Den Mother Ep. 11: BLOOD IRONy

"His blood mixed with the chemical vat it was housed in when my plane lost power. The crash revived the creature. You fell in that liquid running off, didn't you?"

"Yeah! Hit the cockpit floor hard when the Wendigo was..."

"Eating me. Better me than you Kodi. At least we still have one another."

"I need you that's for sure. Dad? Why am I not afraid of anything? I should be pissing... dollar in the jar... all over myself."

"Keep your money, Kodi. Time to grow up. Again, my thoughts are the liquid green did something to your body. Taking characteristics from this... Wendigo thing. He's trying hard to get out but as long as I'm in here with him he can't escape. His mother knows this so she's adopting you."

"I don't want to stay here forever Pop."

"Then don't! We'll figure this out. Listen to me son. I love you and I'm here for you as long as I can be."

"Better be forever."

"Feelings mutual."

"Did you see mom? The Wendigo took on her body to keep me calm."

"Missed out on that one. I just came out of my hibernation. I guess when you released the boar you released me from limbo."

"I ate the boar without knowing it."

"The pig sacrificed itself, I think. Both creatures knew you needed to eat to survive. If you die, this Wendigo thing dies with us."

"It's going to fight me every step. Heck, it just controlled my walking."

"I got you now. Just like teaching you to walk when you were a baby. I'm pretty sure I can help control its possession over you. I'm going to try at least. Baby steps for both of us I suppose."

"Right! So, what now?"

"Take a nap! Let me think."

"I am kind of tired."

"Sweet dreams Kiddo."

"Night Flight!" It was something they used to say to one another just before bedtime.

"Northern light!"

Only his father would know the ending verse.

********

Back at Camp Aurora!

"Den Mother, wake up." Her pack member the Inuit girl Folly prodded her leader in the side. Unable to revive her she was joined by Orion the giant. "I got this." Licking Aurora's nipple, the sensations sent her nervous system into hyperdrive. While Folly's prod was with good intentions Aurora's flesh felt no pain, but when her body sensed stimulation, it was fireworks within. Smiling, she rolled further over on her back and touched herself.

"Folly, dear?"

"Yes, Aurora?"

"Lick down here if you want my attention." Aurora rubbed her clit sending vibrations like the reverb of a gong being struck. "Holy shit!"

"She's invincible unless you attack her pleasure centers." Orion chuckled. "I'll be over in the corner beating off now."

"Miss you, Big Guy! Thanks for being my alarm clock. Is it daylight, yet?"

"Not quite. The sun is barely glowing on the horizon but has not risen." Folly informed her, "You were squealing like a pig in your dreams. It was quite annoying."

"I was? Really? I don't recall a dream that time. But I did..." She looked puzzled, "I know I had a vivid dream, but I can't recall it now."

"Oink! Oink!" Mathias grumbled, "Now you've gone and made me want bacon."

"IIIIT'S, BEGGIN'!" Aurora recalled the old dog treat commercial.

"Hearty har har!"

Canuck rolled his eyes while lying on his paws, "Always with the dog jokes."

"I can't help it! When something funny strikes, I just say it."

"No harm done, Momma." Blue yipped. "Ham does sound good though."

Even within their tight quarters a bizarre phenomenon made everyone in the shelter take notice. A glow on the stone wall pulsated for a moment making everyone study it.

"You doing that, Aurora?" Mathias stood up and eased toward the white glow.

"It's not green, so nope!" She too stood up towering over everyone. Sadly, she had to lean forward a bit due to the enclosures low roof. Startled, everyone found something phasing through the rock. "Oh, this is just an omen." Aurora bulged her eyes.

Passing through was the bodily shape of a ghostly boar which stopped to look at Aurora then at Odessi who had just woken up. Seated on its rump the boar snorted once then got up and left through the stone block placed in front of the entrance. Following it Aurora waved her hand and the two-ton rock rolled aside with ease. Stepping out into the pre-dawn air she found the pig sitting and nodding its snout toward the East at the waterfall in the far distance. "It's trying to tell us something."

Amoreus carrying Odessi out to join Aurora and her pack the young girl tilted her head at the pig. As if sensing her abilities, the pig walked over to Odessi and again sat down to face her, eyes locked. "Uhhh? Do you speak Swinese?" Aurora moved closer.

