Taming Darkness: Artemis Lupine #4 (16 page)

He charged forward and slowed his movements to match a human’s speed, fighting the rest of the soldiers as these onlookers wanted. It did not matter and soon all of them were dead as well. The crowd was silent as the stared at him in shock. He raised his words in the air and yelled, “Are you not entertained?!”

Two lions were released into the arena and they charged across the sand towards father.
The crowd cheered and began rooting for either the lions or father. He set his swords on the ground and that excited everyone even more. As the lions grew closer I could tell he was hiding his true self so the lions would not know that he was a predator as well and they did not slow. He leapt over the top of one, landed to the side and grabbed it by the nape of its neck, slamming it to the ground. The lion roared in pain and surprise and then father looked into its eye. The lion held perfectly still and seemed to stop breathing. The second lion swiped its giant paw at his head and father batted it away like it was a child attempting to hit him. The lion hissed and moved forward to attack. Father stood up and released the hold he had over himself. The power of his presence, the sheer dominance he possessed was staggering. I felt myself cower in the stands right along with the humans and the lion in front of him did not know what to do with itself. It dropped to the ground and then slowly backed away from him as it avoided eye contact.

Father looked up into the stands and smiled victoriously. He was truly magnificent and I could see the amber of his wolf’s eyes on his face. He met my gaze a brief moment, shock slipping over his proud mask and then the crowd erupted in applause and cheers, blocking me from his sight.

“Ares, the God of War!” someone yelled.

I disappeared from the stan
ds and hurried out of town to change and then return to the current time and Chronos. I wished I could stay longer, but I had already pressed my luck for the day. I returned and Chronos barely looked up.

“So, how was it?” he asked.

I sat down and the biggest smile I had ever smiled split my face. “It was amazing! He was amazing! The way he moved, the grace, the power, the amount of authority he possessed!”

Chronos smiled and asked, “Did anything go wrong?”

I shook my head. “I changed nothing.”

He nodded his head happily. “Good. Why don’t you tell me
what you saw while I cook lunch?”

I told him everything that I had witnessed and reenacted a few moves father had done while fighting. Chronos listened and even seemed to get a bit teary eyed. When I finished he recounted other stories for me of my father’s incredible fights. I wanted to see others, but most had been on the battlefield and there was not a safe way to really travel to witness that without altering something.
I wanted to go back and watch it all again, but Chronos reminded me of the possibilities of seeing myself there and creating some type of time warp or hole or something. Plus I did not have as much power yet and traveling so far back in time did make me sleepy.

I dreamt that night of my father and fighting alongside him in the arena.
It was a good dream.

* * *

8 YEARS LATER

“I’m telling you that I can do it. I know you have never heard of such an ability, but I have it,” I argued with Victor and Chronos.

“There is no possible way for such a thing to exist,” Victor said for the tenth time.

“Why not? You said yourself that my mother could sense evil,” I disputed.

“Yes, but sensing evil and abolishing it are two very different things,” Chronos said.

“I can prove it to you,” I stated.

They looked at each other and then at me. Victor asked, “Have you been experimenting?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Of course I have. How else would I have known about my abilities.”

“You are too young and naïve to understand the consequences of such experimentations,” Victor bellowed.

It was rare to see him angry, even rarer for him to be angry at me, but I did not back down. “I am more intelligent and understanding of the world than you think. You’ve been away more than here so you haven’t seen my progress.”

“
Show us then,” Chronos said.

I teleported to one of the nearby vampire buildings, snatched one of them and teleported back. The vampire hissed and tried to escape, but I was stronger than him. When he saw Victor he tried even harder to escape.

“How do you know he is evil?” Victor asked, “Just because he is a vampire does not mean…”

“I’m well aware that not all vampires are evil. This one reeks of it though. And this one has a thing for torturing and killing children.”

The vampire smiled and said, “They’re more fun than even the young human women.”

“Are you satisfied that he is evil? You should be able to sense it from him anyways,” I said.

Victor and Chronos nodded their heads. I took a deep breath, held it a moment and then latched onto the evil man with my power. I opened the gate in my mind and sent him to the abyss where I had sent the others. The man disappeared from this world and from our sight. Victor and Chronos stared at the empty space and Chronos asked, “Where did you send him?”

“The abyss,” I whispered.

“How did you find out about that?” Chronos asked in shock.

“What is it? What is the abyss?” Victor asked.

Chronos flailed his hands around a moment and said, “It’s nothing. It is literally a place of nothingness. Some call it the void. It’s the place where there is no air, no space, no beings, no light. Very few are aware of its existence and how to open it. How did you find out?”

I pointed to one of the books on the bookshelf. “Research.
” I waited a moment and then said, “I told you I could do it.”

“You’re right,” Victor said with a sigh, “I am sorry that I doubted you.”

“This makes his plan of getting rid of your father a lot easier,” Chronos mumbled, “He could use this power to send him to the abyss and he would never be able to harm Artemis.”

“Do they live in this abyss? Would he live there forever?” Victor asked.

Chronos shook his head. “He would disintegrate, or so we are told. Only one person traveled to and from the abyss and so we have only his experiments to go on.”

“Is there a way back from the abyss?” Victor asked.

Chronos shook his head. “Only a time traveler with the ability to locate the abyss can access it. Your father would not be able to escape from there.”

