The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves (56 page)

Next to this creature,
stood another, upon four legs, absently licking a forepaw matted
with gore from the tip of its nine-inch claws to the very beginning
of its incredibly stalwart shoulder. There its’ muscle and tendons
appeared about to explode at any second, they were so well
developed. It was feline and was simply huge. It was about the same
height as Kenai, but didn’t carry her massive bulk. Rather this
beast was thinner, lither of build and didn’t seem to have a single
ounce of body fat on it. Quite plainly, it was a remarkable sight.
Its coat was a continuous striping of burnt yellow and ochre, from
head to toe, ending in a five-foot long, bushy tail that, oddly
enough, was tipped with some somewhat boney, stinger-like
appendage. Even at a distance, Anthony could tell it was as solid,
possibly as strong as steel, razor-sharp along its outer side. Its
face was very cat-like with large, bi-focal, russet-colored eyes, a
wide orange nose, glistening in the cold air, at the end of a
typical cat-like snout. It ears were swept back along its skull and
constantly moved this way and that.

Anthony knew this creature
was hyper-aware. Even when it appeared not to care, it wasn’t
missing a single thing going on around it.

The third newcomer was the
strangest of all, if one could imagine, after everything they’d
experiencing in this strange world thus far. It had ears very much
like a rabbit, extremely white and about a foot and a half tall.
Their interior was the same sort of pink skin one would expect to
see when gazing upon a hare-like animal. The rest of it though
wasn’t very rabbit-ish in the least. Its head did not pull forward
as it should have. It’s chin and nose protruded from a much flatter
plane than that of a rabbit. Its’ face was uncannily human-like.
Only, it was completely covered in matching white fur. Its’ eyes
were as unsettling, reddish-pink, almost three inches wide. They
looked much like those of a lemur’s, literally bulging from its
skull as it looked around. Its nose was pink too, but unobtrusive.
Its’ fur covering nearly all of it, except for the very tip, which
quivered and flexed as the wind blew. It stood upright, humanoid
with two strong arms and legs, nearly six and a half feet tall.
But, it didn’t have the customary bushy tail at the end of its
spine. There was nothing there at all, just a sloping back, leading
to well-muscled backside that, too, was entirely covered in
fur.

Its feet, though, caught
Anthony by surprise, making him gasp with shock. It stood… rather,
it balanced, upon four gigantic toes, each with a long triangular
nail. The boy imagined they would give it adequate purchase even
walking upon ice. From its toes, the remaining foot arched up off
the ground nearly two feet and commenced in an ankle. They were as
far off the ground as a man’s lower thigh, continuing on to its’
knee. Its’ hip was positioned more forward than the lower half of
it, so it walked with an awkward gait. Its’ knees were in a
constant bent configuration whether it stood still or walked.
Anthony didn’t think he could have dreamed of a more bizarre
extremity – even if he tried.

Then, Kodiak’s voice split
the morning air, breaking Anthony’s train of thought.

“
So, Wolf-Demon,” she
wasn’t the only one with a unique name for Fenris, “it appears as
though the odds have tipped in our favor.”

With that, the three new
comers began to spread out, while she and Kenai moved up the hill
and across the small pathway Anthony and Mikalah were standing
upon. Slowly, they began to surround the man-wolf from all
sides.

“
I have not the time for
this!” bellowed Fenris, bringing his hands together at his chest,
palms touching one another, flat - perpendicular to his
breastplate. “Bëi-Gwûn!” he shouted.

As if that were the
signal, all five of the animals charged with blinding speed, but it
didn’t matter.

Fenris abruptly separated
his palms, bringing one just under his chin and the other just
above his waist. Where they came apart, there appeared a searing
white glob of light, blinding everyone.

It forced the animals to
stop in their tracks.

The children had to shield
either their eyes or turnaround and away from the pain.

There came a sound like
ripping paper and the light grew hugely. The next instant there was
a thundering clap and the light winked out of existence.

