Yara: Civil War

Chapter Five

    After Yara and Jorrund had scarfed down some food, they decided it would be better to steer clear of the wolf pack after her confrontation with Logan, and went for a run in the woods behind her house instead. They ran the familiar trails, some that Yara had run a million times. She was connected to nature, spiritually and magically, and loved to come out to the forest trails when she had a lot on her mind. She sprinted ahead of Jorrund, loving the feel of the wind in her hair, the way she flew over the soft ground, and the feel of the spring air around her. It was the beginning of April, and she knew by the end of the month, she’d be a married woman. Yara tried not to think about it too much. He’s a great guy, but am I really ready to be married at eighteen? She didn’t want to question Jorrund, it wasn’t him anymore she was afraid to commit to, but rather if she herself was going to be good for him. Yara knew she was wild by nature, and it was why her and Logan worked so well, his animal just as wild as she was. Girl, stop. You just scolded him to let go. Don’t think about it anymore. 

    She leaped over a fallen log, moss and tiny mushrooms coating the top, the core rotting away. Yara felt good, and trotted to a stop to wait for Jorrund. He came up behind her a few seconds later, a sheen of sweat over his face and arms. 

    “I have to admit, you're a fast cookie,” he panted slightly. 

    “You’re not bad yourself,” she breathed, admitting to herself she was slightly out of breath too. She had pushed herself into a sprint in the last stretch, feeling good. “Common, I have a great little spot to show you,” she told him, and took off at a steady jog. Yara could hear him follow behind her, and with a smile she veered off onto a deer trail, the path small and sometimes hard to find. But she had traveled it many times to know where it lead, and after picking their way though, she finally reached her favorite spot. In a small clearing, a crystal clear pond glittered in the patchy sunlight, a small waterfall feeding it from above. The mist from the water created a small rainbow that flickered in the light. 

    “Wow,” she heard him breath, and smiled. 

    “I know right,” she giggled, leading the way down towards the pool of water. 

    “I had no idea you had anything like this back here.” She watched him take it all in.

    “Well, it was a bit shabby at first. It was kind of dirty and neglected, the waterfall wasn’t cascading down like it is now, and I had to cast a few spells to clean this place up. I’ve done a little bit of landscaping here and there,” she admitted. “But once I got everything tidied up, it was so worth it.” 

    “It’s beautiful,” Jorrund told her, and watched her take her shirt off, and step into the water. “How you run without shoes, I’ll never know.” 

“It just helps me feel more connected, I can’t really explain it. And it helps to have a spell to repel sharp objects away from my feet,” she giggled, then laid flat on her back in the water. Jorrund joined her, and in the deepest part of the pool it only went up to his chest. He swam next to her, enjoying the cool down from their run. 

    “You’ve always been close with nature,” he commented, edging closer to the docile waterfall. “Is that something you inherited from your mom?” He knew asking was a bit touchy, but he wanted to know more about her before they got married. 

    “I think so, though dad seems to be pretty close to nature too. So maybe from them both? But I think it’s more from mom.” She stood on her feet in the water, a faraway look on her face. “There’s something dad isn’t telling me though, I can feel it. When I talk about my magic and ask about my ancestors and who we are related to, he just gets kind of weird.” Yara looked at Jorrund. “And you know what’s weird too? That mom had an Omega from Ivar’s pack to be her mid-wife.” 

    “I did find that odd when you were talking to that Omega lady. We don’t even know her name.” They were face to face with each other now, half floating in the water. 

    “Do you think there’s something that dad could be hiding? I mean, I don’t see what the big deal would be, but it would explain why he didn’t want family around.” Yara bit her lip, looking down at the water, and Jorrund had to fight the urge to kiss her again. Ever since he took the chance back at her house, that was all he could think about now. He didn’t want to push her away by being too physical too soon, but he couldn’t help but notice her more and more. The shade of blue her eyes were, the way she scrunched up her nose at him when she stated a fact, when she teased him, the way she moved when she was happy or upset. He realized in the last three years, that he only started to notice her when they had to spend more time together. Jorrund’s parents had volunteered to take them both out to pick various things for their upcoming wedding, the only thing he hadn’t been there for was her dress. And in that time with her, he realized how much he had warmed up to her. 

    “What are you thinking so hard about?” Yara questioned him, and he snapped his focus back on her, realized he had spaced out on her. 

    “Nothing, just realizing how much I’m actually starting to like you,” he admitted, and she playfully splashed water at him. 

    “Hey now, don’t get all mushy on me,” she pretended to scold.

    “I don’t get mushy,” he playfully growled, stalking up to her. “I get hard.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she burst out laughing. 

