Shifters After Dark Box Set

by S M Reine et al.

  She shook her head, squaring her feet and gripping her sword firmly. “I shall buy you time.”

  “Don’t be daft,” he replied, grabbing her arm and pulling her along. “Protect us from the rear. Don’t give up your life making a stand in an empty room.”

  “But—” she started.

  “That’s an order,” he commanded and then ran in front to lead the group onwards.

  Aein swore under her breath and then ran to catch up, keeping her eyes open for whatever might try to follow.

  It was then she heard the sound. It was like the sound in the fog. It was a snarling, panting, snapping sound. It was like she was back in the swamp.

  It was coming. Whatever it was that had killed their men in the swamp, whatever it was that Lars had sent her to tell the stronghold about, it had arrived. It was here. It was these wolves. The hair lifted from the nape of her neck.

  “Run!” she shouted ahead.

  The wolf turned the corner and stepped into the long, empty barrack room. It saw her, fixated on her with his piercing yellow eyes. A growl emerged from its throat as he slowly stalked towards her. She scrambled up the steps, trying not to turn her back on him, even as her feet missed the steps and slid and fell. Now the wolf was running. He would be upon her at any minute. Just then, someone grabbed her arm and hauled her up and into a room. The heavy wooden door slammed shut just as the wolf hit it. The door buckled against its hinges, but held.

  Tears were running down her face. Her body was shaking. She felt someone take the sword from her hands. She could not get her hands to stop trembling. She could not get her heart to stop pounding. It felt as if the wolf did not kill her, her body might.

  “This was your first time facing an enemy not on a training field?”

  She looked over. It was Finn. He stroked her blonde hair, trying to get her to realize where she was and that despite the sound on the other side, that she was alive.

  “You were brave,” he said. And he meant it.

  “It would have killed me if you hadn’t been there,” she said, her voice trembling.

  “I need you to be even more brave,” he continued. “There are frightened people here with no training and I need you to show them they are going to survive. I need you to be strong for them.”

  She nodded again and swallowed down the fear tearing through her body. They had made it into the chapel. There was only one door out and in. They were safe. She was safe. Finn pointed at the pews. “I am injured. Can you get them to block the door?”

  She wiped her sweaty hands on her fancy green pants.

  “Quickly,” he said. “There will be more wolves coming.”

  She motioned to two of the older men. “You. Grab an end. You. Grab the other end. Move the pews now!”

  Having something to do seemed to calm everyone. A woman offered Finn her jacket and helped him to bind his arm. Aein looked over as he pulled up his shirt. His skin was punctured by a bite mark wider than her stretched hand.

  Finn found a match and lit the tall tapers on the altar. Just having something to chase away the darkness, even as the wolf’s claws tore at the oak door, helped. The flat, painted faces of the gods looked impassively down upon them from the ceiling. Their eyes were blank.

  “What happened?” asked Aein.

  Finn looked out the window. “You weren’t there?” he asked.

  Aein shook her head. “I was downstairs. I left after we talked and went… it doesn’t matter. How did these creatures get into the stronghold?”

  “These aren’t creatures,” he said. “They are people.”

  The word felt like a slap to her face. Was he joking? She turned and looked at the ones he had saved. None of them were denying him. Some were even nodding.

  “We were eating supper. There was nothing to prepare us. But people began writhing as if they were possessed. I was sure they were going to die. But then… they transformed. They transformed into these monsters. There was no pattern. Your people. My people. Some sort of spell took hold and turned them into this.”

  Aein could not believe her ears. She shook her head in disbelief.

  “I don’t believe you,” she replied. “People don’t just turn into—”

  Her words were cut off as the wolf threw himself against the door again.

  “It is true,” he said. “Every word of it.” His face hung slack. “My own sworn brothers and sisters. Fighters I have stood in battle next to all my life.”

  “How?” asked Aein, her mind still not able to grasp what Finn was saying. “How?”

