Cursed Wolf

by Stacy Claflin

Her eyes widened in surprise.

  “Vampires think far differently than we do, sweetness.”

  The Fyrsturae’s unicorns bolted into the thick of the trees as the old vampires belted out more war calls. I tapped my unicorn with my ankle, and he took off, following the others. Victoria’s stayed in step with mine, and the rest of our pack’s steeds rallied around us.

  We rode through the forest, passing faeries, trolls, and wild unicorns. The farther we traveled, the darker the woods became until it was almost pitch black. At least we had heightened senses in human form, but they were far weaker than when we were in wolf form.

  Before long, a chill ran down my spine. It felt as though invisible eyes watched us. If Azure had brought backup, then I was probably right. If she was as powerful as she seemed, she wouldn’t fight us on her own, not with so many headed her way.

  Hopefully, this would be worth it. I didn’t know how I’d live with myself if many lives were lost. Images of bodies spread through the forest flooded my mind. I pushed them aside. We had powerful witches from various species and a valkyrie on our side. We stood a better chance than Azure, especially given that with just our pack, we’d managed to injure her.

  The unicorns ahead of us slowed. Ours followed suit. My skin continued to crawl. The old witch had to have eyes all over the woods—whether they be literal or from a spell she’d cast.

  “Halt!” came a scratchy, irritated voice from the blackness. A voice I could never forget. Azure.

  “Toby,” Victoria whispered.

  “I’m right here.”

  “Who dares defy me?” Azure demanded.

  “All of us,” came Alrekur’s voice from the darkness. “How dare you hide in our woods to increase your magic?”

  “You’d be surprised how many times I’ve stayed here—under your own nose, oh wise and ancient vampire.”

  “Attack!”

  War cries sounded all around, echoing and compounding over each other. The eerie sound made my skin crawl. As soon as it quieted, I reached for my blade and a gun with wooden bullets—it would work on a vampire who turned on us and it would go through a witch just as easily as any normal bullet.

  A bright pink and yellow light shone above the witches, lighting everything up for a moment as though it were day. My eyelids closed in response after having grown used to the dark. I forced them open just in time to see about a dozen witches join Azure. They lined up in front of us and linked their hands together, holding them high into the air while chanting in a language I’d never heard.

  I tried to move my weapons, but found I couldn’t move a muscle. They had frozen me into place. Looking around, it appeared they had done a blanket spell on all of us. Only my eyeballs had any range of motion.

  Anger pulsated through me, not that it did much good. It didn’t remove even the slightest bit of the spell. I struggled to move but it was futile. I fought with everything in me, and I still couldn’t budge. Not a single muscle. I couldn’t even turn my head to check on Victoria.

  Azure and her witches continued their chanting, growing louder by the moment. A swift wind picked up, blowing leaves and dirt all around. The only thing I could do was to close my eyes to keep any of the soil from getting into them.

  New voices spoke, this time in languages that I recognized. I heard both Icelandic and Norwegian. Gessilyn, her family, and Soleil must’ve broken free of Azure’s hold. The wind shifted direction and moved toward Azure and her witches.

  I continued fighting to break free of the spell, not managing to move more than my eyelids. A warmth blanketed me, sending vibrations of strength down into my muscles. My fingers gripped the weapons.

  Movement!

  Heart thundering in my chest, I struggled with all my might. First, my fingers tightened around the weapons even more, and then I managed to move one entire arm. Then the other.

  The pink and yellow was beginning to fade, but I had a clear view of Azure. I held my gun and aimed it directly for her heart. She would die and she would bleed, giving Gessilyn the blood that she needed to fix the wolf essence stone. Except that the bullet froze in mid-air. One of Azure’s witches, a short woman with long red hair, held out her hand and shouted in a thick Scottish accent as she stared right at it. As soon as she stopped yelling, the wooden bullet fell to the ground and melted into a puddle.

  “Anyone else care to try that?” she bellowed.

