Gods and Mortals (Chapter 14)

Gildas woke to Ezra's face above him. As he tried to focus on it, though, it dissipated, soon gone into the morning fog.1

When the first few rays of the sun peeked over the horizon, Adara started her morning prayer. Gildas tried to ignore it, packing up his tent slowly and meticulously. Ezra's voice came to him anyway, breaking through the mindless monotony, explaining in detail the religious ritual.2

When Adara finished, she quickly packed and walked to where Gildas was waiting.3

Adara was more talkative that day, and as the two walked she would ask him about his life as a tracker. At first, he was hesitant, but as Adara's obvious interest grew, he shared more and more. Soon he was showing her some of the simpler techniques of tracking larger creatures. The first thing he taught her was the benefits of staying upwind of a creature. By the time they stopped for the night, she was able to pick out individual tracks on the path.4

That night, around the fire, they began training again. “Deep inside yourself is a power. Feel that power, it is like a flame, waiting for fuel, waiting to be used,” Gildas told her. “Now reach for it, take it in your hand, and use it to heighten your hearing.”5

Adara sat quietly, obviously trying hard, though she didn't say anything for a long time. Her face slowly started to show her anger and frustration.6

“It is there, Adara,” Gildas said quietly. “All you have to do is find it. Reach within yourself and find the power. It came from the attunement, it is there. Find it.”7

Adara continued to sit quietly, obviously frustrated. Her beautiful face was growing long, thick lines as she concentrated harder than before, trying to find her power. “I just can't do it!” she yelled after a while.8

Gildas moved around the fire to sit next to her. “You can. The power is there, we, together, just need to find out how to unlock it. Everyone is different, and everyone unlocks their power differently. Together we will figure this out. Together we will unlock your power,” he said soothingly. He put his arm on her back, trying to soothe her. “All you have to do is trust me, and we will get through this.”9

She turned to him, smiling slightly, and once more Gildas was reminded of Ezra. Softly Adara laid her head on Gildas' shoulder. “I trust you,” was all she said.10

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Sagiv was sitting at a small desk, surrounded by piles upon piles of scrolls and tomes. He had done nothing but look over endless amounts of scrolls and tomes since Gildas had left a week earlier. 12

So far his search had been in vain, but he had a feeling that he was getting closer to what he was looking for. No mention of Iqusan the demon, though he was learning more about the arch-demons. The problem he kept running into, throughout all of his search, was that no one had ever met an arch-demon and survived. Everything he was finding was nothing but theory and possibility. 13

In some of the more ancient tomes Sagiv had found references to a lord of destruction, but the name Rukyv was no where to be found.14

Sagiv was looking through a tome on the possibility of arch-demons. The tome talked about what it was the arch-demons did, mostly speaking of serving ancient lords, and demigods. 15

“Busy?” came a voice suddenly from behind him.16

Sagiv jumped to his feet, spinning around. “Just doing a little research, Elohim,” he replied.17

Elohim had a dark look in his eyes. “I have noticed what you have been researching, Sagiv. You do not want to pursue this. If you find the answers, they will not only be more than you could imagine, but the answers you find you cannot share with the one you are searching for.” His voice was dark and laced with threats.18

Sagiv stared back at Elohim, just as many threats in his gaze. “I will continue my research, and I will find the answers I'm looking for. I would advise you to not attempt to stop me, this is important to Gildas, and he needs my help for it,” Sagiv returned.19

Elohim continued to to look at Sagiv, but didn't say anything further. After a few minutes Sagiv returned to the scrolls and tomes, continuing his search for the answers that didn't seem to exist.20

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Over the next few weeks Gildas and Adara became closer. Adara quickly picked up the tracker skills, and soon was able to hunt down even the most difficult of targets. Her combat ability also quickly improved, though she only picked up defensive techniques. The only thing she couldn't quite grasp, in fact, was her attuned power. No matter what they tried, Adara couldn't unlock the power that was hidden within her.22

