Her Velcro-like paws are wearing thin, causing her pain, but the pain is far away like an annoying fly who makes its presence known every few minutes. The sun beats down on her relentlessly but she continues to dig frantically, aware on some level that he could die at any second.
Felinius gallops out to meet the remainder of the men in the party. He notices Filmore and Talbot are among them. There are seven total-too many.
Felinius approaches them and feigns rage and befuddlement at their shortcoming. Talbot calls out to him before he can say anything. “Please Sai, for the love of God, tell me, have you found her!?”
Felinius nods. “Ai, no thankee to you Sai. A group of them tried to subdue her but failed. I had to put her down, so I did.”
Talbot nods solemnly, knowing he will have to answer for his failure. Herod will not be pleased.
Still, he is curious. “So, she made a play for the pube? Is it so?”
Felinius nods. “Ai. Set watch and warrant, she did indeed. If not for me, she would have succeeded.”
Talbot nods. “Ai. Well, Sai we say thankee. I will answer for lack of deed.”
Felinius shakes his head. “No need to worry about that.”
Talbot thinks nothing of the remarks but Tilmore raises his eyebrows, clearly perplexed by the statement.
“As second only to Herod, I do have an issue with one thing,” says Felinius.
“And what would that be Sai?” asks Talbot defensively.
“Seeing how I don’t believe that she could have escaped on her own. Not without help from one of you? Do you ken?” asks Felinius accusingly.
“I can speak for all my men,” says Talbot defensively.
“Can you now?” asks Felinius.
“Set watch and warrant it so. If so any man should cast doubt on the mind, speak of him now.”
“Filmore is recently a crew, is he not?” asks Felinius.
“Recruited by Herod himself, so he was,” defends Talbot with righteous indignation.
“And yet, I have never heard of him or his family. Perhaps he has been commissioned by someone who would have the boy for himself, with the guise of a friend.”
“I have not,” says Filmore.
“Perhaps you are just trying to divert our attention from your trail. One so close to his master is often times the first to betray him,” says Filmore, hoping to divert suspicion.
“Oh, now hard accusations for me. What are you hiding boy?”
“I have been cleared by Herod.” Promises Filmore adamantly.
“Then why do I see your hand twitching, as if it is moving towards your speed shooter?”
The other riders glance in his direction, but just as they do, Felinius reaches for his speed shooter with lightning quick reflexes and deadly accuracy and sends a bullet through his head, ripping through his skull while pulverizing it in gore and brain matter.
The other riders reach for their shooters as well. “He was a traitor,” yells Felinius. “He was the newest member. It had to be him. Set watch and warrant it so, Herod will be glad I have rid him of the traitor. Put your guns down. There will be hell to pay by you all if I should fall. Do not be tripe! I am Felinius.”
Talbot lowers his gun first –and emits a heavy sigh. “Perhaps you are right.” The other riders reluctantly put away their speed shooters as well.
Felinius nods. “Well then, let’s be about hard business.” The other riders visibly relax, happy that the ugly business is fully behind them and glad they did not have to risk a shoot-out with the marksman speed shooter. It would not have boded well for most of them.
“Tell me, Talbot, did you see anyone else?” asks Felinius.
“There are no other riders in the vicinity.” He replies.
“You are sure?” asks Felinius.
“Ai. Set watch and warrant it-” Talbot is stopped short. Felinius pulls his speed shooter and fires at point blank range, taking off most of his scalp, sending up an explosion of blood and gore.
With his other hand, he pulls his other speed-shooter and fires it at the other riders, hitting them squarely in the chest. In seconds, his right gun is empty. In one seamless move, he transfers it back to his holster and then uses his free hand to thumb the hammer, while his other hand fires in rapid succession.
Only one of the men manages to get off a shot and it goes wild before Felinius’ shot finds him in the chest.
Talbot chokes on blood and slumps in his horse, half his face a mess of gore, cartilage, and shattered bone. A bullet has shot clean through his sternum and he feels himself start to suffocate. He manages only shallow breaths. He looks at Felinius, still disbelieving his treachery.
