Chapter 24: Command Seal

Rain watched with a blank expression as Lucius fell to the floor with a thump. It was only after Luscious remained still on the floor, that Rain let herself sprawl out on the ground weak with relief.

*“That was too close for comfort.”* Hope said.

*“It is not over yet, we still have to deal with him. We can’t leave him down here on the floor.”* Rain told Hope, suppressing a groan of pain as she sat up.

*“Pity.”* Hope said, her tone full of disdain for Lucius. As the wound on Rain’s neck throbbed painfully, she agreed with Hope.

Rain got up onto her feet and walked around Lucius to his side. When Lucius fell, he had landed halfway on his back, his legs bent slightly. Rain kicked him onto his stomach before kneeling next to him.

Rain unhooked the keys from his belt and got the cuffs on her wrists and ankles off. Rain took a moment to rub the areas the heavy metal cuffs had been. She stopped when she smeared her blood across one wrist.

Rain turned her head and glared down at Lucius. Rain thought that it really was a pity they could not just lock up this male and throw away the key. Her throbbing wound made her angry, and Rain did need to do something with Lucius anyway, so she did not feel guilty for what she was about to do.

Using the hand not covered in blood, Rain pulled down the collar of Lucius’s shirt, exposing the base of his neck. Rain rubbed the fingers of her other hand over the blood of her wound, making sure to get enough blood on them. Then, using her own blood, Rain drew a symbol on the back of his neck.

After she finished, Rain said an incantation in Latin. Translated the incantation meant, ‘With my blood I bind you into my service and command you to listen and obey my orders.’

There was a sizzling noise as sparks of power came from the bloody symbol and was dried to Lucius’s skin. It looked like a blood colored tattoo now.

The command seal was temporary, it would break as soon as it was washed off the next time Lucius bathed. It would do for now though, as Rain would only need the command seal to last for this final day here.

Rain, always one to avoid trouble, observed those who would give her the most trouble, so she could avoid them as she went about her chores. This knowledge would come in handy now, as Rain did not want anyone to suspect that something was wrong with Lucius.

Rain shoved Lucius, turning him over onto his back, then snapped her fingers to wake him up. His eyes opened immediately, they were wide and unfocused, his expression confused. Lucius jerked into an upright position and his gaze landed on Rain.

Anger twisted Lucius’s expression, he opened his mouth to say something, but Rain beat him to it. “Listen and obey!” Rain demanded in a commanding voice.

Lucius’s expression immediately went blank and his body went stiff. Rain nodded before saying, “Forget about whatever plans you had for me today. Go about the rest of today as you normally would without involving me.”

His expression blank, Lucius nodded. “I will listen and obey Masters commands.” Getting to his feet, he left Rain’s cell, his movements a little jerky.

Rain waited, listening for the opening, and closing of the basement door, and felt satisfied when she heard it. With that problem taken care of, Rain decided to get to work. Rain already knew the chores she would be expected to take care of today.

****

Matt had felt restless all day, he felt something important was going to happen today, but he did not know what. All the restless energy he was feeling had to go somewhere, so he decided to take a walk. Which was why Matt was currently in the forest surrounding the Moonstar Mansion.

He wore a dark blue sleeveless t-shirt, with a deep v-neck that could be buttoned up into a crew neck. Matt left the buttons undone in case he had to pull the shirt off quickly, to shift. His shorts were a pair of olive green cargo shorts with a quick release buckle. On his feet were a dark brown pair of canvas slingback trail sandals.

Matt, hands in his pockets, traveled along a well used path. The path led to a tree lined meadow that banked the river in between the Moonstar and Heartsong Territory. Matt looked up towards the sky as he walked, it was a mixture of orange and blue twinkling in through the lush leaves of the trees.

The earth smelled damp, a mist had come through earlier, and there were birds everywhere making all kinds of noise as they moved about. Looking forward, Matt took in a deep breath, taking in the energy of the world around him.

After taking a few more deep breaths Matt felt cleansed and energized in a good way. A sense of calm fell over him as he let his stress melt away as he walked. The path ended as he reached the meadow, it was bathed warmly in the last rays of the day.

It would not be long now, another twenty or so minutes before the meadow would be cast into shadow till the light of the moon shined down upon it. The grass of the meadow was dark green and two feet tall, liberally sprinkled with wild flowers.

Matt found a wide base of an enormously tall white oak that was about a hundred and thirty feet tall. The meadow was lined with different oaks, as well as maples, pecans, and cedar trees. Mixed in were three different types of spruce trees, Sitka, Engelmann, and Picea breweriana.

All of them were incredibly old, very tall, and all over this part of the forest along with multiple other tree types. Matt could also smell the scent of several pines that was not that far away. Peace settled into Matt as he sat and observed nature being nature.

Once the sun went down, Ares nudged his humanoid mentally, letting him know he wanted out for a run. Pulling a rolled up specially made canvas pack for his clothes, Matt stripped. The pack had a body harness with quick release buckles and two zipper pockets.

The two pockets were to separate shoes from clothes and electronics. The pack itself would sit between the shoulder blades of his wolf, straps attached to the bottom of the pack buckled around his waist.

Straps at the top of the pack went over his shoulders and buckled into a third strap that went straight down his chest and connected to the straps at his waist. Once Matt had everything in the pack and the pack loosely situated on his body to accommodate the change in his size, he shifted.

Ares shook out his gold and white fur once he was on all fours. He took a long stretch before he sniffed the air, looking for something to explore or play with. Ares turned to the river when he heard a splash.

He only had to wait a second before he saw a fish jump out of the water, the sound of splashing came again when the fish went back under. Ares, excited now, ran to the river and jumped in, the water instantly soaking his thick fur coat.

Ares jumped around in the water trying to catch a fish for a while, before deciding to just swim around for a bit. Luckily, the pack on Ares’s back was waterproof, so Matt didn’t have to worry about his phone getting damaged or his clothes getting wet.

Finally bored with the water, Ares jumped out, as he did, he caught sight of a rabbit darting from one bush towards another. Excited, Ares gave chase, darting at it quickly. The bunny, having heard him, panicked, and started jumping this way and that way as it ran from him.

Ares chased it for a bit before letting it go, not really wanting to eat it, just wanting to play. After trotting around for a bit he found a raccoon and chased it for a bit before it went up a tall red pine. When the raccoon got into the tree it started to pick cones off its branches and throw them down at him.

The raccoon obviously did not like their small game of chase, so Ares moved on to find other entertainment. Ares started to move back in the direction of the Moonstar mansion, when he did not find any other woodland creatures willing to indulge him in a chase.

It was not the sound that warned him, but the fur on the back of his neck rising that told him he wasn’t alone anymore. Matt barely had the time to duck out of the way of Yukino, Lauren’s wolf. Ares brightened up as soon as he saw the playful look on Yukino’s face.

Yukino was only slightly smaller than Ares, a strong wolf with thick honey brown fur, streaked with a brassy red and a dark gold. Ares wagged his tail and barked, asking to play.

Yukino barked, then after saying, *“Catch me if you can,”* through their pack mind link, she took off.

Ares, once more excited, took off after her. He would indulge in this bit of fun. Afterwards, he and his humanoid had to really think about why they had been so restless all day today.