The smell had been getting stronger as the hours passed. A strong reptilian smell with lots of blood. As we approached the wyrm’s home, the ground was stained with blood and bones. The entire scene was like out of a horror movie.
As we passed the mutilated body of a deer, “Where does this thing sleep?” I kept my voice down, not sure what kinda hearing the wyrm had.
Isa pointed over to a slope in the landscape. “It dug out the ground and uses that for shelter.”
I knew it was close, but with a location, I could pinpoint that the wyrm was home. “Let’s just keep moving and hope for the best.”
So, quietly yet with urgency, we moved like silent thieves in the night. I continuously looked over my shoulder, just making sure the creature didn’t begin stirring. What I hadn’t planned for was the wyrm’s smell to cover up the wolves that appeared out of nowhere.
The male Silver bum rushed Isa, knocking her over while Caroline, the female, tackled me to the ground. Both were in full-fledged werewolf mode and angry. Snapping jaws and spittle were way too close for comfort. I tried to push her off of me, but it wasn’t working. The Silver was too powerful.
Isa, freeing herself from Skylar, switched on the vampire face and attacked. She seemed okay, which was a whole lot better than my predicament. The female Silver tried to eat my face off again, but I guided her head into the ground. She was dazed for a moment, which was all the time I needed. I pulled out Pan’s knife and got into a defensive position.
She spun around and charged. I slipped to the side and locked my arm around her head in a headlock. The powerful wolf wasn’t about to be slowed down, so I dug my heels into the ground. Our momentum carried us both down and using her weight to my advantage, I flipped her over. She rolled back to her paws, but stumbled.
I rolled into an attack position, but I didn’t want to kill her. She was being forced to attack by Pan and the Chief. I was hoping we could just knock ‘em around a few times and they’d leave. I gave a quick glance over to Isa and the Alpha Silver was pressing the attack. She looked like she might be in over her head.
Caroline was back up and baring her teeth. A stupid plan formed in my mind and I started running over to the other fight. She gave chase, just as I hoped for, and I went straight for the big Alpha. At the last minute, I ducked, hearing Caroline jumping for me. She went over my head and her tackle attack hit Skylar, knocking him away from Isa.
As the two wolves tumbled away, I grabbed her. “C’mon, let’s go!” She looked as if she wanted to keep fighting, but as I started to run away, the ground shook, sending the two of us into a heap. Over where the wyrm was, it looked as if our little fight woke it up.
Its large head appeared over the ground, black eyes looking at all four tiny specs of food. The two Silvers jetted into the forest, leaving Isa and I was the closest food sources around. With its mind made up, it let out its battle cry and began climbing over the dirt.
We got to our feet and took off. Isa streaked into the lead, but I wasn’t far behind. Between the smell, the noises, and the tremors that its running caused, I didn’t need to turn around to see how close it was. Plus, I’d probably just lose it and turn into a McVic nugget in to time flat. So the best option was to keep on running.
Up ahead of us was a river. Isa pushed down ever harder and as she reached the shoreline jumped to the other side. Me, I didn’t have those kinda ups, so I did the next best thing. I leapt in as far as I could go, hoping the Wyrm couldn’t swim.
The cold water hit me hard, the current moving way too fast for me to keep up. Waves of water pounded into my face as I tried to right myself, but it wasn’t happening. Each time I thought I had an opportunity to get control, the current took it right back. I was at the mercy of the water.
My roller-coaster ride only ended due to a miracle. Something in the water bumped into my hand which guided me towards the shore. The fast moving water ejected me into a rough patch of rocks, shredding my clothes and my skin. I was alive, but I wasn’t in good shape. Just lying there, I could feel blood flowing from quite a few cuts.
On top of that, I couldn’t stop coughing; expelling all the water I swallowed. I figured between the noise and the scent of blood, just about every predator in the forest would find me soon. Part of me wanted to try and fight, but I knew I just didn’t have it in me. The best I could do was hope it was a quick and painless death.
