“You okay, buddy?” Muu asked cautiously stepped closer to Kayda and me.
Uncle Goblin! She ruffled her feathers, and watched him as I smiled. “Yeah, man, why?”
“You’re kind of covered in blood, and so is Kayda.” James pointed out from his seat.
I lifted my hand to my chin and chest, my fingertips coming away with slightly congealed blood.
“Oh, Kayda and I went hunting, which reminds me.” I pulled the meat out and slapped it into Yohsuke’s hand. “This is breakfast food.”
“What is it?” Jaken called, as I walked away toward where my gear was.
I called over my shoulder without looking, “Eagle meat. Pretty tough, but it’s good. Nothing like chicken.”
I ordered the shadows around my feet to clean me and my clothes absently as I surveyed my gear. It needed cleaning too. I sent more shadows to do the work, then packed my things and turned back to the others. Kayda preened herself, and Bea nosed at the grass, some of the blood coming away on the ground. The group still watched me.
“What?” I raised an eyebrow in question.
“Just… you seem different, bud.” Muu frowned, the finer scales of his forehead creased in worry. “I should know I live with you. Usually, you’re only like this if you’re upset or angry. You okay?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? The one final thing I tried to pack away and ignore that I couldn’t anymore. No. I wasn’t. I had been working so hard, and it was never going to be good enough. I had so many things I couldn’t control acting against me. Against us. Couple that with the fact that even though I was blessed by Mother Nature—hell even the elementals!—and we had to worry about some nut job who hated magic standing in the way of our mission. As well as this dream-giving creature, whatever the fuck it was? No. No, I wasn’t okay.
My chest rose and fell in heaves as my adrenaline spiked, and the desire to hurt something rose in me. The werewolf in me stirred, and that pissed me off even more.
“Take a knee, Zeke.” Yohsuke was suddenly closer than I thought he had been, and it startled me. He looked concerned and put a hand on my shoulder softly. “Take a knee with me. Let’s work it through.”
Use this anger, the werewolf whispered through my being. My muscles bulged and cramped painfully as I fought him. We can turn many of them before the paladin and cleric turn against us. Then we can overwhelm them. Act! Do it now!
Kayda’s mind brushed against mine, suddenly cool and reassuring, We are the predators. That voice is a part of you. Claim it. Claim yourself, and we can become what we were meant to.
What was I meant to be? I blinked, the rage welling in the core of my being spilling toward my mind. I could see the werewolf gaining strength steadily.
You are meant to be the alpha! And we will rule all! The images flooding my mind made me groan, falling to a knee with a vision that left me absolutely shaken to my core. “Fuck.”
Hundreds of werewolves flooded around Sunrise then began heading toward the mountain and Lindyburg on the other side. We would turn the city and move through this world like a plague. A wave of bloodlust so thick it was like I was in an ocean of crimson, that crashed against me relentlessly.
I began my breathing cycles to try and regain my mind, my will, and control once more. Breathing in and out, in, holding the breath then out once more. Cleansing my mind.
Submit to me! The wolf howled urgently, the rage returning and welling up faster inside me than it had before.
Father, Kayda’s voice urged me to come back. Remember, you are more now. You are the predator.
Something in me snapped. One second I was struggling against the rage in me, then it was mine. It had always been mine. And the wolf knew that. I was cold. So terribly cold.
I blinked, and suddenly, I was there with him, staring at him as he launched himself from his throne. But it wasn’t his. It was mine. All of this was mine.
I caught him by the throat and growled, “You’re nothing to me. You are me. And I am you. We are one. But you will never gain control over me.”
I took the shadows around us and willed them to coalesce around me, shivering up my body, then over him as he struggled to free himself from my clutches. The shadows pulled him into me, and as he came closer, I leaned in and consumed him. Bent him to my will and strapped him to the wall of my being.
This beastly fragment of my soul. My monstrosity. My power.
We were now, finally, one.
And as the shadows returned to the reaches of the cave inside my body, I claimed my throne. What had always been mine.
