Again she laughed.
“Now best behavior, the Lady comes.”
Lightning crackled in the sky and thunder rumbled. A lightning strike struck before us and Lady Skol stood there.
All in white, dressed with luminous pearls beneath her neck. Her hair seemed alive and was writhing like snakes. Claws were in place of her hands and she tasted the air with a forked tongue. She blinked and four sets of lids moved. Finally she shimmered and turned into the Lady Skol of the city. A white dress, braided hair with a stately crown. A face that cut people in two.
“Feyra Half-Moon,” she said. “How long I have waited.”
Another part of my dream surfaced,I was of the Royal Half-Moon Pack!
She walked up beside Agatha, regarding her as a well-behaved pet. “It seems the waiting has paid off Agatha, well done.”
“Thank you Lady Skol,” she bowed slightly.
Lady Skol looked amused by it, then turned her attention to Dion. “And you, how tricky you’ve been. All these years in hiding. You’ve made it incredibly difficult to find you. You along with your pesky uncle.”
Dion growled.
“Oh calm down doggie. If you want to sit just ask?” Lady Skol snapped her fingers and Dion was released from the stake. Then he sat like a dog, and they all began to laugh.
Dion seethed.
“Feisty,” Lady Skol uttered, before turning and coming to me. “A shame that you are a werewolf. So much power…” she caressed my cheek. It was like ice searing my skin.
I couldn’t believe that Agatha would be a spy for her. Why? Why would she do it?
Lady Skol clicked her fingers and flames grew beside either of us.
“I vow here and now that I will raise the army that will kill you,” Dion snapped. Even as it pained him. Even as it strained his bonds and made his limbs bend further away. “Iwillkill you.”
Lady Skol laughed and it was as if her claws were stripping flesh from our naked bodies. I screamed in pain.
“You really think so?” she said. “I don’t. See, I’m in the temple. I’ve not been able to enter here since it was called theTemple of Dhrum.But you broke the curse for me. We all have our own prophecies.The one to die in the temple would be my only true enemy.And seeing as you’re about to die?” She smiled and our pain worsened. The flames rose higher.
The creatures were gathering in, jostling for a closer position by the fires. Lady Skol turned to them in anger. “Get away from me!” she snapped her fingers and a ring of men surrounding her died instantly. “Filthy,” she sneered.
Dion was straining with all his might, slowly standing from his invisible bonds. He was crouching, soon standing. Lady Skol looked aghast.
“How dare you!” she screeched. Dion sat back down hard. “Bad boy!”
Welts began to arise on Dion. Invisible whips flaying him and opening up his flesh. Agatha watched with hungry eyes. Joy. I hated her. Hated both of them.
“Why are you doing this?” I said.
“Why?” the Lady turned on me. “Don’t pretend to be a fool to me, girl. I know your prophecy too! Both of you.Destined to kill Lady Skol. I have been in power too long to be killed bychildren. You think you have a chance against me?”
Agatha smiled, wicked eyes, she licked her lips. “Should we finish them off?”
“Yes, I’m dawdling aren’t I?” Lady Skol replied. She nodded and the Siren Singer began singing, Dion was re-lashed to the stake by invisible magic and soon we were at the mercy of death.
Lightning struck and Lady Skol, along with Agatha, were gone.
The hideous creatures closed in. The Siren Singer crooned away. The flames sped along their paths and the small wood below us began to burn. The heat immense. I felt my feet begin to sear.
“Feyra?” Dion called.
I cried out in pain.
