Exile Empire, Exile The Second

Chapter 4 - Sorin

When I came back to my body I was naked, shivering, and face down in the dirt in front of the cabin.

"Seriously?" I groaned, pushing myself up. "Come on, fucker, what did you do with me?"

Ran hard, wolf said, opening one eye inside. Can't remember much. Pain and fight made me lose my mind.

"You too?" I asked, standing up on shaky legs. I patted myself up and down assessing the damage. I was covered in small cuts here and there and a nasty bruise formed on my left thigh, but all in all it was okay. I lifted my fingers to the wound over my eye and found a puckered scar in its place. Shifting had its benefits sometimes, giving us good health and long lives was one of them.

If we have a mate, wolf reminded me. And me too. Too much fight, head went into darkness.

Sometimes I didn't know if wolf was an actual wolf spirit, or if he was an alien species that still hadn't picked up the subtleties of my language this far into their time on Earth. At times, it was extremely difficult to get him to broaden his vocabulary and explain something complicated, but right now I understood exactly what he meant.

As I walked towards the cabin and gingerly stepped inside, I had flashes of running through the trees in higher elevations. My muscles ached from the strain, and I felt my belly still full of deer meat.

"Where are my clothes?" I asked, realizing with alarm that I was naked. Normally we shifted fully clothed in and out, I didn't understand the magic but I didn't need to. I was just grateful during my time in cities that I didn't come out completely nude in the middle of a crowded park.

I don't know, wolf said, his voice growing heavy. He grew heavy. He was getting tired and would need to sleep like he did after every moon time. Normally it was a day, but I sensed this time it would be longer.

I wasn't alone, though; he was always there lurking in the background, snoring at times.

I don't snore, he said, shuffling his position so he could tuck his nose under his paw. You snore.

"Whatever, dude," I laughed. "Sweet dreams."

The last thing he thought before he sunk into dreamland was Kairos.

"I feel you, friend," I told him. And I did. I had to find a way to get to her, but I had no idea where to even start.

A shower was as good as any, so I stepped under the steaming water and thanked the village council for the modernization of the bathroom. I scrubbed off, washed my hair, and took a razor to my face. I had to bend to rinse myself fully. Being over six and a half feet tall was cool sometimes, but showers often sucked. This one should've been higher, but I wasn't about to complain.

I got dressed, jeans and a tee shirt and a light jacket, and I packed a bag. I'd break the biggest rule of all, but I didn't know any other way I could save my mate.

Leaving the cabin and its vicinity meant I could be executed on sight, but I'd sneak to my parent's place to appeal to their softer side. I needed to find a way to Empire, to find Kairos, warn her, but also protect her.

I needed her.

When I went outside and looked around, the truck was gone.

"Fuck!" I cursed and my own voice echoed back at me. I had enough fuel in the UTV to go most of the way, but it'd be slow going. "Fuck!" I yelled again, and this time a flock of birds rose up from the bushes in front of my cabin, fear lighting their wings and sending them up to the air currents.

It had to be done; I didn't want to wake up wolf and complain to him about it, so I loaded up the UTV and took off towards home. Or what was once my home.