Moon Broken

by H. D. Gordon

  By the grace of the Gods, the arrow was right where Adriel had left it, tossed near the base of the fountain, mostly hidden in shadow. Bakari’s silver blood had dried to a dull, ashy gray, but the tip of the arrow still looked as deadly and sharp as ever.

  Snatching it up into my hands, I snapped the arrow in half, and felt the sizzle of magic zing my fingertips. I broke it into a few more pieces, just to make sure.

  In the distance, but also from all around, howls rose up into the sky, which was growing darker with the death of another day. Soon, the moon would rise, and the town of Mina would belong to one side or the other.

  I shuddered at the idea that if I had just closed the portal by breaking the arrow the Hounds had used to reach this place, then that meant the people of Mina were stuck with Gods knew how many Hounds in this once-peaceful place.

  “You don’t have to kill him,” the child had told me.

  But these Hounds had been sent here by the Pack Masters to kill and capture, and they would not abandon those orders easily.

  It was a surprisingly difficult reality to face considering the fact that I had only been in Mina a little over half a moon cycle, but if this place were to be free and peaceful again, the blood of the Hounds would have to flow in the streets. It was them or us, which was the thing that the silver-blue eyed child didn’t understand.

  Even if we managed to stop all the Hounds that were already here, there would be more. The location of the Between Realms shifted, but they would eventually drop another anchor. The Pack Masters would open portal after portal to get to Adriel, now that they knew who he was. They would never stop, and we would never be free until they were all dead, along with any Wolf willing to follow them.

  With a lurch in my soul, I came to the sudden and harsh realization that Mina was over. Things would never be the same again. War had begun, and it would claim its prizes in flesh and blood, same as all wars did.

  I moved through the falling town as these thoughts moved through my head. In the name of speed, I’d shifted back into my Wolf form, though doing so again in such a short time frame took its toll physically. Adriel and his team were doing an admirable job quelling the invading forces, but the sounds of battle were going on in every direction.

  As I neared the edge of the town and that of the Emerald Forest, I felt a strong tug of shame and guilt at my desire to run away along with the others. I knew that Adriel and his friends were fighting Hounds who no doubt outnumbered them, simply because most of the people who lived in Mina were doing what I was doing—running.

  Running like a deer from the jaws of the pack… like a sheep… like a coward.

  I paused as I reached the line of trees that beaconed me with the cover and safety they represented. Goldie was somewhere in that forest, leading the people toward safety. I looked back over my shoulder, where Adriel was somewhere among those buildings, fighting.

  Several heartbeats passed as I stood there, wondering if I was out of my mind for wanting to run, or out of my mind for wanting to stay.

  As was often the case in my life, fate made the choice for me.

  I nearly jumped out of my fur coat when Asha skidded into the square, her body crashing into the lip of the fountain as blood dripped from her mouth. Her eyes had gone all black, like onyx orbs in which one could glimpse their own reflection. Dark magic swirled around her form with electric energy, and her curly hair stood out every which way atop her head. Her beautiful face was twisted into something from a nightmare, her straight white teeth bared fully in a terrifying grin.

  If I’d wondered before, I was sure now; Asha was the half-Demon Adriel had mentioned that day in the garden when we’d been discussing the diversity of Mina.

  Asha stood, brushing off her leather pants and torn shirt, spitting a wad of blood on the cobblestone as blue light that looked like tiny bolts of lightning danced between her fingers.

  “Here I am, little Hounds,” Asha taunted, grin growing somehow wider. “Come on out and play.”

  15

  A Hound entered the square, slipping out of the shadows cast by one of the buildings, eyes glowing Wolf-gold as night fell around us.

  Another Hound slipped similarly into view across the square, sharp teeth bared and a low growl emanating up his throat.

  And another, from the other side of Asha.

  And another.

  When a fifth Wolf appeared, making the odds five-to-one, I had to admit that I admired the unhampered anticipation that danced in Asha’s eyes. Even with whatever Demon powers she might have, taking out five Wolves would be no easy feat, but not an ounce of fear showed on her lovely face, only the look of a determined warrior.