Victor sighed and said, “You will need more practice before you execute this on my father. You have to be sure that you can do it under any circumstances or all will be lost.”

“I understand,” I said seriously. “I will practice every day.”

Victor patted my shoulder and said, “I am sorry we must place such a burden on your shoulders. Gods help us, I would not wish this on anyone.”

I hugged him and said, “I will make you proud and I will save them all.”

* * *

2 YEARS LATER

I was exhausted and yet so incredibly happy. I had mastered my abilities and now could move freely through time and could use the void as I needed. Tomorrow I would go to Maurice and end this time line to allow my parents to live. Today I would watch my mother during one of her happier times in her life to help me relax. I traveled back in time to before my mother had started having the dreams about wolves, father or anything else. I hid myself among the trees and watched her as she walked in the forest, running her hands along the trees and humming quietly. She did not know it, but some of her power was already there and the forest responded to her. She walked slowly, but with no fear or worry. I had seen her in later times where she walked stiffly and constantly surveying her surroundings for potential threats. She stopped and watched a deer dart across her path and then resumed walking again.

“Artemis!” a male voice called.

She stopped and her fingers dug into the bark of the tree next to her. “Hey,” she said with a smile at the boy jogging up to her.

“What’s up Chicky?” he asked with a genuine smile for her.

“Just talking a walk,” she said, resuming her walk, but without humming.

“Wanna go get some ice cream?” he asked. “It’s pretty hot and I know how much you love sugary treats.”

“I do love sugary things, but I’m not really in an ice cream mood,” she said, “it’s so nice today that I just want to stay outside.”

“
What about a swim?” he asked.

She laughed. “No, thank you. I want to stay dry for a few hours of my day.”

“Oh come on, I didn’t mean to splash you with the hose.”

She laughed again and turned to face him. “Yes you did! You deliberately sprayed me.”

He shrugged. “I couldn’t help it. You were dry and the car was all wet so I thought you should match.”

“I’ll get you back,” she teased him.

He walked next to her and smirked. “You’ll try.” She punched his arm and he winced. “Ow.”

“Baby.”

“Brute,” he said mockingly and then nudged her shoulder with his.

This world was so calm and although I could feel evil, it was nothing compared to my time. My mother looked so young and vibrant. She must have been something to reckon with once she unleashed her powers. I could see why people fell in love with her too. She had a very calming aura.

They walked along in companionable silence and then she sat and leaned against a tree with her eyes closed. “Can you imagine how awful it would be to live in the city?” she asked him in a whisper. “All that noise and pollution.”

“Oh I don’t know,” he said, “It might not be so bad. They’ve got lots of fun things to do, unlike this place.”

“I’d rather have the trees and animals around me than nightclubs and bars,” she whispered. She inhaled deeply and said, “It hurts my nose every time we go into the city. It always smells like garbage, urine and poop.”

He laughed. “I think you just imagine that.”

“Your nose just sucks,” she said defensively.

Why couldn’t her life have been so happy and peaceful as this moment? I felt eyes on me and turned around to find Darren heading into the forest, sniffing and looking around. He must have caught my scent. I looked one last time at my mother, smiling and leaning against a tree and went back to my current time.

“How was your trip?” Victor asked.

I smiled. “It was good. I saw her with Bret before she knew about all this.”

Victor frowned. “Did you speak to her?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m not a novice anymore, Victor. I know what to do and what not to do.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Victor, why was my mother’s life so difficult?” I asked
him. Victor was a good vampire, which was hard to believe since Maurice, King of the Vampires was so evil. It was amazing the difference between a person and their parent.

“We knew the prophesized one would come and we all assumed it was her since she was the fi
rst halfbreed in over a century,” he said. He paused a moment and then continued, “Unfortunately we had no way of knowing that you were actually the one who would save us all and that your mother was simply meant to give birth to you.”

“What will happen once I change it all? Will she still meet father? Will she still meet the dragons?” I asked nervously. I knew my task
. I was to go back in time, before Maurice amassed so much power and erase him from the world. It would mean my mother and father would not die and it would mean that I would not be born. What else could it mean though? Would Uncle Matt still die? Would Prince Achilles be alive? How would that all turn out without her being bound to him?

Victor smiled at me and said, “You do not have to worry about that. What you will do is save your mother and father and the world from being ruled by a tyrant and save the lives of billions of humans and preternaturals.
That is more than enough. Your parents will live much happier than in this life, I assure you.”

One small change could alter the lives of everyone drastically and I was afraid that this change would alter it so much that mother and father would not even end up together. I planned to get rid of Maurice after my parents had already met, but that still did not guarantee anything would work out well for my parents.
I knew they were a perfect match, but this change could alter that as well.

I took a deep breath and hugged Victor. “Thank you
for everything that you have done for me.”

He hugged me against him and I felt his tears falling on my head. “Save my friends,” he whispered.

Before I went to see my mother I would visit Maurice and advise him of his pending demise. He could do nothing to save himself and I would enjoy seeing his reaction. It was something that I had planned out for months and I was glad to finally be able to enact my plan. I teleported in my current time to Maurice’s castle. He was in his throne room where he was sitting upon a chair looking bored. He looked at me with a bit of curiosity and then his minions leapt at me. I froze them in air, stopping time around them and walked towards Maurice. He leaned forward, interested in me now that I had stopped his minions.