Review item
Add to faves
Anonymous
| Age: | ? |
|---|---|
| Loc: | ? |
| Gen: | ? |
| Last Login: | ? |
Sci Fi & Fantasy / Pathways to the Heart (Analysis)
I barely acknowledged the tears running down my face as I crashed through the underbrush. Thorns and branches tore at my face and clothes, but none of that registered. I needed to get away from everyone quickly, before It happened.
A gut-wrenching cramp tore through my stomach, causing me to stumble into a clearing. On my hands and knees, I felt my skin ripple and churn, as if it were truly nothing more substantial than water. All these sensations were not new to me. Letting go of all resistance, I let the fire of the Change burn through me. I felt the fire reshape my bones, felt it Change my body into something it had not been not moments before. Something very old and primal.
I tore down a path I never could have before on two legs. My pain, both physical and emotional, was left behind as the night opened up to me in ways few ever got to experience. The sounds of nature filled my ears, the scents of the woods painting an invisible path for me to follow. Filled with energy and exultation, and suppressing the reason I was out here, I threw my head back and howled. My voice rang out into the night, a great and powerful exclamation of pure joy and ecstasy, a declaration of my freedom.
I ran to the edge of the woods coming straight up to the invisible boundary between wild, untamed nature, and the cultured, mundane civilization.
Slowly, the emotions started to slink back into my heart, the pain that had triggered this Change in the first place. With a whimper, I leaned against the closest tree, its bark pulling at my fur. Eric. His name whispered through my head, memories of my time with him, flipping through my mind like a movie in slow motion. Eric Rowlands. The first time I saw him, the first time I looked into his deep brown eyes. All the times I laughed with him, all the times I sang with him in private. Waking up before him, just to see the first rays of dawn dance in his auburn hair. The delicious smell of apples that always clung to him. His dazzling smile. His beautiful face telling me calmly and coolly that he never wanted to see me ever again.
I choked back a cry just in time, as two men came into the backyard I happened to be leering into. Quickly, I slunk back into the shadows. My surroundings all of a sudden looked strangely familiar, though it did not dawn on me until the two men were upwind of me that I knew exactly where.
I loped off to the left, getting closer to the men, finding cover under a bush growing next to an outdoor gazebo. The men were arguing.
“I can not believe you would do this to me, to our family!” the older man yelled. I suppressed a growl as Eric stood up in his father’s face, an odd fire burning in his eyes.
“I fixed it all right?! He’s never going to want to see me again!” Eric screamed. “He’s gone, so you can stop harassing me!”
What the hell…? was all I could think to myself.
Eric’s father blocked the exit of the gazebo, staring Eric down as if he could crush him with his gaze alone.
“I don’t understand why you would even think that was okay Eric! For one, it’s just perverse. Boys aren’t meant to like boys. Secondly, you’re betrothed for Goddess’s sake!
My heart stopped. Betrothed?
Eric’s father continued. “You and Regina Martin are to be married in three weeks Eric! Your union to her will boost our family into a higher position of power. Think of all the benefits and knowledge you almost lost with your… your perversions!”
Eric flinched, as if his father had actually struck him. What the hell is going on here? I thought to myself. Eric never mentioned any of this. Never even hinted at it. And who the hell was this Regina Martin? And why the hell was she engaged to my boyfriend?
“Maybe because I didn’t ask for any of this,” Eric whispered, “Maybe I was happy with him. I didn’t volunteer myself for any of this, Dad, you did, before I was even born! You never gave me a chance!”
Eric’s dad’s hand shot out as if he were going to smack him and Eric fell back into the gazebo. I felt frozen in place. Defenseless. Unable to defend the man I loved.
“There is nothing left to discuss. You will marry Regina Martin, and you will no longer shame our family with your…boyfriend!” Eric’s father spat out before stomping back towards the house.
Finally, I felt feeling flood back into my body, the sensations of many tiny spiders crawling over my flesh was overpowering, making me jump out of the bush.
