by Harry Nix
“Who would cast such a spell?” Eric asked.
Alex shook his head. “I don't know.”
“It must've been someone who loved you very much,” Alara said, the werewolf speaking for the first time.
They lapsed into silence then, before Alex decided to try again.
“Let me tell you about more of the attacks,” he said.
He talked about the mages that had pursued them to the abandoned factory, leaving aside that he’d somehow cast shield into their spell, screwing it up and incinerating them, leaving nothing behind. Juno, Nia and eventually April joined in as well, each giving their experiences of what had occurred.
April spent some time describing how she’d used her magic to tear the mage apart on her land and feed his body to the soil, keeping her gaze on Eric the entire time. Although her voice was calm, there was still a hint of a threat in it. Eric seemed unperturbed, however.
He occasionally asked a question, continuing to dig at the idea that perhaps it wasn't Corvus who was after them but a third party manipulating events to make it appear so.
Any time Jasper asked questions it was essentially to dismiss things, to minimize what had happened.
The day wore on and soon it was approaching the evening. Eventually they were finished, Jasper declaring that he would get in contact with the enclaves and the other members to discuss what they'd heard. He expected to have an answer soon.
From there, the four of them went on to a very unenjoyable meal. The food itself was fine, but there was no merriment. Jasper was absent as were Eric and Alara and after quickly eating they were directed to one of the cabins set on the outskirts of the village.
Once inside, Juno cast a spell that came and went in a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh and stomping her foot.
“Well, this place isn't bugged so we can talk freely and the first thing I want to say is the hell with that guy. Stupid emissary. He’s an ass and not going to help us,” she said.
“I agree. Talking to him was a waste of time,” April said with sudden venom.
Alex nodded, looking around the cabin. There were three bedrooms, each with a queen-size bed, a bathroom with a shower, and a deep claw foot bath that looked expensive. The lounge and kitchen were joined together to form one large room. The fridge was stocked with food, none of which was poisoned according to analyze.
“I have to agree. I think that was almost totally useless. Nia, I think your dad's awesome but this whole civilization on top of violent culture thing isn’t going to work if Jasper is in charge of talking to the mages,” he said.
Nia sighed as she flopped down on the sofa.
“I know what you mean but on the other hand, look at this place and what's outside. This is like an actual village. I grew up in the dirt. There are packs out there that live in poverty, spending most of the time as wolves because they don't own a shred of clothing. I think Jasper is a grade A dick but between him and my dad and others there have been some wins, so I don't know. I mean, we have just one dead mercenary who said Corvus. That mage might be right that someone is trying to start a war.”
Alex, who’d been in hybrid form the entire time finally shifted back to his human form and started eating out of the fridge.
Although there was a television in the room, it had no reception. It was like it was there for show only.
The four of them talked, and ate, planning on how quick they could get out of there in the morning.
Although Alex tried his best to shake off the gloom that had fallen over them, it was difficult given outside there were werewolves would happily fight him if he looked at them wrong. Their hostility seemed immense, completely at odds with the other werewolves that he’d met just yesterday who’d seemed, mostly, delighted that finally one of their own could cast a spell.
Between the late night yesterday and the long march today, they were soon tired. April took one of the bedrooms and Nia and Juno joined Alex. The two of them were quickly asleep and he once more found himself staring the ceiling of the cabin. It was painted white and he could see a faint handprint, as though the builders had been slightly sloppy with their construction work.
Alex was half in a daze when he heard a low thump outside. He started back to wakefulness and listened, waiting for another sound. After a moment he realized how foolish he was remaining in human form.
He slipped out of bed and shifted. There were two more low thumps and then he caught the scent of smoke. It wasn't the delicious scent of wood smoke used for cooking but rather had a chemical fuel taste, like gas and something else mixed together.
In sudden fear, Alex grabbed the door handle and pulled it with such force that he nearly tore the door off its hinges. The moment he stepped out of the bedroom a Molotov came sailing in through the front window and smashed against the kitchen and refrigerator, bursting into flame and spreading its fuel across the kitchen floor.
The window immediately began to reform, like the way Boris’ broken glass healed itself.
“Get up!” Alex shouted. He turned back and hauled Nia and Juno out of bed. Nia immediately shifted the moment she got her bearings. Juno was almost like she was drugged, rubbing her eyes and asking what was going on in a confused voice.
In a short few seconds the heat of the fire had intensified. Alex left Nia with Juno and ran to the next bedroom, leaping over a line of fire that had spread from fuel spilling. He ran through the door, ripping it off its hinges to find April standing by the bed, pulling things out of her bag.
“They’re trying to kill us,” April said.
“We need to get out of here,” Alex said. He put April over his shoulder without asking and leaped the line of fire that had separated her bedroom from the rest of the house. In the meantime Juno had woken up fully and was with Nia, standing at the front door.
Nia was kicking at it but strangely it wasn't moving. Above Juno's head a screen was flickering code, pulling and compiling as the witch cast spell after spell.
