The Man from The Shadows

Man From The Shadows

Northbound continued

Part v

Upon impact, the small pouch tossed into the campfire by Wolfme, burst and a cloud of thick smoke filled the area. Creating zero visibility for the enemy yet did not travel towards them. Small vines shot out of the tiny seeds he had scattered in a crescent moon shape in front of him with deadly intent, plunging into the thick cloud of smoke.

Olive’s, eyes widened as all the children, but one clung to her loose clothing in terror. Oli, whom she now cradled in her arms' fell silent as well, crocodile tears running down his chubby little cheeks as he gnawed on his tiny balled-up fist. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Ra, Oli’s, twin coed and wildly kicked his arms in excitement. She could have sworn he was laughing while his tiny arms were waving in the air. She hadn’t picked him up since he seemed to be fine, but he was always fine, in the presence of danger.

“Raleek has twisted your sense of humor.” She quietly told the boy and shifted her eyes up towards Wolfme, who seemed far darker and more intense than she had previously thought him capable of being.

He was actually kind of frightening. Her unsettled feeling only increased when the night sky began to shift, and the sound of the ground opening turned her blood cold. Pebbles were shifting, and lightning flashed across the sky. A violent wind began to whip around them, yet not touch them. It all seemed like some horrific spell of fear, and her heart raced with the urge to flee. She couldn’t, though, not with the children and not without Raleek. Chills ran up her spine as a choir of howls split the night, Shrieks of terror erupted from the men on the other side of the smoke. Their screams soon turned to gurgling sounds, and then all went silent. A deadly calm claimed the area around them. Olive was finally able to look at the pale frozen features of the children that clung to her. Her eyes lingered on one child in, particular; his bronze skin looked pale and covered in sweat. His chest heaved, he was out of breath, and his silver-gray eyes stared at the thinning smoke; with such an intensity that it was fighting in itself. His Long raven black hair hung in a mess down his back. He couldn’t have been more than eight or nine years old, but there was something wild about him, almost primal. Who was this kid? How did he end up with Wolfme? His fist was tightly gripping, something that he was wearing around his neck. A couple of drops of blood dripped off his fist, splashing to the ground.

"Well, that happened.” Wolfme cleared his throat, standing up straight and smoothing out his clothes. “Olive, I know that it is late, but I do think it best if we continue moving.” He calmly said, looking over his shoulder at her, his words capturing her attention.

"I, think you are right.” That was all she could think to say. It wouldn’t be good for the children to see what was on the other side of that smokescreen. She could already smell the coppery scent of blood. Her eyes darted back to the young boy, who seemed to have become normal once again. He pulled his shirt tighter around him and held it closed for added warmth as he stared into the flames of the dying fire. Once again, he seemed like an innocent child, lost and afraid. Looking at him now, she questioned if she had seen what she thought she saw or was that simply an after effect of Wolfme’s, actions.

“Well, come along children gather the supplies, and I will put out the fire,” Wolfme instructed with a gentle smile and moved to do just that. Olive took the initiative and secured her children in the sling she wore and then gently took Rabbit’s hand in hers. She would have picked up their bags, but the boy she had been watching walked over and silently took them for her. He looked up at her with his sad eyes and offered her a small kind smile.

She returned his smile and gave a grateful nod. She had to have been under the effect of Wolfme’s actions; to have ever thought this boy was anything but an ordinary child that had lost everything. All she got from him now was the kindness and uncertainty of what will happen to him. He really must have had a very dark and sorrowful past.

“That’s a good boy Caleb,” Wolfme said softly, laying a hand on the boy's head as a loving father would. The boy looked up at him and simply nodded. “He doesn’t talk much. He hasn’t talked since we found him,” Wolfme explained to Olive before he walked away to take the lead. “Alright, kids, take hands, so no one is lost and follow me.” He instructed his adopted children as he took the hand of his four-year-old daughter. Olive recognized; as the girl, he had been trying to protect when they had first encountered them. One by one the children clasped hands the best they could and if they couldn’t clasp hands, they took hold of each other's clothes. One of the other children grabbed the belt loop on the worn leather pants that Caleb was wearing since he was carrying bags on one shoulder and he gently took Rabbit’s free hand in his, before the chain of people they had created began to move, with Wolfme in the lead.

