Red deftly reached for Alpha as she realized that the gray wolf was waiting for her answer.
“I was just noticing what large eyes you have,” Red commented without missing another beat as she tried to distract the wolf’s gaze as it started to travel toward her hands. She could feel the cool metal of Alpha’s pommel. Red mentally prepared herself to unsheathe the magnificent sword the moment Lycan made a move toward the Phantom Wolf Pack.
“The better to see your lovely face with, my dear.”
“And I see what big ears you have,” Red stated, cringing inwardly at her stupid statements.
But Lycan seemed to like the game she was playing. With a smile, he retorted, “Why, the better to hear your musical voice with, my dear.”
Red knew that she was running out of time and options as she blurted, “And I just realized how big your teeth are, as well.”
Lycan gave a maniacal laugh, stepping toward the group slowly before stating, “The better to eat you with, my dear.”
At his last words, Lycan leapt over the Phantom Wolf Pack, aiming for the center of the defensive circle so that he could be in the middle of the group.
The moment his front paws landed on the soil, Canis was upon him, teeth bared, a deep growl erupting from his throat.
Red pulled Alpha from its scabbard, her ears singing with the whine of the blade as it slid free from its casing. Every glowing eye turned to take in the sight of the stunning sword, the blade shining in the sunlight. Nostrils sniffed at the scent that stained the air.
Lycan gave a guttural howl. Replies sounded, echoing off the trees and rising into the air through the lifeless canopy. The crunch of swift paws against fallen leaves could be heard in all directions as Lycan’s pack moved in on their enemies.
As they came upon Alpha’s scent, Lycan’s cursed pack burst from the trees. Every member looked as sickly as their leader, but they dove into the Phantom Wolf Pack’s circle, teeth bared, ready for a fight.
The wolves that had not yet been caught up in the fight pushed at Red to escape. Another young male even clamped his canines onto her sleeve, trying to force her away from the frenzy. Despite their efforts, Red held her ground, her mind whirling as she waited for true chaos to ensue before she made her move.
Lycan and Canis tumbled across the ground, already entrenched in their own battle before every other wolf jumped into action. Those that were at the front of the circle pounced on their enemies. Snarls and barked curses rang from the groups of rivals. Dirt and torn out fur flew into the air as opponents were slammed into the ground.
Whimpers of pain grew as the fighting intensified, but no one dared to let their weaknesses show. The strong fought with everything they had. The cunning tricked their way to victory. The young and old stayed where they were, ready to fight, but remaining in their positions around Red as they protected her and each other.
Lycan made a yelp, jumping away from his fight with Canis. The bigger wolf took advantage of this retreat, lunging for his opponent, his jaw opened and ready for his final blow. But Canis decided to take mercy on his cursed cousin, turning away to call for retreat. But the mercy that he had bestowed was ignored as Lycan watched his enemy foolishly turn his back.
Red caught the play of the Perancinian sunlight in Lycan’s yellow eyes, her warning shout dying in her throat as she watched Lycan roll to his paws. Red knew that his calculated strike would land true.
Without another thought, she threw herself toward the two enemies. Sword outstretched. Battle cry rising in her throat.
She was between the wolves before either could move to strike at one another. Red swung her sword, the blade connecting with nothing but air as Lycan scooted out of her limited reach.
Instead of aiming for the wolf’s head, however, Red reached out toward the tree nearest the diseased pack leader. The moment her blade hit its single mark, the tree exploded into ash and dust.
The fighting halted as the wolves were taken by surprise at what Red had done. Even she was amazed at what happened to the tree with that single stroke.
Without hesitation, Red began swinging Alpha around wildly. Years of training were thrown out the window as she stormed around, slamming her blade into every tree she came upon.
Lycan’s pack scattered into the woods, leaving their leader behind as the trees surrounding them erupted into ash and dust. The cursed leader pounced on his equally amazed enemy, clamping his powerful teeth onto Canis’s shoulder.
