Chapter Three
1670 Words
I will be updating weekly from today, not daily. Three to four chapters every Monday.
-Harley's POV-
Eliam and I run inside. It is immediate chaos. People running in all directions.
Papa Isac and uncle Archer are already running past us. "Go to my office!" Papa shouts to us and disappears through the front doors.
We have had bands of rogues attempt attacks here and there but the last time we were really under attack like this was before I was even born. I have never been through something like this and I am actually scared.
Windows start breaking and immediately men dressed in black with black helmets start pouring in. To confuse us even more, werewolves—not from our pack— rush in as well and attack our people.
We navigate through the violent sea of people trying to get to papa's office.
At some point, we are finally able to see mom trying to make her way to us.
"Harley!"
"Mom! What is going on?"
Mom runs to us and she is about to hug us but instead pushes us to the ground. "Get down!" She shouts.
Eliam and I duck at the same time a werewolf crashes through the window. Mom immediately uses wind magic to throw the werewolf against the wall. With that force, he is most likely dead.
She helps me up. "Harley, go downstairs into the safe room with your brother-"
She stops, puts her hands up, and uses her magic on another incoming enemy but this is not her full power. She is holding back because she could hurt us too.
She stops for a moment to look at us. "Harley, take your brother and go!"
"But-"
"Go!" She shouts.
I take my brother's hand and start to run towards the hall that leads to the basement but then suddenly, something crashes through the window that is right next to us. A werewolf stands right in front of us with pieces of glass falling from his fur.
Unlike werewolves, my brother and I can't smell the scent to determine if a werewolf is part of our pack but even without that, we can tell that this werewolf does not belong to our pack.
Eliam starts screaming at the top of his lungs. With wide eyes, I shakily lift my hand up but hesitate. That little moment is all it takes for the wolf to sink his teeth into half of my arm. And I mean half because the other side of my arm is filled with dragon scales that are nearly impenetrable so the wolf's teeth can't penetrate it as easily.
I start to scream as it violently shakes me, trying to take my arm off.
My brother screams again but as he panics, he lifts his hands up and fire comes out of them as if it was a flame thrower. The werewolf lets me go and starts rolling on the ground trying to put the fire out but now, the curtains have caught fire.
We both panic and neither of us can react.
As much as we trained, we had never faced a real situation like this. In theory, we know how to handle it. At this moment, not so much.
Within seconds, everything starts catching fire.
My unharmed arm is suddenly grabbed and pulled up. I am lifted from the ground and made to stand on my feet. When I look back, it is papa.
"Papa!" Eliam screams and hugs him.
"You... have to get out." He says but his tone is weak.
This struck a chord with me because I have never seen him like this. "Papa?"
Mom suddenly starts walking in our direction also looking unstable. She takes something from her neck that looks like a dart.
"This way." She says. They both start leading us through the hall but they stumble on their feet while they walk.
"Mom, what is going on!?" I ask.
"Harley, listen to me... you have to run." She says as we now stand in front of the door that leads to the basement.
"Run!?"
"Watch it!" Daddy Luke's voice resonates in the hall.
He suddenly gets in front of me and jerks as if something hit him while he covered me. In front of us, a man with a rifle or some sort of firing weapon stands with the weapon pointed at us.
With all the strength papa Isaac has left in him, he lunges at the man and tackles him.
Daddy Luke takes a dart from his back. "Go, we'll hold them back." He says, pushing mom to leave.
Mom gives him a look of love and also fear before she opens the door and leads the way down but at the bottom of the stairs, she has to take hold of the wall as her body threatens to give out.
"Mom?"
"Luna!" Two pack warriors run up to us.
They seem to have been leading defenseless pack members to the safe rooms.
"I'm okay." She says.
She takes both my hand and Eliam's and starts walking in the opposite direction of the safe rooms. "You both need to run. Make it to your uncle Archer's pack."
She turns back to the two men. "Please, take them?"
"But Luna, wouldn't it be better to hide them in the bunker?"
"No, they are after us... and that bunker will be no use if we are under siege." She says.
"What are you saying? We can't leave you!" I shout.
Without hesitating, both men nod. "We'll clear the way and make sure there are no enemies at the end. We'll wait there."
Mom nods and they run into the tunnel.
I turn to her. "Mom-"
"Stop and for once, do what I tell you to do, Harley." She says, taking my hand and leading us after the men.
"But, what about papa and daddy?" Eliam cries out.
She stops at a gate that leads to a tunnel and to the outer outskirts of our pack. She tears a piece of her shirt and starts to wrap my bleeding arm with it as she explains. "They drugged us. We'll be fine. But you both need to leave now."
"Mama!" Eliam starts to cry.
I shake my head. "How do you know you'll be fine!"
She finishes wrapping my arm and puts her hand in her pocket, looking for something.
"Here." She hands each of us a ring.
"You've lived..." She takes in a deep breath. I can see she is struggling. "You've both lived in the pack your entire life. You never had to hide who you were but now, you do. Out there, you can't show people who you are, not until you are safe at Archer's pack. Put that on and don't take it off."
We both do as she tells us. My scales immediately disappear and so do my brothers. I am also amazed when I see my brother's platinum blond hair turn a darker blond color. I pick a strand of my hair and see that it did the same.
"That enchantment I had done on your rings is stronger than the one I ever used on my amulet growing up. It will completely conceal what you are and will help you control your powers by diminishing them for now." She says.
"So they won't go out of control?" I ask.
She shakes her head. "This just helps. You still can lose control. Be careful."
"Mama come with us!" Eliam cries.
"I... I can't sweetheart. I... can barely keep my eyes open." She kneels down and gives him a kiss on the head then looks up at me, unable to stand back up.
She takes my hand with a faint smile. "Call Archion to you."
"What!" I almost jump out of my skin.
"You must... the enemy is here for him." She says.
I am left speechless. "They... they want Archion?"
She nods.
"But...but-" I have so many questions that want to come out altogether.
"Harley, he is asleep..." She closes her eyes as she says this. "Whatever they had in those darts, made him fall asleep fast so that I wouldn't be able to call on him. They knew what they were doing. I can't call him forth to help. You need to take him."
"But... I can't!" I say.
"Yes, you can." She says. "I... I... can't... protect him... not like this...don't...let them get him." I hold her as she loses consciousness.
"Mommy!" Eliam cries, trying to hug her.
I am stunned. I know what she told me but I can't seem to move.
"Harley!" Eliam cries.
I look at him. My body shakes, and tears start to surface.
"Harley!" He screams again.
Smoke starts to fill my nostrils.
"The... house is burning..." I whisper. I am almost in a trance.
"HARLEY!" Eliam screams.
Suddenly, something snaps in me. "Okay."
I kneel next to mom, put my hand on my chest, and as I close my eyes, I envision Archion.
"I call to you, my ancestor. I call to you and... let you in. I... let you in, Archion."
I wait for a few seconds and open my eyes.
"Nothing happened!" I complain.
With tears in my eyes, I get angry. "Stupid dragon! I knew I couldn't call him!" I say as I start to cry.
I look at my brother and I am surprised to see him shocked while he stares at me.
"What?!" I ask, panicking.
"Your... your eyes are glowing yellow." He says.
"What?"
("I... do not like this.") Suddenly a deep male voice says.
I look around the space panicking that someone might have gotten in.
("Get up... and do what you're mother told you to do.")
"Wha the hell? Who is that?!"
The voice is faint and weak but with conviction and very bossy.
("Must I really introduce myself?... uh....mh..." He sounds hurt. "We... we are in a bad situation at the moment.")
"Archion." I whisper.
("Yes, now get up and go.")
- Writer