“Vic,” I heard my name over the rustling of plants over the shoreline. “Holy shit! You’re a freaking mess!” Isa, the little pixie vampire hopped down to where I was and rolled me over. “We need to get these cuts tended to, or you’ll bleed out.”
I felt the little vampire pick me up and carry me up to the grassy spot. “You came back for me.” It wasn’t really a question, but it almost sounded like one.
“Of course I did you fool. Why didn’t you transform into the Warg and jump the river?”
Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. “I thought I could swim for it.” Which I failed at obviously. “Did we lose the wyrm?”
She nodded while ripping the sleeves off her shirt and tending to my wounds. “All the creatures on Neverland know not to mess with that river, the current’s too strong.” Then she smiled, which I can’t say I’d seen before from her. “All except you that is.”
“I’m known for many things, but some would argue brains ain’t among ‘em.” I winced as she put pressure on one on the deeper cuts. “I appreciate you not letting me become food for the forest critters.”
“I need you to be a distraction for the Orcs. Hopefully you’re better at that than you are swimming.”
“That was a bit unnecessary. I’m a damn good swimmer I’ll have you know.” Though lately my experiences with rivers weren’t adding up in my favor. “What’s the prognosis doctor?”
“The bleeding’s stopped and your body seems to have started the healing process, so you’ll be fine. Unfortunately, we’ll be stuck here awhile.”
She might’ve thought that was bad, but I was quite okay with that. “I wish I was as disappointed as you are.”
She gave me a look of disdain. “Werewolves tend to be lazy don’t they?”
I wish I had a quippy retort ready to fire back, but I didn’t, and that made me sad. So I just laid there like a lump while she cleaned me up and then started a fire. It would be about another two hours before I was useful again and I wanted to do something to help out. “So, what can I do to help?”
“Considering your clothes are a mess, if you could get a boar or a deer, I could at least patch them up for you.” Then she noticed my satchel was gone. “Plus it appears you lost all your supplies, so we’ll need to restock.”
I got up and felt a few twinges, but went off into the woods. I needed some time away and hunting close by was the perfect idea. It didn’t take me very long to put my senses to work and find a deer. I still had Pan’s knife and used it to quickly and painlessly finish the hunt. Taking an innocent animal’s life, even for your own gain, was not to be done lightly.
Picking the creature up and lifting it over my shoulder was a bit of a struggle, but eventually I got it and walked back. As I got in view of the fire, I dropped the deer down on to the ground. I looked up, yet there was no Isa to be seen.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and it spun me around. Lips locked with mine and pulled me into a very deep kiss. I tried to pull away, yet couldn’t and even eventually gave in to the contact. A spark hit as the two of us kept going. There was something so familiar, yet so different about the girl kissing me that I couldn’t help myself.
When we broke apart, “Whoa.”
“I’m sorry Victor, I don’t know why I did that.”
As the fire crackled behind me, “Been a long time without contact I imagine.”
A spiteful look crossed her. “You have no idea. When your only friend is a forest troll, you get used to being alone most of the time.”
Her answer hit home with me, even though I hadn’t been nearly as alone as she was. The
bigger question was why I didn’t fight off her advances harder? “I know werewolves aren’t as long lived as vampires, but we tend to be very social creatures. Even freaks like me need my pack.”
“You’re not a freak, you’re unique.”
Everything that was happening around the campfire had gone against how she’d been acting up until this point. “Is everything okay? You don’t seem like you. Not that I actually know you very well, but you get what I mean right?”
“Did you prefer me being a rude bitch to you?” Talk about blunt honesty. “Or do you prefer the lady who sees someone worth fighting beside and decided to show it?”
I wasn’t the best test taker in my academic life, but I knew a trick question when I heard it. “I think we’ll go with choice B. But I think we need to talk about that first.”
Chapter 21
**Liz**
It was twilight by the time we reached the wretched cliffs. Connor was not as good of a tour guide as he let on and we became lost a few times. With the sun setting against the rocks of the cliff, I had a very bad feeling about proceeding forward. “Witches are deadly even in the most opportune of times, but at night fall, I do not like this.”
