《Legacy: A wolf's tale》 The run She was running in front of a sled, dragging along the cruel man with his heavy equipment. The small wolf was very skinny, her bones were almost sticking out and her fur was covered in dirt and dried up blood. The blood came from the wounds on her back, caused by too many lashes that were inflicted by this cruel man. Every breath she took, every heartbeat caused an unspeakable pain that almost made her fall on the ground. And still the man wouldn¡¯t stop, he kept driving the wolf forward. He was mumbling about a town nearby which wasn¡¯t to his liking for some reason. After a few more minutes of horrible pain, she smelled something that made her want to jump in the sky out of joy. She smelled people, sled dogs, meat and fire! She gave a muffled bark out of joy and picked up speed although the effort made her shiver with pain. Her tongue was hanging out of her mouth, completely dry and blood painted the sides of her mouth. Almost there, she thought to herself when she saw the town in the distance, just a little longer. I can¡¯t give up now, not when I¡¯m this close to rest. I can¡¯t die here, she thought to herself.Stolen novel; please report. When she came to the edge of the town she slowed down, but that only got her a few lashes in return. As a result she ran with full speed in the town where people jumped away to avoid the high speed sled and the whip which he harshly swung around, sometimes hitting her too. They stopped in the middle of the town, at the rest place for travelers and their dogs. They stopped in the middle of the clearing before he stepped off the sled and started to talk to some men. In the meantime, her knees finally gave way and she collapsed on the ground. The men¡¯s gestures were not very friendly and when she listened to the conversation for a brief moment, she realized they were talking about her. The locals were apparently furious about how the man had treated the poor dog and how he had entered the town. They were probably wondering if he had completely lost his mind. She stopped listening, she couldn¡¯t muster the energy to do so. She focused on breathing, trying to ignore the pain that made her body shiver. She closed her eyes, avoiding the pain and in her exhaustion not caring overly much if she would wake up or not. Home The wolf took a deep breath, smelling something strange. She then took another deep breath, her keen nose was having difficulty understanding what she was smelling. It was so strange yet so familiar. She knew that scent she realized! It was the smell of home. Suddenly she was wide awake, cocking her head to the side as she stared at her surroundings. She was in a big room resembling a normal household. A couch, a dinner table with wooden chairs, an old fashion clock ticking in the corner and flowers decorating the windowsill. She smelled fresh made bread and from somewhere she heard a man¡¯s voice talking to a woman. Suddenly she saw something moving in the corner of her eyes and she moved quickly, although every movement still hurt like she was being tormented. She saw a young boy reading something and he hadn¡¯t noticed her yet, even though she woke up rather loudly. She thought about what she would do now. She was in a strange home with people she didn¡¯t know. Should she try to run and live in the wild or be caught or shot down trying? She could stay, they didn¡¯t hurt her yet. They even helped her. But then she realized, they probably just did it because the cruel man paid for it! Without thinking she stood up but yelped softly as a painful shudder went through her body. The boy looked up and when he saw that she was awake, he stood up and walked to the other room without much emotion. After a few minutes, a man and a woman came into the room, the boy following them, but he was sent away to his room by the seemingly nervous woman. The man walked slowly towards her with his arms spread out, like he was trying to show her he had nothing in his hands. The wolf¡¯s ears were in her neck, her tail hung between her legs and her lips were curled up, showing her long sharp teeth. She started to growl when the man came within two meters of the couch she lay on. The woman was nervously walking behind the man, it looked like she was trying to steer him away from the growling wolf, which the wolf didn¡¯t mind at all. And when her growling got even louder, the woman made a strange worried high pitched cry and said to the man: ¡® For the love of god Lestat! You see it¡¯s ill-tempered, what would you expect with him as its master?!¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t worry so much sweetheart¡¯, said the man who apparently was called Lestat, ¡®I know how she was treated and I know this is self-defense. Look at it, it¡¯s just a cub.¡¯ ¡®But still¡¯, the woman whined, ¡®At least call a friend to help you before it attacks you! I can get Peter, he wouldn¡¯t mind helping you out, he owes you one remember?¡¯ ¡®No need to worry about me, I don¡¯t need any help. I know what I¡¯m doing,¡¯ Lestat said patiently for he knew her fear was based on lack of proper education on this matter. ¡®I¡¯ll be completely fine, you should go help Wade with his homework or something. Calm down a bit.¡¯ She complained for a little while before she realized it was a hopeless case. The woman walked away after giving the wolf a scared yet furious look. Lestat¡¯s attention focused on the wolf again as he started to talk in a warm, soft voice. He explained who he was and why his wife was scared. Though it was interesting to hear and to know where she was, she kept growling at him with bared teeth. Lestat wasn¡¯t really impressed by her bluff but she kept growling until he said something very interesting. Her ears flew upright while at the same time she covered her teeth. ¡®By the way, you don¡¯t have to fear your master anymore, he¡¯s dead. And that means that you¡¯re now under our protection.¡¯ He smiled. ¡®I see you finally stopped growling at me, I¡¯ll take that as a sign of good will.¡¯ He slowly walked to her, stopping half a meter from her, almost in biting range if she made an effort. She stood up, with a lot of effort, and bared her teeth again. ¡®Or not¡¯, Lestat said as his smile faded away. ¡®You know I¡¯m just trying to help you. We can¡¯t let you loose in the wild, you¡¯re way too young for that. You need a mother. And, if you¡¯re so violent like this, it would be too dangerous to keep you here. And there is no other option than those two. So please listen to me. I know your smart or else you wouldn¡¯t respond to me like you just did. And you know what? I think you can change into a human.¡¯ His voice was warm and soft and she felt an illogical feeling of trust towards him. He paused for a second before he started to talk again. ¡®And do you know how I know that? I can change into a wolf too. So you can trust me, I only want to help you. I¡¯ve known that man and he deserved to die, just a shame I couldn¡¯t do it myself.¡¯ He drifted away in some memory while he clenched his hands. After a few seconds his hands relaxed, his face became smooth and he sighed. ¡®Well in any case, he¡¯s gone now and I don¡¯t think anyone will mourn about it.¡¯ He stepped forward, folding his arms so he wouldn¡¯t touch her and he could protect his face and throat if necessary. She stepped back, only to find herself pinned between the couch, which stood against a wall and the approaching man. Her growling turned louder as the man stretched his hands, which he held with palms up, and when his hand was just a few centimeters away from her, she launched herself forward and grabbed hold of his arm with her razor sharp teeth. He stepped back but he didn¡¯t move his hand. Instead of fighting back like she had expected, he knelt down on one knee in front of her, making him even more vulnerable since she could grab his throat. With his free hand he started to stroke her nose and face gently. He said soft and warmly: ¡®Come on little cub, I know you¡¯re scared and all, but don¡¯t you know the saying don¡¯t bite the hand which will feed you? Though you''re biting my arm so it doesn¡¯t really apply to this situation, but you know what I mean¡¯, he said smiling. She didn¡¯t bite with all her might, she found it unfair towards him, because he was so nice and he had such a nice trusting appearance. So eventually, after a minute or so, she released his arm and tried to back away from his hand. She felt uncomfortable being pet like that. Lestat smiled as he stood up, walking to the other couch. He sat down and then he tapped next to him: ¡®Please come sit next to me, I don¡¯t want to hurt you and I know you don¡¯t want to hurt me. So¡­please?¡¯ She didn¡¯t understand why the man would want to be with her so much but eventually she stood up and slowly walked to the couch he was sitting on. She jumped on top of it, sitting in the corner. She still had her ears in her neck and her tail between her legs, not trusting him fully yet. He stretched his hand out to her again, letting it hover before her so she could smell it. She did smell it and she noticed an animal-like scent on him, more or less the same scent as her own.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. He¡¯s like me, she thought to herself. She hesitated. If he is like me there will be others, maybe I can belong to a family she thought. But the main feeling she had was relief. Relief that she wasn¡¯t alone anymore, that there was someone like her and maybe understand her and all the changes she had been going through. But still she had doubt. He could have bad intentions. But she was tired of fighting, tired of not being able to trust anyone, tired of living in pain and fear. She stood up, carefully jumping off the couch while the man stared in confusion. ¡®Where are you going little one?¡¯ He asked her. She walked outside the room and started to walk up the staircase leading to the bedrooms, limping a bit. His voice was warm but it had a bit harder tone as he stood up to walk beside her. ¡®Don¡¯t go up please, I don¡¯t think my wife will appreciate it if you would walk into the room of our son.¡¯ She made a soft squeaking sound and licked his hand once, trying to explain she hadn¡¯t had any bad intentions. He sighed ¡® Fine, but walk slowly please if you don¡¯t mind.¡¯ Like that was such a problem she thought to herself as she limped onwards. They arrived at the second floor and she walked to the room where she smelt the scent of Lestat and the woman the strongest. Before she reached the room however, a door on the left opened and the little boy she had seen earlier stuck his head out of the door. Lestat quickly stepped between her and the boy. The wolf rolled her eyes mentally, hadn¡¯t she made it clear already that she meant no harm? She lay down on the floor, hoping she could go on with what she wanted to do. After a few seconds her patience was gone and she stood up, even slower than normal, for their piece of mind. She walked to the room of Lestat and the woman, making sure it looked like she wasn¡¯t going to attack them. Lestat and the woman who had been in the room of her son followed the wolf after they told the kid to stay in his room until they said otherwise. The woman was demanding what was happening, she looked worried from her husband to the wolf. When they entered the room, the woman noticed the wound on Lestat¡¯s arm. It wasn¡¯t a severe wound but she didn¡¯t even like the sight of a few specks of blood on him. ¡®I knew it was bad, young or not, it is a danger! Why do you let it wander around the house where your son lives?! It should be chained down and muffled!¡¯ She was screaming at Lestat, her cheeks red and a determined, angered look in her eyes. She walked to one side of the room, took the decorating spear from the wall before pointing the spear towards the wolf. And before Lestat could stop her or before the wolf could move away so she would be out of reach, the woman pushed the spear towards the wolf. Maybe it would not kill her, for the spear¡¯s end was pointed towards the human, but it would still hurt a lot and she didn¡¯t want to wait for that. So the wolf jumped on top of the bed, left of the woman, and before the woman really had time to respond, the wolf moved herself under the blanket. But she didn¡¯t do that to hide herself. As soon as the wolf was underneath the blanket a soft light appeared and the wolf suddenly changed into a young girl. The woman, who still had the spear in her hand, was too baffled to react as the young girl walked forward while pulling the spear out of the woman¡¯s hand. The young girl pointed it towards the older woman¡¯s throat so she could have a taste of her own medicine. Immediately Lestat pulled his wife away, stepping in front of her and he gripped the end of the spear with one hand. ¡®Put the spear down now. I don¡¯t want to hurt you, but you leave me no choice like this.¡¯ His voice was demanding. Akascha growled at him, not really impressive because she was in her human form and humans couldn¡¯t produce the growl of a wolf. ¡®If she goes, I will lay the spear down.¡¯ The words came a bit rough because she was tuned to wolfish. Without looking away from the young girl, he asked: ¡®Please leave the room Shaniya. I¡¯m going to be fine and it is best if you leave, I will be in more danger if you¡¯re here because I have to protect you too.¡¯ The woman named Shaniya walked away furious and you could hear her calling their son and telling him they would go to their aunt for a while. After a few tense minutes they finally heard the noise of a front door slamming shut. ¡®She¡¯s gone now, so please lay that down.¡¯ His voice was a bit calmer now. She slowly laid the spear on the ground when Lestat hesitantly let it go and she rolled it away under the bed with her foot. His stance changed from a tense and guard position to a more relaxed one though his attention never wavered. He closed the door, walked to the bed and sat on it with a small thud, not far from the young girl. He looked at her and again patted next to him on the bed. ¡®It¡¯s easier to talk if I can talk to you face to face.¡¯ She walked wearily to the bed and sat on the pillows, as far away from him as possible. She didn¡¯t want to be too close to him. She didn¡¯t really trust him very well and especially not after she had pointed a spear to someone he loved. ¡®Much better.¡¯ He said smiling friendly. ¡®Well, you know my name is Lestat, but what is your human name?¡¯ She sighed, her jaw clenched and relaxed almost immediately and she said with a very soft and womanly voice ¡®Akascha is my human name.¡¯ ¡®Well, that¡¯s a lovely name¡¯, he said friendly, ¡®and what is your wolf¡¯s name? I know it is not common to ask, but maybe I can take you to your clan, if you tell their name too.¡¯ Her eyes had a deep sorrowful look in them as she said with an empty voice ¡®I have no wolf name.¡¯ Lestat blinked in surprise and hesitated for a moment. ¡®But that¡¯s not possible, I know you¡¯re young, but a person guides you to your clan where you¡¯re name is given by an older male clan mate. It¡¯s impossible you¡­¡¯ ¡®I was on the way to my clan,¡¯ she said, interrupting him harshly with pain in her eyes and voice, her hands turned into fists, ¡®but we were attacked and she was killed trying to protect me.¡¯ Tears rolled down her face before she could hold them in. She wiped them away quickly, but there were too many to hold in so she stopped trying. ¡®Normally the mother guides you to your clan...Was that the same with you?