Wolves and Men

Jacob rested his chin thoughtfully on his fist. “I know the determination I see in you now, reminds me of me when I was your age.” William smiled. “There are so many things that have happened and we are spread too thin to deal with even the smallest problems, it seems.” Jacob walked over to his dresser. He fingered a black and white photo that William couldn’t make out from around Jacob’s back. After a moment he turned back to face to them, again. “We, the other Elders and I, agreed that your training should be limited due to your youth and inexperience. That is a luxury that we can no longer afford.” He shifted his gaze to Aceso. “I will give you the knowledge that you need. This knowledge could kill every single one of you and that will only make our enemies stronger. Do you understand?”

Aceso nodded. Jacob then said in an unsettlingly upbeat tone, “Well, then you have something new to learn. How very exciting.” Without another word he strode from the room.

The four of them looked at each other quizzically. Aceso turned and followed the Elder. William let the others leave ahead of them. He turned back to Jacob’s dresser and saw the black and white photo that had given the Elder pause. The picture was of a group of guys in some kind of uniforms that were not American military. If he had to guess by the helmets, he would say Vietnam era but the differences in style from what he had seen in popular media made it hard to tell. He saw a very young Jacob smiling into the camera with a huge guy standing next to him with some kind of machine gun propped up in between them. For some reason a quote struck him as he was looking down at the smiling young Jacob. There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.

Why had that thought come to him looking at the picture? He didn’t have time to worry about it as he turned and hurried out the door after his pack. He caught up with the group as Katherine was asking the obvious question, “…is Nicholas? We haven’t heard anything except that he was with Lethe’s pack. Have you heard anything?”

Jacob was walking with purpose. His strides were quick and sure, heading in a definite direction. “No. Efraim, and the rest of the group William was with, made their report of what happened at the club. The invoices are a start and we have made arrangements for some of our contacts to start tracing that information back to their respective sources to maybe get a lead on this Kenneth vampire and find out why he knows so much about us.” He glanced behind him toward Aceso and Katherine. “But they had no word on Lethe or the group that was with him.”

Katherine’s continued following in silence. William was sure they were all feeling the same thing. Nicholas was a pain but they didn’t want him hurt, and especially, not dead.

The group continued walking. After a very long time, traveling through the city, they found themselves in a very old, outer section, of the city. The buildings were dust covered, and the sharp angles they once boasted had been worn down and rounded by age. The polished stone had deep layers of dust that shifted and moved as they passed by. It felt dead, or dying. The temperature here was no different than in any other part of the city but for some reason William felt cold and fought the urge to rub his arms.

Jacob didn’t slow down. He continued in his sure strides and followed a side street as it curved around a single-story building. The road opened up to a wide thoroughfare that stretched out farther than he was used to seeing in the city. Jacob walked down the street and William finally saw what he was walking toward.

A massive black dome crested above the surrounding buildings. The dome was perfectly round and the light from the ceiling crystals reflected off the immaculate surface. He heard Katherine let out a small gasp in wonder. William had never seen anything like it, except in books. The Pantheon of Rome would have looked very much at home next to this structure.

Jacob didn’t stop to admire the building, or the impressive foyer. He strode through the opening walkway and into the venue. He turned around and waited for the group to catch up with him.

William walked through and into the huge opening in the middle of the dome. Unlike the Pantheon, there was no opening at the peak of the arch but it was still a very impressive building. Why would the Shape Shifters need a grand hall like this?

“So, by now you’re all wondering why I dragged all of you all the way out here, into a massive dome in the middle of nowhere.” It was a rhetorical question and no one answered. “Really? And here I thought I would have at least some one question my sanity after that long walk.” He scratched the back of his head and continued, “Well, this.” He held his arms dramatically outstretched. “Is a training hall.” He looked for any kind of wonder, or applause, or some reaction from them…which he didn’t get. He dropped his arms back down to his sides. “When the Whyte Plain was corrupted, we knew that we needed a place that we could show new Shape shifters how to enter and exit the Whyte Plain safely.” He looked pointedly at Aceso. “I understand it was you who made it possible for your pack to enter the Plain the first time.”

It wasn’t a question and Aceso’s eyes lowered a fraction.

Jacob turned to the rest of them. “But this is a skill that you all need to have. You all know what the Whyte Plain is and now it’s time for you to learn how to make use of it.”

Katherine asked, “But what about the Shadows? What if we can’t get back out?”

Jacob smiled. “Got a little ahead of myself.” He took on very rigid, scholarly stance, looking at them from a side profile. His voice deepened and became stuffy. “This place was built as a sectioned off portion of the Whyte Plain. A training ground that is completely separate from the rest of the Whyte Plain, and therefore completely safe from the Shadows and their influence.” He glanced at them out of one eye, his voice returning to normal. “Any other questions?” The group remained silent. “Oh, very well.” He turned to face them. “So how much do you know already?”