The Red Rider

by Billy Wong

  "Seems appropriate. But we only have three, so let's make the most of them." They had nearly reached the stairs when the first of their pursuers came into view. Fumbling a bomb out and lighting it once they got to the top, she threw it down the hole just as warofs began bounding up the staircase. "Keep running!" she said to Tonya, who had stopped to catch her breath. The bomb exploded behind them, filling the air with howls of pain. But she doubted it had killed more than three at best, maybe wounding some others, and just hoped the rest would be slowed down by the bodies in front of them.

  They had made it almost halfway to the entrance when the warofs caught up enough to be seen again. A couple hurt ones lagged behind, but those at the front were coming on faster than Tonya could run and would soon catch up. Red's own legs burned, as did her wounds, and her mouth grew dry from breathing hard. She could only imagine how much harder the less athletic girl had to push herself to keep up the pace she did. "T-Tonya, you okay?" She couldn't even vocalize an answer, but nodded and almost fell over from it. "Take a breather for a second while I light the next bomb." She waited until the lead warof was about to pass through a doorway and threw the bomb behind it, shredding it and three more jockeying for the right to follow it. Taking Tonya's hand, she said, "Go!" and they resumed their flight, her companion's panting loud in her ear.

  "Almost there," Red told her, though they really weren't.

  "What... what are we going to do when we get there?"

  She didn't reply, and kept running. They were a few rooms from the exit when the warofs reappeared. Since they had only one bomb left and she didn't want to use it yet, she urged Tonya to quicken her pace. To her horror, she tripped and fell on her face. Red took the crossbow from her and shot bolts at the front three warofs' legs. Two fell, not killed, but incapacitated at least momentarily. The other shrugged off a hit and leapt at her, colossal bulk flying through the air. She fell purposely on her back and kicked up, flipping it over her with the aid of its own momentum. Turning to face it as it rose, she pumped two shafts into its mouth that dropped it.

  Tonya had gained her feet by now, and they fled again. Red tried to calculate how many wolves were left. But she realized she couldn't be sure how many the bombs had killed, nor how many there had been to start in the first place. She'd just have to wait and see... in any case, at least some of those that lived must also be hurt.

  They finally saw outside, just as the growls and snarls behind closed on them once more. Red looked back, counted two in the lead and four following woundedly a ways behind them. Shit, she didn't want to waste the last bomb on only two. Sure they could possibly—maybe—handle four hurt warofs, but would most certainly get hurt again doing so and still had Lunarch to deal with. "We make a stand outside. I'll take the two up front, you blow up the others when they get into range."

  "Uh huh," Tonya said.

  They dashed out the door, boots crunching through snow, the first warofs just behind them. Red borrowed Tonya's pike again, spun and tried to skewer one beast. It jumped back, the tip just barely piercing its shoulder, roared and swatted the pole from her sweat-slippery hands. She drew Herbert's sword while it lunged in, sidestepped to chop through its foreleg. It collapsed to its belly, but the second warof rushed in from the side and struck her a huge blow to the back. Its claws ripped deep from shoulder blade to shoulder blade as it dragged them across. She fell to one knee, was hit again by a paw right to the face. She felt her cheek tear open, and the impact would have snapped an average person's neck like a twig, but she rolled with it and came to her feet. She kicked the wolf's jaw so hard it reared up in pain, then drove the sword through its chest.

  She glanced towards the entrance while the three-legged warof struggled to face her again. "Tonya, they're almost here! Stop gawking at me and throw it!"

  "All right!" Tonya hurled the bomb inside just in time as the last creatures reached the portal. It exploded under one, killing two and wounding another so badly it turned whimpering to flee back inside. The fourth wolf, largely shielded from the shrapnel by the bodies of the others, came on. Just as its head cleared the door, Tonya plunged the pike she had snatched back up into its throat. It knocked her to the ground with a wild paw swipe, but then fell to thrash in its death throes. Red finished off the crippled warof by cleaving away its snout, then the two battered women faced the door and waited for Lunarch.

