"Not yet," Theo's deep voice came to her rescue as he moved to help her clean up the mess. "That will have to wait till after the ceremony," he gazed down at her, eyes twinkling.
"THE CEREMONY!" Becca screamed again and jumped around like a puppy "CAN I HELP PLAN?!?!" This lead to more chuckles and Karen just nodded, which lead to more bouncing.
"I'm going to go." Theo said quietly in her ear "My door is open if you want to come over and..." he kissed her cheek "Spend the night, maybe." his crooked grin made her knees weak. She simply blushed and nodded. Unable to take her eyes off the incredible back that walked out of the kitchen and then the door.
Becca stopped bouncing and leaned her chin on her hands on the breakfast counter. "I'm so glad you guys made up. It's every wolves dream to find their mate. I'm so happy for you!"
Karen just laughed and blushed harder. "Thank you. But can we talk about something else now? I'm pretty sure my face is going to break."
Becca laughed and nodded, switching the conversation to what to eat for dinner and what movie they were going to watch. Hours later, Karen found herself sitting on the bed, staring at the books that she had brought home. She wanted to read them so bad, but at the same time she was also afraid of what they may reveal. She chewed on her lip a little, then scooped them up and crept outside. She had barely raised her hand to knock when the door in front of her opened.
"The door's open, Sweetness," his deep voice rolled over her "You never need to knock."
She blushed again "How did you know?"
He shrugged and stepped aside letting her in "I had a feeling you might come over,"
She gave him a look, which earned her a crooked grin and a kiss on the forehead "I was getting some water and I heard your front door open and close. I also knew that you wouldn't just walk in, so I got the door."
"Ah," she said shuffling the books in arms as well as her feet. Theo just looked at her expectantly, a soft smile touching his lips. "I... uh.. I couldn't sleep" she blushed some more it was weird going from wild and crazy emotions that she couldn't understand to soft, deep emotions that were perfectly clear.
"I wanted to go through the books, but..." she trailed off as Theo chuckled, taking the books from her.
"It's okay, love," He gave her a one-armed hug "We'll go through them together."
She smiled up at him, her relief written all over her expressive face. Together they walked into the living room, where Theo laid the books onto the coffee table. He quickly moved to the fireplace, expertly coaxing a fire to start in no time. Then he turned to her, his heart thudding in his chest as the shadows played across her face.
"What?" She asked softly, sitting on the edge of his plush leather couch.
"Nothing," he smiled at her "You're just so beautiful."
She gave him a soft smile and blushed again.
"Wait here," he said quietly, disappearing into the kitchen. Karen stared at the books that were laid out on the table. Inside their leather bound exteriors, was the whole history of the Spyrim race, was her whole history, and even words from a mother she never knew. Her eyes locked onto the smallest, darkest book. The chestnut leather so dark with age, it was almost black. The longer she looked at the tiny book, the harder her heart pounded against her ribs, the higher her anxiety rose.
"Hey now," a gentle voice broke through her rising panic. She looked up as he crouched in front of her, his hands on her knees. His warm honey brown eyes filled with love and strength.
"Everything is going to be alright, sweetest," he said with a soft smile, one hand coming up to cup her cheek. Karen let out a shaky breath and nodded, a tiny smile appearing on her face.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, her smile growing when he handed her a huge mug of hot chocolate.
"Don't be," He sighed contentedly as he sunk into the plush leather beside her. "I can't even begin to imagine what must be going through you mind right now little one." He pulled the coffee table close to them, allowing easy access to the books. He looked at her with a sparkle in his eye. "Which one do you want to start with?"
Karen took a deep breath and reached out, grabbing the first book of the Spyrim history. "We may as well start at the very beginning," she said softly, letting the large brown tome open in her lap.
Her breath caught at how beautifully the book was written, how the pictures on the page seemed to jump out at her. She was also shocked at how well it had stood up to the test of time. She knew these books must be hundreds of years old, if not thousands. She carefully flipped to the first page in the book, a large, intricately drawn 'I' taking up most of the page.
