Destiny of the Last Wolf

by Amy Cross

  "So what do we do?" Sam asks. She seems excited and ready to get going, which is a good sign... I think.

  I pause. The plan is all worked out in my head, but I'm worried that when I start explaining it, it'll all fall apart. Duncan's the expert when it comes to plans, although sometimes I feel like he just works out the first part of the plan and then assumes the rest will come to him later. This time, my own plan is fully worked out from start to finish. "Well..." I say slowly, "first we're going to have to go on a little trip. We need to go and dig up the past."

  "Like..." Sam stares at me, looking shocked and excited at the same time. "Like... a dead body?"

  "Not a body," I say. "A tail."

  Jess

  "What kind of person buries a tail in a little wooden coffin?" Sam asks as she and I keep digging. It took us a while to get to the forest, especially since Sam's human and we had to take a train. Once again, I feel like maybe I'm slowing everything down by dragging her along, but I need her here. I need to have someone to talk to. It might sound crazy, but it feels important to be able to get another person's perspective. Once we reached the forest, it then took us a few hours before we found the little headstone that Duncan insisted on placing next to the spot where he buried his tail:

  My oldest friend

  My best friend

  At the time, I thought it was ridiculous that he wanted to go to such extreme lengths to bury his tail. I thought he was being over-dramatic; if my tail ever got chopped off, I'd just leave it in the trash. But now I can't help wondering if Duncan decided to bury his tail because he somehow knew that it would be important later. After all, Thomas Lumic has taken over his body, but I'm hoping that I can use Duncan's tail - the last part of him that hasn't been absorbed by Lumic - to somehow get Duncan back. I know it's a long-shot, but it's the only thing that makes sense, especially since Duncan kept telling me before that I should "dig up the past." It's as if he was hinting to me that I'd need to know this. So maybe 'my' plan is actually really just a part of Duncan's plan.

  "Got it," I say, finally pulling the little wooden box out of the ground. I open it and find Duncan's tail, perfectly preserved. It looks kind of puny and insignificant, and I feel a lump in my throat as I realize that this is all that's left of Duncan.

  "Is that it?" Sam asks, leaning closer. "That's... gross."

  "You think that's gross?" I say. "Do you want to know how it got separated from his body?"

  "I don't know," she replies. "Do I?"

  "I had to bite it off."

  "Okay," she says, "that's enough information about your sex life, thanks."

  I smile. "At the time, Duncan was tied to the wheel of a large boat in another dimension." I pause, realizing how crazy that sounds. I shrug. "Well, that's pretty much what happened. I thought when we buried it that it was just an old tail, but now..."

  "So you're going to re-grow him from his tail?" Sam asks.

  "Sort of," I say. "Werewolves are almost impossible to kill. To really get rid of them, you have to pretty much atomize or vaporize them. Trust me, I've seen people try it. Sometimes they succeed, but as long as a part of the werewolf's body remains undestroyed, they can come back. I'm hoping that applies to tails as well." I hold the tail up and examine it. It doesn't seem to have started rotting at all. Is it really possible that Duncan could come back via his tail? Damn it, in the cold light of day, the idea just seems so insane, it's hard to believe that I'm placing so much faith in this whole plan.

  "So now what?" Sam asks. "We just stick it in a plant pot and wait for it to grow?"

  "I don't know," I say. "I was kind of hoping it'd just start growing by itself."

  "How long do we wait?" she asks.

  "No idea," I reply. "I'm hardly an expert on these things. I just..." I stare at the tail. It looks so dead and lifeless. Maybe tails are the exception to the rule? Also, the rest of Duncan's body hasn't actually been destroyed, it's just been taken over by Lumic, so maybe the tail will be inactive? "I'm missing something," I say eventually. I was afraid this would happen: the plan was to get Duncan's tail back and then use it to get him to return to life, but now that I'm standing here with the tail in my hands, the rest of the plan has kind of fallen apart.

  "Aren't there other werewolves you can ask?" Sam asks.

