The Darkness in the Light

Chapter Nineteen

When I opened my eyes, the world was shaded in the amber of sunrise. I was standing in the little clearing outside the burrow in the hill, and somewhere nearby a bird was screaming. Almost instantly, a growl sounded from right by my ear.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" I said, spinning around and raising my arms to show I had no weapons, "I need your help."

The white wolf was surprisingly close, staring deep into my eyes. She didn't stop growling, slowly crawling closer until her hot breath was on my skin. My body wanted to tremble and run, the huge wolf towering over me, but I forced myself to hold my ground.

"Please, I need to speak with your mate. I don't know if he can help me, but I have to try," I begged. Her growling ceased and she snorted in my face.

"I know, child. I know why you're here, and I know what has happened. But Uha can't help you right now. That is why I am here."

"You can help?" I asked, and she nodded, but didn't say anything more, "Will you help?"

She laughed, a sound that didn't move her body at all, but rather bounced around my mind like sleighbells and sunlight.

"You are smart, little girl. Not too smart, but perhaps smart enough. You should know that with a life debt, you don't need to actually come fetch Uha when you need him. Call for him, and he will come. But I advise you not to call him yet. I can help you, and I will, at least for the moment."

I nodded, "Thank you."

She was walking circles around me, making me feel somewhat nervous as she looked me over. I wondered what an Amarok's diet consisted of. Surely a life debt meant his partner wouldn't decide to treat me as a snack.

"Your man has been captured, much as my Uha was captured. He's being kept under spotlights, chained and unconscious, unable to use his darkness or hear your calls. And you must be the one to save him, my dear."

"And Uha can't help?" I asked, knowing there was something more to what she was saying.

"Uha can help, and if you call him, he will. But this path is a dangerous one, and for him it would be his last path to take. So, if you want his help, then know that he cannot help again in the future, should you need it."

My eyes widened in shock.

"Aji, I don't know anything about Amarok's, but I sense you know a lot more than many others about, well, everything. Surely you would know that I would not risk Uha's life for a favour. You don't need to worry about him; I will not call on him. And it's not so I might use his favour in the future, it's because it's just not the right thing to do. I saved his life because it was worth saving, I'm not going to put it in jeopardy now."

She just nodded.

"You will find your partner, but you will not be able to rescue him alone. And I'm not sure you're ready to face what has captured him."

"Where is he?"

She looked at me, and suddenly her eyes grew sad. That frightened me.

"He's at Council House."

I nodded, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet child. You've yet to see how much easier it would be for you to just forget your little man and go about your life. You could take over protecting Rewes, and he'd be happy with you in his place. But I don't know why I bother even telling you this, when I know that you will take the same path regardless."

I nodded, drawing the darkness around me, stretching it out of the shadows of the morning light.

"Thank you, Aji."

She vanished, and the world returned.