Horus

A long, horribly irritating trilling sound woke me the next morning. I groaned and turned over looking for the source of the offending sound. It was coming from my clock. Toby mumbled and pulled the covers farther over his head. I staggered upright, wondering what time it was. The clock said 5:30 am and I nearly choked. Why was it waking me up this early? I studied the thing, pressing my hands to my ears to try and rid myself of the awful noise, but it snuck through. All looked normal, expect for a bit that was in a different position as before.

Carefully, hopefully I pressed the bit back into the part it had been before. It immediately quieted and I sighed in relief before going back to my bed.

KNOCK! KNOCK! It was terribly hard opening my eyes but I did so and croaked out, “What do you want?”

“Come one, girly! It’s training time and you should be up and down at the courts!” Esmeralda’s shockingly cheerful voice made me grit my teeth.

I knew that I had to get up. I dragged my unwilling body to the door and yanked it open. Just like her voice, Esmeralda was bright, sunny and clean. I knew I must look disheveled and sweaty.

“Come on, my little wolf. Let’s go train!” She grinned at me and I scowled and glanced back into the room.

Toby was fast asleep and my heart broke to have to wake him up. I opened my door wider and whispered to Esmeralda, “My cub is asleep? I feel guilty waking him.” A strange mixture of emotion swirled through the Captain’s face. It settled on amusement and warmth. “Your cub?” she whispered back at me and I blinked in surprise. I hadn’t even thought about as the term slipped from my tongue. I smiled, “Yes, my cub.”

Esmeralda smiled back softly. “Well, I heard about your escapade. You’ll have to pay for that, I hope you realize.” I nodded resignedly and she continued, “And I also heard that you made the boy your servant, because of that you should have a bond. When he awakes, you should feel it. I’ll excuse you to come get him.”

I nodded and Esmeralda ushered me to get dressed. I changed quickly and bound back my hair with a ribbon I’d found in my wardrobe. I’d have too cut it soon.

Closing the door quietly, I followed the Leowoman down the hall and through to the throne room. We stopped at the great doors and Esmeralda gestured at me to open them.

I didn’t even ask Amberblood, I simply touched the door and it opened. This didn’t surprise me and I didn’t look back when I heard The Lions’ Guard Captain gasp. Despite the people within Amberblood, I was quickly beginning to feel very at home and comfortable here.

When we moved out onto the ledge I looked down at the height with trepidation. Although I had already dropped from this ledge, I didn’t feel at all better about doing it again.

Esmeralda came up behind me and put an arm around my shoulder, “Feeling lucky?” she murmured then shoved me from the ledge, out into open air.

I stared down at the next ledge and screams built in my throat until I was choking. Blank terror engulfed me and I shut my eyes.

Somewhere inside me something stirred and I felt a abrupt rush of the swirling warm power. My eyes prickled and words passed onto my lips, but I something caught me all of a sudden and the feeling and words disappeared. My feet hit the floor lightly; Esmeralda had caught me a mere man’s length from being smashed to pieces.

I gasped and pushed her away, staggering to the railing. “Never ever do that again!” I shouted at her, rage igniting in me. She only laughed and yelled back, “Don’t be such a weakling! You’ll have to deal with worse once you’re a full member of the Lions’ Guard!” My glare was ferocious but she simply waved languidly to door. I scowled, still irritated, but quickly being thawed by Esmeralda’s happy nature.

I pushed open this door too and entered into the Leomen’s training centre. It was the same as I remembered it two days ago. It seemed that an entire lifetime of things had happened in the last two days. I grinned and watched the vampires exercising. Suddenly they didn’t seem as fast and strong as they had before.

A sudden shout drew my attention to the first section of the court. Damien was jogging towards us, an arm waving.

“Well, that’s my job done. When your servant wakes up, come see me and I’ll excuse you.” She gave me a light push between the shoulders towards Damien and went off towards the third quadrant.

I ran to meet Damien half-way and he spoke, “Alright, you proved before that you were sufficiently fit the last time you were here. Now, we’ll start on basic fighting techniques. Follow me.” I followed Damien over to the enormous ring where men and women were sparring without weapons.

