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Chapter One "It rained that night... "

Lucian stood in the kitchen holding a hot cup of carrot tea. Outside rain pelted the glass of the kitchen window as the storm thundered on. He watched the rain and blew the steam from the top of the cup waiting till it had cooled before he took a sip. He felt unsettled in his own fur this evening and a cup of hot tea would help settle his nerves.

Having lost his sight, to his own foolishness, he had fashioned the glasses with quartz and amethyst in the glass of the lenses. They allowed him the basic overlooked joy of sight. It was blurry but passable for everyday life.

Lucian smiled unconsciously at his own cleverness and pushed a thread of will into his eyes. The light in the glasses reflected the magic and filtered out normal sight allowing the sight of raw life to shine. Past the darkness of the night, and the steadily booming rain storm small flares of light shown like stars. Each one was a nocturnal inhabitant of the garden. Mixed about them was a web of shimmering hues, each one of those the flow of energy from all the trees and flowers. As beautiful as his garden was under normal sight it was something all together stunning to his sight.

One of the flares of light at the far end of the trees caught his attention and the fur the back of his neck stiffened. It was a sickly green and red blur, the absence of healthy life. He watched it stop and turn once in a circle searching for something. Something was wrong. Lightning flashed a moment before thunder shook the garden and Lucian locked onto the glow of the dead thing that had invaded his peaceful garden. "A Vacant Hound." The cup of untouched tea hit the tabletop a second before Lucian hit the front door, staff in paw. He flung the door open and cleared the porch in a stride capable by only a hare.

He closed the distance of the Peach Tree Path stopping half way to the hound. Lucian shook the rain from his face and froze as the lighting flash illuminated the back of what looked like a hound made of bone and decaying flesh.

It was not aware of him yet. He stepped quietly hoping the smell of mud and rain would keep him hidden from the hound till he was close enough to deal with it. Lucian froze and dropped lower to the rain slick ground whispering words, gathering his will. He closed his will around the point just in front of the old willow staff and the air crackled slightly.

A small ball of force comprised of wind and rain spun in the air like a palm sized projectile. He narrowed his eyes watching the rotten lifeless thing's head raise as it sat on his decayed hunches, hunting.

With a little luck he would kill it in the first blow and not have a full out fight. It had the advantage of size and speed. He had the rain and a cunning mind. Lucian watched the rotten muscles flex as the hound stood its full height sniffing the air. Tensed and ready to strike the first blow Lucian kept his sight locked on the hound. The lightning flashed and Lucian felt something slam into his side driving the wind from his lungs and the focus from his mind. The world turned and spun at an odd angle in the darkness and he hit something hard feeling a hail of falling rain from the trees leaves. Stars flashed in his eyes as he gasped trying to regain his breath. He forced a hard breath in trying to right himself his right paw empty and throbbing from the sudden impact. Lucian gagged at the rotten stench that told him the second hound he had not seen was very close. The second hound rose from its crouched position on the trail where Lucian had just been. It howled a sickening rattle of a sound and the first hound snarling alongside the second. "Two?" he chocked out suddenly having never seen more than one at a time. The second smaller one darted for the cabin while the first slowly closed the distance between him and death. "NO," Lucian screamed knowing what the second hound was after. He shoved his panic into a ball of raw energy and pointed his right fingers like a gun. A small arrow of yellowish light lanced out of his finger and raced after the hound. All the desire to reach the cabin Lucian had pushed into the bolt left his breathing labored.

The first hound recoiled a moment at the flare of light then snarled and lunged. The scream from Lucian slammed out of him as he put his large feet up fast enough to catch the shoulders of the hound. He slammed into the trunk of the tree as the hound snapped his jaws in the air before his throat. The rain shook loose from the tree and Lucian closed his eyes willing his legs to hold.

A moment later the hound realized its mistake and twisted its shoulders causing Lucian's leg to buckle under the uneven force. Lucian slumped with the change of direction and heard the solid crunch of the hounds massive maw rending bark from the tree. Lucian grabbed the hound behind the jaw and felt his fingers dig into the rotten flesh of the unnatural beast. The hound howled his frustration at the absence of a meal and shook at the grabbing paw.

The moment the hound pulled its head Lucian pulled, the palm full of flesh easily coming with him. The hound swung hard at the pain throwing Lucian into another tree with a teeth cracking sound that spun the hare face first into the mud. He rolled quickly trying to find his oak staff in all the rain and mud.

Lucian scrambled behind the tree he had hit watching the hound circle him, its jaw hanging at a disturbing angle. Even with a broken jaw Lucian knew it would still easily kill him and find a way to eat. He froze as the hound growled filling the air with putrid decay then lowered its shoulders. Lucian braced himself against the tree and took a deep breath. He began drawing his will into his open paws collecting and compacting the air as quickly as he could. It was dangerous to compact raw elements in any form. Without proper focus or concentration wind had a way of escaping in a violent way. Lucian was counting on it. The hounds empty yellow eyes locked onto the hare and Lucian could see death in them. Before the hound could lunge forward and tear the life out of the hare a bolt of light ripped from the ground around the cabin. It arched high into the sky and turned on itself. When it struck the ground around the cabin it sent a shock-wave rolling over the garden.

Lucian let the ball of air out by spreading his paws vertical to the ground. The air slammed outward in a visible blade cutting back at the shock wave. It parted the wave around the tree he had braced himself against and at the same time prevented him from taking the brunt of the ward.

The hound, not spared the force of the ward spell, was scattered around the tree in dozens of rot scented strips. The air around the cabin shimmered like millions of fireflies and Lucian knew the second hound would have fared no better than the first. Magic had a price. He collapsed against the peach tree all the strength he had left gone in the blade of wind he used to spare him the wrath of the ward.

Lucian sat feeling the cold sink into his fur and it was some time before he pushed himself up to standing. Still longer till he found his staff laying among the rotten chunks and mud. He quietly limped his way along the trees towards the cabin leaning heavily on his staff. Passing the small ring of stones around the cabin that amplified the ward Lucian crossed the porch and into the dry warm safety of his ancestors home.

He walked into the kitchen, leaned the willow staff against the wall and wiped up the now ice cold tea. He needed some warmth and with the tea gone the fire in the hearth seemed like a good idea. He froze when he heard a soft delicate humming. As he slowly rounded the corner a hooded figure stood looking at the carving around the hearth.