  There was no time wasted among the Hounds. They started to tighten the circle around Asha, and she began to fling magic at them, shooting sparks of lightning-like energy that singed the fur of the Wolves and forced them to skid backwards on their paws.

  When Asha drew a long blade from a sheath across her back, I thought maybe I’d been wrong about her odds of defeating the Hounds. The sword alone was enough to make one stop and admire its deadly beauty. It was slightly curved at the end, and the silver of it glittered in the moonlight. The sword, plus the sight of Asha holding it, was downright awe-inspiring.

  Lightning danced along the curve of the blade, over her fingers, and up her arms. It sizzled against the cobblestone with every step she took, and flashed over the black orbs that had become her eyes. If I hadn’t already had a bad taste about her in my mouth because of her treatment of me in the meeting hut, I might have admitted that she looked pretty badass.

  The Hounds must have agreed, because I could see their hesitance in the slight lowering of their tails. The higher the confidence a Wolf has in his or her victory in battle, the higher they hold their tails. It’s not something they do consciously, more like an inevitable reaction.

  I knew without being included in the telepathic conversation that the Hounds were communicating silently and strategizing.

  Turning back in the direction I’d been heading, I made it a few steps before my guilt got the best of me. Maybe Asha was powerful enough to take on all five Hounds and survive… But maybe she wasn’t. Even though I wasn’t particularly fond of the female due to our previous and only interaction, I couldn’t just run away and leave her to it.

  As much as I might wish it was, to do so just wasn’t in me.

  Hoping that I wouldn’t immediately regret the decision, I made my way back toward the square, where all manner of hell was breaking loose.

  Asha was putting up a good fight, but the use of so much magic was not an easy thing to maintain, so she was soon only fighting with the blade. It sliced through the night air as she twisted and danced to a deadly tune. The Hounds made attempts at reaching her without being severed, and were finding it to be quite a feat.

  But all it would take was one Hound to break through, and if that one Hound managed to clamp their powerful jaws around a vulnerable part of Asha, it would be over.

  As if the thought had summoned the event, another two Hounds appeared in the square, having no doubt been drawn here by the commotion. Asha had managed to dispatch two of the five she was already facing, but she was too distracted with the remaining three that she didn’t notice the new arrivals.

  Like the clever hunters they were, the two new Hounds fanned out to coordinate their attack. They were so focused on Asha that they didn’t see me coming.

  I sprang into the fray, taking out one of the new arrivals by tearing a big chunk of fur and flesh free from where his ribcage was hidden. The taste of Wolf blood flooded into my mouth once more, bringing back memories of The Ring in a rush that might have made me stumble if I’d allowed it to.

  Tonight, I would kill the intruders and defend the town of Mina and its people.

  Tomorrow, I would deal with the repercussions of my actions.

  If I made it to tomorrow, anyway.

  My spectacular arrival didn’t go unnoticed by the Houn
ds, and as they turned toward me in their shock, Asha used the time to slice through two of them. Their howls of agony as half of their bodies were separated from the other half rang in my ears and down to my bones.

  “You don’t have to kill them,” the silver-blue eyed child had told me.

  The words echoed through my head as I leapt at another Hound, snapping my jaws and growling.

  There was no way to know how long the fight lasted. My injuries were too many to take stock of just then, and the adrenaline coursing through me was taking care of any pain I should be feeling, but time took on that slow, clear crawl that takes place in high intensity moments.

  I killed another Hound and turned just in time to see one of the others make a leap for Asha’s throat. There was no time to contemplate my actions. If I had, Asha would have been dead.

  I sprang forward and hit the bastard dead-on, tackling him as I snapped and tore at his body with my teeth. We went sprawling in a fury of fur and fangs, our snarls rippling around us and becoming lost in the chaos of the other battles erupting in the streets of Mina.

