Rise of the Firebird (27 page)

“Anya! Are you…Yvan!” Aramis stopped in his tracks.

“Well, aren’t you an interesting mix,” Eldon whistled.

The firebird spoke through Yvan’s mouth. “We are of one mind in this form, Ancient One.”

“I can see that.”

“Yvan, please come back. The wolves are gone and we need to find the others,” Anya asked, trying not to beg. He was frightening her and she needed her Yvan back in a hurry. His head tilted and twisted with a curious bird like gesture. Anya touched his hand and felt the atom bomb of magic running through him. “Come back to me. I need you,” she whispered so only he could hear. Yvan’s body shuddered as the firebird retreated and Yvan remained gasping and shaking from shock. Anya put her arms around his neck, holding him tightly to her.

“
Shalosť
? I’m fine, really. I’m sorry if I scared you,” he said as he detangled her arms. “We need to find Izrayl. These
volk krovi
are hunting for blood.”

“They are
volk krovi
?” Anya let him go. “How can you tell?”

“The firebird,” he replied. Aramis and Eldon were watching him uneasily. Aramis broke first and handed over Yvan’s pack.

“Thank you,” Yvan said as he pulled on a pair of jeans. Anya had been too relieved to see him back to his normal self to look away. He didn’t tease her, only took her hand. “Come on, the call came from the centre of town.” Eldon and Aramis followed them. Anya felt Eldon’s eyes watching Yvan’s every movement. Anya was nervous and scared, because for a split second, she was sure that the firebird wasn’t going to give him back.

Katya, Aleksandra and Mychal found Izrayl in the square talking to a robust older man with long grey hair. The square was packed with wolves and half-naked
volk krovi
. They were speaking a dialect close to Russian but it was punctuated by noises that were distinctly canine. Katya and Aleksandra stayed close to Mychal, but even with his protection, the wolves were alert, tense, and baring their teeth as they walked by.

Katya spotted Anya standing with Eldon, Aramis and Yvan. Katya knew her well enough to see she was edgier than normal and not about the wolves. She was hanging tightly to Yvan’s hand, something she rarely did for any great length.

“What’s happening?” Anya said as they drew closer.

“Not too sure. Izrayl looks like he’s in a pretty heated debate over there,” Katya nodded. “They aren’t trying to kill us so he must be talking some sense into them.”

“You do realise you are talking about Izrayl?” Anya teased lamely.

“He has brains when he wants to use them,” Katya replied. “Pretty sure he’s doing his best to talk them out of killing us, especially me and Aleki.”

“I would like to see them try,” Mychal said coldly.

“Why? What’ve you done to them?” asked Aramis.

Katya shrugged, “We are Domotetskys. We have been hunters for generations. My father killed
volk krovi
for fun. They got the better of him and everyone won that day.”

“Katya-” Aleksandra warned.

“Don’t start, Aleki. He was an epic prick and he deserved what he got.”

“He is still our father.”

“Go on…talk to me about forgiveness. I fucking
dare
you.”

“That’s enough. Now is
not
the time to bicker. You’re the only family you have and you are under threat. Act like it,” snapped Mychal, surprising them both into a scolded silence. Izrayl joined them shortly looking frustrated. His wounds had stopped bleeding and he had found a pair of jeans.

“What’s going on? Why did they attack us?” Katya asked. She went to take his hand but he stepped back so she couldn’t. She did her best to keep the hurt from her face, cramming it down to sit in her chest instead.

“The guy I was talking to is Zakhar, the alpha of this pack. They have been hunting an army that keeps leaving towns like this one,” explained Izrayl.

“Was it Yanka?”

“Not sure, but it was definitely Darkness though. Zakhar said there has been word that the old creatures have risen from the slumber to fight.”

“Old creatures have risen or has someone woke them?” Eldon asked.

“Doesn’t matter which, they’re walking now and creating this,” Izrayl waved his arms at the broken buildings, “wherever they go. The
volk krovi
are trying to track them and stop them.”

“And that includes attacking strangers?” asked Katya.

“They didn’t attack us. It was more of a warning.”

“Some warning.”