"It is on its way home." Odessi telepathically confided. "I see visions of a boy glowing green like you often do."

"Boy? Is it Kodi?" Aurora approached faster seeking answers. "Why Am I not getting visions of the boy in green?"

"You are still adapting Aurora. Give it time."

"Right! Ask it..."

"We are not speaking. It is just informing me of where it has been, where it is going. I sense bliss, relief."

"So, now you're an empath?"

"The mind has many functions. The green boy is too the East. Many miles away." Odessi shifted her head from side to side with curiosity, "Interesting!"

"What's interesting? What's Wilbur showing you?" As if Odessi knew of Charlotte's Web!

"The pig fell from the trees dead. The boy brought it back to life for a brief moment then the pig died again. Turned to ooze like when you touch things sometimes."

"Kodi has the same powers as I do? Oh, crud! At least he has something that might keep him alive all alone out there."

"Something else resides within the boy."

"Wendigo." Garameth the Ghost joined them, his regal stature confident.

"Right! The Wendigo spirit." Boogie acknowledged the memory.

"There is something else." Odessi paused then lifted her gaze to look Aurora in the eye. "His father is with him."

"WHAT? Kodi's father died."

"Wendigos are soul eaters as much as of human flesh." Garameth related, "It had not occurred to me before. The Wendigo ate the pilot of the plane."

"Therefore, Lloyd Prescott's soul."

"Yes, Aurora."

Spinning on the ball of her bare foot Aurora Dawson figured the East out by the sun coming up. "Wait! You say East but the pig looked West. Didn't it?"

"The magnetic poles in this era might be differently positioned with the sun's rising and setting direction." Mathias ventured a guess that had his family looking at him queerly. "Hey! I read books when I wasn't pulling dogsleds. I had a life!"

"Yukon is correct." Garameth nodded. "Polar shift!"

Looking back at the pulsating swine Aurora pointed in both directions, "This way to Kodi... or this way?" The pig stood up and walked to the East away from the sun. It did not stop, leaving the troubled group behind. Even the Roman's standing guard shrugged. Bacon sounded good to them as well. A shame! Leftover fish it was.

"That'll do, pig. That'll do."

Aurora was grateful for his time.

********

The depths of Ah'Bys!

"I've missed you, Baby."

Bahth'Amon spoke in perfect English, well at least as far as Antonio Harker knew. With the bloodiron in his system he could understand Diamondjaw's native tongue perfectly now. Add in the bat dialect clueing him in he was understanding her pretty well. Including whom she had feelings for.

"Aruroa? You possess the Princess?"

"I told you it might work, that's why I had you touch Soulstice to her tummy. My adaptation powers even in death took over. Escaping the Crystalarium through the sword embedded in it was my way out. I was always good at hitchhiking. Show some leg and it's rooooad trip!"

"This will take some getting used to." He held her but lowered his gaze to Bahth'Amon's chest.

"I know! I know! My tits are way bigger. Rather I go back into the sword?"

"Of course not!"

"BEGONE!!!!!" The Queen screamed, her cadre of males growing agitated at her behest. The baby Graesun crying in her arms prevented another outburst.

"Put me down Conan. I need to have a word with Queen Lilith."

"Lilith?" Antonio recalled his book of Genesis. "The first before Eve?"

"Same one, Anton." He heard Aurora in his head, "I'm not telling Colomoq about our history. I forgive you too. I know it was not your intention, even if it did happen physically. You were being controlled. So was your dad in prosecuting me. Anyway!"

"I thought you were from a mirror dimension?"

"We'll get to that mess soon enough. Hang tight, Anton!"

"Yep!"

Turning to face the Queen the possessed Princess stepped closer to her and eyed her baby sister. "I'd have named her Mercedes." The Queen cocked a brow and communicated on a telepathic level only used between she and her offspring.

"My outcast is yours. Begone!"

"I get it Lily and we're leaving here shortly. Can I just... say goodbye to my sister?" A momentary sympathy Queen Lilith allowed her daughter's new owner to kneel and bend over to kiss the baby on its forehead, directly over DJ's thumb print. As she pressed her lips upon her, Bahth'Amon's black lips turned green. In a whisper she spoke, "Remember me." With a strange glint in the baby's eye a recognition was burnt into her brain. A soft pat to Bahth'Amon's cheek even Aurora felt love. A very dark love; love none the less.