He climbed under the rope and pulled me in after him. People were fighting all around me and my awareness was being tested to the max. I flinched each time a battle came too close to me.

Damien called out to a dark man on the other side of the ring. He trotted over and inspected me while Damien asked him to spar. He brushed back deep brown hair and grinned, “I’ll be happy to spare with such a pretty young thing.” Then flashed forward, catching me in the stomach with an uppercut. The breath whooshed from my lungs and my vision flashed black as the pain exploded through me. Despite this, I grabbed the back of the man’s head and vaulted over, kicking him in the neck as I flipped. I twisted and landed on my feet, facing the attacking stranger. He turned and watched me, waiting for an opening. I snarled at him and he hissed in return.

Suddenly he charged for me again and threw out a complex series of punches. I ducked and weaved, trying to find an opening. His hands crashed dangerously close to my face when I noticed his small flaw. Just as he threw out his left straight punch, his right guard rose. It wasn’t much but this man seemed a master and that was all I had.

I darted forward in between his punches intending to hit him in the solar plexus, but the opening wasn’t there. Instead, brutal arms encircled me and squeezed. I gasped for breath and wiggled around, trying to escape. How had I lost? I was sure that there was an opening and that I could hit him! My vision began to narrow as I fought for oxygen and my struggling got weaker and weaker. I didn’t want to die here. I couldn’t lose hi-

The compression on my lungs and ribs was suddenly release and I fell onto the mat, gasping and coughing. The man was grinning again and Damien was reprimanding him for being too rough. “H-how?” I choked out.

Damien turned to me and spoke, “It was a trick, girl. He dropped his guard on purpose so that you’d come in close.” The entire fight cleared for me and I realized that the man had been toying with me the entire time. . I had been using brute force this entire time, while the man used finesse and strategy. The blow to my pride hurt more than my physical pain

“You’re very strong and agile. If you knew more complex attacks, you might have taken me.” The man reached down and hand. I took it and he hauled me up. “I’m Casimiro. It’s nice to meet you.” He shook the hand he was still holding and shot a dazzling smile at me. I mumbled my name back with surly grace.

“Alright then, Casimiro, thank you for your help. That’ll be all.” Damien forced the charmer back to the other side of the rink with a weighty glare. “Nicky, do you see where you went wrong in that fight?” Damien was staring at me intently, almost as if to push the knowledge into my mind. I nodded uncertainly, “I fell for his trick and allowed him to grab me. He’s stronger than me so if I get caught like that I lose, right?” The big man nodded.

“Although you’re very strong and very quick, you lack technique, as this fight has shown you. We’ll start with the most basic of all fighting skills,” He went down on one knee and put up his hands, palms towards me, “I want you to punch my hands, once with your right hand then twice with your left. Punch as hard as you can.” I stepped forward and slammed my right punch into his hand then followed through with two quick left punches. I stepped back but he shook his head and told me to keep going. I continued to punch his hands as hard as I could for five minutes, before I stopped, my arms feeling like jelly. Damien’s hands hadn’t moved position once throughout my onslaught.

“Well, you’re extremely strong and you punch well, but that’s to be expected of a werewolf. Show me your fist.” I put my hand out in a fist and he inspected it. It felt odd as he shifted fingers infinitesimally and moved my thumb from its normal position to a stranger angle. In the end my fist didn’t feel like my fist anymore.

“There, now punch me once with that. Try to keep the fingers in the same position.” He put up his fist and I punched his hand again. This time there was a very slight flinch, so slight I almost didn’t notice it.

“That’s better.” He murmured then said, “As you punch, twist your hand.” I stared at him uncomprehendingly and he sighed and got up. Damien showed me his fist then, in slow motion, punched an unseen enemy. As his arm extended, his hand swung from the palm facing him, to the palm facing the floor. I copied it and my instructor nodded. “Alright, let’s see you do that.” He went back on one knee and I repositioned the fingers of my hands as best I remembered, before beginning to punch. Half-way through, Damien stopped me and corrected my fists before we started again. Finally we stopped, arms past feeling like jelly and sweat coating my body.

