The Spiked Wolf

by David Shiels

  She slapped him. Then slapped him again. Then slapped him a third time. Harder and harder each time. She enjoyed the agony in his face, not just the physical pain, but the pain of being helpless. She gently rubbed the blue flame across his face multiple times, slicing thin pieces of flesh off his face like pieces of ham off a pig.

  “Stop it, you disgusting bitch!” A husky female voice shouted from further away in the sea of wolves.

  Claudia stopped and looked towards the female. She was only three times the size of the earth wolves and had a coat that was so covered in blood that it was impossible to tell her original colour.

  Claudia quickly plunged the knife through the skull of the blue wolf while keeping her eyes fixed sharply on the female. The blue wolf fell to the ground in a dead heap of fur. Screams could be heard within the house in which he once called home.

  Claudia walked towards the female, her wolves parted elegantly so she could effortlessly walk through them.

  The female hissed, her spikes on her back raises as high as they would go. She looked like a porcupine.

  She fired a red spike through the air aimed directly at Claudia’s face, blood dripped off the spike as it flew fast. An earth wolf intercepted the spike and it drove straight through his entire stomach. The velocity of the spear made the wolf fling backwards barely missing Claudia. It fell down in a dead mess.

  Claudia’s minions jumped on the female, chewing at her flesh like cannibals on a young white female in her prime. Claudia walked up to the wolf as it lay bleeding, teeth marks obscuring half of her face, one eyeball hung out near to her mouth.

  “Don’t ever call me a bitch.” Claudia spat at her decaying face.

  “Bitch” The sassy female replied.

  Claudia’s face grew with anger. She stamped on her face repeatedly. The wolf made no sound as the abuse went on. Bones crunched as the face was brutalised. The wolf was unable to be recognised as it lay dead and bloody.

  “Anyone else want to chat shit to me?” Claudia shouted loud, it echoed through full streets. All of the volves placed their heads towards the ground.

  She looked around for her next target. Burrock and the banished wolves shared glances but said nothing, then climbed the steps and hopped through the gap that Reinwolse had made in the door. Claudia noticed them go through and decided it was time to follow. She had forgotten the reason this entire war had started and wanted to see the big confrontation. The torture can wait until later.

  “If they move an inch, kill them” Claudia said to one of her wolves knowing that the message would reach every single one before disappearing into the same door Reinwolse and the bolves had entered.

  The King Volf

  Reinwolse walked through the unguarded dark halls of the palace. The walls were dark and adorned with thorn like patterns, the lights on the walls were like those at the banished camp; small orbs of light stuck to the wall. He knew his way to the throne room but he had expected some resistance.

  The doors to the room were wide open. It was a long, large room. The ceiling was high and the glass roof let all of the natural red light beam down on the room bathing it in a surreal glow. Reinwolse walked on the blue beaded carpet that lead to the throne, which seated someone he had waited to meet for the past fifteen years; the king.

  “Ah, you have a new look Reinwolse.” The king announced. He was a big volf, six times bigger than earth wolves. His fur was white and long. His coat was very straight and smooth; a small female wolf in chains was combing his fur with a small brown stick in her mouth.

  “I’d know that stench anywhere” Spat the king.

  “I’ve come to put an end to your rule, Howta” Reinwolse shouted as he continued the long walk down the empty room. No time for small talk.

  The king rose up on all four of his legs, he towered over the entire room with his large presence. He fired a large spike the size of a harpoon towards Reinwolse who effortlessly moved his body out of the way as if knowing exactly where it was going to hit him then used this momentum to run towards Howta with such speed that the king was taken by surprise.

  He swung his blade down upon the wolf; it managed to slice a portion of his flesh from his side.

  He attacked again towards the king’s face, hoping for a quick victory.

  The king slammed his tail against the approaching sword, knocking it out of Reinwolse’s hand.

  “This form you use surprises me: that will not happen again”

  Reinwolse quickly pulled another blade from off of his back and slashed again. The king jumped back and fired another spike; Reinwolse knew it was coming before it even left the fur and performed a backflip so perfectly measured that his body was a mere millimetre over the projectile.

  As he was mid flip he flung the blade towards the King, lodging it deep within his shoulder, blood spitting from the gaping wound.

  “Ah, your treachery betrays me yet again” Shouted the now snarling wolf, his voice deep and hollow.

  Howta used his mouth to rip the blade clean from his shoulder and flung it far, leaving Reinwolse weapon less.

  “Impressive. You may have been able to best me had this fight continued any further, but you remember this, don’t you?” From beneath the thick fur around the king's neck was a large round stone that was connected to a strong gold chain that hung tight to him; he allowed it to loosen to reveal itself to Reinwolse.

  “Such magic will not work on me again!” Reinwolse squealed. He ran forward in an attempt to snatch the necklace.