Wolfme silently lead the group through the thickening trees, wondering what had truly happened back there. The powder in his pouch was to create a thick chemical smoke screen that activated his predatory vines, but the rest wasn’t his doing. His vines held only a Nero toxin that caused permanent parallelization in its victims. The poisoned individuals would normally die where they lay and then the roots would claim their corpses as nutrients. There was no reason for his enemy to be slain like they were. He saw their mangled bodies through the smoke and the gory mess of their blood and insides. The way it all looked, was as if a wild animal had just torn into them out of nowhere. Yet he hadn’t noticed any tracks. This had him worried, he didn’t know what had done it, and therefore he didn’t know what they were potentially going to have to face. He had remained calm, so he didn’t frighten Olive and the kids with the information and even played it off as if it was meant to happen. Now, while he was thinking about it, all he could do was hope that his wife and Olive’s husband would return soon. They were probably the only ones who stood a chance against whatever it was that seemed to be stalking them.

Wolfme was brought out of his thoughts, by the soft tugging on his hand and looked down at the little girl, he was holding onto. She looked up at him with tired puppy dog eyes that melted his heart and temporarily shifted his thoughts. He wasn’t sure how long they had been traveling, but they would have to stop soon so the children could sleep and get warm.

“There is a small clearing up ahead, we’ll camp there for the rest of the night.” He called out looking back at Olive.

“No, if we go a little further there is an abandoned wolf den up ahead, I have been here before with my parents. It’s the safest location, given what has occurred.” She firmly responded. This area did seem familiar to her, and she was going on intuition at this time but staying out in the open didn’t seem like quite a good idea and Raleek would be coming along soon. Besides a wolf’s Den would be easier to warm up since there was only one small opening and it went under the ground slightly. If they stayed there, it would be easier to set traps and keep watch. Not to mention that it would keep the kids' warmer than just being out in the open. Since it was only the two of them who could keep the children safe, there wasn’t any, better option at this point.

“Your smart,” Wolfme admitted somewhat impressed at her quick thinking. She always seemed docile to him, yet who was he to judge. She was married to an assassin of course she was quick and intelligent. You had to be if you were married to people like they were. The heart wants what the heart wants after all.

The agreement being struck, they continued forward in the direction she had indicated. The area was silent as they entered it. She couldn’t even hear insects or animals and that was a bit nerve-racking, but when she looked at the twins and saw that they were both sound asleep, she knew there was nothing to worry about. It was funny that the only time she really, ever got a reaction out of them was when they were in danger.

“You may not have been born of Raleek’s blood, but you are his children.” She softly mused reaching up to caress their fine hair for a moment. They stirred slightly at her touch but remained asleep. She briefly smiled and continued toward the den that was just a short distance ahead of them.

“I should check it out first,” Wolfme suggested coming to a stop causing the children to crowd around him, as he stared into the darkness within.

“No need.” Olive casually said and continued walking without pause. As far as she was concerned the twins didn’t sense any danger, so it was perfectly safe. Wolfme, looked at her back in disbelief as she ducked into the opening. Caleb one of the two children that had just become part of his family, shrugged and followed her inside. Sighing he reluctantly led the rest in as well. Maybe she had a sixth sense or something, he didn’t know, but it seemed fine to follow her.

By the time that Wolfme made sure that all the children were in the den, Olive had a fire going and was helping them spread out their bedding. Swallowing he remained by the door deciding that he would keep watch, while she handled the children. (Where are you?) He mentally called out to his wife as he leaned against the side of the opening. Normally she didn’t take this long to come back, and he hated to admit that he was getting a little worried about her and Raleek. It didn’t take Olive long to get all the children to sleep and he had to admit that she was natural at it.

