"Selene..." An unfamiliar bell-like voice spoke. The sound of it seemed to echo in my head, as if chanting my name. I opened my eyes and gasped at the sight in front of me. It was a field surrounded by thick trees that seemed to stretch from the ground to the sky, in an array of greens and yellows and reds. The ground was covered in green grass that raised up to the top of my ankle, prickling my bare feet. Looking down at my body I saw that I was in my tribal tan clothing, showing off my alpha markings that could only be seen by others of my kind. But something was different about them. Now the markings ran along every inch on both my biceps and forearms, ending in a crescent moon shaped pattern on the palms of my hands. I couldn't see my back but I was sure that the design traveled over my shoulders and down to the waist band of my clothing, maybe even lower. The only places that weren't covered in markings were my legs and stomach.
My head snapped up as I heard my name called again to see a woman walking out of the trees almost twenty feet away from my position. She wore the same clothing as my kind but what threw me off were her blood red eyes that pierced into mine. It wasn't normal for a werewolf to have red eyes unless they were a half breed and it is impossible for there to be another. But this dream wasn't exactly real and none of it was making sense to me.
The woman kept walking towards me while I stayed stationary, waiting for the mysterious female to stop. My eyes raked over her sun kiss skin that glowed underneath the bright sunlight that washed over the area. She looked like an angel that had just fallen with her light brunette hair that fell over her shoulders in waves that bounced with every step she took toward me, and her slim but muscular body that made me want to run my hands over her perfect skin.
When she stopped walking she stood only inches away from my body. Extreme heat radiated off her body but it didn't bother my skin in the slightest, it was as if she was about to burst into flames with the way it was growing every second she was close to me.
She was the same height as me, maybe a centimeter shorter, which meant her eyes met mine without having trouble. Her expression stayed the same the whole time she was walking and it didn't change when she stopped in front of me.
"Mine," That one word resonated in my mind playing over and over again as if a record was skipping and only playing that one word. My head begin to spin and my vision became blurry while the images around me disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Soon after my body felt like it was on a merry-go-round going extremely over the normal limit.
I opened my eyes and sat up in the bed panting with sweat dripping down my back and almost every other part of my body that I could feel. I closed my eyes and look slow long breaths to calm down my racing heart. After five minutes of trying to calm my heart I got it to stabilize myself but it didn't help that my wolf was pacing in my body clawing to be set free from it's restraints. I pushed it down and stood up from the bed on shaky feet and leaned my hand on the bed to keep myself up.
I had heard stories from the elders that Shifters would have a dream or vision of their soul mate when they were about to find them. I had never really thought to much on the topic seeing as I had been down here for thousands of years and had yet to see this person that would make my life worth living. It was very common to find your mate back when Shifter were first made but now it was almost impossible to not be single. Considering all the kids running around this place you would think that I had found the one but I had no luck. I had longed to actually meet my mate for centuries but as time went on I gave up on the hope of one day finding them. Without a mate to help rein in my beast I had to learn and train myself to become the strongest fighter that we had. I distanced myself from all the people down here and made it my job to protect every being that lived down here. I became the leader of the army and trained every man or woman that wanted to fight against the Vampires and reclaim their homeland.
No one was brave enough to go against me unless they were the new recruits that didn't know their place in my army. It only took a day of non-stop training to make sure they knew where they belonged. The only person that could stand up to me was Cara. She was much more powerful than me and no matter how much I hate to admit it, I'm slightly afraid of her. I am one of the select few that have seen the full extant to what Cara can do but even then she was holding back on us.
Shaking my head to get rid of the thoughts, I stood back up, making sure I was good to walk, then walked out of my room into the dirty caves that I hated. I stooped at the entrance to the village, where everyone roamed shopping for food or clothing or whatever their heart desired. When we first started living down here it was a complete and total mess of people running around, screaming and yelling, worrying how we could survive down here. Cara found out a way to calm everyone down after the first couple days and assigned every single being that escaped, a job to help made clothing, food, and the essentials of living. The younger generation calls it the Arena. I usually don't come to this part of the tunnels but I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was going to happen, something very bad.
Looking around I saw the mixed variety of Crona and Shifters pooling around the large area buying and socializing with each other. It was nice to see that both races could get along with each other aside from the few Crona and Shifters that refused to talk or even get within the same proximity as each other. Those consisted of the older generations that had seen the war against vampires and some of the closed minded ones that despise the very idea of having another species live with them. Those were the ones that tried to kill for their opinions to be heard. Many ignore their threats but there are a handful of people that would join their silly gang. These gangs had run rampid in the beginning; killing, mameing, raping, but after I started making my army they stopped making such a ruckus. The Shifters were more prone to the violent actions but we would get the occasional Crona in a fight with a Shifter but the race was programmed for peace. It was physically in their DNA to be tranquil and peaceful. Crona are not able to kill Shifters but that doesn't mean they don't find other ways of tormenting our races. The only way for a Crona to kill was to drink the blood of a vampire but these days its hard to get.
