The Dark Ages of the Synakoy; The Past Forgotten, Wolfheart [top ebook reader .txt] 📗

/> “You can touch her.” The man told her quietly. “It will not affect the Reiki.”
She nodded, and grabbed her little sister’s hand. Kai squirmed a moment, making a face of pain, then slowly relaxed.
“You bring her peace.”
This will pass. It will bring a change I’m not sure we can deal with. But the road there will be long and hard.

And Kai was going through the worst of it.
Levin raced up to her about twenty minutes later. Ky could feel his frantic anxiety and even fear. She picked up the image of Wildfire and the smell of blood.
She stood and faced him before he said a thing.
“What’s wrong with Wildfire?”
He blinked. Shaking his head as if to clear it, he pointed, panting, toward the entrance of the cave.
“A Maned Wolf mount appeared from hunting, and spooked her. She’s gone into labor!”
For a moment, she felt panic. “What?! It’s too early!”
“I know, Ky. But there’s nothing we can do! You’ve got to help us!”
Help what?
“The foal will be alive. It’s not too early for that! It’s only around a week or two early.”
So…I can only save the foal.

“Show me where she is.”
Nodding, Levin whirled and led her outside to the mare. She was in a little small temporary stall – it looked more like a lean-too – lying down. There was a lot of blood – too much.
Ivory was standing outside the stall, white as a ghost. The walk had given Ky just enough time to collect herself. She was much calmer.
“We have to get her up. The legs are out, and the head is coming. If she stays lying down, she’ll break that foal’s neck.” Ky ordered Ivory and Levin, who were both pale. Ivory nodded and slowly approached the horse. Wildfire nickered. Her eyes were wide, her ears were back and her nostrils flared. “Talk to her gently. Tell her it’s ok.”
Ky came over and grabbed the reigns as Ivory whispered comfortingly. Levin stood back and watched. Wildfire slowly calmed down.
There’s still too much blood!
“Levin…come over here and pull that foal out. Pull only when she has a contraction.”
“How do I know when that happens? I’ve never seen a horse give birth!”
“I’ll tell you when.”
He nodded and came behind her. No sooner had he placed his hand on the foal’s leg did Wildfire cry out in pain. She was contracting.
“Pull!”
Levin did. The foal’s head appeared.
“Grab its shoulders. Then stop pulling!”
He moved quickly.
Blood gushed with the foal.
Ky felt sick. Wildfire’s energy was too weak. She focused on the horse. She thought of her getting stronger. Slowly, Ky felt her own energy ebb into the mare until she could give no more. Wildfire was just strong enough to do this…she had just enough.
Even if Ky felt sick to her stomach and foggy in her head, Wildfire was strong.
Another contraction…

“Pull!” Ky held the reigns tightly as Levin helped Kai’s foal. There was a gush of blood as the rest of the foal came into the world. “Break the sack!”
“How?!”
“Rub it! Rub the horse down with some clothing! Do it now. Before it freezes or suffocates!”
Levin grabbed a cloth somebody handed him – a blanket – and began to rub at the foal as fast and hard as he could without killing the animal himself. Ky allowed Wildfire to lay down.
“She is awake!” Somebody shouted by Kai. “No! It’s too soon to stand, child!”
It was Riviera’s voice.
“I must not let her die…without at least saying goodbye.” Kai answered.
“Help her.” Ky told Ivory. “No matter what she looks like, we still need to help”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Just do it.”
Ivory turned and went back into the cave. Ky felt shock from Ivory, then understanding.
“Wildfire is this way, Kai. I’ll help you.”
Ky watched as Ivory led in a powerful black wolf with amber eyes. She stood like a human. On her shoulders and hips were markings of white in the shape of strange symbols that resembled nothing Ky had ever seen. Kai leaned against Ivory as much as her older sister’s body would allow.
Kiyoshi’s eyes widened as reality hit her.
If we’re all different species…how can we be sisters?

“Thank you Ivory.” She let go and went over to Wildfire. “I will miss you, Wildfire. I will miss you in a way only we could understand. Thank you for being such an intelligent mare. And thank you for your wonderful son.”
It’s a colt…

