Lupus Princeps

1.5 - The Sacred Tomb

"LOOK AT THE snow," Ronnie said, raising her eyebrows in wonder and glancing to the grass around the tomb. 

The snow refused to land anywhere near the tomb. Instead, a perimeter of flawlessly green grass laid in a circle surrounding the building. 

Nymeria and Ronnie stood by the edge of the circle, where the snow would lay, both of them not yet prepared to step beyond the boundary.

The building itself was grander than any of the cottages within the village, untouched by the snow and treacherous weather around it, the marble walls remained perfectly polished and preserved.

On every exposed surface Nymeria could see the markings, although the ones in the cottages and on the stones looked rushed and untidy, the same markings on the tomb were intricate and made with a steady hand. As though time, effort and thought went into each movement with a delicacy Nymeria couldn't even describe.

Whatever was in the tomb was incredibly important; Nymeria's own body told her so.

"Have you ever seen that before?"

Nymeria shook her head, she doubted that anyone had seen something like that before. It was complete defiance of the laws of nature itself, why wouldn't the snow land anywhere near the tomb?

"What do you think is in there?" Ronnie asked again, gently padding her foot towards the edge of the snow.

Nymeria couldn't answer her, instead, she took the first step over the line until she was on the grass and inside the circle.

She waited for the tomb to open and waited for the Blood Demon to come out and attack them, or transform into Amara again. Nymeria couldn't ever be fully prepared for that.

When a few moments passed and nothing happened, Ronnie joined her in the circle as well.

Nymeria noticed, as she took cautious steps closer towards the entrance to the tomb, how the energy in the air slowly thrummed to life. The particles within the atmosphere hummed around her, vibrating against her skin and even buzzed in her ears. 

It was an abnormally pleasant sensation that begged her closer to the tomb. Up until they were both a footstep away from the door, it was all Nymeria could think about. The pulsating energy leapt into her skin, rocking her bones and blossoming in a warmth deep beneath the surface.

"What are you doing!" Ronnie whispered, high and panicked as she clutched the fabric of Nymeria's top. "Wait!"

She tried desperately to gain control of her body but her hand latched onto the door handle before either one of them was ready and pushed it wide open.

As soon as the door was opened, Nymeria snapped out of her haze and tensed, ready for the Blood Demon to rush out at them. She was silently enraged at herself for the fact she had fallen for yet another one of their tricks. 

She let out a harsh breath and the grip on her golden branch tightened. 

Torches fixed at the corners of the tomb burst into life. Igniting at Nymeria's entrance. Casting an orange glow throughout the grand building. 

After a few moments of waiting, Nymeria looked to Ronnie silently asking her if she was ready this time. Ronnie nodded. Together, they passed through the open doorway and into the tomb.

If Nymeria thought the exterior of the tomb was beautiful, then the interior was absolutely stunning. Walls of pure gold greeted their entrance, accented with silver skirting around the edges each displaying the same marking repeated over and over again, made with the same precise hands.

The tomb was stunningly embellished with extravagant jewels, polished metals and intricate carvings Nymeria had never seen before, it cast her attention away from the centrepiece and entire purpose of the tomb.

The body.

Her eyes instantly focused on the body in the centre of the tomb. Elevated on a golden podium adorning the same deep green and burning red gemstones along its edges. 

The body itself was entirely wrapped in linen bandages, from the hands resting at its side to the feet. Tightly wound across the limbs and outlining the sleek body underneath.

Above the bandages, each limb was encased in a different thin chain. Linking swiftly over itself in a crisscrossed fashion, Nymeria could see one arm was silver, another gold, one leg in a black obsidian chain and the other in a copper-orange. 

Further up, a massive shield caged the entirety of the torso. Shaped into a human chest, the shield was pure silver. Along the sculpted hips and drawing closer to the abs, gorgeous red garnets were placed, slowly progressing into deep green emeralds.

