Therion Chapter 8 - Flickering Flames

Tom slipped into the forest, letting its shadows shield him from the relentless pack, his own inner beast, and the painful truth. Yet, high above in the treetops, something else searched—a hidden soul whose presence he could feel.

This personality followed him, alerting the hidden world that he was near, like a raven seeks the prey for the wolf.

He rushed through the shadows, trying to fly once again but falling horribly short. In his human form, he was painstakingly slow. He longed for the shift, but now, after his encounter, the thought was nauseating. He wanted the strength and speed, the freedom of the werewolf, but now he feared those attributes were a façade. He could wield its power at will, but if he allowed himself that freedom, he would be geolocated and overtaken by bigger, scarier things than he.

Tom's frantic escape soon slowed as he focused on something ahead. Shining warmly in the waning daylight was a strange light. Emanating a welcome glow amid the darkened trees, it drew him.

Tom did not look behind or above but gravitated toward the light. Anything was better than the alternative. He scrambled over slippery moss-covered boulders and loose shale, following the glow ultimately into a cavernous ruin.

The blue-white orb grew larger and brighter until from its midst stood a young man with dark wavy hair and eyes as blue as the light hanging from his neck.

“Hi Tom.”

“Sigh… I’m tired of all the parlor tricks and mysterious people. Who are you and how do you know me?” Tom asked.

The boy laughed. “I’m sorry, I’m Louie. I was in the group you – well, your group found this afternoon. They moved on, and I stayed back.”

“I see, that’s how you know my name. But how’d you get in front of me? I ran the entire way.”

“I had a little heads up, plus you ran in a big circle. You didn’t really know where you were going, did you?” Louie asked.

Tom didn’t answer. Louie pulled off the glowing necklace. It was a set of two stones, one light and one a darker color. The lighter one emanated a warm, bright light, and the other a darker blue light. They were held in place by a braided rope, one stone above the other. Louie held them out in front of them, using their light as a lamp.

Tom followed as they entered a large room within the structure. A sound, ‘Clack’, and a spark in the darkness, and suddenly there was light. A beautifully carved branch ran down the center of a long table. Several flames along its length lit the room in a soft, warm hue.

“Have a seat,” said Louie as he rinsed a few old mason jars in cold, clear water that ran in a stone channel of sorts through this centuries-old kitchen. He filled two of them and set them on the table. He then pulled something off a shelf in an adjacent room and brought it to the table as well. He unwrapped a cloth from the object to reveal a freshly baked loaf of bread.

Tom’s mouth began to water, a sharp tang spreading across his tongue.

“I know you’re hungry said Louie. “You mustn’t have eaten for quite a while.”

Tom broke off a piece and ate. It tasted divine. He tipped his glass and drank all of the fresh spring water.

“I’ll just get to the point,” said Louie. “I waited for you so I could tell you that you have to go back.”

Tom's hands stopped moving as he just stared at the table for a long moment.

“Back to where exactly?”

Tom didn’t think Louie knew where he and the pack had come from.

“You have to go back to the coven. To your pack.”

Tom gazed away into the distance, thinking of the horrors he would face if he went back. He knew the pack thought he had failed. There were no excommunications or lone wolves in the coven. If you could not succeed, you would simply be eliminated. He saw it once. The people were gathered together in ceremony, in obedience and sacrifice to the dark prince. The offender was shifted, then drawn and quartered in battle with the pack. They devoured him as he turned back into a quivering, screaming man.

“And you’re going to take me with you,” Louie added.

“Absolutely not. You have no idea what they do to kids your age.”

“My age? Jeesh. In fact, I do have an idea,” answered Louie. “That’s why I stayed behind when the others left. We both have a mission to complete.”

 

“So, you found out about God.” Stated Ben.

The candles were waning low. Tom now stood at the mantle, gazing into the flickering flames.

“Yeah, I did. Louie and I talked more that night. I learned a lot from him.”

“I’m still confused,” Ben said. “How are you still a shapeshifter and a believer at the same time? I know something about God, and I don’t think His people run around the woods turning into werewolves.”

Tom focused his eyes, blazing in memory. “You don’t understand,” he snarled. After the nomads took Louie, my pack put me in chains. The people gathered for the ceremony. I had to fight… I had to fight,” his voice trailed off, fighting back tears.

Ben remembered.

“We have to go back cried Tom. We have to save Louie, we have to save all of them.”

“Did I ever tell you why you found someone like me in these woods?” Ben asked. “For precisely this. Let’s go save some kids.”

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