    “Jorrund! You scoundrel!” She playfully pushed him away. “Save that for later,” she giggled. 

    “You’re going to have to get used to me sooner or later, you might as well hear my silly jokes now,” he shrugged with a smile, floating on his back. In all seriousness, he stood back up and pulled her close. “I want us to be what we’re supposed to be, but I don’t want to push you away either. I know you’re probably going to want time, but if we’re going to do this right, I want to be with you, the right way.” He pushed her raven black hair away from her face, trying to read any emotion she might leave in her eyes. 

    “Honestly, Jorrund, I’m a little nervous. I mean, for a few years, I did nothing but despise you. And I didn’t really consider how you might be feeling until about a year ago. Which is why Logan has been so upset.” She sighed and pushed her forehead into his chest. “I should have just told him we needed to separate so much sooner, but I didn’t even know how to let go myself. And now we’re in this mess because of me. He was all I knew, we sort of grew up together, so being with him was easy.” Yara looked back up into his eyes. “I don’t want us to be something difficult. I want us to be easy too, and I think that’s why I pushed so hard to not be with you for so long. I-“ She stopped for a moment, trying to think of the words, and Jorrund waited patiently for her. “I know this won’t be easy, we are going to have to learn each other, but I guess, if you are willing to try with me now, then I want all your jokes,” she gazed into his emerald green eyes. “I want to get to know you, for better and for worse.” 

    “Yara, I promise, what ever it takes, I’m going to be here for you. We may have been pushed into this, but that doesn’t mean our future together has to be miserable.” He leaned in for a kiss, and she let him. It was a soft and tender kiss, and when it was over he stroked his thumb over her cheek. “And you’re right, this is going to be hard. But if we work together, it won’t have to be super difficult.” 

    “Thank you, Jorrund. Thank you for everything these last few days.” Yara gave him a quick little kiss before trudging out of the pond. “We better get back,” she told him, putting her now dry shirt on. She looked at him as he made it way out of the water. 

    “We still have a lot to talk about.” Jorrund shook his hair out, his braids holding together. 

    “You’ll have to tell me again why you and your father have your hairs braided like women,” she teased him. Yara turned towards the trail, and heard him huff behind her. 

    “It’s a tradition, goofball. I’ll have to teach you about my ancestors one of these days.” He came up behind her and ruffled her hair. They played like that as they made their way back to her home. Wolves howled to one another, and snarling could be heard in the distance. 

    “I didn’t think they’d still be training,” Yara commented, the pair coming into view of the wolves. The pack was circled, and Yara realized there were more wolves than there had been the night before. “I guess more showed up.” 

    “After what happened, and with what happened to you, I can see why they’re still training. Dorran is a formidable opponent, and they’ll want to train as much as they can to keep their skills sharp. And train the young ones.” 

    “I still don’t understand why he’s going after shifters. If he’s going after the wolf packs, who else is he terrorizing?” Yara chewed her lip, something she did often when she was thinking. “He said he was almost as powerful as a god.” She shook her head. “There’s more to this than he’s leading on, and it’s making my head hurt trying to figure it out.” Just as they had made their way up to the back door, it suddenly slid open with force and Yara got slammed into, by none other than Myra. 

    “Yara!” she screeched, hugging her friend close. “I told you I was coming over,” she giggled, letting go. Yara panted, a huge smile on her face. Myra had crazy curly hair, and she was always changing the color. Now it was a vibrant red, with pretty orange highlights. 

    “You’re hair is super pretty!” Yara gushed. Jorrund rolled his eyes and stepped past them. 

    “When you two are done, let me know,” he teased, and the girls just rolled their eyes at him. 

    “Okay Yara, spill. What the hell happened?” Myra’s hazel eyes were wide and she tried very hard to be intimidating. Yara knew Myra wasn’t good at being serious, but she knew she owed her friend an explanation. She walked them into her kitchen.

    “Well, now that my memory is back, do you remember when I went to Jorrund’s?” 

    “Yeah, you were all upset, tried to talk him into going with you, which now I’m mad he didn’t. But that didn’t mean you had to sneak out! I would have come with you!” 

    “I snuck out because I knew he wouldn’t have let me go period. Myra, something really weird is going on. I know we talk about the Enigma being this ultimate power to keep vampires in check, but what if there’s more to it than that? And what if Dorran knows that?” 

    “Okay, you’ve lost me here.” They both had sat down in the kitchen, Yara pouring them both a glass of tea. Sitting on the stools at the island in the kitchen, they contemplated everything that was happening. “Why again does Dorran want the Enigma? That makes no sense.” 

