Cold Blooded by Duron Crejaro (top non fiction books of all time .txt) 📕

Epigraph

Sweetness in the Sun, the bath of light.

 

Warm is its embrace.

 

The World burned, and now is cold.

 

From the ashes, risen are my children.

 

Come to me, my cold-blooded.

 

Man is dead. They are passed.

 

We are the future, my cold-blooded.

 

Slither, crawl or fly. The time is nigh.

 

Come to me, my cold-blooded.

 

    ~Song of the Cold-Blooded~

Chapter 1: New Life

Three whole months of bliss, Tarin and I together, running free through the Old World. So far, this had been the best time of my life. I did volunteer work often, always willing to help grow the community of Springwell. I loved this place, and now called it home. After everything that happened to me, my torture in a secret research facility, the death of my parents, and having to come to terms with being a Wylder. I needed this place, a safe haven from the troubles of the world. It suited me.

 

Nearby Nashboro started opening their closed minds as well. Wylder were no longer being forced out of the city and sent to us. They were given a choice, and though most elected to move to Springwell, a handful chose to stay with their families. Bobby was on the council, or Sir Andrew as they had started calling him. The open line of communication between our two towns created more opportunities; trade began as well between the two communities, and talks were going on about letting Wylder children born in Springwell attend the schools in Nashboro.

 

Today I stood, hand in hand with Tarin, at the graves of my parents. Simple hand carved stone grave markers stood out in stark contrast to the dark cold dirt. Cold snowflakes settled on my nose, I gave a slight shudder in response. A sad smile on my face as I knelt and laid a hand on each tombstone. “I miss you guys, and I think about you all the time. I thought you’d like to know Nashboro has started opening up its borders to us.”

 

I sniffled a little, Tarin hugged me from behind. He always knew how to reassure me. I turned, letting him wrap me in his warm embrace. “I won’t ever let something like that happen again.”

 

“I know, and I’ll always have your back. No running off alone on suicide missions.”

 

“Ok.” I said.

 

“You promise?”

 

“Yes, I promise.”

 

“Good, cause chasing you down is tiring.”

 

I laughed, and pushed him away. I ran towards the tree line, letting myself slip into my graceful leopard form. It came natural now, after a bit of practice. Within moments, I disappeared into the woods, a blur of fur in the chill January snow. I leapt over fallen brush; small drifts of snow floated through the air in my wake. Instincts kicked in, adrenaline pumped faster with each beat of my heart as I raced to leave him behind. Over the sound of my racing heart, I heard the steady thumping of paws hitting ground as Tarin tore through the woods to catch me.

 

It took no time to clear the woods just outside of Springwell. I burst forth from the trees into the outskirts of the town, Tarin fast on my heels. A few townsfolk glanced up from their work as we thundered past. I’m sure we made quite a sight. Two larger than life leopards rushed through the snow, hot breath steaming in the cold air.

 

Tarin leapt, trying to pounce on me mid stride. I twisted, using my smaller graceful body to turn at the last second and duck into an alley. I gave a glance back; he hit the ground hard on the miss and skidded in the snow several feet. I didn’t wait, instead I pounded harder, and reached the run down house Cami, Dhamon and I now shared. I slipped back into my human form and skipped through the door, gave it a harsh slam of triumph and collapsed giggling onto the couch. Cami rushed in at the commotion, looked around and saw me. She rolled her eyes and went back to the kitchen.

 

The door flew open, and a wet Tarin came in. He scrunched his nose at me, and dove at me on the couch. I rolled to the left, and hopped up heading for the kitchen. I enjoyed playing with Tarin. I skidded to a stop, and held up a hand to halt Tarin. I walked into a solemn atmosphere. Cami and Dhamon sat at the table with Binala. I wondered what she was doing here.

 

“What’s going on?” I asked.

 

Cami and Dhamon looked at us, then back to Binala. She burst into tears. My concern grew; I took Tarin’s hand, drug him across the room to join the small circle of friends.

 

“Someone wanna fill us in?” I asked.

 

“About a month ago Rees started having strange dreams. I didn’t think anything about it at the time.”

 

“So this is about bad dreams?”

 

“At first it was just dreams. Then he started acting strange. He’d go all distant randomly and start talking to himself. Or at least I thought he was talking to himself, now I’m not so sure.”

 

“Ok? So do we need to check on him? Have an intervention or something?” I asked.

 

She started crying harder, “I don’t think that will help. Rees is gone.”

