate, to have a single idea of the direction we were taking. As we advanced, the scenery changed, became more civilized, less rustic, more liveable. I had little time to admire the architecture, but I spotted a few apartments on several floors that overlooked the vast courtyard in which we were running. The place wasn’t deserted, we started to meet a few people still unaware of what was happening outside. We went around a small natural lake and walked along a narrow corridor again which led us to the bottom of an immensely high staircase. Pushing the few people we passed, we climbed over a hundred steps before reaching the first landing where we stopped. It was at this precise moment that low growls began to reach us, freezing me to the bone. We headed forward into another enclosed space. A few stalls here and there, a dried meat vendor, a baker, a weaver, a potter, various shops and a hundred people coming and going. Men, women, children… Although I was told, I couldn’t believe my eyes. We were in a real organized city.
“What’s going on?” a mother yelled at us, carrying a baby in a sling against her belly. “We hear screams!”
She heard but saw nothing. Not yet. The rocks formed a thick shield that made it impossible to spot the presence of any dark angel.
“Don’t go out under any circumstances!” Galgacus ordered her. “Alban! Take care of getting everyone together on the lower level. Without exception! Quick!”
We ran harder towards the exit. Still far? Very close? I was unable to know where we were. We moved through the passages which were getting wider, increasingly cold, and damp and empty as we went outside. And this scent of musk which was amplifying, these scents of spices and cedarwood… Without even realizing it, I had slowed down my run. I was a good fifteen meters behind.
“Scarlett!” Christy called to me, breathless, who was having a hard time keeping up.
She was behind me.
Slowly, I turned around.
“Is everything all right? What’s happening to you?”
I no longer saw her, I no longer heard her. I was overwhelmed by the smells. By his smell. He was here somewhere. Nearby. I felt him. Every fibre of my skin sensed him. All my senses were on alert and united to find him.
“Scarlett?” Christy shouted, positioning herself in front of me.
Out of control, I pulled her abruptly out of my way to retrace my steps, causing her to fall heavily on the stony ground, without stopping to help her up. To reach my goal. Track him down. He was here!
Madly, I rushed forward blindly, not knowing exactly where to go, surveying the crowd, tacking between the people who were hurrying down, pressed by the guards supposed to take them to safety. Then I stopped dead in the middle of them, forcing those behind to walk around me. They were moaning, scolding, pushing me around, but I didn’t move an inch.
Elgin was standing a few metres away from me. Hands behind his back, head held high, body strong, dominating everything, crowding out everything that wasn’t him. He was dressed in a black, mid-length, short-sleeved tunic, and a green, red, and blue tartan that I never thought I would see him wear one day, and his feet were shod in low boots of supple leather and surrounded by straps. His hair had grown. He was magnificent. I had found him.
My eyes flooded with tears, my heart about to explode, I ran to him without even saying his name. I forced my way. I jostled every man, woman, child, who prevented me from moving forward, violently and without a hint of remorse. I didn’t care who they were. I had only one goal to reach and no more limits.
“Elgin!” I finally yelled.
He didn’t hear me.
The sound of my voice had just been covered by the sound of a hunting horn.
I pushed one last person away, took three steps forward, reached out, stretched out my fingers… and touched him.
Finally.
“Elgin…, Elgin…”
Without even looking him in the eye, I fell to my knees in front of him, encircled his thighs with my arms and snuggled my head against his stomach.
“How I missed you, how I missed you…,” I moan. “I thought I would never see you again!”
My cheeks flooded with my tears and my throat ached; I lifted my head to look at him. He was staring at me too, his brow furrowed, his beautiful green eyes twinkling in amazement as if he didn’t realize, as if he hadn’t expected me.
“I’m here… I’m here,” I whispered.
His strong hands rested on my biceps and forced me up.
I stood up slowly and didn’t take my eyes off him. He didn’t seem to want to look away either. He probed me, examined me, penetrating my soul as much as my heart and my mind, putting in order everything that was wrong with me, for days and days, giving me back everything that was stolen.
“My love…”
His pupils narrowed. He opened his mouth, then closed it.
It was then that I saw her, just behind, this slim galbro and almost as tall as Elgin. She was watching me over his shoulder. She had the strangest, most hypnotic eyes I had ever seen. Golden and fringed with endless thick black eyelashes, just like her long hair. She was beautiful and she despised me.
Slowly, she put a hand on Elgin’s shoulder and whispered something in his ear that I didn’t understand.
Elgin wasn’t reacting to me.
Not a sound.
Not a gesture.
“Elgin...”
He narrowed his eyelids and took a step back to get a better look at me.
“Who are you?”
And my heart stopped.
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