The 10
th
installment of Omega Pride!
To be honest, I was entirely excited about writing this chapter, more than any other chapter written.
Just one thing for you guys to know. The word cognomen means surname or nickname.
As always, thank you MythOFreak and L.L. I couldn't get all this down without you guys.
From this point on, we're looking at about 4 to 5 chapters left in the series, give or take some.
Without further ado, enjoy!
~*~*~
Almost nothing.
Almost nothing but growls, barks, whines, and faint whispers reached Delphi's ears. She heard almost nothing as Number 81 grunted in pain as the wind was cut by a powerful arrow, nailing 81 in the shoulder blade, causing the fired bullet to go straight up into the sky. She heard almost nothing as a large figure appeared and cut Number 81's arm that held the rifle clean off, producing a silent look of shock across 81's face. She heard almost nothing but growls, barks, and whispers as a thin, blunt object pierced straight through Number 81's throat, causing the dark crimson blood to pour forward and the sounds of choking and gasping for air to escape 81's lips. Delphi stared blankly at everything going on around her, those noises never once ceasing, yet her numbness made them feel like almost nothing.
"Y...you...?!" The sound of the μιγάς's whisper was nearly drowned out by the growls as a dark skinned figure peaked out from behind the side of 81.
"Yes. It is I," a female's unfamiliar accent was heavily accompanied by a rumbling growl.
"Ah...we should have known," 81's voice came out in a whispering, blood clogged rasp, "we've been trailing you for years...such a shame.... Well, we now know...where your loyalties lie..."
"They were never with any of you to begin with, μιγάς," The growl and bark almost drowned the female's voice out completely, "but know I will no longer be going anywhere. Rest easy knowing that."
"What a horrible sense of humor—" Number 81 was about to let out a weak chuckle among the barks before a matching thin, blunt object joined side by side with the first, pulling it up straight through 81's skull and splitting it in half. Number 81 dropped dead to his knees and fell over on the thin layer of frosted grass, his blood quickly growing cold as it coated the ground.
Delphi continued to stare blankly, her sight starting to shift painfully. In front of her, she at first was seeing a light brown, gray, and beige female wolf in human form, but in each moment, she seemed to shift to a wolf and back, over and over again rapidly and endlessly. The she-wolf held two Sais in which she spun quickly to remove the blood off of them before putting them away.
"Excellent shot, Fu Zhen," The bark and whisper of a male Russian accent barely registered in Delphi's mind.
"Luka," The dark-skinned female with the Sais interrupted with a light bark, "now is not the time for praise. Bury the body far away from this place. Use caution with your return."
"Yes, ma'am." The faint sound of a large sword being sheathed reached Delphi's ears. Auburn hair and grey fur peaked out from the corner of Delphi's vision as she heard the body of Number 81 being be picked up and carried off. As those footsteps hurried away, she heard the sound of new, lighter ones approaching.
"Guarder!" The sound of a soft, Chinese female's whine approached them, her breathing a little heavy. "How is she? Is it already too late to stop the regression progress?"
"Let me worry about that," 'Guarder' spoke as she bent down to Delphi's level, her hair and face from the bridge of her nose down covered by light beige colored cloth. She moved her long, matching cape out the way and gently touched Delphi's face with the palm of her warm, yet worn hand, Delphi not quite feeling it and unsure of how a she-wolf could be touching her like such in wolf form.
"Delphinia, can you hear me?" The Guarder spoke to her softly, but Delphi didn't respond as the growls, whines, and barks got agonizingly louder, starting to engulf the last whispers of human words.
"My Guarder, we're losing her. If this continues, Delphinia and her wolf—" The Chinese wolf spoke, but was silenced with a quick 'shh', a growl in Delphi's ears.
The female raised her hand higher, touching the side of Delphi's temple, and staring her dead in the eye. It was then that several whispers, the thoughts of others rushed into her pounding head like a violent gale storm, causing Delphi to shake violently, her face became coated sweat, her ears burning red in anguish.
But a single voice, this Guarder's voice, broke through and commanded the most attention, '
I know you hear my words, young wolf. You know my voice, Delphinia. I will end your grief now. As the last to hold this command...I release you both from your bounds.'
In that moment, the growls, barks, whines, thoughts, whispers, all of it stopped. Peace and quiet shielded her mind. Delphi's vision and hearing became clear, but in the next moment a terribly sharp, burning pain ran straight through her mind, body, and soul, causing Delphi to let out loud screams in pain, her wolf mirroring her with an agonizing whine and howl. Memories started flooding excruciatingly fast through and between her and her wolf's mind and soul, every single missing strand from her blackouts, everything her wolf had done, and everything that she kept from her pieced harrowingly together.
As the last of Delphi's screams breached the afternoon air, she breathed hastily and short, her eyes darting around before she could finally bring herself to breathe slow and deep. Every breath she took then became new, fresh, distinguishable, and unlike the ones she took before. Her senses felt heightened to an unimagined amount, and an unknown weight had been removed; the hole she felt before was now gone. She looked up, finally taking in the female's eyes, the only part of her face that could be seen other than the skin surrounding them and a few curled strands of black hair on her covered face, but...
"Je... je te connais... (I...I know you...)" Delphi stared at her, recognizing the female's deep brown eyes and scent from a distant past, "Je te connais. (I know you.)"