¡¯ He asked it carefully, not wanting to upset her any further, but too curious to stop asking. She nodded and yelped softly at some memory. She lost her mother because of a fault Akascha made herself, she had no one to share her thoughts with and no one to guide her to her clan and family. Lestat moved towards her, his arms stretched half open. And then she didn¡¯t feel like a strong young wolf, she didn¡¯t feel strong and tough. It seemed as years of sorrow pressed down on her shoulders and she was collapsing underneath it. Her mother dead, she was beaten and even worse; she was all alone. She moved into his arms, made herself as small as possible and she let go of her tears and her fears which she had held in for the last couple of weeks. Settling in Weeks passed by without much change. Akascha began to feel at home there. She had met the other townspeople and they had been very nice. They had welcomed her and accepted her with ease. She was often out to help someone or was invited for dinner. At first, Lestat or Shaniya came with her, just in case something went wrong even though it wasn¡¯t necessary. She couldn¡¯t blame them and she didn¡¯t mind their company, so she hadn¡¯t really had a problem with it. Eventually, when they saw they had nothing to worry about, she was allowed to go alone and she was happy that she was accepted like this. She had never imagined that this would happen and especially not this quick. She became friends with their son Wade too after he came back from the stay at his aunt. They even developed a routine, talking about his day at school and the things he had learned there. Akascha really felt like she had been accepted into the village and more important, into the family of Lestat. But even though it was really nice and fun living with them, there was one little problem. Lestat asked her or rather demanded that she wouldn¡¯t change into her wolf form, because they didn¡¯t know the consequences and more of that nonsense. She explained that she had transformed more often and that there was nothing to worry about, but he was inexorable and he held his ground. And now, because she had listened to him as she didn¡¯t want to cause a problem, she had collected more energy than she could use. So after about two weeks, she was literally jumping up and down the walls. After nagging and begging him for a very long time with some cute, sad looks in between, Lestat finally caved in. He promised he would go with her on a long run in a few days. She just had to wait a few days. She accepted it with reluctance but she knew he wouldn¡¯t go any sooner than that. She didn¡¯t complain about the date in those four days she had to wait though her eyes stood more animal-like every day, her teeth grew sharper and the wolf inside of her was raging to set itself loose. But after those four days, she caved into the pressure of the wolf and promised it she would find Lestat now. She would tell him to come now or let her just leave on her own, it wasn¡¯t that big of a deal. She went to look for Lestat and found him eventually at the rest place. He was talking to some traveler, or at least she thought the person was a traveler, he had a dirty robe and a hat on. She stood a meter away and waited a bit impatient until Lestat would be finished talking. After a short while, Lestat turned around and asked if there was something important she wanted to talk about. ¡®It¡¯s not really hard to guess what I have to say, I¡¯m not going to even wait an hour, if you want to go with me so bad for my so called safety, go with me now or just stay home.¡¯ Her voice was hard and annoyed, you could easily see that she wouldn¡¯t change her mind so Lestat sighed and pinched his nose bridge. ¡®Can¡¯t you even wait one more day, just one¡­ ?¡¯ ¡®Not a change in hell.¡¯ She didn¡¯t spoke it but rather growled it. ¡®Not even an hour, your choice, so choose quickly!¡¯ To try to calm her down a bit he said in a soft sweet warm voice: ¡®Just wait one more day. Then we can bring food with us and that sort of stuff.¡¯ He had laid some magic in his voice, the kind of magic that makes you fall asleep if it was applied correctly. And she did relax a bit, but not in the way Lestat had wanted. She still wanted to go run so badly that it felt like her skin would be torn apart by the raging wolf inside, her hands itched because they wanted to do something and she couldn¡¯t even hear herself think because of the howling wolf in her mind. But now because of the magic of Lestat, she felt like she was pinned down, that she couldn¡¯t express what she felt anymore. She turned around and started to walk to the edge of the town. She heard him mumble something against the man and he followed her quickly. ¡®Akascha, slow down a bit. Let¡¯s first pick up some stuff. And if you don¡¯t want to stop for that, stop for Shaniya. She would be angry and worried if we would leave without saying goodbye.¡¯ She growled and changed her directions to the house of Lestat. They found Shaniya in the house, cleaning the living room, and Lestat quickly talked to her, glancing towards Akascha who was waiting impatiently by the door. When Shaniya slowly went towards the kitchen to make something to eat, Akascha growled. She started to walk out the door, stopping for a moment in the doorstep. ¡®When you are done, catch up with me.¡¯ She said really annoyed this time. Before she had walked far though, Lestat had catch up to her without any stuff. He muttered something about impatient little brats but she didn¡¯t take notice of him. When they were out of the village, Akascha started to run faster and faster before she took a big leap. She changed into her wolf¡¯s form in her jump with a flash of light. It was nothing like a normal change. Her change caused an outburst of magical energy which lit up around her whole body. Her skin looked like it was snapped open and was then replaced by black fur, only her paws were white. And when her paws touched the ground again, the change hadn¡¯t taken more than two seconds, she howled out of joy. She picked up her speed even more, longing to run at full speed in the open plains. Lestat had watched her change with a mix of surprise, relief and concern. He smiled when he heard her joyful howl. It was not right to cage her up so long like that he thought to himself, though it was a necessary evil. He changed himself too though he changed with a controlled outburst of magical energy. He increased his speed to keep up with Akascha and soon he was running beside her. And so they went on their run into the wilderness, without any plans, food or sense of directions, like two madmen. A whole week passed without the two of them returning and everyday Shaniya had stood by the place where they had disappeared in the wilderness for an hour or so. But finally, after a week, she saw two wolves in the distant. One small black one and the other who was almost three times as big as the other. Shaniya smiled, she was happy to see the two of them return safely. She knew it was Lestat and Akascha because she had seen Lestat in that form before. Lestat, the big wolf of course, was walking at an easy pace, but Akascha was still jumping around, making circles around Lestat and sometimes biting at his paws though he ignored it. Suddenly Elijah and the hooded man stood besides Shaniya, watching the two come closer. When the two wolves arrived, Lestat changed into his human form and hugged Shaniya, kissing her forehead. He nodded as a greeting to the two men, looking serious. It was never a good thing if Elijah mends into your business. Akascha was already somewhere else, chasing a bird that kept flying low to the ground instead of flying up in the sky and out of reach. The chase ended when the bird flew up while Akascha just missed it. She walked back to the group who were waiting, she was still cheerful and full of energy. She didn¡¯t really walk, she rather danced or hopped. She stopped between Lestat and Shaniya and Shaniya bent down to pet and cuddle or rather smother Akascha. She responded with a sad howl as if she wanted to say ¡®Help me I¡¯m getting cuddled to dead.¡¯ Lestat smiled and shook his head but stopped when Shaniya looked up, he knows how Akascha was feeling. Then Elijah asked a few things and they all listened what Lestat had to say for an answer. ¡®Everything went fine, we crossed the desert in all the four directions, ¡®he smiled ¡®so in total we have crossed about 500 km and that little crazy wolf over there is still not tired.¡¯ You could see he was a bit tired, black lines underneath his eyes. He didn¡¯t have the condition for this, though he doubted anyone would have the same condition as her. ¡®Maybe we should continue this conversation elsewhere?¡¯ Elijah said with his annoying serious voice. Lestat responded apologetic: ¡®I¡¯m sorry, but I didn¡¯t sleep or eat for a week, first I¡¯m going home with my wife and to a warm bath and meal. Maybe tonight, but if not than certainly tomorrow.¡¯ Elijah nodded unwillingly ¡® Fine, until then.¡¯ He disappeared between two houses and left the hooded man behind who followed them when they were walking home. ¡®Getting a bit out of shape I see?¡¯ The man noticed amused. ¡®I¡¯m getting old yes, but I¡¯m still way younger than you old man so don¡¯t push it.¡¯ He said it jokingly and he winked after finishing his sentence to Shaniya, who apparently knew the man too. ¡®And besides,¡¯ Lestat added, ¡® I can still keep up with the youngsters.¡¯ Akascha made a sound that looked like a laugh, it was not really practical to laugh in wolf-form. Not a chance in hell he could keep up with me, she thought. She had slowed down for the old man so he could keep up. Shaniya and the man laughed when Akascha made such noise and jumped away when Lestat tried to poke her which failed miserably. They arrived home, Lestat letting himself fall down on the couch. Wade popped out of a room too, first hugging his father before he hugged the wolf, telling them how he missed them. She rubbed her head against his shoulder as a sign of mutual affection and finally she saw the face of the man with the hood. Once, when he was younger, he had to be handsome, but now his face was old, you could clearly see the signs of hardship and fights. He was clearly an old friend of Lestat, they seemed so familiar with each other. Almost like they were father and son. But for now she didn¡¯t really care about him, she walked to the bathroom and saw what she was looking for: her clothes. She transformed to her human form with a small glow before she changed her clothing and refreshed herself by throwing some water in her face. Her eyes were still a bit animal like, her teeth a bit too long and her legs felt a bit shaky. She had to get used to walking on two legs again. She walked out the door and almost immediately she heard Shaniya ask what she wanted to drink. Akascha smiled. ¡®Water please.¡¯ Akascha said before quickly adding, ¡®Should I help you?¡¯ ¡®No no!¡¯ Shaniya said cheerfully ¡®Not at all dear, you go take some rest in the living room with your feet up!¡¯ Akascha shook her head smiling. Shaniya was nice, but she never could be something like her, so¡­ obedient, a good housewife with other words. She walked into the kitchen, took the glass of water which Shaniya had already filled and hovered above the cooking pan for a second while her stomach growled softly. Shaniya hustledd her out of the kitchen and she went into the living room where Lestat and the old man were talking. When they noticed her, the old man stood up and walked to her. He stretched out his hand to her and she stretched her own hand to shake it. ¡®It¡¯s a pleasure to finally see you, I have heard a lot about you, and you are quite notorious in the wolf world you know?¡¯ He didn¡¯t wait for an answer. ¡®But where are my manners, I am Alec, the mentor of Lestat, though I¡¯m not really needed anymore.¡¯ She smiled after realizing she could talk. ¡®Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Akascha as you apparently already know.¡¯ She wondered for a second about the comment of Alec. When he released her hand, she sat down next to Lestat who wrapped his arm around her waist. ¡®I hope you had a nice run, I heard from him,¡¯ he nodded to Lestat, ¡®that it was a long and tiring one?¡¯ He looked at her interested and she was wondering why. ¡®It was a good trip, though if it was up to me it would have been a longer one. If someone hadn¡¯t complained so much about it.¡¯ She glanced to Lestat with a smile, on the sixth day he was complaining they should go home and unfortunately they did go home. It still took a whole day to come home, but it was still too short for her taste. ¡®Maybe getting too old for this kind of thing?¡¯ She said innocently. Lestat ran his hand through her hair and said: ¡®Hush you, I¡¯m not too old for that.. I just turned 63.¡¯ Akascha mouth fell open in surprise. ¡®You are that old?! I thought you were 30 or something.¡¯ She turned her gaze to Alec. ¡®And how old are you?¡¯ He smiled. ¡®I¡¯m a 105 years young.¡¯ When she still had a face of disbelief and surprise. Alec started to explain. ¡®When you¡¯re in your wolf form, you don¡¯t grow older. So if you stay un your wolf form once a week, you will age slower than normal humans. since we have been in that form often, we look like this though we are a lot older. It will probably be the same with you, though we don¡¯t know for sure of course...¡¯ ¡®Why don¡¯t you know that for sure? Is there a difference between people?¡¯ she asked curious, she had no knowledge what so ever about the wolf thing, she only knew that some people could change into one. ¡®Because you are a woman.¡¯ Lestat said hesitant, not wanting to talk about this subject. He glanced to Alec with a warning in his eyes.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Akascha sighed annoyed. She had noticed earlier that Lestat was not saying things to her that she should know, but she hadn¡¯t pressed the matter. She had hoped that he would tell her by now. But since he didn¡¯t and he was not the only one who knew about the matter, she would finally get some answers. ¡®Can you finally just speak the whole truth? You are hiding things for me for a while now, just spit it out for crying out loud.¡¯ She said annoyed. He opened his mouth though he didn¡¯t really look like he knew what to say either, but before he could try it, Alec intervened. ¡®Let me do this, after all I know more about the subject than you.¡¯ Lestat nodded unwillingly and Alec continued explaining. ¡®Do you know that the first man-wolf was a woman?¡¯ She shook her head. ¡® I know nothing about my history and such things.¡¯ she said, a hint of sadness in her tone. She felt like she was alone in a strange world she didn¡¯t understand sometimes. ¡®Right, sorry..¡¯ Alec fell quiet for a second and Lestat moved uncomfortably in his seat. ¡®Well, the first person who changed was a woman. If you want the whole story, you can ask Lestat or someone in town, it is a wide spread story. After the first wolf/man was created there came more of them, but almost everyone was male. Eventually, after a lot of years, there were no females left. And with female I mean a person who is a female in both forms. So there were still females out of mix breed, but they were not pure and not as powerful as the original females. You have to know, they were the strongest of all, no man could beat them. Not that they ever thought about that, they were so beautiful that no one would get it into his mind to hurt them. But that¡¯s another point. Another problem was that magic was being used less often because there weren¡¯t many people anymore who could practice it. We don¡¯t know the reasons for this, there are people, including me, who are desperately trying to find the reason behind the disappearance of the females because our breed is becoming weaker over the years. You can¡¯t imagine what it was like in the old days. We were with a lot more and we were the kings of the world. The kings of the countries were man/wolf.¡¯ He took a sip from his glass. ¡®But enough about the days of glory. That is the reason why people are so interested in you Akascha.¡¯ He looked at her in the eyes. ¡®You are the first female wolf in hundreds of years and you transformed so young, yet you don¡¯t seem to have much problem with it.¡¯ He fell quiet for a while and Shaniya came in the room with two hot plates of soup. