Chapter 22
Fresh flair of anger frolicked on her face as she darted her face from the dead body of Khalid to the werewolves trudging. But Tamara’s countenances bleared into another bigger surprise when she saw her mother and the rest of the Laraba’s army being attacked in a solid onslaught.
She saw another group of people as they stormed out of hiding attacking her fellow werewolves –she recognised fully well that they weren’t just ordinary human’s beings, they carried the vignette of the people her mother described that killed her father–with their long fangs and grotesquely shaped face, Tamara recognized they are the Lamiae. The vampires. An overwhelming feelings of pain, ire, surprise took over her as she watched her mother slumped down from her horse, while three of the vampires quickly mounted on her–in which one of them who was obviously the most strongest delved his hand straight into her innards –breaking into her pelvic girdle while his hand did quick search for heart. The vampire delved out his hands from her after he caught something like a viscera–fleshy and draining of blood.
“That is for killing Khalid you beast.” A deep distorted voice beckoned to Luciana as she groaned away in death.
Tamara watched from a dis to her mother and the rest of the werewolves. She cried seeing the pain her mother had to go through before her death.
So the Lamiae are wicked indeed. They carried the epithet her mother talked to her about. And they seemed to be more powerful and stronger than her fellow werewolves. This was one of the time she rued over not attaining her powers yet. Her mother had told her that she would become the strongest werewolf of all time, but the power wouldn’t just manifest if she dwell on phlegm. Her mother had always told her she needed to be active and also had to quickly groom herself up in other for her to trigger her powers to start manifesting. All this she counted as inessential especially when Khalid appeared in her life. Now that fate had dealt her a massive blow by taking the two things she loved the most–Tamara swore to avenge the death of her mother and father.
Tamara stood at a corner watching the battle between the Larabas and Lamiae dwindled down. The dust and particles haling the war cry had settled down too, while the countless dead bodies of the Larabas’ soldiers littered the cave and the it surrounding. Tamara came out from where she hid herself and went back to look for Khalid’s body. She wanted to hold the body for the last time and probably ask for forgiveness for sk for forgiveness for her mother’s cloddish behaviour for shooting him but she couldn’t find his body. She searched, searched and searched–turning the heaps of cadavers inside the cave all over but she still didn’t see him. After so much futile tries, she went to her mother’s cadaver and looked at her for the last time before she prepare her funeral pyre.
That day that seemed rather to be more ravaged with sadness and wistfulness for Tamara, also happened to be the day a seed was formed in her. A seed that undoubtedly belonged to her dead friend –Khalid Kenz.
.
Khalid flicked his eyes opened and two faces beckoned at him. His moms and Meshach’s. The two chopfallen faces seemed to get life immediately he open his eyes. He could sense how niggle they were before he opened his eyes, and how chuckles appeared on their lips now. That gave him a tint of what happened to him before. Dam! He was supposed to be dead–the last time he had three s—t arrows sinking into his body, so there was no explanation to justify why he should still be alive. Any explanation would be hued in mystery. Mystery he would be willing to unravel.
“You are awake, son.” Regina scooted to where his son laid and held him in a tight embrace. “I knew it, I knew you would come back to me.” She rubbed his blonde hair.
While Khalid stayed in her mother’s hug, he sunk his eyes into Meshach’s face.
“How come?” He asked, half expecting the truth.
“How come what ?” Both his mother and Meshach echoed together.
“How come I’m still alive here? Three arrows shot through me and now I can’t even feel the slightest pain and can’t even see the wound on my skin again. So tell me how am I still alive ?” He asked and studied their facial gesture to see if they were going to squeal any atom of truth.
“The arrow didn’t do much damage to you. Reason why you are still alive and you should remember I always told you’re a powerful creature. You are so powerful that even bullet hit to your body would always be like graze.” Meshach stated while Regina spurred him with strange nods and strange face. With that Khalid concluded they just expressed another taradiddle to him. They just lied to him again. There faces registered one.
Lies had always been order of the day. His life was full of lies–as a teen who was being fostered up with pure lies and fibs, Khalid had mastered way to detect even a professional fibber. Like Meshach and his mom.
“I’m so powerful? What are you not telling me ?” He winced in confusion. Mom and Meshach had kept telling how powerful he was–and something he confirmed with his body totally convalesced over the wound that could sentence any other person to death. He wish he could squeeze out whatever thing they were hiding from him. He knew they were hiding something from him. Something they might have thought was to keep him save. Khalid knew that had been the flimsy excuse an average human klutz would say.
What Khalid didn’t know was that he actually possessed the ability to compel both the adults to speak the truth; he just hadn’t recognized a way to do that.
“Something you will later learn about soon.” Meshach consoled and patted the young blighter.
He burked the dare urge to tell him he was born a hybrid–a Lamia and a very powerful one to the core. Regina had told him they still need to conceal to him he was supernatural like his father. But for how long were they going to keep him ignorant ?
