by Natalie Erin
“I can help you,” the wolf replied sweetly, blocking his way. Her black eyes had a flash of gold in them, but unlike Keota’s golden eyes, hers were colder. “Follow me and I’ll get you out of this mess.”
“Kiatana, I wouldn’t,” Ionan warned. For some reason the sight of the wolf made him bristle in apprehension.
“She’s just trying to help. Do you want to get to the Verinian or wander around in these trees forever?” Kia asked. She urged Snow Drop on, who was spooking even more so now that the wolf had appeared. The she-wolf started walking through the trees, and the group began to follow. The twins fell behind and Lilja whispered to his sister, “Be on your guard, Lottie. I don’t trust her.”
“I don’t either,” Lottie growled. “Something about her doesn’t smell right. She’s not normal.”
The wolf led them up to a rickety old castle made of black stone and wood, which was crumbling to pieces around them.
“It’s not much,” Carmilla said, and she pushed open a large wooden door with one paw. “But it’s enough. My pack lives inside here.”
Once Carmilla opened the door the foul smell of blood met the animals’ nostrils. Snow Drop refused to go in until Kia dismounted and led her in herself. The travelers peered inside and saw several differently colored wolves lying on the stone, their eyes glittering greedily. Lottie and Lilja went to go in after Ionan and Keota but Carmilla and the other wolves blocked their entrance.
“We want to stay with our friends,” Lilja said, and tried to shove past her. Carmilla growled however, and towered over him threateningly.
“It looks like the wolf pup has forgotten his place. There’s not enough room in here.”
“What are you talking about? The castle’s huge!” Lottie protested.
“There’s no more room. If you care about your friends, you will sleep outside.” Carmilla and the other wolves turned on them and shut the large wooden door before they had another chance to protest.
Neither of the pups could rest that night. Their eyes twitched and glittered under the stars until they got up from the ground to stand warily under the half moon.
Lilja started pacing back and forth. “They don’t want us inside for some reason.” The pup sat on his haunches. “But for what? It’s obvious that what they told us was a lie. Why would they want to keep us out?”
“Because…” Lottie’s eyes widened. “Oh Lilja. Because we’re the only ones who can protect them! The wolves, and that blood smell…they’re Ortusans!”
At this realization the wolf pups jumped forward and started slamming themselves up against the wooden door but it wouldn’t open, no matter how hard they struck it.
“They’ve bolted it. They knew we would figure it out eventually,” Lilja breathed. “There’s got to be another way in.”
Lottie rose up on her hind legs. “Up there!” she pointed with her paw. A large round ruin fallen from the top of the castle sat atop a hill nearby. If pushed at the right speed, it would slam right through the door.
They raced up the hillside. “Ready?” she asked. “One, two, three!”
Both pups pushed on the rock but they found that, like the door, it would not move.
“We can’t do it Lottie, it’s too heavy!” Lilja groaned, shoving his shoulder into the rock. Lottie shook her head and said, “It’s not an option to fail, Lilja! We can do this! One more time! One, two, three!”
The pups closed their eyes and shoved with all their might. The rock moved at the touch of their paws and surprised, they jumped back. The ruin started rolling down the hill, gathering speed. Then with the sound of breaking wood, the ruin crashed into the door and the pups jumped over the stone and in through the opening, fangs bared.
INSIDE THE CASTLE in a room far away from the exit, the pack of wolves watched the group with hunger in their eyes. Ionan looked around nervously, eyeing the clothes that were scattered along the floor. “The big one’s a Changer,” a large black male whispered to a silver colored female at his side.
“So he is,” the female replied, licking her paw clean. “I’ve never had Changer before.”
“Wonderful catch Carmilla, I knew we could count on you for dinner,” a white and black female said softly, wagging her tail.
“It was nothing Iris,” Carmilla responded proudly.
“Darling, why don’t you ever call me Mother anymore? It breaks my heart,” Iris said with a voice that was sickly sweet.
“You may have made me, Iris, but you will never be my mother,” Carmilla said, eyeing Kia.
