I raised my sword as I readied myself for the inevitable collision. The beast picked up speed as he crossed the room, but fortunately for me, his speed brought unevenness to his strides.
I shrieked, in a mixture of shock and fear, as I swung my sword. He used his claws to deflect the hit. I jumped out of his way as he moved to charge straight into me, and managed to clip the edge of his hind leg out of sheer dumb luck.
The creature wheeled around and growled dangerously at me.
I readied myself and planted my feet more firmly to where I was standing. However, when the large hound ran, he went right past me, no longer paying me any mind.
I followed his movements very carefully, but soon realized that he wasn't going to double back.
The battle around me was thick with fumes. Sweat and blood burned my nose, but beyond that, I made out the stench of fear. The hell hounds that had filed into the large room, made it seem much smaller. We were all bumping elbows as we fought against the beasts that kept us captive.
"You're new with the blade."
I spun around to see Mircea standing before me with an observant expression, "Have you had training?"
Personally, I thought his random questions were meant to be a distraction, or at least, that's what I wanted to believe. I didn't want to think about this man really caring about me, or anything that concerned me. So, I delved into an entirely different subject.
"The Dracul reign fell apart for a reason." I paused for effect, "There is no chance of you conquering the packs."
Mircea laughed without humor, "You have too much faith in your alphas. Look at Leonard. You trusted him. You thought he was someone he wasn't." A fire of rage grew in my abdomen as I caught what he was implying.
"My alpha will kill you before he lets you take over." I seethed.
Then I heard that haunting laugh, although it sounded more of a cackling growl instead of the overjoyed creepy laugh I'd heard before.
I turned away from the Romanian and saw Nicolas crouched a few feet away. He sat with his weight on the balls of his feet while his knuckles grazed against the gritty tiles. "You know not, not what you say," He stammered insanely.
His presence reminded me of Gollum in Lord of the Rings. He was small and awkward in his skin, and crazed enough to kill anyone who crossed him.
My first impression of him had been wrong. I thought of him as weak and helpless, but now, seeing him in this light, I was more afraid of him than Mircea.
"You shan't speak against him… no, no, no." Nicolais shook his head frantically. I saw him readying himself for the attack, but I barely registered it until he stood.
I jumped back, nearly tripping over my feet, as Nicolais lurched towards me. His lunge was unstable, and I was ready to slam my fist into his collar bone once he was close enough, but I wasn't given the chance.
The skeletal man was grabbed out the air by his neck.
My eyes trailed up the arm of the man who held Nicolais captive, and found myself staring into the menacing eyes of Mircea.
"Your usefulness has run out." As those words slipped from his thin lips, he snapped Nicolais' neck.
A choking sound came from the back of my throat as I flinched away from the scene. Horror glistened in my eyes as I watched the lifeless body slide to the concrete floor.
There was blood, but it looked as if his body was quickly drained of heat as he formed a crumbled and disoriented lump on the damp floor. I was shaking, but otherwise unmoving, as Mircea moved closer to me. Part of me realized he was there, but I was focusing on the body in front of me.
Nicolais a crazed man who had been my enemy my entire life, we now dead.
That should have been the end of the battle. That should have ended the war, but it didn't even make a difference. He was nothing to us now; dead or alive. Only one mattered.
A large and heavy hand fell onto the nape of my shoulder and led me back a few steps. I followed, still in a daze, and stopped when the fingers that had woven themselves into the fallen strands of my hair were no longer pressuring my skin.
Slowly, I started coming back to reality. I could hear the heavy panting of the hell hounds, and the clashes of swords echoing around the stone room, and finally saw the dark matted fur of those who hunted us.
Three hell hounds had formed a half circle around me. I went to reach for my sword, on my belt, but only found the sheath. Panicked, I scanned the floor around me.
In between the hell hounds laid my sword. The jewels that lined the handle glittered in the dim light, but gave me no hope. I couldn't reach it. Even if I dared to make a grab for it, I'd be killed before my fingers even wrapped around the hand crafted weapon.