"Ready?" she asked looking up at Theo and the excitement in his eyes. He simply nodded, not wanting his words to ruin the moment for her. She took a steadying breath, and then another, and another. His soft chuckle startled her, as he gently took the book from her lap to his. She gave him a small smile, half annoyed and half grateful that he could read her so easily.
"In the beginning," he began quietly...
*
There was nothing. Then, one by one, the gods gained consciousness after being encased in slumber for eons. For millennia, they were content to be among themselves and the dark, lifeless worlds that surrounded them. But gods are fickle beings, and soon they grew weary of each other. The first, and most powerful god, Omnia, gave her children free reign on one of the barren worlds around them. It has an element for each of her children. Her eldest born, Aquan, immediately went to the waters, while his first brother Terran went to the barren land. His second brother, Ignan, buried himself inside the world, hiding from his other siblings. The youngest and the only sister Aeris took to the sky, flitting about on the winds. Each child was content with shaping their domain, Aquan making deep and shallow seas, Terran making mountains, forests, and even deserts, Aeris made clouds and wind, while Ignan sat deep inside the center of the world, giving his fire to keep the world turning and alive.
Again they were content, and again they grew bored. One day, Aquan grabbed a handful of the finest sand in the sea. He gently blew a stream of water through his hands, and each grain of sand turned into a creature of the sea. Terran, entertained by what his brother did, grabbed a handful of mud and compressed it in his hand, drying it into a harden clay ball. He then shattered the ball into tiny pieces that became the creatures of the earth. Aeris delighted at all the creatures and went to her brothers. She borrowed a bit of sand and a bit of mud from each of them. She then flew up into her world of clouds and mixed the sand and mud with a handful of cloud. She gently blew into her own handful, creating creatures that could survive in all three domains. The three siblings laughter at the new found entertainment alerted Ignan, who peaked out from his shelter. Wanting to join his siblings, to be included in their fun, he grabbed a handful of molten rock, cooling it instantly. He then took the black shiny piece of glass and crushed it to dust in his hands. As each particle of dust his the hot floor of his home, it turned into a different kind of insect. He made his creatures more abundant that his siblings, but also smaller, for his intent was to provide his siblings creatures with food.
He let the earth fissure where his siblings were gathered, letting his creations into the world. He followed them out, excited at seeing his siblings faces. The look of horror that was plastered on, cut him deeply. Only Aeris the peacekeeper tried to hide it. She smiled tightly at him as he explained that his creatures were there for the benefit of theirs, that he just wanted to help. To his dismay, however, his brothers berated him for making such gross things. Battling down his hurt, he retreated to his underground home. Again Millennia past, and as was expected the three siblings grew bored with the life they had created.
Aeris was the first to make a new creature, in a likeness of herself. She laughed joyously as fairies came to life, flitting about through the world. Terran and Aquan were so entertained that they also created creatures to match hers. Out of the sea came the nymphs, and with Aquan being generous, they were allowed to choose what element they would take. Terran created trolls, allowing them to take whatever form of earth they wanted. Ignan watched in hatred. All of his pain from the last rejection turning to anger. He also created a new creature, but one that wouldn't frolic in the day, but would thrive at night. His small, little white creatures would live off of the creatures of his brothers. 'Vampires' he called them, and they soon wrecked havoc onto the world above. The brothers grew furious, planning to exact revenge, but Aeris stopped them. She instead made Ignan a gift. She made him special fairies to flutter about at night, just for him. His temper was soothed slightly, but he still did not take his creatures away. Terran, tired of trying to play nice with his youngest brother created a new creature, to counteract the vampires. He gave birth to massive wolves who would hunt the small, white nightmarish creatures.
Seeing this as an act of war, Ignan changed his creatures, giving them impossible strength, speed, sight, smell, and hearing. He also morphed them from the small, white creatures to creatures in his image. Following his lead, Terran granted his wolves a form in his likeness as well, giving them enhanced senses and strength. For centuries the wolves and vampires fought.
