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Chapter 58 - New Day
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 59 - Duties
It didn't take Ezekiel long to lead Brandon down to the farm. And the scenery wasn't much more the Brandon had expected to see. Three large white fences grounded in the shapes of squares sat in front of a relatively pristine looking farm that was painted bright red and white like pepper cane.Brandon took all of that in as they grew closer, only realizing once Ezekiel had led him to the front of the barn, that the entire farm was actually quite large. Nearly more than a few acres across and a good three fields wide, with all of the fences b giant vats of mud with bits of yellowed grass packed into it. Brandon quickly guessed that the yellow grass was hay that had been trampled beneath the farm animal's feet.But if he had expected to see any of these animals in person he didn't get the chance. The entirety of the farm seemed devoid of life at the moment of Ezekiels arrival.Confused Brandon turned and questioned him about the missing animals."Why aren't there any animals here?" Ezeki
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 60 - Playful Mistakes
Chapter 60The hay bales were much harder going. But as the next two hours trickled by Brandon was impressed to find that he and Ezekiel managed to burst open nearly twenty five bundles and spared them around nearly eighty percent of the farm. Ezekiel worked at a considerate pace, and saved most his breath so they worked in companionable silence.Soon enough the minutes had passed into another hour and the silence turned to thinking on Brandon's part. And to his surprise Brandon soon found that he was reminiscing back on his various and volatile interactions with the different members of Ezekiels family. Particularly the green eyed brother Lander and his more amenable interactions with Nate and Walter and even Erin and his parents.Brandon found that he wanted to avoid further confrontations until he moved on from the Leopards Clan....but he knew himself. He knew....that he had a bad habit of not backing down.....And he knew that if the green eyed Shifter came at him again...he was g
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 61 - Urge To Protect
Ezekiel sat, with a hand full of wet clothing, staring at the stairs that Brandon had just fled up and disappeared from onto the second floor of the barn. Ezekiel didn't know what had prompted the mortal to run off, and since he was hardly in a position to chase after him, being mostly nude himself, Ezekiel resolved to leave Brandon to his own devices.He took his time washing out the slop from his clothes and Brandon's, before ringing them out and placing them in the grass beyond the Barn to dry in the sunlight.Soon enough the clothing were dry enough for him to redress himself. Then deciding that he had given Brandon sufficient time to hibernate Ezekiel made his way back inside of the barn, over to the stairs that lead to the second floor and called him down. It took a few more calls, but eventually Brandon appeared at the top of the stair case looking like he was dragging his feet. He also looked terribly self-conscious in the single long towel that he had wrapped around his hips.
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 62 - The Band
After an awkward hour of more work and hay spreading the sun was in the middle of the sky and surprisingly most if not all of the strain between them had managed to melt away.Brandon was happy to let the silence wash away the confusion and embarrassment and the nervousness that he had felt during the shower and during his and Ezekiel's talk. And since neither one of them seemed determined to dwell on it, or even analyze what had happed or had been said Brandon soon found himself panting and taking a standing break next to Ezekiel.Ezekiel, who had plopped down on a bench in the shade created by the roof of the barn also seemed content to move on and settled back into the cool manner that seemed so natural for him. Exerted from work, both of them took their time cooling off and catching their breaths before Ezekiel disappeared off inside of the barn, only to reemerge a few minutes later with two plastic flasks, each frosted over on the bottom, suggesting that he had retrieved them fro
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 63 - New Nightmares
The Drums that Ezekiel had led Brandon to were seven giant cylindrical towers that climbed at least six feet into the air, covered in clean white plastic, with pipes the color of aluminum sprouting out the back of each one that then branched off past grass and soil into the earth.Brandon quickly guessed that the pipes led either to a river or a well deep beneath the surface.Ezekiel walked over to the first and closet Drum and tapped it with the palm of his hand."These are the Drums..." He explained. "They are normally filled by those pipes in the back which are fed from a giant river situated to the north behind my house."That's nearly seven miles away from here." Brandon exclaimed after thinking about what Ezekiel had told him for a quick moment."Yup, just about." Ezekiel agreed. "My family and a few of the Clans men dug the pipe trails a couple years back. But in the winter the river behind the mountain freezes and we have to hall all the water out here manually, it's grueling
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 64 - Tending the Horses
The next three days they returned to the horse farm. It seemed to Brandon that tending the Band of horses was Ezekiel main concern that week, and he guessed that it was because Crystal seemed just about ready to pop.The routine that the two of them were developing was far too easy for Brandon to feel comfortable with and he was quickly frustrated to find that he actually liked the long patrols to the Farm.The time spent out of the room gave him a chance to get out of his own head....and Ezekiel's presence wasn't wholly ignored in this. When they hung out....there seemed to be a lot unspoken, but what that was Brandon didn't exactly want to focus on....and for the most part Ezekiel seemed to feel the same. They got along well, and there was plenty of work to be done with the horses each day. So Brandon didn't have much to dwell on what was or wasn't being said.....or done.....desired or secretly dreamed about. And he liked it that way.Most of their time on the farm was a quiet few h