“You’re proficient at punching, so we’ll stop that for the moment. Now let’s see your kicks.” He gestured at me and I stared at him, not understanding. Finally he showed me what he meant.

I was to stand with my feet in an L-shape then turn and kick his hands. It was entirely new to me and I found it difficult to keep my balance, before kicking.

Just as I was about to kick his hands for a third time, a flash of sudden and bright awareness hit me. It was followed by terror. I stood straight, realizing that Toby had woken up. Although I had thought that leaving him alone might be bad, I hadn’t thought he would be so frightened. I felt guilty that I had left him to such agony.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’ll be back in awhile. Thank you for teaching me.” I babbled then dashed off in the direction of the third quadrant. As I ran I spotted Esmeralda speaking to a familiar looking man. I squinted as I rushed for them. A sudden growl rolled off me as I recognized the man who had bitten me. Crashing heedlessly into their conversation I said, “Captain, my servants woken up, can I go? I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She just nodded at me and turned back to the man. He watched me with cold eyes and I felt a moment of dread but it passed and I ran for the great doors and out onto the ledge. That was when I realized I had no idea how to get back up to my room.

I turned back to the door and took a step. I needed to get back fast…but how could I go back in and ask one of them to fly me up? That would be mortifying after my dramatic exit.

Something niggled at my mind and I tried to grab it, but it was elusive. Something someone had said? I know it would help me but I just couldn’t remember it! I turned back to the Innerdoors when it finally broke through.

Angelica! She had said that a witch could transport to any place that they had been before by will alone! I needed to go to my room. It was the first time I tried to do witchcraft consciously and I wasn’t sure what I had to do.

With Toby’s roiling emotions as an undercurrent it was hard too calm down, but I slowed my breathing and eventually my pulse beat in my ears. I needed to get to my room fast. I wanted too, I had too.

Slowly that warm swirling feeling built in my body until it was thundering around like a river. I needed to get to my room, I had too, I wanted too. It was a thought that beat with my heart’s pulses. My eyes tickled then words flowed from my lips. It seemed as if I went into a daze at the same time as the words flowed and streamed into a shape and whirlwind. They were powerful and eager, dancing around and screaming through the air. It built a pressure all around me, but my thoughts were still the same. I needed to get to my room, I wanted too, I had too.

For a second I was still then the world around me went crazy. Colour, sound and feeling assaulted me. It was like every thing I’d ever touched, seen or heard was being thrown at me at the same time. I was drowned in the incoming tide and my mind almost shut down, but at the last second I felt a light jolt and I was standing before my door. I staggered sideways and gripped the doorpost for support. My heartbeat screamed in my ears and my breath was coming in short gasps, but I still threw open the door.

Toby was crying on the bed, great wrenching sobs that racked his entire body. He glanced up, tears streaming in a track down his face. Shock, then disbelief then pure happiness flew across his face before he slammed into me. His thin arms tightened around my waist. “I-I t-thought you w-weren’t real!” he cried into my sweaty shirt.

I put my arms around him and made shushing sounds. “I’m here and I won’t leave, I promise.”

It took twenty minutes to calm Toby down. After that I asked Amberblood how to get back to the training centre she said I just needed to go back into the greenhouse and follow the path. I imagined that it had something to do with magic.

Toby and I followed the path again. A few minutes after we saw a door and when we opened it we were in a spare room, off of the third quadrant. I looked around for Esmeralda and found her showing a young trainee how to wield a scimitar. I walked to her, dragging Toby along behind me.

“Oh, your back, well what are we going to do with you, young master?” Esmeralda leaned down to stare into Toby’s eyes. She raised one eyebrow. “Um…I was hoping you could use him for errands or something.” I glanced at Toby. He had on a steely determined face and I sighed in relief. It would have been bad for both of us if he was scared of doing this. “Hmmmm, well I could use a quick assistant. What say you, little man, will you help me?” She went down on one knee. “Yes, I’ll help you.” Toby stuck out his chest and put his chin up. I saw a twinkle in Esmeralda’s eyes and she said, “That’s the ticket! We can use a strong man like you! I’m Captian Esmeralda by the way.” She put out her gloved hand and he shook it, “I’m Toby.” He said and smiled hesitantly at her.