His eyes found their way to Caleb, who was the only child, not asleep in the bedding that spread out. Instead, he was asleep sitting up against the back of the wall with his head resting in his folded arms on top of his upraised knees. His long dark hair covered him like a curtain and the kid seemed to be at home in the den. He was a strange kid, but not in a bad way. As far as he could tell the boy had to have come from a Shamanistic tribe, from deep within the “Northern Mountains of Mallick.” Until recently those tribes weren’t even on the grid. They were isolated and hidden well. That was gone now and most of the tribes had been wiped out by the Dark Elves. They were looking for something of great power and they believed it resided within one of those tribes. So he figured that Caleb was probably a lone survivor of one of those tribes. How he had gotten this far south was a mystery and when Wolfme’s wife had found him; he was trying to free innocent people from burning cages. His eyes shifted to the finger-less gloves on the kid's hands. He had treated third-degree burns on the kid's palms and his wife had fashioned those gloves for him.

“What the hell,” Wolfme whispered when he noticed the bloodstain on the flesh-covered cloth. He hurried over to the kid and crouched down. “Caleb.” He softly called waking the boy up out of what seemed like a nightmare he was having. “What happened to your hand?” He asked taking the kid's hand into his so he could look at it.

Gulping the kid didn’t fight him as he turned his hand palm up. It looked like it had been purposely cut through the gloves and all. “My Gods…” Wolfme breathed and started to pull the glove apart to reveal the burns and the knife cut on the kid's hand. He looked up at the boy's face for a moment and knew he wasn’t going to get an answer about what had happened. He didn’t need an answer though since he caught a glimpse of the small dagger in the boy’s waist belt. Closing his eyes briefly he turned his attention back to the cut and reached into his belt pouch to pull out a container of ointment. Without a word, he started to gently smear the stuff onto the wounds. He figured the kid probably cut himself to focus on something other than his nightmares and he wasn’t sure how to help him stop with that.

“There you go. It should heal in a couple of days. You need to be more careful alright.” He gently said re-wrapping his hand. It wasn’t the gloves that his wife was able to create, but it would do until she returned. The boy just stared at him with an expressionless look and remained silent. “Try to get some sleep huh.” Wolfme sadly said laying a gentle hand on the kid's head before returning to his place by the entryway.

Olive had watched the whole encounter and her curiosity was peaked once again. What was this kid hiding? Why wouldn’t he speak and what had happened to him? Of course, she didn’t feel that it would be wise to pry at this time, but she couldn’t help seeing the mystery behind it all. Flashes of the earlier incident came to her mind, the intense expression on the boy's face, the way he seemed out of breath and tired in the aftermath. The drops of blood. Just what was this kid hiding, there had to be something. She could tell he was a good kid, but it bothered her a little to not know what they were protecting or why they were being pursued? If they were going to be chased clear to the port city, she would rather know about it. Not that she would ever turn the kid over, but at least they would know the risk. She figured for now she would remain silent about her concerns and just observe the child for now. With the decision made she laid down next to Rabbit and the twins, draping her arm over them as she drifted off into a light sleep.

Raleek

Raleek came to on the floor of a rocking cage as it began to move slowly over an icy breath. He was stripped down to nothing, but his pants and his body ached as if it had gone through war. His eye was swollen shut and dried blood caked his chapped lips. How long had he been out? The last thing he remembered was a large group of men and Wolfme’s wife fighting. He had gone to help her and then everything was black. He was pretty sure that he didn’t pass out or anything at least not right away. Instead, he felt remnant energies of going into a meditative state at some point. Something he did regularly during training. At least the parts of the training that involved torture withstanding. He grunted as he shifted into a sitting position. Every surface of his flesh seemed to be covered in dry blood that stiffened on his skin.

“It’s about time you wake up.” A female voice quietly said from across the cage. He turned his one good eye in that direction, to find Wolfme’s wife in a similar state, but she had already seemed to be recovering; since she was silently working on one of the wooden bars as if she was trying to get them out.

“What happened.” He hoarsely asked, raising a knee up to rest his arm on. He could feel the biting cold on his bare feet and skin, not to mention it didn’t feel all that great on his wounds either.

