Blood on the Moon

by T S Paul

  “I’m special. Start crawling.” LJ nudged her with the knife she used to have strapped to her hip.

  Gundi crawled the length of the tunnel and out into the open center. She saw the fire pit and stacks of wood and now knew where she was. This was one of the original safe houses they'd built for pack members to hide from humans.

  “This is going to be really nice. You’ll see. We are going to set a few things straight, Mom, and then you’re going to release that curse!” LJ flipped from nice to mean in a matter of seconds. He slapped Gundi across her face. “Start building a fire right there!”

  LJ fingered the hunting knife. This was so much better than hunting down a human. Humans were easy kills. He watched as his mother built a fire in the fire pit. It needed to be extra hot for this to work. She would repent her sins or die screaming. Or just scream. Either one worked for him.

  <<<>>>

  Coach Fox was still running. He’d cheered when three of the wolves had fallen into the stream when the bridge collapsed. His snares didn’t do a damn thing to slow them down though. The best trick so far had been using the socks.

  When he’d been here before, he noticed the lookout points and all the cameras. The escorts he was with tried to steer him away from them, but he still managed to get the details of where the ladders were. If he could get up one, he might be able to see where his pursuers were. Escaping them was the main goal. He wanted that money.

  Chris had the ladder in his hand and was pulling it down when he heard a growl, and sharp teeth penetrated his foot and ankle. “Aaaaah,” Chris screamed.

  Hopping, he suddenly fell over. The wolf growled again and sank her teeth into the left hamstring. “Aaaah! That hurts.”

  Gripping his leg, Chris rolled over onto his side in agony. Waves of pain made him buckle over with a whine.

  Sibyl moved in for the kill. The rules stated she couldn’t really kill the man, but he needed to know that she was a changed woman and stronger. Darting near his head, she bit down on his ear.

  Chris dropped his leg and grabbed what was left of his ear! Blood spurted through his fingers bringing forth another scream by him. The pain was making Chris see spots. He scrabbled in the dirt looking for a rock or branch to protect himself with.

  Sybyl chuffed in disgust. Rolling in the dirt like that made the coach look like a big pig. In the distance, there was a loud roar followed by three blasts from an air horn.

  <<<>>>

  “Whoever build this is a genius,” Chuck remarked. “See how they all line up perfectly? We should build something like this at Quantico.”

  “Are you going to chase humans too, Chuck?” I asked. I could keep up with them, but I was trying to save some of my strength for later.

  “We could chase the Marines?” He answered with a grin.

  “They tend to shoot back. Let’s just stick to bad guys. Do you think Gundi could be his partner?” Cat asked me.

  I thought about it. “We said that the kills and planning looked like two people did it. It’s possible that she’s part of this. Someone shielded him from the Alpha.”

  “Do you guys have an idea where we are?” Chuck asked.

  A map and radio phone dropped out of the sky caused me to look up rather than down and walk into a tree.

  Chuck looked up immediately and asked, “Can I have a new car and a pepperoni pizza?”

  The proctor shook his head pointing in the direction of the main trails and sat back down.

  “PIZZA! I heard pizza! Where is it?” Fergus’s head popped out of the top of my vest and started yelling again.

  “You’re infested.” Cat remarked.

  “Just with evil. There is no pizza, it was just an expression, Fergus. We’re surrounded by Weres. Why would we need pizza for that?” I explained to the small unicorn.

  “Ugh, dogs. First, you put me on a bus with cats, and now everyone is dogs. Can’t we go somewhere where there are Unicorns and ponies.” Fergus asked me.

  “You hate ponies. That was one of the first things you told me way back whenever and we were just in Montana not six months ago. Your entire herd of Unicorns was there. You could have played with them.” I shook my head and plucked the tiny Unicorn out of my vest. “You can ride in the vest pocket if you like.”

  “Fine. But when whatever this is, is over, I’m getting a pizza. A big one.” Fergus yelled at me.

  Cat held the map up to her face. “There’s a note here from that guy back there that says Lucas isn’t in the front part of the maze. There’s a fence line over there. We could follow it and look for him that way?”