My protest fell upon deaf ears. Neither Kristie nor Connor seemed to be in the mood to stop for the night. “I am sorry Elizabeth, but Anita has been a thorn in my side for ta long. We proceed as planned.”
“I swear Connor, if you get us killed, I will haunt you for all eternity.”
He attempted to give me a smile that spoke of confidence, but it was false. “If I get us killed, I will let ye.”
The two Reds moved to the front of the group. Fergus seemed a little on edge around Bernard, but that served him right. “If ye’d all be so kind as ta follow me, I’ll be doin’ my best to get us ta the witches safe.”
A path led down into the valley of the cliffs, one we were now walking on. Something weird was in the air; almost a feeling of static electricity. I concluded we were surrounded by dark magic that the O’Byrne clan had weaved. Did that mean the Dullahan was already summoned? In the back of my mind I kept reasoning with myself that Connor was wrong, that he was overreacting to the power that this clan and the head of it, Anita, had.
Light was fading fast. “We need to pick up the pace.” It came out a bit more panicked than I wanted it to. “This is a very dangerous situation.”
“Lizzie is right. We need to move faster.” Kristie grabbed Fergus by the scruff. “Throw caution to the wind and move flea bag!”
The wolf took her at her word and began to sprint. Fergus could move fast, almost as fast as a millennia old vampire and for a wolf, that was saying something. The trek further into the cliffs was fraught with dangers; the O’Byrnes were no fools and covered the trail to their inner sanctuary well. Connor tripped over a wire at one point that triggered a rock slide. Luckily no one was hurt, but it also trapped us in with only one way to go.
“Hell Connor!” Kristie was livid. “Would you watch what you are doing?”
He dusted himself off. “I am most sorry for the inconvenience. It seems those ahead of me didn’t feel it was important ta holler out there was a trigger right here.”
“Oh of course master, I forgot it was my job in life to make sure you get through everything in one piece.” Kristie added quite a bit of sarcasm to that last word. “Or here is a better idea, the head of Ireland can watch out for his own damn self!”
Her voice echoed into the canyon, not something that was good for our situation. “Kristie keep quiet! You will ruin our surprise.”
“Liz, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but our surprise is gone.”
On a swivel, my head went to Bernard. I snapped, “What do you mean gone?”
He looked scared. “I have no idea what that smell is, but something big and fast is moving this way.”
We all stood there, quiet. The last bit of sunlight fell out of sight, casting the valley into darkness. Then, an awful howl filled the air. Connor and Kristie both blanched at this. In unison, “The Dullahan.”
Our options were limited. We could not go backwards due to the rock slide. Going forward meant running into the beast and it had the advantage. “If anyone has any ideas…”
Fergus pointed behind me. “There, a cave in the wall. It’ll be a challenge ta climb, but it’ll provide us with cover.”
We didn’t have much time, so one by one we began the ascent to the cave. The wolves, using their claws beat us up and secured the area. Kristie, myself, and Connor made it just in the nick of time. We fell flat to the ground and hushed our sounds – the Dullahan had arrived.
Fergus peered over the top and motioned to us what I assumed with the physical dimensions of the creature. Using his arms, it looked as if he thought it was eight feet tall and pretty broad. From my current situation, I could not see, but with a bit of inching around, I got into a better position.
From the backside, pale energy surrounded an outline of a giant man. He was dressed in armor of the days of old and carried a large broadsword in his right hand. His body peaked at the wide shoulders due to the fact the creature had no head. Even with that shortcoming, Fergus was right; it was about eight feet tall.
Then it turned around. In the center of the silvery armor was a face unlike any other I have ever seen. The very metal that surrounded it and composed it was alive. One eye was blood red and the other was midnight black, each oozing a substance of the opposite color. Two slits for a nose framed over a mouth that was dripping with Hellfire. Globs of the magma-like liquid hit the ground around its feet, incinerating the earth.