  "Silver," Tonya gasped. Red handed her some and they both swallowed it down with difficulty born of fatigue. After a few minutes of nothing happening, Tonya asked, "Is he coming?"

  Red was so hurt and tired, she almost wished he wouldn't. But then, they'd probably just have to deal with him later, with the threat he posed hanging over their heads until then. "Maybe he's scared of us. We should go back down there and find him."

  "I don't know if I can do any more. I'm in so much pain, my chest feels all broken, and I can barely stand."

  Red squeezed her shoulder. "Relax, you're doing great. You're so strong now. Your mother and friends would be proud of you."

  She smiled. "You think so?"

  "I know it. You realize how many big-ass wolves you've killed these past few days? You're a hero."

  "Heroine."

  "Or that," Red said with a chuckle. "Anyway, you might not have to do much. Hang back and let me do most of the work."

  "Okay."

  They reentered the ruin and made their way back down to the tube chamber, only to find no one there. The tube itself was empty too, which Tonya frowned at. "You think he absorbed it already? But I thought he said it wasn't ready yet."

  "Maybe he just absorbed what was there for now. That, or he took it with him somehow."

  "How?"

  "I don't know, maybe some magic holding crystal or something." She frowned. "It looked like there was a lot in there, though."

  Searching the chamber for another exit through which Lunarch could have escaped, they found a pile of rocks at the back which looked to be the result of a very recent collapse. Red figured he must have caused it to block off a passage and Tonya apparently came to the same conclusion, for she asked, "Can we dig through that?"

  "Maybe eventually, but he'll be long gone by then."

  "So what now?"

  She thought about it. "There might be underground areas with similar machines in the other ruins we missed, where he could go to gather the remaining energy. I say we check them out again." Red looked at the empty tube. "But first, let's destroy this so Lunarch or any other ambitious werewolf can't try to use it again." She eventually broke a small hole with repeated jabs of the pike, the glasslike substance proving far more resilient than it looked, then and bashed it in completely now that its integrity was compromised with Herbert's shield.

  They returned outside to get Herbert. To Red's dismay, his chains lay broken at the foot of the boulder he'd been tied to. "How did he get loose?" Tonya asked. "You said he wasn't strong enough to break them."

  "He shouldn't be, but if somebody helped him..." And she could only think of one person who would have. Lunarch must have smelled him nearby, and freed him in hopes of making more trouble for them.

  "So where is he now? You think he's run away, or-" A rrrrr sound from their side answered that. They turned to see a huge werewolf stalking towards them, Herbert no longer in human form after the falling of night. Red took up his own shield and held it before her as she began to circle him. "What, you're going to knock him out again?" Tonya asked.

  "It looks like I'll have to." The problem of keeping him restrained after, she'd think about later. She waited for him to attack, thinking she would have a better chance of ending it quickly if she managed a good counter. But he didn't strike, instead just continuing to turn round and round. Eventually, she decided to take a chance. She stopped and stood still, and he answered her mental pleas by doing likewise. "Herbert?" she asked as they eyed each other warily. He didn't speak, of course, but his lack of aggression made her think, "We must have gotten through to something inside
him."

  "Or, maybe even just his wolf self can gain affection towards somebody."

  "Maybe." Red lowered her shield. "We don't have to fight, right Herbert? We can still be friends." Keeping the shield held low in one hand, she moved closer to him and reached up to stroke his snout. Please don't bite... She shivered involuntarily when her fingers brushed his coarse fur, but she keep any negative feelings inside. "We won't hurt you. Come with us, all right?" She tested if he understood by beginning to walk away. He didn't follow, so she gestured for him to. After a few more steps forward and repeated tries, he started after her. "So werewolves don't have to be bloodthirsty," she whispered. She wondered if there could be others out there too, that resisted the urge to eat human meat and did people no harm. She hadn't met such lycanthropes before, but figured they would likely keep a much lower profile than the typical maneaters in any case. "I think we can trust him, Tonya. I had my back turned and he didn't pounce on me, after all."