  “Good idea. Why don’t the both of you shift into your warrior forms?” I asked.

  Chuck groaned. He really preferred to just be a regular lion.

  Cat grabbed Chuck’s ear and dragged him into a nearby copse of trees. I could see flashes of pale skin and armor as they stripped out of the vests. There was a sort of wet, gurgling sound followed by a grunt and a growl. The trees shook violently as an enormous and very hairy Cat stepped out.

  To understand the warrior form, you needed to understand Weres. They survived early humankind by being stronger, faster, and more adaptable. Take a sasquatch and cross him with a sabertooth tiger and you might get what Cat resembled in real life. She was downright scary. Pulling a military tank apart might slow her down, but only for a short time. She was the scariest thing on this mountain.

  “Can… you… home… in?” Cat was almost grunting the words out.

  That was actually a good idea. Giving Pathfinder a rub I cast a spell on the map that would pinpoint the location of every living breathing, person or animal near it.

  “Does give names?” Chuck grunted out.

  Knowing what he meant I smiled. “It’s not the spell from Wizard Wars. No mischief today.”

  Looking down on the map I could see a group of blue dots behind us and a largish group at the far end. Scattered around were singular green dots as well as tiny groups of black dots. In front of us about three berms over were two red dots.

  “Dots.” Cat pointed at the map.

  I replied to her, “yes. Do you see a legend I can use?”

  Chuck pointed at the blue groups. “Wolf.”

  “You think? If they’re blue, then these green ones are the camouflaged, hidden ones, the proctors. All these little dots might be birds, mice, squirrels, rabbits, stuff like that.” I responded to Chuck’s idea.

  The large Were let loose a growl and rubbed his stomach.

  “We’re working. Leave the pack’s wildlife alone.” I told the big man.

  “Cat! That way. Two people, three berms over that away!” I pointed.

  My best buddy and former roommate took the berm in front of us like it was nothing and scrambled right up. Chuck followed her. I don’t climb all that well, so I floated up. Witch powers are so cool sometimes.

  I still clutched the map in one hand, but from up top, I had a better grasp as to what was happening. The berm we wanted was easily three times the size of the one we stood on. Even from here I could see a thin wisp of smoke start to trickle out.

  “He’s over there. Go get him!” I ordered.

  <<<>>>

  LJ warmed his hands over the fire his mother had made for him. She didn’t look as happy as she’d been. He wasn’t sure what was different this time. The cuts he’d made upon her face or the ones across her back. Both were starting to heal and changing his artwork. Even a healed cut was an affront to him.

  “Soon! Soon you will have to lift this unending curse and do your part to end this curse you’ve placed upon me. Fix it or die.” LJ brandished the knife, Gundi’s blood had stopped dripping more than an hour before.

  “Please let me go. I’ve done nothing to you.” Gundi cried out. She was pressed flat against the dusty floor of the tunnel room.

  “Oh, but you have, Mother. You watched while he hurt me, and then you lied about it. It was the lies, mother. The lies. How could you lie like that when you, you were th
e one with all the secrets. You are the one!” LJ raised one of the branches he found in the cave.

  Gundi cried and tried to roll away from LJ. “I’m not your mother. I’m nobody’s mother.”

  LJ shook his head and lowered the branch letting it hang down next to his leg. “No! You aren’t like the others. They were poor stand-ins. It was you I was waiting for. You. Are. The one.”

  Gundi changed tactics. “Then be a good son and untie me.Let me help you.”

  “NO! You never act that way!” LJ dropped the stick and wrapped both arms around himself. He was confused. Why was his mother suddenly trying to help?

  “Be a good son. Help me up. We can go get some ice cream before your dad gets home.” Gundi was just going with the flow when she realized she made a mistake.

  “Traitor!” LJ raised the stick in his hand and was about to bring it down when he heard the digging. “What’s that?”

  <<<>>>

  Both Cat and Chuck shifted into their primary forms. Cat’s throwback form towered over Chuck’s lion. The big cats were digging into the berm. Huffing and puffing, I crossed the second berm and had a perfect view of their work.