“You were an idiot and interfered so of course we got caught. I couldn’t just leave you behind after that.” She grumbled narrowing her eyes at him for the first time since he woke up.

“If you hadn’t followed me, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” He defended, and they probably wouldn’t have been. He was almost home free until he found her fighting with the enemy. For some reason, he couldn’t just leave her to her fate. He blamed Olive for that, she had made him soft, but there was no point in dwelling on it at this time. “What is your name anyway?” He questioned as he began to scan the cage himself.

“You can call me your worst nightmare.” She smirked in annoyance. “Or you can just shut up and help me get us out of here.” She hissed.

“You’re too gentle to be my worst nightmare, and whatever you are doing over there isn’t going to work. The woods enchanted.” He casually stated when he heard the gentle humming of energy coating the bars. It didn’t matter what she was doing, the wood would just heal itself. It was going to have to be massive damage all at once if they hoped to break out of here. “Dark Elves have dark Magic that they wield you have to know how to fight it and maybe have some magic of your own to help you along the way.”

“Dark Elves? All I saw were humans.” She countered.

“Open your eyes doe, it may have started as humans, but along the way, we’ve become the honored guess of the Dark Elvin Empire,” Raleek smirked nodded towards one of the riders that were positioned behind the cage. “Not to mention, I know this rock. We’re traveling over the ice bridge. On the other side is the dark fortress of ‘Bastion of Shadows.’ The one place that nobody has ever been able to escape from.” A wicked little smile crossed his lips as his expression turned dark. “Nobody except me.” He added in a low growl.

“So, you know how to get us out then?” She asked ignoring the pathetic little nickname he had given her. Did she come across as a doe?

“We’re never going to make it there.” He pointed out looking through the bars at the rapid waters of ice. The bridge was only large enough for the cages to travel in single file and one wrong move would send them all plummeting to their deaths. The further they got onto the bridge the worse the winds and snow flurries began to get. It was enough to send a shiver over him despite his increased body heat. He was having trouble controlling his shivering as well.

“What’s the plan then?” she asked moving over to sit next to him shivering herself. All she had on was her underclothes and she definitely, didn’t have the body heat he had. Even though he didn’t like her huddled up next to him, he wouldn’t push her away. She would surely die.

“Kill them all and get our clothes back.” He whispered his teeth chattering a little bit despite himself.

“I’m game.” She shivered rapidly running her hands up and down her arms to ward off the chill.

“Once I break these bars go for that fool first, I’ll take the ones in front of us.” Raleek breathed nodding towards the guy behind him. He looked toward the front of the line to make sure that there weren’t any other cages full of innocent people. Just as he had thought, the normal people had been rerouted in a different direction and they were the only two believed to be dangerous enough to be brought on this route.

“Right.” She nodded trying to silence her own chattering teeth. Raleek took a couple of deep breathes and slowly let them out as he closed his eyes and started to meditate. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but she remained silent. A few deep breathes and slow, exhales later, Raleek seemed to take on a very different aura, as his body went still, and his breathing became verily audible. He had done the same thing when they were being tortured for the location of their families. He hadn’t seemed to feel any of it despite what they did to him.

Raleek’s ability to consciously go elsewhere really wasn’t a surprise to her, given the fact that he was some kind of assassin. He just wasn’t the same kind that she was, which was evident in every aspect of him. She silently wondered if he was from one of those mythological assassin islands and if she had finally come across one of them. Even she hadn’t been able to withstand the torture as easily as he had. Although she had given nothing away, she ended up passing out from the pain, in less time than he had. He was still very much awake and staring into the fire they were pulling the red-hot pokers out of when darkness took her. Just looking at him afterward told her that he gave nothing to them, but what were they after? Surely they weren’t after his twins like they had first thought they were. Those boys had hidden abilities waiting to surface, yes, but no more than any of the other children they seemed to end up with. They all had something special about them, all except for the boy she called Caleb. He was just a human and she couldn’t sense any special ability that would surface within him. That didn’t make him any less important or special than the rest of her adopted children, it only made him unique in his own right. So, what were the Dark Elves after? Whatever it was they seemed to think that Raleek was the one that could give them the information they needed. How stupid they were to think he was so easily controlled.