    “Think about it,” Yara coaxed. “Right now, the vampires are having a civil war. Dorran is basically the leader we don’t want our allies to have, and he know’s that. So what does he do? He gets rid of those who oppose him, and if he gets ahold of the Enigma that was designed for vampires, what do you think he’ll do?” 

    “Well he would kill anyone who’s gone against him. Vampires specifically,” Myra said. She sipped on her tea. “But then why are the wolves here? I mean, I know they got attacked, your dad called my dad. But what else is going on? Why force the shifters under his rule?” Yara shrugged.

    “That’s where I start to loose it myself, honestly. The only thing I can think of is he’s using this war as a way to push himself more into power. But I don’t see how he would have any govern over the shifters, the wolves follow their pack laws, the flocks do their thing and the rest just keep to themselves, followed by a general rule witches have put in place since the beginning. They would never follow a vampire.” 

    “All the more reason to use fear,” Jorrund chimed in from the door way, walking over and leaning on the island the girls were sitting at. “If he can control them using fear, then he’ll threaten their way of life, and bribe them with safety. Take Ivar’s pack right now,” he waved a hand towards the wolves outside. Myra and Yara could hear them still training. “They were attacked, and while it seems more of a warning now, eventually he’ll send real vampires, not some freshly created ones. And shifters will actually die.” Myra shuddered at his words, and Yara gulped down more of her tea. 

    “So how do we stop that from happening?” Logan’s voice spoke from the back door, and Yara jumped in her seat. Jorrund narrowed his eyes, but kept a steady tone. 

“Normally, you’d have to go in and remove the threat. But this is Dorran we’re talking about. You can’t just send in an army and think you’ll win.” Logan had walked to the fridge and poured himself a glass of tea, and in that time Yara had been looking down at her hands, remembering their talk from earlier today. Myra looked between them, and then poked Yara’s side. Yara knew that was an indication that her friend wanted to know what had happened between them. 

    “I’d like to see Dorran defend against thousands of wolves,” Logan replied calmly. 

    “Where are you going to get that many wolves in one place?” Myra asked him. “I thought pack’s were extremely picky on who their allies were. How would you convince them all to go after Dorran in a planned attack no less?” 

    “We would have a common enemy. And if he’s going to attack them, they’ll want to fight back too.” Logan stated it so matter-of-factly that Yara shook her head. She lifted her head to look at him, finding pain in his eyes still. Logan could never bring himself to truly hate her, but he was still upset from their talk this morning. 

    “You can’t imagine what it’s like in there,” she whispered, and everyone was listening intently, as she hadn’t told anyone what she had gone through while she was gone. “Because one of the vampires bit me, I couldn’t even remember exactly what was going on,” she started, and Logan let out a small snarl. Yara ignored him and continued on, looking at Jorrund. “There’s thousands of vampires, and I doubt I even saw them all. His place is huge, I’m lucky I even got out the way I did.” 

    “How did you get out?” Myra asked, curiosity overflowing from her aura. Yara shifted uncomfortably, and looked at Jorrund for guidance. Logan snapped at her.

    “Why do you keep looking at him?”

    “Mind your business, Logan,” Jorrund warned, glaring at the agitated shifter. 

    “Yara, what am I missing?” Myra questioned softly, squeezing her best friend’s hand in reassurance. Yara took a deep breath, and focused on her friend, blocking out all of Logan’s accusing stares. 

    “There is a very good chance that I can use blood magic,” Yara whispered, and Myra’s eyes got wide. Logan stood still, watching Myra’s reaction. 

    “What’s the deal with blood magic?” he asked, picking up on everyone’s discomfort. “Is it bad? Dangerous?” 

    “It’s powerful, to say the least,” Jorrund answered. 

    “There’s a reason why it’s been bred out of us,” Yara spoke, her head resting in her hand. “It’s ridiculous amounts of power that the witches and warlocks that could use it in the beginning were considered gods. So yes, Logan, to answer your question, it is extremely dangerous.” She sighed. “They were either defeated, banished to realms beyond us, or trapped somewhere. Those before us that used it, they very rarely used that power for good. Maybe, in the start of it, but with power like that…” she trailed off. Jorrund walked up behind Yara and hugged her, and Logan looked away. 

    “You won’t become that,” Myra tried to reassure her. 

    “None of you know that,” Yara sighed, starting to feel the anxiety she would feel every time she thought about it. “None of them ever thought they would turn out the way they did, and yet it happened.” Yara started to panic. “They became murderers because they actually thought it was right.” Her chest felt tight, and her vision started to blur. “What will the council do to me, if they knew I could wield it?”