“Blast that girl! She never did do anything she was supposed to!” Nimue continued to fume as the princess remained day after day in her castle with her parents and that interfering fiancée of hers. Prince Phillip was supposed to be gone for good. The Evil Fairy had been waiting for the girl to meet up with Wals again on the secluded beach, but that seemed highly unlikely at this point. “Well, my pet, it looks like we will have to take matters into our own hands again and end this! Are you ready for the taste of blood?” she cooed into the waiting wolf’s gray-tipped ear.
His dull, lifeless eyes kept their unfocused gaze on something far in the distance. “Yes, Madam.”
“My,” she sniffed, “I expected a little more enthusiasm. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been feeding you all this time….”
The Dark Fairy left her latest pet as she stalked to the barracks. She was tired of waiting. Unannounced, the heavy oak door flung open by itself. A stale gust of wind preceded her into the room. The surprised men inside cowered when they caught sight of her, hoping to avoid her malicious glance in the darkness of their corners.
As soon as she left the throne room, Wolf struggled to his feet and staggered to the open door. Away from her suffocating presence, he gulped in big breaths of fresh air. Breathing heavily from the effort it took, he shook his huge head side to side as he tried to still the horrible images that swirled around and around through his brain. Looking past the broken stones and damaged battlements of her castle, his eyes cleared enough to see the individual trees in the forest far below. The stillness of the woods called to him and looked inviting deep within the fog of his thoughts. Confused, he just stood there, swaying from all the energy it sapped from him to merely remain upright. Why do those trees look so good to me? Why do I have a sudden urge to run free in any direction I choose to go? Why….
The cloud over his blue eyes swirled and closed in again. The forest became a mere green blur and the faint feeling of self and of freedom evaporated like a wispy mist in the blinding glare of a fire.
“See something interesting, my pet?” Nimue’s voice was sugary sweet as her gray eyes narrowed, watching the wolf as he confusedly shook his furry head.
“No, Majesty,” he muttered in a low voice, head down as he slowly, obediently returned to her side.
Her fingers caressed his head in what might have been perceived as a loving embrace. Ever so slowly, though, her nails moved until they reached the most tender part of his ear, squeezing until the pain caused him to wince. “That’s good, my dear one. Let’s keep our mind on our own business, shall we?” Her threat was barely-veiled threat as her fingers released him, but her eyes did not.
The only sensation he could identify was relief now that the pain was gone. Then, as his brain swirled and dipped even deeper into darkness, his previous memories were almost totally extinguished. As she mentally continued to prod him, anger replaced his confusion. His breathing became shallow and gasping as the transformation continued. His eyes finally glowed red as his teeth were bared and his fangs dripped. Hair standing upright along his spine, he snarled and snapped at the rest of the pack as they slowly filed into the room, wary of this black fiend and far enough away from his sharp teeth.
“That’s my good boy,” she murmured to herself, pleased with his final conversion. “Here is your pack!” Arms raised in delight, she cried out to Wolf as he circled the yapping, excited animals. “You are their leader.” She pointed her staff in the direction of the village, its green light raking the air and forking outward. “Go and bring me their heads! Do not fail me!” With a swirl of her black cape, she changed back into the huge gray wolf she had been once before. “Now! To the village! Run, my pets, run!”
With a commanding howl, Wolf, fueled by her hatred, turned and ran out of the castle, the pack hard on his heels. As the last of her motley crew flew out past her, the Dark Fairy joined them, laughing in her glee to finally put an end to these last friends of her wolf. Once they were gone and the simpering princess off with her disgustingly-persistent prince, there would be no more dangers to the spell over her pet. He would be hers forever.
Then…then he would lead her to her pendant.
Wals was hard at work as he practiced his swordsmanship with the amused Mato. Thinking he had been doing very well, Wals was irritated by the thinly-veiled humor he saw in the warrior’s eyes as he easily countered Wals’ best moves. “You could at least pretend you’re having a tough time of it, Mato.” With another grunt, he tried to defend himself against a forward thrust.