“Mychal did more damage to them than they did to you and they don’t even know what Yvan is,” Izrayl defended. “We should camp with them tonight as a sign of good faith. Zakhar has offered hospitality. We aren’t in any danger from the pack.”

“Did someone tell Yana that?” The tall albino girl was glaring viciously at Katya from across the square.

“Yana knows. She will uphold it. Even though she is their shamanki, she still comes under Zakhar’s authority.”

“So, she is their witch as well. Great.”

“It’s one night, Katya. Don’t pick a fight and we’ll all be fine.”

“If I pick a fight with anyone it’s going to be you,” she muttered as they watched him walk back to sit with Zakhar.

Anya watched the scar on Katya’s cheek twitch more aggressively as the night wore on, the only thing about her that betrayed how angry and irritated she was. The
volk krovi
had cleared out some of the houses and into them the older wolves, the pups and the pregnant women went.

“I can’t believe they have such youngsters with them,” Anya whispered, not wanting to offend the two hundred wolves that lounged about the broken town.

“The pack always stays together,” said Eldon from across their small fire. “The pregnant women and whelps are protected greater than any royals.”

“Why?”

“Pups are rare,” Yvan answered beside her, “so rare that they are protected like treasure to ensure the fortune of the pack.”

“That’s why they went to you when Vasilli was taking pups?” Anya’s eyes went wide with realisation.

“They would’ve been desperate to go to an outsider,” said Eldon.

“They were. Although I didn’t know it was Vasilli straight away. That came later. It was a long time ago.” Yvan shifted uncomfortably, poking the fire with the stick he was holding.

“We will stop them, Vanya,” Anya promised. He nodded but didn’t reply. She slipped her cold hand into his dry warm one and was relieved when his fingers folded over hers. Despite the shock of feeling the firebird’s magic that day, Yvan, her Yvan, was still the same. Aramis sat on the other side of her, their magic only lightly brushing as it always did. Aramis was uncharacteristically quiet, a sure sign that his mind was in overdrive.

“Stop it,
hjarta bróđr
,” Anya elbowed him.

“Stop what, Anyanka?”

“Thinking so loud.”

“I can’t help it. This burnt place troubles me. I can feel ghosts lingering about. I feel the evil that has touched this place. I feel…”

“Yanka.”

“Yes,” his mouth hardened.

“I can feel her magic too. Do you think she was the one that woke these old ones?”

“It seems very likely.”

“This town, the attack, it was part of that game I saw her playing with Baba Yaga. I saw it again when I touched the house. The game - ow!” Anya jumped as something hit her on the forehead. Eldon Blaise had flicked a hazelnut at her with deadly accuracy.

“Shut up about the damn game,” he hissed, “or I’m going to do more than warn you with hazelnuts. I said later and I meant it.”

“Fine! I was only saying…”

“Refrain from doing so.”

Aramis’s hard countenance had softened when Anya turned back to him.

“I’m sure he has his reasons,” he said as he lightly rubbed the sore spot on her forehead. “Don’t worry. I believe you saw her and that she is behind all of this.”

“They both are,” grumbled the Bard. “They are stupid children playing conqueror, no matter what the cost.”

Katya watched Aleksandra curl under Mychal’s arm and against his warmth. His eyes were shut but the hunter in Katya knew he wasn’t sleeping. He was doing it to make Aleksandra comfortable in the way he did a lot of things. He still awed and frightened Katya, but she never worried for her sister’s safety anymore.

Even though Izrayl had assured them that the
volk krovi
weren’t a threat, Katya felt threatened. They weren’t prisoners, but they definitely had a guard around them, and the few times Katya had tried to go and find Izrayl, wolves had been there blocking her path. Everywhere she looked, Yana’s blue eyes were there. Katya knew when a monster was stalking her and she was doing her best not to start a fight of her own.

The fires were burning low and a hush had settled over the pack as they slept. Katya spared Aleksandra’s sleeping face another glance. One of Mychal’s eyes was open and watching back. She gave him a slow nod that he returned. No, Mychal wasn’t sleeping. He felt the threat as Katya did.

Anya was asleep in between the protective guard of Yvan and Aramis, her arms hugging Yvan’s hand to her. He watched her sleep, eyes half closed with a gaze loaded with love and concern. Aramis was awake on the other side of her, his face turned to the sky, studying the strange ever-changing constellations of Skazki.