  “Guys, I’m going up top,” I spoke in a normal voice. I’m sure the Weres back at the house could hear me if they concentrated.

  Using my TK, I launched myself toward the distant much larger berm. My flying skills weren’t the greatest in the world, and I slammed into the side rather than the top. Wincing, I hoped no one saw that.

  The smoke coming out the hole on top was thick and really stinky. The killer must have found some old rotten wood somewhere. Squinting I looked down the hole into the berm. A man stood over a beaten and crying woman.

  “Defend.”

  I blinked and looked down at my wrist. After months of barely talking to me, Defender actually said an unprompted word to me. “You want me to help?”

  “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Both bracelets responded in unison.

  I didn’t think twice. My team was digging in so they could back me up. Triggering a fireball in each hand, I jumped into the hole praying that my TK was strong enough to support me.

  Both bracelets led the way and supported my fall. I drifted down through the smoke. Verbally, I projected one of my shields onto the woman I realized was Gundi Moon just as her attacker swung downward with his branch.

  Thunk.

  LJ looked at the branch in disbelief. How? He struck again and got the same thing.

  Thunk!

  Screaming, he threw the branch at the fire. When it bounced off the smoke, his body began to change shape.

  The flying stick missed my head, but hit my torso and bounced off. I still had smoke in my eyes, but I could see the man we were calling Lucas Pepin starting his shift.

  “Cat, I need you.” I cried out.

  Gundi rolled over when no blow came and saw me flying through the smoke. She laughed in a wincing sort of way.

  Pepin was still shifting. He went from a human figure to a large pile of fur. As he stood up, his figure got bigger, and bigger, and bigger. He wasn’t just a normal wolf. Like Cat, he was a throwback, a Dire Wolf.

  LJ howled as he stood up. Nothing could stand up to this form. There was a reason the MC’s all called him Grey Death. His wolf was four feet at the shoulder weighing in at over two-hundred pounds of pure muscle.

  Catherine Moore, Cat to her co-workers, was digging as fast as she could when she heard my voice. She doubled her effort right then and there.

  Summoning a fireball, I started throwing them at the massive wolf. But like Catherine’s form, he was partially immune to them. They singed his fur causing him to yowl in pain, but the same pain made him stronger. He began growling at me and baring his teeth.

  Finally, Cat and Chuck broke through the walls and into the hidden chamber.

  The Dire Wolf that was Lucas Pepin turned at the sound and seeing his historical enemy released a mighty howl. Arrryoowww!

  Cat’s beast form towered over everyone. Chuck tucked his tail between his legs and scampered over to where I stood as Cat shrieked her challenge and charged.

  Each of the beasts was equally matched when it came to strength and tooth size. Historically, they were competing predators. But the big cat had an advantage of maneuverability and razor sharp, massive four-inch claws.

  The wolf sliced the cat open as she passed over him, but she latched onto his back. Her back claws stripped the fur off his back and dug in. She was trying to grip his neck with her over-long canines, while her front claws slashed at his throat. Blood began to pour from Lucas’s throat. In wolf form, he couldn’t heal himself or use tools. Quickly he tried shifting to the more battle-worthy form.

  Watching the two titan’s fight, I laid one hand on Chuck's furry shoulder. “Get the girl for me.”

  Keeping one eye on the fight, Chuck ran toward Gundi and began dragging her towards me with his teeth.

  Lucas’s Warrior form stood up trying to avoid Cat’s claws and throwing her off. He swung the stick striking her across the chest, but she hamstrung him again. She leaped onto his back again and began using her rear claws to go for the kidneys and the bladder. Lucas screamed in pain, but he wasn’t able to fight off his attacker. Cat hung on for dear life with her claws.

  Fire didn’t work, so I too dug deep, pulling out some of my best spells: lightning and freeze. Together they were a deadly one-two punch he would never forget.

  “Cat move out of the way!” I shouted at my friend.