  "They're too far away," I say, "and it's not like I can call them or e-mail them."

  "Maybe there's a spell?" she suggests, trying to be helpful.

  I turn to her. "A spell?"

  "Yeah," she says. "Like... magic?"

  "This isn't magic," I say. "Werewolves aren't magic. We're biological creatures just like humans. We just happen to be a little bit different to you, that's all. There's no magic here. It's all cold, hard science. I just don't understand it, that's all."

  "Well that sucks," Sam says.

  "It does," I say, wondering if Duncan used to find me as annoying as I'm now finding Sam.

  "Maybe we just have to wait?" Sam points out. "I mean, it's only been a few minutes. Maybe it takes a while for a tail to start growing again?"

  "Maybe," I say. To be fair, it's a fairly sensible suggestion. I pause, trying to work out what to do. Finally, an idea pops into my mind. "Maybe there is someone, though," I say. "It's a long shot, but it might just be possible."

  "Who?" Sam asks.

  "I don't even know how to contact him," I say, "though I've got an idea. He's the only person I can think of." I turn to her. "We have to go back to London."

  Jess

  "This is the best idea you've had so far," Sam says as we sit in the pub. "I mean, when in doubt, just come and get a drink." She sips from the pint of beer I bought her.

  "That's not why we're here," I say, constantly scanning the crowd in case Staveley shows up. It's been over a year since I was in this pub with Duncan and he introduced me to Staveley, who he described at the time as being his man-servant. It seemed like a quaint, rather old-fashioned arrangement, and at the time I dismissed it as more of Duncan's nonsense. But if this Staveley person knows about Duncan, he might know about werewolves in general.

  "So where is this guy?" Sam asks. "Is he just gonna wander in and sit down next to us?"

  "I don't know," I reply. The truth is, I have no idea how we're going to find Staveley. I've only ever met him once, and it just happened to be in this pub. Maybe he never normally comes here? After all, he's a rather strange little guy, and I doubt he spends much time just hanging out and having a drink. But I need to find out how to get Duncan back, and whether the tail is really going to be able to help me.

  "It's very furry," Sam says. She has the tail in her hands, and she's stroking it. "I mean, I've never touched a wolf before, but I kind of expected it to be a little more bristly." She turns it over and looks at the stump at the bottom, where a piece of bone is sticking out. "Did you really bite through this?" she asks.

  "It was important at the time," I say, grabbing the tail and putting it away. "We were in a tight spot." As I finish saying those words, I see something in the corner of my eye and, turning, I realize it's Staveley. He's darting between the customers near the bar, and he looks like he's in a hurry. "That's him!" I say, getting to my feet and rushing after him. I lose him in the crowd, but eventually I spot him again as he hurries through to the back of the bar. With Sam in tow, I run after him and finally I spot him approaching a man who is sitting in a dark corner. Staveley speaks to the man, hands him something, and then turns to walk away.

  "Remember me?" I ask, as he walks past me.

  He looks up and I can immediately see the shock in his eyes. "I thought you were dead!" he says.

  "Cheers," I say. "I need to talk to you."

  "Not now," he says, "I've got tasks to complete." He turns to leave, but I grab him and pull him back towards me.

  "Who's your new master?" I ask, suspicious of the man in the hood.

  "No-one!" Staveley says, looking uncomfortable as he wriggles free from my grasp. "I don't recall agreeing that m
y life is any of your business!"

  "I need your help," I say. "I need to bring Duncan back."

  "Duncan's dead," Staveley hisses at me. "You'd do better to get on with your life and accept that he'll never return."

  "What if I said I had a plan?" I ask.

  Staveley laughs. "You sound like Duncan now. Always with a plan." He spits in my face. "Plans aren't worth shit," he says, hurrying away.

  Wiping the spit from my face, I realize there's no point talking to Staveley. He's clearly abandoned Duncan. I look over at the hooded figure in the corner.

  "Fuck," I say, as I realize who it is.