"Stand still." Mircea's deep voice ordered me.
I froze out of my own will, not out of obedience. I clasped my hands together in thought, twisting my knuckles in a shameless attempt to make the wheels of the brain turn faster.
Then I felt something inside the material of my gloves. It had a sharp edge and lightly dug into the skin around the sensitive area of my wrist. I was surprised I hadn't noticed it before.
"They will not hurt you." Mircea kept his tone low and gentle, as if he were afraid of spooking me, even though I was only half paying attention. At the distinctive sound of approaching canines I snapped my gaze back to the fallen body, just as the hell hounds leapt at it.
I watched in horror and disgust as they fought of the remains. Their claws tore against the skin, and blood pooled around them. I gagged, but was unable to throw up.
"They won't harm us." He rephrased after a moment, "Instead they will work to protect us." His grip on my shoulder tightened slightly and I tensed under his grasp.
I forced myself to ignore the frenzy of blood before me and my eyes found only more pain and blood. Nathaniel and Leo were wielding their swords with aged wisdom. One could tell they knew each other, for they practically foresaw each others movements before they made them.
Then there was Caleb. He stood bravely beside Odolf. Both being new the ways of war, were strongly outmatched by the lengthy jaws and sharp claws of their opponent, who was more than thrice their size.
Gabriel worked alone. His sword was his confidant as he faced two hellish hounds. There was crimson blood spilling from his leg, and I saw the struggle in his stance as he wielded his weapon.
Michael and Alexei worked together, but were still trapped in a circle of the enemy. They protected each other, themselves, but couldn't move out of the cage.
Hell hounds seemed to be appearing from everywhere, though I couldn't pinpoint from exactly where. We were trapped and strongly outnumbered, even with the majority of our pack and many from London fighting.
I slipped my right hand into the left glove and fished out the offending object, as Mircea's voice interrupted my thoughts, "We shall become rulers of the races, as my family was born to be, and together, reconstitute old ways of Romania… the ways of my grandfather; respect and fear."
His words were soaked with pride and expectations, and I felt sick to my stomach. I knew little of Romania, and even less of their old ways, but I did know that they called Mircea's grandfather the Impaler for a reason.
Then, as I further contemplated what his words meant, what they meant for me, I felt the pack's collective of rage flow through me. It wasn't that I took it from them, but that I was finally connected with the pack and was able to feel as they did.
This pure fury, this emotion, fueled my hand as I wrapped my fingers around the cold metal object that had previously hidden from my knowledge. Much like it had during the run, I felt my wolf come alive in such a way, that we were no longer separate. There was no more "human side" and "the wolf". There was simply, me.
I curled back my lip and let my actions become an outlet for the unadulterated malice that boiled inside my gut.
"I shall be King, and you," He stopped short, with a gasping breath, as I shoved the small dagger into his stomach. A low cough erupted from his lips before his eyes
snapped to mine. I saw surprise and rage struggling to gain control of his expression as he grasped at his wounded abdomen. Blood soaked his white shirt quickly as he pressed against it.
When Mircea looked back at me, his face became distorted with pure rage. His demonic eyes narrowed and I half expected a hiss to explode from his teeth when he opened his mouth. However, a low growl came out instead.
"You can fight me all you want Elaina, but I will have you." He warned dangerously.
I watched in horror as he moved to lunge at me. He made a grab for me, and I jerked back instinctually, which only caused me to fall backwards. He somehow fell with me and onto me.
I didn't have time to be dazed. He shoved my hands away as I attempted to push him away and partly straddled me.
I tried to push my knee into his wounded stomach, but he pressed his weight down on me, so I was pinned and trapped beneath him. Fear and adrenaline pumped through me as I wrestled against him in vain.
Just when I was about to admit defeat, I felt someone running up to us. The feeling was hard to explain, but I felt my pack mate running to my rescue. I made myself small as a wolf, twice my wolf's size, leapt onto my attacker.
