by Jan Stryvant
"Can we go back?" Jolene asked.
Daelyn shook her head, "It'll be at least a day before it's cool enough in there to go back. Tripping the steam shuts everything down; so that heat is just gonna sit in there like an oven. Pretty much anything left back there is gonna be cooked."
"Aw, shit," Sean swore.
"What?"
"I left my father's book on the table!"
"Well, kiss it goodbye," Daelyn said, shaking her head. "I don't think a book is going to survive three-hundred degree steam."
"Paper doesn't burn until four-fifty-one," Roxy said.
"I was talking Celsius," Daelyn said with a sigh, "not Fahrenheit."
Sean sighed heavily, "It's magical, it's in a box, and last I saw it was covered in two inches of solid ice."
"Well, I guess we can come back and look for it, but we need to wait a day at least, maybe two."
Sean nodded, "Hopefully it survived, I think I know enough to do the silver tag, but without that book, it's going to take me a lot longer to make one."
"What about him?" Roxy asked, nudging the still unconscious werewolf.
"Is there any way we can force him back into his human form?" Daelyn asked.
"Why?" Roxy asked.
"Well, he's gonna stand out iffen we carry him around like that."
"I don't even know why Sean saved him," Roxy growled.
"Because I want to know who he's with, why he's here, and how they forced him to do what he was doing," Sean sighed, looking at Roxy, whose tail was literally lashing behind her. "I also want to know just how they found us."
Roxy growled but nodded, "Okay."
"So, do we have any clothes? And where does this tunnel let out?"
"We have clothes," Jolene said. "I threw everything in the room onto the sheet and then just rolled it up and dragged it down here."
"What about money?" Roxy asked.
"What, you think a dwarf would forget to grab the cash?" Daelyn laughed. "I got the silver, the extra necklaces and the tags too!" Daelyn frowned then suddenly, "But if they hurt my 'Cuda, I'm gonna be seriously pissed!"
Sean nodded, and checked himself over; he was covered in dried blood and some remnants from the burning clothes and exploding ammo.
"Jo, think you could hose me down? I'm a mess," Sean sighed.
"Sure, just go stand back by the door."
Sean did as she told him, and was surprised that he could feel the heat coming off the door.
"I think we should move away from here," He said as steam came off the door after he'd gotten rinsed off by Jolene's water spell.
"Yeah, let's do that!" Daelyn said, eyeing the door.
The tunnel came out about a thousand yards away, in a dry mountain wash that looked down over the entrance to the drainage tunnel that led to the garage.
They took a few moments to get dressed, and then sorted out the gear that they'd managed to rescue. Which was a couple changes of clothing, shoes, guns, holsters, wallets and the things Daelyn had already mentioned.
"Damn, it's like we're back at square one," Sean sighed.
Roxy laughed and kissed him, surprising him and perking him back up.
"We have enough cash to buy whatever we need, clothing, and a lot more friends than we did a few weeks ago. I wouldn't call that 'square one.'" Roxy said smiling at him.
"You're taking this rather well," Daelyn grumped.
Roxy hugged Daelyn next, surprising her, "If your car is broke, we can rebuild it, Hon. Sean here is gonna be rich with all the stuff he can make. So don't you worry about it!"
Daelyn sighed, "I guess you're right," and she gave Roxy a bit of a smile, and then looked at Jolene. "How come I don't hear you complaining?"
Jolene giggled, "There's only three things in the world I really care about, and they're all right here with me."
"Awww," Roxy and Daelyn went together.
"Yup, these cute heels I bought yesterday, and the matching purse and necklace!"
Jolene quickly ducked behind Sean, as Roxy and Daelyn both made a grab for her, laughing rather loudly at the two of them.
Shaking his head, Sean put his hands up and the girls all settled down, but at least they didn't seem so upset anymore.
"So, where do we go now?"
"Well, the nearest entrance to the local dwarven town is about a five mile walk from here," Daelyn said.