  Everything turned blurry around me. I hit the ground with a thud. Rocks dug into my sides and my bones creaked in protest against the hard forest floor. An invisible force pressed me to the ground. I kicked and punched it, refusing to give in.

  A bright orange light lit everything. Those on unicorns cried out in pain. Some fell to the ground. The fierce beasts jumped on their hind legs and neighed, their horns reflecting the light.

  “Charge!” I called to my steed.

  He ran toward Azure and her witches, his head low and his poison-filled horn aimed at the group.

  “Go! Do it!” I cried. “Run for—”

  An invisible force sealed my mouth shut. I pulled at my lips to no avail. My mouth may as well have been sealed with cement.

  My unicorn rammed his horn into the neck of a black-haired witch standing near Azure.

  Release your poison. My mouth still wouldn’t budge. Luckily I had the connection to my unicorn.

  The witch cried out but didn’t crumple to the ground. She raised both arms into the air and screeched so loud it pierced my ears.

  Bright lights shone in various places around us, surrounding us in an array of vivid colors. Vampires called out their war calls. Werewolves cried out in pain as if they were in the process of shifting.

  I froze. Were they turning? Had Gessilyn managed to get some of Azure’s blood and apply it to the stone? Surely, it was too early for that. My comrades had to be in pain from a spell cast by the evil ancient witches.

  An electrical buzz ran through the air. My hair stood on end. I shivered but felt no bones breaking, and my mouth was still sealed shut. The current grew stronger.

  That was when I saw Alrekur and Marguerite holding hands in the air above our army of vampires and werewolves. They had a combined magic that outweighed that of any other supernatural creatures, aside from the witches. A glowing ball of energy formed in front of them. With a loud shout, they forced it on Azure and her witches.

  Everything shook with a violent force. I struggled to remain sitting until it stopped. Once it did, I grabbed my weapons, which at some point had fallen into the dirt. I rose and aimed my gun at Azure. She moved out of the way just before it could rip a hole through her heart.

  A harsh force pressed against me, throwing me backward. I flew into a tree, hitting the back of my head with such force that my vision doubled and then tripled. Stars and faeries danced in front of me. A sharp ringing bounced around my head, continuing as I fell to the forest floor like a rag doll. My entire body raged, as though my insides flamed.

  Someone far away called my name. I couldn’t raise my head to see who. I tried to roll over. Not even a finger would cooperate.

  Little colorful faeries flew over to me and sang a relaxing song as they danced around me, pulling and tugging on my hair, clothes, and skin. They lulled me into a state of relaxation, and my eyelids began to close.

  Was this the end?

  Chapter 30

  Victoria

  I jumped off my unicorn and ran for Toby. The tiny colorful faeries covered him so that I could barely see any of him.

  “Toby!”

  The little creatures fluttered their wings with such a combined force that it made me stumble back.

  “He’s my husband! Let me in.”

  They didn’t move aside or stop their powerful flutters.

  Boom!

  The ground shook again. Bright lights lit up the area to reveal vampires and werewolves running toward Azure and her witches, but they all slammed to a stop like they were running into a glass wall. It was an invisible force fie
ld. Beyond them, Gessilyn’s entire family—minus Killian—gathered together, arms outstretched toward the rival witches. They chanted in Icelandic as though one voice. Behind them, Soleil stood with her wings outstretched and her eyes as black as death itself. Relief washed through me—she didn’t have her sword. Marguerite and Alrekur remained in the air, creating globes that swirled with magical electricity.

  Swooshes and roars sounded in the distance, from high in the sky. I covered my eyes to block Azure’s coven’s bright lights and studied the tops of the trees, unable to see the night sky beyond the thick branches. The noise grew louder until I almost couldn’t stand it, and then dragons flew down through the leaves. There were easily a hundred or more.

  As they landed, some immediately transformed into human form—their clothes reappearing as they shifted! My mouth gaped. How had they wound up so lucky as to be able to shift with their clothes? The ones who remained in their dragon form ran at Azure and the others, crashing into the invisible wall. Dragons from behind roared and breathed fire at the witches. It bounced off the wall, not even melting it in the slightest.