I blinked, and I was back, taking a knee with my brother. And for the first time since I had been bitten and my emotions ran high, the red was gone. I was free.
“You okay?” Yohsuke muttered with his hand still on my shoulder.
“Finally.” The wolf had been showing me what it had wanted. But also, what I had wanted in a way. It was time to share that. “We need to talk. Just our party.”
He nodded and looked pointedly at the others before we walked away from the camp. We were in sight, out of earshot that I was aware of, but l looked over at Balmur.
Think you can summon that little hut to cover us? He looked confused for a moment. I need this to stay between us.
“Okay.” He held his hand out and cast the spell, the opaque light-bending dome covering us if only a little snuggly.
“What’s going on man,” Jaken asked, a look of concern plastered onto his features.
“You were kind of out of it there for a second and seemed to be going through something.” James touched my chest as if to see if I would break.
“It was a little something.” I grunted and flicked his hand aside. “Kayda said something to me this morning that made a lot of sense—we keep concerning ourselves with the thoughts of prey when we should concern ourselves with our needs.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Yohsuke threw his hands up in exasperation. “Leave it to fuckin’ chicken wings to get through that thick damned skull of yours.”
I cut him an annoyed glance, and he just flipped me off, and I continued when he was done, “I think we need to go about this differently. We try the kingdom first and see if they do anything, and if they do cool…”
I left them with a pregnant silence, and Muu was the one who picked up my thought. “And if they don’t, we do?”
“What the fuck are we going to do?” Bokaj looked confused. “A king doesn’t do something about his people, so we go in there and what, murder the people in charge?”
I blinked at him, staring him in the eyes steadily. I watched the realization dawn over Bokaj’s face, he seemed to almost crumple in on himself with it. His shoulders slumped, and he shook his head. “Dude, I’m cool with a lot of things, but that’s… that’s a lot.”
“After all the blood we’ve shed here, can you honestly say you want to leave that crazy bitch behind to fuck with the mages that keep this world strong?” I challenged as I turned to stare each of them in the eye. “If magic fails here, that means War will be able to get in and fuck things up on Brindolla and come to our world, anyway.”
“And if we leave her at our six, she can still gun for us,” James added contemplatively. “I don’t like it. But it’s not the wrong kind of thought.”
“How would it be any different from killing a minion or general?” I reasoned, pointing at Balmur. “They may not belong to War, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t capitalize on them. He was tortured at a general’s bidding. Do you want that for your families if we fail to do the hard shit while we’re here?”
They said nothing, their gazes cast down at the ground. Some in thought. Some for other reasons.
“I don’t.” I growled, my fists clenched. “This world made me out to be a monster. This lycanthropy was forced on me, and now I’m a beast. Well, fine. I’m done concerning myself with that. I am the beast. I am the monster, and my prey is out there. I know you fuckers are with me, so let’s do wh
at we can, where we can, and be what we were meant to be.”
“The only thing monstrous about you is your fucking mouth, man.” Balmur shouted back at me. “You think we haven’t thought these things?”
I stared at him, a little surprised at his outburst, his face contorted in anger and pain.
“I have,” he continued as he stepped forward. “I have to fight my urges all the same as you do. So, don’t you dare come at me with that monster shit. I know what I had to do to survive.”
“Hey man, no one was saying anything negative about you,” Bokaj tried to calm his best friend down. “At least I don’t think so. Right? Zeke?”
I blinked, shaken out of my stupor, “I was only pointing out that we were going to have to do some hard shit, still.” I waved a hand in front of his face slowly so he would look up at me. “Seriously, Balmur, you aren’t a monster. What they did to you would have broken a lesser person. And you came out stronger. You’re a fucking beast.”
“We might have some rough edges and hard parts about all of us,” Jaken interjected, calmingly touching my shoulder, but looking each of us in the eyes as he spoke. “We have the blessings of the gods, and even the elementals. Lives depend on us. Billions of them presently, but future generations, as well. Our cause is righteous, no matter how we have to overcome the obstacles in our way, we will. Together.”