“You REALLY aren’t who I thought you were,” Eric said, backing up against the gazebo railing.
Knowing full-well that I was being an idiot for staying, I still wanted to be close to Eric. Cocked my head to the side and wagged my tail twice, I waited to see if he’d go on.
Slowly, as if afraid I would bite him, Eric came closer, close enough for me to smell the apple scent that clung to him. I breathed it in deeply.
“You’re an awfully large dog…” Eric said, his hand slowly coming toward me. He stopped when he looked me right in the eye and a look of recognition spread across his face. Damn.
“Wait…” he started , but I had already sped off back toward the woods, back to where I had left my clothes. Idiot! I thought to myself. Of course he’d know it was me! He’s Eric! He always seemed to know when you were close by. Why would it matter what form you were in! I quickly began to Change back into a teenage self.
It was not until I had just begun to lose my tail and claws when I heard someone crashing through the woods behind me.
“Goddess!” Eric’s voice came from the edge of the clearing.
Whimpering from the pain of Changing so fast will cause, and still lacking fully functional vocal chords, all I could do is writhe on the ground. I looked into the eyes of the man I loved, pleading with him to stay and let me explain. Eric took a step back away from me, curling his hand into a claw and thrusting it at me. I went sailing through the air to find myself pinned to a tree. It startled me enough to let me forget all about the pain of the Change and finish completely without a stitch of clothing on me.
So there I was, naked and pinned to a tree by some force I could not name in front of Eric. The look in his eyes when he realized who I was nearly broke my heart all over again.
“Daniel?” He whispered, lowering his arm, an action that was simultaneous with me falling to the ground.
With a groan, I pushed myself up to stand and face Eric.
“Hi Eric,” I said dumbly, trying to act as if this were all completely normal. “How are you?”
I slowly started to inch towards my clothes. My body was nothing he had not seen before, and to be honest, I usually felt better naked than with clothes on, but under the circumstances, I believed being clothed was my best option.
“What the hell is going on here?” Eric asked, having the decency to blush and look away as I went about putting my clothes back on. I could not help but to grin when I noticed he was watching me out of the corner of his eye, trying not to think about how it used to be as natural to see each other naked as seeing clouds in the sky. I let out a sigh when I was finished, and Eric turned to face me.
“What the hell is going on here?” Eric asked again, a bit of color lingering on his cheeks, taking a step toward me. I quickly stomped on my gut instinct to sweep him up into a tight embrace and matched his agitation with my own.
“I could ask the same thing Mr. Telekinesis,” I asked coolly, trying desperately not to let on I was ready to cry all over again.
Eric’s cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red. His eyes were glassy as he took a step toward me. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”
I took a sharp breath. “Physically, just now? No. But emotionally? Yes. Yes you did. And I really don’t understand why. I thought we were doing great. I thought we were fine. But I’ve come to find out you’re already engaged. To a girl.”
My voice had managed to stay steady, but I could no longer hold back the tears I had been holding. The next thing I know, Eric’s arms are around me, pulling me close to him.
All me defenses fell, myself included, wrapping my arms tight around him, remembering at the last moment to not squeeze too hard.
“Daniel, I’m sorry. There’s so much I want to tell you—“ Eric began.
“So do I, but we don’t—” I interrupted before Eric put a finger to my lips to silence me.
“I know a way we can, you just have to trust me and let me in,” Eric said, the red and gold flecks in his brown eyes mesmerizing me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, my thoughts getting a little funny. Eric just looked at me, before he leaned forward and put his soft lips against my own.
Immediately I was swamped with two sets of visions. It was like I was watching two different televisions, both on different stations. On the left, I could “see” Eric, in a strange circle that had been painted on the floor. He was levitating in the center, eyes closed, arms waving and hands gesturing. Purple flames erupted around the perimeter of the circle. On the right, I could see myself, running with my Pack through the woods, nipping at each other’s heels playfully. I pulled away, breaking the link between me and Eric.
