Dream of Us

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Calian’s POV.

“Do you think we should shift?”

My question makes my mates halt. Sian looks around to make sure we’re not being followed as we deliberate.

“If they have guns, we will be able to outrun them faster in wolf form,” Denali suggests.

“But we won’t be able to use the guns ourselves,” Dyani counters.

“What about half and half?” I put the idea forward.

“I like that. Okay, Calian, why don’t you and I shift?” Denali replies.

“Yeah, sure,” I agree.

“Sian and I will stay in human form,” Dyani confirms and looks to her friend to check she’s okay with that.

Denali and I go behind some trees to take off our clothes and shift. The pain is not as bad as my first shift earlier, which was pure agony, but it’s still uncomfortable. I’m going to have to keep doing this until my body gets used to it again. It’ll take a few shifts, but I’ll get there.

With Denali and I as wolves, we trot alongside Sian and Dyani. I keep close to her, letting my fur occasionally brush her legs. She relaxes her arm and lets it hang by her side, her fingertips graze through my fur comfortingly. Now that I’ve got her back, I don’t want to be far from her again.

“There’s something ahead,” Sian notices first.

The trees mask an unassuming concrete building in the middle of the reserve.

“That can’t be it, can it?” Dyani murmurs.

As we get closer, it becomes clear that we are at the right place. Not only is there a giant fence around the compound, but there are also four guards outside the door, equipped with automatic weapons. There is even a machine gun set up in front of them.

“Shit,” Dyani curses and steps to one side behind one of the trees.

Sian ducks behind, too. Denali and I take cover.

“I think one of us should do a circle, see if there are any other access points,” my mate suggests.

I look at Denali and he nods. We wait for him to go around; anticipation builds for his return. Denali shifts and Sian quickly averts her eyes. Dyani looks at him hungrily, the warmth of her heat radiating off her. I feel no jealousy upon seeing her eyeing up her other mate, there has never been any envy between us. Denali is her mate as much as I am, there is no competition. She hands him a pair of boxers she’s carried for him.

“There’s nothing. That door is the only entry. The building is so small that it makes me think it is a bunker, he must be being held underground,” Denali tells us.

“How are we supposed to get in when they have a machine gun? They’ll gun us down before we can even get over the fence,” Dyani protests.

I look at Denali and he stares back at me. We have the same thought, and he voices it to the girls.

“We use our powers,” he states. “The three of us together should be enough to take out that gun and those guards.”

Sian looks dubious. ”Should be enough?”

Denali’s eyes harden. “They will be enough. Our bond is strong and our desire to get Nuka back will be the motivation we need. It’s worth trying, at least.”

“Do your thing then,” Sian concedes.

“Cal, you need to shift,” Denali tells me.

I shift back into my human form, wincing as my bones crack painfully. I shake off the aches as I stand up. Dyani hands me the other pair of boxers and I pull them on. I can barely feel the breeze, I’m too distracted by our situation.

Sian steps back. Dyani, Denali, and I take each other’s hands and form a small circle. We close our eyes and focus on our powers and our bond. The familiar feeling of the power that forms when we work together fills me. The rushes of gold begin tickling the underside of my skin. Flames burst into existence on our joined hands, heating the air.

“Focus on that weapon,” Denali encourages us.

My mind tentatively reaches out towards the building. I frown as I feel myself stopped by a barrier.

“The fence is enchanted,” Dyani observes.

“We can break through it, focus on it like we did with Calian’s cell.”

At the mention of the tiny room I was trapped in for ten years, my anger spikes. The potent emotion fuels my power and I feel my mates respond to my rush of energy. We come at the barrier so hard that a hole breaks in the spell almost immediately. Our power seeps through and spreads along the fence, eating at the barrier from the inside out.

Our combined effort breaks through easily. The barrier drops and we all feel the resistance disappear, allowing our magic to spread across the ground to the building. I form a picture of the machine gun in my mind, knowing the moment my magic touches it.

“Imagine harnessing that power and firing it at the gun,” Denali says quietly with restrained power. “Like we did in your flat, Dee.”

Together, we control our magic and mould it into a fire ball between us. The flames from our joined hands feed into the ball of fire that hovers in the air above our heads, warming our foreheads. In a united action, it races through the air, and we all hear it collide with the machine gun.

