Chapter Twenty-Six

“We’ve arrived at the Canyons.”

Raven’s voice roused Jake from his slumber groggily. Stretching slightly, Jake rose up and stared around the Desert. They were out of the Canyons by about a mile. He was glad to notice Anne was still asleep and not being assaulted by the elements at the moment.

“Has the elements’ assaults lessened?”

Raven was quiet for the moment, before shaking his head. “I still hear them as clearly as I was within Ena. Either they’ve grown more aggressive in their demands, or we are still too far out from the Canyons for it to lessen.”

“I hope it is the latter. Otherwise we may have a panic on our hands upon our return.”

Raven nodded. “Either way, I hope Anne was correct when she stated she knew who was responsible.”

Elisa’s scream instantly awoke Anne to pandemonium. Her head was throbbing painfully from all the voices screaming at her within it. The elements were raging worse than before; not only that but as her gaze roamed around her surroundings, Anne noticed the Clans’ Canyons were filled with panic stricken Solarius. Some were running around like chickens without their heads, while others were curled upon the ground crying hysterically with Lupus kneeling beside them at a loss with how to help.

Anne automatically pulled the sobbing child into her arms as she searched out Jake and Raven. She found them a short distance away, conversing with each other and a small group of Lupus. Raven appeared to be able to block out the elements’ raging more than she or anyone else could, until she took a closer look at him. He was sweating profusely and trembling slightly. Least he was having problems as well; it made her feel a bit better.

With a force of will, Anne pushed aside the anguish the voices caused and shakily got to her feet. In a way it reminded her of the Foster Care’s collar and leash she once wore. She was able to push that pain aside for almost her entire life; she could do the same now with this pain. Still holding Elisa in her arms, Anne forced herself to slowly approach the group of Lupus.

“Raven, what’s going on? I thought it was supposed to lessen once we got back to the Canyons?”

Anne fought back the urge to cringe when all of their eyes swung in her direction. She could see the surprise in all of their glances, was it so shocking that she was standing and lucid? Especially when everyone else was panicking and in tears? Well probably, considering in Ena and the entire way back to the Canyons she had to have Jake’s help to keep her sane. Tightening her arms around the sobbing child, Anne fastened her gaze on Raven.

“Is there a way to calm the elements? Or do we just attempt to wait it out?”

Jake turned his gaze back to the four Lupus. “Go tell the others to gather every Solarius and put them within the Audience Chamber. It should keep them protected easier and perhaps ease their suffering some.”

When one of the Lupus started for Anne and Elisa, Jake stepped in front of him. “We will handle Anne and Elisa; go take care of the others. When all are gathered in the Chamber, leave two men to watch over them and tell the rest they are to come here before me…so we can discuss things further. Hurry, we don’t have much time before things get real drastic.”

The wolf nodded and turned away to follow the others down into the Canyons. Jake shifted back to Anne in time to see Raven taking Elisa gently from her arms. The child instantly wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder. Jake felt bad for the poor child, she wasn’t faring well at all against the assault. A sharp pang filled him as he watched Raven attempting to comfort his daughter, forcing Jake to shift his gaze back to Anne.

“How are you faring, Anne? You don’t appear to be in as much pain as you were earlier.”

She shrugged. “I figured if I could push away the pain of that damn collar and leash for years, I could do the same with this. What is your plan?”

“You stated you knew who have sided with the Foster Care?” When she nodded, he continued. “And one of them is a Lupus?” When she nodded again, Jake turned away to stare out over the Canyons. “Good. When they come up here, we will confront him.”

Anne’s brow drew together. “What if he is one of the ones who stay to watch over the Solarius?”

“If he is not one of those who come here, then I will take you down to the remainders for you to identify them. If he is still here, I will get a confession from him.”

Anne slowly sat upon the ground; the voices were growing louder and angrier at every passing moment, making her attempt to ignore them moot. Raven’s voice barely penetrated the maelstrom in her head as she buried her face in her hands.

“Jake, you need to help Anne. I’ve got my hands full with Elisa.”

Jake turned back to Anne and in a few short steps was kneeling beside her. Reaching out a hand, he gripped her shoulder before entering her Soul’s Fire to force out the voices. It didn’t help this time, only made the elements angrier. He instantly retreated from her being and stared down at her worriedly.

“Can you force me into unconsciousness as Raven did the other day, Jake?” Anne gasped out as she curled into a ball of misery upon the ground.

“It’s going to hurt, Anne. Though at the moment, I doubt you’ll even noticed. I’ll wake you when they all arrive.”

Jake ruthlessly forced his Wolf Soul into Anne’s Soul’s Fire, instantly forcing her into unconsciousness.