The explosion of another tree threw off the cursed wolf’s attack, though, and the powerful jaws lost their grip. Canis ripped himself free of Lycan’s jaw, but his howl of pain shot through the explosion of chaos.
As quickly as she had forgotten her training, Red refocused her chaotic energy. She ran back to Canis’s side, Alpha pointed toward Lycan in a gesture that would threaten anyone who had something to lose in a fight against her. Red saw the excited gleam in the sick wolf’s eyes as he sauntered up to her and Canis. When he was close enough, Red swung Alpha through the air in a neat arch—aiming for Lycan’s head.
Her target barked as the fine blade tore into his shoulder, but he laughed when he looked upon himself and saw that Red’s swing had not found its true mark.
“This is not finished,” Lycan spat as he slowly backed into the woods as the Phantom Wolf Pack moved to surround him. His glowing eyes never left Red’s as he promised, “I will find you, my dear. And next time, I will show no mercy.”
The cursed wolf turned, another maniacal laugh leaving his curled lips before he was swallowed by the shadows of the forest.
Canis limped toward Red, the Phantom Wolf Pack already retreating into the brush. “Y-you must... leave,” the alpha male rasped, his words coming out in short pants. Blood flowed from his shoulder, the thick liquid staining his pelt. “W-we cannot… cannot help you… any longer. This… this is as… far as… far as we can go.”
Red watched as the powerful male slumped to the ground, a female companion barely making it in time to catch her leader before he fell. Canis’s stunning eyes were glassy and dull, but their intent stare remained on Red, even as his body gave out on him.
The wolf opened his muzzle once more, but Red cut him off with a raise of her hand. She slung her pack off her shoulder, reaching into a small pocket full of clinking potion bottles. She thanked the Maker for her decision to create different healing potions while she had been traveling through the woods with the Phantom Wolf Pack.
Red whispered the simple healing spell until the glass bottle lit up with a bright orange light. Turning to the female wolf, she stated, “Give this to him. It should heal most of his wounds.” The female wolf gently took the bottle between her teeth, careful not to break the fragile glass in her powerful jaw.
Canis looked at Red in amazement, but his eyes continued to grow duller with every ounce of blood that escaped from his shoulder. The female wolf nodded in thanks, slowly moving as she urged her leader to turn toward the forest. Canis gave Red one last careful look before he bowed his head in respect, limping back into the woods.
“I am forever in debt to you and your pack,” Red announced before the wolves were too far away. She could not see them through the cloudy fog, but she knew that their ears would hear her. “I will be back to repay that debt.”
“You helped the Phantom Wolf Pack today,” came Canis’s weary voice. Red had to strain her ears as he continued, “Let’s… call it even.”
Red let out a light chuckle despite the events that had just conspired. She nodded her head toward the now silent woods. “Deal,” she whispered, turning toward Perancis’ rolling hills.
Red stepped out of the Forbidden Wastes, taking in the sunlight and green grass that greeted her. She tried to look back into the forest before she pushed forwards, but only a line of trees met her stare.
She swore that she saw the traces of a flash of orange. Or heard the undeniable hum from her magic. But she forced herself to turn away, not allowing her easily fooled sens
es to draw her back into the Forbidden Wastes; draw her back toward whatever had trapped Canis and his pack there in the first place.
Chapter 10
Rain poured down onto the empty streets of a sleeping city. The moon cast its glittering rays over the slick cobblestones. People were at peace with the world as they slept soundly in their homes.
No one gave a thought to the girl disturbing that peaceful silence with her rasping breaths, pounding feet, and quiet curses.
Red sprinted through dark alleyways. Slid around corners. Leaped over sleeping vagrants as hordes of palace guards chased her through the streets.
Her body slammed to a halt. The alley she had turned down was a dead end, the brick walls slick with rain. Heaps of trash were piled to the roofs, filling almost every open space. Climbing was the only way out.