Ky watched who she had thought was her sister as the werewolf stood. Their eyes met, and she spoke in the language of wolves instead of man.
“I understand we are not family, Kiyoshi. But I smell the magic in you. You can understand me. I will always follow you. To me, you are my sister. I will not abandon you. Thank you for caring for me, my sister. And thank you for bringing this colt into this world. He will grow with my aid.”
“Is…she growling at you?” Ivory looked a little confused and nervous.
“No. She is speaking like a wolf. And I understand her. Because my abilities awoke when I killed Tempest and Zenic helped me realize what I was. I am a Druid. He also mentioned Elven as a race…”
Ivory stared at her. “That can’t be right. If Kai is a Werewolf, then we have to be Werewolves too.”
Ky shook her head. “No, Ivory. You will become a shape shifter. Levin has dragon blood.”
“Dragon blood…?” Levin was smiling. He stared at Ky as if she were insane. “Elven? Shapeshifter? And…Werewolf. Right. You guys are all insane.”
Ky stared at him. “You see Kai. You know, deep within, that I am not deceiving you. I can feel it. But your mind is closed off. Have you not looked around you, Levin? Have you not seen the Maned Wolves the size of horses? Have you not seen the white lion twice the size of an African Lion? Do you not see Kai standing here through the very act of magic you deny?”
He looked at his feet. The confusion and fear pulsed from him in waves.
“We’re not related, though…we’re not really a family…if we’re not the same races…”
“I know. That doesn’t mean we can’t stay together. It doesn’t mean we can’t be one group.”
“I…need to think…”
“Then let’s do it over supper and a good night’s rest.” She grabbed his hand gently and led him into the cave. Kai came over to the colt and gently caressed it. The foal nickered and followed her inside without a doubt. Ivory followed behind, stunned, confused.
Now all that’s left to do is to wait. What will come of today’s events?

******

Levin stopped Champion to gasp. Ky heard the other two stop suddenly as well, and knew they were in awe as well. She was sure she heard one of them say something like ‘holy shit’ but she didn’t know who; she was too busy looking at what filled the valley below her.
There were winged horses tied to trees, steaks and posts. They were hitched to covered wagons, or in a coral with foals. On the outskirts armed men and women were on similar mounts as Riviera’s scouts. Goats with long fur and curled horns, alpacas and huge, wiry-haired pigs roamed around freely while dogs and collared wolves followed people around, guarded wagons and led herds of caribou into pins. In the center was a roaring bonfire. All of the people were dressed in hide, fur and dyed wool. Not one woman wore a dress. Ky even spotted girls around Kai’s age standing a ways from the wagons practicing archery, marshal arts and swordsmanship in small groups alongside boys.
“I know it’s not much.” Riviera’s voice made Kiyoshi jump, which made Zenic snarl angrily at her. Riviera’s alarmed look slowly melted into an amused smile that made Ky feel three inches tall. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d have felt me – especially now that you’ve bonded.”
Ky thought quickly and replied “The snow throws me off.”
I’m so new to this damn sixth sense I can’t sort things out. This is going to take some time.

“You’re not accustomed to snow?”
“I’ve never seen this much snow, ice and rock in my life.”
She nodded, as if she understood. “A change so drastic would be difficult for one such as you.” She turned her mount. “They know we’re here. We’ll reach them by nightfall if we ride hard.”
“We can’t ride too hard, Riviera; The horses aren’t good on the ice and cliffs, and we’ve got a colt to look after. Our clumsy riding is what injured Tempest and led to his death.”
She indicated the still unnamed colt next to Kai – who was now very human-looking.
If she could just learn to control it…this trip would have been easier. Going to sleep as a wolf-man and waking as a human must have been very confusing. She hasn’t been anything but human since.
“Take a break whenever you need too; we’ll make sure there will be an easy path to follow, and that there is a scout accompanying you at all times.”
She returned to the front of her scouting party, followed by the others. Even the horses were calm enough to allow Zenic to walk with them. The teen leader turned and led the way toward the valley.
“Kai!” Kiyoshi called. The girl looked up. “Climb onto Zenic! The colt will follow Bella!”
“Are you sure?”
“He did it earlier, didn’t he? Come on – you’re shivering.”
She nodded and led the colt over to Bella. The mare nickered and nudged him.
I’m glad the healer guy knew a way to make her lactate without giving birth herself. The poor thing wouldn’t have lived otherwise.

As they followed the scouts and Riviera, the colt followed their last mare, and the colt’s last hope.

It was indeed around dusk when they reached the valley. Levin and Ivory were led to the corals to care for their horses. To her surprise, there was even a small wooden shelter erected for them – there were few of even the winged horses on such snow and ice. Viper wouldn’t leave Zenic’s side, and Bella stayed close to Champion. The stallion was relatively calm compared to Bella, but the quarter horse nipped a boy walking past. Bella shied, causing the colt to spook. Before anything could happen to him, Kai leapt from Zenic and grabbed the colt. She calmed him as Ivory calmed Bella.
“Mind that horse, Levin.” Tenzik growled. “Biters aren’t welcome in our camp.”
“He’s just nervous.” Levin explained rather evenly for such a comment. “He’s never been around so many people and animals at once.”
“Neither has Bella.” Ky informed them. “The colt has never seen this many people, and his ‘mother’ is frightened, so that’s the only way he knows to react. I request to tend to all my animal’s needs.”
He looked over at her and nodded. “I’ll make sure the stable master understands, Lady Kiyoshi.”
Did he just call me ‘lady’? Seriously? What is their issue? Just because I realize we’re not in our world and we’re not family, doesn’t mean that we’re royalty.

Then he turned his wolf mount toward the coral. He met some boys on the way toward them. They turned around and followed