The Last Sylph

Chapter 5

Cooper regained control of himself first. It may have been because he was an Alpha or because he had the gift of foresight. Either way Billy Tanner needed more time to pull himself together after the vision.

Cooper reached down and pulled Elea into his arms. Then looked wildly back at the rest of the caravan before nudging Billy. The glazed look in Billy's eyes cleared as he rubbed at them and said

"Let me use my magic to stop the bleeding. I don't have enough in me to fully heal her though. Once she's stopped bleeding wash her down and get rid of her clothes."

He pulled off his own shirt and tossed it to Cooper before continuing.

"They have to stay here, or the others will be able to follow us."

Then he knelt on the ground and touched Elea's body. He put everything he had into stopping her blood from flowing out onto the ground. He was worn to the bone and wondered if he would even be able to stand up. His body trembled in exhaustion.

He had to try. They had to get Elea out of here. There was no time to waste. The others would know soon, and it would be bad. Coopers reaction to her blood was proof of that. The vision was clear. It would destroy the entire pack if the three of them stayed.

He pushed himself to his feet. His legs like jelly beneath him. His had swam from the use of his powers. He took two shaky steps and looked back at Cooper.

"Take her Coop. I'll go and grab us supplies and catch up with you. Head north towards the mountains.

The little Billy Tanner turned towards his wagon. Over the course of the next three hours, Billy grabbed food, clothes and other supplies that Cooper, Elea and he would need to survive on their own in the wild. He looked around sullenly at his family and friends. People he hoped to never see again. People he would miss for the rest of his life.

It was hours later that Cooper finally stopped to rest for a few minutes. He'd carried Elea's limp body for miles. He looked back in the direction he'd come from and sighed. He'd loved his family. He'd loved his life with caravan and before tonight, he'd thought he'd spend his entire life with them. Now however he knew better. He would have to make sure that he never even accidently brushed into one of them ever again. Their very lives depended on it.

"But storyteller. Why did they have to leave? Why couldn't they have stayed with the other Vargulf in their caravan" interrupted one of the children

The Storyteller smiled at the children. He reached out and patted the head of the young boy who asked him the question before he said

"Well, that's a good a question. It turns out that Vargulf were also strangely affected by a Sylph's blood. Most of them just never knew it. Before Elea the Vargulf in their pack hadn't ever been exposed to a Sylph's blood. If they stayed the pack would turn on itself. They would fight for possession of Elea and her blood. They would have gone insane and attacked each other until each and every one of them was dead. It would have become a blood bath. One never seen before in a Vargulf pack.

No one, not even Pa Boswell would have been able to stop the Vargulf from shifting into their wolves and attacking each other. Just smelling her blood from a distance would forever change some of them. You asked earlier wasn't Pyter Hearn one of the butchers? Indeed, he was. Pyter and several other Vargulf smelled Elea's blood that night. Every one of them became obsessed with her blood. All of them struck out on their own that night to try to find her."

The storyteller's wife coughed, and all eyes turned towards her. She smiled and added

"It's important children to understand, none of the butchers started out as psychopaths. They were just Vargulf with weak scruples. They would never been the most scrupulous Vargulf and some of them would have become lone wolves even if they hadn't smelled her blood. But, none of them would have become psychopathic predators. It was the smell of Elea's blood that pushed them. Also, it didn't happen overnight. It took years before they all became completely insane."

A young girl maybe six or seven gulped and squeaked out a small sound of terror. Then she blurted

"But Ma said the butchers weren't real. I don't want them to be real. I'm scared they will come and get me."

"Easy Now" said the storyteller "You don't need to be afraid of the butchers. They're all long gone. Elea and her friends made sure of that. But, let me not skip ahead. We'll get to that later. Much later in the story.

So, as I was saying"

Cooper only stopped for a few minutes to catch his breath. He took a sip of water and looked down at Elea's sleeping form. She was pretty banged up. He could see a huge lump on her head, and she had rips and tears all over her body. Thanks to Billy's magic none of them were bleeding but he could see the injured flesh barely holding itself together.

He sighed and tears formed at the corner of his eyes. Part of him wished he'd never had the vision. Why had the universe chosen him? He wasn't good on his own. He was a very social Vargulf. He loved to be with his family and the entire pack. Now, he would be expected to live a near solitary life. A life with just Elea and little Billy Tanner.

Cooper had just celebrated his eighteenth birthday at the last full moon. Little Billy Tanner is a full ten years younger than him. How was he supposed to keep them all safe and away from civilization? How were they supposed to live alone and care for themselves without a pack? So many thoughts crossed Coopers mind that night. Through them all however, he knew he would do what he must. His very life and lives of everyone he loved depended on it.

He took a deep breath and another quick sip of water before gently lifting Elea's body back onto his shoulder. She was a wee thing and barely weighed a hundred pounds. He adjusted her body to provide more stability and looked up at the mountain. It would be a gruel some climb. The caravan moving westward would have travelled through the Oregon trail on their way towards California, but Elea, Billy and Cooper were going to travel straight up the mountains through the frontier into the unorganized territories. There would be many dangers along the way. Survival would not be easy. Wild animals like grizzly bears and cougars. Not to mention Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. The frontier was dangerous for the caravan but three kids on their own. Well, their chances for success were very slim.

Their end goal was to reach the highest point on Mount Elbert the tallest mountain peak in the Rockies. The vision was clear. They needed to reach that peak if they were going to be successful. Cooper didn't have much more details than that. The vision didn't tell him how they were going to survive or why they had to reach the top of Mount Elbert only that they did. They needed to avoid crowds, civilization and most importantly he needed to keep Elea and Billy alive.

So be it, he thought to himself. He may never know why the universe chose him, but he would do his best. With that thought he again trudged forward. He walked through the remainder of the night and long into the day. The sun was high in the sky his shadow dragging behind him when he finally decided it was time to stop and rest for a while.

It was about an hour after Cooper stopped that Elea awoke. She was disoriented and fear came off her in waves. Like all Vargulf fear is a stimulant to their wolves. Cooper had to admonish his wolf in order to remain in control. He forced a smile on his face to try to dampen down her fear. Her head swung side to side as she tried to get her bearings. He reached out and patted her upper arm as he said

"Try to stay calm Elea. You've been around Vargulf long enough to know how we react to fear. You're not in any danger from me or my wolf."

"but, but, but..." she stuttered "but where are we? What happened after I passed out? The last thing I remember was the storm. There was an avalanche and I was trapped. I was in so much pain. I think I might have been delirious. Someone was coming to dig me out of the rubble. He was a large adult Vargulf. I instinctively knew it. Something about them scared me. Deep down in my soul. I didn't want them to pull me out. And then..."