Scorch marks covered the front side of the armor where the Hellfire had hit it. The daemonic face carved into the armor kept twitching from side to side, never once staying still, except for the eyes. Every so often the slits for its nose would send streams of hot air into the cold night. The vapors it created clung to the cold creature, adding an even more frightening appearance. This was a daemon like from the bowels of the Pit, something right out of a nightmare.
As for the body, it just stood there, motionless. I had a funny feeling that it knew we were either here somewhere or had been just moments earlier. It also seemed in no hurry to move.
Like a ghost in the night, black magic surrounded the creature and it vanished. A gust of wind blew all the way up into the cave we were hunkered down in, strong enough to push each of us back a few feet. The magic in the air was the most dangerous I had ever encountered.
“Shit!” Fergus was not one to mince words. “How the hell do we combat that thing?”
“I’m with this guy, my hair is still on end from the energy that monster produced.”
The two wolves were shaken, but it appeared the vampires were in no spot to offer comfort. Kristie looked scared for the first time I can ever remember. “Tales of that beast do it no justice. There is no way we can fight it and win.” Connor was behind her, nodding his agreement.
“Enough.” All four of them looked at me. “That thing is a barrier between me and my revenge.” Bernard knew what I was talking about and his face turned red from shame. “Jonathan killed the first man I truly loved in a very long time in cold blood. That love fuels the hatred burning deep inside of me.”
“Vic was my brother and he’d be pissed that I was acting like a coward. You’re right Liz.” He winked at me. “No headless ghost is going to stop us from making sure Vic’s killer ends up six feet under.”
With Bernard behind me, I started climbing down from the cave. Above us, Connor yelled out. “This be suicide Elizabeth! Listen ta reason here, there has ta be a better way!”
Without even looking up, my renewed anger pushing out the fear, “Either grovel there in fear Connor, or tighten up your spine. Tonight, whoever comes with me, we are going to kill a Dullahan.”
Chapter 22
“Liz sounds like a very lucky girl to have had you in her life.”
The flames from our campfire provided a nice sense of warmth. We were
going to be moving out again in the morning, restarting our campaign against Pan and the Orcs, so Isa relented to letting my build a nice big fire. Plus she let me roast the deer I killed, so it was nice to have some fresh meat. While I ate, she used the hide to repair the mess my clothes were in and make them a little better to stand up to the cold nights on this place.
Talking about Liz brought up a bunch of feelings long forgotten from my time on this horrible spit of land. “She was certainly one of a kind, a complete lady but one who wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. She was able to whoop ass in six inch heels.”
Isa looked up into the starry night sky. “I would love to return to the civilized world and dress as a woman again. Though I worry from my time stuck here that I would not fit in anymore.”
I’d only been stuck here for months; this poor girl had been here for many years. “That’s nonsense, as a vampire I’m sure you got a lot of friends still around. After all, your kind doesn’t die all that easily.”
She gave me an almost bark like laugh. Hey, that was a werewolf thing! “Vampires are fickle creatures. Out of sight, out of mind, that’s our mantra. If I came back today, no one would notice or care.”
Jeez, that was a bit pessimistic. “I know a few vampires and even though they all have their quirks, they don’t seem too bad.”
“You know the New World vampires, ones that have bucked tradition and social protocols. I can’t even tell you the scandal a vampire of Liz’s social status being with a werewolf would produce.” Considering she just kissed me not that long ago, I don’t think Isa cared. “But today the old taboos have seemingly gone away. Maybe soon I will get to see this change firsthand.”
“We get rid of Pan and I think our path to freedom gets closer.”
She stoked the fire, sending embers into the night air. There was something really familiar about her, yet somehow really different. Unlike my isolation with the Sphinx, this was more at ease, natural. I felt as if my feelings were betraying what I had with Liz, but maybe it was time to come to the realization that what we had was over. The girl thought I was dead and probably had moved on. Hell, I couldn’t blame her. No one would want another they loved to sit around and mourn day and night.
The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3) Page 11