He manages to get out a few words in his last breaths. “Why? Why would you do this? You are one of us.”
Felinius shakes his head and then reaches for Talbot’s shotgun. “Not in this.” He says. He fires the shotgun directly in his chest, sending him flying off the horse through the air and landing several yards from his horse. He hits the ground dead, his intestines falling out of him like some macabre party streamer.
Felinius looks at the carnage. “That is all the help you will receive from Felinius. If you can get your boy, then take him. I will do no more.” But he hesitates about riding off.
He shakes his head and looks at the wolf in the distance, still relentlessly digging. “Fuck!” He yells. “In for a quarter pence. In for a gold pence.” He reluctantly rides off towards the boy. He starts off slowly but after a few seconds, a sense of expediency overtakes him and he pushes Misty into a full gallop and then dismounts his horse as soon as she stops near the gravesite.
The wolf looks at him curiously and emits a half-hearted growl but returns to her task. Already, she has dug several feet; but at this point, every second counts. The boy may be dead already.
Dante is ready to go. He is very tired of this life and longs to be with his family. He begins to walk into the light. The canvas that is his home begins to re-emerge as a billowy, canvas, life-like picture and he can see the family that he lost. But he hesitates to go into the light would be to relinquish the gifts he was given. He knows he can choose to fight. He steps closer to the light and begins to see his family emerge into flesh, the tendrils and veins in their bodies, seemingly emerging with life.
He hesitates. His dog, Mitz barks, but it is a far off the bark and comes through muffled tones as if he is mouse sized. He turns back the other way and begins to hear a more urgent and immediate bark in the other direction.
He knows she will be devastated if he doesn’t go back to her. He owes it to her. They are kin now, their bond unbreakable. He turns from the light, knowing it is the right decision. The barking becomes more urgent.
His vision is gone but the illumination into the real sun hurts his eyes painfully, like emerging into the world from the womb. In a way, he has.
Cammilia encounters the pine box and looks at Felinius with a pleading gesture. Without hesitation, he pulls his shooter and fires through two nails, blowing two hinges off the pine box. With all her jaw strength, Cammilia rips into the wood and tears a chunk of it off. Felinius does the same and pulls Dante from it. He says a quick prayer.
Dante sucks air into his lungs, breathing deeply and freely. Cammilia licks him desperately and affectionately. She regurgitates part of her food and covers him with spittle. Dante manages to get some of it in his mouth, though he nearly vomits it.
He breathes in raspy and long breaths, still unable to catch his breath. Felinius removes his canteen and pours it gently into Dante, forcing him to take small sips rather than lapping it up. Felinius pours some water from his canteen into his hands and permits Cammilia some water, which she greedily ingests.
He gives Dante a couple more sips as his breathing slowly returns to normal. Cammilia nudges him affectionately. “I missed you girl.” He says in a hoarse whisper.
He turns to his newfound savior and asks, “Who are you?”
“I’m a ghost,” says Felinius
. He sighs and looks around, content for the time being that his treacherous actions were not in vain. “At least I will be soon enough.”
Dante slowly begins to come to and with it, his mind begins to emerge from his stupor. “You’re not a knight, are you?” asks Dante.
“Not anymore. Not for a while.”
“You’re one of them?” He asks.
“For the moment, I’m here now. That’s all you need to know. You ken?”
“Why did you save me?”
Felinius shakes his head. “Because I wanted to give you the chance that was taken from me. Perhaps we will meet again, young Sai and I may be called on to face you, but it will be in fair combat. For now, you will live to fight another day. As you should.”
Dante nods. “Ai. I say thankee for saving my life.”
“God has afforded me this opportunity. I saw it for what it was.” He pauses and looks around. “We need to get going. Otherwise, this little reprieve will be short lived. You ken?”
Dante nods. “Ai.”
“Can your wolf walk back?” asks Felinius.