Before she had a chance to regain her senses, Nymeria realised she was only mere inches away from the body. That was the moment she realised the precisely placed jewels formed the mark they had been seeing everywhere they looked. Only this mark was different.

In the centre of the chest and therefore the centre of the mark, laid a jewel noticeably larger than the rest. 

Pure black onyx, so dark that Nymeria believed she could still see it behind her eyelids whenever she blinked.

Ronnie stared at the jewels, her mouth hanging open with her jaw slacked.

"I've never seen so many..." She trailed off, delicately tracing her hands along the curvatures of the walls and fiddling with the glistening gems hammered into place.

"This is no Blood Demon," Nymeria stated.

"How can you be sure?"

Nymeria didn't know how to properly answer Ronnie's question, it wasn't something she knew from knowledge or even from fact. 

It was different. 

Nymeria could feel the lightness in the air, she could feel a long-forgotten warmth in her bones. She may have been in a tomb with the dead but stood next to a Blood Demon felt like death.

"It feels different."

It was all she could say without sounding completely insane. 

"What do you mean by 'different?'" Ronnie asked, throwing her a sideways glance. "Are we safe?"

"I-" Nymeria studied the central jewel within the marking, before trailing her eyes up towards the head.

The bandages were wrapped around the face, hiding away most of its features.

However, when Nymeria's legs betrayed her and drew her closer to face she saw the unwound bandages and a flash of bronzed skin.

Startled, Nymeria leapt back. Causing her hip to knock against the podium so harshly that the jewels began to shake, eventually rolling off the shield and clattering to the floor beneath them.

At the sound, Ronnie dashed out from the tomb altogether, dropping the golden laburnum branch in her panic.

Nymeria was completely alone with the body. She froze, clutching her hip as it throbbed with pain and stared at the body. With growing confidence that it wasn't a Blood Demon at all, she limped closer to the face.

The linen wrap revealed dark features underneath. Dark and sharp features that made something within her body twinge and shudder. 

With the golden laburnum branch in hand, she needed to confirm it wasn't the monster the women believed it to be. 

If the branch burned its face they would leave the village as soon as possible, if the branch did nothing then Nymeria and the group would stay. She would personally block the entrance to the temple, cover it with rocks and anything her hands could carry.

Because the creature in the tomb was not human, despite its bronzed skin, closed eyes and dark eyelashes. As the claws of death had not touched a single hair on its skin. It remained as the rest of the tomb did, completely preserved. 

So full of life that Nymeria grew concerned that the man was merely sleeping. 

The branch in her hand began to shake as she drew it closer to the revealing skin beneath the linen wrap. She shook harder as she feared the branch would wake the sleeping Male.

Standing in a position that would make it easy for her to escape the tomb, if necessary, she slowly brought the branch down towards the sleeping Male's face.

Placing it delicately across the closed eyes, Nymeria waited and waited until moments had passed and the body did not move.

Retracting the branch, Nymeria inspected for damage. 

Nothing. 

Stil and untouched, Nymeria tried again. Swinging the branch down and scraping the golden flowers over the face. 

Nothing. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, she stepped over the fallen jewels and made hastily made her way out of the tomb.

She was almost positive she had seen the body twitch.

Halting her movements suddenly, her stomach coiled in a burning pit of fear. The tension left her stomach travelling up to her arms where her muscles froze and her hands quaked.

She looked back to the body. But nothing was out of place. The body hadn't moved. Her exhaustion was simply playing tricks on her. 

"It's fine." She mumbled to herself, as a mantra to keep her knees from buckling, "It's fine."

She repeated this until she was out of the tomb. Harshly slamming the doors behind her. Ronnie was outside and talking within an instant.

"What happened? I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry-"

Ronnie rushed up to her but stayed within the snow, not daring to cross the boundary.

"It's fine," Nymeria replied, more to herself than to Ronnie. 