“What’s going on here?” Kia asked, her voice cracking nervously.
The wolves around them snickered as the head female grinned. “I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet,” Iris said, snatching a purple velvet dress from the floor and throwing it into air. Her body twisted and contorted into that of a human and the dress slipped easily over her head as she transformed. Her hair was black with streaks of white running through it, her eyes a sharp gold color. “We’re the predators and you’re the prey,” she smiled.
“Wait, you’re…” Kia choked on her own words.
“Ortusans,” Iris said, her voice dripping with poison. The group watched in horror as the twenty or so wolves changed, tossing on their clothes as easily as Iris and staring at the group eagerly.
The Ortusan called Iris smiled at them devilishly. “Get them.”
At Iris’s command the pack attacked. The group dove out of the way, scattering around the room.
“What do we do?” Keota asked, looking desperately between Kia and Ionan.
“We do our best to fight them off and hope a miracle occurs,” Kia said, drawing her knives. “Wound as many as possible.”
Ionan changed from pegasus to lion and began charging at a silver haired female wearing a long, black gown. He tackled her to the ground and tore into her pale white flesh, only to find that any wound he made would simply heal within a few seconds. “We can’t hurt them, they heal themselves!” he called to the others before the women dug her sharp fingernails into his side. She scratched at him until he jumped up and set her free, his loud yowl echoing throughout the chambers. Long gashes ran down his sides where she had clawed while red blood dripped from them slowly.
On the other side of the room Kia stood in front of Keota defensively, swinging her knives at Iris and two blonde males who appeared to be twins. The silver of the knives flashed in the pale light as she attacked but the Ortusans were too fast. She swung out at one of the blondes and he bent backward before coming up and swatting at her face with sharp nails. As this occurred the other blonde struck at her neck like a cobra, his fangs glistening in the moonlight. Keota grabbed him and flung him across the room into a small female.
“Let me see one of those knives,” Keota said quickly, reaching his hand toward Kia.
“Why?” she asked, dodging a blow from Iris then stabbing one knife into the remaining blonde’s side. He snarled angrily and reached for her, only to be caught and dragged off by Ionan.
“I can do more damage,” Keota answered, wheeling around and punching a small white haired male who was trying to sneak up behind them. The Ortusan doubled over and Kia quickly handed Keota a knife. He took it quickly and stabbed it into his opponent’s throat. Blood gushed from the wound and onto Keota’s shirt before the cut vanished completely, healing around the blade.
Snow Drop had been pinned in a corner by two silver haired females, one much taller than the other, and a black haired male. The pegasus got up on her hind legs and swung out at the predators, striking one in the jaw and shattering another’s arm.
Out of nowhere a loud boom echoed throughout the palace. The door buckled from some immense weight and caved in, shattering into thousands of small wooden splinters. Two small figures stood in the doorway and it wasn’t long before Iris figured out what they were. “Wolves!” she called. “Quickly, get upstairs!”
“Lottie, Lilja!” Kia cried happily as the Ortusans began to flee. At sec
ond glance it didn’t look very much like the pups that they had been traveling with before. Red blood ran down their coats and mouths and their fur was standing on end as their fangs remained bared. One large white haired male simply stared at the two small pups.
“They’re only little ones,” he said, a smile spreading across his face. “It’s so easy to take care of the little ones.” He then rushed forward to pin down Lottie. She yelped in pain and Lilja jumped on top of the large man, sinking his teeth into the flesh of his neck.
The Ortusan jumped up, throwing Lilja to the floor. The pup lay unmoving as the Ortusan roared angrily and then began to cry out in pain, collapsing onto the floor. A few seconds later his cries stopped and it was certain that he was dead. Lottie rushed over to her brother and nudged him gently. “I’m fine,” he said, getting up. “Just a little stunned.”
