Dream Walker Yadu Chronicles: Book 1

Chapter 1

Grace

Every single moment of my life has brought me here to this battlefield. Finally, the end to this war may finally be over. Once I have the leader of the Siochanta Pack’s head, then the rest of their pitiful faction will flee or yield. Though I’m hoping some of them still keep fighting until I’ve sated my anger. I’ve lost too much to their barbaric ways to have it over quickly.

The intel came two nights ago, and I knew I had to maneuver quickly if I wanted to take advantage. Leon was leaving the safety of his keep to travel for his sister’s wedding. I can’t imagine even planning a wedding while this war rages on. What use would bearing children be if they are just going to grow up orphans, or worse yet, not at all? That’s why I’ve dedicated my life to this cause, that and revenge.

The Siochanta Pack has taken nearly everything dear to me. My brother Jacob, who was in line to become the Alpha of our Krevohen Pack, but he was slaughtered during a routine territory sweep in an ambush, and the duties fell to me since I’m the only descendant left. The bastards stabbed him in the back and slit his throat from behind. They hung his corpse from a tree just outside city limits, and that’s how I found him. I had to go search for him since it was long past his time to return. I flew into a rage, and shifted into my wolf form and tracked down every last motherfucker and ripped their throats out with my own teeth. Not before I demanded an explanation for their actions. The cretin I “questioned” divulged that it was an order from Leon himself. I made a vow that day that I would kill him myself, and I made a standing order to my army to take him in alive given the chance since I want to make him suffer.

There is no way Jacob would have lost in a fair fight. But the Siochanta pack does not fight fair. They use ambush tactics and stealth: dishonorable. Head on with brute force is how the honorable warrior fights. That is what I plan on doing today.

I stand in an open field with 300 warriors at my back waiting. Waiting for Leon’s caravan to emerge from the forest. We have no need for horses like the ones in a human’s calvary, since our wolves are much swifter and faster than any horse. Leon travels on horseback and in carriages like he is ashamed of his beast, so I’m sure he will be cowering in a lavish enclosure while his guards do all of the heavy lifting. That’s just fine by me. I’ll enjoy slashing through every one of them just to get to him. I'll destroy every last one and leave him for last. That way I can take my time with him. I feel myself brandishing a wicked grin at the thought. Anger and hatred are what keeps me moving forward. I sometimes wonder what I’ll do once it’s over. What happens when there is no one left to hate. I’d like to think that I’ll finally be able to let go and grieve the loss of my brother and so many others. I’ll rule with an iron fist and make sure no one ever gains the strength to make this type of damage to my people ever again.

I shift my weight and shake out my legs, we have been standing here waiting for nearly an hour. I start to worry that the intel may have been false, but I’ll wait a bit longer. I can feel the gentle breeze on my face as a stray strand of my pulled back red hair gently tickles my cheek. My armor is of the finest metals, lightweight and strong. My sword isn’t quite as heavy as a broadsword like my other warriors, but it still does the damage I need it too. I prefer speed and agility over heavy slow swings of a blade. I have never lost a fight, even in tournaments where the goal is to get the opponent to secede not to kill them. It is how I won my title as commander of the Krevohen pack by the time I was 20. It was my life’s ambition, and now I’ll have to give it up once I turn 25 next month to take over duties as the Alpha of my pack. That’s why I need to do this now. I need to take that Siochanta d**k’s head before I’m no longer on the battlefield. Maybe once I find my mate, I can turn over the Alpha duties to him and I can return to the post I love so much. I wanted nothing more than to defend my pack with my life. I can’t do that from the safety of the keep.

I hear a slight sigh coming from my left. “Is there something wrong Captain Zion?” I ask.

“No milady,” Zion clears his throat, “it’s just…how long are we going to wait?”

I glare at him from under my helmet, “As long as it takes.”

“You can’t expect to be out here forever, Graycie.” he whispers.

“You will do well to remember your place,” I snap back with my voice lowered so only he can hear, “Just because I use you to f**k out my tension doesn’t mean you can question my tactics on duty.” I can see his face flush through the slit in his visor. I’ve embarrassed him, but I don’t really care. Today is too important to be worried about hurt feelings. I know Zion cares for me, but I also know he’s not my true mate, so it’s not going to last forever anyway.