The night of the full moon the two found themselves one day's walk from the first town. As they set up camp Gildas started to worry.23

“I think we will take a break from training tonight, Adara,” he said once everything was set up and the fire had started.24

Adara gave him a strange look as she heated some meat over the fire. “How come, Gildas?”25

Smiling slightly, Gildas answered, “You've been working hard, sometimes a good break is needed for training to be helpful.” He wasn't lying to her, but the real reason had nothing to do with training. 26

The problem was he hadn't been through a full moon after being attuned, and he didn't know how well he would be able to hide his transformation. 27

The two talked deep into the night about theories of attunement and different ways Gildas had learned to open up hidden power. By the time Adara crawled into her tent, Gildas was feeling the howl of the wolf inside him, though it had yet to come to the surface. It had worried Gildas, the fact that the transformation wasn't happening. After all, since being bitten he had yet to go a full moon without a forced transformation. 28

While he had the ability to control himself during transformation, never before had he not been forced into transforming. The sensation was odd, yet pleasing. 29

Gildas crawled into his tent with a growing feeling of unease that night. He had a feeling that something was amiss. When, after focusing, he didn't hear or smell anything odd, he put the feeling out of his mind and drifted into a light sleep.30

A loud crash made Gildas leap out of his tent, rolling on the ground and landing in a crouched position. Instantly, all his senses were focused on the smallest details. His ears picked up a large being crashing towards Adaras tent, and he leaped in front of the being without looking. Landing, he turned to face it and received a shock. Standing before him was a large man, covered in dark fur. His face was elongated into a long snout, and his eyes were a bright yellow. Razor-sharp teeth and claws sparkled in the twilight.31

The werewolf dove towards the tent, but Gildas positioned himself under the man who was obviously lost in his curse. 32

Sweeping the beast-like man's legs out from under him, Gildas used his attuned power to subdue the werewolf. “Don't do this,” he said. “You don't have to. You can be more than just a beast. Control yourself. This isn't you!”33

The werewolf growled under him, straining to break free.34

“This isn't what you want to do. You can control yourself, I know you are in there!” Gildas cried.35

The werewolf thrashed around a little more, and then with surprising strength, threw the unprepared Gildas back as Adara came out of her tent, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. “This is exactly what I want to do,” the werewolf said darkly. “I enjoy killing, and there is nothing better than using this improved strength to do it!”36

With a quick lunge, the werewolf was upon Gildas, clawing and biting. Gildas was able to hold it off for a few minutes, until finally the werewolf bit deep into Gildas' arm.37

The werewolf fell back as a gasp escaped from Adara's lip. “Do you feel it?” the werewolf taunted. “The curse? Can you feel it flowing through your body, consuming you? I'm gonna do you a favor, you foolish man, I'm going to let you transform, and then I'm going to let you kill that young woman over there. How does that sound?”38

Gildas was writhing on the ground, grasping his arm as the werewolf spoke.39

“Answer me!” the werewolf cried when Gildas didn't say anything.40

As suddenly as he had started writhing, Gildas stopped and stood up. “It would appear as though you are the foolish one, werewolf. Did you not smell it on me when you arrived? Did you not notice my exceptional strength?” Gildas asked the dumbstruck beast. As the werewolf fell back further, Gildas allowed the wolf that had been howling at him all night to slowly seep out into being. As he transformed he continued to speak. “I was already afflicted, and you didn't even notice. It is beasts like you that give the rest of us a bad name!”41

Before Gildas had time to fully transform, the werewolf lunged at him again. With Gildas' improved reflexes and vision, though, it looked as if the beast were in slow motion. Almost instantly, Gildas finished his transformation and sidestepped the lunge.42

“Goodbye, beast. May you find peace in the afterlife,” Gildas said softly as his claws ripped through the other werewolf's flesh.43

When he turned to Adara, she was staring at him with horror filled eyes. As Gildas shifted back he spoke to her. “Don't be frightened I can explain,” he said.44

With a gut-piercing scream, Adara sprinted off into the night.