  "Long time, no see," says Lumic, looking up at me. There's a grin on his face that makes me want to rip his head off, but I still don't know whether I need to save Duncan's body. Until the tail starts growing, I feel like I should probably try to preserve the rest of Duncan, even if that means letting Lumic live a little longer. Anyway, werewolf bodies are so hard to destroy, I could rip his head off and he'd still be back up and running in an hour or so.

  "What are you doing here?" I ask, stepping closer to him but still leaving a cautious distance.

  "Same as you," he says. It's clear that he's still fairly weak, but he's definitely stronger than he was when I saw him a couple of days ago. I don't know how much longer I can wait before Lumic has full control over Duncan's body, but time is definitely going to run out sooner or later. "Just relaxing," he continues. It's weird, but he has Duncan's voice, even if the way he speaks is a little different. "Enjoying my new body."

  "Don't get used to it," I say. I'm finding it hard to hold back my anger. I want to jump over the table and rip him apart, and then wait until his body heals and rip him apart again. The way he stares at me, with Duncan's eyes, is creeping me out. "You won't be around much longer," I say. "You can't seriously think you can just step into someone else's body and put it on like it's a new coat."

  "I've already done it," he says, "and trust me, once I'm back to full strength, I'll be seeking you out for some fun. Can't you just save us both from wasting our time, and agree to come with me now? I'll treat you much better than Duncan ever did. I'll show you things you never even imagined were possible. I'll take you to places that will blow your mind. I'll give you everything."

  "Thanks but no thanks," I say. "You won't be around long enough to give me anything."

  He smiles. "You think you've got it all figured out, don't you? You and Duncan are the good guys, and I'm the bad guy. Duncan feeds you story after story, and you assume it's all true. Well, that's fine. Believe what you want. The end is coming anyway. Darkness has started to fall, and we're all powerless to stop it. You, me, Duncan, everyone. Darkness is coming."

  "Sorry," I say. "Got to go." I turn and walk away, grabbing Sam by the arm and pulling her with me. Lumic's clearly just trying to mess with my head.

  "Why don't we smash him now?" she asks. "He's sitting right there!"

  "It wouldn't work," I say as we get out into the street. Staveley is waiting for us. "So you abandoned Duncan, did you?" I say, filled with nothing but contempt.

  "My vow to serve was made to the flesh," he says, "not the spirit."

  "So you're going to help Lumic?" I ask. "You're going to just switch sides and help him with whatever he's doing?"

  "When darkness falls," Staveley says, "it'll be every man for himself."

  "What is this darkness?" I ask. "What the hell's going on?"

  Staveley grins. "Can't you feel it? You call yourself a werewolf, and you can't even feel it all around you? Duncan sensed it."

  "No," I say, "he didn't."

  "He did," Staveley replies. "He was one of the first to notice it coming. Maybe he didn't mention it to you, but he sensed it." He looks up at the bright blue afternoon sky. "It's coming from up there," he says. "It's slow, but it's coming. And when it reaches us, we'll all be doomed. So really, why bother trying to bring anyone back from the dead, when we're all going to die soon enough anyway?"

  "And you waited out here to tell me this?" I ask, doubting his motives.

  "I waited because I want you to know the truth," he says. "There's nothing you can do to stop any of this from happening. It's already started. Lumic's just a piece of the puzzle. Everyone has their master. You should run and try to live a good life while you still can."

  Suddenly, as I'm about to say tell Staveley where he can stick his advice, Sam launches herself at him, knocking him into the metal barrier at the side of the road. She knees him in the gut, sending him sprawling to the floor, and finally she stands back. "That's for being full of bullshit," she shouts at him.

  "Easy," I say, pushing her back.

  "There's nothing you can do," Staveley says, getting to his feet. He's clutching his belly, and Sam clearly caused some real damage when she kicked him; still, he's smiling. "Don't waste your time fighting Lumic and trying to get Duncan back. Spend the rest of your short, miserable life on other things. Pick your fights well." With that, he turns and runs, and I reach out to stop Sam from running after him.