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, ¡®Shaniya said cheerfully, ¡®this is just a starter.¡¯ They both started to eat and between the bites Akascha asked Alec: ¡®So basically¡­ I will become some kind of guinea pig in the future?¡¯ The two men fell quiet for a few seconds, not wanting to react. Finally Lestat answered: ¡®No of course not! You are a living person.¡¯ Lestat said with a not so convincing voice and a bit of sad face before diving in his soup to hide it. He looked a bit starved. He finished his plate in a record time and licked it clean. Then Alec cleared his throat and said honestly: ¡®That is the goal for people like Elijah, trying to create a pureblood wolf and hoping by studying you they could find a way to create female wolves.¡¯ Lestat looked Alec straight in the eye with a warning in his eyes. It was clear he didn¡¯t want Akascha to know any more than she did know. Alec shrugged his shoulders. ¡®She¡¯s a smart girl, she can figure this out on her own, why not make it open for discussion?¡¯ Akascha smiled grateful to Alec before finishing her soup. ¡®You know he¡¯s right Lestat. And besides.. How can I trust someone who is hiding things from me?¡¯ She spoke serious, though she didn¡¯t mean to insult him or anything. She trusted him, but she didn¡¯t like the fact he held things from her, things she had the right to know. She felt connected with him in some way, one of the reasons she had trusted him so far. Akascha was thinking further about that strange connection, how it felt like every time she looked at him or when he spoke to her when Lestat brusquely intervened her thoughts. ¡®Akascha!¡¯ ¡®What?¡¯ She asked a bit confused, he sounded impatient. ¡®Didn¡¯t you hear what I said?¡¯ he asked a bit insulted. Her cheeks flushed a bit. ¡®Sorry no¡­ What did you say then?¡¯ Lestat rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. ¡®I asked if you don¡¯t trust me then.¡¯ He looked in her eyes with a serious look on his face. Even Alec looked very interested in the question, though she didn¡¯t really understand why. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. ¡®Yeah, I trust you¡­¡¯ She didn¡¯t want to add more but when she saw an arrogant look on his face she couldn¡¯t help but to add some more. ¡®Though you haven¡¯t giving me any reason to trust you. You hide things behind my back and lie about it or come up with some sort of excuse when I ask about it. So get that relieved arrogant look off your face, before I change my mind!¡¯ Her voice had gotten a sharp edge in it and she hoped the message came through: I trust you though you haven¡¯t earned it. The smile on his face did falter, luckily for him she thought, but it was Alec who spoke first. ¡®Why do you trust him then?¡¯ She looked at him with an annoyed look in her face. Not because of them or their questions, but she hated having feelings she couldn¡¯t explain herself. They were irrational and completely out of line. ¡®It¡¯s a bit difficult to explain..¡¯ she let her voice trail off and she sighed. I hope to god it is a wolf thing she thought to herself, or else I have to do some soul searching. ¡®Try us,¡¯ Alec said. He was interested too, which was a bit strange. Instead of giving him an answer she asked: ¡®Why are you so interested? I understand why Lestat would be interested, but this has nothing to do with you.¡¯ ¡®Just explain it first, maybe I can explain myself then. But I¡¯ve got a hunch.¡¯ ¡®Fine,¡¯ she sighed. ¡® I have no idea.¡¯ She fell silent. Told him it was difficult she thought. There was an awkward silence.¡¯ ¡®What do you mean by that?¡¯ Alec asked confused with an eyebrow raised. ¡®Just as I say. I¡¯ve got no idea why I trust him. Like I said earlier, I don¡¯t have a real reason to trust him. Still I¡¯ve got an irrational feeling I can trust him. Very annoying actually¡­¡¯ She ran her hand through her hair. There was another silence. ¡®And, was your hunch right?¡¯ Akascha asked, so she would feel less awkward. ¡®Of course it was, my hunches usually turn out to be right.¡¯ He went silent for a while with a little smile on his face. ¡®Well, are you going to say it or are you going to smile?¡¯ Akascha asked a bit irritated. ¡®Yes yes, don¡¯t stress so much. I¡¯m old you know.¡¯ He took a sip from his drink. ¡®Well, to begin with. It is a normal feeling, most young wolves have it. In fact, if you didn¡¯t have it you won¡¯t stand much chance of staying alive. Young wolves bind to someone, usually an older family member. For example, Lestat bounded to me when he was young and I bounded to him in response. That means basically that I have become his mentor, a sort of a father figure, his teacher. It depends how strong it is per person. When you get older that bound decreases, but it will always remain. And it isn¡¯t something you can control. The wolf inside decides who you chose and usually it is a male who you are close with or someone who did something special for you in times of need, which is your case probably. But I don¡¯t know for sure that you¡¯re binding, but that is what it looks like.¡¯ He was done talking and waited until she had finished processing it. It made sense what he said she thought. The unexplainable feeling of trust and the safe feeling she had, or better said, the wolf had when she was around Lestat. But she was annoyed by the fact the wolf got to choose. She sighed mentally. It can¡¯t be helped now, why worry about it. She looked at Lestat from the corner of her eyes. He didn¡¯t look very happy. During the entire conversation he had said nothing and didn¡¯t even look at her! He had just stared down like he was thinking about something troublesome. Great, she thought to herself, he doesn¡¯t like it. The wolf inside howled sadly and it filled her with grief too. Stupid mutt, she thought, if you pick someone pick someone who cares. ¡®But why does the wolf pick a person? Why does it want to bind with somebody?¡¯ Akascha asked, shoving the wolf''s feelings away. ¡®Well, we can never know for sure, but wolves are pack animals. They live and hunt in packs. They need the companionship or else they are weak. It is a sort of a survival instinct I guess.¡¯ She nodded understandingly, it made sense. ¡®But are you dependent on that person? For example, if that person would die, would it have consequences for the youngster? Of course sorrow and such feelings but anything else?¡¯ She wondered how it worked and by asking questions, she didn¡¯t have to talk to Lestat who was still deep in thought with a frown on his face. She ignored the wolf, who was pleading to talk to Lestat but she ignored it and she ignored her own feelings. She was feeling sad too, but she was insulted. What was so bad about it, what was bad about her? Alec was starting to speak again so she focused on that. ¡®In some cases where it happened, it had even physical influence. The youngster became weaker and faded away eventually. But that are special cases. Some rob their lives because of the grief, but that¡¯s only when the bound is extra deep and the youngster doesn¡¯t have anyone around to be comforted by. The binding mostly involves unexplainable trust like you said and the older wolf will teach his ways to the youngster, but that¡¯s it. He turned to face Lestat. ¡®So why are you looking so troubled and deep in thought Lestat? We might get the wrong idea about what you are thinking. And your insulting Akascha for not listening to her.¡¯ Lestat looked up a bit confused. ¡®What are you accusing me of this time old man?¡¯ Alec smiled. ¡®You¡¯re looking all troubled and you¡¯re ignoring us. God knows what you¡¯re thinking about. So, little boy, where were your thoughts?¡¯ Alec grinned and Lestat answered that grin with a big smile. ¡®Sorry if I was ignoring you two, I was thinking about the future.¡¯ His stomach rumbled. ¡®But first this problem.¡¯ He said laughing, indicating his hunger. He looked to the kitchen. ¡®Hey sweetheart, is the food almost ready or do you need a hand?¡¯ A few seconds later a cheerful voice answered back. ¡®You could give me a hand by decking the table? And you three should sit over here, if you want anything to eat at all.¡¯ Lestat stood up and vanished into a room to find the plates while Alec stood up. Akascha wasn¡¯t really hungry anymore. She stood up anyway and when she walked passed Alec who had stopped, he stopped her by laying a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him questioning, she wasn¡¯t into games or something now. ¡®Is there something wrong?¡¯ She asked with a sigh, you never know with him. ¡®There¡¯s nothing wrong with me, but there is something wrong with you.¡¯ He looked into her eyes. ¡®I know Lestat for a long time. He is not really good with his feelings and he thinks about stuff that isn¡¯t really relevant at the moment. And I don¡¯t know what you think at all, though I might have an idea. So don¡¯t think so negative about this, about his reaction. He might surprise you with his real thoughts. I thought I should tell you this since you¡¯re going to be together for a long time if I¡¯m right. It¡¯s up to you what you want to do with it.¡¯ He turned around and walked into the kitchen, leaving Akascha with answers and new confusion. Lestat came out of the kitchen with a smile. ¡®Are you coming or are you going to stay here staring at the wall?¡¯ He held his hand out as an invitation. Akascha sighed and then smiled, pushing her troubles away. She would see what his thoughts were and how things would go from now on. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m coming. You¡¯re still starving?¡¯ Lestat laughed nodding yes and he wrapped an arm around her waist while walking to the kitchen. ¡®Of course I¡¯m hungry! I could even fry you for a meal, though I doubt I would get much meat of you, look how skinny you are! You¡¯re way too skinny!¡¯ He poked softly into her side. ¡®Besides, aren¡¯t you starving or something?¡¯ Akascha rolled her eyes and sat down. ¡®I¡¯m a bit hungry yes, I don¡¯t need as much food as you do apparently.¡¯ Now Shaniya mixed into the conversation. ¡®You do have to eat more Akascha, you don¡¯t look really healthy.¡¯ She said on a half worried half motherly tone. She already saw Akascha as a child of hers and acted like her mother. And, of course, Alec had to say something too. ¡®I think if a little bit of wind would rush by, you would be blown away like a leaf.¡¯ He smiled and they all laughed. How different the environment is now in comparison to just five minutes ago. She looked at Lestat and then to Shaniya. This will be my home for now. She smiled and felt a warm feeling in her chest. Home¡­ Magic Later that night, when they had eaten and talked about a lot of stuff, Akascha had gone to bed. She lay in the attic, because there was simply no other room that was available. But that didn¡¯t really matter, there was a soft bed with warm blankets so Akascha was satisfied. She was already half asleep when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She was too lazy and sleepy to look up and after a few minutes she felt Lestat lay down behind her so that she lay against him with her back. He laid one arm gently on her waist and softly called her name. ¡®Akascha, are you sleeping?¡¯ He smiled at the sleepy response of Akascha. She muttered a yes while yawning. ¡®Sorry if I disturb you. But apparently I owe you an apology. Or that is what Alec said. I didn¡¯t really react the way I was supposed to this afternoon.¡¯ Akascha waited and said nothing, listening closely to what he had to say. He continued, a bit nervous because Akascha hadn¡¯t said anything back yet. ¡®So¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I hope you didn¡¯t think anything bad like I don¡¯t want you around, because that is certainly not the case!¡¯ He waited for a response which came, though a bit hesitant. ¡®That thought and others did cross my mind for a second or so.¡¯ She said reluctantly, not wanting to hurt him when he was honest to her. She tried to keep her voice casual so that he didn¡¯t hear the pain she felt when those thought had crossed her mind. There was a loaded silence for a few minutes until Akascha asked: ¡®What were you thinking then?¡¯ She turned so that she lay on her back so that she could see his face and look into his eyes. He stroked a string of her hair behind her ear. ¡®Well, I was thinking about changing the rooms because you can¡¯t sleep in this dusty place for long, I was thinking about how I could get you adopted into this clan without much political problems. But I don¡¯t think that would be much of a problem since you have bonded to me. Though we will still be looking for your own clan, they have the right to know what happened to you and your mother and they will be worried about you too. I was also thinking about a way to tire you down, since you obvious have an enormous amount of energy which has to be drained at least once a week. I was also wondering if you had magic, since you are female, and how strong it could be. You don¡¯t know if you have it but¡­¡¯ Akascha interrupted him. ¡®But wait! You were making future plans about me living here?¡¯ She looked surprised. ¡®Of course I was thinking about that!¡¯ He said a bit insulted. ¡®What else should I think about, except how lucky I am for having an apprentice like you. I hope I¡¯ll be a good teacher though..¡¯ She bit her lip and said with a small voice. ¡®I don¡¯t know, I thought you were thinking about the quickest way to get rid of me or something like that¡­¡¯ She avoided his gaze and looked down. Lestat didn¡¯t say or moved for a few seconds before he lifted her head so she had to look at him. ¡®Of course I wasn¡¯t thinking about that!¡¯ He said with a warm voice though he looked insulted. ¡®Why would I think that?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t know, I cause you trouble¡­ you never asked for this, for me. I just appeared out of nowhere, you have your own family and things and..¡¯ He hushed her softly and hugged her while kissing her forehead. ¡®Silly girl, stop thinking so negative. You¡¯re one of the best things a person can have, you understand?¡¯ She smiled. ¡®I will try to think more positively in the future. And one of the best things¡­ I don¡¯t know that for sure.¡¯ She said joking. ¡®But you have to do something about your facial expressions in such situations! Not so worried.¡¯ He laughed softly. ¡®Fine, I will.¡¯ Akascha yawned. ¡®I¡¯ll let you sleep then.¡¯ He kissed her forehead again and walked to the door. He stopped with the handle in his hand. ¡®Oh, before I forget, Alec is sleeping on the couch. So if you wake up earlier than him, don¡¯t be startled or anything. Maybe if you look cute enough, he could run with you tomorrow.¡¯ He turned around and wanted to walk away but Akascha asked: ¡®But why can¡¯t I walk alone? I can find my way back to the village and I could stay away from people..¡¯ His face turned harder. ¡®No, I don¡¯t want you to run alone, I¡¯m sorry. Just go to sleep, we will talk about it some other day, alright?¡¯ She didn¡¯t want another discussion so she nodded and rolled up in her blankets while Lestat walked away. Peace and silence befell on the house again. The next morning began quietly and calmly, just like every other morning. She stood up, got herself dressed, walked down to the bathroom to brush her teeth and her hair. Her hair was usually one big mess since she had long thick hair which got entangled very easily. When she was finally finished with her hair, she threw some water in her face to wake up and walked down the stairs, making her way to the living room. There had been no waiting to get into the bathroom since Wade, who was always using the bathroom when she wanted to, wasn¡¯t home. He was away on a family visit in the big city for a week or so. She walked into the living room, saw a big pile of blankets snoring and she then walked to the kitchen. Seemed like Alec hadn¡¯t woken up yet. On the kitchen was a note reading that Lestat and Shaniya where on a walk for a while and that Shaniya had made some food for both of them. She picked up something to drink before picking something to eat, this time a small sandwich and an apple. She walked back silently to the living room and sat down on one of the two couches. While eating her sandwich she was thinking about the past couple of days. She wondered why Lestat had such difficulty leaving her alone for a walk, perhaps I should ask Alec that, she thought. She was thinking about other things too, until Alec interrupted her thinking with a very loud snore. She could ignore it for a short while, but it became just annoying when he snored like that several times. She smirked before she softly threw her apple with a bow on his stomach. Alec jerked his head up and looked confused. ¡®Sorry I woke you up,¡¯ she said innocently ¡¯but you were snoring pretty loudly. Can I get my apple back?