“Now Nicky, run along to your training, Toby will help me.” She turned back to me and winked at the same time.

I let out a relieved sigh and went back to Damien, who helping someone else do a back flip.

I spent a further three hours learning how to kick, punch, dodge and roll. Abruptly, about half-way through a sudden deadening exhaustion took me over and I had to sit down for a few minutes, but it passes quickly and I went back to training although I became tired along while before I normally wood.

Damien found fault in my every move and made me repeat the same actions again and again, until my muscles burned and screamed at the simplest punch and my body was covered in sweat and filth. Only then did he stop me, “You’ve done enough for today. Come again tomorrow at the same time and we’ll start you on combination attacks.” He nodded at me and turned away.

I asked an important looking man if he’d seen the Captain and he told me to check the store room. After I got directions to the store room, I found Esmeralda having a argument with a women about the Leoman’s uniform. The store room was filled with weaponry and Toby was sorting out a pile. When he saw me he jumped up with a glad cry and threw himself at me. I staggered back under his weight but hugged him back just the same.

“What’s this? I didn’t believe Esmeralda would torture you this much!” He shook his head and let go of me.

“No, Captain’s been really kind. She let me help her as she trained and as she made the itinery lists! Nicky, Nicky I want to be a Guardsman when I grow up!” He turned adoring eyes on Esmeralda and I wondered how she could have won this boy’s adoration in only a few hours.

Finally Esmeralda turned to me and said, “Nicky, thanks for letting me borrow Toby for a few hours. He was a big help and I’d appreciate it if you loaned him to me again, tomorrow. By the way, this is the Head Seamstress, Madame Nix. I’ve ordered guards cloths for Toby which will arrive later today.”

“Uh…Captain, I’m not sure if I can…pay for the cloths.” I blushed from the humiliation.

“Don’t worry, you are paid while you’re in training. Its more than enough for a few items like this.” Esmeralda nodded to me then turned back to her conversation.

Tired and sweaty, I dragged Toby back through the forest to the throne from and from there back to my room where I grabbed a change of cloths and a towel.

I quickly visited the bathhouse and scrubbed the accumulated dirt and sweat from my body, before I dressed and went back for Toby.

From there we walked back to the greenhouse and passed through the forest again. I thought of Nathaniel’s study and abruptly, Toby and I walked through the door without even realizing. One moment we were in the Forest and the next we where in a study. It was disorientating for a moment, until I heard Nathaniel call out to us happily,

“I’m glad you’ve finally come! I was worried that you would skip out on our lesson.” He came towards us, smiling sincerely. His black eyes glowed with an inner brightness and for a moment I felt a strange lurch in my stomach. I passed it off as a reaction to the sudden change in surroundings.

“No, I’m here for my lesson.” I looked away and pushed back a strand of hair. Nathaniel turned from me to Toby.

“Toby, thank you for protecting Nicky for me. I’d appreciate it if you could give Alfonsina and Emiliana a hand, while I teach Nicky?” Toby stuck out his chest and nodded. “They’re waiting through that door.” He pointed up the twirling starry stairs. Toby took off up the steps and opened the door. I heard muffled greetings and exclamations before the door was closed.

“Alright, Nicky, did you read any of the books that I left you?” Nathaniel watched me intently and I shrugged, strangely uncomfortable under his keen gaze. “I read a bit of the one about Horus.”

“Ah,” He smiled, “yes. Horus was the founder of our race and my own ancestor. How far did you read into the book?” He sat down at his desk and I leaned against a book shelf.

“I read up to his very early childhood. The book didn’t say much about the women, Isis.”

“Yes, not very much is known about Isis. She was a very secret character. When Horus was eighteen she disappeared for five years. Horus was reported to show absolutely no concern for his mother and on his twenty-third birthday she appeared again.” I nodded but my thoughts had gone in another area. I asked the question that had been bothering me for a while. “Nathaniel, in your titles there’s a bit that says Lion of the Way. What does that mean?”

