Memento Mori -- Chapter 14
#4 of Eben Black Series -- Memento Mori
© All characters and storylines involving said characters belong to me: Eben Black.
Half an hour later I was nude and asleep alone in the big king-size bed that I'd first woken up in when Basil had brought us here following Jasper's assault on our old home. I was lost at this moment in time. I hated this sensation. I wanted it gone, and I wanted it gone now. The wolf we looked to for leadership, the alpha who'd begun the coalition was dead. The white tiger I'd leaned on and fallen in love with was comatose. And the swordsman that I'd hope would've been there for me was now unconscious and probably tempermental too when he was conscious again. I snuggled down, cuddling one of the many silken pillows against me as exhaustion swam over me. I was alone for a few moments and then opened my eyes to find myself submerged in that metaphorical ocean once more.
I turned in the deep water and looked around. I was dressed in all white again. The water kept me secure just beneath the surface as I turned and scanned for that wolf that inhabited this unrealistic dwelling. I felt something under me and looked down. Adelheid was there, in that half human, half wolf form again. She was lost to the shadowed depths as she curled up and seemed to be almost hiding from me. I pushed and swam deeper and deeper towards the she-wolf beneath me. Why bring me here and not speak? I had sensed emotions when Donovan had died. Was Adelheid depressed? I reached her and touched a hand to her slender shoulder. She looked up and uncurled her naked form. Her hands grabbed me gently and pulled me into her embrace. She held me close, but not strong enough to keep me pinned. She never spoke, and never moved as she held me against her.
I let her hold me for a few moments and then whispered, "Adelheid?"
She never spoke. She held me close and suddenly I noticed the ocean had temperature. It was luke warm, but the temperature was slowly dropping.
"Adelheid? What are you doing, Adelheid?" I asked as I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away slowly.
"The bonds are breaking, Eben. The ones you love are abandoning us one by one," she breathed back. Tears. Adelheid was crying silent tears.
"You mean Donovan?"
She nodded.
I considered what she meant and then asked, "What did you mean the others are abandoning us?"
"The knave and the lover you adore. Both are unconscious and unable to lend you their strength during this troubling time," she explained with a saddened smile.
"Troubling time? I'm upset about Donovan's death, but don't make it sound like I'm in danger, Adelheid, please," I replied.
She nodded and then slowly glided back from me.
I watched her move and then asked, "Was that you who blocked Kane's blade during his rampage, earlier?"
She nodded and smiled. "I believe you would not fight your wolf considering your connection to him. So I intervened as best I could without forcing a transformation."
"You can force a transformation?"
"It is possible, but it is also painful upon the outside form you possess," she explained.
"I never considered you would miss Donovan, Adelheid. I am sorry, for the both of us."
"I do not miss your Donovan, but I was bound to his beast. His beast was strong, dependable and a perfect union for us both. Losing him was a great loss indeed."
"So what do we do now, Adelheid? Donovan's dead and the bond we shared is broken too. What happens now?" I asked.
Adelheid considered me for a moment and then smiled. "I am more considerate than you may think, child. I shall not pressure you to take other alphas for a while, but I do believe that the other bonds are momentarily bolstered. In losing Donovan's connection, the power there was divided and spread to the other four. The one named Kane ascertained his new form because of this. I believe the power increase and his emotional state made him feral. That should've stopped now, and when he awakens he should be back to normal," she explained.
"And what happens when another bond is formed?"
"By that time your power should have increased further, and the bonds will be equal once again," she replied.
"Its that simple?"
She nodded.
I thought long and hard and then asked, "Do you know why Snow won't wake up?"
"That is something that has worried me for some time. But Snow has been dependable and strong up until now. Have faith and he will awaken and be there at your side once more, I do not doubt this."
I smiled at the thought and realised that all I wanted now was to have him awake and by my side.
Adelheid glided forward and embraced me a second time. I straightened and didn't allow myself to relax for a while, Adelheid had always been more beast than human, so this was a frightening development, but a few moments after I loosened and drew my arms around her. I felt like she was some protective mother watching over me from afar and helping me when I needed advice. The fact she was now showing emotion and consideration still felt too eerie to me. Was she growing as well as me? I suppose if my power was growing, and she was the root of that power, then it made sense. Our moment was stoppered suddenly when the ocean temperature soared and a distant clapping echoed around us. Adelheid pulled me backward as she gazed up at the surface of the ocean. I looked up and found the surface bubbling. She held me close and together we rose up and out of the water to touch down onto the surface with a gentle ripple. Adelheid loosened her hold on me and then stepped around me, standing in front of me as she glared across the water at someone I'd never seen in here before.
The figure stood at around five foot nine, he was slender and wore what looked like a black hoodie and black three-quarter-lengths. He was wearing the same as me, with opposite colours. He had dark grey fur, a couple of shades darker than mine. He applauded as he gazed across at us. His face hidden in shadow, his whole form seemed shrouded in some darkness. It was ominous, and somewhat frightening. He stopped a few feet from us and watched us as he buried his hands inside the pockets of his hoodie.
"Who are you?" Adelheid demanded.
