“I see. What do you want from him?"
"Chief Kei-Sai told me that Zarel the wizard is able to connect with the Dark Force."
Neran was as puzzled as he was before. He hated it when the elven beat around the bush. He wanted to ask some more questions, but then something caught his attention.
He paused and turned to face the forest.
"What's the matter?" Liadel nagged him.
Neran paid no attention to her. He knew the smell. It was tangy, rich, and bestial.
The forest did not move. It looked totally innocent.
Still, there was that smell...
Then Neran realized what was wrong. "Do you hear that?" he whispered.
Liadel looked through the trees. "What do you mean?"
"The silence."
The elven frowned. "The forest is never silent."
Neran bristled and his blood began to pump a little harder through his veins. "Only, if it is scared."
The bushes rustled and a throaty roar penetrated the shadows.
A huge lupine beast stepped out of the forest. It stood upright like a human and was as large as a bear. Its huge jaws capable of biting off a human head.
"It's a darkwolf!" Liadel exclaimed and grabbed Neran by his arm. "Quick!"
The screaming country girl rushed towards the village. The darkwolf caught sight of her, rushed passed Neran and jumped onto the girl’s back. Her screams went silent when it bit through her throat, almost severing her head off in the process.
"The village of Reana is protected by a magic power. The darkwolf can´t get there," Liadel whispered. "Hurry, before he notices us!" They started running, Neran looking over his shoulder as they went.
The darkwolf left the girl's corpse behind and turned towards the fleeing prey.
"Neran, run!" Liadel shouted. The darkwolf was there in three jumps. Neran felt its breath and the sour smell of its sweaty hair.
The darkwolf roared behind them, but stopped five paces from the edge of the village. It was furious as it tried to get in. Something, maybe an invisible barrier, prevented it from coming any further. Enraged it bared its fangs, a fire burning between them.
The air suddenly lit up as something passed over them and crashed into the ground in front of the feet of the darkwolf. Neran turned to see where the light had come from. An emaciated old man came slowly walking towards them. He had a stoop and held onto a forked stick which a bright glowing light radiating from its heart.
The darkwolf growled again, then turned, and ran back to the forest. Neran watched, his heart pounding hard. He knew that it would return with its leader.
"A spy," the wizard said to the young man who stood beside him. The boy gave a nod and ran to the village. A crowd of people assembled behind the wizard. A middle-aged man stood proudly at its head.
"Lady of Breetia," the old man said, bowing his head to Liadel. "I heard that your Lord was killed. King Raith-Hard will soon occupy Breetia. Will you leave your country?"
"It was not my country."
The wizard looked at her with his bright green eyes. "May I offer you something?"
"Excuse me," Neran jumped in, "but the beast outside doesn’t worry you even in the slightest?"
"He's gone," the wizard replied.
"Yes, but darkwolves never hunt alone."
"This one apparently does."
Neran's eyes narrowed suspiciously. The old man was hiding something.
"I need answers, Revered One," Liadel interrupted Neran. "That's why I came to see you."
"Then follow me." The wizard turned and headed for the village. The people moved to one side to allow them through, staring on with interest. An elf was an honoured visitor among people. However, Neran felt something other than admiration in their stares. It was fear.
"Oh, and by the way," he shouted at the wizard while they were heading down an alleyway between a group of small houses, "there is a corpse out there by the creek."
The man who was accompanying the wizard looked back at Neran. "Did the beast kill someone?"
"A young girl."
"Tragic," the man muttered. His face clouded with worries.
"I'm Neran."
The man looked up at him. "I’m Boyard. I’m Zarel’s close friend."
The people here are scared. Something´s wrong, Neran thought.
Liadel was escorted to the wizard´s house and disappeared inside. Neran had not been invited. He sat himself down on a bench by the wayside and watched Boyard chatting to the other men of the village. Everyone seemed vigilant, their faces strained with fear.
It was clear. He had to get away as soon as possible now that Aragen knew where to look for him. Whatever were to happen here, he would break down the door to the wizard’s house and take Liadel with him.
His senses and instinct suddenly kicked in. He stood to attention, lifting his head to sniff the air.
He smelled blood.
It was not fresh, not tempting, and not appetising. It was dry, bitter, and bland. Still, Neran could smell it.
He followed the scent without thinking about it. He had to find out what was going on. As he passed the villagers, he noticed that they were mostly men. The women were locking the shutters, while their men were arming themselves.
Neran stopped in front of the cottage where the smell of blood was drifting from. He burst in without knocking. A crying woman was sat on a bench in prayer. She jumped to her feet as soon as Neran entered the room. Two small bodies lay on the table surrounded by burning candles. The smell of incense floated on the air.
"Who are you?" the woman screamed. She was trembling like an aspen leaf in a breeze and was as pale as death.
Neran stepped closer to examine the bodies. They were two young boys, their throats torn and with large lacerations across their chests. Their bodies had already been washed and readied for the ceremony to hand them over to the Gods of the Other Side.
"Who are you?" the woman cried and tried to push him away.
"A darkwolf killed them, right?" Neran was beginning to understand everything. The woman gasped and was again overcome by grief.