  I turned back to Toby. Even more faeries had gathered around him. They covered him to the point that not a piece of him showed through their massive, colorful blur.

  “Please!” I fell to the ground. “Let me see him.”

  One faerie flew over to me. She was purple and hovered just in front of my face. “He’s been struck with strong, dark magic. If you don’t let us help him, he won’t survive. Go back to fighting Azure.”

  “But—”

  “Go.” She flew back to Toby, blending in with the others.

  I couldn’t really argue with magical creatures trying to save the love of my life, so I spun around and ran for my unicorn. I jumped on and urged him to run into the thick of the battle.

  Everything was a blur of bright colors, dragon wings, and zaps of electricity coming from the vampire king and queen. I clutched my knife, knowing it would be useless until Azure’s invisible wall was demolished. Given the dragons’ fire blasts shot back at them, it would be a while before that happened.

  I nudged the unicorn away from the battle. We crept out of the area unnoticed. The woods grew quieter and lights dimmed. The unicorn took me in a long, swinging circle until we were several hundred yards behind Azure’s coven.

  The steed stopped and whinnied.

  I dropped to the forest floor. “Go!”

  He broke into a run, aiming his powerful horn toward the group of witches. I focused on shifting. Since I was the one werewolf who could turn at will, I needed to use that to my advantage. The witches wouldn’t expect that, and maybe since this was all about the wolf essence stone, it would work to my advantage.

  There was only one way to find out.

  A feminine cry sounded in front of me. Hopefully, that meant my unicorn had managed to kill one of Azure’s witches.

  I slid off my clothes and stuck them under a bush. My wolf howled and clawed to get out. I closed my eyes and gave into the shifting pains. Before I knew it, I saw the woods through wolf eyes. My wolf and I blended quickly and then stretched toward where the moon should have been, had we been able to see it through the thick trees.

  The trees became a green-and-brown blur as we ran toward the witches. My unicorn lay on the ground alongside a witch with light brown hair, now laced with blood. I whined for the unicorn. They must’ve taken each other down, and that meant that the poisoned horn actually worked. My werewolf venom might, as well.

  I bared my teeth as I creeped toward the witches. A low growl escaped my throat.

  Azure spun around. Her eyes widened as she saw me. “It’s not possible!”

  Oh, what I wished I could verbalize to her. Instead, I lunged for her, my fangs dripping with venom.

  “No!” She extended her arms toward me. Her hair stood on end in every direction, including straight up, and she spoke in Icelandic, barely getting out three words. I jumped on her, knocking her to the ground. Snarling, I dug into her neck.

  Her blood tasted like acid and burned my mouth, but it wasn’t enough to deter me. I bit down as hard as I could. As her thick, nasty blood filled my mouth, it grew to be too much. I had no other choice except to step back and spit it out.

  Azure remained on the ground, writhing in agony. The other witches turned to me and circled around, their eyes wild, their hands waving around in my direction. Behind them, the other werewolves along with vampires and dragon shifters pressed themselves against the invisible barrier, unable to pass through and help me. Though it didn’t reach behind the witches, it went high up into the air.

  Azure jumped to her feet as a bright rainbow of lights shone around the witches and enveloped me.

  Everything faded to black.

  Chapter 31

  Toby

  My eyes flew open. Magnificent colors surrounded me. Nothing else. Just a flurry of brightness. I gasped for air and pushed myself up to my elbows. My vision focused. Faeries. They fluttered around me, staring.

  A little blue one bounced over to me. “How do you feel?”

  I had no aches or pains. Only an odd coldness running through one arm. If only I knew where I was. “Okay.”

  “Good. Now get back to the battle.”

  “The…?” It took a moment, but then I remembered. We were in the vampire’s enchanted woods. Fighting Azure. And she’d brought other witches.

  I scrambled to my feet and turned to the faeries. “Thank you for healing me.”

  “Just hurry!”