  “I don’t know,” he replied.

  Her mind was swimming. There was no way he was telling the truth. She looked down at his hands, stained with blood, at the massive wound in his arm which still wept. She prayed to the gods that it was not true.

  Chapter Nine

  As the night wore on, the sounds of the screams slowed. The cries of the wounded faded as they succumbed to eternal rest.

  Gods be with them, Aein whispered silently.

  She looked over at Finn. The bleeding of his arm had stopped and now he was dozing fitfully on and off. He suffered so much blood loss. If they were free to roam, she would have brought him immediately to the herbalist for healing. Now it was anyone’s guess if he would be spared or if it would fester.

  She had seen dogs go mad before. There was some sickness which made them foam at the mouth and attack anything in sight. To be bitten meant you had the disease.

  She looked over at Finn.

  But these wolves were unlike anything she had ever seen. So strong. So powerful. And she had heard them before, she had seen what they did before. If only Lord Arnkell had listened to her, she thought. It had to be the same creatures that attacked the guards in the swamp. But people? She could not believe they were people. How did they get here? How had they followed her home? Could it be that the fog traveled the east road and was now driving everyone mad?

  Finn stirred and his eyes slowly opened. He was not doing well. She could tell.

  “The wolves seem to have stopped,” she said. “I should go and see if it is safe.”

  “We cannot leave these people unprotected,” he replied, shifting uncomfortably. There was a sheen of sweat across his face. The fever was already beginning, Aein thought to herself.

  “Lord Arnkell may be out there unprotected,” Aein replied, hoping if he would just let her leave, she could come back with something to help him. “Your own Princess Gisla may be injured somewhere, waiting for someone to come and save her. We have a duty.”

  Finn shook his head wearily. “No. They are strong. It is a task for someone else now, not for us.”

  “I took an oath to protect my Lord Protector,” said Aein, trying to insist with some authority.

  Finn did not speak for a long time. Finally, he said, “We may be the only survivors…”

  Aein felt a coldness run through her veins, a chilling foreboding. “Take that back.”

  “We do not know,” said Finn. “We were taken by surprise. You saw the carnage. You know that whether others escaped or not, there are still the wolves out there. We must look after those who are alive.”

  Aein tasted the bitter truth of his words. She did not want to swallow them. She did not want to admit they might be true. The room already stank of feces and piss and fear. They would not survive long if they stayed. “I will go out at dawn,” she replied, “to find food for these people. You stay here. I shall go alone.”

  “Do not be difficult,” replied Finn, leaning against the wall in exhaustion. “I would never allow you to go out into a fight without someone there by your side.”

  She sat down beside him, allowing her arm to almost touch his in case he needed someone to lean against. “You would be a liability,” replied Aein. “You would do nothing but slow me down.”

  Finn laughed. It was joyless and without mirth. “I knew there was something wrong with this wedding…”

  Aein wiped her face and found herself
chuckling, too. “You know, I may have prayed once or twice that Lord Arnkell would not wed.”

  “Really?” he asked. He did not have the strength to lift his head, but he turned it with interest.

  Aein nodded. “I hoped that any marriage might be a disaster. I’m afraid I fancied Lord Arnkell for a while.”

  “Bah. You could do better,” he said, bumping his shoulder against hers.

  “But here it is! My prayers have been answered by the gods!”

  “Since you have this special connection, would you mind asking the gods to help us survive this mess?”

  Aein looked out the window ruefully. She knew it would take much more than prayers. False dawn had begun and she could not even imagine what horrors the rest of the day would hold.

  Suddenly, there was the sound of a human voice calling from the courtyard below. “Hello?” they called. “Is anyone there? Oh gods… oh gods…” And then there was a voice in the hallway which cried, “Where is everyone?”

  Aein looked over at Finn in confusion. The both scrambled to their feet. Aein turned to the others. “Help me move these pews away from the door!”

