Siren's Secret

16. Dark Times

Rayna was running through a forest.  Dark trees blurred past as she darted in and out expertly and jumped over fallen logs and rocks.  

Shadows were running ahead of her in the trees; too far to get a clear view but her keen hearing caught every crunch of their feet on the twigs and leaves carpeting the forest floor. 

Rayna's paws barely made a sound as she picks up her pace to try and catch the shadows. She spots one seemingly running only about ten feet in front of her.  She tucked in her wings and elongated her strides, becoming a streamlined black streak speeding through the darkness of the overgrown trees and foliage. 

With each step, Rayna moved faster. Pushing to get closer, but the shadow kept itself just out of reach.  Closer...Closer... Almost got it....  

Just as Rayna snapped at the shadow it disappeared through a thick brush- but Rayna was going way too fast to stop in time and she burst through the brush in a flurry of twigs and leaves, her sides stinging from the small cuts sustained from the impact.  

After getting up and shaking all the debris out of her fur, Rayna looked around and saw a large stone wall ahead. She could hear sounds coming from the other side. 

She looked around for any sign of the shadows or other guards, and when Rayna was sure she was alone she took a few steps back gauging the height of the wall.  With a strong push from her hind legs and a few powerful flaps of her wings, she landed on the top of the wall.  She looked down and saw a courtyard with bodies strewn around haphazardly; almost like a battle had taken place recently.  

A metallic sound came from the far end of the courtyard in an area that was a bit darker than the rest which was lit by the moon.  Silently, Rayna jumped down into the courtyard and slowly made her way towards the sound, keeping her eyes and ears open for any traps or attackers. 

As she neared the metallic sound, Rayna stopped suddenly and sniffed; Blood.  She took a few more steps and came upon a gigantic white wolf laying down in the dirt. It's fur was dirty and had bits of dried blood stuck all over it. He looked to be sleeping and when he adjusted, the metallic sound clinked in the darkness.  

Rayna stepped closer and found the silver plated steel chains clamped to each of his legs and an electric collar around his neck.  His eyes opened slowly and when his ice blue eyes met her white ones he whimpered.  He tried to move but was instantly zapped by his collar and his body convulsed with the shock and his pained howl shook Rayna to her core.  

Rayna looked him in the eyes again and noticed that his eyes were fading... everything else was fading too.. She tried to get closer but she seemed to be pulled away from him... Rieka! 

"Rieka.. Rieka honey, wake up..." 

Rieka opened her eyes to see Georgia standing over her.  Looking out the window in the room it looked like the sun had almost completely set.  

"You seemed to have gotten some rest while I was gone," Georgia smiled sweetly.  

Rieka rubbed her eyes as she sat up on the bed, "Yeah. I guess I was more tired than I thought." 

"Well, I'm about to go check on our patient. Did you want to come with?" 

Rieka nodded, "Yeah, let's go."

They both climbed the stairs to the attic and the candle was almost gone, only a few inches remained of the candle. Georgia put on some gloves and walked over to Pierce's side.  His jaguar form still sleeping peacefully.  She took a bowl and filled it with clean water and grabbed a washcloth.