Julian walked on ahead of him.The moonlight silvered and bloodied the Vampire prince’s hair.He was graceful and strong.He was exactly what a young fledgling should be and Ryder was so proud of him on Daemon’s behalf.Julian swung around, arms out, and a smile caused his face to simply light up.
“How do we start?”Julian asked.
“We get naked,” Ryder stated with a shrug.“Clothes will inhibit the shift.Though I know that you may be very aware of your body when you are naked and may be unable to leave it behind.”
Julian nodded.“And then what?”
“Then we sit.”
“We… we sit?”Julian’s eyebrows lifted.
“Yes, we sit.Close our eyes.And meditate.Simply feel the breeze and the woods all around us,” Ryder said as he stripped off his hoodie and then stepped out of his pants.
Julian hesitated a moment, but then did the same.Both of them then sat cross legged, facing one another.Julian’s legs bounced and Ryder reached over and stilled them.Julian let out a huge breath.
“I’m not good at being still,” Julian admitted.
“Don’t think of it as being still, but as conserving energy,” Ryder explained.“You look well-fed.”
“Always.”A dreamy look appeared on Julian’s face.
“That’s good.You’ll have to feed after this, too, but I’m sure Daemon’s prepared for that,” Ryder said.
“Eagerly, though he wouldn’t tell me if I’d shift or not.But regardless, we’re prepared,” Julian told him.
“Excellent.Now close your eyes and breathe, Julian.That’s it.That’s all you have to do.”
He watched as Julian’s eyelids closed and the young man took in deep breaths.He then allowed his own eyelids to close.His senses started with the two of them in this clearing.Two heartbeats.Two beings breathing.Then they spread outwards to encompass the glade with its whirring insects and even the worms that squirmed beneath the soil.The dew forming on the grass.The rustle of the wind.They moved further out to the forest itself.He saw the creatures within it as undefined red glowing figures in darkness.The beats of their hearts.Their breathing.
He brought his senses back in until it was only the two of them.Julian was a glowing being made of pure light.There were pulses of energy radiating out from him.He had told Julian to expect nothing from this night, but he was suddenly very sure that he knew what to do to help things along.
Ryder looked within Julian.He stared into that glow.He’d not done this in this life, but he remembered doing it before.With his fledglings and those within his Bloodline.To help them find their animal spirit.Within Julian he saw more than one. And he was not surprised.They were like three planets circling a sun that was the center of Julian. He reached and urged that nearest planet to break the surface.
“Weryn–”
“Yes, Julian, that’s it.That’soneof your forms.Can you grasp it?”Ryder asked, aware that Julian had called him by his true name.
“I–I think so.Yes, yes, I can–”
There was the sound of wind rushing past.His hair was stirred.Ryder’s eyelids fluttered open.What he saw before him had him gasping.Julian had shifted.He was a magnificent white wolf with purple eyes that were looking at him intently.The wolf’s tail swished.
No, not a wolf.Too big to be a wolf.Way too big.
In fact, when Ryder stood, the top of Julian’s furry head was to his shoulder.Julian’s tail swished again with a little uncertainty this time.
“You’rebeautiful, Julian.You’re a–a Winter Wolf,” Ryder said.
Julian’s ears pricked.
“Winter Wolves are wolves found only in the Ever Dark,” Ryder explained, feeling his heart expand two times.“This is is so unusual–”
A very eager tail swish.
“I am certain that…” Ryder froze.
His mind opened to the past even as the words he was about to say escaped him.He suddenlyknew.He remembered why Legion’s animal form was useless on Earth.Because, like Julian, Legion’s animal form was one from the Ever Dark, too, but not a magnificent Winter Wolf, but amonster.
Mistake