  It was clear in a matter of moments. Aein looked over at Finn for permission and he nodded. She drew back the heavy plank barring the door and opened it.

  In the hallway were three confused people.

  “Princess Gisla!” Aein shouted, throwing the door open.

  The princess stood six feet away. She still wore her clothes from the wedding battle. Her hair and skin were as perfect and lovely as the day before. The other two people showed no sign that just moments before they had been chased down by wolves. In fact, the wolves were nowhere to be seen. Aein looked back at the window. The sun was just beginning to rise. It had not yet stolen over the horizon, but the sky was still lit with its false rays. Were they people… or was Finn right? Were they something else? Had the sun changed them back?

  Aein realized it did not matter. “You are safe!” Aein said, coming out into the hallway towards her.

  Finn stepped forward, too. Aein did not know who looked more relieved to see the other - Finn or Princess Gisla.

  The princess bit her lip nervously. “What happened?”

  Finn stated, “There was an attack. Come inside until we make sure it is safe.”

  It was at that moment the sun rose over the horizon. There was a noise within the room. Aein looked in. The people. The harmless, helpless people she shared the night with were gripping their stomachs in pain. Then Finn fell onto his hands and knees, as if in terrible agony.

  “What is wrong with him?” asked Princess Gisla, panic coloring her voice as she backed away.

  Aein realized what was going on. She propelled Finn back into the chapel so she could shut the door.

  “What are you doing?” shouted Princess Gisla, trying to get Aein away from him. Aein shoved the princess back into the hall. Finn looked up at Aein, unable to say anything as he began writhing, his back arching as if in terrible agony. His painful cries became snarls. His skin began sprouting hair. His face elongated.

  He and everyone in the room was turning into a wolf.

  “Run,” said Aein, backing away and closing the door. She looked for something to hold it shut. “Run!” she shouted again to the three people around her. “RUN!”

  And in that moment, the door began breaking under the weight of a dozen wolves. One of the beasts came charging out. Aein swiped at it with her sword. It was too close for her long blade to be of much defense. She felt the jaws of it wrap around her arm. She cried out. Its jaws were so powerful, it felt as if it might snap her arm in half. More wolves were escaping the room. She knew it would all be over soon.

  Then beast’s head fell from its shoulders.

  The princess stood to the side, a bloody sword in her hand, looking at the monster she decapitated. “Where is Finn?” she asked. “We have to go back for him!”

  “He’s gone!” said Aein. “He is safe but he is gone! Get yourself to safety and I’ll explain!”

  Princess Gisla did not look like she appreciated being told what to do, but she followed. Together in a full sprint, they took off towards whatever safety might be available.

  “Why did you push him inside with those creatures?” shouted Princess Gisla, accusation dripping from her words.

  Aein felled another beast as he made a flying leap at her. At least these wolves did not operate in a pack. It was every dog for himself. Aein knew the moment they chose a leader, it would be the end.

  She prayed that none of the wolves they killed were Finn.

  A door stood open. Aein pushed Gisla through it and slammed it behind them. Aein looked for any furniture she could place in front of it. There was not much. The room had been destroyed. The bed curtains were in tatters. The mattress had been ripped to shreds. The fabric hung in ribbons. A wolf must have been in here, thought Aein. But was he trapped or did he transform? And was he still inside?

  She pulled a tipped table and placed it in front of the door. It would not hold long. The latch to the door had been ripped from its hinges. Hopefully, it would hold long enough.

  Aein ran to the window and looked down. The courtyard was twenty feet below, but perhaps they could climb down.

  “What is going on?” asked Gisla.

  “These creatures attacked during your wedding feast. Don’t you remember?”

  “My what?”

  “During your feast…” Aein stopped herself.

  There was the sound of something heavy striking the door. The wolves had caught their scent. They knew there was quarry trapped within. The table began to edge its way across the floor. Paws and noses pushed through the crack. Aein pulled out her sword and forced them back.