“What did you do to him, you filthy mutt!” A blonde female came tearing down the stairs and toward the pups. “What did you do to him!” She fell by the dead man’s side and scooped his head into her lap. “Please Orlanta, you must wake up, you must be okay!” Tears of black ran down her cheeks and she jerked her head up to glare at the two wolves. She pushed her fallen love aside and charged toward them, screaming her hatred as she did. Lottie jumped up and latched herself onto the Ortusan’s arm. The woman screamed and slammed Lottie against a wall before falling in a heap next to the man she had called Orlanta.
“My daughter!” a female with brown hair and strangely long limbs called from the stairs.
“It is too late for her Marinia, we must go!” Iris grabbed the woman’s arm and pulled her up the old staircase.
“But she’s my baby!” Marinia began to sob and pulled against Iris’s hold.
“The only thing that lies back there is death, Marinia!” Iris tugged harder, but the woman broke free, running toward her fallen daughter. Lilja jumped in front of the stairs and snarled, barring the way.
“Make a choice, leech. Die now or leave with the others,” he growled fiercely.
Mariana looked desperately from her dead daughter to the wolf in her way. “I beg the gods that one day, wolf, you’ll feel the pain of losing your child!” she cried before running back up the stairs to where the others had retreated.
“I feel kind of bad for her,” Lottie said, walking up next to her brother. “She did lose her daughter after all.”
“Are you insane Lottie? She tried to kill us!” Snow Drop protested, still shaking.
“But she chose to run, so she will keep on living.” Lilja answered. “Is everyone else okay?” he asked, turning to where Kia now sat on the floor.
“I’m fine,” the fairy said, examining a cut on her arm. “This seems to be the worst of it.”
“Not quite. Your head is bleeding.” Keota used his shirt to wipe the blood from Kia’s forehead. “Looks like one of the slivers of wood from the door got you there,” he said, placing a finger on her nose playfully.
“Well, what happened to you? You’re just about covered in blood,” Kia said, pointing out his shirt.
“None of its mine,” Keota answered. “Most of it is either yours or that one Ortusan’s.”
“How about you Ionan? You okay?” Lottie asked, walking over to the large lion.
“One of them got me pretty good on both sides but it appears to already be healing. I should be alright,” Ionan answered, gasping with pain. The long gashes on his sides had stopped bleeding and were now just long scabs, but you could tell it was a very painful injury. “How are you, brave little wolves?”
“I have a bruise on my head from when I fell and Lottie has one on her side from hitting the wall,” Lilja answered. “But we’re good.”
“I am fine as well. Just a slight scratch but I can walk,” Snow Drop said.
“Good, now let’s get out of here.” Kia said, standing. “We’re all fine.”
“Fine! We are not all fine! That was completely and utterly insane!” Ionan heaved, his sides shaking. “You nearly got us all killed in here! I told you not to follow her, but don’t listen to the Changer!”
“If I remember correctly, you followed me in here!” Kia shouted back. “Stop trying to blame me for everything that happens!”
She walked off, out of the castle and back into the woods. Keota glared at Ionan before following her into the trees, not bothering to change his blood-caked shirt. He found her sitting on a tree stump, bawling her eyes out.
“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t listen to Ionan, he was just a little upset.” Keota sat by her and put his arm around her shoulders.
“He has every right to be!” Kia sobbed. “I nearly got us killed!”
“I didn’t say anything to you to stop you from following Carmilla. It’s just as much my fault as it is yours.”
Kia’s sniffing subsided a little, and she wiped her eyes. “You should tend to Ionan. He got hurt worse than the rest of us back there.”
“He’ll be fine. What matters now is taking care of you.” Keota said.
Kia looked up at him with her pink eyes. She kissed him softly, and he kissed her back. But they didn’t stop there. They continued, the seconds growing into minutes and their terror changing into desire. The sickness, the traveling, the exhaustion...Keota and Kia thought it was too much. Without another thought they gave way to passion under the leafy black of the trees.
IONAN WAS LEFT ALONE to lead the weary Snow Drop and the brave pups out of the castle. He found a clearing and the lion changed into a dragon, waiting for the other two to come back. As the hours passed he grew anxious. He sensed where Keota and Kia were and knew they were safe…all the same he didn’t have the heart to go looking for them.
