You Cannot Change the Past
Vince knew he needed to act fast. The mire covering Jack’s front paws was climbing.
“This isn’t good,” Jack stammered, his entire body shaking. “It’s like being swallowed by monstrous licorice jelly. I hate licorice.”
What could he do? Their enemy did have the essence of jelly – Jack wasn’t wrong – and grabbing it was like fighting ghosts.
Ghosts. A single wild idea sprang up in his thoughts.
“Ready, Jack?” he whispered. “Just hold on tight.”
“What?”
Vince jumped to the side and the creature underneath him bounced to its usual height and soared up high. Jack shouted in disbelief as he was jerked with his head upside down and pulled through the air. In the nick of time, Vince managed to grab hold of him with his fangs, which he sank in the scruff of Jack’s neck.
One pull, and it did the trick. The ghost stretched like an elastic band and then snapped back, its mire retrieving back into itself and freeing Jack. With a shriek, it disappeared into thin air.
“What the heck was that?” Jack asked, stumping his front paws in the fresh snow to get rid of the feeling of having that stuff between his toes. Vince winced, commiserating silently with him.
“Whatever it was, it’s part of the bad things that must’ve happened in this place. It almost got us.”
“Yeah. By the way, that was quick thinking, Vee. And you freed us.”
It looked like he had. But Vince couldn’t help feeling a bit like this confrontation had been too easy.
Maybe he shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, there were surely more dangers waiting for them, and getting rid of this evil creature for now was only temporary.
“Let’s go, Jack,” he said, but not before throwing another look around. “And keep your clairvoyant senses wide open. I believe this was merely a preview of what’s ahead.”
“Yeah. And I’m saying that while trying to be positive,” Jack said. “Do you think we can find some snacks if we search this place really, really well?”
“Are you hungry?” Vince had to admit that he did feel an emptiness in the pit of his stomach, which made little sense since food should be the last thing on their minds.
“I’m feeling a little peckish, I’m not going to lie,” Jack replied. “Although it’s a bit weird, not like before.”
That confirmed some of Vince’s suspicions. Their hunger wasn’t normal, just like that apparition had been strange and potentially deadly.
“As I said, let’s stay sharp.”
“Yeah. We’re wolves now,” Jack said, boasting about it a little bit. “We have like enhanced senses and stuff.”
Vince nodded and they continued their trek through the still smoking abandoned buildings. Somewhere, inside the belly of this destruction, there was a truth waiting to be uncovered.
***
It was late at night when Theodore returned to the pyre slated for the Embercasting, now abandoned by the members of his pack. His hands were so cold, but he didn’t want to get warm. As a pup, he had embraced the cold, first because it was really fun, and second because he believed the cold would make him grow stronger.
Why and where he had roamed for the entire day, he couldn’t remember well. He only recalled the way the dark apparition had taken him along to show him the lands outside, where other creatures lived.
His eyes were getting sleepy, and the flint of the Embercasting weighed heavily in his pocket. Hadn’t his guide said something about using the flint together? But no one was here to see him bringing the Embercasting back to life. What use would that be?
He sensed the creature rising behind him. It was a cold colder than cold that wafted from the apparition. Akin to the trapped air inside a tomb, it smelled bad, as well. Theodore struggled against the fog descending upon his mind, but he couldn’t make himself understand why he was getting so frustrated about his inability to remember the day and how he’d spent it.
“You are the alpha now, Theodore. This is your kingdom. Light the world on fire,” his guide whispered from behind him.
He let his eyes drift closed for a moment and was jolted out of his stupor. Before him, the pyre lay, untouched as it had been for decades, and the smell of death and ash was everywhere around him.
He was remembering. He was here to avenge his pack. With Vince’s and Jack’s help, he’d gone through the veil, and now—
“If you want to remember, you must forget about them,” an impatient voice spoke from behind him. “Don’t you want to remember what happened to your pack?”
He did. But why did some of his memories seem as close as if he’d lived them moments before, while others escaped him altogether?
“I am helping you remember,” the cavernous voice continued hurriedly. “If it feels like you are there, back as a young wolf, it is only because of the power of my magic.”
Theodore didn’t trust magic. He hated it and those who wielded it, although he couldn’t quite remember why.
“Close your eyes, and I will take you back to your days as a child.”
“Are you truly the wisdom tree?” Theodore asked. He turned, but the apparition eluded him. His eyes met nothing but twilight and mist.
“I am your guide to the past. You are here to remember, to see the truth. Do not dally. There is not much time left. You must use the flint.”
What this creature was saying made little sense. He no longer had the flint, so how could he use something that no longer existed?
“It’s in your hand,” his guide said, showing even greater signs of impatience.