  The girl walked reluctantly closer, ever keeping her eyes on the unbound wolf. "So what do we do if someone sees him?"

  "We'll... deal with that when it happens."

  They headed back to the second ruin and checked the central chamber, but though they did find an underground area with a similar tube, there was no sign of Lunarch. They destroyed the tube anyway and continued on to the first structure. Lunarch wasn't there, either. He must have realized he wouldn't have time to collect the energy needed here, and abandoned this set of ruins altogether.

  "We might have to ask around about what other old places there are," Red said.

  Tonya looked anxious. "So what do we do with Herbert?"

  "Well, it doesn't look like he'll hurt us now. I think you should stay with him this time and rest your wounds, while I go get information."

  "Makes sense logically."

  Red heard the ambivalence in her voice and asked, "But?"

  "But he's a werewolf and I'm scared to stay alone with him, especially now that he isn't tied up and could rip me apart any time I let my guard down."

  Red walked next to Herbert and hugged him, forcing herself not to think about the possibility of him tearing into her. "He won't do that, he's still our friend and a good wolf. Isn't that right, boy... uh, I mean, Herbert?" He wrapped his unusually thick lupine arms around her, making her feel relief. "See, I told you so."

  Tonya stared at the sight. "Uh, but even if he doesn't eat me, what am I supposed to say if somebody happens upon us? You'd probably be better at handling that."

  "I suppose I might be. Are you sure, though? You're hurt, and I'm more used to carrying on with injuries than you.

  "I need to start practicing at some point if I'm going to be a career warrior."

  "You think you will be?" Red asked with a curious look.

  "I don't know. But it feels good remembering what we just faced and to think I survived that."

  "I'm sure it does. It won't always be triumph and time for celebrations, though."

  "I know." The girl bowed her head, tears glistening in her eyes. "I remember very clearly when Scott died, and that was... well. And don't you think I've been affected by all the werewolf victims I've seen already, traveling with you? But some people have to be warriors, to protect those who can't. I think I'm capable of handling it."

  Red smiled. "From what I've seen, I think you are too. Okay, you go to town again and I'll stay with Herbert."

  She waited with him after Tonya left, playing with him to try and connect more. Playing fetch seemed to make him happy, but saddened her by contrasting him with the intelligent man he had once been. Hopefully, she could see him that way again. He also allowed her to play wrestle with him, though she did it lightly to avoid worsening her wounds. She overcame her inclination to distrust him, all but forgetting he was a werewolf, and grew to regard him just like a great friendly dog.

  "I'm so glad," she said after waking to find his big head resting comfortably on her stomach. "I was so afraid at the thought I might have to kill you, but now I know we'll always be friends. We aren't meant to oppose each other, not ever." He raised his snout to lick her face, covering her with thick slobber. "But you could lay off a bit on that!"

  A full day passed without Tonya's return, and Red grew worried. Then she saw her walk into view, a grin on her face and a second large pike on her back. "You keep borrowing mine these days, so I figured it might be good to get you one of your own."

  She accepted it with a nod. "Thanks. Is it silvered?"

  "Sure is. I even got you one a little heavier than mine, since I figured you could handle it."

  Red made some experimental thrusts with the pike. It seemed made for a big man, but since it was a polearm, it wouldn't be as awkward as a swung weapon designed for the same. "Yeah, looks like I can. Though I don't know how necessary it'll be if we just fight Lunarch or other werewolves, instead of more warofs. Did you learn where he might have gone?"

  "Yep. They didn't want to tell me seeing how banged up I'd already gotten, but I charmed them into it... and by charmed, I mean begged and pleaded. There's a solitary dome ninety miles north."

  Pretty far, and it might get really cold, but if that was the only likely place, beggars couldn't be choosers. They journeyed on again, the chill a mixed blessing as it numbed their hurts, but also their fingers and toes. Seeing Herbert too look quite uncomfortable, she kept a heavy cloak over him even as a werewolf. She worried other travelers would happen upon them, especially at nighttime, but luckily that didn't happen. Well, it was probably so cold the northmen didn't even come here when they could help it.