He looked after Snow Drop and the pups, tending to their injuries while he himself hobbled from his sore wounds. He finally lay down after he had taken care of himself and the pups collapsed next to him, having said nothing at all since Kia left.
“Ionan, what’s wrong?” Lottie asked, placing a paw on his scaled claw.
Ionan looked away from her. “Nothing that should bother you, young pup. Nothing at all.”
CHAPTER NINE
MAKING THE WAY BACK
T hey traveled mainly in silence, the only conversation seeming to pass between the wolves or Kia and Keota. Ionan ignored the other travelers as best he could.
“What’s your problem, Ionan?” Keota asked on a day that Ionan was being particularly grumpy.
“Oh nothing. Why do you care?” he snapped before turning away from his Accompany, flicking his horsy tail at his face.
“Well, fine, don’t talk to me then,” Keota mumbled, upset that he was being rejected.
“It’s okay Keota,” Kia said, placing a hand on his shoulder, coming up behind him as Ionan stalked away. “He’ll get over whatever it is soon enough, I think, and everything will be as close to normal as possible.”
“Close to normal?” Snow Drop came up by her side. “Kia, we’re traveling in the middle of nowhere with two wolves, an Accompany and Changer who aren’t supposed to exist, all to bring back a mysterious cure for a mysterious illness from a couple of wacko unicorns, who are also not supposed to exist. Not to mention dealing with Ortusan’s, elves, monsters…oh yes, just your ordinary day alright!”
“I get your point!” Kia said, shoving the mare away. “But really, Keota, just don’t think about it. The tension has to die down eventually.”
“Yeah, okay.” Keota shrugged and walked back up toward the front of the group where he had been before.
“After all this time the tension is only getting worse. What makes you think it’s going to get better?” Snow Drop said, trying to comfort her fairy.
Kia pulled an apple out of her bag and gave it to Snow Drop to shut her up. The mare chewed happily and Kia sighed, hoping that after all they had been through, the group wasn’t falling apart now.
KIA THOUGHT that the plains couldn’t have gotten much worse when she left them, but they had. Sparse grass grew here and here,
but most of the time the ground was dusty and dry. They had to go hours out of their way just to find water, and the water they did find was little. The group fought for their share against other creatures. It was lucky Ionan and Keota were there to scare others away, because the few animals they had come across at the waterhole were vicious. Snow Drop was getting hungry from not finding anything to eat, and was losing weight rapidly. Maybe that was the reason nobody noticed what happened until it did.
The next day when they all woke up, Kia got a feeling that something was wrong. She cast aside her sleeping bag and sat up to see Snow Drop pawing at the ground halfheartedly, her ears back and her eyes clouded over.
“My tummy hurts,” Snow Drop moaned. Kia held out an apple, but she shook her head no.
“Hey Kia, how are you?” Keota asked drowsily, fuzzily walking around with a smile. He was oblivious to Snow Drop’s pain.
Ionan rose and yawned, emerging from his deepest thoughts. When he saw Snow Drop he snapped awake, his eyes narrowed. With his giant scaled tail lashing he clenched his claws and said, “Keota, how long has she been like this?”
“Been like what?” he asked. Kia pointed to her mare and Keota said, “Oh. I just got up an hour ago. I thought she was just grumpy.”
“Why didn’t you wake me sooner?” Kia asked in a panic. Keota rushed over, tripping over himself to get to Snow Drop, but Ionan got there first. He was only a few steps away from the mare before Kia blocked his way and said, “Don’t you dare come near her!”
“I can find out what’s wrong with her,” Ionan said. “It’s in my blood to feel illnesses. Now let me pass!”
Kia glared at him. Ionan growled and Kia finally relented, moving aside. The dragon snorted but Snow Drop didn’t jump. She had either gotten used to Ionan by now, or was too sick to care. Ionan moved his nose over her fur and listened to her body, smelling and hearing.
“What did you give her to eat recently?” Ionan asked.
Kia thought it over. “All she’s eaten is grass. Do you think she ate something spoiled in the brush?”