  Eventually, I was able to tear apart the Hound enough that he stopped moving. I wondered in a sort of haze if I would ever get the taste of blood out of my mouth.

  Beside me, Asha killed another Hound.

  Trouble was, for every Hound we killed, two more seemed to show up, like an infestation of insects or rodents.

  I succumbed to my beast and let her do what had to be done, after sending up a final prayer for this dreadful night to end.

  Gods only knew how much time passed in that square. I measured it not by hours or seconds or the cycle of the moon, but by snarls and bloodshed.

  Kill or be killed. It was a code I’d always been forced to live by, and even when I was just starting to believe I’d escaped it, it had found me again. The child with the silver-blue eyes had been wrong. I was sure of it. I’d stayed to fight, and now, I would die here in this square, where only a few moons ago I’d watched a mixture of races dancing and singing in harmony to a lovely tune.

  I was a skilled fighter, and so was Asha, but we were outnumbered, and the bastards just kept on coming. We were tiring, and once one of us went down, so would the other.

  In the heat of the battle, we shared a look that somehow conveyed this. Asha’s onyx gaze met mine across the fray, tiny bolts of blue-white lightning flashing over her eyes, sparking at her fingertips. There was an understanding that we would die here.

  It lasted a fraction of a second, and then we commenced in the mayhem.

  In my head, I was surrounded on all sides by a metal cage, a ring that kept my opponents and me separated from the spectators. The fact that this was an almost comforting illusion was something I turned promptly away from.

  Asha screamed. The sound tore through the night and the killer’s daze under which I was operating. I turned in time to see her go down, to see the pack of Hounds converge on her. I fought to reach her, battling the Hound blocking me with renewed energy.

  But this was a losing battle, a doomed fight.

  I kept at my rampage, telling myself there were surely worse ways to go.

  My own cry of pain rose up as agony tore through me. I was bleeding in too many places to count, and the Hound I was currently facing was gaining the upper hand. There was only a flash of his teeth, and then pain—terrible, awful pain. And the night, darkening and darkening.

  Then there was a collective snap, as though a God had snapped her fingers right beside my ears. The sound was that of breaking bones, of the severing of life’s tether. The neck of the Hound that had been milliseconds from delivering a death-bite to me snapped to the side, and he slumped to the ground—dead.

  All around the square, in exactly the same moment, the other Hounds did the same. They dropped in heaps of bloody fur, necks bent at wrong angles.

  “Just in time,” Asha panted, and I followed her gaze to see Adriel. The magic pulsed around him in a palpable cloud, scarlet swirling in and around his fingers, over his shoulders and down his muscular arms. His eyes were similarly red, impossible to gaze into for too long without going mad. He wore his typical black slacks and shirt, and his white teeth flashed in the only indication that he was in pain. His skin was pale and flushed, as if he were running a fever. The rough drawl of his usually smooth tone gave away his fatigue, and I would’ve bet that he’d already used enough magic this evening to kill an average wielder.

  It was becoming increasingly clear to me that Adriel was anything but average, in all respects.

  Asha looked equally tired and relieved to see him, and I found myself looking away as she limped over to him and threw her arms around his neck. My lips pulled back a little when Adriel wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, and I had to remind myself not to flatten my ears on my head.

  I told myself that I didn’t care about this interaction. Not one bit. And why should I?

  I turned away from the two of them, forcing my tail to swish nonchalantly so as not to give away any stupid emotions I might be feeling. I’d done the right thing. I’d stepped in so that Asha didn’t get killed. Now I could run into the forest and find Goldie. Goldie would welcome me with open arms.

  And, Gods help me, it was the silliest thing in the world, but I wanted to be hugged, too. I wanted somebody to kiss my forehead the way Adriel had just kissed Asha’s, to feel the rush of happiness that came with being reunited with someone I loved.

  I’d almost slipped away when Adriel called out to me. “Rukiya,” he said.

  I paused and looked over my shoulder, noticing the gleam of blood on my smooth brown coat and the throb of the agony that would shortly set in.