Chapter 2: Wyld Song

 

We spent the day scouring the countryside. We picked up Rees’ scent, headed in a southwestern direction. We followed it for several miles, before it vanished. We tried hard to pick it back up, and failed.

 

“Well I’m lost.” I said.

 

“You’re not the only one. How does something like Rees just vanish?” Tarin said.

 

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be expert trackers? Could he have pulled some trick to throw us off?” Dhamon asked.

 

“I’ve tested all the tricks I know to throw off a scent. He didn’t backtrack, or hit any water. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he grew wings and flew off.” Tarin said.

 

My shoulders slumped in disappointment. I didn’t want to return to Springwell without news for Binala. I sat on an overturned tree. “How else could we track him?”

 

“Umm, well. I guess we could see if Bobby, or perhaps someone else that can fly could scour the air for him. I mean, unless you know some magical means of conjuring up someone.” Tarin said.

 

Dhamon stopped, and tapped his foot. I almost laughed. Nali, still trapped within his soul had decided to put in her thoughts. We waited a few minutes for their inner dialogue to cease.

 

“Well?” I asked.

 

“Nali think we should go see Aeolia.” He said.

 

“Why would she be able to help?”

 

“She knew where you were. When you ran off to Nashboro, how do you think the Wylder found you? Nali says she has a natural attunement with the Wylder. If anyone can help it will be her.”

 

“Fine. Let’s go see her then.”

 

The trip back to Springwell took to long. Dhamon slowed us down. Tarin offered to give him a ride on his back, but he declined. The look on his face surprised me, a mixture of pride and fear. To make matters worse, the snow picked up, suffocating the land in its cold embrace. I shrugged it off as we entered town, giving myself a good shake to dislodge the flakes from my body, before I shifted back to my human form. The sensation of the change lingered, I never grew tired of it.

 

Aeolia, I learned, isn’t a Wylder. Bobby couldn’t explain her origins. He only guessed. He told me that she is some kind of spirit, or nature being perhaps. The things he knew for sure; she’s powerful, and anchored to Springwell or at least the earth Springwell is on. Her power comes from it, which is why the further she moves from it, the weaker she gets. I hoped she would be able to point us in the right direction. Rees and Binala helped me when I needed it the most, and I’d be damned if I didn’t return the favor. What are friends for after all?

 

I walked through the town, headed for the center. I figured the easiest place to talk to Aeolia would be there. It’s where she zaps us to when she does her teleport trick.

 

“Aeolia?” I asked.

 

I stood there, waited, glanced around. She sure is taking her sweet time I thought. I grew frustrated; every minute, unknown terrible things could’ve befallen Rees. I didn’t want to wait.

 

“Yes, He’s gone.”

 

I turned to find the voice. Empty air greeted me. “Aeolia?”

 

“He’s passed beyond my realm. The song called to him, and he went.”

 

“Went where? What song? You’re not making any sense.”

 

“Only they can hear the song. I hear only faint whispers of it.” She said.

 

“This song, where does it come from?”

 

“Far to the southwest. A harsh land, with the mistress that sings to them.”

 

“She sings to them? Who is she? Who is she singing to?” I asked.

 

“The Cold-Blooded.”

 

I gathered my friends to me. We all sat together in the house. Tarin, Binala, Cami, Dhamon, as well as a few others showed up as well. With everything going on between Springwell and Nashboro, I didn’t want to bother Bobby with our current dilemma. Better to leave him out of it to deal with any problems that arose here.

 

“So here’s the deal. Rees has gone missing, and Aeolia is giving off some creepy cryptic vibes about it.”

 

“Why should we trust her? Honestly, that thing scares the crap out of me.” Feldmond said.

 

“It doesn’t matter. Aeolia’s got the towns best interest at heart. We all know this. And, she has never steered us wrong before.” Cami said.

 

“So? What are we waiting for? Lets get going, find this place, find Rees, and maybe kick some ass.” Gloria chimed in.

 

I laughed. Gloria lived for a good fight, thrived on the thrill of battle. My friends would follow me, into the depths of hell. It gladdened my heart. I paced the room for a few minutes. In the end, we couldn’t take everyone, to many uncertainties in the future for us to leave Springwell. We decided that we would keep the group small, and tell no one we were leaving. Of course, everyone would know within hours of our departure, but that couldn’t be helped. Tarin, myself, Gloria and Binala would go. Cami protested this decision. She wanted to be there. She still owed me, and as my best friend didn’t want to be left behind. Despite their status as