"Nice place you have here. I never thought it would be so picturesque inside a pup's mind," a deep, cultured voice floated through the air as he glanced across at us from beneath his hood.
"You did not answer my question. I demand to know who you are?"
"I don't think you should be demanding anything right now," he replied as he shrugged.
"Then what are you?" I asked, peeking around Adelheid.
"Ah, you do have a voice of your own. Not to mention your a clever one at that." His deep voice was filled with amusement.
"Clever? How so?" I replied.
"I am not a who, but a what. I am something of...an observer," he explained, "Here to do nothing more than observe if you will."
"You came all the way here, broke into my dreams, all so you could observe me?"
"Why sound so confused? Your more interesting than you give yourself credit, pup," he explained.
"Stop that!"
"Stop what?"
"Stop calling me "pup"!" I demanded.
A deep laugh echoed around us as Adelheid touched a hand to my shoulder.
I looked up at the she-wolf who smiled down at me with that compassionate look again. "You should leave here and head back, Eben."
"And what about him?" I asked.
"I can feel his bond to this place, your the one thing keeping him here. For whatever reason he can access your dreams. So wake up and he shall disappear." Adelheid frowned and looked at the hooded form, "Right?"
"Looks like intelligence runs in the family. Fine, you got me." He held his hands up and that laugh filled the air again.
"Fine then, but before I wake up, I want one question answered," I said as I walked around Adelheid and walked toward the hooded form.
"And that would be?" he asked.
"Are you from the council?" I demanded. The demand seemed to freeze the whole area as Adelheid even tensed up behind me.
He watched me for a moment and then disappeared, it was like he spilled back into the shadows and disappeared.
Adelheid padded across the now smooth, glacial waters and touched her slender hand to my shoulder again. "I believe that answered your question," she breathed.
"This is bad. Now the council is watching me in my dreams too."
"Consider it information you can pass on to the others," Adelheid suggested.
I thought about that and then nodded. "We needed to know more about the council, so I suppose this makes sense."
Adelheid looked out across the ocean for a moment and then turned back to me. Her face all serious and somewhat haunted. "Head back, Eben. I believe your swordsman is up and about. He feels fragile, but he is sane again."
Kane was up and feeling fragile. No doubt it was both from the beating Maximillian had given him, and the emotional drain that his alpha's death had had upon him too.
I woke, dressed in the pyjama bottoms, and then padded out of the bedroom and headed for where Kane had been sleeping. I stepped outside and stopped dead, met by two armed black tigers. I knew Basil had men posted over his manor house, but for whatever reason they'd kept quiet around us during our stay here. It seemed Basil had ordered them to keep an eye on us from now on.
"At ease men," I murmured as I padded passed them. I gazed down the corridor and noticed that there were more armed tigers posted at varied bedroom doors. I found Kane's room and knocked twice.
"Eben?" Kane called. His voice sounded hollowed, almost distant.
I opened the door and stepped into the hushed silence of the bedroom. Kane was sat at the headboard, he looked bruised, battered and defeated. His sword lay sheathed and propped against the wall opposite the bed. Strange. I had never known Kane to never have his sword close at hand. I grabbed the sheathed blade and noticed he'd coiled thick rope around the hilt so that you couldn't unsheath without loosening the binding. "What's this?" I asked as I held up the blade.
"I don't trust myself at the moment," he replied in a hoarse voice.
"Don't trust yourself? Kane. Your a swordsman at heart. This is like a third arm to you," I said as I padded across the bedroom and sat down at the foot of the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Numb. Depressed. Pissed off. All the wonderful feelings this world has to offer," he smirked back as he leaned forward. The sheets pooled in his lap as he gently scratched his forearm.
"Sounds delightful," I replied.
"And how about you?" he asked.
"I'm...fine. I promise," I assured him with a distant smile.
"We are fucked, aren't we?"
"This is what death does to folk, Kane. It numbs them and stops them functioning all together."
"Sorry about losing my cool earlier," he said. He looked up at me with an ashamed smile, and for the first time I noticed his brown eyes were no longer brown. They were a darker crimson shade.
"Your a Level Three now, Kane. Not to mention you were emotionally drained. Its to be expected that you'd lose control," I explained with a smile.
"Thanks for understanding, but I'm pretty shit at the moment. The alpha I was guarding died, and then I attacked his second-in-command. Some werewolf I am," he frowned as he spoke.
I placed his sword down on the floor and crawled across the bedspread toward him. I touched a hand to his face and he actually flinched. I leaned in close and touched my lips to his. Again he flinched.
He looked at me with those fascinating crimson eyes and then looked down.
I made him look at me and assured him, "Times are hard at the moment for us all. You did what you could, and you did your best. What more could we ask for, Kane?"
He smiled weakly and then looked down, not trusting my words.
I crawled over him and sank into his lap, placing his hands on my thighs as I tilted his face up and kissed him again. I gazed into those eyes and then kissed him deeper. Now may not have been the time, but we needed comfort and closure. I did what I could, and what I could do now was make love to the wolf that had tried his best and felt like a loser. I hoped this would help perk him up a little.