Lorkana by Emily Zimmerman. (free e books to read TXT) 📕

idea we know they’re following us.” Demetrio whispered.
Logan grinned. “Let’s have some fun with them.” He whispered back.
Demetrio smiled wide. “Let’s do it.”
Vivia gave them both a disapproving look and I sighed. I took Logan’s arm and unwrapped it from my waist and walked over to Vivia. “They’re both big dumb manly men.” Vivia whispered to me.
I giggled softly. “And they’re egos are too big for their brains.”
Vivia smiled and examined my dress as we walked. “I can’t say I much like the improvement on the dress. It seems a bit drafty.” She said.
I sighed, examining the skirt that had been cut a few inches below my bottom. “A form of torture. The cell gets cold at night. William came every night to untie my binds and give me a blanket. They’d tie me up, and put food in front of me, I was unable to eat it, though.” I said.
Vivia’s eyes hardened and her lips tightened into a thin line. “Labara is a cruel man. And I can tell they’ve been starving you, you’re as thin as they come.” She said.
Logan and Demetrio informed us that they were going to go “play a few games” with the group of humans following us, and that we should keep speaking as if they were there. We both rolled our eyes and told them to be careful.
Vivia and I spoke of home, how everyone was. “Your mother and father even took the spirit of two cardinals to make sure you were alright. They flew to the castle and when they ascertained that you were alright, they came home. They were distraught because they wouldn’t lose you again. They searched every cell, not realizing they had put you in the cell of torture until the last cell they searched they found empty.”
I sighed. “They should not have worried.” I said softly.
Vivia smiled again. “Johanna, everyone worries about you. You’re too kind for your own good, and selfless, if it came to one of the servants and you, whom would you choose?” she asked, as if already knowing the answer.
“I would choose the servant. Of course.” I said.
“See? No explanation why you would choose the servant, you would just do it!” she said.
“I would choose him or her because they do not deserve death. They’d done nothing to deserve it.”
“And you have?”
I paused. “Well…yes. I have.” I said.
Vivia raised an eyebrow at me. “And what have you done that deserves such a punishment?”
I sighed. “When I was younger, about three years ago, my mother bought me a horse, he was a big, black stallion and I was not supposed to ride him without my parents guiding him. I named him Brian, which means high, noble and strong. One night, my mother and I had a fight, she’d told me that my sister was going to go away to a catholic school when she came of age. I’d told her that I’d heard stories of those catholic schools, that they were cruel and that the women would beat you if you did not act correctly. She wouldn’t have it.
“That night, I took my sister Rose from her crib; she was only two years old at the time. I wasn’t trained to ride the stallion I had by myself, but I was going to run away with Rose and keep her from the catholic schools.” I glanced at Vivia; she was listening with rapt attention. “I saddled up the horse, and hopped on with Rose in front of me. I had been running through the forest as fast as I could when a man who’d been hunting late that night crossed my path. I tried to stop the horse before it trampled him, but in the process I’d knocked both Rose and I off the horse. The stallion trampled the man, but I’d taken most of the fall with Rose, she was unharmed. The man, however, died from a terrible head injury.” I said, a single tear escaping the corner of my eye.
Vivia wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed my cheek. “It wasn’t your fault, Johanna. You were only trying to do what was right. That is hardly a reason to be punished in such a way as death.”
“I killed a man. No matter the way I killed him, it was my horse that trampled him…my actions that caused the man to die. If I’d only tried to reason with mother a little more, I wouldn’t have gone out that night, almost hurting Rose, and killing a man I hadn’t even known.” I whispered.
“As I said before, hardly a reason to punish you in such a way as death, it was an accident, you had no intention of killing the man.” She said.
“I almost killed us that night, Rose and I. I suffered a broken leg and a fractured ankle. Rose had a few scrapes, but it could have been much worse. I regret that night.”
Vivia didn’t answer, we heard the sound of whispered swearing and shuffling feet, I assumed this was the work of Logan and Demetrio. They both came into view, Demetrio was smiling, but Logan was staring at me with anger in his silver eyes.
“You two go on ahead. I need to speak with Johanna.” Logan said.
They both nodded, heading forward quite a ways so they wouldn’t hear what was said.
Uh-oh, he’d heard what I said. He stopped and turned to me, turning my face up to his. “You think you deserve death because you killed a man?” he asked in disbelief.
I nodded slightly. “Of course I do. I’m not heartless, and I can’t forgive myself for killing an innocent man.” I said softly.
“I’ve killed men, plenty of men, does that make me deserve death?” he asked.
I quickly shook my head. “Of course not!”
“Then why is it so different from you? Why does one man’s death not compare to hundreds of lives lost?” he asked me, keeping his eyes locked onto mine.
I stared into his eyes for a while, trying to think of an answer. “See? You don’t know. It does make me deserve death. You just don’t want to admit it, I killed your family. I’ve killed many families, in fact. I’m a killer, a cold blooded monster. I’m what humans call a murderer. What you did doesn’t deserve death. What I did, does.” He said.
I lifted my hands and cupped his face lightly. “Why?” I asked softly.
“They killed my family, Johanna. My family never committed a single crime against the human’s, and they found them one day, and slaughtered them like pigs.” Logan said, his eyes and face devoid of emotion.
My eyes filled with tears and I leaned up on my tippy toes to wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. “I’m sorry, Logan.” I whispered in his ear.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled my neck. “You are my family now, Johanna, and I’ll never let anything happen to you.” He whispered.
I sighed and relished in his warmth. “I love you.” I said.
“I love you too.” He laughed softly.
“Now let’s go. We’re going to lose Vivia and Demetrio.” I said.
He pulled me into him, kissed me deeply for a few long seconds and then we caught up with the other two.