After Meshach and the rest of the vampires had successfully attacked the werewolves; Meshach lurched to the spot Khalid was to remove the arrows from his body. On a normal circumstances, no human could have survived the shots–for the arrows piped through his pectus and thorax bones which of course makes breathing extremely arduous to victims. Khalid was supposed to be dead at exactly 3.05 seconds after the impact of the arrow on his body–but after some hours Meshach got to where he was; he was till alive. Though not breathing anymore; nevertheless he was still alive. Alive at the mercy of his supernatural theurgy. And it took Meshach his ability to detect that. He’d quickly carried Khalid’s supposed body and swept home in speed. The instant he reached home, he could see his wound lacerated; and there was only way to stop that–to remove the talisman from his neck. Since the talisman had been the only one object whittling his powers– including the power to heal. His lesion healed up immediately while his flesh came back to normal after the talisman was being removed. Then he had returned it back to his neck after his healing.
“Omg! Where is she ? Did you find her ? She must really be troubled about me now. I need to find her to let her I’m okay.” Khalid spurted up and scurried about. His mind running wild as he remembered the state Tamara would have slunk into if when she thought he was dead.
“Who are you talking about ?” Meshach asked, feigning incognisant. Plenitude of ideas were recruiting on his head and he was going to use one of them.
“My friend, Tamara. I remember we were together before I ….”
“She is dead.” Meshach riposted tersely.
“She is what ?”
“I said she is dead!” He said stoically again but his eyes lobbied a commiserative look. It was his perfect charade and a best way to masque the big embittered lie he just said. And for the first time–Khalid believed him.
“But how is that possible? Who could have killed her ?” Rivulet of tears sparged out from Khalid’s eyes.
“He was killed by the same people that attempted your life, same people that was responsible for your father’s demise 16 years ago. She was killed by the Larabas.” Meshach lied and lied to the boy’s dismay. Though he was sad because he just made Khalid sad–he was still however happy to instigate what Khalid needed to wield the mantle of leadership fated for him alone. With the pricy pain and emotionlessness stocking in him now, he believed he would grow up to be the super hybrid he was destined to be and last sentinel of vampire’s kind.
Now agony addled with utter lethargy– Khalid was very hurt, so hurt that he couldn’t believe Tamara had gone so soon. He wouldn’t be seeing her again. No pain could be greater than that. Her love he would cherish forever by embracing celibacy. He swore never to fall in love with no other person. And for her flossy face, he would permit that to haunt him every night in his dreams. If that was the least he could get after her death.
They were still in their brooding state when Meshach caught a faint sound in the night. However, the sound became nearer and perceptible enough for him to pick and determine whoever it was. Meshach realised they were about to be attacked by another pack of werewolves. The Larabas might have trailed Khalid down to his cabin when they couldn’t find his dead body. They believed he must still be alive; and so they decided to chase him to his cabin.
Meshach sprang up to his feet and lurched towards Regina and Meshach. His face was discomfited while it carried a faint fear.
“You two should listen to me now; you need to leave here immediately.”
“To where ?” Meshach asked befuddled.
“To–th-the city. You need to leave now I will be with you shortly. The Larabas I told you about are coming for you now. They won’t stop until they find you and kill you. Exactly what they did to your father. Now you need to leave.”
At first, Khalid was feeling obstinate that he wanted to confront them and perhaps quiz out why they were bent on wreaking furor on his descent. What had his bloodline done to warrant such a constant furore ?But then, her mother’s doleful face implored him to follow her. Thus Khalid and Regina fled into the night for safety from the Larabas.
Down in the middle of the sordid night, both mother and son trekked on through the forest and the swamps. While an unkindness of ravens, a murder of crows, an exhaltation of larks and a pack of vultures had accompanied them dead in the night. But what they didn’t know was that a lone wolf also journeyed with them.
By the time they reached the welkin of the journey, a very subtly looking woman appeared to them. Mother and son had wanted to snub the dame but when she approached them, they slackened their pace.
“Sorry to disturb you two but I need to ask for something from you.” The woman said as she took spiteful strides towards them.
“What do you need from us woman ?” Regina asked.
She already sensed the woman’s plight was bedraggled; so she quickly made to hover over her son, protecting him from the evil blinking out of the weird wench.
The woman looked with disdain as she watched the Regina’s feat to protect her son.
“Not us, I mean you.” She replied pointing at Regina.
“And what is that you need from me?”
“I need him. Your son.” The wench said and immediately her face transformed into a wolf. Thick hair sprouted out to taint her beautiful face while her eyes glowed like that of lycanthrope.
That was the second time Regina was seeing that. Monsters!
“Khalid run!” Her larynx managed to yell. Khalid heard her mother’s instruction but he was not ready to obey. He was not going to run and leave his mother. So he stayed– while he stay meant death.
The wolf pushed Regina away to have full access to Khalid; Regina staggered and slumped on the ground giving the wolf the full access to her son, but she quickly regained her stance then groped for anything she could use as a weapon, her right hand caught a stone, she picked it up and pelt it at the beast. The stone hit the wolf’s hindlimb. The impact really hurt it that it groaned in pain and for a moment mom and son had a sham feeling of victory. The feeling was short-termed as the wolf lumbered back to them. This time around; Regina knew it was over for her. The way the wolf poured a very disdainful look on her meant it was over. The wolf pounced on her and snagged to pieces every bones in her innards.
Khalid watched as the monster snagged his mother into shreds–tearing her apart limbs by limbs with blood seeping out from her. She watched her mother died a gory death without help coming forth. He vowed to forever despise the Larabas until he poured his last breath. Because they had successfully nibbled away everything he held so dear to his heart.
His father –his lover and now –his mother.
Story continues.