Bonding With The Enemy

Chapter 14

Sabina raced around a tree to see the large buck she had found had already descended into the fields below her shooting off for the herds gathered there. She sighed before laughing. Maybe I am too old.

The ceremonial hunting groups had left earlier that morning in the hopes of gaining time for the young wolves to hunt, but Sabina decided that it would be best if she was not present. Because if she was to watch Beta Cinis looking at his Beta prospects, he would become too nervous to pay attention to the hunt. However, she began to wonder if it had been such a good idea to scout ahead. After all, Sabina would have to go back and report to Beta Cinis of the herd in the field. She should have been able to catch that buck years ago, but as she watched the buck disappear among the deer in the field she knew that was wishful thinking.

She had left Renmar and Beta Cinis to watch the young wolves as they hunted, while she scouted ahead for a good hunting spot in case there were slim pickings. But much to her surprise, she watched as Sakara‘s small pack exited the forest. She smiled, no need to find them, she thought, as she watched Sakara and his pack begin making their way towards a buck that had slowly meandered away from the herd.

She could see even at this distance that Beta Cinis was watching intently as Sakara swished his tail and his pack divided until they were in their respectable positions. Abby was in front of Omaris while Sakara took the back of the fomation, but as Sabina looked around the field she noticed that Ella was nowhere to be seen.

Sabina looked around the field several times when she saw movement on an outcrop sticking out of the rock on the outside of the field move. It was Ella. Sabina smiled as she watched the young wolves lead the buck to the outcrop where Ella launched herself from the rock before latching upon the buck’s throat. Ella swung her hind legs and, using her weight as leverage, brought the buck down.

Sabina watched as Sakara raced over to Ella’s side and ripped the throat out of the buck and before long she could see them hopping up and down beside the dead buck. Sabina felt pride lace through her body as she looked upon the rag tag pack Sakara had led when she noticed Beta Cinis was looking up at her from below.

Sabina nodded to him, and he reciprocated it making her notice she should have been beside him during the hunt. Sabina turned away to head for Beta Cinis but stopped short as the wind crossed her path carried the scent of iron. Sabina looked to where the air came from to see the bushes around the white birch trees began to sparingly line a path leading away from the valley.

Sabina narrowed her eyes as she noted the fact the air carried the heavy scent of not only iron but also rot, yet the smell was almost overpowered by iron. She felt a growl fill her throat, as she knew the rot smell was not from a decomposed corpse but from a vampire.

The smell of rot and vampire blood were similar in stench, but if one were to smell carefully they would be able to tell the difference. Vampire blood was heavy in iron, which overpowered the stench just slightly once the blood was spilled.

Sabina looked at the herd down in the valley below to see that Xavier’s pack had begun hunting there as well. She could see Sakara and Omaris as they began tearing at their buck. She sighed as she remembered her words earlier, “I will someday disappear, Fenar. It is inevitable.”

She knew Fenar and the others wished to see her among their dwindling elders, but Sabina refused to grow old. In fact, she already planned to go out with a victorious death against a Vampire squad or a pack of rogues before she ever got to that point. Sabina smiled to herself as she turned in the direction of the stench and began walking easily through the snow. Maybe this was her chance.

She had only walked a little way into the forest when she stopped short as the smell of Lycan blood filled her nose. She quickened her pace only to stop short as she saw a broken blade embedded within the trunk of a tree.

Sabina inspected the straight blade to see it had been broken after it had been embedded within the trunk, but she assumed the vampire still wounded the creature with it, as gray blood had splattered across the blade and trunk. Her heart went cold. That gray blood smelled of Lycan, but there had been only one creature with such a color.

She looked about the scene before her to see gray and red blood staining the white world around her that led off deeper into the forest. She followed the trail of the vampire’s blood to an open field with a singular rock formation in the middle of it. The rocks formed an outcrop where she could see a creature was prowling.

The creature’s gray skin stretched thin over its hunched back, showing its backbones as its exceedingly long appendages barely touched the snow. She could see at the distance where she stood the paws in fact resembled more of a man’s hands and feet. She knew this creature at a glance as she had faced it’s kind by the dozens during the Purging.

It was as she feared, the creature was a Vanir. She didn’t need to see the vampire to know it had dragged itself under the outcrop in order to hide from the Vanir, and though that would normally work in cases of a Saber tooth Lion or the large brown bears that roamed the mountains it would not work on the Vanir.

