Invisible!
1105 Words
Jace
The drugs they gave me are strong, but they do not work. I can not sleep. Every time I close my eyes for a few minutes, I am back in that hell. Hell, I am still trying to understand. I can not believe what I saw. I am not even sure what I saw.
When Eli, Kaelen, and I reached the camp by the border, they were all gone. Every one of our brothers was dead. There had to be at least forty of them on the ground. Some were missing arms and legs. What in the world could do something like that? It was a clear attack on the camp. But all the dead were lycans. Where were the bodies of the ones who did this? The fighters stationed here were the best we have. How did they not take down a single enemy?
The three of us just stood over them for a long time. We did not know what to say or think. Eli spoke first. He said we should look for clues before we went back to the Council empty-handed. We all agreed. But as we checked over the bodies, we realized no animal we know of could have made wounds like that. Eli was the first to say what he thought.
"It was the wolves," he said, his face hard with absolute belief.
"I have never met a wolf that could do this to a lycan, Eli," Kaelen said. He does not carry the same old hatred for werewolves that Eli does.
"We are right next to their land! If it was not them, then who?"
"Eli, look around. Do you see a single dead wolf? A single lycan left breathing? And most of all, do you smell wolf anywhere?" Eli made a facial expression. He knew Kaelen was right. But even I found myself wanting to blame the wolves. It would make some kind of sense. The other idea, that this thing was something new, something much stronger than us, sent cold fear through my whole body.
"We have to send them off the right way," Kaelen said. We all agreed, even though we knew it would take all day.
It took us hours to gather enough wood for the fire. A proper goodbye would have happened at the main castle, with all our people there to mourn. At sunrise, we would have lit the flames to guide our brothers to the next life. But we did not have time. We knew the Council would not bother bringing them home for a real ceremony. We had to do it ourselves.
As we moved the bodies, picking them up one by one, my stomach turned and my eyes burned. Lifting them made it real. I held back my tears as we placed them on the pile of wood.
When we were done, Eli lit the fire. We all bowed our heads. I looked at Kaelen. His face was still and serious. The flames took them all. Soon, it would all be ash. We stayed quiet for the rest of our poor man’s ceremony.
By the time the fire burned out, the sun was going down. Lycans can see well in the dark, so the walk back did not worry me. What we might meet on the way did.
Kaelen moved first, walking back toward the camp to look for proof. It was clear the attack was a surprise. Everything was a mess. The beds were not even made, which meant the fighters jumped up in a hurry to fight. This happened very early in the morning.
Just as we were collecting things to show the Council, a sound came from deep in the trees. Birds flew away in a panic. A cold feeling ran down my back. I was ready to change form, but Eli put a hand on my shoulder, looking into the woods. Kaelen stepped in front of us. He walked slowly toward the noise.
We did not move. We did not breathe. We did not dare make a sound, waiting to see what was out there. It was very close to wolf land, but not over the line. This was still our territory.
We heard the sound again, closer. I almost jumped out of my skin. My lycan was wide awake, every hair on my neck standing straight up. Eli’s eyes had gone black, meaning his lycan was right there, just under his skin. The sound was like a heavy crash, like a big tree falling. But we knew better.
All at once, Kaelen changed form a few yards ahead of us and threw himself into the air, teeth and claws out. Without a word, Eli and I changed too and went after it. Kaelen grabbed onto something, right in the middle of the air! We both attacked but hit nothing. As Kaelen bit down hard on whatever it was, Eli and I kept jumping and missing. When I finally felt like I had a hold on something, it grabbed my leg. It crushed my ankle, a pain so bad it stole my breath, and slammed me into the ground. I cried out in pain, but mostly in pure confusion. I saw Kaelen was on the ground too, and he looked much worse than I felt.
Eli moved to stand in front of us, to protect us, even though we could not see the enemy. At first, I thought it was just too quick for my eyes. But the truth was, this thing could not be seen. It was not there. Invisible!
Kaelen and I looked at each other. He made the sign. A paw to his shoulder meant run. Before we could tell Eli, the thing had him. It threw him down hard on the ground. The old lycan made a pained sound as both Kaelen and I jumped into the air again, trying to latch onto the beast. It shook us around until it let go of Eli, and then it grabbed me around the middle and squeezed the air from my lungs. Kaelen saw this and bit down deeper, making it release me.
I helped Eli up and looked at his wounds. The old man was in bad shape. Kaelen came to us and we started to back away, but the beast was already there, blocking our path. This time, I looked harder. I could see a very faint outline. Before, it was too big for me to understand. Now, I did. And pure panic closed around my mind.
It was simple. If we did not get away, we were going to die.
- Writer