¡¯ She asked polite. He muttered something dark about the youth having no respect for the elderly as he threw the apple back at her. ¡®Didn¡¯t your parents learn you not to wake a man in his sleep?¡¯ he asked a little bit grumpy. Akascha smiled, she had a good excuse this time. ¡® No not really, with my lack of memories and all,¡¯ she said as innocent as possible while trying to look apologetic about waking him up. He muttered something again which Akascha couldn¡¯t hear and before she could ask what he was saying this time he asked: ¡®Where are that little brat and his lovely wife?¡¯ She smiled, Lestat was hardly a little brat. ¡®They went for a walk, or so the note said. Breakfast is on the table. They didn¡¯t say when they would be back.¡¯ She smiled.¡¯ I just woke up and found the food, that¡¯s all I care about at the moment.¡¯ She took a bite from the apple. He sat upright, stretched himself and then yawned lazy. ¡®Shall I bring you anything, something to drink or to eat?¡¯ she asked sweetly. He blinked and looked suspiciously at her. ¡®Yes, some tea please. What do you want?¡¯ He added with pinched eyes.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. She walked to the kitchen, not immediately answering his question. She heated some water and when it was done she made some green tea. She walked back with the tea and a sandwich to the living room, the sandwich was the only thing that was left of what Shaniya had made. She put the things in front of him on the table and sat down on the couch again. ¡®Well, I woke you up a bit rash so I thought I would make it up to you by bringing you your breakfast.¡¯ She continued eating her apple as Alec started to eat too. He asked between the bites if Lestat had come to talk to her. He was smiling a bit when he asked it. ¡®Yes he did, thank you for the lecture you gave him.¡¯ He shrugged his shoulders. ¡®I watched him grow up, I know he isn¡¯t the most easy man on the planet, especially if you don¡¯t know him too well.¡¯ He took another bite. ¡®But I have one question.¡¯ Akascha said. ¡®Why doesn¡¯t he allow me to go for a run alone, in my wolf form I mean.¡¯ He stopped eating. ¡®Didn¡¯t he tell you about his own little adventure when he was still a young pup?¡¯ She thought back, he had mentioned something. ¡®He did say something about him almost dying when he was out alone, when he was a bit older than me. But I don¡¯t know more than that.¡¯ ¡®Well, that too. I won¡¯t say too much, this is his story to tell, not mine.¡¯ He sipped from his hot tea. ¡®When he was young, he was captured in his wolf form by a man called Saman and was used as a fighting dog by him. Not the best thing to experience when you¡¯re a cub.¡¯ She looked a bit confused, not by what he said but by the name of the man. It made sense know. The reason why Lestat had said that he understood what she was going through when she came here, beaten up by that man. ¡®You look deep in thought?¡¯ he asked curious. ¡®No, just a remark of his falling in place. You know that man is dead?¡¯ He looked surprised when Akascha mentioned that. ¡®He¡¯s dead? When did he die and what happened? A shame that I didn¡¯t get him.¡¯ Akascha smiled. ¡®Lestat said the same thing you know. I don¡¯t know by who he was killed but it was about two months ago. And he was killed during a discussion with one of the town folks here, though I haven¡¯t seen the man around¡­¡¯ He muttered something in himself. ¡®What did you say?¡¯ Akascha asked curious, wanting to know more. ¡®I said I was wondering why he came here, he knew a lot of people in this town hated him.¡¯ ¡® The reason wasn¡¯t really difficult, he needed a place to stay and stack his heavy equipment before it would get too dark.¡¯ She said casual, it wasn¡¯t a secret or something. ¡®How do you know all that?¡¯ He asked a bit skeptical. ¡®Since I was with him when he entered the town. Didn¡¯t Lestat tell you? I was wandering around somewhere when I got captured, three weeks before I came here. When I came here, I collapsed because I was too tired and hungry to deal with so much pain. The next day I woke up and was here on the couch. Kind of attacked Lestat and was attacked with a spear by Shaniya and now I¡¯m here for two months already.¡¯ She summoned it up casual, it was behind her. New days had come. They both fell silent for a while. ¡®Well, that explains why I heard that Lestat demanded that you would be under his care though he didn¡¯t know you were a human.¡¯ ¡®I guess so. Anyway, when he gets back I will make sure he will explain to me why I can¡¯t go alone. Oh, that brings me to another thing¡­ Lestat made the suggestion you could go with me on a run so I can go more often since Lestat hasn¡¯t much time etcetera.¡¯ Akascha told him now there were talking like this.¡® Still no rest huh,¡¯ she added to tease him. He sighed lazy. ¡®No rest for the old indeed. I wonder, can you use magic?¡¯ He had a bit of an intense look on his face. ¡®Sorry I look so eager, but I¡¯m one of the group professors who try to come up with an idea to prevent our race from being extinct. After all, we are basically a slowly dying race.¡¯ She nodded understandingly, she just had to put up with all the nonsense people said and wanted from her and try to make the best of it without stepping on too many toes. She wondered how long she could take all that interest, before she would snap at someone. She then focused on the patiently waiting Alec. At least some people have the decency to let people think calmly. ¡®I guess I can use magic, yes,¡¯ she said reluctantly. She tried hard not to remember the first and last time she used her magic but the memory still left a bitter taste in her mouth. She used her magic once, only once when she needed it the most and it failed her. The magic had let her down and she resented it for it. ¡®Why do you say it so reluctantly, didn¡¯t it work or?¡¯ he asked curious, studying her face. She bit her bottom lip to calm her down a bit. ¡®Because it didn¡¯t ... it didn¡¯t work.¡¯ She swallowed and took a deep breath. ¡®It did no good, it only created more pain.¡¯ Alec opened his mouth to say something but suddenly the door swung open and Lestat and Shaniya came through it, happily surprised that they were both awake. ¡®Great you two are awake, now I don¡¯t have to feel guilty about leaving you two behind without saying goodbye!¡¯ Not noticing the depressed mood that hung around the living room, Shaniya hugged Akascha tightly and kissed her on the cheek and nose. Finally, releasing her, she walked to Alec and before he could escape he was hugged and kissed too. She disappeared again out of the door with a cheerful goodbye and an ''I will miss you all so very much!'' And the silence returned abruptly. Lestat sat down next to Akascha. ¡®We have three weeks of rest, Shaniya is going on a trip to see her family, dragging Wade with her.¡¯ He shook his head like he felt sorry for him but still happy he didn¡¯t have to come alone. He then grew serious. ¡®But what¡¯s going on, such a grim atmosphere here, did somebody die or something?¡¯ Alec shook his head. ¡®No, Akascha was just about to tell if she used magic before, which she had. But apparently it didn¡¯t work out?¡¯ He let his voice sound questioning at the end, that was the point they had gotten to before the two of them interrupted. ¡®Wanna share the story?¡¯ Lestat asked with a soft voice. She sighed and wondered if she would even say it to them. But it wasn¡¯t fair to them if she would hide things. She sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead for a moment and dealing with her inner dilemma. She suddenly got an idea. She didn¡¯t have to tell it to them, which she couldn¡¯t. She could show them. She stood up and pulled Lestat with her so he would follow her. He did, only with a confused look on his face. She reached out her other hand and touched Alec¡¯ arm, dragging them into her memory with magic. Memories They were standing on top of a hill, looking down on a small village though it wasn¡¯t her own. The houses were burning, you could hear children cry and women scream out of fear. Soldiers were lighting more houses on fire, sometimes burning people along with it too. They were raping women while their children still clung at their mother¡¯s arm. On the hill beside them was another group of soldiers. Cages were stationed in the middle of the group, the cages filled with animals and blood smeared people. Their faces were set in horror as they saw their homes being destroyed and their family and friends dying. A girl who looked like a younger version of Akascha ran from the top of the hill to the littered streets. She avoided the rampaging soldiers and the dead bodies. The three followed Akascha with hard faces. Finally the girl seemed to reach her destination. She ran into the inn where they were staying, one of the few who hadn¡¯t been set on fire, and there she found what she was looking for. A woman was lying in the middle of the floor, a huge slash from her stomach to her chest dominated her features. Blood flowed out the wound quickly and had already formed a puddle of blood around the woman. It was clear that the woman was dying and only had a few minutes remaining. The younger version of Akascha ran to the woman and fell on her knees beside the woman while she screamed mommy. The woman lifted her arm to stroke Akascha¡¯s cheek but the hand fell down and the woman blew out her last breath. Akascha¡¯s howl was heartbreaking and filled the heart of the two men who were warriors with pain. Suddenly Akascha put her hand on the chest of the woman in complete desperation. A light started to flow from the girl¡¯s hands, lighting up her mother¡¯s body. The eyes of the woman suddenly popped open as she took a strange gasp. But instead of what the girl had wanted, her mother coming back to life and healthy again, the woman started to scream in agony, her body convulsing. The magic disappeared as the girl jumped back in horror and with one last shriek the woman died again. The three bystanders were pulled back out of the memory, leaving with the sight of the younger Akascha crying over her mother¡¯s body. When they were out of the memory, Akascha stepped back to sit on the couch again. Lestat pulled her on his lap and held her tightly. The two men looked at each other horrified and shocked. They even looked a bit awed: Akascha had brought someone back to life, even if it failed after that. Akascha didn¡¯t cry, she just let her be cuddled by Lestat. This memory had already been played a hundredth times in her mind and she couldn¡¯t cry for it anymore. Lestat kissed her forehead. ¡®You know you never had a chance to save her and it was foolish to even try it?¡¯ He said it softly, he didn¡¯t want to hurt her more. He just wanted to let her know that it wasn¡¯t her fault that it didn¡¯t work. She sighed deeply. ¡®It could have worked¡­ it should have.¡¯ She added softly. ¡®Stubborn like a little child.¡¯ Alec said, sounding a bit harsh though it was the truth he was telling. ¡®Do you know how many people are able to bring a human back to life?¡¯ Akascha shook her head, only half interested in what he was about to say. And besides, nothing would change her mind. Her magic failed her, period. ¡®Only one person, in hundreds of years, only one person has been able to bring back a human to life. Sure there are people who can revive a small animal, but nobody has enough strength for that. The effort alone would kill them. What you did is unbelievable Akascha.¡¯ Alec continued, not done with his logic yet. ¡®You may think your magic failed you, but it didn¡¯t! You are the one who is wrong. You shouldn¡¯t have demanded such a thing from your magic and from yourself!¡¯ Akascha didn''t reply, she knew in her heart that he was right. But still¡­! She made her mother¡¯s suffering worse and let her die twice. ¡®Maybe not the right timing. But you know, you¡¯re very lucky.¡¯ Akascha looked up to him, confused by what he was trying to say. ¡®You have an unbelievable capability with your magic.¡¯ Before Akascha could say anything about that she didn¡¯t want to use her magic anymore because she didn¡¯t trust it Lestat intervened. ¡®Just use small amounts of magic at first. You used magic to let us see the memory, so your magic hasn¡¯t abandoned you. If you let it, your magic will prove to you that it is worthy of your trust. Just give it a shot¡­ please?¡¯ Lestat asked seriously while looking into her eyes. She shrugged her shoulders and nodded in agreement. She didn¡¯t want to make a fuss about this. There was a silence for a few minutes before Akascha highlighted another subject, steering the course of the conversation in a different direction. ¡®But you still haven¡¯t answered my question Alec.¡¯ He frowned, not really understanding what she meant. ¡®Oh you mean about the walk? I wouldn¡¯t mind taking you for a walk, I am still as quick as Lestat despite my old age. But can I suggest something? Maybe it¡¯s better if you make shorter trips, three times a day running around the town for a few times. Maybe it isn¡¯t much, but it¡¯s better than waiting for one of us to have the time I guess. Perhaps we can even add you to the training of the adult wolves.¡¯ Alec ended teasingly which resulted in a dark glance of Lestat. Akascha rolled her eyes, she would probably never understand his protective rules and behavior. She just had to accept it or make a huge fuss about it later. But that¡¯s a thought for later, she thought to herself. ¡®But that¡¯s a deal then.¡¯ Akascha said though there wasn¡¯t really anything to accept. She turned her attention to Lestat and put on the most innocent, most angelic face she could. ¡®But Lestat, if it¡¯s just a run around town I can go alone right? I mean, I¡¯m almost not even out of eyesight.¡¯ She then looked at him with her most sad and begging face. ¡®It¡¯s so little what I ask of you, can''t you at least give me that?¡¯ Lestat had no way of escaping her, she still sat on his lap and he could barely move his head. His face was hard but she could see that he had difficulty keeping his face straight and not just give in to her. He had two options: he would either give in to her which she was counting on or he could refuse her and push her away from him.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. His face suddenly turned determined after a few minutes of silence as he made up his mind. Even his eyes turned a bit cold as he pushed her of his lap. She tripped and fell with her butt softly on the table that was behind her. ¡®No is no!¡¯ He said harshly though it looked like he had difficulty saying that. She blinked her eyes in surprise but then she felt anger coming up. He had stood up and was walking to the kitchen, maybe to get something or just be away from her. She softly growled and jumped up. She grabbed his arm and jerked it towards her so that he faced her. He blinked a bit surprised as he felt her strength. ¡®What the hell is your problem?!¡¯ She almost shouted. ¡®I get it that you want to protect me, but don¡¯t dare to forbid me something like that.