The Prophecy (A Legacy Series Novella) (The Legacy Series Book 4) Page 6

  “What are you doing out here by yourself?” Hugo asked softly, crouching down to face the girl. Her scent made his mouth water, but he beat back his hungry wolf.

  She sniffled and swallowed hard. “I got lost and I can’t find my way back home. Now, it’s too dark and I can’t see.”

  Hugo gave her a reassuring smile as fresh tears brimmed in her eyes. “I’ll tell you a secret,” he whispered. “I can see really well in the dark. Maybe I can help you.”

  A hopeful looked dawned in her gaze. “Really? Would you?”

  She was so adorable and innocent. Even if he wanted to eat her, Hugo couldn’t bring himself to do it. He offered out his big hand. “My name’s Hugo. What’s yours?”

  Her pretty eyes darted between his face and his hand. Then, she took it, placing her tiny, delicate fingers in his palm. “Tanatia.”

  “That’s a pretty name. Come on, Tanatia. Let’s get you home.” He glanced over his shoulder. “My brother Geoffrey will help, too. Won’t you?”

  Geoffrey stood at the edge of the clearing, every line of his body tensed as if he were ready to lunge or run. Hugo wasn’t sure which. He only nodded.

  Hugo helped Tanatia to her feet and scrutinized her skinny body. There was hardly any meat on her bones worth eating. “How long have you been lost?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” she replied as she wiped her dirty cheeks on the back of her hand. “A few days, maybe.”

  Hugo’s eyes went wide. “A few days. You must be hungry.”

  She nodded and gave a little whimper of an answer that made Hugo want to wrap her up in a tight hug.

  “We’ll get you something to eat,” he assured.

  When they came to meet Geoffrey, he could see the turmoil in his brother’s eyes. “Geoffrey, this is Tanatia. We’re going to help her get home.”

  Helping a little girl home was certainly preferable to going to have their blood drained by a couple of vampires. Geoffrey put on his bravest face and smiled at the little girl. Tanatia shied against Hugo’s side and he could smell the potent scent of fear waft from her.

  “He’s friendly,” Hugo said. “Just a little upset right now. Don’t worry.”

  “Why are you upset?” she quietly asked the older werewolf, her voice so light and weak compared to theirs.

  Geoffrey squatted in front of her. “Because we’re in a hurry to get somewhere, but we’re going to help you too.”

  Hugo was satisfied with the new smile his brother put on and together they went back to meet Reitz. Greetings were exchanged, and Hugo looked to Geoffrey for his call. To see the vampires first or help Tanatia get home.

  “Is your house close to something?” Geoffrey asked her, answering Hugo’s unspoken question. The vampires would have to wait. “A river or a mountain maybe?”

  Tanatia nodded. “We live next to a little creek.”

  That would make it much easier to find. They could follow the scent of water and hopefully find the house within no time at all.

  After a little coaxing, Tanatia let Hugo lift her onto his shoulders so she wouldn’t have to walk on the forest floor with her bare, blistered feet. With a firm grip on her legs and her fingers digging into his hair, they set off in the direction of the nearest river.

  Whatever Geoffrey believed about Hugo’s selfish tendencies, he had to know that helping this little girl was purely altruistic. He thought of his own son and what he would have been like at Tanatia’s age. If he had been lost in the woods with no way to get home, Hugo would have wanted some kind stranger – werewolf, vampire, or human – to help him. Hugo had been useless in raising his son, in helping his mother, and in a multitude of other things, but perhaps he could start taking action now. He could set a trend and be like his brother, helping others in need. Geoffrey had always been his idol, his hero in youth and present day.

  If only he could ignore the gnawing hunger in his belly. That would have made their efforts so much easier.

  Chapter Six

  Night descended and Geoffrey couldn’t keep his eyes from glowing gold a moment longer. The hunger had become too great and his wolf raged within him. Never had he suffered from such blind, animalistic cravings. Reitz and the little girl atop Hugo’s shoulders were in more danger than he would ever let on.