He looked down. He was in his wolf shape, so how could he—
His small hand opened to reveal the flint of the Embercasting. And that he was back to his human shape, although he couldn’t recall when or how that happened. He was a boy again, which meant he was better not questioning this magic. It appeared that his guide was telling the truth. But to use the flint now, with no one watching… it felt wrong. Not because he wanted to show everyone that he deserved to be their alpha, but because the Embercasting didn’t exist without the pack. They all had to be here to witness the fire.
“I should wake them up,” he said out loud, his voice young and unsure once more.
“They will wake up and be overjoyed at the sight of the flames of your ritual,” his guide explained. “You must use the flint now. Theodore, alpha of Whiteflame, this is your moment. No one will ever take it away from you.”
He still felt like he should at least wake his father up, but moved closer inside the circle. The flint was tricky. His father knew how to use it because he’d honed that skill to perfection over many years. But now it was all up to him, a young pup, and Theodore didn’t know if he was truly capable of doing what needed to be done.
“I’ll guide you.” The cold radiating from the creature was now seeping into his bones, making his teeth chatter and causing a shiver to run down his spine.
Everyone would wake up and join the joy of Embercasting once they smelled the burning fire. They would get warm at its flames, just like Theodore wished to do right now.
***
Wolf fur had to be made of lead because Jack felt really heavy. His own bones could barely support his weight, which was weird, because he’d felt so full of energy not long ago.
“Vee,” he said, “do you feel as tired as I do?”
“We must’ve been cursed,” his companion said with a grunt that practically proved that they were both experiencing the same thing.
“That mire must’ve infected us with something,” Jack added. “And I thought being a wolf and all would give me superpowers so nasty creatures made of bones and ill-will could never hurt me.”
“This might also be a test,” Vince suggested. “After all, until now, we’ve done very little to prove that we are worthy of being Theodore’s mates.”
“Yeah, you’re right. But not exactly about you. After all, you took us through the freaking veil, because you’re a guardian, and therefore super awesome.”
“We wouldn’t have come this far without your card-reading,” Vince said back. “But let’s leave the niceties for a bit and focus on what is happening to us. I had it so easy when I only had to watch over Danny. For the most part, I didn’t even have to do anything except be a good friend.”
“You are great at being a good friend,” Jack snuck in another nicety.
But Vince was right. What were they supposed to do now? An obstacle was getting in the way of their forward progress, and they had no idea what to do, especially since it looked like they were the obstacle, moving at such a slow speed because it felt like they weighed a ton together or something close to that.
The ruins closed in on them. Jack stole a quick nervous look at the looming shadows of the buildings that must’ve looked majestic many years ago.
“Can you imagine this place like it used to be?” he murmured. “This was where Theo grew up, right? I wish we could see it the way it used to be.” He sighed, expelling a soft cloud of air out of his mouth that readily transformed into a transparent ball that flickered silver. “Wow,” Jack said, “do you see this, Vee?”
The ball expanded slowly, like a balloon. Jack watched, mesmerized by the spectacle taking place before his eyes. Vince moved closer to him, and he could feel his body heat. It was reassuring, and Jack needed reassurance above all else because he didn’t feel particularly strong, despite having become a little wolf.
The ball exploded, the small particles of ice trapped inside it falling like a curtain of frosty fireworks over Jack’s and Vince’s heads.
“I am not saying,” Jack started, carefully enunciating every word, “but I think – bear with me for a moment, Vee – I can do some magic. Me.”
“Let me try,” Vince said. He exhaled noisily through his mouth – or muzzle (Jack still needed to get used to naming their body parts by their new names).
But his breath didn’t turn into a ball of magical mist, like Jack’s did.
“Hmm, do you think it was a one-time thing?” Jack breathed out, and, indeed, nothing happened. Disappointed, he let out a long sigh, and this time, the magic was repeated. “Vee,” he shouted in excitement, “try it, too!”
Vince followed his example, and the bubble emerging from his sigh turned out to be even bigger.
“Of course,” Jack rationalized for himself, “since it’s magic, it needs a magic formula. But why does sighing do this? I mean, sighing in particular?”
Vince was too busy looking around to reply to his question. Only then did Jack realize that some of the landscape surrounding them had changed. Fresh snow had appeared out of nowhere, and the smell of ash was no longer as strong as it had been.
And if he looked more closely, he could see that the buildings rising to their left and right no longer looked…
Like ruins.
“Vee,” Jack whispered, “I feel like we can bring this place back to life only by sighing our lungs out. Should we try again?” He made a move to leap forward, but his paws seemed to be stuck in place.
“I cannot move,” Vince said, before Jack had the chance to articulate this new horror.
“Oh, no,” Jack complained, “what is happening? I bet it’s all because of what that nasty kidnapper did to us. It tainted us with that shitty thing.”
He would’ve continued to complain but the earth shook beneath their paws, silencing him. As if anything truly had the power to make him shut his mouth.
The place they were intruding upon had other plans for them, it seemed. The weather began to clear, and Jack could swear that the night was turning into day.
And that wasn’t the only thing that was happening. The windows of the houses, returned to their places by the power of magic, flickered yellow, promising warmth and good will, while the air filled with the sound of bells and cheerful conversation.