¡¯ Her eyes were hard and they were beginning to look animal-like. He answered on a cold voice, drained from all emotions. ¡®This discussion is over, you¡¯re not going to run by yourself nor are you going to practice your magic alone. You will be under either mine or Alec¡¯s supervision.. I don¡¯t care if you don¡¯t like it, deal with it.¡¯ He turned around and started to walk to the kitchen again. He walked away! He just pushed her around and forbade her things and he simply walked away? She growled. Hell no, she thought furious. In one step she was in front of Lestat, using her magic without even realizing it. He stopped and took a step back while he blinked again. She ignored all the signs from her own mind that she was starting to lose her self-control, she couldn¡¯t care less at the moment. ¡®Now you listen to me. The only reason I¡¯m here is that it¡¯s just convenient. I¡¯m here of my free will and I¡¯m not going to let you boss me around!¡¯ He opened his mouth to say something and raised his hand to speak but he wasn¡¯t given the time for it. She hit his hand away to make her point but she wasn¡¯t aware that she had again laid magic into her actions. He twisted around and almost fell on the ground if Alec wasn¡¯t there to catch him. Alec let Lestat go again and took a step forward himself. His hands were glowing though they weren¡¯t raised at her. ¡®Listen to me Akascha, calm down a bit. You will hurt yourself or us if you go on like this.¡¯ Alec took another step forward as he finished his sentence and he was almost nose to nose with Akascha. Lestat had composed himself completely and was standing beside Alec so that Akascha was driven against the wall. ¡®I¡¯m not the one who started this.¡¯ She hissed at Alec, like hell she would take all the blame. She was feeling uneasy, the two men towered her and were ready to use magic against her. ¡®You were the first one to use magic, so you¡¯re the one who should calm down.¡¯ Alec said calmly but with authority. He did lower his hand, though magic still flowed softly from his hands, ready to be used. Lestat stretched his hand a little bit to her. ¡®Shall we just sit down and calm ourselves?¡¯ He felt uncomfortable pinning her against the wall like that and frankly he didn¡¯t know how she would react. It was his fault too, for reacting like that when he knew this was an issue with great value to Akascha. Lestat¡¯s magic disappeared while his hand was still stretched out to her. She took it, looking wary at him expecting still an attack or something. Alec sighed deeply and let his magic disappear too. He walked to the couch though still looking back at the two. Lestat carefully wrapped his arms around Akascha as she took his hand though she didn¡¯t return the hug. She wasn¡¯t so easily convinced or that easy to calm down. This wasn¡¯t over yet. He let her go and took her hand again, pulling her softly to the couch. He sat down and he was trying to pull her back on the couch but she had other plans. She pulled her hand free, standing half a meter away from Lestat. She didn¡¯t want to sit down, she was too¡­ restless at the moment for it, her magic wanted to do something. ¡®Come on Akascha, don¡¯t be so childish.¡¯ He patted beside him on the couch, inviting her to sit down again. Alec shook his head and said something to Lestat which she didn¡¯t understand, it wasn¡¯t a language she learned when she was a child. But then again, her study wasn¡¯t so thoroughly. Lestat was nodding understandingly at Alec but Akascha didn¡¯t really pay attention to it. She was focusing on herself or better said, her flow of energy that ran strongly and eagerly through her veins. She knew she couldn¡¯t stop it, the magic needed to be vented, but she didn¡¯t have a way. She managed to get it under control, at least it wouldn¡¯t burst out of her without her approval. She doubted her self control would last long, especially if they would start nagging about this issue. Apparently they were done talking because Alec was starting to walk to Akascha with a sighing Lestat behind him. Without saying anything, Alec grabbed Akascha¡¯s arm tightly and started to pull her to the door. Akascha¡¯s questions about what the hell he was doing were being ignored and it was harder and harder to control her magic. But why should I control it? She thought to herself, they are wrong this time. She pulled her arm free from Alec¡¯s hand but her other arm was now grabbed by Lestat who was walking behind her. She snarled and her hands were glowing while a little burst of magic made sure that Lestat would release her as his hand almost got burned. ¡®What the hell are you doing?!¡¯ Akascha asked growling while she moved a step away from the two. Her human side was pissed off, it wanted to hurt someone. Her wolf side was saying she should run away from the danger in front of her since she was probably not match against two adult wolves who had years of training. ¡®Just come with us, then we can see how strong you really are.¡¯ Alec added something else which she couldn¡¯t understand and suddenly some ropes appeared, binding her arms and legs together. She toppled over but was caught by Lestat. He lifted her up and they started to walk again, they still hadn¡¯t reached the front door. Alec¡¯s magic was strong, but it wouldn¡¯t hold a pissed off Akascha down that easily. She began to struggle as they reached the front door and where walking down the road, seemingly unnoticed. The few people they did encounter didn¡¯t even look in their directions, they were oblivious to the fact that they were walking there. Akascha hissed, feeling the ropes bruise her skin. With another outburst of magic she freed herself from the ropes. The shockwave knocked the two men over, all three of them falling on the ground. Akascha was the first one to stand up and she immediately backed away from them. She crouched, ready to run or attack if necessary. She didn¡¯t do anything though, she waited until they would make the next move. Even though they had attacked her first, Akascha didn¡¯t really want to attack them back. But it was wrong for her to think she could just stand around and wait. Suddenly she fell face down on the mud with Alec on top of her back. She hadn¡¯t even seen him move. In that moment she made up her mind: she would ran if she had the chance, a bit afraid of what she could do if she would use her magic on them. A challenge Their magical struggle didn¡¯t go unnoticed. Elijah and four guards were watching in the distance, seemingly eager to step in though they were very interested in how this would end. The news of a female wolf was already widespread and Elijah was not happy that he didn¡¯t have Akascha under his control. Akascha had, in the mean time, thrown Alec from her back and she jumped up. She made a sweeping move with her hand and Alec was thrown a few meters away from her. She looked at Lestat and was kind of expecting an attack from him too, but he just stood there watching her. She quickly looked at Alec who had stood up already, dusting himself off and muttering that he was way too old for this. He looked at Akascha who was preparing herself to change herself and run away. ¡®Just listen to me before you take off. We don¡¯t want to hurt you, we just want you to come with us okay? You feel that your magic is going to spin out of control and we want that to be in a safe place and not in the middle of the town, before you hurt anyone.¡¯ He took another breath, his hands glowing with magic if she ran away. ¡®So just please¡­ walk along will you.¡¯ That was the best he could do without magic, this situation had gotten completely out of control. Akascha knew he was right, but she didn¡¯t want to be just ordered and dragged around like that. If they had said it in the living room that they were planning to let her vent she would have walked calmly with them since she wanted it to be vent. ¡®Akascha?¡¯ Lestat said pleading. She made a motion with her hand, indicating that he should lead the way and he looked relieved. He quickly turned around and started to walk fast to a small building which lay a bit away from the houses. They arrived there in less than a minute and they entered the building. Lestat went down a few stairs as Akascha followed him. Eventually they entered a huge room. There were giant pillars, keeping the ceiling up and for the rest there was only space, bigger than any room she had ever seen. ¡®This is one of the many training grounds we have here. There are dozens of these rooms though some look different. If you¡¯re interested, I can explain them later to you or show them.¡¯ Alec told her while Lestat stood behind Akascha without her noticing it. He pushed her softly though he had magic laid into the push and she tumbled over. She stood up quickly while she looked at him. ¡®Thought I should get this thing going, or do you need a little bit of time little girl?¡¯ Lestat asked challenging. He fired a series of fireballs to her, hoping that it would make her run around for a bit. She smirked, did he really think that would keep her busy? Come on¡­ She didn¡¯t step away or run from it, she stayed put. One after another fire ball crashed against her hand but all of them were reduced to nothing more than ashes. ¡®Come on Lestat, at least be serious about this.¡¯ She said, a little bit annoyed. He smirked. ¡®Thought I would begin slow, since I¡¯m battling such a little girl.¡¯ He said provokingly. ¡®Your turn.¡¯ He said, serious this time as he made a shield of magic. ¡®I¡¯ll show you then how a fireball should be like.¡¯ She focused magic into her hand, it wasn¡¯t bigger than the ones he had made but it was much, much more concentrated. She threw it at him and when it collided with his shield the ball exploded. Lestat¡¯s shield snapped and he was thrown back against one of the walls with a loud thud. She sent one to Alec shortly after that, but he was a bit more prepared than Lestat. He had a shield too, but his one was a lot stronger. The ball exploded against the shield but it didn¡¯t crack, Alec was still standing with a smile around his mouth. Akascha waited when Lestat stood up and dusted himself off before he moved his shoulders a bit. A glow surrounded Akascha¡¯s whole body, letting her magic out quietly. Naturally it was a defense mechanism but it wasn¡¯t the reason why Akascha was using it. This way, she could let her magic out calmly without immediately harming anyone. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me that was just warming-up?¡¯ Lestat said a little bit impressed. ¡®It¡¯s close to the real deal, though I held back.¡¯ Akascha answered . A fireball has a limited amount of damage it could do before you had to turn to something else, there¡¯s just so much a ball of fire can do. Her anger had slipped away a bit, at least enough so that she could think clear again. Energy still rushed through her veins, telling her to attack and attack until they couldn¡¯t stand up anymore. She decided to turn into her wolf-form since that was the one who screamed for more blood, her human side was still insulted but calm now. I have given him enough time, she thought. She took a deep breath and jumped forward, changing in a wolf. She walked slowly to him so that he could have a chance to change. When he was transforming, Akascha jumped to him and went for his back, his throat was just too obvious. She jumped over him and grabbed his neck, trying to control him though he was a size bigger than her. Lestat tried to turn his head so that he could go for her throat but that didn¡¯t work well so he grabbed a paw of hers which had slipped over his shoulder. He grabbed it tightly and threw Akascha off of his back. But he didn¡¯t expected one thing. He had thrown her off, but he burned his mouth, bad enough to leave him whining softly. She had focused her magic to her paws so that she could do more damage. She could move it throughout her body, but she didn¡¯t want to do that¡­ yet. He shook his head like he wanted to get rid of the pain. Instead of attacking her, he changed back into his human-form. He coughed and blood dripped on his hand. She changed back to her human form too, it was not fair to fight like that. She took a few steps to him, half expecting another attack but he didn¡¯t look like he would do that, his hand was at his jaw that was slowly healing. Alec stepped forward to Lestat too, though he didn¡¯t make a move against her either. He just looked at her curious. ¡®Did you do that on purpose?¡¯ She wondered what he was talking about. ¡®If you mean I focused energy to my paws then yes.¡¯ He shook his head. ¡®No I mean, use your energy like an armor you just did. Did you do that purposely? It is a difficult spell that you shouldn¡¯t know of and I didn¡¯t hear you say something. Though you seem to use it instinctively. How curious..¡¯ He muttered. She shrugged her shoulders, it looked easy to her. She looked at Lestat again. He looked pale but he stopped coughing blood. ¡®You need a hand or something?¡¯ She asked a little bit worried. He shook his head. ¡®No, the bleeding has already stopped. Surprised me though, that you were able to do it, wasn¡¯t expecting it or else I would have defended myself against it. Even I have difficulty using it in battle since it requires a lot of concentration.¡¯ She smiled. ¡®I¡¯ve got some tricks up my sleeve. But I didn¡¯t use the spell, I just focused my energy..¡¯ He looked worried and when Akascha looked at him with piercing eyes he sighed. ¡®You are already interesting since you are a female¡­ If they know how powerful you are.. and with a strong free will, you will be even more interesting,¡¯ he swallowed, ¡®and more of a treat.¡¯ Alec and Lestat glanced at each other but Akascha didn¡¯t really worry about it. She could protect herself if she needed to and she had Lestat by her side. Though she doubted if he would be a real help since he didn¡¯t seem very strong in this fight¡­ maybe he¡¯s going easy on me or something, she thought to herself a bit annoyed by the thought of it. She shrugged her shoulders. ¡®We¡¯ll see how things work out, no reason to worry about that now.¡¯ ¡®But do you want to continue or¡­?¡¯ She asked. She wanted to continue training, she still got loads of energy waiting eagerly to be used. Lestat smiled. ¡®It¡¯s your turn old man.¡¯ He said, he looked happy that he could step out of it. Alec sighed deeply. ¡®I won¡¯t go easy on you little brat.¡¯ He rolled up his sleeves as Akascha took a few steps back so that she had enough room to counterattack. ¡®Bring it on oldie.¡¯ She said grinning. He closed his eyes and started to mutter something, a spell probably. She readied her energy to jump out and protect, since his first attack would be a strong one and she was right. The floor began to shake first before it cracked open. Akascha quickly took a few steps back again so she wouldn¡¯t fell into it. Red flames where licking at the sides of the crack. ¡®Don¡¯t you think that will be a bit too much?¡¯ Lestat asked worried while he looked at Alec. ¡®I¡¯ll use just one hellhound, if she wants to stop she just has to say it¡­ Beside, let her sweat a bit. Temper that self-confidence a bit.¡¯ She wasn¡¯t looking at them anymore though she was still listening. Her eyes were fixed on the crack. There was something coming out of it, the flames licked eagerly at the beast. It looked like a dog, a hellhound was what Alec said. She swallowed, that¡¯s one nasty beast. It looked like a wolf actually, if you didn¡¯t count the flames coming from the wolf or hound or whatever it was and its skin wasn¡¯t normal either, the bones and muscles where covered by a black skin though she doubted you could call it a skin. It didn¡¯t look very inviting and somewhere deep inside of her through some instinct she knew that the skin of the hellhound would be blazing hot, burning through skin and bones at first touch.