  Though Hugo’s eyes had turned gold hours before, he hardly showed a waiver in his convictions to help Tanatia. The little girl, who seemed so shy and insecure before, talked on and on about her family and their little farm where they kept chickens, cows, sheep, and grew all manner of crops. Geoffrey listened to her ramblings, but it was Hugo who interacted the most with her. He asked her questions about her life and family as if it truly mattered to him. Geoffrey suspected it was a trick to keep himself focused on anything but the burning hunger that made their bodies tense and ache. In the back of his mind, Geoffrey was thankful for the girl’s constant chatter. It distracted him as well.

  Reitz, too, seemed unconcerned about his safety, but only cared for finding Tanatia’s home quickly so they could get back to Michael and Anton who were wasting away in their own strange, uncontrollable hunger.

  Geoffrey was suspicious of it all, especially when they came to the river and found it was completely empty of fish. He had planned to catch one to feed themselves and the thin girl as well, but no matter how hard his eyes and nose searched, there wasn’t even a minnow to scoop up from the water.

  This phenomena couldn’t have been a coincidence and after their run-in with the vanishing cottage, he continually looked over his shoulder, half expecting to see a witch or other magical being ready to catch them in some snare.

  “Why are your eyes gold?” Tanatia asked, interrupting her own conversation with Hugo about a feisty tomcat that hung around her family’s cabbage garden. Her little head was listed downward to peek at his face, her dark hair falling over her shoulder.

  Without missing a beat, Hugo replied, “It helps me to see better in the dark, so we can find your parents.”

  Tanatia seemed to accept that reply with a childlike innocence and continued babbling.

  Hugo’s newfound cheerfulness when it came to helping Tanatia confused his brother to no end. Why did he want to help this little girl when he didn’t even seem interested in helping the old woman in the cottage? It must have had something to do with Geoffrey’s reprimand for his selfish behavior, but Hugo was a stubborn man. It wasn’t likely that he would make such a genuine change within a few hours.

  His first thought when Hugo made to approach the weeping girl, was that Hugo’s hunger was getting the better of him. Then, once he showed that he was truly adamant about helping her find her home, Geoffrey decided to let his brother have his moment.

  The scent of wood smoke and animals mingled in with the salty tinge of river water made Geoffrey strain his eyes to see ahead of them along the banks. Tiny flickering lights, like the glow of a candle sitting in a windowsill, broke through the darkness to greet the weary travelers. This must have been Tanatia’s home.

  He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing their trial was almost over. They would leave Tanatia a safe distance away from her farm and go about their way to find Michael – and hopefully a sustaining meal. They didn’t want to impose on Tanatia’s family, nor stay in case they wanted to ask questions the brothers couldn’t answer. Surely, Hugo would want to sneak away to snatch up a lamb from Tanatia’s flock, but Geoffrey would have to cart him away.

  The little girl must have seen the firelight and eagerly tapped on the top of Hugo’s head, insisting to let her down. Hugo scooped her up and placed her squarely on her feet in front of him. As soon as she touched the ground, the little girl who seemed to have no strength when they first met, darted toward the house with the swiftness of a young fawn.

  The men stopped and watched her dart away, shouting thanks and endearments over her shoulder as she went. Hugo gave her a wave and smile, but he didn’t take her eyes off of her for one second.

  “Now we can find Michael,�
� Reitz said, the relief prevalent in his words.

  Geoffrey peered into the darkness and wondered if the hunger was affecting his sharp night vision. The lights of the little cottage began to twinkle and fade away like stars in the early morning sky. Soon, the smell of smoke and sheep wool was replaced with something far less appealing. Sulfur.

  Beside him, Hugo tensed and lowered his arm. The longer they looked, the more they came to realize that the cottage was just another illusion. Geoffrey couldn’t hold the curse from spouting out from his lips as the true and unmistakable image of a dark cave began to take shape before them.

  At the mouth, he saw Michael trying to restrain Anton – or whom he believed to be Anton. What the older vampire held in place was the vicious, red-eyed beast they had encountered in the corridor at the Kremlin. Michael’s eyes gleamed a thirsty red, but it was clear that he still had control over himself enough to know that the little girl was not a meal.