Sean shook his head, "No. Right now the only people who knew where we were are dwarves. If there's someone there who sold us out, I don't think it's safe for us."
Daelyn's eyebrows came down in a squint and she opened her mouth to say something, when Jolene put her hand on Daelyn's arm. "No one is blaming anybody, Dae, but Sean's right. Until we know who sent him," and she nodded towards the bound werewolf, "we need to go somewhere else."
Daelyn sighed and nodded.
"You sound like you have an idea," Sean said.
Jolene smiled, "Of course I do. The Sorceress guild owes you a big favor, and they not only have no idea where we lived, but they'd have never sold us out to the likes of his bosses."
"How do you know he's not from the guild?" Daelyn asked.
"Oh, trust me. I know," Jolene smiled.
"Okay, fine, we go there, but just how do we get there?" Sean asked.
"We walk, I guess. When our friend comes back around, you can convince him to change, I'm sure."
"I have a better idea," Roxy said.
"Oh? What's that?"
"Me and Dae go steal a car."
"I like that idea!" Daelyn said jumping up to her feet. "Come on, Roxy; let's go see what we can find. You guys stay here!"
Sean looked at Jolene who smiled and said, "I'm not all that big of a fan of walking."
"Sure," Sean agreed with Roxy, "we'll head up the road to just south of the Dillard's lot and meet you up there," and standing back up he picked up the werewolf and threw him over one shoulder while taking the rest of their things in the rolled up bed sheet and putting it over his other shoulder. At least in his hybrid form, it wasn't all that heavy.
Sean and Jolene were trekking across a field full of scrub brush when the wolf over his shoulder started to struggle.
"Looks like somebody finally came to," Jolene said.
Sean sighed and looked around for a good spot. There really weren't any, but there was a bit of depression from a dry creek bed, and it was pretty dark out, so odds were no one would see or hear them. Dropping the rolled up sheet Sean put the werewolf down onto the ground, on his back, then straddling his chest, Sean sat on him.
The werewolf was glaring up at him, but as Sean had tied his muzzle closed, there really wasn't anything he could do, beyond glare.
"Okay," Sean said. "As I'm sure you can guess, I have a lot of questions. Like who are you, why did you break into our home, why did you try to kill us, you know, the typical things someone wants to know when they're woken up at midnight by a bunch of homicidal wolves."
With that Sean untied the werewolf's muzzle.
"You killed my pack!" the werewolf growled, "I'm not telling you anything!"
Sean sighed, "Actually, I only killed that one guy I froze solid. Of course," Sean lowered his face until his muzzle was an inch away from the wolf's and growled very low and menacingly, "you were shooting at me and my wives. So don't you go trying to claim any moral high ground. Besides, how do you even know they're dead?"
"I felt the silver pellet in my chest explode! I heard my second's howl of pain as his exploded too! You did that! You killed them!"
Sitting back, Sean hauled off and smacked the wolf across the muzzle hard enough to break his jaw.
"Enough of that shit, or I'll be more than happy to rip your head off and let you join your dead friends," Sean growled. "If I knew how to pop those little pellets that your masters put in your chests, don't you think I would have done it when you first broke in?
"Now, what's your name? And why were you there?"
The werewolf growled at him.
/> Sean pulled his fist back, "Look, I'm about all out of patience. You were in the wrong, and you know it. Now you either 'fess up and start talking, or me and my wife here are going to start using magic and some very creative ways to get my answers."
Sean watched as the werewolf tried to glare up at him, but he just couldn't do it. He was right; they were in the wrong and the wolf knew it.
"My name is Oak, and we were following orders," Oak sighed and looked away from Sean's gaze, embarrassed.
"Better. I'm Sean. That's Jolene," Sean nodded towards Jolene. "My other two wives are a bit busy right now, so they're not here. Now, why were you attacking us?"
Oak didn't look at him, so Sean grabbed his muzzle and forced him to look him in the eye. "Why were you there?"