  “Kahblaya”

  A field of electric blue energy appeared around Howta so fierce that Reinwolse was sent flying back into a large pillar.

  “Fifteen years is a long time. You forget the power I possess. The power passed down through generations of my family. The power you tried to steal from me”

  The skills absorbed from world-class veterans instantly informed him of his options. He could not delay. He knew the king was a slow thinker.

  “The years have turned you into a lazy fighter.” Reinwolse jabbed.

  Claudia and fifty of the banished wolves entered the large room. Howta looked towards the crowd.

  “Ah, I see your help has arrived.” He grinned and continued “The stone tells me that the one with red hair has a deep connection with you, a connection brimming with life energy. I know what that means”

  The king began to chant another incantation.

  “Claudia, get out of here!” Reinwolse shouted down the echoing hall, but by the time the message had reached her ears a large scorching fireball was blasted in her direction; her body froze at the sight of the ball of fiery energy.

  Claudia could feel the immense heat as the as the slow moving fireball approached; she was sweating like she was in a sauna with the dial set to maximum.

  Her mind and body shut down, unable to act or think.

  “Make sure he wins goddess” Said Furbaa towards the stunned Claudia, knowing it would feed her unhealthy ego. He leapt into the oncoming ball of volcanic inferno.

  It exploded, instantly disintegrating the large bolf, the shock wave from the blast sent the other wolves and Claudia back towards the entrance of the room.

  The king ran towards Claudia but a swift Reinwolse grabbed onto his fur and straddled him, trying hard to steer him like a horse. They entered the smoke of the blast and their vision was compromised for a few brief moments.

  The king swatted his body around randomly and Reinwolse was hanging on like a cowpoke at a rodeo.

  The sound of tearing. Howta’s fur tore from his flesh and Reinwolse fell off with it, again landing against another pillar, this time he felt bones break.

  The banished wolves began firing their own artillery at the king.

  He muttered another spell. The spikes stopped mid-air, turned around, and then flew back to where they had come from. The wolves were quick to move but some were impaled by their own weapon as it travelled twice as fast.

  Claudia looked on in amazement. But she w
asn’t as surprised as she should be. She had seen so much surreal stuff over the past week. She went along with most of it not questioning it as much as she should have. But this, this was something else. Was she in control of anything?

  Howta looked over the thinning army of bolves.

  “Ah, I recognise some of you!” The volf announced with a proud voice. “You’re the ones I banished along with Reinwolse, albeit a less harsh banishment, for trying to kill me and take my power, the power I only ever used for good.”

  “You know why we did it” Growled Burrock “You had all this power but barely tapped into any of it; you could have been doing so much more!”

  “All these years and you still feel that way, I gave you all a chance to live, to hopefully see the errors of your ways, to see how we would live if I was to abuse the gift I was given. But you’ll never see, and now you have brought an army to my walls and slain thousands of my clan; people you used to call friends”

  The king’s fur began to rise as if a surge of electricity had entered his body. A violet ball of energy appeared above his head and began to swirl around in a circle creating an even bigger ball of pure energy.

  “This time you don’t get the chance to atone.”

  The violet energy whizzed around high up into the room then a loud sound of energy crackling was emitted through the room. Claudia followed the orbs smooth movements as if mesmerised by its dangerous beauty.

  The ball split into many smaller beams and shot fast towards the wolves and Claudia.

  Instant death. There was no time for any sounds to be heard. Claudia was in the middle of it all. The violet streams of light obscured every wolf surrounding her then obliterated them immediately. Claudia felt like she was in a purple tornado. The bolves jumped, trying to escape but the beams struck them down with pinpoint accuracy; they vanished and left no trace behind, their bodies simply faded away.

  After the energy cleared, there were only three beings left in the grandiose room; Claudia, Reinwolse and Howta.

  Howta slowly approached Claudia.

  “You. You are nothing but a pawn in all of this. You understand nothing.” The king said softly.

  The beast had huge presence, every step he took caused the ground beneath Claudia to shake slightly. She couldn’t move; it was the feeling like being a rabbit in the headlights of a fast approaching car.

  “I understand that humans were turned into wolves and now they follow my every move” As she spoke she thought of things people used to say to her about standing up to an animal to scare it off, her words rose as she spoke and thought of this.

  “It was an unfortunate side effect of my spell and I apologise. I did not realise your kind’s blood would break the banishment spell and give the recipient the power to turn your kind into mindless beings of war”

  He turned towards a broken Reinwolse. “This is why I wanted to only use the magic for good!” His voice boomed back towards a shattered Reinwolse whose armour had not been strong enough to protect him from the force of the fall.

