POV - Kyas
Alpha Silas had become obsessed with magic, since finding out that witchcraft existed in his ancestry. He was convinced that if he could master witchcraft, he could become the most powerful Alpha in the area. Some even said he had mentioned the Alpha King.
Based on some of his "experiments" that had survived, it was unclear whether Alpha Silas could do magic, or if it was the witch doing it for him. Alpha Silas had created a secluded garden that no one was allowed in unless specifically taken inside so that his experiments with magic could be kept secret.
I made my way from the kitchens to the garden, a large circle surrounded by hedges taller than most men, letting the guards know that I was to be Alpha Silas' helper today. At least my limp had finally healed. If I was lucky, and can guard well enough, I can keep it from happening again the next time they got me in the dungeons. Everything hurt, but with a limp, things took longer, and led to more time in the dungeons.
Inside the courtyard, there were gardens in a circular pattern, with a huge stone altar in the center, and various benches scattered around it. Exactly what one would expect for secret witch ceremonies and sacrificial offerings.
Alpha Silas and the witch, Alma, were already there, near the altar. I approached them, and Alpha was in conversation with the witch. He didn't even look at me, he just gripped my waist and lifted me up to sit on the altar. The witch was explaining something.
"It's not actually a spell, Silas, it's an incantation. You don't specifically use magic so much as allow the incantation to draw the magic from you." she said. "The incantation will bind it because you use the correct words and phrasing, but are not required to produce the magic yourself."
"I see," Alpha Silas says. "So, it won't matter if I can't bring the magic forth, the incantation will take the magic it needs without me trying?"
"Yes," she said, "and it's a simple binding, so it doesn't even take that much. We know you have Some ability, and this type of magic depends more on getting the words right than on how much power you can bring forth."
Alpha Silas looks at me. Looks me up and down like deciding which part of me to cut off first.
"What's your name, boy? How old are you?" he asks.
"This one is ten, Master, this one is called Kyas." I timidly answer.
Alpha Silas barely acknowledged my response. He turned back to the witch.
"This one is too young to have it's wolf yet, will it still work on it?" he asked her.
"Yes, Silas. It doesn't have it's wolf yet, but it's because the wolf is dormant, not because it isn't there. Once we bind it, it will never come forward and it will be as though it never had one." she explained. "The only reason it wouldn't work would be if it doesn't have a wolf, which we can check before we begin."
I didn't mind being called "it", they called me that all the time, sometimes worse things. I suppose I wasn't really a person to them anyway, I never had been a person, as long as I could remember, probably why they use pack slaves for the experiments. They wouldn't want to potentially harm a real person. Like Evelyn. I couldn't help the small smile that came to my face, imagining Evelyn here in my place.
The witch took on an instructional tone, and set a book on the altar next to me. It was like the exam table at a doctor's office. Not that I'd ever been to one, but I had seen pictures.
"Put one hand on the middle of it's chest, and the other just above the eyes on it's forehead, then concentrate. You'll see a bright blue light. Tell me when you see it." she instructed.
Alpha Silas put his hands where she told him, and I had to catch myself from falling backwards at the physical pressure. Half of his hand on my chest is pressing on a bruise. He didn't seem to care. "Yes, I see the blue, that's the aura, right?"
"That's correct.", she said. "Now visualize the aura as having a dimensional front and back. You're trying to see behind it's aura. You'll see a yellow light, behind the blue. Let me know when you see it."
I could feel a different type of pressure coming from Alpha's hands. "I think I see something…" he said. "I'm not sure… Maybe I need to push harder." he said.
"No, Silas, you're not using magic, you're just using sight. You're just trying to see it, not touch it." she cautioned.
I could feel an increased pressure, and Silas shifted his stance, seeming to become impatient. He grimaced and I felt a massive push, but this time, not physically, but deep inside.
"Ok," he said, "Now I see it, there's the yellow light. I thought I saw it a minute ago but it wasn't that bright."
"Well, it's probably brighter now because you woke it up. I told you not to touch it. It doesn't matter though, we're going to bind it anyway." she responded.
Silas removed his hands and stepped over to look at the book. I sat back up, but suddenly I didn't feel well. I felt a bit sick to my stomach and a pounding had begun in my head. I literally felt something roll over in my mind. It felt like she said. Like something inside me was waking up.
I was a little bit relieved. It was common lore among the slaves that some of us never get our wolves. That sometimes our wolves can't deal with being slaves and will refuse to come out, never even speak to us, and eventually fade away. We never know until we reach 15 years old, and sometimes not until years later, because of delayed development due to harsh treatment.
So, at least I know I have a wolf. I just hoped mine didn't reject me when he found out we were a slave.
"So," the witch said. "This first part here, identifies the two subjects. The child, and the wolf. This will center the incantation on only those two, so we're not trying to bind everyone in the pack."
Alpha Silas started reading words from the book. In the back of my mind, I heard a voice. 'Wha… What's happening?'
I don't know how I knew the way to do it, but I responded by thinking back at the voice. 'This one doesn't know. This one is being experimented on and they said they woke you up. It thinks you're may be it's wolf?"
Mentally, I felt an image appear, like in a separate room or compartment in my mind. The image was a wolf, standing up and shaking out it's fur. In my mind, the wolf was golden yellow, like the light the witch described. Even the eyes were yellow, as though it was Made of the light.