A man rushed inside.
"Get away from them!" he shouted and attacked Neran with a pitchfork. Neran snatched it from his hands and grabbed him by the throat. The wheezing man's eyes widened.
"No! Please!" the woman lamented.
"What's going on here?" Neran whispered into the villager's face. "Tell me now, or I'll tear your tongue out of your damn mouth and you’ll be silent forever."
The man grunted and Neran loosened his grasp a little. His wife clung to Neran´s arm in an attempt to free her husband. Neran pushed her off.
"That creature ..." the man croaked, "killed two of our sons. They just went to the creek to bring offerings to the Naiad ... and never came back."
"Why is it sniffing around the village?"
"It's not him ... It's just a spy. Zarel used magic against the killer. I had my revenge. I stabbed him at least twenty times."
"But it wouldn’t kill him."
"No. So Zarel wrapped him in silver. He whined like a puppy."
"Where is he now?"
The man hesitated. Neran tightened his grip.
“In the dungeon,” the villager blurted.
"Do you realize that the leader of the pack will come to rescue her darkwolf?"
Neran was horrified at the naivety of the villagers.
"The wizard will protect us. The creature must pay!"
Neran snorted sarcastically. "They will eat you all alive." He let loose his grip and the man fell to the floor. He coughed and gasped for air. The woman quickly ran up to him. Neran ignored them and headed off to the dungeon. The dungeon was in the basement of a small stone building located on the village green next to the Chapel of Gods from the Other Side. The elders and mayors used it to lock up prisoners.
To Neran the dungeon seemed more like a morgue. The door was locked, but he easily broke in. There was total darkness inside, b
ut Neran immediately recognized the sour smell of sweaty lupine skin. As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he could make out the figure of a tall man behind the bars. He sat there, shackled by chains in a corner. Even at a distance the power of the silver hit Neran. He chose not to move any closer. The air was saturated with the smell of blood. The darkwolf was wounded in the abdomen and wrapped in heavy silver chains. Neran felt that he must be under the influence of some kind of magic, because neither the pain nor the silver could stop him.
The darkwolf suddenly raised its head. He had a black eyepatch over his missing eye. Neran recognized him at once. Memories came flooding back, memories of times that he would rather have erased. He overcame his misgivings and took a step closer.
The darkwolf lifted his heavy eyelid. His face flashed in a surprise. "You…"
"Greetings, Wenir, how are you?"
"I was never better, as you can see," he muttered. "I suppose you didn’t come to my rescue."
"And I suppose it wouldn’t do me any good."
"No. Aragen will come, anyway."
"So say hello to her."
"She will be thrilled to see you here."
"I'm afraid I'll have to postpone our reunion. I don’t plan to stay."
Wenir smiled. "That’s too bad."
"You´re right." Neran stepped away from the bars. "Have a nice day."
He turned and quickly ascended the stairs. Even though the sky had clouded over, the daylight hit him, almost blinding him. He was furious.
This is madness! What do the morons think? They lock up a darkwolf in their dungeon and they think they've won? The pack will be here soon. Neran suspected it and saw that he was not alone. That's why the men were so tense, that´s why they had their pitchforks, axes, and rakes at the ready. They knew it, too. So why did they keep him here?
He burst into the wizard's house, the door flying off its hinges and crashing into the wall.
Liadel jumped up. The wizard twitched. They had been sitting across from each other at a table staring into a bowl of black water.
"We're leaving now," Neran ordered.
"Who are you, by all the Gods?" the wizard cried. Liadel slowly stood up. Her gaze was firm and her voice forceful: "What-are-you-doing?"
"These fools cannot wait to become dog food. So let them enjoy it, we’re out of here."
"What are you blabbing about?"
"I found a darkwolf in the dungeon! They keep him chained up there, enough said?"
Liadel turned to the wizard in amazement. "What is the meaning of this, Revered One?"
"He killed our children. He was going to attack us, but we managed to overpower him."
"The pack will come to get him," Neran proclaimed.
"We know that. We’ll resist."
"Using the lovely, invisible wall you´ve created outside?" Neran smirked. He then turned directly to Liadel. "He's too old, you know that. His magic is not strong enough any more. Perhaps it will stop one darkwolf, but the whole pack? They do not stand a chance. By evening, they’ll all be dead."
"You must release him," Liadel said, turning to the wizard.
"Absolutely not. Even if we did, the darkwolves would come anyway.The Demigoddess will not allow us to be harmed. She’ll protect us."
"The nymphs couldn’t care less about you. They care only about themselves," Neran snapped.
"You're wrong, young man. Our Naiad will protect us. Besides, my power is still strong."
Neran was not going to listen to it anymore. "Alright, elven, let’s go!" Liadel followed quickly behind him.
"The darkwolf that attacked us was a spy," he explained. "They are getting ready to attack. They must be close, so we have to get out."
"And leave these people at the mercy of a cruel death?"
"What can we do? It was their choice," he shrugged.
"They didn’t have much of a choice, Neran. Even if they didn’t capture the darkwolf, the pack would probably have come anyway. Apparently, they are on a hunt."
