Chapter 15 - Guardians
Mantilo watched his youngest son steadily and let him stew in silence for a few seconds.
Ezekiel like the rest of his sons was not a child.
Ezekiel was twenty three years old and the youngest. Nate was right before him in age also in his early twenty's.
Walter was the oldest of his sons at age twenty nine. And Lander came in just below him in age at twenty six years.
But Shifters were different then Mortals in they way that they aged.
Where mortals were known to age once a year, for Shifters, the first few years of life was the same as a mortals. But after puberty.....after the Shift
Chapter 16 - His PainSo he dreamed. Brandon couldn't move. He couldn't hardly breathe. He felt a great agony pounding at the base of his head, but all of this seemed so far away.So Brandon dreamed in that far off place just between sleep, unconsciousness, and death.Because he knew he was dying.Even in this foggy state of consciousness his heart whispered to him what his mind couldn't say. He was a goner. How much longer would it take? How long before the release was final? Or how long before he woke up and was forced to live underneath their thumb all over again?He didn't know. So he dreamed.Strangely enough dreaming was far t
Chapter 17 - Unknown AgonyGlen struggled to ignore the intruder's screams as she moved along the hall walking away from his room.Ever since coming to her only a few hours ago, the mortal had been a bloody, emaciated, smelly, and now moaning bunch of agony. Glen had suffered through the first few hours because the mortal had kept his distress contained to a few pathetic drawn out moans and leg twitching, but in the last half hour his moaning had transformed into full throated screams. And try as she might to discover the source of the mortals agony she soon came to realize that this pain was purely mental. Spiritual.And try as she might to stay dutifully by her patients side as Glen knew all healers should....she just couldn't stomach that. It was too visceral. To fami
Chapter 18 - No HurtSometime later...Ezekiel mounted the front porch steps panting harshly. His lungs begging for more air then he could actually draw. He cradled a giant bag in his arm that was packed full of surgical supplies ranging from surgical needles, thread, gauze, antiseptics, scalpel's, peroxide, alcohol and a box full of surgical gloves and masks.Ezekiel held all of this stuff close to his body. He'd run all the way to Kim's healing home. It had taken time for him to get her to swear an oath of silence and even longer for him to detail the mortals injuries and, then to recount the story to her, before she had conceded and offered her help.Then once she had loaded him up moment later he had paid her, t
Chapter 19 - Hanging By A ThreadPerhaps his touch had distracted the mortal.Perhaps his words had broken through the fever dreams? Or maybe chloroform was just too hard to continue to battle in his exhausted state, but the mortal shuttered as his chest expanded suddenly.He took a breath and then he succumbed seconds after Ezekiel withdrew his hand from the mortals face.And like a switch going out the mortals head dropped, his eyes drifted shut, and all of the tension in that fevered, shivering, and bloody frame swiftly faded.Ezekiel sighed and gently, removed himself from the bed, so he could stand beside his mother. Glen continued to hold the chloroformed
Chapter 20 - CuriosityEzekiel trudged home much much.....much later. The sharp cool night hurried him along one of the dirt paths leading up through his tall grasses and onto his pouch.All three storied of his family's mansion was dark. No candles flickered in any of the third story windows where his parent's room was. Ezekiel knew that that meant that it was well past two in the morning. He normally saw his mother's candle burning as she waited for all of them to return form their various patrols, but there were only a few lights shining and all of those were on the bottom floor.He burned with curiosity even as his eye lids begged for sleep.Had the mortal in fact survived the surgery? Was he awake or was he sti
Chapter 21 - ConfusionSoft heavy breaths in the darkness stimulated him. The strong smell of pine, like a sharp soap or lotion pulled him up.Brandon opened his eyes. And instantly froze.He felt....like he was dead.He felt so cold he gasped and bit his cheek to stop from moaning. And even though he felt a weight over his entire body that reminded him of cover he still felt a silver chill all along his bones. And just off the edges of his mind was this knowing ache. Biting into his skin all around his stomach was a pain that he didn't know the origin of. He felt tight and yet lose there around his hips and on his left side like his guts were going to burst through his belly. But pain he could deal with. He had to
Chapter 22 - ChaseSoft warm light hit him and suddenly he was standing in a hallway. A burgundy hallway, filled with soothing candle lights and carpet as thick and as lush as the rooms he had just run from. The hall branched to the left and right of him and Brandon struggled not to dry heave into the ground as the world tried to tilt all around him.He was shaking. He was hurt. He couldn't breathe.He had to move!Brandon stumbled to the left and tried to run, but he didn't even get a chance."Hey stop!!" Suddenly there was a hand around his wrist and Brandon was jerked back nearly off of his feet and into a wall of warmth. "Gotcha!"Brandon struggled fee
Chapter 23 - Frying Pot to FireDamn!Ezekiel panted to himself. He wasn't tired, but the adrenaline crawling all along his heart made him gritty. As did the Leopard inside that was wide awake and snarling to get free.And it wasn't mad like he was. No. It had enjoyed the chase....The leopard was pouring its power into him, it was scratching at his mind trying to break free. It liked the hunt.....maybe a little too much.Ezekiel ignored its mewling calls in his head and tried to focus on the strange green eyed mortal who was proving to be as slippery as an ell even with his exhaustion clear to the naked eye.How in god's name is he still able to mo