A Werewolf's Saga, The Beginning (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 3)

by Michael Lampman

  “I will not allow this.” Devish took the nearest tree on his left, and leaned against it with all of his weight. He needed it to keep standing.

  Satar shook his head. He sees only what he wants. He always has.

  “Your father is correct Devish. This is over.” Odan listened, he understood the pain he heard, but he didn’t understand the need to continue with this. They needed to return to the balance, and if this were the way to do it, he would now.

  Devish shook his head and leaned harder on the bark. “No.” He watched his father come around the fire towards him and stop. He could now see him clearly. Behind him, he watched the human male, the chief, the boy, as he stood nearly by his side. Seeing such a thing, his father next to a human, made him feel ill. “I will not allow it.” It burned his heart and mind.

  Satar again shook his head and felt tears swelling up in both of his eyes. “You do not need to do this son. Join me and join a new world.”

  Devish scowled. His mind flared. He felt himself neatly split in two.

  Odan now shook his head too. “You will obey the Elders, Devish. We do not wish this to be any more. It is time to end it and start over.”

  Devish brought his head down. He knew what he had to do.

  Satar saw his mind turn. He saw his pain flare. He saw everything. He hated all of it. Do not do this my son. Join me. Join us.

  He looked up. His eyes sparkled like rubies. His teeth became jagged and sharp. He looked straight at his father and roared, “NO!” The thirst, the hunger, the need to kill blasted his mind. He couldn’t resist it anymore. He had to fight. He had to feed. He had to taste it all over again.

  He came fast as he moved through the trees and stepped out into the clearing. As he ran, his body turned. His true face came out.

  Satar stood tall, and allowed his true self to come out as well. He had to fight. He had to defend her.

  Devish reached him in full stride just as he turned.

  Rochie stood back.

  Kenar blinked, and even shed a tear for what he saw.

  Jameson and the other remaining humans stood ready as they watched the two massive beasts meet just at the edge of the road.

  Odan screamed, “No!” He fell to his knees.

  The sound of them coming together was like that of two freight trains smashing into one another head on in a blazing boom.

  Together in the dark, with only the flames illuminating them, they looked the same. No one could tell them apart but for their clothes. They both wore black and purple colored over shirts mixed in with white, so it didn’t help either.

  The two half bat, half wolves, grabbed each other’s arms. They grabbed their shoulders. They twisted in the dark.

  Kenar knew who was who. He felt Devish’s rage, his lust, his anger, his need for blood. He felt Satar’s love, his unending need to be with the woman. The two were more alike than he ever realized. They shared the same lusts. They shared the same desires. They only cherished different things. One loved a human, while the other wanted her blood.

  He watched Devish come down with his jaws, lined with sharp fangs, and bite down on to his father’s left shoulder just by his neck. He watched the blood splatter. He heard the high hissing, roaring sound blaze from Satar’s throat.

  With the bite, Satar turned. With his right arm he swung.

  He impacted the left side of Devish’s face, blowing him down and away from his throat.

  It sounded like thunder. It looked like lightning. It was incredible to watch.

  The two animals reengaged on the road. One went down, and the other flew on top of him. They spun. They rolled. They fought.

  Odan truly felt pain. He truly felt agony watching the two of them fight. He had hoped that they would come to their senses and what they did to each other would have been forgiven, but now, it was too late. He couldn’t stop their hatred now.

  The humans turned back to the trees. The sounds of running came. The sounds of snarls and growls followed it.

  Hearing them, hearing what he knew was coming, Jameson turned to his friends.

  “We fight!” He lifted his sword from his belt and readied to use it.

  Donte and the remaining others lifted their pikes. They lifted their swords. They lifted their golden made bands.

  “We have to stop this.” Kenar turned back to Shandra. “Let it go again. Keep them away so we can have more time to broker this. We need to stop them from killing each other.”

  She nodded.

  A Shade came down just behind her and swooped.

  It came so fast that Kenar didn’t see it, or hear it, until it was right behind her. Seeing it, feeling it, he felt helpless.

  The Shade struck with its claws to Shandra’s back. They dug into her hard.

  He watched her face turn to shock. He watched her blue eyes instantly fade to black. He watched her mouth drop open, but nothing came out.

  The Shade plunged both claws into her back just between her shoulder blades and dug in deep. It pushed in. It went straight to her spine, and once it held it, it brought its clawed toes together again and pulled.

  She felt her entire body sudden fade. She felt herself go numb as she heard and felt her back break. Thankfully, she died quickly and felt little pain. She just didn’t have the chance.

  Kenar saw her mind vanish fast. “Shandra!”

  Garreth heard him and turned. During most of the fight, he felt helpless. This was not his fight. He had nothing of value to add to it. When he saw Shandra drop to her knees, and the Shade removing its claws, he did what he could only do. He rushed the beast.

  Kenar couldn’t believe how reckless he was. “No Garreth. You cannot take it like that.” But again, he was too late.

  Garreth grabbed the animal’s right wing. He practically jumped at its body.

  The Shade looked surprised by his actions that so much so, it didn’t even move at first. It just stared at him as he tried to pull at its wing.