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. When the hellhound stepped out of the crack he shook his body before it roared loudly in a challenge. His sharp teeth were clearly visible and would even crack her bones with ease if she didn¡¯t watch out. After having stared at the hellhound for a moment she shook her head and changed into her wolf form, jumping lightly on her paws to collect more energy. While she was doing that, the hellhound seemed to stretch for a moment before it started to move its heavy body towards her. Akascha moved her ears against her neck, a bit unsure about her own power. But she wasn¡¯t alone in this if she would just listen. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to ignore the trembling ground underneath her and the heavy breathing of the beast. She listened to the wolf inside of her, her own instinct. And like a bolt of lightning, the idea struck her. She stopped hopping around for a moment, taking a few deep breaths while she waited for the beast to come closer. She had made her decision, she knew what she had to do now. Her skin seemed to glow when she jolted forward to face the hellhound head on. They collided with a loud blow in the middle of the room, teeth clashing and nails scratching. For a very long time you couldn¡¯t see what happened, Akascha herself didn¡¯t really grasped what happened. She just acted on an instinct bigger than her own. She bit, she scratched, she howled out of pain when the beast bit her back but she wouldn¡¯t give up like that. It wouldn¡¯t even be possible without losing her life. Even though she felt so strong at the moment and her skin seemed strangely impenetrable, she began to grow tired. Her muscles were aching like she had run for miles and miles on an end and her concentration was becoming difficult to maintain. The battle continued for about half an hour, until the hellhound was able to grab Akascha by her neck and it threw her across the room. She hit the wall with a thud and she had to shake her head a few times to get her vision straight again. She had expected that the hellhound would come running towards her, but she didn¡¯t hear anything. When she looked up she saw the reason; Alec was softly muttering something which caused the hellhound to slowly disappear. Apparently this part of the training was over and she didn¡¯t mind it at all. She sneezed for a moment, dust surrounding her because there was a small crack in the wall. Didn¡¯t think I was that heavy, Akascha thought to herself. ¡®You still alive over there?¡¯ She suddenly heard Alec saying, half amused. Akascha snorted, getting up and shaking herself out. She started to walk to the two men, who had watched the whole show though it had been rather confusing for them and only when she started walking she noticed the pain in her leg. She was limping a bit too. The hellhound had gotten a better shot than she had felt or had expected. She shook herself out for a moment before changing into her human form so she could assess the damage better. ¡®Yeah¡­ think so.¡¯ Akascha said dryly as she studied her leg. Puncture holes of the hellhound¡¯s teeth where embedded in her leg and there was blood coming out of it. ¡®That hellhound had a smelly breath though.¡¯ Akascha complained to Alec while Lestat finally moved out of his worried position. He kneeled in front of Akascha, muttering some dark things Akascha couldn¡¯t hear, but it sounded like he thought that the two of them were just a bunch of fools. He moved his hands over her leg and closed his eyes, concentration showing on his face. ¡®You should really teach me some of these things you know.¡¯ Akascha commented when her leg slowly started to heal. ¡®Seems really handy and¡­¡¯Akascha started. ¡®No, that¡¯s too difficult for you.¡¯ Alec interjected. ¡®Oh come on, I did better here than you thought, don¡¯t deny it.¡¯ Akascha said with a smirk. Lestat stood up again after poking Akascha in the side . ¡®Don¡¯t get so cocky.¡¯ He told her when she wanted to complain. ¡®Just saying¡­¡¯Akascha said, a little bit insulted. Party pooper, she thought. ¡®Anyway, a break first?¡¯ Alec suggested. ¡®A drink would be nice.¡¯ Akascha agreed. ¡®And, we can talk then¡¯ Alec continued undisturbed, Akascha wondered sometimes if he heard her at all. ¡®Talk about what?¡¯ Akascha asked. ¡®Not another cross hearing right?¡¯ Akascha said, squeezing her eyes a bit. ¡®Just a little one.¡¯ Alec said with a smile. ¡®Have you looked at yourself, at your skin?¡¯ Akascha shrugged and looked at her bare arms, not seeing anything special. ¡®I don¡¯t see anything?¡¯ Akascha said, half unsure half thinking that Alec was pulling a trick on her. ¡®Akascha, that¡¯s the problem.¡¯ Alec started. ¡®You don¡¯t have any biting wounds, only a few burns. You know you should be a lot more injured right?¡¯ Alec told her. ¡®Well, sorry I¡¯m not dying?¡¯ Akascha snorted. Alec shook his head. ¡®You don¡¯t understand me Akascha and you¡¯re not even trying.¡¯ Lestat jumped in. ¡®The first time I trained with a hellhound, I spend a week in the hospital and couldn¡¯t walk straight for a month or so. What Alec is trying to say is that you should have more injuries, since you didn¡¯t use any magic to protect yourself, you probably don¡¯t even know one.¡¯ Lestat said a bit more tactful then Alec did. ¡®So our question is, how did you get so little injury.¡¯ Alec finished. Akascha shrugged her shoulders. ¡®I don¡¯t know really¡­I was nervous at first, I mean¡­ that is one hell of a monster¡¯ Akascha said honestly. ¡®But then I listened to my instinct and it told me to just attack and I did.¡¯ Akascha explained, though probably not really useful for them. Alec nodded while Akascha had been talking. ¡®You really seem to know everything by instinct, you¡¯re one of a kind indeed.¡¯ He muttered more to himself then to Akascha. Akascha smiled when something popped up in her mind. ¡®If I¡¯m such a natural talent,¡¯ Akascha said while letting a silence fall in for a few seconds, ¡® why not learn me things like healing?¡¯ Akascha suggested. ¡®Or, I don¡¯t know, summoning creatures like that hellhound.¡¯ Akascha said, not even knowing what was possible and where the limits of magic lay. Lestat looked at Alec and Alec returned the look. ¡®Well, she is stronger than we thought.¡¯ Alec said to Lestat, starting a conversation without her. ¡®You¡¯re right about that but still, do you think she should skip all the basic training and just learn something powerful? Doubt that¡¯s a good idea.¡¯ Lestat interjected. ¡®You¡¯re right about that, but we could always teach her the basic stuff. You know the request I filled in with the council of the city about you and your team, you could take her along too.¡¯ Alec suggested. Akascha listened interested, knowing when she should stay quiet and hopefully pitch in on the right moment though she didn¡¯t really know what they were talking about completely, what team? She thought to herself. Lestat nodded for a moment. ¡®Yes about that, ¡®Lestat said, thinking for a moment, ¡®I only heard you filled in a request to use our strength, but I haven¡¯t heard anything about it other than that.¡¯ Lestat said. Alec smiled. ¡®Well, that¡¯s a part of my visit as well. You know I do a lot of research right?¡¯ Alec asked. Lestat smirked. ¡®Of course I know that, you and your precious research.¡¯ Lestat said a bit teasingly. Alec gave him a look but ignored the remark, Akascha still looked puzzled but they weren¡¯t giving her much of an explanation yet, the meanies she thought. ¡®I am planning to go to Sinta this month and I thought it would be nice to have you and your team to guide us.¡¯ Alec told them. Finally, Akascha couldn¡¯t hold her tongue anymore. ¡®What¡¯s Sinta?¡¯ She asked, the last thing she heard. Lestat smiled. ¡®You are really not from around here are you?¡¯ He said good-natured. ¡®Have you seen the mountain, only a dot from here?¡¯ Lestat asked her. ¡®Was that a mountain?¡¯ Akascha asked with a raised eyebrow. Lestat chuckled. ¡®Yes, that¡¯s the mountain we call Sinta. And if I¡¯m not mistaken, there is an old temple up there isn¡¯t it?¡¯ Lestat asked Alec who nodded. ¡®Yes, my plan was to go to that temple to see if there are any books regarding our history.¡¯ Alec said in agreement. He suddenly got a too innocent smile on his face. ¡®And then I thought, my little apprentice has a team of his own, wouldn¡¯t it be wonderful to see him in action for once.¡¯ Alec said, his voice sounding¡­ well to Akascha it was just plain scary how high his voice sounded. Lestat chuckled while shaking his head. ¡®Old fool.¡¯ He said, those two always seemed to tease each other when they have the chance. Some jokes went over and across, Akascha kind of zoning out because even though it was funny it wasn¡¯t really enough to keep her attention. ¡®But anyway,¡¯ Alec said a little bit more serious, ¡®I thought it was a good idea and I don¡¯t expect any danger, so you can train Akascha along the way. Besides, this way she can meet more people of her kind.¡¯ Alec said. And he was right too, there wasn¡¯t anything Lestat could complain about and he knew it. He sighed. ¡®Fine fine, I¡¯ll go and talk to the council about accepting it, it¡¯s not like we are really busy here. They will like the idea too, finally on the road again even though it¡¯s not that long.¡¯ Lestat said, talking about his team. Akascha was curious, Alex was right she hadn¡¯t seen any of her kind except for Lestat. And Alec of course but he didn¡¯t count in her mind somehow. Maybe because she hadn¡¯t seen him change yet. Lestat stretched himself out for a moment. ¡®Well anyway, let¡¯s go shall we? I¡¯ll get you something to drink and after that I will go bother the council a bit.¡¯ Lestat said, moving one arm around Akascha¡¯s waist while he started to walk back home. The beginnings of an adventure The plans for the trip were quickly made by Alec and Lestat, Akascha didn¡¯t even notice much of it. Lestat had gone to the council and with the help of Alec, the council was quickly persuaded. The town soon became a busy place, food being gathered, strange instruments Akascha had never seen before were being wheeled in and she wasn¡¯t even allowed to check it out. She had been sent away by some old guy with glasses, the man screeching about delicate objects and a lot of other things she didn¡¯t hear right. She eventually left when the man began to see red and purple because of the strain of being angry, she didn¡¯t want to give the man a heart attack or something. Alec had introduced her after that incident to the scientists so they at least could get used to the fact that such a young kid would be around. Akascha had already tried to kick Alec for that but unfortunately the old man was quicker than he seemed. She became quite aware of the stares of the researchers who looked at her like she was some kind of subject. Alec explained to her that she was pretty unique for being a woman in both human and wolf form and the goal of this trip was to find the reason why there were so little females and more things about their past. After all that was behind her, Lestat had introduced her to his team with a bit of pride in his voice. Including Lestat there were 5 people in the team. One was a bit older than Lestat and two were around the same age. Akascha could get along the best with the younger one named Kayaiga, who was all too happy that he wasn¡¯t the youngest anymore and wouldn¡¯t be the subject of age jokes. They all had respect for her thanks to the fact that she was under Lestat¡¯s care, she had underestimated the importance of Lestat in the community, though she hadn¡¯t really cared or thought about that much. But even though they respected her, they didn¡¯t think she was strong since she didn¡¯t even reach their shoulders and she looked so fragile in their eyes. Akascha reminded herself that she would kick their butts to prove them wrong. When the introductions were finally over and the people involved in the trip had a good night sleep, the time to leave had finally arrived. They had packed everything they needed and Akascha was bouncing around, curious by what she would see and hopefully discover. Though her mood quickly grew to suspicion when she saw Lestat and Alec arguing softly about something and she noticed that there was a horse missing in front of the carriage the scientist would be sitting in. Her suspicion had been right she noticed as she caught the last words of Alec: ¡®..She wanted to train herself so she¡¯ll just have to suck it up.¡¯ Alec said with a small shrug. ¡®Hey Akascha.¡¯ He added when seeing her. Now the people had gathered around them to see what the holdup was, they were almost as curious as Akascha was usually. Alec started to explain. ¡®You wanted to have some more training and I thought since we are on the road anyway, you can lose some energy by pulling the carriage. Any objections?¡¯ Alec asked her with a small smirk. Akascha rolled her eyes, she actually didn¡¯t mind having to pull some extra weight. She usually had too much energy anyway. ¡®Fine with me.¡¯ Akascha said after shrugging. She stretched herself out for a moment before changing smoothly into her wolf form, stretching again in that form. Soon she was strapped in front of the carriage and she was slowly making her way to the road. It was strange at first, the ropes holding her back but as the first miles passed she got the hang of it and all too soon she was called back because they wanted to spare the horses. They rode like that for a couple of hours, eventually stopping so the horses could take a sip of water and rest for a moment though it was more an excuse for the rest of the men so they could rest too. When the men descended, they started to pull and push at the baggage, trying to find something to eat before they sat down huffing and puffing. Akascha smirked, she had sat down near the horses and she was busy cleaning her paws, some small stones were stuck between her nails. She mentally chuckled again when seeing the men, they were so amusing. After a while they had settled down, drinking some water and eating some bread. Akascha went to sit beside Alec in her human form since Lestat was nowhere to be found, he was probably off to mend the horses. ¡®We¡¯ll be riding for another few hours after this break.¡¯ Alec informed Akascha since she had no idea what the distance was between their village and Sinta. Akascha smiled. Her village she thought. ¡®After we stop we¡¯ll be making camp for the night and in the meantime, you can train with the hellhound again.¡¯ Alec said. He opened his mouth to say more about the planning the upcoming days, but he was interrupted by a half shocked half skeptical Kayaiga. ¡®You¡¯re kidding right Alec? You can¡¯t let her fight against a hellhound, you¡¯ll kill her.¡¯ he said, close enough to hear their conversation perfectly. ¡®Mind your own business Kayaiga.¡¯ Lestat said, walking up from behind Akascha and Alec. ¡®You don¡¯t want to question my training methods do you?¡¯ Lestat said suggestively which made Kayaiga bind in a bit, Lestat was his superior after all. He muttered something that sounded like he didn¡¯t mean it that way and soon he was sitting quietly again though glancing once in a while to Akascha, a bit worried this time. ¡®Anyway..¡¯Akascha started. ¡®Fine with me, it¡¯s a bit boring here.¡¯ Akascha said teasingly. ¡®That¡¯s settled then.¡¯ Alec said, clapping in his hands and rubbing them.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. An hour later they would be up in the saddle again and Akascha would be in front of the sled running calmly. In the end, they had ridden for 5 hours. Nothing special happened but Akascha liked it anyway. The warriors started to set up camp while the scientists were sent off to find some more firewood, which they didn¡¯t appreciate at all. Akascha in the mean time was calmly cleaning the small little rocks that had gotten between her paws again. ¡®You can¡¯t afford to be so lazy Akascha.