Now I knew for sure. I knew Eric was a witch, and he knew I was a werewolf.
“Daniel, are you okay?” Eric asked, laying a hand on my shoulder. My head was still a little foggy from having given Eric access to my mind. I was about to tell him I was okay when I smelt it. I turned towards its source just in time to see a ball of green fire hit me in the chest. It knocked the air right out of me and sent me skidding through the leaves and brambles.
“Daniel!” Eric screamed, running to my side.
“Get away from him Eric,” Eric’s dad said from the edge of the clearing. My eyes were still blurred but I did not really need them to see that this was going to turn ugly, fast.
“No Dad! YOU get away from him,” Eric screamed at his father. I could feel the rising power in both witches. This can’t be good… I thought to myself, making tears down both my pants and shirt with my half Changed claws, to make it easier if I did have to Change completely.
Eric’s dad came closer to us, his anger almost palpable. “How dare you you inconsiderate bastard!” He screamed, throwing another ball of green fire at his son.
Eric caught the ball of fire in his bare hands and it disappeared completely. “No Dad. How dare you! A parent should never take away the free will of their child! It’s just wrong!”
“I’d rather you be dead than to be that… thing’s… faggot!” Eric’s dad screamed, drew a symbol in the air and snapped his fingers. Immediately, vines erupted from the ground, twining themselves around Eric’s arms and legs.
I finally Changed completely, and when Eric’s dad raised his hand to cast another spell, I leaped. He had no time to register what was going on before it was too late. My teeth were sunk deeply into Eric’s dad’s arm. The older witch’s blood was sweet as it filled my mouth, a fact that scared me a little. Never in my entire life had I ever attacked a man while in my wolf form.
It took only a second for Eric’s father to feel the pain of a 210 pound wolf biting his arm. He lifted his arm to fling me away when I loosened my grip enough to get his get his index and middle fingers in my mouth. With a sharp jerk of my head, I broke both of his fingers before another ball of green fire sent me sailing through the air.
I cracked my head against a tree and blacked out for a moment. When I started to come to, not a lot was getting through to me, though I was fairly certain that I was once again Changing back. I was going to regret all this Changing in the morning, I knew but that did not matter right now. Eric. I had to protect Eric. He was in danger. I could hear screaming, and I felt both of the witches begin raising their power, but my grasp of my surroundings was too foggy. I could hear the witches screaming somewhere in the clearing. I tried to get back to Eric, I tried to crawl, half-Changed, towards his voice, trying to ignore the excruciating pain that was shooting through every nerve in my body. Eric. All that mattered was defending Eric from his psycho father.
Silence fell upon the clearing and my attempts to get up grew more frantic. Eric. Where was Eric? What happened? Pain burned through every living cell in my body, but I tried anyway, crying out all the while. I had just got him back. I could not have lost him already. Not again. I screamed for him, my vocal chords human once more, though hoarse. I was crying openly, screaming for Eric, trying to find him through my blurred vision and the debilitating dizziness. Finally, I heard the shuffling of leaves coming toward me. I immediately started growling and throwing my arms out at the person, screaming obscenities at the monster that had hurt Eric. My Eric.
“Danny, shhhh, stop moving, you’re only hurting yourself,” Eric’s voice came from the haze, limping towards my slowly, bruised, bleeding and holding on to his left arm.
“Eric?” I wimpered, calming down and reaching for him. I laid my palm as softly as I could against his bruised cheek and started crying all over again. “You’re alive. You’re alive! I thought I lost you again. I was so scared. Eric, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I tried to protect you and I failed. Eric I let you down! Please forgive me Eric.” I begged. Darkness was framing my vision once more, and try as I might, this time it was not going away.
“Of I course I do, Daniel.” Eric whispered, face close to mine. I saw so many colors swirling around Eric. Eric, my angel. “It’s what you do when you’re in love.”
