Chapter 12 - Awakened From Past.

The wolf that had attacked me earlier fell lifeless at my feet as I pulled my claws from his side.

I took a deep breath and looked around. I felt more relieved than when the war started.

Redhorn Pack, the notorious Pack of the Southern Kingdom and its Alpha had rebelled, they were gunning not only to take over and dominate other Packs but to also conquer the capital of their kingdom, taking the seat of the Alpha King.

The Alpha King of the south had called for my help and since I already had a marriage alliance with him, I had to extend my help.

But getting here, our information wasn't all accurate, they had more men, and it seemed some other rebelling Packs had joined them.

But now, the battlefield was covered with their lifeless bodies, my men were fighting and they were fighting really well.

I was about to turn, to see the other side of the blood covered field when I sensed them.

I paused immediately.

I could sense the different paces of their breathing, they were three. Three wolves were about to launch at me, hoping they had caught me unguarded.

Too bad. I hissed.

The moment I sensed them charge at me, I rose onto my hind legs and spun around, my forelimbs raised, sharp claws extended and my fangs bared.

They realized a little too late that I was ready for them.

Two of them lunged straight at my waiting claws which pierced right pass their furs into their skins, their blood bursts out and ran down my forelimbs

The third landed itself directly at me, its jaws wide open, aiming for my head or my neck but it instead met with my fangs, my teeth sank into his flesh.

They struggled to get free, but I refused to let go.

I felt pain shoot through me as they dragged their claws across my body, another had his claws digging into me.

Instead of losing my hold on them, I tightened it.

A few seconds passed and their movements slowed, their hold loosen.

They all went limb against me, I pulled my fangs and claws free and their bodies dropped heavily onto the ground, I stood over them, my breath heavy.

I released a growl.

My men answered immediately, their growls tearing through the battlefield and re-echoing over the mountains.

I growl again, this time more fierce than the other and it was met with their response, so loud that I could feel the earth vibrate.

Victory was ours.

I was about to shift into my human form when my sight caught my second in command, Ilan.

He had just finished off four wolves.

Blood covered his fur as he threw the last one aside and released a victorious growl.

I was about to return it when something moved behind him.

What? The movement was sudden, too sudden and then my eyes widened.

One of the wolves lying among the dead, half man, half wolf, must have been attacked when he was yet to complete his transformation, his hand reaching for the sword beside him.

No!

My body moved before I could think. Before I could calculate.

I took off “ILAN!”

The wolf raised the sword, ready to launch it at Ilan who still had his back turned. I reached Ilan faster than I thought.

My claws shot out and I drove them into the attacker's neck and ripped his head from his body.

His corpse dropped to the ground.

And then I felt it. Sharp pain exploded through one side of my shoulders, I staggered backwards with great force.

I let out a deep howl as the pain spread through my entire body. I felt my legs grow weaker each passing second. I tried to steady myself but I was failing miserably.

The sword was struck in my shoulder.

“Leo! No!”

From the corner of my eyes, I saw two bloodied arms, they caught me before my body hit the ground.

Ilan.

“Ilan…. You…” I tried to keep my eyes open but my eyelids grew heavier.

“No! Leo!”

I heard the sound of running feet but they began to sound at a distance, darkness surrounded me and I could only see a trail of light.

I tried to get a hold of it, to force this eyelids open but I just couldn't and so I obeyed, and closed them.

“Leontius!”

Ilan yelled, his voice breaking.

That was the last thing I heard before darkness completely swallowed me.

*

I was in a void.

The darkness swallowed me whole, leaving me no room to escape. No matter how hard I tried to find my way out, there was nothing but darkness.

Then came the screams, yells, and cries of voices that didn't sound familiar but these voices were coming from the depths of pain and indescribable agony.

Voices of the old and the young.

And then… I heard my own voice.

My own screams of pain, my cries, my desperate begging.

“Stop! Stop!”

I could hear the horrifying sound of bladed canes slicing through my flesh, followed by the sickening sound of them being pulled out.

I screamed, I cried and begged knowing fully well that help was never coming. But the louder my voice got, the more pain engulfed me.

I screamed, yelled louder and louder until my own voice was drowned out completely.

But I kept shouting.

Keep begging.

Until the darkness swallowed me whole.

*

No matter how hard I tried to escape the void, it seemed impossible.

The screams, pain, and agony pressed down on me, suffocating me.

I tried to block them out. I opened my mouth to scream again, but before I could, the darkness consumed me once more.

Then it came.

A cry.

The cry sounded so different… different from the ones that haunted me.

The agony that undertones this was different, the pain that came with it stood out.

This cry felt all familiar. A cry I had known, a cry that had several times proceeded out of my lips…. A cry that came from the depths of helplessness and misery, the kind that had been locked away for too long.

It resonated deep within my soul, shaking me to my very core.

It started like a dot then slowly a line and then it became a bolder thread of light before me.

I reached for it, my fingers closed around it, and I pulled.

It snapped.

My eyelids cracked open.

A blinding ray of light burst through the darkness, hitting me so hard that I squeezed my eyes shut.

Slowly, I opened them.

Where am I? I was about recalling anything that came to mind when I heard the cry again.

I turned my head.

And there she was.

A covered figure stood by the window, her back turned toward me.

She was crying.

Crying so hard that her entire body trembled.

“Why are you crying?” My voice sounded so quiet and hoarse as if I haven't spoken in days.

The figure beside me went still, then slowly turned.

Holy Moon Goddess!

My gaze met the most grey, stormy orbs I had ever seen. The shade of her eyes seemed to shine through the redness, tears had caused them.

And that gaze bled intensity and fierceness.

The intensity in them drove something straight through my chest. I clutched my chest as it began thudding against my ribs, hard and fast.

But then again…in those same eyes I saw calmness sipping out through them, as if a ferocious storm had just stilled.

The thudding in my chest slowed and finally, the pounding in my chest stopped.

I tried to think, but nothing came through.

Her cry. I remember.

She had been crying.

“You sound so sad. Why are you…” I paused, my voice failing me, dropping into a whisper so faint that even I could barely hear myself.

“Crying?” I completed.

She said nothing, only stared at me.

And then, just as she was about to speak, she staggered backward, her hands shot up to her head as if she was in pain.

She mumbled something I couldn't make out.

She groaned and doubled over.

“Is all well?” I asked as I stretched out my hand and held her arm.

Seconds passed, I felt something hot spread up my body. I tried to push back so I could sit up and help her when suddenly my body jerked.

A violent and uncontrollable cough seized me.