Nathaniel saw silent for a moment before speaking, “When Horus turned twenty-seven a great enemy came to Earth. It was from somewhere beyond our planet and it threatened life itself. The enemy was remembered as horrible figure filled with insane power and hate for all living things. The enemy was called the Destroyer.

“Isis, who had the gift of forseeing, saw the Destroyer before anyone else. She went to fight the creature and was killed, although how the most powerful witch that ever lived was killed no one knows. After that the creature tore through Egypt leaving death and destruction in it’s wake. The Pharaoh of that time sent out soldiers and brilliant tacticians to defeat the Destroyer, but nothing could stop its rampage. It murdered all the soldiers and then went after the nobles and Pharaoh. When all the authority was killed, it took over.

“It didn’t just want the kingdom, though. Egypt was just to be it’s home base. After that it began to take over the countries and land surrounding Egypt, where it started the process of destruction all over again. It was probably aiming to destroy the entire world.

“Horus had, during this time, been turning humans to vampires with his bite. Horus had decided to kill the monster that was destroying everything and he amassed an incredible army, but he came across a problem. His own legions were killing just as many as the Destroyer because of their terrible bloodlust. That was when Horus created Amberblood. A few vampires believe that Horus didn’t create Amberblood or defeat the Destroyer alone, that he had help in the form of a stranger who claimed to be from another time, but the information isn’t very reliable and I wouldn’t take it seriously.

“Anyway, after Amberblood was created from the very stuff of the universe, the vampires lived within this undefeatable sanctuary and only came out to skirmish with the Destroyer’s minions, men and women turned mindless and animalistic.

“Not much is known about what happened after that, but a deadly and horrifying battle ensued where the Destroyer was torn apart. Horus created a special office for his descendants to fill and that was the Lion of the Way. The Lion refers to us, the royal family and the Way means the protection of our race and world. I am a Lion of the Way, which means that I must always protect our kinsmen and watch the skies, for any hint of the Destroyer’s return.

“After that, Horus put the land back to shape and ruled over it as Pharoah for a time, before retiring back to Amberblood and living out the rest of his life. His tomb is hidden somewhere in the catacombs of this castle.

He had a harem of wives but it seems that he was in love with only one women and that it was she who bore Horus his vampire first born son. Next to nothing is known about the woman.” Nathaniel stopped and it took a moment for the silence to register. His voice and the story had been so enthralling that it created images in my head. The history ran through my head and I could almost see it. The unknown woman seemed so familiar to me. Her face was so close, but I couldn’t see it. I shook my head to clear it and asked another question absently, “Amberblood was created during that time. Can’t she tell us more about what happened?”

Nathaniel shook his head, “Amberblood will not speak to anyone about the days when she was first created. I’ve asked her many times, but she must have sworn an oath of silence to Horus.”

“Well then!” Nathaniel clapped his hands, “let’s get down to business. You and I are the strongest witches living at the moment, Nicola. Because of that we have to be very careful how we use our powers. You cannot let emotion get the better of you as it did on Blood Day because you can kill someone and if that happened than I’d have to execute you. I don’t want to do that.” His face was paler than its normal golden, “But even before you actually start to practice magic, you have to learn the basic underlying rules.” He got out of his chair and made a gesture for me to move towards him. I got up and walked to him. “A witch’s magic is basically a fountain of energy. We use this energy to change or move the things around us, but after we’ve used it we feel tires. Depending on how much magic we use is how tired we are afterward. You’ve been using high-consuming magic lately so you’ve felt exhausted rather than just tired.” I nodded.

“If you use all of your magic and still need more than you’ll begin drawing on your own life-force, which will kill you. Every witch has their own limit, but once they’ve reached it they can’t exceed it or they’ll die. You have to be extremely careful about the spells you use because once you’ve started a spell that will kill you, it’s almost impossible to back out of it. I almost died when I was younger. I tried to change a vampire I was angry at into a rabbit. I only survived because my Mother was near me and she could sever the magic stream. It cost both of us dearly though and we were both in bed for a month.” It seemed impossible that the level-headed Nathaniel could ever have tried to something as cruel as to change a person into a rabbit.