We all stood in solemn silence to contemplate what the paladin had laid on us. Heavy as it was, he wasn’t wrong. We were capable of great things. All of us.
Balmur narrowed his eyes at me and stepped forward to pull me into a tight hug. “Sorry. That’s a bit of a sore subject for me.”
“Rightfully so.” Muu clapped him on the shoulder affectionately. “If I were half as ugly as you are, I’d be mad, too.”
Muu, ever wonderful at comedic relief, took a shot to the junk from the dwarf that saw him crumple to the ground.
“I do feel better now, though.” Balmur smiled cruelly and walked out of the dome, popping it on his way out.
Muu laid there in a fetal position while the rest of us just shook our heads. Jaken went to heal him but stopped.
“That was a little poorly timed, bud.” the paladin patted his shoulder and walked toward the camp.
So, what’s up with this sudden shift in perspective that we’ve been waiting for? Yohsuke grabbed my arm and pulled me away.
I finally got control of the werewolf. I don’t know what it means yet, but it happened while I was taking a knee, I frowned. Did I really fuck that all up?
Kind of, yeah, he shook his head slowly. We’ve had that kind of thought process going on for a minute. That was the point of the training so hard. Getting our asses into gear to face whatever came next, be it minion or general. Or civilian. It’s good to know you’re finally fully on board with the program, but damn, man.
I shrugged, speaking out loud again, “You know I’ve been on my own fucking program since day one, brother.”
He smirked, “That OFP shit stops, now. Though, I guess the whole predator and prey shit is different for you, huh? Either way, we need to be sure we have a good plan in place before we get to the king. And I agree, by the way, about Lindyburg. We can’t leave her alone.”
“I’m glad to know that I have you to rely on if shit has to get all chaotic,” I muttered darkly.
“Hey.” Yoh hit me as hard as he could in the shoulder. It didn’t do much at all, but it caught and held my attention. “None of that shit. Understand? We work together. We’re a team. This little argument doesn’t end that.”
“Yeah,” I sighed, hating that he was right. “I got it. Let’s get some food, and I’ll try and dig myself out of this shitty hole I seem to have fallen into this morning.”
“Fucking, soars with eagles ass, druid, piece o’ shit,” Yohsuke teased as we walked back toward the group together.
There was a tension I wasn’t used to in the air that made things a little terse between all of us, furtive glances toward Balmur and me now and again showing that what had happened between the two of us hadn’t been so easily set aside. Other than that, breakfast came and went with no other incidents.
As we rode on that day, the sun fought its way through thick clouds that looked to be nearing storm level thickness. Kayda was fascinated by them and wanted me to come fly with her among the charged clouds, but I politely declined.
Nicolas and Balmur road together inside the cart, so there was no chance of me having more of any sort of reconciliation with him in our travel time. Granted, he had said things were okay, and they seemed that way, but it wasn’t in me to leave it alone without really making sure things were alright.
So, time for the next best thing.
I moved over toward Manly. “Hey, Manly, can you tell us a little about the city? Last time we had spoken about the dungeon, you mentioned Nimran’s Flame, but nothing about the capital.”
“Zephyth?” She blinked and frowned. “Big city, like that? You don’t wanna know about that place.”
“You know we do.” Muu elbowed her playfully, gently displacing her from her spot by about six inches.
She glanced at him as she sidled back to her place and sighed theatrically. “Well, I s’pose I could tell you a little bit.” Her eyes wandered the road for a second, no one in sight.
“The place is huge, much bigger than Lindyburg, I reckon ‘bout three times as big?” She scratched her head, then continued, “Big place with a lot o’ human folk, halflings and some gnomes thrown in. Like I said before, they don’t rightly like reminders o’ their peoples’ failed attempts at magical dominance. So there ain’t many elven or beast-kin folk about. They’re fair with their trade, got a lot o’ high-quality craftin’ and magic items there, so if you be in the market for ‘em, get ‘em there.”