“What good is that?” Mato smiled. “You’re doing better.” His praise was invalidated when he glanced up at the sun while Wals was executing a feint and lunge.
Stopping in mid-motion, Wals felt like snapping his blade in half. “You aren’t even paying attention and you still beat me!”
“I am Lakota.” To Mato, that explained everything.
“Hmmph,” was all Wals could say to that as he attempted to work out a kink in his arm.
“You ready?” Mato raised the tip of his sword again.
Wals gave a sigh and lowered his blade. “How come you can fight so well with a sword? You never used one before. You only used arrows when we went on our journey to Rainbow Ridge.”
“I am….”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re Lakota. Still, it doesn’t explain….”
Wals was cut off at the sudden appearance of Fauna when she flew right between them. The red Fairy seemed very agitated as her wand fluttered around them, random red sparks flying off in every direction.
“Fauna! I could have run you through! You should be more careful than that!” After his rebuke, he flung his blade to the side out of harm’s way.
“No, no, dear, I’ve been watching you. There was no danger of that,” as she waved him off, looking worriedly in the distance. “You are going to have company...and it is going to be very soon.” She looked directly at Wals. “They are coming.”
Wals had no need to ask who ‘they’ were as he glanced over at Mato. The warrior merely shrugged and went inside to gather his quiver and arrows and the hidden flag.
Flora popped in next, her green robes swirling around her as she came to an abrupt halt. “I’ve been tracking them. They come faster than we thought they would. And, she is with them.”
“Where’s Merri?”
“Out of sight nearby, watching them.”
The red Fairy nodded as she thought. When Mato emerged, his quiver slung over his back, sword and bow in hand, she asked the men, “Is there a better place where you want to meet them? You do have a little time to choose.”
The warrior glanced at the tavern. Villagers had been coming and going all day. These men didn’t know Wals or his problem. They would offer no help in the coming battle and, even if they did get involved, they would surely be hurt or killed. He knew most of them had families and shook his head. It was not their battle. “Not here. Too small. Too many people.”
“Where do you think would be best?”
Wals agreed with Mato’s assessment. “While we could use the tavern at our backs, there isn’t enough room to maneuver. What about the beach?” He turned from the two fairies and explained what he meant to the brave. “Where we came in through the water? Near the boulders. Only a few can attack at a time. That might throw them off a little, if we aren’t where they expect us to be. How much time do we have to get there? It is a fairly long run,” he asked the green Fairy.
“Don’t worry about that, dear.” She gave him a pleasant smile that did more to unnerve him than the coming threat. Working with Fauna, green and red sparks flew and the two men were instantly transported to the beach.
“I’ll go tell Merri.” Without waiting for a word from the others, Flora popped out of sight in a flurry of green dust.
Back in less time than it took the men to realize she had gone, she was back, giggling behind her hand. “Oh, I think we made the Evil One a little angry! They just burst into your room and found you gone
!”
Nodding as she thought, her companion remarked, “Good, good. They may tire out a little more by the time they realize where you went and reach this spot. That might give us a little more of an advantage.”
“Us?” Wals turned from the access to the beach and looked at the two fairies.
They both looked taken aback. “Why, yes, us. You didn’t think we would let you have all the fun, did you?”
Each with their own thoughts, the odd foursome was quiet as they awaited their fate.
The cry of a raven high overhead unexpectedly split the air. It was gone before they could identify its exact location.
“Ah, she has found us.” Fauna calmly adjusted her pointed red hat, and shook the kinks out of her wand. “Come on, dear. This is no time to get all fussy,” she murmured to it as red glitter spilled out over her hand.
“Oh, dear.” The green Fairy worriedly rubbed her hands together as she fretted. “I do so hate conflicts like this. I wish everyone would just get along like they should.”
Fauna put an arm around the slender shoulders of her friend. “I know, I know. But we have faced this evil before, and we will again. We have to help these mortals. It is the least we can do after they helped our girl so much.”