“Were trapped. There’s some kind of binding on the whole cabin, I think,” Juno said frantically. Alex put April down and then kicked at the door as hard as he could. The shock of pain flared up from his foot. It felt like he was kicking a mountain. He grimaced and then quickly cast analyze on the door.
“It’s just question marks! If it’s binding how do we break it?” Alex yelled.
“There’s always a weak spot, like a seam. The only way to break a binding is to apply physical or magical force to it, otherwise we’re not getting out,” Juno said. She turned away from the door and focused on the spreading fire. She summoned a ball of ice and flung it directly into the flames. It shattered into pieces, the ice melting instantly. It put out some of the fire but not enough.
“The bedroom, I think the seam is there,” April said. She had her hand out and eyes closed, feeling for magical energy.
They couldn’t stay where they were. The heat was rising and the smoke was getting too thick to see through, let alone breathe.
They rushed into the bedroom and slammed the door shut.
Alex looked out the single window. He saw a few werewolves gathered in the darkness, watching the fire.
“What do we do?” Alex asked. He had his list of spells open but they were all useless. He needed something to smash a hole in a spell.
“Stay calm, hold hands and reach out, feeling for the seam,” April said. She seemed oddly calm given the situation.
Despite the smoke filling the room and orange glow from under the door, Alex tried to calm himself. The four of them held hands, the magical connection whirling through them. Alex caught hints of Juno’s magic and also April’s. Nia was contributing too, the werewolf having mana in her despite being unable to cast spells.
He reached out with his senses, feeling his way through the magic around them. With Juno and Nia connected he could feel it intensely. It was a stormy current, waves sloshing, with deep cold spots.
Then he felt it – the binding itself.
It was like a wall and soon he found himself exploring its smooth surface. Despite the crackling of the flames outside the door and the groan of timbers, he kept his mind on the task, aided by the girls.
“That’s it,” Juno breathed as Alex touched a rough spot in the binding. It was the seam of the binding and its weakest point.
“Direct all your mana at it, split it open,” April instructed.
He smelt green leaves and wildflowers as her mana flowed towards the seam. Juno added what she could but the little witch was low on magic. Alex started pouring mana into the seam. It was like slowly heating metal. At first there was no apparent effect but soon the color changed. It was a moment after that that Alex realized how stupid he was being – he still had a large amount of pain mana stored up. He threw it at the seam and it split open like rotten fruit.
The moment it did, Nia threw a lamp at the window, smashing a hole and letting In a rush of cold air. She grabbed Juno and leaped out the window, landing in the darkness away from the cabin.
Alex followed, doing the same with April. He landed beside Nia, feeling the scorching heat of the flames at his back.
Now they are outside, Alex felt the rage growing. All around them he could hear werewolves growling.
The rushed away from the cabin but there was no respite for them. Werewolves came running out the darkness.
Alex went down as one tackled him but managed to kick him, drawing blood. The werewolf went howling away. He got to his feet as two more werewolves ran at him, one in its wolf form and the other hybrid, snarling and frothing at the mouth. Alex dived at the wolf, narrowly evading its jaws before driving his claws into its side and snapping one of its legs.
“Alex use your magic dammit!” Juno shouted out. She was standing beside Nia and April. Nia was fighting off anyone who came towards them and April was casting spells, her magic sounding chimes in deep tones. Juno was doing her best but obviously her magic was having serious trouble. She threw a fireball but it was no larger than a marble. One of the werewolves laughed as he swatted it away.
Alex jumped to his feet, just as the hybrid werewolf sliced its claws toward him. He cast flame shield and when the werewolf hit him the fire burst up its arm, blackening its hand immediately. The werewolf fell back in pain and in that moment Alex tore its throat out.
The attack was over as quickly as it has begun, the injured werewolves vanishing. Alex had killed one on his own and then April and Nia had killed another, vines ripping off its leg before Nia had decapitated it.
All through the village, werewolves were howling. The cabin was fully ablaze now, sparks shooting up into the night sky.
“The emissary!” Alex roared.
Nia darted forward and grabbed him by the arm. “Alex, you can't go wild, they'll kill you. They outnumber us, please” she said.
Although Alex felt like there was a fire in his skull pushing him to exact revenge he knew Nia was right. They were significantly outnumbered and the four of them would be killed if they went into full attack.
Right now they were on the edge of the village with the inviting darkness nearby. They could run and it was likely no one would stop them.
Alex looked down the hill, seeing werewolves congregating in front of the main building. He saw Jasper step out and look up at them. There were small solar powered lamp posts set up in the village. If he ignored the fire, it would look almost cozy.
“I just want to talk to him,” Alex finally said, taking deep breaths and trying to slow his racing heart. He marched down the hill with the girls following, checking Know Thyself as he did. Apart from tiredness and some small scratches, he was fine. He used up half of the pain mana breaking free of the bind.
As he walked through the village he was arguing with himself about whether he should rip the mage to pieces. Surely he'd been the one to cast the binding spell.
As Alex reached the main house, Jasper stepped out of the crowd.
“What is this? You burn down our building?” Jasper yelled. He was in his hybrid form, waving his long arms at the burning remnants of the cabin up on the hill.