  “I also apologise for the fireball. I wasn’t thinking straight, but it’s not too late to return things to the way they were, to have your life back. You can save your race” The king spoke with genuine sincerity and Claudia felt less threatened by his presence. He had a good heart.

  “You mean you can turn all of the wolves back into humans!?” Claudia spat it out more shocked as she has ever sounded, her face shooting forward like a cartoon character.

  “Yes, even the ones not currently on this planet. Their souls are still inside the beasts that follow you. It is as if they are sleeping. I can bring them back and send them home, but i need your consent to perform the spell on you or it won’t work.”

  Possession Of

  Great Power

  Small snapping sounds could be heard as Reinwolse sneakily placed broken bones back into place.

  “You can’t be considering this, Claudia please…” Reinwolse pleaded through broken ribs, each word causing horrific pain. Claudia looked at him then back towards the white beast.

  “Silence, traitor, I’ll be dealing with you shortly” The king’s voice once again flared up, sending shivers through Claudia’s body.

  When the king turned back around to face Claudia Reinwolse pounced towards the king and hacked a small blade at the chain around his neck.

  Claudia didn’t even consider accepting the offer. She couldn’t go back to earth alone, without her protection, she is a wanted woman and that would never change.

  But most of all, she didn’t want to. She loved the thought that human souls were still in the beasts that followed her, she didn’t want to go back to earth as a broken, helpless woman.

  When she eventually returns to earth she wants to go back as a ruler and gather up as many slaves as possible. Being on his planet had given her the gift of blood lust and there was no going back.

  As Howta faced towards a floored Reinwolse, ready to stamp a large paw on his fragile body, Claudia, acting purely on instinct, grabbed the stone pendant as it fell to the floor and held it tight in her hand.

  “You fool!” Howta Shouted. He pounced.

  Claudia looked at the stone. It was the size of a jumbo cookie and felt like it had the same texture but with cracks in it. Time seemed to slow as the stone began to pulsate in her hand; Howta was knocked back, hard.

  A dark, black spiralling energy seeped out of the cracks in the stone that looked like dark tangled hair. It entered into Claudia, her body becoming incredibly light, her mouth opened and it felt like something had entered her, she was feeling full like an invisible force was taking residence inside of her, filling up every inch of space free within her.

  Reinwolse looked on in disbelief. This was the power he had sought for so long.

  A dark thick pastel textured aura formed around her as she floated a few feet above the ground. Her arms were held out to her sides with her fingers pointing out as far as they could possibly go without being pulled from her hand. Her hair and eyes turned as black as a starless night while streaks of energy swung and snapped around her like whips.

  The air in the room became thin; Reinwolse found it hard to catch his breath. The world around him became duller.

  “This is why a dark heart was never allowed to wield the stone!” Howta shrieked over the loud buzzing snapping sounds of energy.

  Claudia’s head shot back, her face looking up through the glass ceiling and out into the deep bloomed red sky. She opened her mouth wide and a putrid beam of violent black energy erupted from her mouth high into the sky.

  The gigantic army of wolves and all of the residents of the city stared at the energy beam spiralling out from the roof of the great wolf palace. Families looked on through their small wooden framed windows, momentarily forgetting the threat surrounding them outside.

  Grey musky clouds flew across the red sky, slowly overtaking the beautiful shade and replacing it with pure darkness; darker than an eclipse. Green lightning bolts fired down from the sky in rapid succession shocking the landscape in the distance and offering the only source of light. The grass on the ground of the entire planet turned to a deathly shade; the trees withered and shrank, looking like they were hanging their head in sadness as they keeled over into a slumped position.

  Light green acidic rain dropped from the sky in amounts that would cause a city to be flooded within an hour if it were to be normal water.

  The volves outside began to melt and evaporate under the intense downpour. Fur fell to the ground in large clumps. Faces became the doppelgangers of skeletons. Bone was burnt away into nothingness. Every volf and bolf attempted to run inside homes to shield themselves resulting in houses becoming too packed with beasts that many were unlucky to be left outside to find alternative cover or feel the pain. Friend and foe merged into one surviving species sharing the same cover.

  Millions of earth’s wolves across the planet felt the full fury of the rain. Without Reinwolse commanding them they didn�
��t know what to do. Within thirty seconds there was nothing left of them; as if they had never existed.

  Claudia couldn’t control what was happening. Her heart pumped loud and fast, she thought it was going to explode. She felt the intense energy zooming in and around her, her blood bubbled and shook. She was merely a conduit for the stone to unleash its trapped, once tamed energy. She was faced towards a stunned looking Howta and Reinwolse.

  “My ancestors harnessed you a million years ago and it was passed down through the generations. I will not let today be the end of this legacy!!!” Howta growled, loud enough to be heard outside on top of the death and destruction.

  Howta charged towards the floating black angel of death; he was evaporated into a cloud of dust as he got close.