“Oh, that great, lumbering, horned toad.” Merri was still grumbling when she suddenly appeared on the beach. “She is angry, indeed. I don’t think we’re going to have an easy time of it. Are you ready, Wals? Mato? We have the flag.”
A drawn, waiting sword was her only answer as the sound of a running pack of wolves came to their ears. Backed by high boulders, the two men stood resolute as the fairies blinked out of sight. Wals could only hope they remembered his full instructions about the flag.
Mato gave a sharp gasp as he saw his brother at the head of the pack. Wolf was barely recognizable with a crazed, maddened look on his face and a red glare in his eyes. The warrior’s eyes narrowed as a beautiful gray female wolf came up next to his brother, nuzzling him. He had no doubt who that was, especially when he clearly heard her say, “Are you ready, my pet? There is my enemy. Command your pack!”
“Spread out, men! Attack in pairs. Leave the tall one for me,” he instructed as he glared unknowingly at his brother.
Wals and Mato pulled their knives from their boots, tightly sticking them within easy reach in their belts. Mato strung an arrow, aiming at the breast of the female gray wolf as they slowly advanced on the beach.
With a loud cry, Mato let the arrow fly. Straight and true it flew toward the gray wolf. With a short laugh, she easily leaped to the side at the last moment, the arrow burying itself in the forehead of the unsuspecting wolf behind her. The first fatality, he dropped to the ground without a cry as the others leaped over their fallen comrade, not even giving him a backward glance.
“The battle begins!”
Wolf and Nimue held back while they allowed their pack do what they could in an all-out attack formation. Their plan was to let the others wear out the two men, and then they would move in for the kill. Snarling directions to his wolves, Wolf moved this way and that over the sand, always in motion, always watching the fight to call out instructions.
As he easily fought off the wolves who didn’t recognize the length of his blade, Mato suddenly called out in a loud voice. “Táku eníčiyapi he?” What is your name?
Wolf’s head jerked in Mato’s direction as the familiar language reached his ears. Suddenly his breathing became more labored, but he didn’t understand why. Shaking his head to clear it, he ran to the other side of the beach to bite the leg of a pack member who had fallen back. “To your place! Attack when their blades are up!”
Eyes glowing red with hatred, Nimue ran up next to Wolf to whisper something in his ear. She had noticed his slight hesitation and knew she had to act fast to counter it with another spell.
Wals was now forced to the ground when an ugly mottled wolf jumped him from the top of the boulders. Grabbing his small dagger, he thrust it upward, catching the soft underbelly. With a howl and shriek, the wolf fell to the ground as he twisted and turned in his effort to stop the pain in his stomach. Back to his feet, Wals followed Mato’s example of distraction and called for Merri to unfurl the flag.
Within a second the orange flag appeared up on the boulders above the fighting men, snapping smartly in an unseen, unfelt wind within its own protective spell.
Wals yelled out over the melee. “Wolf! Remember your place at Disneyland. You need to get back to work at the Magic Kingdom.” No sooner had he said that than an unnoticed brown vixen made a sudden leap at his throat. The invisible Flora came to his aide and a green arc of twinkles transformed the wolf into a spitting kitten that was easily pushed aside. When she became aware of her sudden change, the frightened kitty ran off into forest.
“Disneyland?” Wolf repeated the word in a whisper. The word staggered him and he could only stare at the bright flag waving boldly from the rocks. “I have a job….”
“Your job is to attack!” Nimue continued to scream at him when she saw the blue of his eyes return for just a second before the fog of her spell swirled it away. No spell of hers could make the flag vanish. It was guarded and protected by the combined goodness of the three fairies as if a giant, clear dome surrounded it.
Not as distracted as she seemed, the sorceress easily dodged the next arrow that flew mere inches past her head. With a glare at Mato, she watched as he defended himself against the next attack. His blade flashed and twisted and another animal went to the ground, the sand stained red with wolf blood.
“Tukténitaŋhaŋ he?” Mato yelled again at his brother. Where are you from?
“From?” Wolf gasped, and jerked in his direction. “I am from…I am from….”