The last thing I remember is seeing the angel before me lean down closer and brush his lips against mine.
One Year Later…
I took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air and smiled to myself at the tiny whiff of apple I picked up on. Walking over to the side of the pool, I drug my toe across the cool blue water. I ducked just in time to see Eric flying right over me and waited for the splash of him hitting the water. It did not happen. I looked up and grinned, once again glad that our closest neighbors were at least three miles away.
“It’s no fun when you always know when I’m going to attack,” Eric said, standing on the water as if it were as solid as the cement I was standing on.
“Mmmhmmm,” I said, removing my shirt, slowly. It had been a year since the incident with Eric’s father, but even with Eric’s magick and my natural accelerated healing; my body still was not back to its full glory.
Eric walked across the pool and placed his hands on either side of my head and immediately I felt the tension roll off my body and sink into the ground. I pulled him close and kissed him.
“What was that for?” Eric asked, breathing a little harder.
“Because you’re adorable when you pout,” I replied, kissing him again, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“That’s not fair either,” he murmured against my lips, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer.
It was one of those moments where I looked back on all that had happened since the woods incident and could not help but accept the bitter-sweet reality of it.
Eric managed to take all of his father’s magick and power the night he attacked us, making it his own, making him one of the most powerful witches in the northern hemisphere, and his dad a normal human. His father was sent to a special facility after being tried by his own Coven and found guilty of trying to kill his only son, and me.
Eric’s mother was relieved that Eric found someone he truly loved and did not have to marry Regina, whom she could not stand, but it took her a month or so for her to be fully okay with her son being in love with a werewolf. The whole fact that I was a guy didn’t really seem to faze her.
And on top of all of this I was with the man I loved, in a house that was ours, doing the things we loved. Eric was going to college to become an English teacher, while I was working for my father’s construction company. This was my paradise.
“You know, I think we still have some chocolate ice cream in the fridge,” Eric whispered in my ear.
“Race you for it?” I asked, but Eric was already sprinting back towards the house. I quickly gained on him, but slowed down at the last moment to let him get to it first. Because that’s what you do when you are in love.
You need to log in to urbis or create an urbis account to review this writing.
Reviews
Sort Reviews by Newest | Oldest | Highest Quality | Lowest Quality | Newest Comments |
printpattern reviewed Version 1 -
Read 100% of the Item
This 251 word review has not been unlocked.
DickMcR reviewed Version 1 -
Read 100% of the Item
This 141 word review has not been unlocked.
SwordMistress reviewed Version 1 -
Read 100% of the Item
Overall this was an entertaining story. For the most part it’s written pretty well.
“I tore down a path I never could have before on two legs.” Why couldn’t go down the path on two legs? This is not very clear.
“I leaned against the closest tree,” I’m not quite picturing this. Wouldn’t a werewolf have to sit down first to lean against the tree or does it stand on two feet.
“I choked back a cry” I think since they are in wolf form, a whimper, whine, yelp, or howl would make more sense.
“happened to be leering into.” I thought the werewolf was at the edge of the woods.
“Defenseless.” How is a wolf defenseless?
“Unable to defend the man I loved.” Why is he unable to defend the man he loves?
“Cocked my head” I cocked
“All me defenses” my
“my thoughts getting a little funny.” Be more specific.
“anger almost palpable.” I’m not sure what you mean by this. His anger is obvious, not almost.
“How dare you you” you, you inconsiderate
Only put one space in between sentences. Two spaces used to be the standard, but it’s changed.
- add/view comments (0)
Showing 1 - 3 of 3
Creator
Relevant Links
Item Stats
GENERAL
3 Reviews 0 Comments
Version 1
Latest Activity: about 1 year ago
REVIEW QUEUE
Appeared in Queue: 8 Times
Skipped: 2 Times
Ratings & Rankings
