Red - 3. Chapter 3 - Setting the Ground Work

Lone moved quickly ahead of Nock. He had already marked the boy’s cape so no one else will be able to touch him now. The boy was marked as belonging to a Were. That just meant Lone had to come up with a plan for how he was going to take Nock.

“Damn, I am getting soft in my old age,” Lone muttered as he removed his sandals. He slowly stripped out of his clothing and stood naked in the woods for a moment. He placed his clothing in a bag that he had hidden in the woods earlier in case he was successful in finding the caped one. Now he allowed nature to take its course and let his feet transform. Soon, his muscular body faded into the form of a giant grey wolf.

He nearly flew over the last mile and half to the edge of the village. As he neared the village he could sense the elders that were waiting there. There would always be three of them, one from each race. Wolf knew the humans couldn’t sense them but even from this distance their power set his fur standing on edge. Rapidly, he transformed back and dressed before metting the three guardians at the edge of the roadway.

“What you do you want, mongrel?” spit Dramier. The long slivery blue outfit and pale green skin clearly identified him as one of the high ranking Elves.

“Dramier, behave, besides you already know the boy was claimed by a Were so it might very easily be him,” commented Julian. His pale skin and dark outfit helped to mark him as a vampire.

“Well, Old One, did you claim the boy or not?” asked Anne. To the naked eye she seemed as normal as any human, but to a Were, the powerful aroma of lioness around her was obvious. Of course it didn’t hurt that Lone had met Anne more than once before tonight.

“I have.”

Dramier turned in disgust. He had heard the youth was extremely attractive and fit. He had hoped that they would have a new amusement in his Elven court soon.

Julian chuckled.

“Will you finally mate and change him, or is he to be your hunt?” Anne asked following the rules set down by the three races in dealing with the now dwindling supply of humanity.

Dramier began to walk away in anger when Julian stopped him with a few well chosen words.

“Remember, Dramy dear, if any of the three chosen representatives are not there to see that all of the rules are followed they forfeit their right of cape for three years from all of the villages,” Julian said with a vicious smile.

Dramier turned slowly and a smirk soon filled his face.

“My dear Anne and Julian, you know I would never do anything to jeopardize my people’s chances of gathering slaves.”

“Or breeding stock,” Julian said snidely.

“Gentlemen,” Anne began trying to regain the decorum that the team once had.

Lone stood before them, listening as they bickered like children as they attempted to help work towards their common goal.

“Were, you come here when you have already claimed your prize. Why did you come here instead of taking him on the path?” Anne asked drawing the other two back to the matter at hand.

“I plan to take him and make him my mate. I request the right of family banishment and non-involvement.”

Julian looked at Lone wide eyed. Dramier became enraged at the comment, but before he could act on it, Anne stepped forward and asked the most important question.

“Why family banishment? It has only been asked for once before and the one running the home lost complete control and ripped the innocent apart with the guilty.”

“I don’t plan to keep the family there. I want the house alone. Make sure his brother and grandmother are stored away while he is taken.”

“Agreed,” Julian said staring again at the strange Were. “You seem to care for his family.”

“I … I do not wish to cause him further harm.”

“Bah. You should simply wait for him to arrive and then wait to see if they will all be able to be taken as your playmates also. Humans are never able to keep the secret that they were taken by a creature and must tell of their failure, allowing us to claim the entire family, because the houses are always used as shields against the three races.”

“Dramy, must you be such a bore? Were, we will have the house cleared. According to the rules we set down with the hunted, they will follow the accords. They know what will happen if they break it,” stated Julian as he tried to hide a yawn.

“So you do not plan to hunt the human. She must be very attractive for you to have finally chosen a mate, Lone,” Anne said quietly.

“He is very attractive and yes, he will be my mate.”

The news that the caped one was a male surprised all three.

“Well,” began Julian with a smirk, “I guess each one does eventually find their one true mate.”

“That is something that should be seen,” Dramier added with interest in his eyes. His eyes sized up Lone quickly taking in his muscular body, his handsome face, and the large bulge in his pants. He glanced at the strong legs and arms and allowed a small smile to play around his lips.

Anne raised her hands and glared at both Julian and Dramier.