Thankfully my guards have stopped many of these gangs and only a few act out. We haven't had an indecent in the last four years because of the army. There will always be a time were something will come up but it wasn't something that needed my attention. I trusted my guards to take care of any problems that may come up.
The feeling I have in the pit of my gut was telling me that whatever was about to happen wouldn't be something for my guards to handle. Whatever was about to happen I was prepared for it. I had two long blades strapped to my back with three throwing knives attached to the leather belt I had strung around my waist. Along with the knives I had a double sided sword that folded in on itself to look like I just had the handle. I wasn't except to take down an army but I could take down over fifty people before I needed help. Around that time was when I used my abilities to finish off what I couldn't going at a normal speed.
I noticed that their were guards all around the Arena watching the area, all becoming alert at my presence. It didn't take long for every guard in the area that was milling around to notice my arrival. They all moved throughout the crowd like shadows, unable to detect unless you knew where to look. Only four of the guards stood still against the entrees to the Arena. I small smirk played on my lips at the thought of how well I had trained my army.
It was early in the morning so the Arena wasn't as crowded as it normally was and I was grateful for that. It meant we could get everyone out in less than thirty seconds.
This wasn't the first time I had had this feeling. The first time was when I was ten years old. That was the day that the Vampires attached. I grew up fighting for my life every day after that. My mother died ten years after that by a Vampire. The Vampire King to be exact. It was why I was so invested into the development of the army. I did not make the army just so I could take out the Vampire King, it was to give the Crona and Shifters hope that one day we can take back what was ours.
I was pulled from my thoughts at the sound of a woman screaming an ear busting scream. I flinched involuntarily. Almost every single being ran for the exits, pushing and shoving to get out first. At most twenty of the civilians stood still against the chaotic crowd while another ten walked from the shadows to join the mass of angry Shifters gathered in front of me. My guards had moved to where they imprisoned the Shifters in a circle as to keep them from escaping. Everyone of the men and woman held weapons big to small. I didn't recognized them at first but once the leader stepped forward I instantly realized why they were doing this. They were all the Shifters that had been kicked out of my army or ones that weren't able to join because of physical disabilities. Some had only three limbs while others had birth defects in which they were blind or deaf. I assumed only one or two were deaf. I didn't allow imperfection in my army and they were so very far away from even being considered a part of my army. They did not deserve to be called warriors.
The leader of the gang, Hax, walked forward until he was a couple feet in front of me. He had a scowl permanently placed on his face as he sneered at me. In his display of aggression I was able to see black and yellow teeth in his mouth making me cringe in my mind. His hair was messy, as if he had just woken up, and looked as if he hadn't taken to cleaning himself in months. In fact most of them looked very similar to his appearance. The crowd had mixed their scents as to not attract attention.
"Thane, what is it that you want to talk to me about? It must be important considering you brought your henchmen along." My voice was calm and collected while my body was relaxed with my hands behind my back held loosely together.
"We want revenge. You rejected us and labeled us outcasts to all of the underground. You ruined our lives and now were going to ruin yours." I burst into laughter after hearing his ridicules accusations.
As soon as laughter left my unamused figure it died down instantly and a smirk crossed over my face. "I had nothing to do with any of you becoming outcasts. The people down here have everything to do with that."
"Stop trying to change my mind with your abilities. Your power of persuasion will not cloud my mind of the things you have done to us." I sighed at his crazed words becoming more agitated with each passing second. It was a fight they wanted and they weren't going to give up until they were all dead. I don't think that a fight against untrained civilians would be a good situation. I didn't want to spill blood that had no purpose.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath concentrating on the beat of my steady heart. Magic oozed from the ground at the pull of my fingertips and spread through my body like water flowing through a stream. I tilted my head back as the power consumed my body then tilted my head back, opening my eyes. No body on the planet knows that I had this ability. The ability to stop time. I had discovered this power when I had reached maturity. I only use this magic when I have no other means of stopping something. Its a very rare specialty that is passed down through generations but only a few are actually able to harness their power enough to use it correctly. I couldn't go back in time, that was impossible, but I could stop it before something drastically happened. It had come in handy for multiple occasions. This time was no different.
Every sound had been silenced making me realize that it was very noisy down here. I walked over to where the band of rebels were frozen in place with scowls all plastered on their faces. I shook my head at how close minded they were. They could be living their lives like everyone else here, peacefully, but they just had to see the darker part of this place.
I took every weapon out of their hands and sat them behind the guards standing at attention, waiting for my command. Their expressions were all emotionless giving them the intimidation that made them the best warriors. Once I had finished relinquishing the rebels from their weapons I turned back to where I was originally positioned before I called opon my magic.
Taking a deep breath while leaning my head back I let the power flow down through my body back into the ground. I let out the breath and looked forward to see the men and woman confused as so how they had been disarmed.