They crashed onto the floor and rolled partly away from me.
I jumped to my feet, panting heavily, and saw that it was Gabriel who had come to save me.
Michael wasn't far behind, just in human form. He ran to his brother with his sword raised to his chest.
I watched, sidestepping in nervousness, and finally saw Michael strike his target. Instead of using the blade, he used the sheath, and bashed it against Mircea's head. I flinched as I saw the man's head jerk unnaturally to the left.
Michael, covered in sweat and drops of scattered blood, turned to face me after careful inspection of the fallen enemy. I bent down and retrieved my sword, which was barely a foot away. Ashamed at my weaknesses, it took me a few moments before I could look at my Beta.
I barely met his gaze before his eyes snapped to something behind me. Then, he took off running. He grabbed my arm as he passed me and we ran across the bloody concrete floor.
The pack had been pushed into a corner. At first I thought we were trapped by the rabid hell hounds, but then saw three of the larger males shoving open one of the doors.
"Hurry up!" Caleb called after us. I noticed Leo was alive, but just barely. His wrists were tied, even though he lay in an unconscious heap. My eyes glued to him, but were forced to turn away when the door crashed to the floor.
Many of the wounded were herded through the pathway first. I lagged behind. "Mom!" I cried out desperately as I scanned the faces of my pack.
"I've got her." A path opened in the mass of people and I saw Sean walking up to me. My mother, still in her wolf form, was curled up in his arms. Her ears perked when she saw me, but I still saw the underlying pain, misery, and fear in his eyes, and smelled it in the air as they got nearer.
I gently removed her from Sean's arms and pressed my tearstained face against her fur, "Let's go home." I whispered.
The hell hounds were becoming frustrated as more of us left their cage and I watched as they broke the line of defenses.
That's when we took off running. I heard many boots behind me as I ran. Tears were streaming down my face as I clutched my mother tightly and ran down the thin hall. I had cramps all over me, a sharp pain in my right thigh, and an angry pulse in my head, but I kept going.
The run out of the castle seemed shorter than the time it took us to actually find that room, but soon we broke into the daylight.
I closed my eyes and braced myself for an attack from behind as I was forced to slow down. The pack had formed a crowd outside the entrance. I thought we'd be massacred, but instead, nothing came out after us.
"Hell hounds are creatures are darkness." Alexander explained when I caught up to him, "They cannot come out during the day."
"Much like their founders." Michael added, speaking of Dracula and the Vampire race.
Many collapsed in exhaustion, but I stood. My heart was pounding heavily in my chest and I had to force myself to breathe as I recalled what had just happened, the fight I had been in.
"Is it over?" I asked, barely above a whisper.
Michael's eyes snapped to mine. I hadn't even noticed that he had kept close to me, while others had strayed into the coolness of the woods. "No." He paused, "For you can't kill a hell hound."
I darted around and scanned the cobble street, where, the night before, I had slaughtered a hell hound. I remembered how his teeth reflected in the moonlight and the way his eyes bored into mine, as if trying to frighten my very soul, but I found nothing.
Only specks of blood were there to remind me of the battle.
That meant, that Mircea hadn't been killed, and that we'd have to fight him again some day.
CL
For the past three days I barely slept. I couldn't close my eyes without the image of the blood stained floor appearing in the darkness of my mind. I could still hear the crack of Nicolais' neck and recall the way his limbs folded in ways they really shouldn't.
The first night we were back I slept at the pack house. We'd huddled together in our wolf forms. I was close to my mom and had Josh as a pillow. However, even with the comforting warmth of the pack, I woke in a cold sweat far before the sun rose. The clash of swords, cries of pain, and visions of those snapping jaws of the hell hounds haunted my mind every time I blinked.
Now I was in my room. The door was open a crack, so the hall light shone in because the moon was absent in the sky, but my lights were turned off. I saw on the floor with my back to the wall. I had spent my time watching the minutes go by.
