The low voice came from the shadows and froze me to the spot. I straightened as I prepared for them to emerge. Sure enough, the Four stepped free from where they had been hidden in my forest. My beautiful forest now tainted by them.
One of them, no idea which, came at me from the east. The others fanned out to the other points. North, south, and west.
East started speaking. “We sent out a little energy. It stirs the dragon mark, causes fear and unease.” They seemed so casual as they closed in on me. “You’re a strong girl. We can feel the power under your skin. You could have resisted had you known.” He tilted his head to the side, sizing me up like a predator. “Which is why we like to minimize the information on dragon marked. Knowledge is power.”
“I’m not dragon marked,” I said, and I was grateful that my voice didn’t shake.
The west one bared his teeth at me. “There’s no point in lying, we have no doubt you’re the one we’re hunting.”
I was screwed, but there was no way I was going to let them take me without a fight. I’d end up buried in some prison somewhere, never to be found again. I knew this time they would not risk anyone breaking out the dragon marked. We would be locked in the bowels of the Antarctic. Or even that prison which was rumored to be buried under the ocean.
The east one came at me then. He held no weapons. I guess he thought he didn’t need them. I dodged the first swipe of his hands, spinning in the last moment and kicking out. I actually connected, smashing him in the gut and knocking him back a few feet. He staggered for a moment before recovering himself and stepping back into alignment.
The Four paused, their identical faces observing me. They seemed intrigued by the fact I’d attempted to fight back.
“You can never beat us. Why do you fight?” This was the one at the west. He seemed genuinely curious about this fact.
“I’m a wolf, I won’t be caged. My lifetime is long, and I won’t live it like that. I will always fight.”
My impassioned words rang out through the trees.
“Your life is longer than that, it is eternal. The marked are immortal, but…” He broke off. “Don’t despair of your long life, there’s a weapon that can kill the marked and we’re getting very close to finding it. Then we will end the existence of all dragon marked.”
I calmed myself, but didn’t lower my hands. “You are evil, more evil than the king you proclaim to be defending the supernaturals from. You’ve stolen innocents, locked away babies and children, tortured and attempted to kill. If there was ever a wicked supernatural that we needed to be protected from, it’s you four.”
I couldn’t understand how they didn’t see this, that in their quest to prevent evil they had become evil.
They stopped moving again and as one unit spoke: “Sometimes good men must be ruthless. Sometimes you must sacrifice the few for the many.” The four of them repeated this, over and over.
The words were spinning through my mind and I had to force myself not to vomit. Of course my stomach was empty, which helped with keeping the contents down. They would never be convinced from their path; they were unwavering in their belief. They were crazy as fuck. And it was really hard arguing with an insane person. I knew from my many years fighting with Giselda aka BEF.
“We’re going to take you now,” the north one said, his voice calm and kind even. “Please do not fight us. We don’t want to hurt you any more than we have to.”
Oh, I was going to fight.
They came at me again, all of them at the same time. I kicked, screamed, and fought at all angles. But before I could even think about another avenue or call on my wolf, they had me, each one holding one of my arms and legs. I was held aloft, suspended above the ground and unable to move. Their strength was apparent, I could not muscle my way out of this. I had just one option left. My dragon. I hadn’t called for her because I thought there might have been a chance to talk myself out of being taken. Continue to deny I was marked. But they either knew something or didn’t care. They were taking me no matter what.
I reached for my energy, bypassing the wolf and going straight for the dragon. She rose to attention and caressed me. But I couldn’t connect to her. Generally, when shifting I’d call for the energy and the change would come. But something was stopping it. I opened my eyes and stared at the hands holding me. Could the Four prevent me from touching that energy, was that part of their combined power? Okay, well I only had one other option.
I screamed, loud, long, and echoing. Surely we were close enough for someone to come and investigate. The Four didn’t stop me, they let me scream until I was hoarse. I knew where we were going. They were moving toward the border of Stratford. Once we got outside of this area, there was no coming back for me. I would disappear.
I still screamed for help, but my voice was barely above a whisper now. The ache in my throat felt permanent. I had done a bit of damage.
Tears were building in my eyes, but I would not give myself the luxury of crying. Or them the satisfaction.