“Vee,” Jack whispered, overwhelmed and puzzled at the same time.
The din of voices reached them, but they couldn’t see anyone. Jack was ready to debate whether this magic was the good kind or not, when he began to make out silhouettes at first and then… people.
People dressed in furs, of all ages, men and women, elderly people and children alike. The entire place was now alive, and they were standing there, stuck in place. It didn’t seem fair.
Unless this was a way for this magical realm to pull a veil away from their eyes so they could see… the past.
A tall handsome man with long white hair and sharp eyes noticed them. Or at least he looked very intently in their direction. Jack wasn’t sure what was happening.
“Vee,” he muttered again under his breath, “let’s stay frosty. That good-looking guy over there is going to interrogate us.”
“I’m not sure he can see us,” Vince whispered back.
“Do you think we’re invisible? But why is he walking over here, then?”
Their little debate was cut short by the majestic man stopping before them. “Strangers,” he boomed, “I am Tharion, the alpha of Whiteflame. What brings you here?”
It took Jack more than a moment of absolute shock to process what was going on, and who the man was asking them about their whereabouts.
“Dad?” he asked in a low whisper.
Vince’s paw stepped hard on his, making him wince and remember his place. They were visiting the past, which meant that Jack absolutely had no business calling Theo’s dad that, only because dad-in-law seemed to be too much of a mouthful. Not that he and Theo were married or anything; and they’d have to be married to Vee, as well, which meant—
“We are travelers,” Vince replied for both of them. “We have heard of a place like no other, belonging to the Whiteflame pack. We’ve wanted to visit you for a long time.”
Dammit. He was supposed to be the guy with the words, but it looked like Vince had to be that, too.
“What are your names?” Tharion watched them closely, not with wariness, but with curiosity.
“My name is Vince, and this is Jack.”
“Your names are so common for what your fur tells me,” Tharion remarked. He seemed particularly interested in eyeing Jack.
Now that was the way an alpha could stare someone down. Jack couldn’t say he felt too at ease.
“We are not important in our packs,” Vince said.
“Every member of a pack is important to the pack he or she belongs to,” Tharion said, examining them now with increased interest. “You haven’t been cast away from your packs, I hope.”
“Nothing like that,” Jack blurted out. “We just… I mean, we lost ours.”
It was easy to say such a lie, because it was partially the truth in his case, since he was an orphan.
“What happened?” Tharion asked. “You must be cold and hungry. Follow me, and you can share your woes with us.”
“Damn, but if we’re stuck in place--” he mumbled, as Tharion turned on his heel, acting like a leader and a host in one, causing his long furs to brush the snow and leave a trail.
Vince took the first step, which gave Jack hope. He moved tentatively, but it looked like whatever had been holding them in place before wasn’t there anymore.
***
Minutes later, they were inside a long room with a single heavy table in the middle, guarded by tall-back chairs on each side. A cheerful fire burned in the fireplace, and Jack felt like his worries were melting just at the sight of it.
“Feel free to turn to your human shapes, so we can enjoy a meal together,” Tharion said pleasantly. He opened a side door and yelled some orders, all in a voice that Jack had come to identify with power and authority, but also with warmth.
Oh, wait. Turn into their humans? But he had no idea how to do that. They had turned into wolves before without having a clue about how it happened.
“I’m afraid that is impossible for us right now,” Vince said. “Our deepest apologies, alpha. If you feed us outside, we’d be grateful--”
“Nonsense,” Tharion boomed again. “You will eat here, at the table. All wolves are welcome here and will be treated the same.”
Yeah, Jack really warmed to that way of talking. The more he observed his father-in-law – really, his imagination was running away with him – the more he liked the man. Theodore truly took after Tharion a lot. Was Theodore going to be as big as that?
Jack shook his head. They were in the past, turned into wolves, without having a clue as to what they were going to do, and they were also hungry.
There was really no time to indulge in fantasies of getting married to Theodore Pembroke, alpha of Whiteflame.
But wait, Tharion was the alpha currently and presently and momentarily. That meant—
“Where is Theo?” he asked without thinking, earning himself a heavy glare from Vince.
“Do you know my son?” Tharion perked up.
How Jack wished he’d had a dad who had been so happy about having a son.
“Just by hearsay,” Jack hurried to cover his mistake. “We’d love to meet him.”
Tharion laughed and leaned over to scratch Jack behind the ears. “You’ll meet him soon. But be careful. He dislikes being called anything but Theodore.”
Jack exchanged another glance with Vince. Although with wolves, it was hard to tell, he would bet Vince was smiling.
Some things had been going on since forever, it seemed.
TBC
@Derek - oh, things are only getting more complicated... I like my drama to have more drama :D
@Mark Mortland - they will fumble and tumble (in the dark), but they'll find their way :)
@DavidB - yep, it does make sense!
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