  “You did good. The portal is closed,” Adriel told me. Then, he looked at Asha. “You need to go with Rook,” he told her. “Into the forest with the others. More Hounds are coming. Too many are already here. Go now.”

  Asha cast me a distasteful look that made me question my most recent act of altruism, and shook her head. “I won’t leave you,” she said. “Come with us.”

  “Asha, there isn’t time,” Adriel replied. “Go with Rook.”

  Asha raised the bloody blade in her hand. “My leg is injured. I can’t run anyway, so I might as well stay and fight.”

  Adriel cast a pleading glance at me, the first of its kind I had seen from him. “Rook, please,” he said.

  I padded back over to where Asha and Adriel stood, and lowered my body so that Asha could climb onto my back. I was small in stature for a Wolf, but Wolf Shifters were so massive in our Wolf forms that this didn’t mean I was actually small. In fact, my head reached Adriel’s chest, and he was not a short male.

  Asha looked at me doubtfully nonetheless, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

  Adriel let out a frustrated growl and turned toward me. I stood in shocked silence as he took a deep breath, and the scarlet magic that was swirling around him concentrated around his right hand. He touched that hand to his chest, and his jaw flexed as the red magic glowed out from the space right over his heart.

  Then the magic faded, dying out completely, disappearing into the shadows of the night. The moon had risen overhead, and its silver glow danced along the fine lines of his face. Not for the first time, I recognized how beautiful of a creature Adriel was, how handsome and appealing.

  I met and held his scarlet gaze as he looked at me. When he opened his hand, there was a chain with a red stone there. Its surface swirled and shifted, just as had the magic he’d been controlling, as though he’d placed something living within the small stone.

  Adriel let the stone dangle from the chain as he hung it around my neck. It felt cool against my body, burying itself into my thick fur.

  “The town is falling. There are too many Hounds. Lead the people to the Dead Forest,” he said. “And give the stone to the Erl Queen.”

  My body went utterly still. I couldn’t speak aloud in my Wolf form, so I just shook my head. I coul
dn’t go back there. I refused. I’d rather die fighting right here.

  Adriel’s handsome face softened even as the howls of more Hounds grew dangerously closer. “Goldie and Amara, and so many others,” Adriel whispered, taking my whiskered face between his hands, “they need you. Go to the Dead Forest. Give the stone to the Erl Queen. You have to go now.”

  As if to prove his point, the howls of the Hounds sounded just around the corner, and their canine shadows danced along the cobblestones as another pack approached.

  I noticed with a sudden sinking of my heart that there was no longer the palpable pulse of magic around Adriel, that there was no scarlet haze dancing around him. He’d already used too much. He was operating on empty.

  “Go!” he commanded, and the tone of his voice was such that Asha climbed atop my back, her hands digging deep into my fur for purchase.

  I stood rooted to the spot as Hounds began to appear in pairs, their eyes glowing Wolf-gold in the darkness.

  “Go!” Adriel repeated, only this time, the voice that came out of him was a roar, the growl of a beast. I watched in equal parts horror and wonder as he shifted into his other form, as his head turned into that of a giant Wolf, as black fur sprouted and covered his body, as his hands and feet became flesh-shredding claws.

  He walked upright, on two legs, and was well over ten feet tall in this form. He’d run out of magic, so he was going to fight the Hounds tooth and claw now. He was going to buy us the time to get away, to go to the Dead Forest, to take the red stone to the Erl Queen—whoever the hell that was.

  Just before he turned away, toward the stalking Hounds who’d invaded our town, his scarlet eyes met mine for a moment that could not have been longer than a couple of heartbeats, but that felt somehow eternal. In that red gaze, I saw only Adriel, the mortal beneath the beast, the freer of slaves and believer in people.

  And I hoped like hell that he made it. I hoped like hell this was not the last time I would see him, that I would get the chance to apologize for thinking ill of him, and thank him for the kindness he’d shown me, for the kindness he showed the world.