She couldn't blame Ronnie for being afraid. It was drilled into their bodies, flight never fight. When Ronnie had bolted from the tomb her mind reverted back into the fear their society drilled into her. Survival instinct, remove yourself when the situation is out of hand. Remove yourself when the Males arrive.

Flight. Something Nymeria had long lost when Amara stood on the stage. She had lost the privilege of flight that fateful day and she swore never to again. So how could she possibly blame Ronnie?

Nymeria began stacking up rocks from the nearby stone walls. Pulling them from the broken rubble and piling them against the entrance. Hoping it would be enough to dissuade the children from returning. Deep down, Nymeria hoped it would stop that thing inside from ever leaving the tomb. 

She didn't ever want to know what would happen if it did.

"Well?" Ronnie asked, still hesitant to cross into the grassy circle. "Is it a..."

Ronnie trailed off, her heart hammering through her chest with the fear so tightly grappling her that she couldn't bear to say the words aloud.

"No. It didn't burn."

Ronnie's eyes widened as her jaw hung open, "So what was that?"

Nymeria quickly finished blockading the door ad hurried to leave the circle and the tomb altogether, muttering to Ronnie as she passed, "I have no idea."

Perhaps if Nymeria 's mind wasn't racing and her body wasn't begging for her to return to the tomb, she may have noticed the very first snowflake to flutter beyond the boundary and land within the blades of grass.

---

"Ny! Come quick!" A small voice bellowed from outside their house.

Nymeria looked to her mother and shook her head feeling a giggle bubble up. "What's she found now?"

Her mother laughed, too. A sound she had long forgot even existed, light and airy it filled Nymeria with indescribable joy and blanketed her with a sense of safety only her mother could provide.

"Who knows," Her mother began, smiling so brightly the lines around her mouth deepened, "you best go see."

Nymeria sighed, placing down the blankets she was folding and cautiously rounded the corner of the women's camp. It was still light outside, just brimming over the horizon at the beginnings of dusk so the children were still outside, playing with sticks and rocks.

Just as Nymeria turned the corner, she was knocked down to the ground. Stumbling over herself and catching the child that sprinted into her arms.

It was giggling. Warm and infectious, Nymeria lifted Amara off the ground before glancing at her bright, pudgy face. 

"You've got to come and see! Look!" 

As quickly as she ploughed into Nymeria, Amara was off. Running out from the safety of the women's camp and towards the centre of the society. Fear instantly bolted through her.

"Amara, it's getting dark. We have a curfew!" She shouted at little Amara, but her tiny legs were sprinting and nothing could stop her now.

Her mother appeared from the corner, "Ny, it's getting dark. Go see what she wants and bring her back." Her face turned serious in a second. "Keep her safe."

Nymeria nodded, turning back to where Amara was running off and started to follow her. 

"Amara, slow down!" She called, feeling her legs ache from sprinting but not being able to stop. She could only watch as she passed the women's camp, passed the Medical Division building and finally came to a stop when she spotted a crowd.

A crowd of unruly Males.

"Amara," She whispered, not wanting to draw any attention away from the Males. "Amara, it's not safe. Come back now."

Nymeria knew exactly where Amara had run to, and suddenly the Males all turned to stare at her.

Her heart lodged in her throat, cutting off her airways and she was choking. She fell to her knees, as the choking worsened, a gripping pain on her throat like a hand was suffocating her and the crowd parted. 

Nymeria was at the front of the crowd now, with a clear view of the Reckoning stage.

"Ny! Come see!"

Dread anchored her down and she didn't feel safe anymore. But her legs moved on their own, pulling her up and taking large uncoordinated steps towards the stage. 

Amara stood at the top. Smiling down at Nymeria, with her hands cupped and in front of her like she had found a hidden treasure. 

She giggled again, "We'll never go hungry again!"

Nymeria forced her arms to move, to try and reach up to Amara take her off the stage and hide her away from the prying Male's predatory stares. She couldn't let Amara be a target for the Males. 