  Its hesitation didn’t last long. It turned with its shoulders towards his face. It moved fast with its teeth.

  Kenar watched everything, but like Garreth, he couldn’t do anything. All he did was watch the death of another friend.

  The Shade bit down, aiming right for his neck.

  Its teeth ripped at the side of his throat and tore half of it away with one swoop.

  He watched his friend’s blood fly all around him. He watched the Shade grab his waist with its clawed feet. He watched it pull him off his feet. He watched it lift off with him still in its mouth.

  “No!” He sobbed. His chest roared. His heart shattered.

  Rochie turned to the sounds. He saw only Garreth’s death and flight. He saw Kenar and turned back to his pile of rocks but found them gone. What do I use? He looked around. He felt out with his power trying, groping for anything he could use. All he saw was the flames. That will have to do.

  He felt every ember. He felt every scorching burst. Grabbing a hold of all that he could, he pulled. He lifted. He pushed.

  The roaring fire suddenly swirled and looked like an upside down tornado, as a funnel formed from the flames. It rolled out, up, flashed, and swarmed.

  It flew fast.

  It moved to the Shade faster than it flew and struck the beast tail on.

  He watched it consumed with fire. He watched it burned to black.

  The Shade dipped. It hissed. It flailed.

  Kenar watched Garreth’s body fall and splash to the center of the river. At least he will not be a meal to any of them. He felt better with this thought. It was something and it was worth it for him.

  Rochie felt the same way, but he wasn’t finished. He couldn’t allow another Shade to come down. Using the fire, he kept it up. He pushed it over their heads, and spread it out over them like a large and massive shield.

  Relieved with his idea, Kenar turned back, hearing the wolves return.

  Six of them jumped. They pounced.

  Two humans swung wildly at them, but mis
sed.

  The wolves came in low this time and stayed close to the ground. They learned from their previous attack.

  They grabbed both men by their legs. Once down, they didn’t have the chance.

  All six wolves shared the bites. They shared the blood. They tore the two men into pieces of ragged flesh and bones.

  Kenar felt them die. This is the end. We cannot survive this. He looked back to the trees and watched Adollo return.

  The large gray wolf bounded through the trees, moving fast and powerfully to the road. On his two hind feet, he stood taller than anything else that was there. He went straight to Donte first.

  He saw him come out from the corner of his eyes. He had been fighting one of the wolves that had just killed two of his friends. He managed to stab it in its right shoulder, and surprisingly, it was enough to kill the beast, as he watched it turn back into its human male form. When he turned, Adollo was already on him.

  He grabbed the boy by the back of the neck. He lifted him up off his feet.

  The pressure felt intense beyond words, as his entire body seemed to go numb all at once. The pain caused him to lose his sword. It caused his entire six-foot frame, tall for a human at the time, to go limp.

  Jameson saw him from the other side of the flames. He happened to turn in that direction, as he was also fighting off a wolf that had come to his left. He didn’t let it even get close. He swung his sword, and removed the animal’s head before it had a chance to grab him. Free to do so, he ran to his friend. He ran to the massive wolf holding him, and came behind him. He didn’t hesitate as he went with his sword first, and stabbed the beast into his back.

  Adollo roared, feeling the weight of the weapon plunging through his back, and emanating from his chest. It went straight through him. The weight of the obviously silver blade instantly brought him to his knees.

  Donte fell hard when it released him. He fell lump and nearly lifeless to his knees, and then rolled over to his back. He was still breathing. He was still seeing, and thankfully, now free, he felt his body come back again.

  Odan stayed on the other side of the river as he watched the fight. He didn’t know what to do. At first, he was content to stay there and watch, but when he heard his friend’s roar, he had to move. He knew he had to join the fight.

  He turned into a Shade. He flew out with his wings, pushing low over the water and beneath the hovering flames. He reached the other side quickly, and went straight to his friend’s side.

  Jameson watched him land. If I remove the sword, the other Walker will regain his strength. At least he thought he would. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to take the chance.

  Lina saw the Shade. She saw her brother unable to move. She had to do something, so she did what she could. She grabbed a silver colored blade from the body of a young man near her, and held it up high. She turned, and rushed to her brother’s side.

  Odan saw her coming. In Shade form, he lacked hands, so he quickly turned. He became his half bat and half wolf self.

  She watched him change. She watched his hideous face glean towards hers.

  Satar felt this. He saw this. He rolled on top of his son. With him pinned down, he moved fast and bit down on his throat.

  Devish roared with the pain. He screamed with the agony and felt his body flare numbly all around him.

  He released the bite. He knew it wasn’t enough to keep him down so he gave him another blow. He brought his right arm up and just as quickly brought it down straight into his son’s chest.

  The boom shook the ground. It echoed through the trees.

  Devish felt his chest break. He felt his ribs shatter. He felt all of the air in his lungs completely vanish.

  Free to do so, Satar flew off him and bounced towards her. He pounced towards him.

  Odan only saw her swing her sword. He watched it miss him completely and wildly wide. He never saw his friend until he blew into his right side.

  The momentum carried both of them into the fire. They flew through it to the river’s side, and landed there with a loud and reverberating thud.