'This one is called Kyas, what is your name?' I thought at it, while Alpha continued the words.
'I'm Chaos, something feels odd.' he said back. 'What is this experiment they're doing on us?'
'This one isn't sure, they keep saying the word 'bind' a lot, but it doesn't know what that means.' I say.
Alpha Silas pauses. "Ok," he says. "What's next?.
The witch turns the page in the book. "This part creates the barrier. It's what prevents the wolf from coming forward. It won't be solid until the incantation is complete, but it puts a partition between the child's aura and the wolf's aura." she explains.
Alpha Silas begins reading from the book again.
'A barrier?' Chaos asks. 'Is she talking about us? She wants to put a barrier between us? Why? Did you do something?'
'No, this one didn't, but they made me come here, because Alpha Silas is learning magic and this one is a nobody. Please don't reject it, this one is sorry that it's a nobody.' I said.
Chaos flicked an ear in annoyance. 'Don't apologize, Kyas, no one is ever really a nobody. That's a class thing, a rank thing, but not a person thing. Everyone is someone. You're not nobody to me.'
'So, she's teaching Alpha Silas a binding spell? On US?' he asked.
'This one… thinks so?' I respond. 'It doesn't really know.'
As Alpha Silas continued, and I spoke with Chaos, a slight shimmering white wall began rising in front of Chaos in my mind. Chaos poked it with a paw, and his paw went through it, like it was mist.
Chaos started to look worried. 'If they bind us, will we still be able to shift? Go running? Mate? Are they binding us To something, like the packhouse or pack territory?'
I recall the conversation I had been hearing the last few minutes. 'Chaos,' I thought at him, 'This one doesn't think so. It thinks they are binding you away from this one. So you can't come out.'
'Ever?' he said, this time a hint of panic in his voice. 'If I can't come out, won't I die?'
'This one doesn't know, it is sorry.' I said, feeling frustrated that I didn't know the answer to his questions.
Alpha Silas paused again. The white mist was between me and Chaos, but not completely, I could still see his ears above it, not covered in mist. We both went quiet to hear what the witch said next.
"Alright, now you need to set the conditions. As I've said before, all magic must be balanced. To bind something, there must be conditions set for the release of the bind. There must be rules of undoing, for every doing, understand?" she asked.
"Yes, I understand, what should the rules be?" Silas responded. Chaos pricked his ears, listening intently, and so did I.
"They can be anything really, from eating a rare item to completing a task. Most commonly for binding, we set marking as the unbinding. It'll have to find it's mate, and they both have to mark each other to release the binding. Not just one, but both of them must do it. That condition usually ends up permanent, because without it's wolf, the human doesn't know it's mate. Low ranks don't need mates anyway." she advised.
"You can also set secondary conditions, like exceptions. Such as… oh, I don't know… if it eats a red fruit, it can shift from dusk til dawn on the full moon, if the fruit was eaten that day, or something." she finished.
Alpha Silas was silent, thinking. He still didn't even look at me. "Ok, I'll do the marking as the unbinding, but do I need the exception?" he asked.
"No, you don't need the exception, but it is good practice to learn it. With the exception, it's wolf may not die off, as there will be a chance to come out, and there's a chance that if the wolf doesn't die, it Could find it's mate to unbind itself, but again, with one of these, it doesn't really matter anyway either way. It's your slave, you control what it does, so you can keep the exception within your control and just ensure it doesn't happen." Alma said.
"Alright, then I'll make the exception, so I can learn it, since it's my first time." he decided.
Alpha Silas began reading again. While I didn't understand most of the words, I recognized when he placed the condition and exception. He said I must eat an apple by noon on the day of the full moon to be able to shift from dusk til dawn on that day only each month. Stupid apples.
As the conditions were set, the white mist thickened, but when Chaos tested it, he could still get a paw through, but it was harder. Chaos began pacing in my mind, his glowing yellow form now difficult to see, except for his ears and raised tail.
Alpha Silas paused again. The witch turned the page again.
"This completes the binding and locks it in place. It will solidify the barrier and block it's wolf from coming forward at all, unless the exception is met. After you read this part, check the auras again, and you'll see the partition you have created as a white light between the blue and yellow. Then say the words 'finite incantatum' to complete it, and lock it in place." she instructed.
As Alpha Silas began reciting again, Chaos started pacing faster, talking to himself. He was thinking about all the things we wouldn't be able to do, how the binding would effect us, and what he could do, but he said he didn't want to hurt me.
Alpha Silas paused again and stepped over to me, placing his hands on my chest and head like before, just as Chaos, in full panic jumped through the white barrier and then pushed my own consciousness aside.
Everything erupted in pain. I could feel everything start snapping and rearranging. My hands became black fur covered paws, my nose became a muzzle, my legs contorted and rearranged and then my mind felt pulled, like a vacuum to the other side of the white mist. As Chaos shifted, his clawed paw scratched Alpha Silas' face and pushed him back.
Alpha Silas, in a panic, fell back and said "Finite -"
Alma shouted "Wait, Silas! If you finish it, you'll lock them this way!"
"- Incantatum!" Silas finished.
I was now looking through Chaos' eyes, he was in control. He quickly jumped down from the altar and ran around the courtyard until he found the exit, shooting out past the guards, who were there to keep things out, not in. Chaos headed for the trees and quickly disappeared into the underbrush.