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 65 - Complications
Half an hour later Ezekiel was shaking his head."Dammit, I knew this was going to happen!" He growled, a flash of bright light chasing its way through his eyes as he looked at Brandon then back at Crystal. The first fawn was born nearly within three minutes of Ezekiel placing Crystal in a pin full of warm clean hay...it was a small female with dark black eyes and a chocolate brown coat, but after that fawn (that Ezekiel decided to name mahogany) nothing else was forth coming.After fifteen minutes Brandon had watched Ezekiel hop into the pin and like an expert he had reached into Crystals body and tried to help the mare push out the second fawn that he said he could feel inside of her....but nearly another eight minutes had passed and all Ezekiel seemed to have to show for his efforts was a shirt covered in birthing blood."This isn't good.....it's stuck." Ezekiel hissed standing next to Brandon, turning to the coiled up rope that he had laid over the post nearly an hour ago, as thou
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 66 - Billy
After showering, Ezekiel separated from Brandon and met up with his father and brothers in the field.Having personally decided to leave Erin and Drin out of the search party Ezekiel and his brothers and their father Mantilo made the slow journey out to the home that Billy, a small time bee keeper in the eastern village had kept with his only daughter Beth....before as the reports indicated form his father's sources and from Billy's own daughter Beth; Billy suddently vanished into thin air.Ezekiel and his brothers traveled in apprehensive uncertainty that translated into silence. There had been very few missing people's events in their time as Guardians. In the last seven years there had been about twelve Clans men who had gone missing. Of that twelve five of the Shifters had come to unfortunate fates, Six had simply been misunderstandings and One case had been the work of hunters. The moon danced up into the night, kicking the sun out of its perch, before Ezekiel, his father and his
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Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 76- Undeserving
Chapter 76Against Ezekiel's will, the Leopard inside urged him to follow Brandon.Ezekiel simply clocked his exit instead, watching until Brandon had completely disappeared from sight, leaving behind the overpowering scent of his alluring blood on the air.Mantilo easily ignored his abrupt exit and as everyone turned back to discussing the information that their Father had returned with....Ezekiel found his mind lingering, as it often did, on the meaning behind what Brandon had uttered moments ago.You and those ugly beasts don't scare me....Is what he had said to Mantilo, but that snide remark uttered in passing seemed deeper to Ezekiel. It had Ezekiel pondering silently.So what the hell IS he afraid of? What is Brandon's story?Ezekiel asked himself.And for some unknown reason the idea of the answer to that question unsettled Ezekiel even more. And he wondered why someone he thought about this much...was still little more than a stranger to him. And why a sickly unwanted Reaver
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 75 - Good Intensions
Ezekiel suddenly heard Brandon breathing behind him, tight sharp gasps.....like he couldn't quite catch his breath.Taking a moment to step back out of the circle that his brothers had formed around their father and Nate, Ezekiel turned to Brandon and was struck by the emotions swirling across his face and in his eyes.He had expected to see irritation because of Mantilo's refusal to listen to him. (Something Ezekiel was privately relieved about.) But what Ezekiel saw there on Brandon's enchanting face wasn't anything as simple as irritation or even pouting.What Ezekiel saw was an intense mixture of pain and shock. His cool green gaze was slightly widened and his gloved finger tips were clawing into the narrow arms of his chair like he was holding onto the seat in a turbulent sea that only he could see.Only he could feel. And it was tearing him apart.Moved by his obvious discomfort Ezekiel went to the side of his chair, leaned on it and playfully waved his hand in front of Brandon'
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 74 - Divergent Needs
On the other side, Brandon shared their silence not because he have insight into the Ghouls motives, but because their motives were all that he understood.The Ghouls had come for him, plain and simple.But aside from their appearances, and their hunting style and the potential threat that they poses to other living things he knew very little about the beasts that had been chasing him. He had learned more from Mantilo and Nate in that moment then, what felt like a life time of running, had ever taught him.How can those things be Rats....? How can they be Shifters?Brandon asked himselfThey are taller and longer than most men and they....they don't speak...they can't speak...They are nothing but monsters.The idea confounded him. But honestly what didn't confound him?Brandon didn't understand himself. . He didn't know why he could nearly taste energy on his tongue. He didn't understand the world that he traveled aimlessly through. A world that held Shifters, and Clans and Dragons an
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 73 - Rat
