"Ignited" Book One of the Autumn Trilogy

Chapter Six

By the time that Autumn had made it back to the clearing, darkness had almost completely swept over everything. Autumn didn't know exactly where to go, so she stopped and waiting until someone walked by. She waited. There was no one. Her heart began to beat hard. There wasn't more than a few minutes where she hadn't seen someone before. She stood there quietly for another moment, listening. Then she began to hear voices. Autumn slowly headed in the direction of them. Was there somekind of meeting? She thought it weird that Oliver wouldnt have come to grab her. As Autumn drew closer, she realized that she wasn't hearing voices, but just one, loudly yelling. It was a man, and he sounded oddly familiar.
    The ground began to dance with light, reaching up into the trees as a fire came into view. Autumn hid in the trees, silently creeping forwards. She realized she was heading in the direction of the large clearing, where all the tents were, but something about the situation kept Autumn to the shadows, her gut holding her back like an anchor. Eventually, she reached an edge, where she could see and hear the man clearly. He had his back to herbut held out his hands to his sides, presenting himself. There were a few others standing besides him. Autumn looked around, and saw just who he was presenting himself to.
The BoneBreaker pack, on its knees in defeat, sat before this man broken and battered. All the tents have been torn down, leaving the clearing to be nothing but patches of dirt and remnants of what was before. The fire blaring beside the man, fiesting on their destroyed homes. Autumn could pick out the Alpha, trying his best to stand strong, but it was obvious he was sustaining injuries she could not see. There were a few others she recongnized; the inner circle of the Bone Breaker Pack, holding strong with their leader. Everyone else must of fled. Even Oliver...Had Autumn really been left behind again?
"This is what your home has become!" The man yelled at them, seeming to stretch his arms even wider. A few of his comrades seemed to chuckle, as they began to surround the remnants of the Bone Breakers. "Your home, your territory, is now ours. You belong to us. I give you two options," He held up two fingers, "You can obey quietly and live, or disobey and die." The man looked between them all, already broken and bloody, and still demanded more. Autumns stomach began to churn, in fear and disgust. But her gut was trying to tell her something, as it twisted into a tight knot.
It was the Diseased, it had to be. They must have advanced sooner than anyone would have thought. Autumn knew that the man couldnt have been Vick- this ones light hair seemed to shine in the reflection of the fire- but she recongnized him. She knew she knew him, but from where?
The man turned his head, a twisted smile on his face paired with a sharp nose. He looked like the devil. "Choose." He told the group.
Autumns heart sank into her stomach. The air seemed to be ripped from her lungs. She lost her balance and fell backwards, stomping on leaves in shock. The man looked over in her direction, Autumn still hidden in the bushes. She could see his face clearly for the first time.
It was Arcus.
"Who's there?" He called, a hint of amusement in his voice. The fear left Autumns body, replaced with pure shock. Her mouth agape, she choked for air. It was him, it was Arcus. She wanted to jump up, run out to him, but her body was frozen in place. He had done this? He had hurt those people, destroyed their homes? He turned fully in her direction now, as if to warn her. Autumn didnt think he would hurt her- no, she knew he wouldnt hurt her. But shewould have neveer thought that he would have done this. Her body kept her anchored to the ground, as if forcing her to de3cide what to do. Autumn didnt know how to fight, she didnt know if she could even defend herself against him. That even if he did attack her, she would be able to fight? Would she be able to go against her own family? Should she jump up, announce herself, reveal who she was to the world once again and confront Arcus, or did she run?
Behind Arcus, someone in the crowd stirred, standing to their feet. "You seem paranoid for someone so confident," Nash said, his voice bitter. Arcus didnt seem to even hear him, still fixated on the noise he had heard. "We will never give you our land, we will never surrender to someone so weak." Nash spat at the ground. He leaned on one leg, his other seeming to have lost all strength. At this, Arcus turned to face him once again.
"Weak?" He asked, his voice different from before-it was rising in anger. Even after all he had done, all the damage and hurt he caused that Autumn couldnt even fathom, Arcus was still himself somewhere in the facade he held. He had always had a fragile ego. Arcus began to approach Nash, who held his ground with a puffed up chest, as if trying to make himself stronger. Autumn, before she could even realize why, jumped to her feet. Maybe she didnt want Arcus to do more hurt, or maybe she hoped that with hearing his reaction, that he was still the Arcus she knew. That he was still her brother.
"Arcus!" Autumn yelled, her voice louder and more confident than she wanted. Arcus stopped in his tracks, and turned to face her again. She watched as what she hoped was similar reaction that she had. He stared at her, saying nothing, his face staying the same expression as Autumn stepped into the clearing. There was no mistaking who Autumn was, as she stood tall and her hair glimmered like fire in the dark.
