Blue Violet

chapter 34



Empty? Ellie felt herself deflate a little. She wasn’t quite sure what she’d been expecting. At best, she’d thought Gideon would be standing there waiting for her. At worst, she’d thought she’d appear in the midst of a pack of wolves prepared to attack immediately.

Not dropping their guard, they all stood still and listened intently. Each person scanned the surrounding area, and Ellie’s gaze swiftly darted towards the woods. Darkness had settled in, but a glorious full moon beamed its bright, white light down upon them, illuminating the clearing with an eerie glow. The surrounding woods, however, were another matter. If anything or anyone hid among the trees, Ellie certainly couldn’t see them.

Should I morph into the falcon? Ellie briefly considered, but just as quickly she discarded the idea. Can’t, need to stay connected to everyone. She was the key to their plan, but the disadvantages were far outweighed by the advantages. Their training and sparring night after night had proved that to her.

Ellie moved her focus from what she couldn’t see -- and therefore couldn’t know — to what she could know. Using Griffin’s telepathy, she started to catalog what all of the others were sensing. She took only a split second to check on Hugh, Ramsey, Nate, Dexter, Charlotte, and Lila. Each had a power that wouldn’t lend toward sensing the wolves. Ellie spent a little more time checking on the others, although she limited herself to only their thoughts, not yet accessing their powers herself.

Alex, who might be able to sense beings that he could freeze, felt nothing. Lucy, who potentially could sense the Vyushers’ intentions, picked up nothing from the surrounding area. Adelaide, who might be able to see the relationships between the wolves despite not being able to see the wolves themselves, saw only blackness in the trees. Finally, Ellie checked on Griffin.

Silence. He’s definitely searching, but not a sound. Ellie could practically feel Griffin’s frustration. She tapped into his thoughts to see what was bothering him and realized that he also couldn’t hear anything. Nothing. Not even the natural sounds of the forest around them. It was dead silent.

Tension seized Ellie’s body. Her fists clenched so tightly that Alex gave her hand a little shake.

“They’re here.” She spoke only through thought and the connection of their hands to everyone in the circle. “Get ready…”

“I’m not often surprised,” Gideon’s deep voice broke the silence. The direction he spoke from was not immediately apparent, although they all heard him clearly.

“…But I am disappointed, Ellie. A bride should willingly come to her new family.”

Ellie gasped. Gideon had never said anything about marriage as part of his offer. Beside her, Alex clenched his jaw. “She has a family already. And you are looking at her te’sorthene.”

Ellie was impressed that Alex sounded so calm. If some other chick had claimed Alex as her future husband that way, Ellie would have set her straight in no uncertain terms. And maybe even with some pulled hair or a black eye.

A brief silence descended, and then Gideon appeared before them at the edge of the clearing. He had assumed the form of a giant black wolf, massive and intimidating and gave what appeared to be a grin. Beside him stood a smaller brown wolf. His voice sounded again, although his mouth did not move. The sound seemed to come from the animal at his side. A tiny, distracted part of Ellie’s mind decided that the brown wolf must be able to project the pack’s thoughts into sound. Then his words registered… “You really think that you can fight us… let alone win?”

As he spoke, the bright gleam of eyes appeared in the blackness of the trees. First she could only see a few, golden and glowing, though Ellie couldn’t see the forms of the wolves themselves. But looking through everyone’s eyes, she could see that they were outnumbered about ten-to-one and that they were completely surrounded.

A low growl sounded in unison from the pack.

For some strange reason, the noise reminded Ellie of the rebel yell. During the Civil War, the Confederate troops used to scream in battle in unison, and it’d been a very effective means of instilling fear in the hearts of the enemy. The pack’s growl was like that. Such a sinister sound, Ellie felt it crawl over her skin and into her mind. She determinedly squashed the fear that welled up inside her. Focus, Ellie, she instructed herself. Keep your family safe.

“I think perhaps you underestimate us,” Alex called out, his confidence absolute.

“I doubt it.” Gideon’s amusement was obvious.

A rumble of agreement sounded from the surrounding pack, almost like they were laughing with their leader. Ellie felt the circle shift, fear running through them all.

“It’s your pack that is at risk here,” Alex maintained, “not us.”

“You insist on fighting? Knowing what we did to Ellie’s very powerful tribe?”

“Well, if you’re that worried, we will happily negotiate a truce,” Alex offered with a cocky smirk.

“What are you doing?” Ellie thought at him.

“Trust me,” he thought back.

She simply nodded and used the time he was buying her to furiously search through her options.

“You have two choices…” Gideon appeared to be growing bored with the back and forth banter. She guessed that the Vyusher had never paused to negotiate with their intended victims before. “…Ellie can leave your family and join us as my wife and queen. Or you can all die here tonight.”

Griffin flashed a thought into Ellie’s mind. Whatever had been blocking him had pulled back. He continued to have trouble accessing the wolves’ thoughts because of the dynamic of the pack mind, but he was starting to pick up bits and pieces.

“The entire clan of Vyusher is here. Every single one of them,” he told her. Using Griffin’s power, she passed this observation on to everyone else in the circle.

Alex squeezed her hand, letting her know he’d received the message. She watched as he broadened his grin, seeming to deliberately taunt the Vyusher leader.

“I have an offer for you…” he called out. “If we defeat you tonight, you will never attack anyone ever again… Svatura, or humans without powers. You may, of course, live peacefully within the territory you have now.”

“An interesting offer…” Gideon gave a dark chuckle. “And if we refuse?”

“Discover the consequences at your peril.” Alex’s voice suddenly sounded as lethal as the wolves’ growls.

The pack seemed to back down, if only for a moment. Ellie felt Lila using her power to heighten emotion, building on the fear and paranoia that seemed to be inherent within the Vyusher, despite their superior numbers and fighting experience. And despite their confident bluster, now dread ran rampant and unchecked among them.

“Fear,” she heard Gideon muse thoughtfully. It took her a moment to realize that she was hearing his thoughts and that the wolf pack was hearing it along with her. “Very clever.”

It was almost like he was a connoisseur of gifts, so detached was he in his appreciation. The wolves seemed to laugh as they collectively shrugged off that feeling of fear. Ellie felt Lila’s sudden confusion and heard Griffin passing on Lila’s thoughts to them all.

Lila shook her head “It’s not that they are forcing me out. It’s more like my power isn’t working anymore.”

Ellie and Griffin both scowled and turned their attention back to the wolves. Gideon bowed his head in a patronizing manner. “Very well,” he agreed. “We will take our chances. See if you can defeat us this night.”