It was in the evening, on Wednesday, two weeks after my birthday, when I heard someone who was not mom or my brother coming to my door.
Michael didn't say anything, nor did he ask permission before entering. He simply strode in and came to a stop when his shoes were barely three inches away from my curled form.
I glanced up at him, only moving my eyes, but didn't do anything else.
He stood as tall, dark, and gorgeous as ever in the darkness of the space. There was no pain of the battle written on his features, emotional or physical. There was only an observant stare.
I was shocked when he stepped around me and sunk down to the floor, with his own back leaning against the wall.
We sat in the cold silence. I was almost shaking in anticipation.
"I believe that Mircea misunderstood many things about his grandfather's reign." When Michael finally spoke his voice came out steady and business-like, as if we were discussing territories. I was glad for that. I didn't know how I'd handle it, if he dove right into my recent attack of depression.
I hugged my knees to my chest, "How so?" That had been the first time I'd spoken in a while, and it felt awkward.
Instead of being small and curled into a ball, like me, he sat tall with his legs stretched out in front of him, "He didn't use Catalina's abilities to help others, or really even himself; to ease his madness, but instead forced her to keep the other races, vampire and werewolf alike, from attacking him."
"I think that's what he wants." I was talking about Mircea.
Michael didn't say anything for a few seconds. I could feel him watching me, but didn't dare return his gaze, "You think he wants to take over the world?"
"Personally, I think insanity is hereditary, and it's only a matter of time before he really lets the world know it." I rested my chin on the top of my knees and blinked hard, twice, before asking, "Why didn't Catalina try and stop Vladimir 3? I mean, he killed thousands."
Michael didn't seem phased by my question, "I don't think she was given enough freedom to even consider going against him."
"But, if she was so special, why could she try?" I pressed harder.
"I don't think she had enough trust in her abilities." Michael sighed, "But I really don't know."
"What abilities did she have?" I solemnly asked. As if I thou
ght the small amount of comfort I had obtained would fall out from under me if I moved too much, I cautiously loosened my embrace around my knees. I leaned back against the wall and tenderly let my knee brush against Michael's stretched out legs.
Michael sent me one of his rare smiles before seriousness took over his expression, "She was a gem in a time of darkness," He paused and the edges of his mouth twitched into a faint grin, "or at least that's what I've heard. I wasn't alive during his reign." I couldn't help but laugh. Michael sent me a look, but I saw the laughter in his own eyes, "I'm not that old."
I laughed until my sides hurt. Slowly, I settled back down and wiped the tears that had formed in my eyes.
"Catalina was rumored to hold a spell over Vladimir." Michael paused and gave a small laugh, "Some even rumored her to be a witch." I could tell by the pitch of his laugh and the look on his face that he thought the idea was pure blasphemy. "But seriously, she could change the mood of even Nathaniel with just one look. There was something about her that could cool down a situation without even using words."
I grew very still as he continued. I remembered Dorothea and how she handled the fight at the council meeting. She calmed the violence of a man who wouldn't even follow the orders of Alexei by only saying his name.
Then, I thought of her eyes. I fell into them and never wanted to come out. I felt as if I'd gone swimming in a cool surface of water. My tension had fled from my muscles and for a few moments nothing troubled me, even though previously everything had being going to hell in a hand basket.
"She was mated to a vampire?" I asked in a shaky tone. My arms were coated in goose bumps, and I rubbed them as if I were cold.
Michael gruffly replied, "No. They were married by law, but she was kept as his prisoner."
I shivered as I recalled Mircea's threats. He wanted to do the same to me.
Michael shifted beside me, and I was scared he was going to leave. However, a second later, he wrapped his arm around me in a protective way. Now, cold, I curled into his half embrace and breathed in his familiar scent.
"You trust me?" Michael's lips grazed against the crown of my head as he spoke.
Howl (Howl Book 1) Page 38