Fenris along with
it.

~~~~~~~~<<<<<<{ ☼
}>>>>>>~~~~~~~~

An Introduction

Day One, Thursday, 7:14
am…

There was nothing but
silence for nearly two minutes. They merely glanced at one another,
breathing heavily, not sure of what to do. None more lost than the
two newcomers, who were literally cringing at the site of three
animals standing where, just a few seconds prior, their captors had
stood. Now, they were all dead. Their former captors were no more
than bloody lumps of indistinct flesh lying upon the ground. The
one was smashed to a pulp, high up in the large pine tree - cast
forth by one impossibly powerful kick from the rabbit-man - got it
the worst. He looked like Hamburger meat to Elena.

No, they’d been
slaughtered.

They were mostly covered
by snow now, which had continued unabated.

She looked from the three
new animals to the just-arrived boys and back. The boys so scared,
they were on the verge of tears. Their confusion and bewilderment
deepened with each breath they took. The smaller of the two was
shaking uncontrollably. She was certain it wasn’t from the
cold.

“
Don’t be afraid,” she
said her voice soothing, calming, one she used with her pets or at
playtime with her dolls and stuffed animals. “From what we’ve been
told, these creatures here are friendly. So, I’m pretty sure you
have nothing to fear.” She stepped around some of the boulders and
roots of the eucalyptus tree, coming more into the open. She made
her way a bit closer to the pathway, coming to stand among the
ferns, dusting the last bits of dirt and grime from her clothes as
she went.

Sensing the uneasiness of
the boys, all five of the animals stayed silent and didn’t move
from their positions.

Elena heard her brother
ask, “What are you names?”

Her eyes darted back and
forth between them.

The boys exchanged a look
and stayed silent for a few more moments, before the larger of the
two spoke. “My name is Joaquin Barrientos.” He shrugged. “Umm…I’m
not quite sure what else I should say.” His put his hand outward
from his sides, palms up as he shrugged his shoulders.

Elena could see he had
blue eyes.

“
I’m Jason,” began the
Asian-looking boy. “Jason Fong… and I’m trying my best not to throw
up right now.”

That got a laugh or a
chuckle from all of the other children.

The animals stayed quiet
and merely watched. Kodiak and Kenai sat on their haunches, while
the feline actually laid down on all fours as it continued to lick
clean the forepaw it had used to impale the Swüreg soldier through
the chest. The other two just stood in place and
watched.

“
It’s ok Jason, I threw up
already, so it’s not like you’ll be the first or anything,”
assuaged Mikalah, taking a hold of Anthony hand.

Elena was shocked to see
him give it a small squeeze and not let go. This was so not his
usual routine. Anthony had never been one for physical contact,
even with members of his own family.

“
Well, I’m Anthony Herrera
and these are my sisters – Mikalah’s right here next to me and
that’s Elena down there next to my friend, Andrew Ibarra,”
introduced Anthony, indicating which kid was which with a flick of
his finger.

They each, in turn, nodded
toward Joaquin and Jason as they were announced.

“
The
larger of the two bear-dogs - I think that’s what we’ll call them -
is called Kodiak. The smaller one down there is Kenai, her
daughter. Both of which used to be our pets, by the way, and are
now… Well, you can see they’re a bit different since
everything
happened
around here.” Anthony smiled a crooked smile, not sure if he
could explain it any better.

The two bear-dogs nodded
their heads toward the boys, who stared back in wide-eyed
fascination, unable to fully acknowledge the greeting. They
motioned vaguely their way and stepped closer to one
another.

Anthony continued, “I
might be going to go out on a limb here, but…,” his smile gained a
degree of certainty, “…if I’m not mistaken, the rabbit-like animal
over there is Mr. Patas,” he said, pointing out the strange long
eared, bug-eyed, hare-like man.

To the surprise of all of
them, except Kodiak and Kenai who’d had no reaction at all, Mr.
Patas inclined his head in very formal fashion to all five of the
children. He finished with Anthony. He gave him a warm smile and a
whopping wink from one of his giant eyeballs.

“
I see I was right,” went
on Anthony, repeating Mr. Patas gesture back to him, smile
included. Then he straightened to his full height and spoke. “So
that would make the dark haired and exquisitely groomed figure next
to Mr. Patas, my sister’s favorite companion, Mugzy, who was once a
tiny Brussels-Griffon pooch. And now, seems to have undergone a
metamorphosis of Adonis-like proportions.” He rumbled with a quiet
laugh. “Let’s just say he’s much, much more than he used to be,
right Mugzy?”

Mugzy nodded in
affirmation and bent at the knees, one foot before the other, and
gave a flourishing bow to all those in attendance, a smile spread
from one side of his skull to the other.

Beside him, the crouched
feline muttered, although loud enough for everyone to hear,
“Show-off,” which made Mr. Patas laugh like a chittering
bird.

The boys gaped anew at the
sound of the feline’s voice. Though, they’d heard Kodiak shout at
Fenris earlier, it mustn’t have occurred to them that all of the
animals had the command of human speech.

Anthony brought his free
hand to his mouth, balled in a fist, trying to hide his snicker.
“And that one, laying there without a care in the world is my
wonderful, little kitty cat, Garfield,” presented Anthony, pointing
at the feline.

The great feline stopped
licking itself and gave the boy a level look through hooded eyes,
clearly disapproving of being called, “a little kitty cat”. He
didn’t move for a moment or two. Eventually, it went back to
grooming its befouled foreleg, ignoring everyone and everything
around it.

“
Yup, that’s my Garfield
alright,” concluded Anthony.

“
So, now that we’re all
done with the introductions, what do we do now?” asked Andrew,
gazing up toward the rest of them, hands in his pockets, bundled in
the skin of an unknown animal, trying to ward off the
cold.

They looked from one
another - the Five Fingers of the Lord of the Light and the six of
twelve children now entangled in this vile plot – questions without
answers behind their eyes.

Time passed. The snow fell
in droves. The wind made it dance in its’ playful grasp.

Kodiak cleared her throat,
an incredibly low sounding noise, like heavy bricks dragging across
the ground.

All heads turned toward
her, expectantly.

“
I know there must be
many, many things to be asked and explained before this day is out,
and they do need to be expressed indeed. But, I am of the mind, we
should requite ourselves to the safety of the cave my colleagues
and I have prepared as our temporary shelter. We should make haste
to the cave and then discuss in detail our next plan of attack, no
pun intended. What say you?” she asked, imploring all of them. She
didn’t look directly at any of them, though. Her eyes were only for
the landscape about them.

They all exchanged
glances, already nodding in agreement.

“
Yes, let us get out of
this weather,” chimed in Mugzy in a slow, measure voice,
surprisingly rich, full with warmth.

Elena couldn’t help but
smile at him.

He couldn’t resist her
either and smiled back.

“
Then let’s be off,”
announced Kodiak.