¡¯ She heard behind her from Alec. Akascha rolled her eyes before stretching herself out, readying herself to fight while Alec summoned the hellhound. Soon they were in a hot battle again, Akascha knowing better what to do and how to attack now. This time she lasted about an hour, hour and a half. The bunch had come back and had stared at the fight, they couldn¡¯t believe that Akascha wasn¡¯t dead already. Her fight ended with Akascha being thrown against some trees, a sign for Alec to shoe the hellhound away again. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t anyone go get her?¡¯ Kayaiga asked a bit worried. ¡®Nah, she¡¯s just slow.¡¯ Alec said between the bites, he was eating some meat. ¡®I¡¯m not slow, especially not when I smell food.¡¯ Akascha commented as she walked into sight again. She dusted herself off before sitting down next to Lestat, who plucked a leaf out of Akascha¡¯s hair. Akascha had some scratches and bruises but nothing serious, she had even less injuries than she sustained from her first fight. ¡®I¡¯m getting the hang of it.¡¯ Akascha commented when Lestat healed one small cut that was bleeding. ¡®A bit slow maybe.¡¯ Alec said suggestive with a wide smirk. Kayaiga and a few others just stared at the scene in front of them with open mouths. Akascha smirked a little bit. ¡®What, do I have something on my face?¡¯ She asked innocently to the staring people. ¡®Here you go.¡¯ Alec said handing her a piece of meat which Akascha gratefully accepted. Akascha shrugged when she didn¡¯t have much reply of the others, she felt a bit of an outsider when they were acting like that. The rest of the evening was a peaceful one, Akascha finishing her dinner while the conversations slowly came back up. After that Alec divided the watch rounds, not that he expected any danger but there were always animals who were interested in the smell of meat. Akascha was luckily left out on that duty and she went to bed pretty quickly, falling asleep with Lestat¡¯s arm around her. The next morning Akascha woke up to the sound of men packing up their belongings. She stretched herself before rubbing her eyes. ¡®Noisy people.¡¯ She muttered before yawning. ¡®No, you¡¯re just being lazy.¡¯ Lestat said teasingly with a wink. Akascha threw a twig at him before getting ready to leave again, this was already beginning to feel like a routine to her. They spend a few hours on the road again, the mountains coming closer and closer until it seemed like the mountains hovered over them. They stopped at the foot of the biggest mountain and they set up camp there. It was around 2 o¡¯clock and Akascha wondered if they would be climbing up the mountain today. They had about 6 hours of light and it would be a waste to set up camp here she thought. So she changed into her human form and walked to Alec to ask that. She waited until she got his attention. ¡®I wanted to ask,¡¯ Akascha started, ¡®what the plan for today and tomorrow is.¡¯ Akascha asked. ¡®We¡¯ll have a small break and after that we will climb the first part of the mountain, the mountain isn¡¯t so steep for the first couple of hours. After that we will arrive at a small plateau were we will stop for the night. Tomorrow and two days after that we will be climbing pretty high and we will not be able to take the horses with us so we¡¯ll probably be a bit slower.¡¯ Alec told her. Akascha nodded that she understood it and would be off to sit down for the rest of the hour. A rocky road The hours passed as they moved up the mountain, slower than first. They finally arrived at the plateau Alec had been talking about, it was rather a nice sight. You could see the woods on your left and the plains were just to the right. She stayed watching for a while until camp was done. She sat down beside Lestat, gratefully accepting the food they were making while listening to their conversations. She had felt more at ease here with Alec and Lestat around her. Sure the warriors were kind too but that was it. The researchers weren¡¯t even worth mentioning. After the improvised dinner Akascha went for a small walk, it was still light enough so Akascha decided to see where the path would be heading. She turned into her wolf form and started to walk on the only real path there was. It was a lot steeper and her footing was a bit unstable but nothing to worry about so far, she thought to herself. Not really surprising the horses can¡¯t make this trip. She walked for a while before the road became even steeper. Akascha frowned, she doubted this was the plan. Maybe the road changed since the last time they had come here. But she decided she would climb it anyway, seeing she had to climb it tomorrow too. She carefully started to climb it, her nails digging in the slippery wall. The first steps went okay though after that she started to slip a bit. When the wolf was halfway, about 3 meters above the ground, the rock underneath her began to crumble slowly. When she completely lost her grip she yelped which echoed between the walls. She fell three meter down and ended up on her butt with some small rocks and a lot of dust on top of her. But that wasn¡¯t all of it. Her noise had triggered a small avalanche and it was now rolling towards her. She quickly scrambled to her feet and got out from underneath it, just in time to avoid the big rocks though one had painfully bumped against her paw. The moment she stumbled out the dust, Lestat and two others of the warriors appeared in front of her. ¡®What have you been doing this time?¡¯ Lestat asked half worried and a little bit annoyed too. He was growing tired of worrying and following her all the time. Akascha changed herself into her human form, looking quite insulted. ¡®I didn¡¯t do anything, I just tried to climb your oh so easy road.¡¯ She snapped back. Her wrist was now throbbing painfully and it slowly started to become thicker. ¡®If you would have taken my road, you wouldn¡¯t have caused this.¡¯ Lestat interjected. ¡®Do you ever do something the normal way?¡¯ Akascha clenched her teeth for a moment. ¡®See for yourself.¡¯ She said between her teeth before walking away while bumping with her shoulder against him, not really wanting to be with him when he was like that. Even if it meant walking around with this wrist she thought to herself, softly pinching her wrist when she was out of view. Lestat went to check the road, coming to the conclusion that Akascha was indeed right. Akascha in the meantime walked for a while, eventually crossing a small pool. She cleaned her face a bit before holding her wrist in the water, the cold water giving some relief. Akascha looked at her arm. I¡¯ve seen Lestat heal such wounds, I should be able to do it too, she thought to herself. She closed her eyes, starting to focus herself. She had done more things she didn¡¯t understand with magic so maybe she could do this too. Lestat doesn¡¯t want to heal it anyway, she added in her mind which made her feel quite sad. Unconsciously she started to rub softly over her wrist while she slipped further away in her mind. At first she could feel the beating of her heart, the soft whoosh of air coming in and out of her lunges, she could even feel her blood rushing through her veins. It felt strange, being so aware of yourself, but she wasn¡¯t going to open her eyes. She imagined she saw a glow in her mind, moving like a stream of water. She tried to touch it but when she came closer the glow seemed to slip away from her. She frowned before smiling, trying it again and again like it was some sort of game. And after what felt like hours she finally moved her hand through the stream. It felt warm and safe somehow. She smiled before she remembered the reason why she was focusing so much. I shouldn¡¯t have been playing like this, she thought to herself. But when she moved her wrist, she couldn¡¯t feel any pain anymore. Her smile turned into a smirk. Did I just heal myself? She refocused herself a bit, away from the shining glow and more to the present, next to the pool she was sitting by. Slowly she became more aware of her environment again. But what she heard didn¡¯t fit with where she was. She heard people talking softly to each other and she smelled a fire. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before slowly opening them, they felt a bit heavy. First she saw red light from a campfire and vague figures around it. After that she noticed she had something soft covering her and her head was laying on something soft. She looked up and saw Lestat¡¯s gaze focused on the fire though it seemed that he wasn¡¯t really looking. She suppressed a yawn. ¡®What are you so worried about?¡¯ Akascha asked him since he was looking like that, her other questions could wait. When she spoke, Lestat¡¯s eyes snapped to her and the voices around her fell quiet. ¡®What?¡¯ Akascha asked with a smile, not able to suppress the yawn anymore. Lestat suddenly picked Akascha up, pulling her on his lap before he hugged her. ¡®I¡¯m sorry.¡¯ He said with his mouth somewhere in her hair. ¡®You made me worry sick too.¡¯ He added before Akascha could ask why he was apologizing and of course Alec had to have his saying before she could. ¡®Akascha you know that you have been asleep for a while?¡¯ He asked her. She raised an eyebrow. ¡®Okay okay, maybe I fell asleep for a short while... Nothing wrong with that.¡¯ Akascha said, not really understanding what the fuss was about. Alec shook her head. ¡®You don¡¯t understand. You have been asleep for almost two days, we couldn¡¯t wake you up either.¡¯ Alec told her. Akascha rolled her eyes. ¡®Very funny Alec but..¡¯She stopped talking when realization came. The reason why Lestat looked so worried, Alec so serious. ¡®Well that sucks¡­I still feel tired.¡¯ Akascha said with a smile, yawning again. A soft humorless chuckle came somewhere around her hair. ¡®You silly stupid thing.¡¯ Lestat mutter in her hair, still holding her very close to himself. ¡®Do you know why you were unconscious that long?¡¯ Alec asked her. ¡®We couldn¡¯t find any injury but that..¡¯Alec started before Akascha interrupted him with a smile, looking at her wrist and moving it. ¡®I know, I healed them myself. My strained wrist I mean.¡¯ Akascha explained. Lestat finally let a little bit go of her so he could look at her face. ¡®You healed yourself?¡¯ He asked a bit unbelievable. ¡®Yeah, you wouldn¡¯t do it, so I did it myself.¡¯ Akascha said half accusing. Alec waved his hand in front of Akascha to claim her attention. ¡®How did you heal yourself?¡¯ He asked, he sounded half curious and half worried. ¡®Well, I didn¡¯t know how to so I thought, let¡¯s trust my intuition for a change. So I just relaxed, focused on my own body and my mind and after that, well I spend most of the time trying to grasp that stupid river¡­And then I realized my wrist was healed. So no idea how.¡¯ Akascha concluded. There was a silence for a while, Alec looking half amazed to her. ¡®You listen to me very carefully now.¡¯ Alec started. ¡®First of all, never ever do that again!¡¯ Akascha blinked by the serious tone in his voice. ¡®You have no idea what you could have done, how you could have damaged yourself if something had gone wrong.¡¯ She opened her mouth to ask what possible could go wrong but she was interrupted by Alec who wasn¡¯t finished with his story yet. ¡®If what you say is true, the ¡®river¡¯ you just described is your life force itself. It¡¯s the essence of your existence, the reason you can change from a human to a wolf. Some people call it one¡¯s soul others just think it¡¯s someone¡¯s magical source. But it doesn¡¯t matter how you call it, everyone agrees that it¡¯s a force you shouldn¡¯t touch. You can damage that stream by just touching it the wrong way and it would kill you. It¡¯s very dangerous Akascha, do you understand that?¡¯ Alec asked, all the time looking straight into her eyes. It sounded a bit weird to Akascha, she never had heard of it too. But then again she didn¡¯t know much about magic. She frowned a bit, trying to understand it all. ¡®But why can¡¯t you use it, I mean I healed myself with it.¡¯ Akascha interjected. ¡®I have no idea how you did that without hurting yourself, but you have been unconscious for almost two days Akascha. How long did you think you were there? Maybe a few hours I bet.¡¯ Alec asked her and Akascha nodded. He was right about that. ¡®For all we know, you would have been stuck there for the rest of your life, dying eventually. It¡¯s too dangerous to use Akascha, even though it went right the first time.¡¯ Akascha sighed and pouted a bit. ¡®But how do you heal yourself then?¡¯ She asked, she thought she had found the way but apparently not the right one. Lestat smiled a little bit. ¡®I¡¯ll teach you, after this is all over okay?¡¯ Lestat asked. ¡®But only if you promise you never use or even go that deep again okay?¡¯ Lestat asked, knowing that forbidding Akascha something would only make things worse. But a compromise could work. Akascha thought about it for a little while before giving up. ¡®Fine fine, I won¡¯t use it again. But you have to teach me to heal and other stuff as well.¡¯ Akascha told him. Lestat smiled and kissed her on the forehead, relaxing. ¡®I will, don¡¯t worry. Though it will be on my terms.¡¯ Lestat said, winking at her. It seemed like a load had fallen off of his shoulders. ¡®So¡­¡¯Akascha then asked, one of her questions popping back up again in her mind. ¡®Where are we?¡¯ Akascha asked. ¡®We¡¯re already further up the mountain. You were right about the path, it wasn¡¯t like that a few months ago. But thanks to the avalanche you created, we could climb up there again.¡¯ Alec said. ¡®You know you¡¯re heavy to carry, maybe you should cut back on the snacks Akascha..¡¯Lestat said suggestively with a wide smirk. Akascha made an insulted sound before starting to tickle him as revenge for his comment.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. After all that craziness was over, the mood had cheered up again. Soon they were off to bed, Akascha falling asleep in Lestat arms, he seemingly wasn¡¯t that willing to let her go. The temple The next morning was a nice one, the sun was shining brightly and Akascha was hopping around, overwhelmed by the view. They started their trip to the top again, at first Akascha bouncing up and down ahead of the group but after a while she came to walk next to Alec. ¡®You know, I still don¡¯t know why we are going to the top for that temple.¡¯ Akascha asked him. ¡®Centuries ago, our race was much bigger. We ruled the world and everything went well. We built temples like this one and they were places where people would come gladly because of the peace the temple had. There were a lot of monks living there and they wrote our history down. The rumours say that some temples had gigantic libraries filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of books in it.¡¯ Alec sounded a bit dreamy at that point, but that was probably the dream of a scientist. ¡®But even though we prospected for a long time, our race started to decline. We never knew why, but over the decennia¡¯s we decreased to the small amount we have today. As far as we know you are the only female human-wolf there is. And that¡¯s the reason why we are going to this temple. We hope we can find information here about our history and the history of this world in order to find out the reason of this decline. Even if we don¡¯t find the reason for it, we would have a treasure of information. Most of the information of our past was lost in the Great War, something I¡¯m not going to discuss. I would be busy for days.¡¯ Alec said chuckling. ¡®But that¡¯s the reason why we are going there. I have traveled around the world and searched in a lot of temples, but I never found much information, just scraps and pieces. Until a few months ago. I and a few others researchers found a manuscript about the different temples in this area and it seemed that the temple on this mountain was one of the important ones even though it is rather small.