Vanir’s were savage creatures that lacked any natural or instinctual affection for even their own kind. The only emotions that consumed their minds were hunger and rage, even reproducing was beyond their understanding. Sabina knew some Vanir had escaped the battlefields after the war ended, but she always assumed they had died out from starvation as they lacked the ability to think beyond their impulses.

Sabina slowly stepped out from the forest to see the creature drag a screaming orange-haired vampire from under the outcrop, where Sabina was almost overpowered by the smell of vampire blood, and it made her almost shiver with dread and greed. She went to turn away only to hear a scream from the vampire.

The creature had let go of the vampire’s foot and Sabina watched without moving as the Vanir went to swipe the midsection of the vampire. Sabina sighed. So be it by nature... Sabina’s eyes went wide as suddenly the Vanir screeched and back away from its prey. She stared in surprise as the Vanir jerked a half broken blade from its thigh before it tossed the broken sword into the snow.

That’s where the hilt was. Sabina nodded, wondering if it would be worth going to save the vampire from the Vanir as she watched the Vanir turn its black eyes upon the vampire. It screeched angrily and dragged the vampire away from the outcrop that it had been crawling to in order to escape from the beast and crouched over the Vampire with its gaping jaws inches from the vampire’s face.

The vampire stared in horror as the creature loomed over their head with its jaws agape, but to Sabina’s surprise the vampire, instead of fighting, closed its eyes and smiled.

“So be it.” it was soft, yet as she stood there she could hear the sadness but concede to the inevitable.

Before Sabina could think, she was leaping out into the clearing, sending snow flying in all directions as she knocked the Vanir off the vampire. She tackled the creature, biting its neck as they hit the soft snow, making the ground begin to be covered by the gray blood that leaked from the Vanir’s stomach where Sabina’s claws raked against the soft hairless skin.

The Vanir screeched again in pain before grabbing hold of her back with it’s sharp black claws and throwing her away from it. Sabina’s body bounced twice before she landed in the snow in a heap. She groaned in pain only to meet the red eyes of the vampire before her.

The vampire was wearing a soldier’s uniform Sabina had seen at the vampire c*****e a day ago and the orange hair contained dried blood within the knots by the vampire’s temple. She smelled the reek of sweat and wet metal where the blood had seeped through the black underclothes of the armor, and she looked back into those eyes to see fear.

Sabina quickly looked over her shoulder to see the Vanir was leaping in the snow towards her, and instinctively she grabbed hold of the vampire’s tattered red cape within her teeth and swung him in the direction of the outcrop just as she was tackled by the Vanir. She didn’t hear the vampire land, but she was sure her aim was right when she watched the feet of the vampire disappear underneath the outcrop.

She felt the claws rake over her belly and the blood burn in the cold air, making her scream. She wiggled around the claws raking her belly until her two back legs were beneath the monster’s belly before launching it into the air.

She quickly got to all fours and raced towards the Vanir as it landed. Yet as the Vanir landed she was knocked away, sending her flying once more through the air and landing with a hard thud. She groaned in pain only to gasp for air as the Vanir tackled her, making the last of her air escape her lungs as the crushing weight of the beast pinned her to the ground. The Vanir leaned in close, smelling the blood flowing from where the claws were piercing through her thick white fur on her neck.

She looked around for any weapon when the glint of a silver handle caught her eye. It was the broken sword. Sabina looked back up at the Vanir and smiled as she allowed her body to shift into her human-like state.

The Vanir’s grip loosened as her neck decreased in size as she shifted, making the creature's black eyes widen in surprise, only for Sabina to jab them with her fingers.

The vanir screeched in pain, grabbing its face as it backed off of Sabina. Sabina quickly got to her two feet and collapsed as she grabbed hold of the sword. She groaned in pain as her two legs ached from the excessive exertion as she turned on her knee cap with broken blade pointing at her enemy. Sabina was startled to find the Vanir already in mid-flight, but she quickly got to her feet as she raced forward before sliding to her knees with the blade pointed upward.

The gray blood splattered upon her as the sword split open the creature’s belly and the Vanir rolled once before getting to its feet. She quickly turned back to see the Vanir’s pink tinged guts as it spilled out upon the snow.