“The people themselves be good folk for the most part. They got crime, same as any other place, but the thieves guild and whatnot be within the city as well, so even the thievin’ gets regulated. Bounty board there be good business too, if not a little harsh at times, but it’s work.”
“What about the monarchy?” Muu leaned forward closer to her.
I stayed close, wasn’t going to pass up on this info, and even James had wandered closer to listen in.
“Well, I don’t rightly know too much ‘bout them as I tried to steer myself clear o’ the royalty and nobility, as a lady. But I do hear that the king and queen be good folk, as well. Got a young’un to boot. A little princess. The queen, if memory serves, was from the continent of beasts, the place I found them eggs y’all were lookin’ at.”
“That’s wild!” I whispered in awe. “Is she some kind of beast?”
“Did you not hear her just say they have issues with beast-kin?” James said from the other side of the cart.
“Shut up, dick.” I growled.
“Boys, listen here, I don’t know much about the royals, but I do know….” at this Manly dropped her voice so that we had to ride closer to hear her. “That the nobility ain’t folk to cross. So, if you have business with the crown, get it done quick-like. Aye?”
“Sounds good to me.” Yohsuke joined us. “Having one royal with us constantly is bad enough. Who needs more?”
I knew he was teasing because he had already tossed the finger my way, and I rolled my eyes.
We continued on for the rest of the day, speaking about little things, nothing terribly important, but it was nice conversation. The weather continued overhead and passed us by heading southwest with the wind. Kayda was disappointed, but that was to be expected.
When we stopped for dinner that night, the guys decided it was time to break our hiatus from training.
“Maybe the exercise will be good for everyone, and we can stop bickering so fucking much.” Jaken eyed all of us, and my cheeks burned in shame.
“If y’all are gonna have a bout o’ sparrin’ maybe have Nick and Bonnie join in?” Manly suggested as she her wares came out of the cart to eat their dinners. “Frederick wo
uld like to, but after last time, I’m afraid he’d get too banged up tryin’ to best Zeke.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Yohsuke’s eyebrows lifted at the thought. “Give us a little bit of a break from each other and we can spread our skills around and maybe learn something new.”
“I’d be happy to play with all of you.” Bonnie bounced over to us and looked around hopefully.
I blinked and looked at the others, the same thought crossing my mind as theirs. “Not it!”
James touched his nose last and swore mightily as he walked into the field with the demon-touched fighter. We didn’t even really know what the hell her class was, though she had said something about “berserker” that I recalled.
“What are the rules?” James called to Bonnie as he stretched and limbered himself up.
“What rules?” Bonnie tilted her head and then charged forward with her hammer flying behind her as if it weighed nothing.
James laughed and sped forward to meet her, his fist leading. She swung her hammer around toward his midsection, her feet barely on the ground. If it connected, the strike should have had little to no power behind it, but James bent backward, and the weapon missed him by a hair.
But rather than readjust and find another opening, Bonnie just held on and let the momentum of her weapon’s swing carry her forward so that she could drive her left knee into the monk’s side.
“Oof!” He grunted and landed three feet away on his side, his health having been dropped to 94%.
“That was a good one.” Bonnie smiled as she bounced forward once more, her hammer lifting ominously.
James was up and in motion this time much faster than he had moved before, likely using his Haste ability. His movements were incredibly fast, and Bonnie had to step back and move her body this way and that to dodge some of the blows, but a good majority of the light taps landed. The damage was adding up when her hammer fell like a pro-golfer’s club and clipped James in the shoulder with a sickening crunch.
“Damn it!” James growled, and his wings spread behind him as he began to course his ki into his hands. The two fought back and forth for another couple minutes before Bonnie started to get a little more serious. She began to rely less on her hammer and more on her hands and feet, then when James was recovering, she would move in with the blunt end of the weapon to try and seal the deal.
Into the Darkness: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Axe Druid Book 4) Page 20