The Awakening

Chapter 29: Amalia's Home

Amalia did not know when she fell asleep, but she heard what appeared to be people driving around on the island. The wolves seemed to perk up at the sound and Amalia bolted up looking around. The older wolf nudged her leg and motioned towards the trees that surrounded them which Amalia took as a sign that she must hide in one of them. She quickly climbed the nearest tree and watched as the wolves stood on edge, but some seemed weary in their stance as if this was something they were used to. She saw six camouflaged jeeps drive up and approximately thirty men with rifles stepped out. They seemed to be here to hunt the wolves, or they controlled them Amalia thought. She hid in the tree and tried to listen in on their conversation.

"Alright boys you know the drill, we'll let them go and whoever shoots five will get the first pick."

The men chuckled as they watched the wolves with grins on their faces, fully loving the sport of hunting and killing the wolves. Amalia seethed with anger as she heard what the men were planning on doing and she immediately racked her brain on a solution. While thinking she recognized one of the men as a bounty hunter who led a group of gang members in her city, and she knew that they must have come here by boat. It seems that she had found their vacation spot where they hid from the police. Her anger rolled off her in waves and without fully thinking through her plan she jumped from the tree in the middle of the wolves and stared at the men standing in front of her.

"You won't be hunting anything tonight assholes."

The men were surprised at first to see her but they eventually recovered their composure and laughed boisterously at her for a full ten minutes until the leader held up his hand. This made them immediately stop laughing and a scowl replaced their amused faces. The leader stepped forward and said, "And what exactly is a pretty young thing like yourself going to do about that."

"There's a lot a pretty young thing like me can do about your plans."

The leader's face turned into a smirk, "Grab her men and anyone who catches her first gets first use." He waved his hand towards Amalia and walked towards a tree where he leaned on it and watched with a twinkle in his eyes.

Amalia knew she was outnumbered but she had no intention of giving up without a fight and as the men laughed and walked towards her, she took off to the beach. She knew they would follow, and she immediately formulated a plan, after all she had wrestled with her very hungry enemy in the evening. She figured they had not come in that way, or they would have encountered the crocodile before. Upon arriving at the beach Amalia ran straight for the water and jumped in.

"You really think jumping in the water can save you little girl?"

"Maybe I'm just setting up myself for you so that you do not have to do much work."

The men were not complete fools, but Amalia thought she just had to lure them in far enough. As she waited in the water for the men to approach she wondered where the crocodile was. She thought to herself that maybe he was waiting for these men just like he had been waiting for her to come back to him. The men decided not to wait and so each of them stepped into the water intending to have her all to themselves at once. Amalia smirked as they approached her, and her eyes grew white while a river rune glowed on her neck. She looked frightening with black veins under her eyes and the men tried to run away but found that they could not leave the water. It was as if an invisible force was keeping them still. Amalia simply smiled and swam around them as if taunting them. The world seemed to stand still as all the crickets suddenly stopped leaving only the sounds of the men frantically breathing. They shivered in fear wondering what was going to happen to them as they stared at her frightful expression. Amalia looked around and as she saw the bubbles coming closer she smiled, it was here and as the threat swam closer and closer, she slowly left the water and stood on the beach, watching as the men screamed while the massive crocodile dragged the men one by one underneath the water and tore them to shreds. When the screaming stopped the crickets began chirping again and Amalia stared at the crocodile as it raised its head above the water to stare at her. She seemed to have garnered some of the crocodiles' respect and it slowly sunk under the surface never breaking eye contact. No words were expressed but suddenly an understanding was formed between both. Her eyes returned to their normal Andromeda colour, and she walked back to the clearing leaving the water looking normal as if erasing the evidence of the crocodiles' meal.