"Seize them." All the guards flitted forward and took a hold of the rebels. They were all just as confused as the disabled, but they didn't question it. They knew better than to question their superiors. "Take take them to the dungeon. I want them to see what happens when you go against me." The warriors armor clicked together as the walked the now defenseless Shifters and Crona down the tunnels to the silver cages. This wasn't a very common occurrence but that doesn't mean there aren't bands of predators lurching in the shadows, waiting for their time to strike. Everyone has their dark sides but we are able to control it. Its the ones that have lost their way and aren't able to hold back their darkness, the ones that fell as if the world has condemned to a life of pain and misery that can only be cured be releasing those pent up emotions onto others. There is only one method of releasing our darkness and that is to consummate the bond between two mates. That is unless you don't have a mate.
I have lived for over six thousand years and I have yet to meet my mate. I learned how to hold back the darkest parts of me and push it out through my training. Many call me cold-hearted or just plain heartless but I had no time to worry about others opinions of me. I find no reason to occupy my mind with nonsense.
Once the rebels were taken care of by my guards the crowd moved back into the Arena to resume the rest of their day. Seeing no reason to be here anymore I walked out of the Arena back to my room to deposit my weapons.
I had to train the new recruits this morning and I was surprised to see that there were only ten out of the thirty trainees in the practice area when I walked in. The three Crona and seven Shifters that had come were all sitting on the ground in a circle talking to one another. At the sound of my footsteps the children scampered to their feet and stood at attention once they took one glance at me. Their backs were straight as a board with their hands behind them. My eyes studied their fearful one with curiosity. What were they so scared of?
"You wouldn't happen to know where the other twenty recruits are would you?" I asked looking into each of their eyes until I got to the last one. None of them had looked back into my eyes except for the last recruit that met my gaze with confidence. It was the girl that I had told to stay home but came anyway. She has some spunk.
She replied, "When we heard about the rebels going against you they thought you weren't going to be able to train us being hurt. Those of us that came weren't sure if you were going to come but it wasn't going to hurt to just wait and see if you were going to show up." I nodded at her confession.
"I'm glad you decided to come. It shows you have some faith in your commander. And as you can see I am perfectly fine so your training will start right now." They all visible tensed but that didn't last long once they started fighting one another. The Crona were trained by either another of their kind or the Shifters but the Shifters are not allowed to shift. Since they will not be fighting vampires in an animal form they only practiced on the humanoid shaped. Now Shifter were a different story. Because Shifters blood is very intoxicating to vampires they have to train a little different. They learn how to defend themselves from both fanged creatures and other Shifters.
The most prominent spirit animals that Shifters are able to turn into are the larger varieties of animals such as bears, tigers, wolves, panthers, lions, and the occasional hyena. The rarer types were the ones that turned into birds and small animals like rabbits and foxes, the animals that had the flight instinct instead of the fight. But the rarest of all the shifters were the ones that turned into dragons. I taught the Shifters to fight each other in both their humanoid and animal forms because there will always be rivalries between our species and I want them to be prepared for anything.
I trained the Shifters harder than I do the Crona, but that was because the Crona did not have the animalistic tendencies that the other species does.
After twelve hours of training the teenagers were all lying on ground, panting and groaning. Usually I wouldn't push them so hard but I wanted them to see what they were in for and if they aren't willing to go past their limits than they shouldn't be here. The ten of them went above and beyond what I had expected and I was pleased with how productive they worked together and individually. Tomorrow they would be working with the higher ranks to get an idea of where they needed to be and where they were now.
"Go home and be ready to hit the big boys. You are dismissed." It was going to be interesting to see how the twenty Crona and Shifters react to not being a member of the army anymore.
Once the last trainee had left I leaned up against the wall letting the excruciating pain finally show itself. My eyes closed and mouth opened in a silent cry of agony. I fell to my knees and leaned over with my the palms of my hands curling into the damaged dirt. Sweat poured fown my back and forehead falling onto my hands. The pain had come up after the fifth hour of training and had only became more and more painful as the day went on. I tried to ignore it the best I could because I didn't want the children to see that something was wrong with me. I knew why I was feeling this but I couldn't stop this. My organs were failing but with the vampire blood coursing through my veins my organs repared themselves. The only problem I had with that was that once it had healed it would give out again and heal all over again like a bird singing the same tune, suck playing the same notes repeatedly. The healing process was suppose to be painless but because I didn't have the strength to make it painless I felt every ounce of pain that my body would be experiencing.
It had started occurring a couple years ago as a dull pain that would come and go but as the years passed the pain only grew until I started to blacked out. The medical wing did not know the reason for my body to experience this seeing as their was no other creature as old as I that they had encountered before but I knew what was happening to my body. It was just that none of the residents here knew how it was to not have a mate for thousands of years. Shifters and Crona don't have to worry about the fear of not finding their soulmate because on their sixteen birthday they found 'the one'. It was inevitable. I am the only exeption. That is up until now.
I don't know how long I spent bent over on the ground but eventually I was able to stand up. I winced with every twitch of a muscle and every step I took away and back to my room felt like knives stabbing into every inch of my skin. With my teeth clenched together I flitted back to my room, using the last remaining power I had, and collapsed on the bed. My limbs flexed and relaxed as I curled up in a ball letting the pain consume my whole being till I could think of was pain.