Blood-Born

Chapter VI - Part 2

Poe took in the small clearing that he had landed in while the soft buzz of rope whistled smoothly away where Abby deftly pulled it up and out of the dome above him.

Nearby Pike had been set in position to watch the descent just in case things went awry faster than they may have planned.

The debate had been fast and furious, about backup plans that might not otherwise have included Pike and the scope of his long gun; but Poe had been steadfast on his intent.

He needed whatever was left of Running-Deer to trust him.

Whoever wanted to use the two cubs for whatever dark intent that they had planned would not be allowed to have them separated from their mother.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

Gun belt and knives were secured with Clementine and Abby in the outer catwalk chamber.

The witch had proven equally adamant that her circles would be available for emergency use; her last ditch effort to also avoid Pike's talents of marksmanship.

The tour of the catwalk tunnels amongst the smaller domes revealed them to be much like an underground spider web that closed in on the central dome in which he now stood.

Abby had claimed that fewer and fewer of the other domes were occupied but many still appeared secured and closed to them when they passed which lead him to consider otherwise.

Rubicon clearly had spared no expense with detail of design for each dome that were actual spheres of stone and other mixed elements designed to keep occupants secure and contained within.

From what he had also been told, her imagination and creativity knew few bounds and were something those fated to suffer under her control were right to be fearful of.

"I'm here, said the fly to the spider." Poe whispered, more to himself than the nothing that was around him.

False sunlight of magic from atop the dome made it appear mid-day with little or no shadow around him as his eyes settled upon the small green stones that marked the inner circle apex of the pentacle points.

Further out were the yellow, spaced evenly at the outer apex points while red pebbles just further yet marked the curved outer edge of the safety circle.

"You should not be here." A young male voice warned from behind him while Poe extended great effort to hide that he had been caught unaware and flatfooted.

Clementine's repeated warnings that their abilities at stealth and camouflage were far superior to any that she had seen or otherwise witnessed appeared spot on, unfortunately as it may now be.

That neither Pike nor Abby had bothered to argue with her assessment had made him feel any better now that he thought of it.

When he slowly turned, Poe took in the thin shirtless young man, eyes as black as his tight curled hair; both feet bare, while cloth pants hung loose secured by a thin belt at his waist.

"Hello, Adam." Poe offered with a smile as he tried to keep his voice light; his mistake revealed as the young man's eyes shifted up to look over his shoulder.

Poe marshaled his nerves under strained control while he turned back to face the black grizzly that had appeared at the far edge of the clearing.

Eve...

Her nostrils slowly flared as she drew in his scent and eyes flicked to check for any danger nearby.

By the time that she had fully emerged into the open, he realized Clementine's warnings had been far more accurate than even he may have appreciated at the time.

Up until now he had still considered them children; his mistake in perception was painfully revealed in full now as he also realized that they were bears that changed into human form and not the other way around like their wolven cousins.

In their world, size was indeed everything.

Black as night, Eve's grizzly form was the largest and perhaps most powerful bear that he had ever seen; black eyes much like her brother studied him and calculated while she took measured steps to his right while her eyes never left him as she moved.

Poe also realized that he had underestimated his plan as pure predatory hate echoed in Eve's glare while she continued to slowly stalk the edge of the clearing which in turn forced him to turn if he wanted to keep her in sight.

Not a sound broke the thick silence other than each coarse breath that she took as she stopped and began to retrace her steps.

It was then that he suddenly realized how he had subconsciously moved again to follow her movement and with that he knew full well what it was that she was doing and why.

She was testing his peripheral vision much like a wild bear might that of a rabbit or other prey.

By now she knew his visual limits so that she could exploit them as she wished and when.

"Stop...!" He commanded much louder than he had intended; the true width and breadth of his fear revealed far too clearly in the lack of control that he had shown as a sore tell in this deadly card game that they were playing out.

He was somewhat surprised when she complied, not having blinked once as she continued to study him while he watched her.

The only sound that continued to echo far louder that it probably should have came from each breath that she took as nostrils flared while she exhaled through a mouth that held just way too many incisors for him to count.

"She doesn't like you ... you really should leave."

Adam's voice was closer than Poe may have wished given that he had somehow managed to silently move and was now just beside him.

Poe had become exasperated as nerves threatened to jump their rails while he just managed to rein them in under tight control.

A subtle shift that should have brought proper warning of things to come slipped by as it had become so quiet that he was almost sure that he had heard Pike laugh at his expense from high above.

Now, with each breath that Eve took, her sides moved in and out beneath thick matted fur while she watched him from afar not entirely unlike a steam engine as it built up pressure while the engineer held the brake hard and fast.

He had also begun to detect the unmistakable musk odor of sweat mixed with fur even at this distance which undoubtedly was yet another bad sign to consider.

"Where is ... your mother?" Poe directed to Adam without having turned to look at him.

While it should have been comforting to have Adam as close as he was, Poe found it completely unnerving for reasons that he could not yet entirely fathom.

Every hair on the back of his neck was standing at full attention while Eve continued to stand motionless and watch him in silence as if patiently waiting for something.

"Mother is nearby, however ... once again I must remind you ... that I warned you to leave ..." Adam teased, "... you really should have listened when you had the chance."

In the second it took for Poe to glance where the voice had come from, he had turned back to discover that Eve had already covered half the distance between them in a fully powered charge.

Murderous intent was clear with her roar and barred fangs.

There was little doubt in Poe's mind as he stood frozen and nerves locked and misfired at the same time.

He had come all this way and this was how he was going to die.