"Time to begone boys." Aurora stood up and didn't look back as she walked toward DJ and Antonio. "I know the way out thanks to bonding with Princess Amy."

"Amy?" Ant winced.

"Amon...Amy? Less of a mouth full, don't you think?" She passed by both men. Shrugging at one another they followed that sweet albino ass into the shadows. Neither sword needed to be their beacon. Just follow the tight white.

Leading them through a series of ancient stone carved steps Aurora pondered. "I wonder if I'll end up back in Alaska at the top of this staircase?" With daylight peeking in through rocky cracks above them Antonio cleared his throat.

"You're not going to turn to pixie dust in sunlight, are you?"

"Let's hope not or I'll be back in Soulstice." Aurora/ Arorua took the lead.

"Sooo?" Anton had to ask via personal thoughts that only she could hear. "You're dead, but not dead? Your body is still out there living, right?"

"Long story Anton. One day at a time, Buddy. Like after I was raped. Took a while for me to get a grip after losing everything."

"'Tis first light." DJ entered taking the lead from Aurora/Amy to race ahead, feeling fresh air fill his lungs. Excited to get his first gust even Antonio barged past their possessed bat of beauty. Aurora worried slightly herself, within this alabaster body she shared thoughts with Bahth'Amon. Fear was swelling deep inside her.

"I got ya, Babe. Just relax! If it goes bad, I'll retreat into the darkness and save you." With no control over her own body the Outcast cringed every step Aurora made her take. With DJ and Antonio waiting outside on a sunlit ledge looking back with worry, Aurora took her time. At the spot where sunbeam met shadow Aurora paused and delicately extended a single pinky into the sunlight's ray. "Tingly but not burning. I know your skin is going to suffer over time, so I'll need to find some clothing for you if we live through this. Ready, Amy?" An entire hand is illuminated. "You're not screaming so I guess this is a good sign."

From a hand to an entire arm bathed in warmth. "Alright! Let's risk it, Bat Babe." Stepping directly into the sun, her entire body like an aura of angelic light, Bahth'Amon delighted in her sheath of light. "Well, we're not going poof or hurling so I guess the sun likes us. All the powers I adopted over the years has likely fused into you."

"My mother forbid the light." Bahth'Amon's first official conversation made Aurora smile within.

"There's a long story I bet Lilith didn't tell you growing up. She doesn't strike me as a bedtime story kind of gal."

"All I know is mother was banished here."

"By whom? If Lilith was the official first lady of Earth, she didn't have any mother of her own to say Begone to her."

"You speak truth. The Creator of All?"

"Which might be a father?"

"You confuse me."

"Like I told Anton, day at a time Amy. Let's go get you a suntan." Slow strides in moving further out, Bahth'Amon's batwings begin to shrivel up and retract into her back as if hiding. The noises of nature filled her ears with signs no longer nocturnal, her sonar traits focusing as eyes. Adjusting, Amy began laughing and dancing on the stones around Antonio and DJ. "Careful Amy, they might tip the stripper."

Wings merely dark ribbons vertically aligning her back from shoulder to butt cheeks she was incredibly built, they also shaded her from the harsh rays above. "Eyes up here, Boys." Aurora lifted their chins, arm extended full length to nudge DJ's.

"Where do we go from here?" Anton asked.

"West."

"What's in the West?"

"Me!" Amy expressed a flirty look then took the lead down a steep incline toward the mountain's lower regions. Those eyes were struggling to keep aloft.

"Should I cover my eyes?" Youth spoke from within Frequinox. "It's not like I haven't seen Arorua naked before. She was ethereal though. Batgirl is hubba hubba!"

"Shut up, Sam!"

At 13, dead or not, the boy was like a kid in a candy store. In the Crystalarium everyone was naked. It just seemed different in the flesh.

Antonio put his sword over his back.

"HEY! Now I can't..."

"No, you can't."

"Come on, Ant!"

"You always did like playing hide and seek."

"Bite me!"

Here we go!

Just like old times!