The Vanir growled at her only to see its own guts before it. It licked its lips before it engorged itself upon the intestines. Sabina couldn’t help but cringe as she watched the creature devouring its own intestines, but she noticed it took a long moment, but as the large intestine began to disappear within the vanir’s jaws, it dropped dead with a dull thud.

Sabina sighed in relief before flopping to the ground, making the snow crunch under her weight. She leaned against her arm as she sat there watching the dead Vanir half expecting it to stand up again. She lifted the broken handle of the sword to inspect it but she shrugged before tossing the broken sword to the side.

Sabina suddenly heard a cough and turning around she saw the vampire was leaning against one of the rocks with one arm covering his midsection and the other covering his eyes. Sabina got to her feet slowly before making her way back to the vampire, who shied away from her as she approached. Sabina sighed but said nothing as she crouched before the vampire to inspect him.

She could see he had cuts and bruises, but what she noticed out of it all was that he was covering his midsection. Sabina reached out to grab his arm covering the wound when he tried to jerk away, letting his hand fall from his red eyes to show his fear.

Sabina growled, and the vampire cringed, but he let her remove his arm as he stared at her intently. Sabina opened the cloth to see it was a deep scratch but not one that should be taken lightly. Especially if it’s a scratch from a Vanir, as their bites and scratches have a tendency to carry diseases .

Sabina could see if she got the vampire out of the forest and its people he would more than likely die due to the exposure to weather and his wounds. Sabina looked at his blood-covered temple and leaned closer to inspect the wound when she noticed the vampire’s ears and cheeks had begun to turn red.

She leaned back noticing the vampire was trying not to stare at her. She tried moving into his line of sight, but he would look at the sky or even the ground. Sabina shook her head as she slowly morphed into a wolf and the vampire jumped in surprise only to let out a groan of pain from his sudden movement.

Sabina looked at the sky to see it was getting too dark to drag the vampire around and find a way for it to return to its own kind. She looked back at the Vampire to see it was staring at her and glancing at the sky as though if trying to figure out what was in the sky she was so fixated upon.

Sabina sighed as she walked past the vampire to the outcrop where she could see the stone only covered the ground, but there was no hole within it. She slowly began digging, flicking the dirt behind her but not at the wounded vampire who watched her fearfully. Sabina smiled to herself as she thought, I bet it thinks I am going to eat it.

However, before long, she had a tunnel that lead to a small enclosed space big enough for her to lay comfortably along with the vampire if it came to it. After all, she was harboring the enemy of her people.

She came out of the tunnel to see the vampire had dozed off while she had been within the tunnel. She grabbed hold of the vampire’s cape between her teeth and slowly began dragging the vampire deeper into the hole.

The vampire woke instantly and began screaming as it kicked in protest, but Sabina ignored its protests as she dragged it into the tunnel. Once she was in the open space, she let go of the cape and the vampire tried scrambling for the tunnel leading to the entrance, but she grabbed hold of it’s cape and dragged the vampire back to the middle of the space. The vampire was kicking furiously and frothing at the mouth as he cursed her with his vampiric tongue.

Sabina sighed as it once again tried to make its way to the entrance. She growled and lightly bit its shoulder, and it screamed in pain as she dragged the vampire by the shoulder to the middle of the space. The vampire screamed at her, and she assumed the words it had spoken had meant to demand her to let it go, but she remained silent to its protests. Instead, she slowly made her way to the entrance and as it went to crawl away again she growled, this time it halted.

Sabina slowly morphed into her human form and said, with much difficulty in vampiric tongue, “Safe.”

She pointed to the cave, then pointed to the tunnel leading outside. “No safe.”

The vampire’s eyes went wide in shock when she pointed at it. “Stay.”

Sabina morphed once more into a wolf and crawled back through the tunnel to find no one else about. She sighed with relief as she slowly made her way to Vanir’s corpse. She looked down at the dead creature and felt a lump well up in her throat as she saw a branded symbol of a unicorn upon the creature’s right thigh.

This at one time had been a captured lupin during the war that had gone through the Temple’s experiments, before being set loose upon the battlefield. The experiments then temple were cruel and inhumane to say the least, but Sabina was long past a time in which she would demand vengeance, after all half a century had passed since than.

It was then that she heard the howl of the others and sighed, she should return to the others before they found her after all… She looked up from the Vanir to see the outcrop and she sighed. She needed to protect an innocent soul from the mistakes of it’s people and even her own.