But when she looked to her hands, reaching up at Amara only inches away from her little pudgy ones, Nymeria saw the chains. 

Tiny metal chains, wrapped around each arm in a crisscrossed fashion. One arm clad in silver, one arm in gold. 

Then Nymeria couldn't move her arms anymore.

She panicked, the choking finally subsiding as she called up to Amara. "Come down! It's not safe up there, please."

Amara only stared at her, blankly, but with a widening grin on her face. "No one ever takes these! We'll never starve. Ny, why does no one take these?"

Her hands finally opened, revealing the mounds of black seed pods she was hiding. She looked down to Nymeria, waiting for her answer. Waiting for Nymeria to stop her.

"No-" Nymeria shouted, gaining the attention of the entire crowd surrounding her.

Then she couldn't speak.

Wound around her mouth, linen wraps muffled her cries. She tried and tried to move. She tried to speak. She tried to wiggle out of the hands of the Males that were suddenly all over her but she was stuck.

Then Amara began eating the pods. 

Nymeria screamed again. Begging her to stop. Yet it fell on deaf ears.

Golden flowers started streaming out of the sky like the tears streaming down Amara's cheeks. Amara fell to the floor of the Reckoning stage, convulsing as more and more flowers settled on her body.

The Males' hands on Nymeria began tugging at her, pressing at her intimate parts and slapping her. All she could do was watch. 

Her mother appeared at her side, screaming and wailing like she had done that terrible night. 

"You said you'd keep her safe!" She wailed as whips cracked down at her back, "You said you'd protect her!"

Nymeria couldn't say anything. The linen wrap began to choke her, forcing her mouth shut.

"Momma! Momma! Nymer-"

Nymeria sat up with a startled gasp. The first thing she noticed was her body entirely dripping with sweat, clinging to her clothes and matting her black hair. She gasped for air. Still feeling shadows of the Male's hands on her.

She could still see Amara's convulsing body behind her eyes.

Taking deep breaths, Nymeria slowly stood to her feet. Careful not to wake her sleeping mother, she wiped the wet tears from her cheeks.

"Bad dream?"

She flinched, meeting the eyes of the Male near the fireplace. Too close for comfort.

"I'm just stocking up the fire." Gale explained, "You don't have to move."

Nymeria didn't answer him. Instead, she mentally kicked herself for falling asleep in the first place, especially when the Male was awake. She placed some more distance between herself and the Male, shrugging off his watchful eyes and the feeling of handprints on her body.

"I get them too." Gale began, "Bad dreams."

Nymeria would've scoffed had she been less startled. Instead, she settled back down next to her mother and kept an eye on the Male restocking the fire.

Nymeria wanted him to stop talking. Maybe then she could pretend she felt safe and pretend he wasn't here.

"When will you realise, I don't want to hurt anyone. I never have." He spoke dejectedly, a quiet whisper.

Nymeria didn't believe him. Nor did she speak to him. It was better to ignore him than to fear him and that was exactly what Nymeria would do.

Perhaps in the morning, she wouldn't feel so afraid but right now, when she was still in the haze of her nightmare, the Male would get no satisfaction from her fear. 

When he wouldn't stop his constant whispering, Nymeria had enough. 

She sighed, standing up from her spot and making her way out of the cottage stepping over the children that had finally calmed down enough to fall asleep. Nymeria left the door open slightly so she could still hear any commotion inside if there was any.

When Nymeria stepped outside the first thing she noticed was the bitter cold and the snow fluttering down from the skyline.

The second thing was the wolf standing in the treeline.

(3035 Words)

I don't know what I think about this chapter, really I feel like its a bit messy. I don't know though. 

I hope everyone is doing okay! It's been a while, stay safe and please let me know what you think of this chapter?

What are we thinking about the sexy man in the tomb? Huh?

Make sure to vote and comment, it really makes my day with your support!