“You attacked us and cast a binding spell, trying to trap us in that fire!” Alex roared back. He searched the crowd for Eric but couldn’t see him. It may have been a good thing, he thought, considering he wanted to rip his head off.
“We didn't do this,” Jasper said.
Alex realized he was doing a grim calculus in his head as he counted the werewolves gathered behind Jasper, trying to work out how many he could kill before he was inevitably killed.
He pushed these violent thoughts aside and took a deep breath. A sudden memory came to him - Julius explaining how challenges worked. Any werewolf with land could make a challenge if their land were sufficient.
Alex didn't have any land but he was angry enough to challenge anyway, even if it was just to piss Jasper off and maybe make him start a fight.
“I challenge you for leader of this pack. A fight to the death,” he yelled so the surrounding werewolves could hear.
Some of the werewolves laughed and made mocking sounds that seemed to encourage Jasper.
“And what land do you hold for this challenge? Because I hold all of this,” Jasper said, waving his arm around.
Alex didn’t have an answer for that and despite his fury knew he couldn’t bluff Jasper with a story of some land in Baxter.
“I hold the elemental lands and I am his,” April suddenly said, her voice ringing out.
Alex managed to keep the shock of his face but just barely. Juno and Nia were looking at her like she was crazy.
“The elemental lands would be equal to this or greater in fact. It would be a valid challenge,” a voice said from the darkness. Eric then stepped out from nowhere with Alara by his side in hybrid form.
Alex growled, but suppressed the desire to leap at him and tear his heart out.
The assembled werewolves turned to Jasper. The mocking feeling was gone. They all seemed aware of April's lands and it appeared it was sufficient for a challenge.
Jasper looked around at the werewolves and then at Eric for a long moment before turning back to Alex.
“Very well, we’ll do it here and now for control of this pack. When you die, your three mates will die too and I will take all of the elemental lands,” he said.
“Don't forget to use your magic,” Juno whispered in Alex’s ear as the three girls stepped away from him.
There was already a rough semicircle of werewolves but now it firmed up. The nearest lamp was casting a stark light over them. Jasper was moving from foot to foot across from him, his long claws glinting.
When Alex had spoken he hadn't realized it would be instant if accepted. He hadn’t entirely wanted this and mostly wanted to anger Jasper for no good reason.
It was too late now. They were in a dirt ring with no way out.
With Juno's warning in mind, Alex got his spell screen up quickly, looking through the spells, keeping an eye on Jasper. There still didn't seem much of use apart from flame shield charged with a dose of pain. To use that, Alex would have to get close enough to clench Jasper and then ignite it.
Although where there was standing was largely dirt there were a few stones around that Alex spotted. He wondered if he could charge up telekinesis with a dose of pain but it seemed unwise to try a brand-new spell during a fight to the death.
“Begin,” Eric called out.
Alex was expecting Jasper to charge but he just kept shuffling like a boxer from side to side, moving closer. Alex was forced to move to keep Jasper in front of him, wary of his longer reach. Due to his height he could slash Alex without him even getting close enough to lay a claw on him in return.
Jasper came closer and then suddenly lashed out at Alex, closing the distance between them with frightening speed. Alex felt the claws down his arm, the sensation of them but not the injury as the protection ring discharged and protected him. It was on Jasper second swipe however that Alex realized the protectio
n ring had already been somewhat depleted. He must've taken injuries while trying to break their way out of the house. It had started at thirty but now only held seven charges.
Alex leaped at Jasper, swiping for his face but got hit in the head in return without making contact. Although it didn't hurt, courtesy of the protection ring, the force of it drove him back. He tumbled in the dust before leaping to his feet.
Jasper didn't give him a moment of respite, leaping forward and swiping at him again, steadily reducing the protection ring. When there was only one charge left, Alex made some space, walking back to the far side of the circle to plot a new strategy.
Jasper was fast, almost unnaturally so, and also strong and his reach was far greater than Alex's. Not only that but one more attack and the protection ring would be exhausted.
Then Alex would only have shield, which only lasted a short time. He’d completely failed even to touch Jasper once so it wasn’t looking good.
Around them the assorted werewolves howled and hooted, happy to see the violence.
It was as Jasper began weaving towards him closing the distance that a new strategy came to Alex, remembering the obstacle course he’d run with Daisy. He had three forms: human, hybrid, and wolf.
Jasper had stayed in his hybrid form and Alex wondered if that was because it was the most comfortable for him to fight in. Although the werewolf children snapped at each other as wolf pups and switched rapidly between their three forms, when the adults fought or wrestled, it was almost always in their hybrid forms.
Wondering if he was about to do something fatally stupid, Alex cast haste and then ran at Jasper, shifting to wolf form and diving for his leg. With the spell, he was a blur and caught Jasper off-guard. He felt claws rake his back and there was a sudden heat around on his paw as the last of the magic discharged but Alex managed to close his jaws on Jasper’s leg, his teeth finding flesh.
Alex bit down but Jasper’s bones were like iron.
Alex realized his mistake as Jasper slashed his back. He’d never tried to cast spells while he was in the form of a wolf. All of his movements were for hands and claws, not paws.