"The magic barrier might have deterred them, so they wouldn´t have wasted their time on it. Now though, there is nothing that will stop them."
Liadel looked around thoughtfully. "All of them will die."
"Not all of them, just enough for the pack to get fed. They’ll take some of them for the future. The village is quite large, maybe half of them will survive."
The elven gave him a piercing look with her eyes. "You talk about it like it was the weather."
"Do you want me to give in?" he said, throwing his hands up in the air. "I'm not saying I don’t care, but there's nothing I can do. All we can do is to get out of here before the darkwolves arrive. If these people were smart, they would follow our example."
"But this is their home, Neran," Liadel argued. Her firm, penetrating gaze made Neran really nervous. It felt like she could see into his heart and read it.
"What do you want from me?" he shouted in frustration. Liadel shrugged.
"The decision is yours. I must follow you. Either we let those people die and run away like cowards, or we fight."
"Fight with a whole pack of beasts that cannot be killed?"
"You know that there's a way."
"Yes, but there´s no guarantee."
"But there is."
"You're a demon, so don’t pretend that you care about them."
"Thanks to my soul, I can feel again. I am torn by the horrific deeds of my past, but my conscience has returned."
"It would be enough to say: I care, I am remorseful," Neran grinned.
"The decision is yours."
Neran was determined. He had it all worked out. Actually, there was not much to work out. Aragen was going to bring the whole pack, and he should stay? No chance.
"Let’s go," he said. Liadel did not look surprised. She only nodded and they started off on their journey out of the village of Reana.
As they passed the last houses, Neran noticed groups of neighbours showing off their "weapons". Boyard was there acting as an example to the others and encouraging them. There was a time when such a scene would have left Neran untouched. A time when, like the darkwolf pack, he would be motivated by hunger. He did not know exactly what it was that had broken inside him and when it had happened, but he had begun to like people. He himself was half human. All those pitchforks, picks and axes would not be enough today.
Chapter 11
Lupine Desire
It was getting dark as they left the village. Liadel walked in silence, never once looking back. She was tough and very composed.
Suddenly, Neran turned to her and threw her onto his back. In an instant, they had crossed the field and were hidden from view behind a low hill.Neran lay on his stomach watching the forest.
Liadel dusted off her dress. "Why did you do that?"
"Hush," he hissed at her. "I can smell them. They're coming."
Liadel moved close to him and combed the forest with her eyes. Neran looked at her through the corner of his eye. She felt suddenly too close. He remembered the serrated knife which she had used to cut his stomach. He reminded himself that it had not been her, but a huge beast created from the Darkness. The Thirteenth had shown herself to him as an elven only a few times. Maybe that was the reason why he could not feel as much revulsion as he would have liked to.
"By all the Gods," she said suddenly. Neran jerked his head towards the forest and all his thoughts vanished. Giant lupine creatures with hunched backs were running on all fours directly towards the village.
"Darkwolves feed on the Dark Force of their leader," Neran whispered. Liadel´s eyes widened as if she had just realized something.
"Dark Force?"
"Yep, that’s why they´re different from other werewolves. You can´t kill them, not even with silver. They´re bigger and stronger, and more insane too."
The darkwolf in the foreground suddenly changed into a female human figure. She stood in front of the village and stretched out her arms. The magic barrier shook and
there was a flash of light. The darkwolves attacked the invisible wall and were whining like impatient puppies. Suddenly, something cracked and the darkwolves burst into the village. The wizard's magic had been overcome. Wow, Neran thought. It took less than five minutes.
"It will be a massacre," Liadel said. "We should go. I don’t want to hear their cries."
Neran heard it with his lupine ears and smelled the first blood. It was delicious and delightful and his stomach began to contract.
"Let’s go," he agreed. They got up and turned their backs on the village. The nearby forest hummed as if admonishing Neran for his cowardice. He was no coward, he just did not see a reason why he should have risked his neck for those people. That fight was lost in advance and there was nothing he could have done to change it.
He imagined the men with pitchforks and shovels with their pale but determined faces. He began to have doubts. Perhaps he was a coward...
"Neran," Liadel grabbed his arm. Her palm outright burned his skin. She pointed with her head towards the forest. A man stood there.
All Neran´s muscles tightened and his brain switched to fighting mode. "We have to get out of here."
He grabbed Liadel, but by the time he had moved, the man was with them. Liadel was thrown to one side and Neran’s attempted attack ended before it began. The attacker grabbed him by the throat with an iron grip.
"Did you think that you could escape?" he whispered into Neran’s face.
Neran ploughed his claws into his abdomen.
The man stumbled a little and released him, but the wound was gone in an instant. It gave Neran just enough time to transform himself. His bones lengthened, muscles thickened and black hair began to protrude from his skin.
A lupine beast now stood where Neran had been standing. His opponent bared his fangs, leapt forward and changed as well. The darkwolf was bigger than Neran. He grabbed Neran by the head and slammed him to the ground. It darkened before Neran’s eyes. Yet he jumped back up onto his feet. Three more darkwolves came prowling out of the forest and surrounded him.
Son of hell: Blood of wolves Page 17