Oak sighed, "Roger McConnell sent us to get the book back that you stole from him, and to kill you. We were supposed to kill all of you, but we'd already decided to let the women escape, if we could do so without our minders finding out."
Sean snorted, "That was my father's book, and whoever this McConnell is, he never had his hands on it. Who is he, anyways?"
"He's the head of the Gradatim," Jolene supplied.
"Well, points at least for not wanting to kill the girls."
"We're not the animals some of them think we are," Oak grumbled.
"I don't know about that," Sean growled, "your behavior was pretty animalistic looking to me!"
"We don't have a choice!" Oak growled and looked away again, "We do it, or we die and our families die. Horribly, by silver. Besides, they reward us when we're good, they take care of us when we're faithful!"
"They popped your pellet, Oak," Jolene said softly. "They killed you, they killed your pack."
"If they did that, why am I still alive?" Oak said, sullenly, because he had a suspicion as to why. He'd heard the rumors, same as everyone else after the attack on the Ascendants. He'd also seen firsthand how silver bullets hadn't stopped Sean, the lion now sitting on his chest.
"Because I saved you," Sean growled, "Now, just how did you find out where we were?"
Oak closed his eyes, he'd said too much. Better to just accept his fate and be done with everything. His pack was dead, probably from treachery, he didn't doubt that Sam had killed them all, and would probably claim that they had died in the fighting.
"Oh, a stubborn one?" Sean growled, "You've already told us who you are and who sent you, so you might as well tell all now."
Oak kept his eyes closed and waited for the next blow.
"Any ideas on how to make him talk, Jo?" Sean asked.
Jolene smiled at him, "Of course I do. Take his oath."
"What?" Sean asked looking up at Jolene surprised. He didn't even notice that Oak's eyes had opened in surprise as well.
"They tried to execute him, that's a betrayal of trust. That means he's dead to them, and that he no longer owes them his loyalty." Jolene looked down at Oak, who was staring at her, wide eyed. "And, you saved his life. You destroyed the silver in his system; he owes you his life now, Sean. He was sent to kill you, and you saved him from a horrible death.
"I'm pretty sure in wolf culture that makes him yours."
Sean turned and looked down at Oak, who suddenly looked very unsure of himself.
"Swear it," Sean growled, "and I'll let you live. I'll forgive you for trying to kill me."
"I, I can't!" Oak gasped.
"She just said you can," Sean replied, nodding towards Jolene.
"It's, it's not that!"
Sean sighed, "Then what the hell is it?"
"My girlfriend! If they find out I'm alive, and I'm with you, they'll kill her!"
"You swear yourself to me, and at least you'll have the chance of seeing her again," Sean pointed out. "If I kill you here, well, you won't."
"I felt the silver when it entered my body, no!" Oak shook his head, "I can't let that happen to her! I'll die first!"
"Sean?" Jolene said.
"Yes?"
"May I?" she motioned towards Oak.
"Be my guest."
"Oak, you have to understand that Sean is probably now going to kill everyone who is in the council of Gradatim, and then free all of their lycans. Well, the ones who don't try and fight him of course. Now, what do you think is going to happen to their lycans, once they see Sean trying to free them?"
Sean noticed the panicked expression on Oak's canine features.
"Now, with your help, perhaps we could keep that from happening?"
"I... I don't know."
"What if we make sure we save her? What then?" Jolene asked.
Oak thought about that! He knew that there were others vying for Minnie's favors, but he'd always been able to hold the others at bay, because she favored him, and had made it clear than if he made it to alpha status, she would choose him.
Well, freeing her from a life of being a slave to Gradatim, especially after their treachery, would definitely win her over, he was sure. Even if she didn't, he'd at least get the opportunity to pay back Sam Wilton for killing his pack.
"If you promise to save her, I'll swear," Oak said.
Sean nodded, "If you swear yourself to my service, until such time as I release you, I promise that I will do all in my power to save your girlfriend from the council of Gradatim."
Oak nodded, "I swear myself to your service, Sean."
Sean smiled, "Now, how did you find where we were?"