“As what happens with the caped ones by your races is kept from us, so is what happens with our race kept from you.”

The other two grinned but turned toward the village. The simple fact was there were no secrets left between them, but for the sake of peace none would push the boundaries that had been drawn.

“Voyeuristic bastards,” Anne muttered under her breath as she glanced once more at Lone.

Julian and Dramier’s laughter soon filled the air and Wolf blushed knowing that the men knew exactly what he planned to do with the caped boy.

“Well, at least now I know why you never accepted my invitations,” said Anne quietly as she dropped her eyes. The blush on her face faded as she stared into his dark brown eyes and smiled. “Be at peace, Lone Wolf. I take it your Were half has found him acceptable?”

“Yes, the wolf wants him,” stated Lone confidently.

“Fine. We shall have the house cleared. However, before midnight you must have your mate out of the house and into his new life. That is non-negotiable.”

Lone nodded his head in agreement.

Anne turned and walked to where the other two stood, still waiting for her.

“Come on, we have work to do.”

“Oh, just throw them out,” Dramier stated.

“And lose another whole village because one of your kind was too lazy to follow the accords? Remember what happened to that village near the mountains? All those cute humans who survived the ordeal of the cape and then they tried to attack the Elf that decided to take the girl he had marked. In order to save his skin we all had to go in and kill every human being in the village. That was eighty people who could have been breeding or hunting stock. What a waste,” Julian said disgustedly looking at Dramier.

“So, my people can … be a bit violent in their taking of a mate.”

“Enough! Both of you can really try a person’s patience. Dramier just cast the spell. Julian put them to sleep. I’ll carry them to the arranged spot.”

The three elders stopped outside the home of Erin and her grandchild, Wabe. Dramier stood for a moment and then stretched out his hands. His fingertips seemed to shimmer for a moment and then out of the house strolled Wabe, tall and defiant. He was only wearing pants and as he walked, his bare feet made a slapping noise against the solid ground. A few moments later Erin came out of the house and followed to where Wabe stood in front of Dramier.

Julian walked in front of Erin and gently touched her face. She turned unseeing and looked at him.

“Sleep deeply, child. Your grandson has been taken. Accept this fact and sleep. You will wake unharmed after midnight, but you will instinctively know where you are, how to get home, and that your grandchild will not be joining you.”

Tears slid down Erin’s wrinkled cheeks. She made no other noise and began to slump to the floor when Julian caught her and gently set her on the floor. Then he turned his attention to Wabe.

Julian smiled at the tall muscular giant. He could see the six-pack that stood out so prominently on Wabe’s stomach, as well as the trail of hair that vanished beneath the edge of his pants. Though he might have wanted to play with this one, there was no time. He reached out his hand and turned Wabe’s eyes to look into his own.

“Sleep deeply, boy. Your brother is gone. Accept this and,” he began when he was suddenly cut off.

“No, Nock can’t be gone!” Wabe said as tears streamed from his eyes. Julian watched as Wabe fought against the spell Dramier had cast and against his own hypnotic powers.

“He is gone.”

“Then I’ll fight for him.”

Anne stepped forward and whispered into Julian’s ear. Julian’s eyes widen at her suggestion.

“Sleep boy. In your dreams you fight for your brother. In your dreams you are the mighty ax wielding hero out to save your poor brother. While you might be too late to save him, always in your dreams you avenge him. These dreams will comfort you only as long as you continue to follow the directions of the accord. If you fight against them your dreams will show you how you have failed him completely and how you must do what is right.”

Wabe stood locked in the suggestion. Julian smiled. Wabe might fight against them but the suggestion would be taken because it gave him the allusion of doing something to save his brother. Eventually he sighed in defeat and sleep claimed him as well.

“That was … unusual,” Dramier said looking down at the two sleeping bodies.

“Not many can resist my suggestions. That wasn’t something I would have thought of, Anne.”

Anne just shook her head. Reaching down she slung the boy over one shoulder and began to reach for the woman. Julian stepped forward and lifted Erin into his arms. Anne was surprised but the two carried the sleeping forms to a shack at the other edge of the village where Erin and Wabe would sleep undisturbed till morning.