We walked for a while longer before we came across a staircase. The door at the top was cracked open and moonlight cast a rectangle of light through the door. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief as we stepped into the night, the sanctuary of forest awaiting us.
Logan whispered as we walked, “We’re going to change into wolves and run, so we can make sure we’re not followed. It takes a while to get to the emergency hide-out, so we’ll stop by the lake on our way and rest.”
We all nodded and Logan stepped away. He smiled at me and then shifted. I smiled and shifted as well. It takes about a second for the shift to complete, but it feels like an hour.
Your skin stretches and your body explodes with fur, your hands grow and your fingers curl inwards, fusing them to your palm. Your claws grow through your knuckles, which is the most painful part. Fur covers your paws and your claws grow sharper. Your ears stretch upwards and turn to a point, and your face stretches outwards while your eyes grow larger to accommodate the bigger head. Your nose flattens and stretches, turning black. And of course, short fur grows across your face.
I stood up on all fours and shook myself, I hated that part. Logan stared at me for a second, and then gave me a wolfy grin. I grinned back and we all took off. The forest wasn’t a blur like I thought it would be; I could see every tree with precision.
I looked up and realized there was an owl following us, gliding high through the trees right above us, as fast as we were going I was amazed it could keep up. The forest seemed full of life, even at night. I could hear every creature, every sound that echoed through the woods. I heard no pursuit though.

After a few minutes the owl reached its destination and landed gracefully in a branch high above us. He was soon behind us.
It seemed like hours later that we reached the lake that Logan spoke of, but it wasn’t a lake at all, it was a pond, a large, beautiful pond. We slowed to a walk, all tired from running non-stop for so long.
Logan shifted and we all followed suit. We walked around the pond until we reached an overhang of rocks. It provided shelter and allowed us to stay hidden in case the humans somehow found us. The overhang hung all the way out over the water.
The water was murky, but the pond was beautiful none the less. Logan sat beside me near the edge of the water as I stared in awe at its beauty. Vivia and Demetrio sat with arms crossed at the base of the overhang, keeping watch, but dozing off as well. “Why don’t you two rest? Logan and I will watch for intruders.” I called softly.
They both nodded immediately, seeming to like this idea. They shifted to wolves and lay down with their heads on their paws, sleeping side by side. They closed their eyes and almost immediately fell asleep. I smiled and turned back to the water. “Would you like me to show you something I learned as a child?” Logan asked me softly.
I looked at him and nodded. “They say a wolf’s spirit can cleanse the forest, make it like no other forest in the world. My father told me that when I was young. We sat by this very lake. He took my hand, and pressed it to the surface of the water.” He said, taking my hand gently placed it so it was just touching the surface. “Now close your eyes, and move your hand in a circle, always touching the water.” I did as he told me to do and felt something vibrate under my hand.
I opened my eyes and gasped softly. The water was clear, and it seemed illuminated with a blue light under the surface. Catfish and carp swam under the water, seeming full of life and color. “Now remove your hand.” He whispered in my ear.
I slowly lifted my hand from the water, and it was as if life exploded from the lake. The fish started jumping in the water, high in the air before falling back in gracefully, birds from everywhere landed at the water’s edge; even