“Now, there are certain things that not even a witch can do. The first is to bring someone back to like, the second is to take over a person’s mind and body. We can influence thought or wipe memories, but we can’t take them over completely. The third thing we can never do is kill with our magic. No one knows why, but if you kill someone using your power than it is instantly corrupted and will rot you from the inside out. Your mind will turn insane and you’ll lose all conscious thought.”

“Now, lets start off by trying to build your control.” Nathaniel muttered a word and a metal bar flew from his desk into his outstretched hand. He handed it to me. “I want you to take the metal and create something from it.”

He offered no other instruction and I was left to think alone. First I calmed myself like I had before. My pulse beat loud in my ears and my breathing slowed. Next I thought about the bar. I imagined it changing, turning into a small statue, a figure that struck me as extremely important.

The warm rushing of my power filled my body quicker than it had before and I focused back on the bar. Striking words left my mouth and pressed on the bar and began shaping it. I used the image in my mind as a guild and in my hands the bar changed. It seemed to melt and reform in a split second.

I opened my eyes and looked eagerly down into my hands, but was shocked. The head, shoulders and front legs of my male wolf were perfect and looked exactly like the original in Zachariah’s garden. It was the rump, tail and back legs that looked like just as hard, melted puddle of metal.

“What happened?” I cried out, “I had the image in my head!” Nathaniel leaned over and took a look at my statue. I caught a strange flash of emotion in his face before he grinned and said, “Some one you know? I hope they don’t actually look like that.” I scowled at him.

“It’s a statue that I saw once. The front of it is perfect, but I don’t know what happened to the back end!”

“That’s an easy one. You focused to much on the front of your statue and not enough on the back. It’s a common error because of a young witch’s lack of control. Here, give it to me.” I handed the statue to him, wondering at the strange jolt I got when our hands touched. “Now I want you to think about the wolf and only about the wolf, alright?” I nodded and closed my eyes, finding it easier to picture him that way. I could see the whole statue again, but I focused in on the male. His high, kingly head and the strong eyes that seemed to move and watch all that went on around him, his sculpted, lean body and the thick fluffy tail. In my mind the male was alive.

I felt a sudden brush of a hand on my forehead then a strange sucking feeling followed by warmth and dancing power that wove in the air around me. Abruptly it disappeared and I opened my eyes.

Nathaniel placed the statue in my hand and I stared at it, mesmerizing. It was even better than original, for all that they were in the same pose. It was like this was the real wolf and the other was just a copy. Every strand of fur was outlines and the wolf seemed on the verge of a movement. I waited expectantly, hoping it would move, but the statue stayed still. It didn’t matter, though. It felt like a homecoming to have this figure in my hands.

“Thank you, Nathaniel.” I looked up at him and smiled beautifully. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed as if he blushed slightly. “You’re welcome, Monkey.”

The weariness that Nathaniel had talked about set in a little later and Nathaniel ended our session. I ate with Emiliana, Alfonsina and Toby. They were going to teach him to cook while I had my lessons with Nathaniel. After that, Toby and I went back to our room where we were met by Aivyl. Toby played with Aivyl while I fell asleep.

The next two days proceeded as thus. I got up and washed, went to Lions’ Guard Training, then came back to my room and took a bath before going to meet Nathaniel. I learned incredible new moves and ways of thinking in a fight from Damien and another man, Lazar and I learned the methods and practice of magic from Nathaniel. It seemed to be idealic and I loved it. Four days later the retribution that Nathaniel and everyone else had promised, came.

Dear Readers,
I appreciate how far you've read into my story and I thank you for it. I'd like to ask that if you guys have the time, could you please review each chapter? Whether its only a few words of praise or criticism, I don't mind.
It's just very nice to look on my stats and find a new reiview for my new chapters. Thanks guys.

Cittywolf.

P.S. There should be maybe ten more chapters before the story is finished, maybe less.