  Lucas was still trying to toss her off him. The room beneath the berm was only so large, and the two combatants crashed through the dugout wall and fell outward into the darkness.

  I looked at Chuck and pointed to Gundi. “Keep her safe.”

  Both my arms were alive with the Magick of the Guardians. They practically glowed. Picking my way through the ruined tunnel and wall, I started casting more spells at the huge warrior form.

  Flashes of red, green, gold, and silver lit up the night sky over the estate. Humans as far away as twenty miles reported seeing fireworks that night. But it was really my spells hitting Lucas over and over again. His Dire Wolf form absorbed combinations of fire, ice, and earth spells. Nothing seemed to work against him. He and Cat were still locked in a circle of death.

  I did the only thing I could think of. I prayed. Focusing my power into a ball of energy I was about to send it skyward praying for a solution when both my bracelets began to speak to me in unison. One offered a temporary holding spell while the other a more permanent one. Both were spells completely unknown to me. I hadn’t even seen them in Verity’s notebooks.

  I added more Magick to the ball I held. Following instructions given by Defender, I cast the spell.

  The entire night sky lit up like an enormous Roman candle. I had prayed that my aim would be true and my power just. The ball I held hit Lucas squarely and caused a full frontal burning, straight through him. Cat was able to jump off at the very last second, but her front two legs were very badly singed, and she lost two inches off her tail. Her shriek of pain was joined by Chuck’s howl of victory.

  Calling forth light, I sent a glowing ball over to Austin’s body. I needed to be sure he was gone. The huge wolf’s body had a giant circular wound that went completely through its body. With one shot I had stripped the body of all the main internal organs and more than seventy percent of the blood they contained. Nothing could regenerate from that. But I still needed to be sure.

  “Chuck, step back,” I ordered.

  Chuck took a step back from the body pulling Cat with him. She was still in her sabertooth tiger form.

  I used a souped-up version of a firestarter spell and completely incinerated the body of LJ Austin forever. Better to be safe.

  Cat and Chuck shifted back to very tired human forms. All three of us were tired and cranky when we managed to find our way out of the maze. To be truthful, we just followed Gundi. She knew the way.

  <<<>>>

  “Is he truly dead?” Adam
Moon embraced his sister and asked me.

  “Dead and incinerated. He was able to roll Gundi and force her to submit. It might be a good idea to stress to the Pack Council that they should pay more attention to the children of their leaders. He was a throwback as well.” I informed the Alpha.

  “We saw. When the wall broke, our cameras recorded the final fight.” Adam pointed to the big monitors. A replay of the fight and my kill was playing on them.

  “Do we need to discuss your ‘human’ hunt?” I asked.

  Moon winced. “We have this once a decade. We pay the prey. The inductees aren’t allowed to kill or maim him or her. Promise. Ask him yourself.”

  I looked past the Alpha to where he was pointing to see the man I’d seen earlier on the screen accept a drink from a group of young Weres. His foot was in a cast, but he had a big smile on his face.

  Hmmm. My entire team was too tired to tackle another issue, so I let it go. “Think about changing the little game of yours. Actually, do more than think about it. I won’t say anything if you don’t. Please don’t make me come back in an official capacity again. Jackson might not survive it.”

  Adam reared back at my look. “Oh, that won’t happen Agent Blackmore. Remember, we saw half your battle on the screens. From what Gundi told me, we were very lucky the last time you were here. Would you really have burned us out?”

  I sighed. “I really don’t know. I was telling you the truth then too. We were just passing through and wanted food. Bill…” I paused for a moment. “Bill was a big fan of this place.”

  “He was a good man. We’ve decided to add his picture to our heroes wall. Is that OK with your team?” Adam asked me.

  “It is. We miss him terribly. His replacement,” I looked toward the back of the house where Blake was standing. “It’s not the same.”

  “Everyone needs a breaking in period,” Gundi remarked.

  “Some more than others. I totally agree. I think you said something about barbecue?” I asked.

  <<<>>>

  “Bill was so right about this place,” Chuck said as he crammed another barbecue burger into his mouth.