An explosion, followed by cries of surprise from the guards, shatters the silence of the forest. Birds are startled from the trees and take flight. My mates and I open our eyes and release each other’s hands.

“Let’s take down those guards,” I tell them, and we leave the cover of the trees.

The gate to the fence hangs open on one hinge. There is a huge scorch mark on the grass where the machine gun was sitting, it has been blasted into a million pieces and the debris is spread across the ground.

I have used my magic with my mates before, we all experimented with the bond when we were teenagers, but even I am impressed with what our combined efforts have done to that monster of a weapon.

A couple of the guards stay to fight. One flees inside and the other tries to make it over the fence. Sian goes for the deserter. Myself and my mates take out the two guards before they can even get a shot off from their guns.

The door opens when Denali presses one of the guards’ hands against the scanner. Denali goes first, followed by me and then Dyani and Sian. It’s dark inside and silent.

Too silent.

Denali holds one of the guns from the guards outside, looking rather strange in nothing but a pair of boxers. I keep close behind him, marginally amused by the fact I’m in a similar state of undress. The place looks like it’s being attacked by strippers.

The small rooms on either side of the corridor are empty, abandoned by the staff who were clearly here earlier. Another magic barrier blocks the stairwell leading to the lower floor. My mates and I place our commandeered weapons on the ground and take each other’s hands again. It doesn’t take much to break through the barrier, but I notice an ache when we do. I roll my shoulders to try and relieve and take a check of myself. I’m feeling more tired than I was outside, using our magic is draining us.

Hopefully we have enough for Nuka.

With the mage’s barrier handled, Denali starts down the stairs. He jumps back almost immediately when rapid gunfire echoes up the stairs. Bullets lodge into the ceiling tiles above our heads, sending down dust and chunks of tile. We all duck for cover on the floor, shuffling back from the stairs.

Denali waits for a pause and then rolls onto his stomach. He takes a position in the corner of the doorway to the stairs and fires back at the enemy. A groan below indicates that one of his bullets hits its target.

“Cover me,” he throws over his shoulder to me.

I get to my feet with him, and we cautiously descend the stairs in a crouch. Two guards appear at the bottom, we all open fire. A bullet grazes the skin of my shoulder, but I barely feel it, it hardly bleeds as I shoot the guard who fired. They both drop dead to the ground, letting Denali and I continue. I gesture for Dyani and Sian to follow.

We turn a corner and are ambushed by a mass of guards in too large a group for me to count. They open fire immediately and we have to retreat back around the corner. Denali drops his weapon; Dyani and I do the same. We form a circle in a rush, grabbing each other’s hands and closing our eyes. With our minds all having the same idea, we form the same fire ball that we used to take out the machine gun.

The gunfire continues, sounding closer as the group of guards approach the corner we are hiding around. The three of us form the flaming ball as quick as we can. As soon as it grows big enough, we send it around the corner. Screams and shouts sound above the roars of fire as it rips into the clothing and surrounding air of the guards.

We drop our hands, I pick up my gun and position the barrel around the corner, firing blindly at the guards who try to run towards us. The screams are traumatic, along with the smell of burning flesh that fills the tight space, it makes my stomach turn. I can hear Dyani’s heavy breathing next to me and I reach for her shoulder to give it a squeeze. She leans against me, sharing a pained look.

None of us want it to go down like this. We don’t want to hurt anyone; we just want our mate back. I guarantee these guards didn’t ask for this, they’re serving a tyrant who maintains his loyalty by taking family members.

When he thinks it’s safe, Denali ventures out first. He gestures for us to follow and our group proceeds around the corner. There are fallen guards everywhere, some dead, some unconscious or groaning on the floor. At the end of a hallway is a cell door that looks all too familiar. A guard is slumped against it, a gash on his head is bleeding down his cheek, he was clearly injured in the fire explosion. He doesn’t appear too scorched, though.

His uniform is different from the others, he is clearly in charge from the rank slides that are stitched onto his jacket sleeve. He manages to open his eyes and blink blearily at us. He pushes his weapon to one side and raises his hands.

“Don’t shoot,” he rasps.

Sian pushes past me. I’m confused for a moment until she kneels in front of the guard and reaches out to stroke his face.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “What can I do? Where does it hurt?”

He stares at her in an awe I can relate to. I know immediately what they are to each other.

“Mates,” Dyani whispers on an exhale next to me.

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