  Tanatia, however, didn’t slow down.

  Hugo and Geoffrey burst into a run to intercept just as Michael’s hold over Anton was broken. The vampire charged toward the girl in a blur, his long fangs glinting in the moonlight. The werewolves let their wolves off their tethers and their bodies partially shifted.

  They, however, passed up the girl and went straight for Anton with their own fangs and claws extended, ready to tear the vampire apart if he even came close to touching a hair on Tanatia’s head.

  The creatures clashed together, bones snapping and flesh ripping. Blood splattered onto the grassy shore of the river and snaked down into the steady stream to be carried away. Growls, snarls, yips, hisses, and roars erupted from the mass of thrashing bodies between the little girl and the mouth of the dark cave.

  Michael joined the fray, both trying to restrain his ward and keep the wolves at bay from shredding Anton to pieces. Geoffrey hardly felt anything as claws and teeth serrated his flesh. The high of hunger and dire need to defend the girl numbed him. He wasn’t even sure what Tanatia was doing. Perhaps running for her life in the opposite direction. He hoped so, anyway.

  Just when he felt a pair of fangs sink into his neck, he let out a yowl of pain and tried to buck the vampire off. A chunk of his flesh went with it and he was sure the damage was too much to come back from. He tried to breathe, but felt his hot blood course into his mouth and lungs.

  Geoffrey swung his arms wildly in a last attempt to gain purchase on Anton’s own throat, but his vision went black and he couldn’t see anything through the haze as he fell to the ground. He heard his brother growl his name and Michael’s shouts of unmitigated anger.

  He blinked and tried to speak, but too much had been ripped away. As the last of his consciousness slipped, he heard Hugo shift into his full beast form and charge toward Anton and Michael to continue the battle and avenge his brother.

  A bright light flashed, piercing through the darkness of what he believed to be his final moments of life. The searing pain of his wounds dissipated, and the hunger vanished with it. But when he opened his eyes, he wasn’t met with the heavenly realm of the afterlife as he had anticipated.

  Above him, the night sky, alive with the moon and glittering stars welcomed him back to the earth. Around him, he could smell blood and fear so thoroughly mixed that it seemed to make a new signature scent all its own. Geoffrey scrambled up and saw Hugo, Anton, and Michael staring past him. They were civilized now, fangs and claws retracted and eyes their normal, human colors.

  He swiveled around and instead of seeing the little girl, Tanatia, he beheld a woman, beautiful unlike any he had ever seen. The only resemblance between her and the child they had led to this place, was her bright green eyes and long brown hair that now looked smooth and soft.

  Yet, this was no ordinary woman. An ethereal glow caressed her skin from the top of her head to her bare feet. Clad in a gleaming white dress, she appeared every bit an angel.

  His hand flew to his neck, checking for the huge missing chunk of flesh, to find it whole. His skin was sticky where the blood had spilled, but other than that, he was completely healed. His other battle wounds were also gone, though the evidence of their existence was in the tears of his garments where Michael and Anton had cut and bit him. Even the hunger, which had so consumed him just moments ago, was completely gone.

  His brother and the two vampires, were likewise completely healed, though their fight had been real.

  “You have proven yourselves worthy,” the woman said, her voice feminine and like the strumming of a perfectly tuned harp.

  “Worthy?” Hugo questioned with a note of confusion.

  “I have seen the devastation of this world,” she continued. “The wars, the violence, the hatred. All of it is displeasing to me.”

  It was then that Geoffrey realized who this woman was. She was the one they had been searching for. The Spirit of Peace. Why would she choose to come in this form? Why not the wolf that she was professed to be? Then again, why did she come as a little girl? And if his suspicions were right, an old, lonely woman?

  “You have shown me that humanity deserves peace.”

  Geoffrey let out a long breath. They did it. Somehow, through the fighting, bickering, and groping around in the dark for something that may or may not have existed, they accomplished their goal.

  “So, you’ll take away the evil in this world?” Michael asked, hope springing in his question.