  “You were there,” said Aein. “Don’t you remember what happened?”

  Princess Gisla shook her head in confusion. Her eyes moved rapidly as she tried to bring back the memory. “I was sitting down to the feast and then…”

  “Darkness?” asked Aein.

  Gisla nodded. “Darkness.”

  The beasts did not let them continue their conversation. Their muzzles and snouts were covered in blood, but still they came. Aein poked at them as they tried to come through. She had no more effect than a gnat on the arm of a giant. She leaned up against the table, letting the combined weight push the door closed again.

  “Why did you force Finn into the room with the monsters?”

  “There is dark magic at work here,” said Aein. “There is something terrible that we cannot fight. These wolves are not wolves. They are all the people I tried to save from the wolves last night. They are all the people who were trapped in the room with me.”

  “What?” asked Gisla, unable to comprehend what Aein was trying to tell her.

  “They are werewolves!” shouted Aein, straining to keep the beasts back.

  “These are people?” Gisla asked. She ran over and grabbed Aein’s sword arm. “My people?” Gisla stared at the snapping teeth chewing on the doorframe even though Aein kept slamming the door shut. “Was the wolf who attacked you… the one that I killed… Did Finn…?”

  Aein drew upon the memory of Finn’s strength, of the words he had told her when she collapsed earlier. She had to be strong enough for both Gisla and herself. “Finn is one of them, princess, but remember they are not people now. They are bewitched beasts. They know not what they do and, right now, it is either them or us.”

  “There must be a different way.”

  “I am more than open to suggestions.”

  Gilsa placed her hand against her forehead, reeling from the information. “Who would do such a terrible thing?”

  “I do not know,” said Aein. “But I have spent a horrible night hiding from these creatures. And with the dawn, the werewolves we were fighting disappeared and those I thought were safe transformed.”

  “You must go to my father,” Gisla said, joining Aein to hold the table in place. “No matter what happens, if I fall, if I
cannot make it, you must go to his stronghold and tell him what has happened.”

  The table bounced and Aein slammed it back again. “If we survive, I shall be more than happy to fulfill this command.”

  The door opened an inch more.

  It was enough to snap Princess Gisla into action. She ran to the walls, running over them with her fingers.

  “What are you doing?”

  “There is usually some sort of a door,” she explained. “These walls always have ears. Always have a way for people to look in and listen. We must find it.”

  Aein continued to hammer at the wolves at the door.

  “Found it!” shouted Gisla.

  Aein looked over her shoulder to see what Gisla had found. The princess was crouched inside the wardrobe. The back opened to reveal a dark passageway.

  The door opened more and one of the wolves was able to get his head and his shoulder in. Aein tried to slam the door on him. He gave a whimper, but it did not stop him.

  Without waiting for a second invitation, Aein followed Gisla into the passageway, sliding the hidden door shut just as the wolves broke into the room.

  Chapter Ten

  They scrambled down the dim hallway. It was barely wide enough to let them pass. Several times, Aein and Gisla turned sideways to squeeze through. There were faint breaks of light through the walls.

  “Where do you think this leads?” asked Aein.

  “I have no idea. You are the one who lives here,” replied Gisla. “If we can just find one that opens out of doors, we can get to my father’s stronghold and he will send help.”

  “There is a man in the kitchen—” Aein began, thinking of Cook Bolstad. She prayed he stayed barricaded in the larder.

  “I am sorry,” said Princess Gisla, her voice kind but firm, “but we cannot.”

  “What?”

  The princess raised her hand to stop her protest. “We are under attack and everyone, not just your friend, will die if we do not get help now.”

  “But—”

  “I am not heartless, Aein. But if he is alive, it means he has found a way to stay alive. If he is dead, us risking our lives to find him will not change the fact. We must place the survival of the larger stronghold above the survival of just one. We must continue on to my father.”