Wolves and Witches

Found You!

“Slow down! Slow down!” Erio shouted at the top of his lungs as he felt that they’re going to plummet to the ground below.

“Oh, shut up Erio,” chuckled Elenaia. “You’re so mighty and all when on land but you act like a wet puppy when up in the air.”

He pocketed his rants. The princess was right, and he agreed even it felt like his pride was flushed down the toilet. His intestines felt tingly and his stomach sour, but proving his valor and all, he kept all the dignity that was left inside him. He could face a pack of lycans, a coven of vampires, and a swarm of witches but as long as they are all on ground.

“That’s right, just behave, we’re touching-down soon.” said the princess.

Erio thought his agony would end after an eternity as time seemed to stop when they were on air. At last, they landed on a clearing. He hopped off the broom, fell on both knees and let his remaining sour dignity pour out his mouth like exorcised demons.

“Yuck, you’re so disgusting Erio, Fix yourself.”

“Sorry princess, next time we’re taking the longer route.” He said, and wiped the slime off his mouth.

“You wish,” chuckled the princess.

“All right then, shall we…” He said with raised head now. He’s back on solid ground and his confidence came back as soon as he took his solid breath of air. He gestured into the dark thick forest of Mount Arayat.

“Right!” she said and trod in.

They made their way into the heart of the vast forest. They have traveled for almost a week now, following the trail of the last protector. This particular one proved to be the hardest to track.

“What are you thinking about Erio?” asked the princess.

“About her, your next guardian I mean.” he answered.

“You mean, Faye?” she confirmed.

“Yes.”

“Why are you thinking about her?” It’s a natural habit of the princess to pry into anyone’s head.

“Well, with all the three of them, I guess she would be the hardest, taking into consideration her past and all.”

“And why is that?” she asked nonchalantly.

“After what happened to her, I gather that she wouldn’t trust anybody.”

“Hmm…” managed the princess.

They reached the deep part of the forest after a while. Their mildly labored breathing was all they could hear. No chirping birds, no wind, no nothing. It felt odd.

“Now then, let’s get hunting.” Erio said and pulled out a necklace from inside his tuxedo. He prided of himself to look elegant despite being anywhere, and the tux added to that elegance.

“Nice, it’s wolfin’ time!” cheered the princess.

He took a glance at her, made sure that she is safe as he shut his senses for a while. He never liked shifting form not because of the painful contortion of bones, or the aggravating stretching of muscles, or the itching fur growing all over his body but the thought of leaving the princess unguarded even for short while made him uneasy.

Erio shut off all his five senses. He embraced dakness and oblivion with all his being. The only thing he felt was the heat that came from the necklace. The necklace which was handed from generation to generation of protectors makes the shifting less painful, easier and faster. A talisman is unique for every pack as it serves as a means of communicating with each other.

His bones twisted and lengthened, limbs cracked, mild pain seared his entire body as the heat from his chest swelled and engulfed him, and fur grew as itch slowly subsided. He stood on all four paws after.

“Nicely done, Erio.” She smiled.

“Thank you, now princess, shall we?” He said and lowered his body to the ground. Through the pact made by a guardian and protector, they could understand each other even if they talked in different tongues.

She climbed on the wolf’s back, and in a flash were blitzing through the forest.

Huge paws made thundering sounds as he ran deep into the woods. On his wolf form, all his senses were heightened: smell, hearing, sight, taste, and feel.

Unknown to everyone, lycans have a sixth sense. A sense called nasci. It allows lycans to ‘become one’ with nature. Legends told about lycans with immense nasci that they didn’t only become one with nature but they change nature as well. Erio was not really sure about the truth of the legend, but when talking about nasci, he’s pretty confident that he’s better and more adept that any lycan that he had known, except his mentor.

He ran in circles while widening his range, and tried to catch some scent that would eventually lead them to Faye. But with the wind unable to graze the land for some apparent reason, he found it a struggle to sniff for anything within a couple of miles radius.

Finding his five senses futile, Erio stopped on his tracks. He closed his eyes for a second, and once he opened it, his mind opened to a view of the whole mountain. The trees, rivers, rocks, appeared cold bue, the tiny insects, scurrying animals glowed light yellow. He made his vision roam as far as he could. It was the gift of the sixth sense.

“What did you nascied Erio?” asked the princess. Though only lycans could nasci, he had done this for so many times that Elenaia knew what he’s doing.

His furs prickled and ears and tail shot up.

“Found you!” He murmured to himself.

“She’s at the top of the mountain princess, on top of huge stone!” He roared and dashed toward the summit. With mostly tress and small animals around, nascing a lycan was a piece of cake, Erio thought.

He ran like a whirlwind thought the trees and blew of fallen leaves as he passed. They arrived at the spot in less than two minutes. On top the huge rock sat a brown, ragged wolf. By the looks of it, she seemed beaten and been running for quite some time without changing forms. Her steady gaze fixed at him.

“Good nasci, but you can’t keep up with mine.” She hissed.

Now, it all dawned to him, why he couldn’t smell her scent, why the wind was not blowing, why it was so dead quite. The legend about this amazing nasci is really true.

“Too bad, you won’t find me again.” She growled as she leaped off the rock down to the thick tress.

Erio just stood there, dazed. “Erio, what are you waiting for? After her.” shouted the princess.

He couldn’t bring himself to follow suit, instead he glanced behind him, searching for something. Even though he saw where she went, he could smell her rose smelling scent move the opposite way. He nasci was in a completely different level!

Using only his nasci and his sense of smell shut, Erio dashed to forward.

This guardian needs more than convincing, he thought grimly.