Suddenly three new Shifters appeared in the door way of the day room.It didn't take long for Mantilo to notice, and with a smile, a warm smile that surprised Brandon he waived over the newcomers from the doorway.Brandon instantly recognized two out of the three that appeared and made their way to the rest of the group. One was Glen and the other Erin...accompanied by a third male, with blue eyes and black short hair. The male was almost three inches shorter then Erin, but as the two of them made their way into the room, he held her hand and on their wrists and hands Brandon spotted matching bands or tattoos around their wrists as well as the identical bands on their ring fingers.He guessed that like Mantilo and Glen Erin and the new arrival were a couple, but Brandon wasn't left to wonder who he was for long, because without any warning Erin's big hazel eyes locked on him and she rushed over to his chair, pulling the unknown man with her."Brandon, Oh no your face!?" Erin exclaimed
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 72 - Ghouls
In the aftermath of the attack, nearly five minutes passed where Ezekiel and his brothers simply took the time to regroup and compare all of their injuries.And Ezekiel spent most of those scant moments vigorously scrubbing at the foul blood and torn flesh smeared all over his face, caught in between his teeth and clogged up beneath his nails.Using the shredded cloth from one of the tables that had been destroyed he cleaned away the blood as best he could.The Guardian also used that time to put the....rage back in its place. To wrap it up tight and lock it away. He had to. Ezekiel didn't dare let it burn out or dissipate, because for a Shifter like him....a Reaver.....there was no end in sight. The rage was bottomless once unleashed.Luckily Ezekiel had more than enough to focus his attention on, besides the burning need to smash and growl. To Ezekiels immediate and all-consuming relief everyone had managed to survive the attack mostly unscathed.Brandon still sported a few cuts fro
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 71 - Death & Anger
Chapter 71 - Death & AngerEzekiel had fought many fights over the course of his life as a Guardian. Both physical and mental. Some long, some short. Some meaningful, some prideful.And as the youngest boy in a family full of male siblings he had engaged in various battles for dominance ranging from playful to downright bloody....but he could only remember fighting for his life a hand full of times in his history.That split second to avoid tragedy. The rage, the blood lust.....the focus.He felt all of that in the few minutes that had passed since the moose killers, the olive skinned monsters, had appeared in all their horrible glory and began attacking him and his brothers in their own home.The beasts stunk of rancid meat and vicious black fluids ran from their jewels.....The scent of them was enough to turn Ezekiels stomach. It wafted off of them like perfume and for a moment Ezekiel realized that this smell was what had allowed the beasts to hide away from them so effectively. Th
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 70 - Prey
They were hungry...but they had already ate a feast of flesh.The beasts sat in the shadows....their thoughts not far from the darkness that surrounded them. The sharp cutting smell of pine and rotted mulch offended and agitated them as much as the healthy, willowy canopy all around them seemed to irritate them. Branches and thin sticks that trembled in the soft cool wind.The slight almost musical twinkle of the pine needles tumbling to the forest floor, seemed to disturb the hidden hunters making them even more jumpy and angry then they were normally.As though they were unfamiliar with such a thing as falling leaves or healthy air, their bodies twitched and saliva gathered at the edges of their mouths as they became more hot and bothered by the passing hour.But though clearly angered by their surroundings the beasts sat as still as sentinels in the night. Poised on the balls of their clawed feet.And although the pungent scent of horse intestines and blood wafted up from the shape
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 69 - Talk
For another two days after the Guardians returned Brandon was determined to stay in his room. Electing to skip out on patrols with Ezekiel and stay in seclusion...until the third afternoon came and passed him by.Needing to stretch his legs and knowing that the Mansion tended to be empty in the evenings Brandon finally came down to the parlor, turned about in the open area, taking a few moments to decide which direction he would go in. Weather a trip back up the steps to his room would be his choice....or if he would take a seat on the steps and just watch the sunlight glancing inside from the windows around the door?But his choice of activity was decided for him in the next few moments. Brandon nearly jumped out his skin when a slim arm wrapped around his and yanked him down the hall."Glen!" Brandon blurted in surprise as he stumbled. Along behind her small, but surprisingly strong and sure skip."Come on, hurry!" Glen cried. Brandon felt an urgency in her insistent pulling....but
Tales of a Shifter (P1) - Meeting Chapter 68 - Unspoken
The jagged ill-fitting puzzle pieces of his mind came together by the next morning...so that no one would know Brandons struggles in the nights before.Emerging from his room, Brandon descended the steps the next night and just as he hit the bottom floor, the front door was thrown open and six tired looking Guardians shuffled into the front room. Leading their weary trek into the front parlor where most of the Shifters simply plopped down onto the carpet was Mantilo. All of them shoe-less and with eyes glowing and....claws out on their fingertips that looked sharp enough to gut a man. Instantly Brandon was gripped with....joy to see all of Ezekiels family returned safely after hours of hunting, but shocked and disgusted with the reaction Brandon shook his head and dropped the smile he felt on his face.Brandon tried to turn back, but he had barely shifted his feet on the steps backwards before a familiar and feminine voice was calling out to him."Brandon...sweet heart...?" It could b