  Lina watched the blur of movement in front of her and it took a few moments for her to realize what it was. When she did, she almost couldn’t believe it. He saved me. Why would he do that? After she thought this, it dawned on her that she already knew the answer. She saw his loving eyes. She saw him press his face to hers. She felt his kiss. She felt his love—his love for her.

  Not knowing any of this, he was too busy holding the gray wolf with his sword, Jameson found himself thinking of what to do next. He knew that silver wouldn’t kill these creatures, the Wanderer told him this much, but he did come up with an idea. He still had the band of gold, so he grabbed it with his bad right arm, and brought it out over the wolf’s head.

  Adollo felt it the moment it was above him. Its heat radiated like the sun. When the boy brought it around his throat, it felt worse than that.

  Instantly it scorched. Instantly it flared.

  Pain raced down from his neck and into his chest. With it, he couldn’t hold his form. He couldn’t hold the wolf, so he turned into his natural state.

  Smaller now, with a much smaller neck size, Jameson pulled the gold band tighter around his throat.

  The pain increased a thousand fold as it tightened. The burning didn’t stop at his neck as it continued into his chest and into his heart.

  Jameson felt more than amazed as the band pierced his skin. It made it looser so he pulled harder.

  Within seconds, it moved.

  It moved through his flesh. It moved fast through the bones of his throat. It moved fast until it came out the other side.

  His head came clean off.

  Jameson fell back some feeling the release of the band as it came back at him. He couldn’t believe what it did.

  For Adollo, he died completely, and didn’t even know he was.

  Jameson removed the sword. He turned to his right, found Donte, and helped him to his feet.

  “Are you alright my friend?”

  He returned a grinning glance. “I am.” He looked behind his friend, and saw Lina standing there with a sword in her hands.

  Jameson saw him look at her. “This fight can turn.” He felt pride erupt through his soul. He took his sister by the left arm and pulled her to him. “Stand with Donte. Stand together.” He looked back to the trees, but nothing else came. The vampires didn’t return. He didn’t know why. “Where are the blood suckers?” He found this baffling, but in the end, he really didn’t care.

  Donte didn’t care either. “We have to reform. We need to regroup.” He looked around and saw only Mathis. There was no one else. “We have lost so much.” He looked behind him, but didn’t see any other wolves. They were alone on the road. “We did it.” He turned to his friend and chief.

  Jameson agreed. “We have to finish this.” He looked to the side of the road, saw the Blood Walker lying there, and knew who it was. “We kill the son of hell that took her away from me.” He looked back to the fire and saw only three Wanderers left. Two of them were watching the other two Walkers fight. “This is our time.” He turned. “We kill all of them.”

  Devish felt his chest move. He felt his bones mend. He felt the bite to his throat close. Feeling better, he rolled to his left.

  Jameson saw his face. He lifted his sword. He took one-step and then two.

  Devish saw him but didn’t care. He cared nothing for humans. What he did care about, he now had to do.

  Jameson watched him climb to his feet. He lifted the sword in front of him and readied himself to use it, but Devish didn’t even come close to him, as he flew past him to the fire.

  He turned with the blur, and watched him bounce through the flames.

  Kenar watched him move towards the water. He watched him move towards Odan and Satar.

  Patrice came to his side. “We have to stop this.” She was right. They had come this far. They had survived one hell of a fight, but it was time to end it. Th
ey had won. It was time to make peace.

  Kenar nodded with her thoughts. “It is not up to us now.” He felt the rage from Devish. He felt the anger flaring through his heart. He knew what he was going to do. “This is between them.” He turned to her with a sly nod. “It is now between father and son, and the father is stronger than the son.” He felt good with this. Devish didn’t have the chance.

  They turned to the river.

  Odan was now in the water. He wasn’t putting up much of a fight. He couldn’t hurt his friend, even if he wanted to. He just couldn’t do it. He loved him too much to hurt him. He cherished him too much to take his life.

  Satar knew this too. He just wanted to save his love, and nothing else mattered to him. He wasn’t going to hurt his friend either. He was just content to hold him down.

  Devish had no such concerns. He tackled his father from behind, plowing into him straight into the mud and muck. They rolled and snapped. They grabbed and dug.

  Screams echoed throughout the night, as they heard them grip and bite.

  Up the road, heading from the south, horses then came. Human riders were strongly on their steeds. Silver blades were in their hands.

  Kenar saw them and instantly knew why they were there.

  Rochie noticed them too and turned.

  Patrice smiled with such a beautiful sight.

  Jameson felt shocked.

  The lead horseman, Mantha, greeted them by the fire.

  “Mantha, what are you doing here?” Jameson let the shock slide away and felt it replaced with total relief.

  Mantha nodded to his chief. “A woman came to the village and informed us of what was happening. She healed my ribs. She mended me and told me to come here and help you. I owed your father.” He looked at Rochie. “Your sister is a very forceful woman.”

  Rochie felt stunned by hearing this, but with thinking about it some, he really wasn’t. She did help me in the only way she knew how. Pride flared through his heart and soul. Thank you Rana. He spoke to her through the boundless energy of the night. Inside his head, he only saw her smile.