  Tanatia’s smile faded and she shook her head. “I cannot.”

  “Why not?” Geoffrey asked.

  “There are other forces at work in this world that I cannot overcome until it is time.”

  The four men looked to one another, hoping that perhaps the others knew what she meant.

  Hugo was the first to speak up again, “When will that be? How much longer do we have to wait? How many more innocents have to die?”

  “I have limited power in this form,” she said. “But I will come again in such a way that I may have dominion and walk the earth as I once did eons ago. There will be a child born who is both wolf and vampire. When the child comes of age, I will appear again and right the wrongs. I will heal the wounds and erase the scars that your war has inflicted.”

  “Our war?” Anton questioned.

  “The war between the wolves and the vampires,” she replied. “Your hatred for one another have driven the world into the state that it is in. You are as much to blame as the humans.”

  Shame welled inside of him. Geoffrey remembered the way they initially felt toward Michael and Anton, and every other vampire they had met. Disrespect, hatred, skepticism. None of those things proclaimed them to be men who desperately wanted to see a world at peace.

  “You four, and your descendants, I will bless. When I come again, your valor, loyalty, selflessness, and courage, will aid me in cleansing the evil.”

  A few beats of silence stretched before Geoffrey snapped out of his daze. “Us? Why us?”

  The pleasing smile returned to her lips. “You have shown yourself to be defenders of the innocent, champions of peace.”

  Geoffrey slid a glance toward Anton, who bowed his head. Out of the four of them, he did not show any restraint in attacking Tanatia, while the other three at least tried.

  Before a single ill word could be uttered against him, Tanatia answered their unspoken thoughts. “I have seen Anton’s heart and the loyalty that lies there. Though he is young, he shall accomplish great things and serve the cause well in the future. Michael, I charge him into your care.”

  Michael gave her a nod of understanding as her beautiful eyes turned to the two brothers. “Though you may not understand now, your roles will become plain in the coming years. Have faith and do not forget my words this night.”

  Slowly, Tanatia faded into the night, but Geoffrey would never forget her face, so branded into his mind like a beacon. She was right. He couldn’t understand why she should choose them, of all creatures, to be her champions for peace. Geoffrey did as he saw fit, but he hardly thought
himself qualified to be blessed by the Spirit.

  Hugo, with unsteady legs, flew to his brother’s side and checked him for the death wounds that were gone now.

  “I am all right, brother,” he assured as they embraced one another.

  Reitz, who had been a helpless witness to the historic moment, staggered closer to address his master. Geoffrey heard them silently reassuring one another, but he didn’t care what they said. His mind was still trying to process all he had seen.

  Had they really done what they set out to do, or was this just the beginning? How long until Tanatia would appear again? What should they do to prepare for her second coming? How could they simply go on with their lives after learning that they and their legacy would never be the same again?

  Bering Strait, Spring, 1649

  “You’re insane!” Hugo said for the thousandth time as he tossed his head over the railing of the ship and vomited into the frigid ocean water.

  They had been at sea for weeks, skipping from port to port along the eastern coast of Siberia. Finally, they and their small group of fellow explorers had made the leap to find the connection between the old and new worlds.

  They were well aware of Semyon Dezhnev and his somewhat disastrous expedition with his team of sailors, but Geoffrey and Hugo were no ordinary explorers. And though Hugo might have been right about his elder brother’s crazy intuition that there was a shorter way to reach the new world that did not involve crossing Europe again, Hugo was just as insane for following him.

  Geoffrey briskly rubbed at his back and Hugo didn’t have to see his face to know that he was grinning. “Have faith, brother. I can almost smell the land ahead.”

  Hugo coughed and lifted his head back up to address him. “What you smell is the last bit of spoiled meat you made me eat last night.” The fresh wave of insults that wanted to bubble up was cut off by his need to hurl the contents of his stomach over the side of the ship again.

  He had never been this sick in his life. He hated sailing, hated the ocean, hated the meager rations they were forced to eat. And above all, he hated the confined quarters of the cargo hold where they had to shift in secret once already.