Eldon was hunched in his coat, bright eyes watching the coals, deep in meditation. Only Anya and Aleksandra were sleeping peacefully that night. Katya’s back was aching in spite of Aleksandra’s first aid and the painkillers she had taken. She wouldn’t risk taking another. Her hands drifted over the hilts of the long knife that was strapped to her thigh.

She couldn’t help but hear her father’s angry voice in her head, chastising her for lying down with monsters. She pushed the voice away as best as she could but she couldn’t help but think of him. He’d been a good hunter, except for his fierce prejudice against the
volk krovi
who he blamed for her mother’s death. Katya could barely remember the woman that had looked so much like Aleksandra. Her mother, according to Aleksandra’s version of the tale, had been sought to save the pack leader’s mate after a difficult whelping. She’d done everything she could to heal the woman with her healing herbs and her magic but hadn’t been able to save her. Weeks later, she didn’t return from collecting water and her body washed up a day later, deep gashes scoring her body. Katya couldn’t remember that day clearly except for her father’s cries of rage and despair. He’d taken his anger out on Katya who’d done her best to keep him from hurting Aleksandra, the painful mirror of her mother. Four weeks after Katya was nearly beaten to death, the tribe intervened, forcing them to go and live with Baba Zosia.

Katya shook the memories off and got to her feet. She started to walk carefully through the sleeping wolves. She needed air and space before the screaming inside became screaming on the outside.

Anya woke as Katya disappeared around a dark corner. Yvan was asleep beside her, his hand still impossibly warm and wrapped around hers. He looked younger when he was asleep, the lines of worry relaxed. She’d known that the firebird was a magical creature that Baba Yaga and Vasilli had hunted for magic, but she had no idea of the power it had until she had touched him that day. Yvan lived with that energy coursing through him every day. She was surprised he didn’t explode.

Baba Yaga’s words about two creatures sharing the one body came unwelcome to the forefront of her mind. The thought of the firebird trying to escape him permanently filled her with panic. If it wanted out, there would be no stopping it and she doubted there would be anything left of Yvan. Anya’s panic mixed with fear at the thought of having to watch him die. She had watched Trajan die and it nearly destroyed her. If something happened to Yvan, she would be lost forever. She would let the forest have her. His dark hair was growing back quickly, and as she studied his face, she realised she knew it almost better than her own.

“I’m never going to let anything happen to you,” she murmured. “I swear.” Unexpectedly, she had an overwhelming urge to kiss him. She was so surprised by it that she jerked away from him.

“What’s wrong, Anya?” he whispered sleepily as he opened his eyes a little.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie.”

“Just…thinking.”

“Tell me.”

“Baba Yaga once said to me that the firebird would grow frustrated with sharing your body and one day it would try to break free.”

“Baba Yaga can never be trusted. You know that better than anyone so why believe her about this?” he asked. She watched the realisation dawn on him. “You are worried because of today.”

“I’ve never seen you go like that. It looked like the firebird was trying to take a man form or as close as it could get it.”

“I was still there, even though it might not have appeared so. I know it concerned you, but it’s our way of making the best of both worlds.”

“What do you mean?”

“For thousands of years the firebird has been hunted for its magic. It has never really been able to use that magic for itself without having someone like a shamanitsa wield it. It shares my body and for the first time, it can use its power for itself. I was born in Skazki. Maybe because of this, my body doesn’t explode. It can contain the firebird and its power without burning away. It’s never happened this way before so we must explore it. We can help people this way. We can fight back and be able to meet magical opponents.”

“You’ve always been able to help, Yvan. I don’t know if I like the idea of you using the firebird’s power to take on Vasilli or anyone else.”

“You think I feel any differently about you? You don’t think I would like to hide you away somewhere in the back lines and not have you in the fighting. I’ve
never
wanted you involved in any of this,
shalosť.
It’s why I tried to leave for Skazki before Vasilli or anyone else found me. You would’ve been safer.”

“I doubt it. If you’d done that, I wouldn’t have known you at all, except as the naked man I found in front of my fire. I don’t think I could’ve forgotten that in a hurry,” she grinned.

“Not my best moment, I admit.”