  “Where’s Victoria?” I reached into my pocket and found my knife. The gun was gone.

  The faeries all turned to the right in unison. They pointed toward the front. Near the witches a large number of people gathered.

  My heart plummeted. Was she okay? I burst into a run and pushed my way through the thick crowd of supernatural warriors. My mind raced with worst case scenarios. Yet none of it compared to what I actually saw.

  Victoria lay on the ground near two dead witches and a unicorn. Azure stood over her, waving her arms and shouting. An ominous black mist swirled around them. And I couldn’t get past an invisible barrier. No one could. Some shouted at it—trying to use magic? Others beat it with various weapons. Still others threw themselves at it.

  I turned to the vampire on my left. “How do we get around?”

  “It’s impenetrable. Even the king and queen’s magic can’t get through.”

  “There has to be a way! Victoria got through.”

  “Nobody knows how.”

  I stepped back. “I’ll figure out how she did it.”

  “People are saying the witches pulled her through.”

  “I’ll still find a way!” I walked the length of the force field, keeping one palm on it at all times. Sure enough, it seemed to go on forever. I wanted to circle around, but the barrier wouldn’t allow it. It was taking me away from the battleground.

  Something had to be done.

  “Toby?” came a familiar feminine voice.

  I spun around. Soleil stood before me, bearing a sword. “Is that…?”

  She nodded, her expression tense. “We need to hurry.”

  “Victoria’s—”

  “On the other side of the invisible wall. I know.”

  “How’d you get that so fast?”

  “I teleported, and you were knocked out longer than you think.”

  We ran back to where we could see Azure and the others. Soleil drew back her sword and held it in the ready position. Was she going to try to attack the witches through the barrier?

  She yelled out and then drove the blade directly into the force field. A single crack ran along the edge of the sword, running across the clear wall, exposing it with an array of light colors. It darkened and then crashed all around. People called out in confusion while others called out war cries and raced toward the witches, stepping over the crumbled barrier.

  I pushed my way through, careful not to lose my footing on the var
ious-sized shards covering the ground. Soleil ran straight for Azure.

  Gessilyn ran over. “Wait!”

  Soleil turned to her. “No offense, but are you crazy? She needs to go down!”

  “I need her blood, or all of this is for nothing. Your sword will disintegrate her, won’t it?”

  “Something like that.” Soleil’s brows furrowed. “I’ll prick her, you get the blood, then I’m going to take the psycho down.”

  “Perfect.” Gessilyn nodded.

  I followed them to Azure. Once the witch was distracted, I would run for Victoria.

  Soleil stopped just behind the witch and held her sword in position. “Hey, evil murderer!”

  Azure whipped around, her expression tight and her brown eyes glowing bright blue as they had before.

  “Yeah,” Soleil quipped. “I’m talking to you, psychopath.” She swung the sword and scratched her across the face, leaving a long, thick mark from one side to the other. Blood dripped down her face.

  The witch held out her palms toward Soleil and opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Gessilyn shouted.

  Azure froze into place. “What have you done?” Her words were muffled without her lips moving.

  Gessilyn pulled out two glass vials from her jacket and collected the blood dripping down Azure’s face.

  “Is that enough?” Soleil pressed the sword into Azure’s neck. She glanced up to the sky. “My location is already known in Valhalla. Blood has been drawn, and it doesn’t belong to the dictator I’m supposed to be after.”

  Gessilyn gathered some more blood dripping from Azure’s neck. “This ought to do it.”

  “Ought to?” I exclaimed.

  “It will.” Gessilyn tightened lids onto the two vials.

  I ran over to Victoria, who still lay on the forest floor. “Victoria!”

  A bright yellow light blinded me. As it died down, I glanced up just in time to see Azure crumple to the ground. She screamed out, calling down curses from the sky before the light left her eyes and she went limp. Then she melted into the earth.

  Gessilyn’s family ran over, shouting spells of their own at the remaining witches. Several of them flew backward. One clutched her heart and fell on top of Azure.