“Come, my pet.” Frightened by the effect the two men were having on Wolf, Nimue became anxious. “We must end this now. We must no longer rely on our minions. You need to go for his throat!”
When the pitifully small remainder of the pack was called to their sides in order to let Wolf attack, the two men were given a short reprieve. Taking advantage of it, they gulped in huge breaths of clean air, and wiped the sweat of their hands off the hilts of their swords. “I don’t know if we can hold them all off at once.” Wals looked exhausted as he spoke in an undertone to his companion. “There’re too many of them.”
“I’ll keep talking to my brother. He remembered his tongue. Perhaps there is hope.”
“There is always hope,” a small voice whispered into their ears. “You are not alone.”
“Good to hear,” Mato murmured as the pack slowly began their second advance.
Within seconds, the beach was a churning mass of teeth, claws, swords and daggers. The men fought steadily but the wolves, now steadily attacking in pairs, pushed in hard as they sensed the end was at hand and became bolder.
With Wals’ leg slashed and bleeding from the last attack, he was getting weaker, arms bleeding and aching from swinging the sword. He wondered how much longer they could keep up their front. There seemed to be no end to the number of wolves that continually came at them.
Mato, his mind cleared of the pain of his own lacerations, continued to fight against the onslaught.
Suddenly, new sounds came to their ears. The noise was dimly heard over the snarling and whines of the animals. It was the sound of beating hooves on the sand, the scream of approaching war horses as they smelled the frenzied wolves and the stench blood.
Not able to take their eyes off the mad beasts in front of them, Wals could only hope it was not the return of the marauders who had attacked him before on this very same beach.
With blue, red, or green sparkles, their swords continued to aim true and bit deep into their attackers when they all heard another yell. Neither Mato or Wals knew the voice as it called out, “Attack, men! Watch the teeth!”
Wals heard a sharp gasp from the invisible Merri. “Prince Phillip! Watch your back!”
Throwing himself from his white horse,
Samson, his sword came up just in time to skewer the brute that had cowardly attacked him from behind. His shield pushed through the mass of fur and teeth as he fought his way to Wals’ and Mato’s side, his sword of truth slashing to the right and left.
Arriving with four of his men, they, too, fell into the fray to attack the outer edge of the animals. The men who fought at their sides were silent and sure. The wolves began to fall in goodly numbers as they were killed or injured or silently limped away into the forest.
Soon there were only four wolves left—Nimue, Wolf, and two especially large beasts. The Prince dispatched one startlingly white wolf, sending it into the waves of the ocean to wash out to sea. Recognizing that the tide of the battle had turned, Phillip called his men back to his side as Mato and Wals were left with only two more opponents.
Mato had one more thing to say to Wolf as the red eyes turned on the two last men who stood in front of him. “Thečhíȟila, my brother.”
The wolf stopped in mid-motion. He was about to snap Wals’ leg in half. “Love?” He turned to face the dark, sweat-drenched warrior. “Thečhíȟila?” he panted, his head low. “I love you? My brother!?”
Confused, he turned to the gray vixen beside him, her eyes wide as she saw she was losing her hold over him. Her evil spell wouldn’t work against the strength of love and family. Wolf’s eyes had returned to a faint blue, his teeth still bared, but now they were turned on her. “What have you done to me?” he suddenly demanded, snapping in her direction. “This is my brother!”
Shocked, Nimue’s head whipped around to look at the tall warrior, his last arrow notched and drawn back. His arm quivered with the strength it took to pull the bow back to its full power. The arrow would bury deep in her heart, ending this forever.
She didn’t know who moved first, Wolf or his brother. Wolf jumped at her throat and the arrow was let loose from the bow. Her leap out of the way showed her amazing agility, her paws frantically moving in Wolf’s direction as the three good fairies moved in to help him with this final battle. The good that was buried deep inside the wolf now came to the surface, and, united with the good of the fairies, they moved toward the wide-eyed sorceress.
Wolf! Happily Ever After? Page 19