“Get ready,” Raleek whispered as his eyes flew open and he stood forced himself up onto his knees pulling away from him. She immediately felt the difference in the temperature from what she was feeling while huddled next to him. Wolfme was like that too, his body temperature was uniquely warmer than average people.

Staggering slightly into the wooden bars of the cage, Raleek was finally able to regain his balance and push off from them. His head nearly brushed the top of the cage, when he stood up as straight as he could. She shifted into a cat-like crouch ready to pounce when the opportunity presented itself. If he was what she thought he was, then it was going to be quick, and she needed to be ready. She grew a bit uneasy as waves of translucent blue energy began to pulse out from him, causing beads of sweat to form on his skin despite the cold. It took a lot of physical endurance to do whatever he was doing, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Halt.” The man behind them suddenly called out when he noticed the wooden bars begin to bow outward as if an unseen force was pushing against them. “Sit down.” He ordered carefully climbing off his horse as the progression came to a stop. He extended his retracting spear and started towards the cage.

“He’s coming.” She whispered to Raleek unsure if he could even hear her at this moment.

“I said sit down!” The Dark Elf shouted in his native language. When Raleek didn’t respond he thrust the spear in through the bars at him, but the spear seemed to bounce off to the side as if it had hit a shield or something. That was her opportunity, and she grabbed the spear behind the tip jerking it out of the man’s hands. Skillfully maneuvering it to her advantage she thrust it back out the bars and into the heart of the unsuspecting enemy. It happened so fast that he didn’t even have time to process the fact it was taken from him, to begin with.

She smirked as his dead body toppled off the edge of the icy bridge and disappeared into the roaring waters below. She heard shouted that indicated the others had noticed what was going on and were now coming towards them at a run. Some of them stood back and were starting to weave spells of darkness.

“What are you waiting for?” She demanded turning her gaze toward Raleek once again. “We can’t dodge magic as long as we’re trapped in this thing…...” Suddenly the bars shattered out words halting her words altogether as she ducked low, covering her head with her free arm. Raleek heavily dropped to one knee catching himself with one hand as he tried to catch his breath and looked like he was on the verge of passing out again. “Sh**,” She quietly cursed, he must have had to use more energy than he thought he would.

He was rocking on his knees when she shot forward and pulled his arm over her shoulder before hooking his waist to help him stand up. What good was he going to be now that he had little to no energy left and how was he going to handle the rest of them? Her answers came all of a sudden when the ice bridge began to crumble and crash into the watery depths below. Cursing once again, she pulled him into motion helping him down off the base of the now broken cage, before she all but drug him in the direction they had been coming from. The horses that were on the bridge were panicking and spinning around to retreat from the destruction of the bridge that raced toward them.

As they approached where the bridge was still connected to the land, a couple of Dark Elves rushed towards her swords drawn. She let Raleek slide to ice and spun around using the length of the spear to sweep their feet off from under them, sending them howling to their plummeting death.

“Raleek get up!” She shouted at him, and he looked at her through glazed eyes and slowly started pushing himself back up onto his hands.

“Shut up.” he breathed annoyed. His body seemed so heavy, but he couldn’t rest now. The bridge was still crumbling, and Olive needed him. His children needed him, he had to make it for them. Finally standing he slowly pulled one foot in front of the other and tried to move forward. It still wasn’t fast enough. The ice bridge was cracking behind him and breaking far too quickly. Forcing himself to move quicker, he lost footing and hit the cold ground again.

“Quit playing around.” Doe (the female assassin) scowled as she suddenly pulled him back to his feet and helped support his weight as they made their way to safety. Icy winds and broken shards of frozen stone showered them with debris and their chance for making it out of this alive was fleeting. “If we die, because you are moving too slow. Imagine what will happen to Olive and your kids since we won't be around to protect them.” She shouted over the deafening sounds that echoed around them.