Dante nods. “Ai. As long as she has water.”
Felinius grabs another canteen and tips it towards her mouth. She greedily laps it up with her massive tongue. Felinius nods and seems satisfied. He mounts his horse and Dante gets up, still wobbly but slowly getting his bearings.
Felinius turns to Dante. “Which direction?” He asks.
“Just follow her.”
Cammilia leads the way towards the Southwest and Felinius follows.
Chapter 48: Commencement
Atticus, Germanicus, and Merlin wait at the commencement of Primera Docturna, with a fair amount of trepidation. Their star pupil has not shown up yet.
“He’ll show. Set watch and warrant it so, he’ll be here,” says Atticus reassuringly.
“If he’s late even by minutes, I’ll have no other choice. It will mean his exit,” replies Germanicus curtly.
“The boy has a penchant for drama, putting us all on high pins. He is more capable than anyone,” says Atticus, though he is far from sure himself. “Do you think he could have met with foul deed?”
Merlin shakes his head reassuringly and smiles. “He’s alive. I know it. Set watch and warrant, he’ll appear.”
Germanicus shakes his head. He looks over at Maximus, who is hugging Phates and crying. He is inconsolable. His heart goes out to him.
He approaches him. “He’ll be here boy. Set watch and warrant it so. He’ll be here.”
Maximus shakes his head. “No Sai. I think not. He won’t and his absence is my own fault, so it is.”
Why would you say such? He is a very capable boy. How could his absence be your fault?” asks Germanicus.
“My fault,” says Maximus, while tears rain down his cheeks.
“Why would you say such?” asks Germanicus. Maybe the boy knows something he doesn’t. Perhaps he saw something out there. Even if he did, he couldn’t have warned him.
Germanicus tries to speak, but something off in the distance catches them all by surprise. A large wolf the size of Cammilia leads a figure on horseback, carrying a considerable load. They squint to see beyond the burgeoning sunrise.
“Give me those hyper-oculars,” demands Germanicus.
Atticus hands them to him and Germanicus looks through them and can’t believe what he is seeing. The dog is definitely the shape and size of Cammilia but her normally stark white fur is matted, stained with blood and caked with mud. What the hell happened to her?
A boy sits behind the rider and from his vantage, Germanicus can’t make out any of the details, but he knows it is Dante.
“It’s him,” says Merlin.
Germanicus turns to Merlin and shakes his head in befuddlement. “What the hell happened to him?” He asks.
“We weren’t vigilant enough and we were very lucky.” Merlin says cryptically.
The rider abruptly stops and does something unexpected. He drops off the boy and seems to look intently at them all for several seconds, as if considering something. But what? And then he turns his horse swiftly on an arc and heads off in the opposite direction.
Germanicus jumps up on his horse to pursue the rider but is stopped by Merlin with a gesture.
“No,” orders Merlin.
“We need to find out who he is, question him,” pleads Germanicus.
“I know who he is,” responds Merlin. “Trust me. We’ll meet him again soon. He’ll give us nothing for our troubles if we were to question him.”
Germanicus shakes his head in irritation but reluctantly dismounts his steed. He peers into the hyper-oculars and sees Dante slowly make his way towards him. Cammilia continues her pace. As she gets closer, he notices she is limping but trying to ignore the pain that must be flooding her body.
With not a moment to spare, the duo makes their way to the finish line just as the sun makes its way over the horizon. Cammilia looks like a shadow of her former self. Blood is caked everywhere on her- around her mouth, peppered throughout her coat and tinged with mud. It doesn’t appear to be her own.
She limps up to the finish line and after looking at her paws, they realize why. Most of her retractable nails have been severed, broken or filed down to nothing. Her pads are worn and deteriorated and scabbed but from what?
“Incessant digging,” offers Merlin.
Dante is disheveled, sweating profusely and one side of his face bears a large laceration that is caked with blood and he has several fresh bruises on him. His knuckles are also scabbed, indicating he put up a fight. But from whom? Despite that, he wears a triumphant look on his face but the pained expression beneath tries to choke back the tears that threaten to brim over.