"A dwarf in the community is a friend of Roger's. Or at least in his debt, I'm not sure which. He put a tracking device in the box of the things that were shipped to you."
Sean looked up at Jolene, "Do we still have that box with us?"
Jolene shook her head no, "It's back at the shelter. Last I recall it was still sitting on the kitchen table, and was half full."
"Well, we already suspected, and at least now we know how they did it. All that remains is to find out who."
"Do you think you could untie me now?" Oak asked looking between the two of them.
Sean nodded and got up. Digging out the knife he'd take off Oak when he'd stripped him, he cut the cords on his hands, and then handed him the knife.
"Shift back to human when you can."
"Um, I don't have any clothes."
"I have an extra pair of pants," Sean said and started to unroll the sheet once more. "But a naked man stands out a lot less in the middle of the night than a werewolf."
"I could shift to be a wolf."
"Around here, that would probably stand out just as much," Jolene said and motioned to the fields.
Sean went over to the rolled up sheet, and sorting through what was still in it, he got out one of his two remaining pairs of pants, while also grabbing his own shoes and a shirt. Shifting back to human form himself, he put them on and then turned to look at Oak, who was staring at him.
"Your clothing shifted with you."
"Oh, right," Sean said and dug through the necklaces they'd gotten earlier. The bunch they'd made on Saturday had been mailed off Monday morning, but when they got the new ones earlier today, he'd made a couple, just to see if his theory on enchanting power was correct. He found one of them fairly quickly and tossed it to Oak, who caught it and then starred at it, blinking.
"There, put that on when you dress."
"You're giving this to me?" Oak said and looked up at Sean with a shocked expression on his face.
"Yes, it's yours. Put it on."
Suddenly there was a naked man sitting on the ground. He fastened the necklace around his neck rather quickly, then standing up he shook out the pants, brushed himself off with his hands, and then put them on. Sean gave him a shirt and his other pair of canvas shoes. Oak was maybe a couple of inches shorter than him as a human, but otherwise he had the same sort of build. Turning the pants up into cuffs, they fit him rather well.
"Come on," Sean said after rolling up the sheet again, "let's go see what my two nimble fingered women came up with."
Strange Bedfellows
"Who's that?" Roxy asked, leaning out of the passenger's side window as Sean walked up to the side door with Jolene and Oak.
Opening the side door, Sean made introductions.
"Roxy, Daelyn, this is Oak. Oak is now sworn to my service. Oak, that's Daelyn and this is Roxy. Do as they say, be nice to them, or I promise to do horrible things to you. Assuming they don't."
"Yes, Sir," Oak said.
"Oak, just call me Sean, okay?"
"Yes, Sean," he nodded, and got into the minivan, sitting in the back behind Jolene. Sean got in next to her and slid the door closed as Daelyn drove off.
"How'd you get a name like Oak?" Daelyn asked from upfront.
"The council names you, when you turn thirteen. They say they pick your name to show what kind of a lycan you will be," Oak sighed.
"Doesn't sound like you believe it though."
"No," Oak said and shook his head, "they do it to control us. To help keep us separate from regular society and regular people. Life in the council of Gradatim's kennels is not an easy one. If you work hard, usually you're rewarded. But as I found out today, they still won't hesitate to sacrifice you, if they feel like it.
"Too many of them really don't think we're any better than animals."
"So why don't you leave?"
"Because they have barrier spells around the kennels and most of their properties that are keyed to the ceramic pellets in our bodies. Also, the first spell every caster child learns is how to kill us."
"Wow, that must suck."
"Yes, especially when some child throws a tantrum and starts killing their parent's servants, or decides to 'teach one of us a lesson.' The council members tend to find the first to be annoying and the second to be cute," Oak growled.
"Wow, that's pretty harsh," Daelyn said.
"All in favor of going after Gradatim, say aye," Roxy muttered.
"Aye!" Sean, Jolene and Daelyn quickly replied.
"I thought we were going after the Ascendants first?" Roxy chuckled.