Her words sounded distant, but his mind shot to Olive and the innocent children. Gritting his teeth, he managed to stand on his own and found a strength he didn’t know he had, that he used to push forward a little faster. It would be a close call, but they were closing the distance and just might make it to the other side before the ice broke beneath them.

“Move faster you idiot,” Doe screamed helping him even more. The crumbling bridge was nipping at their heels, and it took everything they had to keep one step ahead of it. He might be able to survive that fall, but she wouldn’t. Raleek ignored her and used a burst of energy to shove her off the bridge onto the solid land ahead of them, before taking a leap of faith himself.

Doe gasped from the initial shove but managed to shift her projection enough to land in a roll and come out of it on her feet, as he hit the ground hard. Groaning he used shaking arms to slowly push himself up, only to fall again and roll onto his back, coughing.

“Ow…” He grimaced closing his eyes. Doe didn’t waste time though, she shot to the side and attacked one of the few Dark Elves that remained on the solid ground. Her movements were so swift that she had his knife pulled out of his belt and embedded in his temple before he even knew what was happening. She didn’t slow down though, instead, she pulled it free and spun into another attack slicing through the soft flesh of the next one's throat, as she palmed his dagger out of his belt shot towards the next one. She ended them swiftly until she came to the final two. They were quicker to realize what was happening and had their hands in the air a fraction of a second before she slid to a stop in front of them. The fear in their red eyes was clear and she motioned with the blood-coated knife in her hands for them to drop their weapons. They instantly obliged.

“Now your clothes.” She calmly ordered with an arch of her brow. They exchanged a look and quickly did as they were told. She motioned for them to back up away from the discarded items and walked forward. “Sit.” She coldly stated and they instantly sat down at the base of a large tree. “Put your hands up against the tree.” They obeyed and she swiftly used the two daggers to pin their palms against the stout frozen wood. “There that should do for now.” She shrugged and swooped down to pick up one of the piles of clothes. They would be a little big on her, but she would make do.

“What about us?” One of them gulped.

“What about you?” She asked pulling the clothes on over her frozen flesh. She instantly thanked the universe for the warmth of them. “I think I’ll be taking your socks and shoes as well.” She exhaled and moved toward them to do just that. Once she was fully dressed, she retrieved one of their winter cloaks and put that on as well. Then it was time to check on Raleek, who was struggling to get to his feet still. Rolling her eyes, she carried the extra clothing over to him and crouched down.

“I feel like I should say something incredibly degrading to you right now, but I don’t think there is enough time for simple pleasure, so get dressed, would you. We have a family to find.” She sighed. Raleek narrowed his gaze at her and grudgingly took the clothes offered. His body still felt heavy, but at least he; was able to move now.

He got dressed as fast as he could, which wasn’t all that fast, but the warmth that the articles of clothing seemed to start renewing his overused energy. He was soon able to stand up without too much trouble, but he would still be moving somewhat stiffly and slowly for a while longer. He did have to find a different set of socks and shoes that would fit him since the ones that she offered were a little bit too small, but it turned out okay in the end.

“We have a long way to go.” Doe simply said once he was able to move on his own. He shuffled after her, holding his ribs. He figured they must have gotten bruised when he hit the ground after the jump, but he would keep it to himself.

“Hey what about us? We’ll freeze.” One of the two survivors asked through clattering teeth. Doe rolled her eyes and swooped down pulling two daggers off the dead.

“Don’t do it.” Raleek hissed, through a shot of pain that traveled through him. She didn’t listen though.

She spun around and sent the two daggers into the eyes of the survivors, ending their suffering instantly. Then she sighed and turned back around to continue walking.

“I’m a compassionate person.” She shrugged when he looked at her in disbelief.

“Compassionate? Their people would have found them soon.” Raleek growled, he didn’t care for the killing scene anymore, but at the same time, he wanted them all dead at this moment.

“They will still be found.” She simply replied as they entered into the thick line of snow-covered trees. “I was simply making sure they didn’t suffer while they waited.”