"I dont believe it," Arcus finally said, "Everyone said you died." Everyone watched, frozen. Even Nash seemed to be shocked at her sudden appearance, and everyone had a clear expression of confusion at the interaction between the two.
Autumn swallowed, "What have you done?"
Arcus smiled, as if he was pleased with himself, "I ended up finding him, ya know. Our brother has changed things," He began to approach Autumn, and it took everything in her to not retreat back into the forest, "He'll be pleased to see that his favorite sibling is alive. Vick blames himself for your death." He said the last part with a tinge of sadness, but in a way that made it sound for show.
Autumn clenched her jaw to stop herself from shaking, and tried to bring forth some power, some anger, some fuel for her next words. "And he should," Her voice was quiet, trying to push away the sadness she felt, "He started a war with our home that night, and the first person he burned was me." Arcus furrowed his brows ever so slightly at that, "I can never follow him, and I can never follow you. Youve turned into monsters-"
Arcus growled, and his eyes flashed red. Autumn took a step back, "You've got it," She breathed, "You've got the Disease, just like him."
"It seems youre not very fond of your family anymore, Autumn." Arcus said, his eyes glowing red as his rage grew, "And if your'e not with us, then youre against us." He rushed forward suddenly, too fast for Autumn to react, and knotted his fingers in her hair.
"Arcus!" Autumn exclaimed as he roughly dragged her forwards, towards the fire. He finally stopped, forcing her in front of the flames, so close that she could feel the heat burning her skin. They faced each other. The closest Autumn has been to anyone in her family, and yet he felt nothing of the sort.
"It really is too bad, sister." Arcus said, pulling her head backwards, closer to the flames, "Vick would have loved to see you again."
He didn't hesitate, before yanking her head full force and shoving Autumn into the flames. She heard a scream before it engulfed her, as she fell in between the broken pieces of wood that scratched her skin. Autumn felt the fire burning away her clothes, but yet sshe felt no pain, only like a sudden cold had draped over her. SHe reconginzed this feeling, of when she was burned in her home. Was this her death, yet again? Burned to a crisp that would revive months later? A sleep that engulfed her just as the flames did? But she felt nothing of the sort, her eyes were wide open, staring at the wood that burned bright with embers, the flames seeiing to only hug her. Autumns heart began to race, her breath quickening, as if the fire had been the fuel she was looking for, the strength, the power. Her body began to shake, and she managed to look up at the stars, as hints of red and lack flew into the sky. The only thing she could think about was how she had been thrown away yet again by her own family.
Rage was the only thing Autumn felt, as the fire seemed to be the push she needed. Autumn screamed, but it didnt sound or feel like one. It crawled out of her chest, coming from her mouth as a roar. The only thing she could see was the flames, the red and black dust. She heard shout of exclaimation from her brother and his people. They watched in fear as her body was coated by fire like a blanket, how her eyes seemed to catch up in flames like her hair, how she disappeared in a cloud of dust, aided by the fire, and emerged in a different form.
Autumn's first ever shift, and she was burning up in flames.
She felt like she was the passenger of her own body, like her anger controlled her every move. Her brother looked at her with wide eyes, backing away from her in fear. A monster in a form of a wolf was as close as you could describe it- as tall as man standing upright, muscles seeming to expand with every step, a long body with a tail just as long. She didnt look like a normal shift, with claws digging into the earth as she stepped out of the flames, long canines poking out of her mouth while she barred her teeth, and a growl that seemed to echo in everyones chests. The fur that coated her body, colored red and black, once covered in flames burnt out as she stepped away from the fire, leaving her body to glow like embers. The long tail shook behind her, like a rattle snake, warning of the ineviatble.
"How is this possible?" Arcus breathed in disbelief. Autumn knew she could respond, she had seen multiple shifters in this form in her life, but it was like she couldnt form the words. She wasnt in control. The monster let out another roar. Autumn only felt anger.
Suddenly she was on top of Arcus, and the fighting began. She could hear the rest of the Bone-Breakers picking themselves up, either running or fighting. Autumn dug her claws into her brother, and felt pressure on her stomach. Suddenly she was launched into the air, before crashing into the dirt. She quickly got on her feet, locking eyes with her brother as he disappeared into a cloud of blue and black dust, and reappeared in shifter form. Autumn was still bigger than him even after he shifted. Seeing him like this angered Autumn further, reminding her of the first time he ever shifted, of their childhood together. How could he change so much, how could he become a murderer, a monster? And then she saw how, as red eyes stared into hers ike daggers, full of more rage than even she contained. Once blue, his eyes had turned red as the Disease thrived on him, furthering his rage. This only added to how Autumn felt. Vick had done this. Vick had done all of this. He had destroyed their brother, their family. He had been the cause of Autumn dying; the fire that started it all.
Autumn let out a roar, and Arcis responded with his own.
They were pathetically matched.