The Red Rider

by Billy Wong

  Finally the day came, and Red and Tonya forced him to swallow down the prescribed substances. His claws and fur receded after he did, as did his snout—and then his eyes fixed in death.

  "Did that happen because of the cure?" Tonya asked.

  Red shook her head. "No, I wager he would've told us if he lied when I said we'd test the cure on him." She pulled her dagger out of his neck, dripping fresh blood. "He probably died because we didn't remove this, and when he stopped being a werewolf he lost his werewolf 'god' powers too."

  Now came the moment of truth. Red eased Herbert to his back, fed him the silver and wolfsbane and held him comfortingly as her heart pounded. The change seemed to take longer than for Lunarch, or maybe it just felt that way to her. But eventually, his lupine features shifted back to those of the fat man she loved. He blinked in confusion at her before regaining full awareness. "Red... I'm back?"

  She wondered how stupidly wide the grin on her face was. "Yes you are! Do you remember being a wolf?"

  "Yes, and I also remember... not knowing a lot of things while I was. Thanks for not letting me kill any people."

  "No problem, that's what friends do! And give yourself some credit, you were a great werewolf."

  He sat up to hug her, and she returned his overenthusiastic squeeze the best she could. Good thing she was so tough, because otherwise he might have hurt her—but then again, he knew she was. Releasing her, he asked, "So what now, now that we know the cure?"

  Red frowned. "I'm not sure. Those who've recently been turned, and haven't made any human kills, I'm sure will be fine. But about the mindsets of those who have killed and especially born lycanthropes, I don't know... we might still have to kill them, depending how much feeding on people is ingrained in them. We'll have to try curing some to see. Even with recently turned wolves, though, I'm not sure if society will accept them back even if they're harmless."

  "Maybe they could start their own community of former werewolves and support each other," Tonya suggested.

  Red nodded. "That's not a bad idea. We'd need to get a bunch of them together first, though."

  "This seems like it'll take a bigger effort than just going around hunting them," Herbert said.

  "It does. But there might be someone who'd be willing to help..."

  "Who do you have in mind?" Tonya asked. Red told her, and she smiled.

  After getting Herbert some new clothes and enjoying the first fine meal of steak and potatoes they had together for a long time, they paid another visit to Prince Aidan.

  "So how are your finances these days?" Red asked him.

  "Not so great. We had to put down the warofs after they tried to escape, and Duke Carrol is thinking about cutting off funding again."

  "Not unexpected... so, do you think if you improved your image in the nation's eyes again, he would be more willing to support you?"

  "Perhaps. But how do you propose I do that?"

  Red grinned. "Well, I am pretty popular right now with the story of the werewolf 'god' fresh in people's minds. We've finally found a way to cure lycanthropy, but we'd have a tough time delivering it to many by ourselves. So maybe you could help us, and bolster your reputation in helping to rid the land of werewolves and by association."

  "Hmm," he said touching his face in thought, "I am getting pretty desperate, and suppose I owe you for exposing Lunarch before things got out of hand. I'll happily give this a try."

  She looked behind her to exchange smiles with the happy Tonya and Herbert, who patted her back. And so, their neverending mission continued.

  Cover design copyright © Littera Book Designs http://litterabookdesigns.blogspot.ca/

  Main cover image copyright © Alan Poulson

  Author Billy Wong is an avid fan of heroic fantasy, with a special love for strong female warriors. He draws inspiration from the epic legends of old, and is on a quest to bring over the top deeds and larger than life heroes back to prominence in today's literary world.

  http://bklynbill.blogspot.com/

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