¡¯ Akascha smiled. ¡®You know¡­You could have like.. Summarized your answer or something.¡¯ Akascha said teasingly. ¡®Those young ones, can¡¯t even enjoy stories nowadays.¡¯ He said while shaking his head. Akascha stuck her tongue out to him teasingly. They walked for hours like that, a few breaks in between. The top was almost in view and unfortunately for them, the road became steeper and steeper. ¡®Why did they build that temple on a freaking mountain?¡¯ Akascha said under her breath, once in a while slipping because of a loose rock. ¡®Damn fools.¡¯ Akascha muttered, the rest wasn¡¯t hearable anymore but they could all imagine it. After a little while of climbing like that they finally came to another plateau though this one was a lot bigger. Akascha dramatically hugged the ground. ¡®Sweet sweet flat ground, I missed you.¡¯ She said, petting the stones with her hand. ¡®Silly kid.¡¯ One of the warriors said smiling while others chuckled, she was usually a source of amusement. Alec clapped in his hands for a moment. ¡®Okay, let¡¯s set up camp here.¡¯ Alec started. Soon, people were moving around, setting up the camp and doing all kinds of stuff. In the mean time, Akascha was still laying on the ground with eyes closed and a focused look on her face. She would scoot over once in a while, most of the time being ignored by the people around her, they just stepped over her like this was something she did every day. After about an hour the camp was set up and people were settled down. There was a small ruckus after Alec had announced that they would go inside the temple tomorrow morning but that had subsided pretty quickly. And still, Akascha was having her ear to the ground listening. ¡®Akascha¡­have you gone mad?¡¯ Alec asked her like it was the most normal thing on the world. Akascha waved to him as a sign he should stay silent. Alec shook his head. ¡®No seriously, what are you doing?¡¯ He asked her. ¡®Did you know the temple that we see is just a small part of it? This thing has a huge basement. Or at least that¡¯s what it sounds like.¡¯ Akascha replied in return. ¡®What are you talking about?¡¯ Alec asked, now curious. He stood up and walked to where Akascha was laying. ¡®If you lay down here, you¡¯ll hear.¡¯ Akascha said, not really in the mood for explaining it. Alec sighed before moving down too though a bit stiff. He was getting old. He moved his ear to the ground too and started to listen, a little bit skeptical. But soon his expression changed into one of amazement. ¡®A bell?!¡¯ He said stunned. ¡®Yeah, and if you move a bit over there, you hear echoes of the bell. It¡¯s a small one though.¡¯ Akascha said. ¡®How did you find this out?¡¯ Alec asked curious. ¡®When I hugged the ground back there, I thought I heard something. First I thought it was just you guys making noise but after a while I knew it was something else. But I don¡¯t know how big it is, maybe it¡¯s just an ordinary basement.¡¯ Akascha said, standing up now and dusting herself off. ¡®Impressive.¡¯ Alec said before standing up slowly too. ¡®You¡¯re a smart girl you know.¡¯ Alec said but he couldn¡¯t help but to ruin the compliment. ¡®Sometimes.¡¯ He added. Akascha rolled her eyes and walked to the camp where a warm fire was inviting her to come closer. She sat down and took a piece of bread she was handed from Lestat. ¡®I guess we¡¯ll see that tomorrow.¡¯ Lestat said soberly. ¡®Yeah, what¡¯s the planning for tomorrow?¡¯ Akascha asked curious. Now she had heard stories about the temple from Alec she was curious how it looked like from the inside and if there was anything interesting at all. She was getting a bit anxious, hoping and doubting if they would find something. And if you would look around, she would notice that more people were feeling the same thing especially the researchers. ¡®Well,¡¯ Lestat started, ¡®My team and I are going in first to see if it really is safe enough for you guys. I think that will take up the whole morning but that depends on how big it is from the inside. After that I guess the researchers have more idea about where to look. We¡¯ll just be hanging around in case something happens.¡¯ Lestat said, looking to Alec for a moment who was in a discussion or so it seemed. ¡®Can I go inside too?¡¯ Akascha asked before she hastily added when she saw the side glance of Lestat. ¡®Of course after you deemed the place safe.¡¯ He nodded before sighing. ¡®I suppose there isn¡¯t a reason to hold you here.¡¯ Lestat said, which was a yes in Akascha ears. She smiled. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll behave.¡¯ Akascha said with a wink. Lestat smiled and moved his hand through Akascha¡¯s hair. Akascha snuggled a bit against him, satisfied with sitting like this. It was silent for a while before Lestat broke it again. ¡®You know, after this we can search for your family if you want.¡¯ Lestat suggested. He didn¡¯t sound like himself, he sounded a bit..Sad? ¡®I mean, if you want you can stay in the village of course. Nobody would mind.¡¯ Now he sounded a bit hopeful? Akascha was a bit silent while Lestat seemed to glance at her once in a while, unsure about what Akascha would be thinking after what he had said. Do I want to find my real family? Akascha thought to herself. Why would I want to find them? I have everything I need here. A house above my head, nice people. I even got people who love me, Akascha thought to herself with a smile. I would miss them too much. She liked them too much to just leave like that if she would even find her family. Her train of thought was disturbed by Lestat who softly nudged her. He was looking a little bit worried. ¡®I didn¡¯t upset you or anything?¡¯ He asked a bit unsure. ¡®What are you thinking about?¡¯ Akascha smiled a bit, touching his forehead for a moment to rub away his crease that had formed there. ¡®I was just thinking about what you said and..¡¯Akascha fell quiet for a few seconds. ¡®Why would I leave? Why the haste to find my family? I mean, I like it here, with you and Alec and the rest too of course. You¡¯re like my home.¡¯ Akascha ended a bit softer. Lestat just looked at her for a moment before wrapping his arms around her, laying his head on top of hers. ¡®Don¡¯t worry about it little one. You can stay as long as you want with me. Besides, I promised you I would teach you more magic right? I can¡¯t back down on my promise now can I?¡¯ Lestat said teasingly to lighten the mood. Akascha smiled and cuddled a bit more in Lestat¡¯s arms. They sat there for a long while, the conversations around them slowly dying out or at least quieting down. Akascha had fallen asleep in the warm safe arms of Lestat. He would move her off his lap and into her sleeping bag. After having kissed Akascha on the forehead he walked off to Alec to speak with him. Next morning Akascha was woken up roughly. People were being noisy and walking around, excited and all buzzed up. Akascha would get up sleepy, first finding some breakfast before she could even begin to be enthusiastic about this. It is just way too early for this, she thought to herself. In the mean time, the team of Lestat was getting ready to enter the temple. Some were in their wolf form so they could hear and smell things better and the rest were in their human form, looking all tough. When everything was done, Lestat came to her for a moment. ¡®You stay here and behave okay?¡¯ He asked her before giving her a kiss on the forehead. ¡®Sure sure.¡¯ She said in a yawn, too sleepy to do any mischief. ¡® I mean it Akascha, just don¡¯t¡­ move from this spot okay?¡¯ He told her, worried that somehow she would get herself into trouble. ¡®I will, don¡¯t worry. You be careful yourself okay?¡¯ Akascha said with a smile. ¡®Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll watch this little fool.¡¯ Alec suddenly said, walking up behind Lestat. He ruffled Akascha¡¯s hair when he said that. ¡®You mean, I will watch out for the senile old man.¡¯ Akascha corrected him sweetly. Lestat shook his head. ¡®Behave, both of you.¡¯ He said with a smirk before walking away. Soon Lestat and his team had vanished into the temple while Alec was talking about this and that¡¯s, probably feeling Akascha¡¯s nervousness.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. After what seemed like an eternity to Akascha, Lestat and all of his teammates except two came out of the temple, walking into the wall of impatient researchers who were dying to get inside. Lestat explained that the temple was safe with the exception of two places, the places where the two teammates were stationed so nobody forgot where it was. ¡®But if you hear anything crack or you feel like something isn¡¯t safe, call us first so we can check it out. You can never be safe enough.¡¯ Lestat ended. ¡®Well, with that said, you can all go inside now.¡¯ Lestat said and as soon as it was said, the researchers stumbled forward to hurry themselves in the temple, Alec as last. ¡®I haven¡¯t seen much books though old man.¡¯ Lestat told Alec before Alec nodded silently and went inside. You never know. ¡®Can I go now too?¡¯ Akascha asked Lestat. He nodded though it seemed slightly reluctant. ¡®Yes you can, just be careful okay?¡¯ Akascha nodded and started to go inside too, curious about how the temple looked like from the inside. The outside wasn¡¯t really impressive, just some dusty old pillars that had vague decorations on it but other than that it seemed like just a normal building. ¡®Why do I think the temple will collapse when you enter.. Ah well, you have that kind of luck.¡¯ Lestat muttered to himself while Akascha was entering. Akascha chuckled before waving one last time to Lestat who was already somewhere else in his mind. She changed into her wolf form before she entered so she could hear and see things she usually didn¡¯t see. She had to admit, the temple had been pretty once. The entrance had once been heavily decorated with all kinds of colourful paintings though they had now succumbed to time and poor maintenance. There were big statues of angels, wolfs and their humans beside them. There were several rooms you could go in, most of them either empty or having a researcher in them, busy with studying the books laying there or busy with silly machinery. Alec had tried to explain her the meaning of it but she only remembered the fact that it had to do with measuring energy. She walked around a bit and finally ended up at the main part of the temple, the place where the rituals used to take place. There was an altar in the back, richly decorated with figures and symbols that she didn¡¯t know the origin of. A few researchers were here too, it seemed like they were everywhere. She sat down in the centre of the room, looking around. The altar was interesting for a short period of time before she moved her attention to something else. There was some kind of energy, some kind of feeling in this room which made her quiet like some kind of presence was there. She couldn¡¯t describe it any other way. And I¡¯m not even religious, she thought to herself. Her attention was soon drawn to a statue that was standing on the left side of the room. She walked to it before sitting down again, looking at the details of it. It wasn¡¯t that special, it was made without any shiny decorations. It pictured a man with a wolf beside him, looking to each other with what she could only describe as love for each other. She was somehow intrigued by it, she couldn¡¯t even explain it for herself. She came a little bit closer and sniffed at it, seeking some kind of explanation for what she was feeling. She tried to look behind the statue where a small space was but she was too big for that so she changed into her human for and she slipped behind it. ¡®Akascha, what are you doing?¡¯ Alec asked who had joined the researchers at the altar. He had been watching Akascha for a few minutes, noticing the interest of the girl in the statue. She turned around, there was nothing special to see here. She put her hand on the tail of the wolf to get more grip. ¡®Nothing I just thought..¡¯She started before the tail of the wolf gave way. Suddenly, the ground underneath her had vanished and she was falling down into the darkness with a screech. ¡®Akascha!¡¯ Alec called after her, making his way to the statue before stopping as the statue began to move. The statue moved to the side, revealing a dark stairway. Of course, Akascha fell exactly in the open place behind the staircase. ¡®Go get Lestat.¡¯ Alec ordered one of the men present before walking closer to the staircase. He couldn¡¯t see much since it was too dark. ¡®Akascha, are you okay?¡¯ He asked, staring into the darkness. ¡®I think..I broke something.¡¯ Akascha called back after a few moments, her voice echoing a bit. When she had landed she tried to break her fall with her leg, something she shouldn¡¯t have done. She was holding her ankle which was throbbing annoyingly. Stupid Lestat, being right about my luck, Akascha thought to herself to keep her mind away from the pain. She sighed and looked around trying to see something, but it was really too dark for her. She could only see a small light above her where the staircase was. She held up her hand a bit and focused on it. ¡®I need light.¡¯ she muttered to herself while focusing hard on the image of having light in her hand. And suddenly, light appeared in her hand. She smirked a little bit. ¡®I¡¯m getting good at this.¡¯ She told herself. She held her hand further up to look around her before blinking. ¡®Alec! Hurry your ass down here, you¡¯ve got to see this!¡¯ Akascha called to a worried Alec. It was late in the afternoon when Akascha stretched herself out lazy. She was sitting against Lestat who had his arms wrapped around her, enjoying the nice view and weather in front of the temple. ¡®I really should teach you to heal yourself properly soon, you¡¯re becoming a pain in the ass you know.¡¯ Lestat said teasingly. ¡®I swear you¡¯re one unlucky doggie.¡¯ Akascha smirked while starting to tickle him to take her revenge. ¡®But on the other hand,¡¯ Akascha said when they were sitting calmly again, ¡®I did found the library they were looking for. You saw how happy Alec was a few hours ago. I bet he thinks he died and is in heaven now. I¡¯m surprised one of those old researchers didn¡¯t have a heart attack.¡¯ Akascha said with a chuckle. ¡®Don¡¯t jinx it you little troublemaker.¡¯ Lestat said, going with his hand through her hair. Akascha smiled and thought back a few hours. Soon Lestat and Alec had come down the stairs before they froze when they saw all the books. Alec had almost smothered her out of joy. ¡®You silly reckless fool, I love you so much right now.¡¯ He had said, he sounded like he had lost his mind. Not soon after that the researchers had swarm the place including Alec. Lestat had carried her outside the temple, taking her away from all the fuss the researchers were making. He had healed her ankle which was broken indeed and soon they had been sitting and talking like they were now. They hadn¡¯t seen any researchers in that time, only some of the warriors had sat down with them, not having much to do after being chased away by the frenzied researchers. Really a wonder nobody had a heart attack yet. But finally there was some sign of life from the bookworms. Alec came out of the temple, almost hopping out of joy. He sat down beside Akascha and Lestat, widely smiling. ¡®Did I tell you that you are the best Akascha?¡¯ Alec asked her. ¡®No I don¡¯t think so.¡¯ Akascha said suggestively. ¡®Well in that case, you¡¯re the best little one.¡¯ Alec said with a smirk, really being happy. ¡®So what did you find?¡¯ Lestat asked him. ¡®Oh only the whole history of our race. Or that is what it seems like at the moment.¡¯ Alec said cheerfully. The discovery on its own was special and amazing enough, but it was even more hopeful because they believed they would find the answer for the decreasing number of wolves. ¡®I think we will be here for a long time.¡¯ Lestat whispered in Akascha¡¯s ear who giggled.