  "Now what?" she asks.

  I look back at the pub. There's a part of me that wants to go in there and rip Thomas Lumic apart, but I guess I wouldn't really be achieving anything. Besides, time's running out and I need to figure out a way to get Duncan's tail to grow. "Now we go to the one place I swore we wouldn't go," I say, sighing. "The place I swore I'd never go back to."

  Jess

  The huge wooden door finally swings open and Sam and I are left standing there, staring ahead at the entrance to the library. It's been a couple of weeks since I was last here, but my previous visit lasted more than a year and I'm in no hurry to go back into the labyrinthine passages between the shelves. Not only are there creatures in the library that will happily attack Sam and me, there's also the little matter of my husband, who lives in here. Fortunately, Sam and I are heading to the Lycanthropy section of the library, which is less than a day's travel and should take us nowhere near my husband's territory. It's not that I don't ever want to see him again; it's more that I want to wait until the time is right.

  "How do you know this is going to work?" Sam asks as we step through the entrance.

  "Because this library contains every book ever written," I say, pulling out the map I kept from my last visit, "and because if this doesn't work, I have no more ideas." I pause, realizing that I really am treating Sam the way Duncan treated me. It's kind of spooky, and I'm tempted to send Sam away. Nevertheless, I'm still finding it useful to have her around; just talking to her and explaining stuff is helping me to think. I can't help wondering if that's why Duncan kept me around.

  "It's huge," Sam says as we walk along one of the aisles. "I mean, you told me it's huge, but I didn't realize how huge. It's like... the biggest place I've ever been to." She has that sense of amazement that I felt when I first came here. It feels like I'm giving Sam a crash course in being me.

  "See that smoke?" I ask, pointing over towards a thick plume of smoke that rises across the horizon. "That's a war, taking place in one of the sections of the library. People living and dying, their whole world enclosed in this place." Damn it, I remember Duncan explaining the smoke to me once. I feel strangely empowered right now.

  "A war?" she says. "In a library?"

  "Yeah," I reply, as if it's nothing at all. "Shit happens."

  We walk on a little further, and I try to contain my pleasure as I see that Sam is dumbstruck by everything she sees.

  "This place is insane," she says eventually.

  "Welcome to my world," I say.

  "Holy shit," she says, as we come across a skeleton that has been left on the ground. There are worms crawling in and out of the various gaps on the skeleton's face. Sam turns to me, her face ashen.

  "You ever seen a dead body before?" I ask.

  "Yeah," she says quickly. "Of course." But from the look in her eyes, and the way she's extra careful to keep well away from the corpse, I can't help thinking that she's putt
ing on an act.

  "Is this place dangerous?" she asks.

  "Very," I say. "There are definitely things in here that we don't want to meet, but hopefully the map's going to steer us clear of the worst spots." Damn it, again I find myself sounding like Duncan. I really really really hate the way I seem to be behaving more and more like him.

  "What killed that guy?" Sam asks as we pass the bones.

  "No idea," I say, shuddering as I remember the giant ticks that live in the library. "Don't know, don't want to know. Let's just get in and get out."

  It takes us all day to find the Lycanthropy section, but fortunately we make it before sundown. Telling Sam to stay close to me, I search for a book that might be able to help me work out what to do with the tail. Eventually I find an old, tattered edition of a book titled 'Lycanthropy Through the Ages', credited to someone named E.V. Honners, and I spend a couple of hours looking through the pages.

  "There's a full moon tonight," Sam says, staring up at the sky as it gets darker and darker.

  "Yeah," I say, not really paying much attention to her. The book's certainly interesting: this E.V. Honners guy clearly knew about werewolves, but I can't find anything that specifically helps me. From what I find in the index, it seems that the process of regrowth and renewal for a werewolf should just start automatically; there's nothing in here about ways to kick-start a werewolf's recovery. In other words: if it hasn't started already, maybe it's not going to happen at all?