He steps back in formation, “Yes Commander.”

Just as I turn back to face forward, that’s when I hear it...the telltale sound of hoofbeats in the distance. My heart starts to beat faster at the anticipation. I sniff the air and I can smell other wolves apart from my own pack just a half mile ahead. I can sense my army tense as they hear it too. I can feel them getting anxious, almost itching, to fight. This is what we’ve been training for, this moment. I send out a telepathic message to my warriors, -’On guard, and remember Leon is mine!’- They all shout back in unison in my head -’Yes Commander’

Finally I see the beginning of my caravan, two guards on horseback in full armor, turn the bend out of the forest and into the field. Immediately they spot us, but that’s okay I had planned for them to see this coming. Plus, it’s hard to hide 300 fully clad warriors in an open field. I put my hand on my hilt readying for the battle as I see the one guard on the left put up his hand to halt the caravan. He lets out a howl that almost pierces my ears. More guards make their way out of the forest, there’s probably about 500. I smirk, I see they were prepared. It’s no real concern, my warriors are far better trained and skilled than theirs, so this should still be no real challenge.

Then a man clad in black armor rides an equally black horse out of the middle of the crowd of guards. He crosses his arms over his chest to signal that he wants to talk to my army’s leader. *”f**k that”* I didn’t come here to talk. I respond by relieving my sword from its sheath and let out the howl of the Krevohen pack battle cry. A symphony of metal scrapping scabbard sounds as all my warriors prepare to attack.

I run towards them as fast my legs can carry me, my entire army follows, and the enemy rushes toward us. The sound of the two sides crashing into each is deafening. I quickly make waste of three men, but my mind is focused on finding Leon. I try to look around the sea of slashing swords, gushing blood, and death screams. I see the guard clad in black armor towards the back of the scuffle, and I instinctively know that he must be the commander. I make my way over to challenge him. I dodge and weave through the mass of bodies as they writhe around in combat. A sword nearly misses my neck as a duck to avoid it. Luckily, I’m smaller than most warriors and my armor is lighter, so I have swiftness to my advantage.

I finally make it to a small clearing of the swarm. The black guard is only 10 paces from me. He swings his sword violently as he separates one of my warriors from his head. I wince as rage sweeps through me. I charge at him and jump above him to make a sweeping blow with my sword. He manages to block me just in time, but I’ve knocked him off his balance and he starts to fall backwards. He lands on his back and kicks me in the stomach with both feet and flips me over him. I twist in the air and land on my feet facing him and growl. I’m half delighted that he’s a challenge and half annoyed as this will delay me from getting to Leon. He kicks his legs up and propels himself up off the ground onto his feet and faces me. He growls loudly. This excites me, and I hope that Zion makes it through this fight because I’m going to need some time alone with him after all of this simulation. We rush toward each other swinging our swords wildly but gracefully. I can tell he is a very gifted swordsman, but he’s slowed down by his hefty armor. His swings are labored but powerful, but I’m quick and deadly accurate. He hisses in pain as I feel my sword find an opening in the armor and I know the first blood is mine. I can see the crimson shimmering on the edge of my blade. I let out a light chuckle as I’m convinced that I’m going to win this fight. My breathing is heavy as I go in for the killing blow, just as I am about to make contact with the same opening with more force then before, I feel a sharp searing pain in my abdomen. My arm stops mid swing and I look down to see where the pain had come from, and I see the black guards gloved hand and I realize that he is holding onto his hilt and the full length of his sword is buried in my stomach. I gasp as I drop my sword and grab his wrist with both hands almost as if I was asking him to pull out the sword, and I feel him grip the hilt tighter as if he is going to twist the blade inside me for a slower, more painful death. My weakness from the devastating blow getting the best of me I look to his eyes to plead with him to at least make it quick. His deep blue eyes filled with anger and pain stared back at me, and when our eyes locked his expression changed to wonder, then happiness, and then horror. In the second it took for all those emotions to cross his face, I hear a faint whisper in my head. “Mate.”