“Did I get back in time?” asks Dante hopefully.
Germanicus nods. “Ai. That you did, Dante. By the scruff of your neck and with not a minute to spare, but you have successfully completed your Primera Docturna. Congratulations! We are well met.”
Dante nods and then collapses into Merlin’s arms. Merlin gingerly picks him up and mounts his horse. Merlin turns to Atticus and Germanicus. Pick up Cammilia and bring her to my apothecary room as tempest halt. You ken?”
They nod. They secure her onto a makeshift stretcher intended for emergency ministrations.
“We’ll have words after I have tended to them,” says Merlin.
Germanicus looks briefly at Maximus, whose pained expression is replaced by a look of relief. The conversation they had just had echoes in his mind and the questions come like a freight train. What was his role in all this? What did he mean when he said it was his fault?
Atticus and Germanicus nod. “They are much needed,” says Germanicus.
Atticus and Germanicus wait outside Merlin’s apothecary chamber while boundless questions whirl in their minds relentlessly. They wait for over two hours. Though Merlin knows they are over-eager to give them some information, he will not rush his patients. And he makes it abundantly clear when Germanicus enters in prematurely. He is summarily removed with a hard word. Germanicus reluctantly leaves.
Merlin exits out of the apothecary room, wiping off his hands with a lambskin sheet.
“How fareth?” asks Germanicus.
“Nearly dead from exhaustion. An iron will was the only thing keeping them in this world. But, they will both make a full recovery.”
“What happened to them, Merlin?” asks Germanicus.
He looks at them both gravely and sighs. “Brothers, they were both abducted. Dante was taken to a gravesite and buried alive. He was expected to die, but Cammilia was left alive.”
“For what purpose?” asks Germanicus.
Merlin shrugs. “A trophy perhaps. Our interloper is arrogant beyond measure and he couldn’t fathom the intrinsic bond between a boy and his wolf. It proved to be his undoing and his failure in this.”
“As was the man on horseback who rescued the boy,” notes Germanicus.
Merlin nods.
“Do you know
who he was?” asks Atticus.
“I do,” replies Merlin. “And I know who he works for. I’ve known for sometime. His presence today confirms it.”
Germanicus and Atticus give each other a knowing look and then look at Merlin expectantly. “Well?” asks Germanicus. “Who is he?”
“You’ll know in time,” says Merlin. “You all will. Now, is there anything else you can tell me? Any other pertinent details you’ve left out?”
“Maximus,” says Germanicus.
“What of him?” asks Merlin.
“He made an unusual comment. He said he was responsible for what happened to Dante. I suspect he had contact with our interloper.”
“I don’t suspect,” says Merlin. “I know for certain he did.”
Chapter 49: Empowerment
Sunlight penetrates through the rafters in Merlin’s dilapidated barn, where he finishes up an arduous session on the wooden turnstile. His knuckles are callused and scabbed over from a particularly intense punching session on his wooden posts.
Shadow looks on approvingly and waits for him patiently. As he wipes the sweat from his brow, Shadow whimpers and turns towards the door of the barn, anticipating the arrival of his mistress, Chelsea.
She knocks lightly and gingerly steps in, not wanting to disturb her husband. “You can come in,” says Merlin.
She approaches him and, despite his sweaty body, encapsulates him with a strong hug. She kisses him on the cheek and he warms to her touch. “I need a bath.”
“I would have you at your most intense.” She hugs him even tighter, almost in desperation. She pauses. “How are the nightmares? Are they abating?”
“Ai. No more incidents. Set watch and warrant.”
“I would have you back in our bedchamber.”
“I would welcome it,” says Merlin.
“What’s on your mind?”
“What isn’t? But foremost on my mind, is Dante. I failed him today and it nearly cost him his life. You were right. I am no God. I am just a man, albeit one with extraordinary gifts.’’
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