  They came into view of the dome at night, having decided to continue after sundown knowing they approached the ruin. The structure looked the same as the prior ones except for one thing—a round aperture had opened on its roof, and a beam shone from the moon into that hole, as if the light was being drawn into it. "He's gathering the lunar energy," Tonya breathed, eyes wide with awe.

  Red wondered herself at the magic that enabled such a spectacle, but said, "Then we'd better get in there and stop him."

  As they pushed open the door, Herbert not helping as he didn't seem to realize he should, a warof bounded into their way. The women readied their pikes, but before they could engage, Herbert jumped at it to grab it by the head, pulling it downward. He had bitten off one of the creature's ears by the time Red circled around to its side and stabbed into its neck. "Looks like a werewolf does make a good ally," Tonya said.

  They forged deeper into the ruin, meeting heavy opposition along the way. But it went easier now with an additional man—wolf—by their side, and they killed ten more warofs before reaching the central chamber. Red pried open the trapdoor and they headed down. She hoped they weren't walking into a trap, but Lunarch shouldn't have had that much time to set one up. Best case scenario, he would have been rushing to finish his accruement of energy as soon as he got here.

  The tube came into view. Lunarch stood before it, watching energy dance within it. He noticed their arrival just as a light on the container's metal base turned from red to green. "Too late, fools!" he said as he pressed a button and the tube's side opened, the energy inside somehow not escaping. "Now I become a werewolf god!" He stepped into the swirling light, becoming obscured by it though his outline remained visible. The tube closed. Euphoric laughter boomed, eerily distorted by the glasslike material obstructing it.

  "Quick, break it!" Tonya said, and Red went right to work. She thrust the heavy pike into the tube again and again, first cracking and then breaching it, the tip just shy of Lunarch's chest. Pulling it back once more, she drove it forward hard. Its head pierced fully through and plunged deep into Lunarch's chest.

  To her disbelief, he laughed again. "You cannot kill me, mortal! Not even silver can defeat me now, for I have ascended!"

  Red wasn't sure what to do. Perhaps he was only immortal within the light for now, and would lose his invulnerability if dragged out. But she feared to risk going into that energy
herself. If only they still had chains, maybe...

  Tonya tapped her shoulder. "Why don't we destroy the base?"

  She grinned as Lunarch's mouth gaped in horror. "Great idea." They started smashing away, Tonya with the bigger pike Red lent her, Red with Herbert's sword as it might be able to do damage faster. Herbert didn't join in, probably frightened by the machine, but he'd helped them enough fighting the warofs. Besides, it might hurt him to attack it without a weapon.

  "No, stop, please!" Lunarch begged. "I'll tell you the cure!"

  Red hesitated, thinking about it with a glance at poor Herbert, trapped in that animalistic form. But she could hardly save him in exchange for having a werewolf "god" running around, and if Lunarch had discovered the cure, she told herself, so could she. "No," she said firmly. "Your ambitions... end today."

  "A little overdramatic pause there, eh?" Tonya asked. The base issued smoke now as it beeped frantically with all its lights blinking. It shouldn't take much more to seal the deal.

  "Well, we are trying to be heroes." Red raised the sword high and brought it crashing down through the sparking base. Lunarch opened his mouth to scream—and then, an instant's red glow the only hint it might happen, the tube exploded. That gave enough warning for Red to step in front of Tonya, putting her arms up. The impact hurled them to their backs, Red taking the brunt of it before landing atop her friend.

  Tonya gently rolled her off herself and to her back. "Red, are you okay?"

  She felt many shards of tube stuck in her front, but none appeared to have gone so deep as to threaten her life. She coughed painfully, then smiled. "Sure. I'm made of iron, remember? So where's Lunarch?" With Tonya's help, she staggered to her feet to see no sign of him. "Wow, it must have completely vaporized him." A moment later, something fell down on what had been the inside of the tube—a smoking and charred hand with claws. "Well, almost completely."

  "So what now, now that he's taken his secrets to the grave with him?"