As she started up the wall, her boots caught against the piles of garbage. She bent to remove the loose trash from her path, but Red saw that it was not garbage at all, but a hand clasped around her toes.
Red stumbled back from the wall, falling over more garbage only to realize that it, too, was composed of heaps of body parts.
She scrambled back from the bodiless limbs; her panic turned into horror as those limbs twitched in their piles.
Hands reached out of the shadows.
Legs thrashed in violent kicks.
Faceless mouths screamed out in rage and agony.
Red leapt to her feet, sprinting toward the only empty corner of the alley.
When she reached the wall, Red quickly calculated that she could manage the climb in a few easy reaches. But as she started to scale the building, the moment her hands moved to grasp the top bricks, new layers were set into place.
Every ounce of panic and adrenaline was set to focus on that top brick. But every reach left Red with more rain-soaked bricks scraping against her grasping fingers.
She was once again halfway up the never-ending wall when her right hand slipped on the rain, losing its grip. Red silently cursed as she dangled by her fingertips, her boots running against the wall as they tried to make traction.
She swiped her soaked hand against her pants, the warm rain leaving an oily smear against the dark fabric.
Dread rose in Red’s chest as her fingers started to lose their limited grip, and the possibility of falling into a pile of mutilated limbs grew dangerously close.
Red furiously wiped her hand against her tunic. Her cloak. Her pants. She cursed when the drenched fabrics refused to take in any more water.
She looked down at her hand, ready to lick it clean when she noted the maroon stain and metallic scent. With a streak of moonlight casting its way through the clouds, Red took a closer look and almost lost her grip when she saw blood running between her fingers.
As she tried to steady her breaths, another streak of silver moonlight made its way through the clouds, illuminating the alley. In the moment that the light remained, Red saw, felt, and smelled the blood that fell from the storm clouds, coating everything around her. Her eyes could not erase the scorching color, even as the moonlight faded once again.
Red looked up at what was once a rain coated wall, blood streaming down in the water’s place. The crimson matched the color of her cloak, creating mesmerizing swirls as it trailed over the brick, coating her left arm, before flowing down to coat her body. The blood grew heavier the longer Red held onto the wall, but her hand refused to let go of its hold.
Moans lifted above to circle Red’s ears, and the thunder of the guards’ feet grew louder as a river of blood began to flow over the edge of the wall.
With the stream weighing her down, Red finally lost her hold of the wall, barely falling before she landed in an empty circle of cobblestone. The blood that dripped from Red’s clothes fell against the clean stone, sliding over the ground before being swallowed by the shadows.
Guards rushed into the alley, but they were not usual palace guards. The men were drenched in blood, their bodies torn apart in odd places. One was even held between two others because he was missing an entire leg. Airaldan’s royal seal was the only part of their uniform not torn to shreds or covered in the crimson rain.
The guard missing his leg cried out. An echoing call sounding from the bodies littered throughout the alley. The butchered people began to rise, circling around Red, each face contorted with expressions of pain and hatred.
At once the people began shouting their sorrows.
“Why would you kill me?” a large woman asked, her hair flat in the bloody rain. Her frilly dress sprinkled blood across the ground as she shook with anger.
“You took me away from my family,” a young man sobbed, his tears cleaning away the blood as they traveled down his cheeks in a clear stream of salt water.
Similar questions and angry statements moved through the crowd, each one pulling at Red’s attention until someone new stepped up or was dragged forward to state their troubles.
As each person said their piece, they slowly advanced on Red. Their movements were sluggish and awkward, their injuries slowing them down. But each person made their way to Red, closing off her only escape route.
Hands reached out to touch Red. Some people flinched back when their fingers brushed against her, as if touching Red’s skin was enough to hurt them. Others pushed past the pain, angrily pulling at her hair and limbs, trying to tear her apart like she had torn them apart.
Each touch was just as crushing as the one before, leaving Red to feel like nothing more than a piece of parchment ready to be torn apart by the mob.
But in the pull of harsh hands and scrape of flinching fingers, a light, cold hand moved to touch Red’s arm. With a small tug of her wrist, Red was pulled away from the massive crowd. Another cool hand cupped Red’s cheek, softly tilting Red’s face until she was facing Estra Ayrith.
The old woman was the only person not covered in blood. Her hair was in a perfect bun with loose silver strands outlining her face. Her sapphire robes shone brightly, untouched by the horrible crimson rain.
She looked younger, more at peace. But her eyes still gleamed with wisdom.
Estra gave a small smile, her face lighting up as the moon cast a silver glow over her.
“Wake up, dear,” Estra whispered into Red’s ear. “These are just some of those old demons we were talking about. Like you said, nothing to be afraid of.”
Red tried to pull away from the older woman. Tried to ask why she had taken her knife. Why she had killed herself.
The older woman only shook her head, already knowing what Red was thinking as her words failed her. The soft smile remained as she once again murmured, “Wake up.”
~~~
Red flinched away from the tree that she had been resting on as the vivid details of the nightmare swept through her consciousness. Every night, pieces of that continuous nightmare woke Red from her restless sleep. Each illusion had something new coming into Red’s focus. And once a detail was added, it would only create a new foundation to be built upon during the next night.
This illusion had brought out the finer details of the hundreds of faces that surrounded Red. The Airaldan guards. The bureaucratic woman. Estra Ayrith.
Red might not have known every name of the people that she had killed over the years. But every face had been committed to memory. And those faces were more than happy to come back and haunt her.
In a last-ditch effort to keep the haunting at bay, Red resorted to sleeping during the day. Her nightmares always seemed to get worse within the darkness between dusk and dawn. But even in the bright hours of day, the darkness within her still managed to warp her dreams.
Red yawned, stretching the exhaustion out of her muscles. Her back scraped against the rough wood of the tree’s trunk as she drew her outstretched legs to her chest. Her cape fell around her body, and Red wrapped the soft fabric protectively around herself, slowly breathing in the cool, early night air.
Red had found the simple tree endearing in the three days she ha
d sat in the forest surrounding the Rogue Manor. So endearing that she had not moved from her spot at the base of the trunk since she had stumbled over its roots upon her exhausting arrival.
And in those hours of watching the business of the house, Red had grown fond of her new favorite tree. The wood was the only sturdy force in her chaotic life. That comfort alone was enough to keep Red from entering into the more refined and abundant comforts of the manor.
Red looked toward the red brick mansion. She longed for the life that it provided, but she could not push past the feeling of dread that weighed down her stomach every time she tried to return to that life.
She was considered to be the best amongst her peers. If any of them found out her conflicting thoughts, they would snatch that coveted title out from under her unsuspecting feet. Not to mention it would be considered treason in the eyes of Arthur Welin.
Despite the looming eviction notice that came with rising through the ranks, Red still wanted to be the best. At least, that was what she wanted before she left the manor.
Red had no idea what she wanted anymore.
But she knew that she liked the limited freedom that she had while she was away from the Rogue Manor. She knew that she would get to retain some of that freedom if she was sent to permanently work in one of Cathal’s seven kingdoms. But she would still be expected to follow every rule and demand that Arthur placed before her.
It was an honor to be one of the Kingdom Rogues chosen to continue Arthur Welin’s work. Red would be truly flattered if her mentor chose her for that job. But she could not get over Estra Ayrith’s warning that she should leave the Kingdom Rogues while she still had a chance.
“You’re losing it, Red,” she whispered to herself, shocked by her traitorous thoughts. “That old hag was trying to get into your head, and you let her. Estra was just trying to get you to not kill her.”
Red told herself that over and over again, willing her words to be true. But with her brilliant cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders and Alpha sitting in her lap, Red was having a hard time believing herself.
Cloak of Darkness (The Destroyer-Blessed Saga Book 1) Page 15