Between Beasts

Chapter 10. Games, continued.

Teo Knew there was something wrong, but by breaking rank his pack mate had forced his hand. Teo roared and sprang forward, the rest of the pack eagerly joining him the instant he did. Half a dozen wolves charging towards it and the damn demon still just stood there, smiling.

Teo forced himself to move faster, trying to catch up the difference in distance between himself and Ardene, the wolf who had broken rank, but as fast as Teo was, his massive size worked against him, being built more for strength than speed. Teo couldn’t make up for the head start and she reached the demon first, alone. As Ardene pounced, the demon gracefully spun low underneath her and drove a lightning fast fist into her side, audibly cracking her ribs and sending her flying off into a nearby wall.

Seeing their pack mate harmed, the rest of the charging wolves howled in rage and pressed forward, Teo’s centuries of experience screaming at the back of his mind to be heard. The demon was still just calmly standing there, smiling, waiting for them to come as if they were merely walking up to him with a new shirt for him to try on, but the pack was just a moment away. He couldn’t stop and let them fight without him, he had no choice but to keep going.

Aqila was the next to pounce, aiming low at the demon’s legs as Teo barrelled straight onward, swinging a massive claw over Aqila. The demon swiftly spun again, kicking Aqila in the head and sending her off course while simultaneously crossing its arms to block Teo’s strike. Blocked or not though, the sheer might of Teo’s blow sent the demon flying ten meters back into the shadows, giving a loud, satisfying crash as it hit the solid brickwork.

Teo glanced at Aqila to assess how badly she was hurt, she was back on her feet again, although off balance and clearly dazed. She would heal but was effectively out of the fight. He motioned his head with a grunt towards where Ardene lay on the ground, Aqila nodded and staggered away towards her. The other three wolves now flanked Teo, snarling at the shadows where the demon had hit.

The force that Teo had struck with would have shattered anything living, but his fur bristled, something didn’t feel right. Teo scanned the darkness. His wolf eyes should be able to see it, but there was only darkness. The shadows had seemed to grow unnaturally dark, sucking in the light around them.

“You are a big one, aren’t you?” A deep, melodic voice said from the darkness, sounding on the verge of laughing. Teo let loose a low, guttural growl back at the darkness, gesturing the pack to hold. His experience prevailing over the urge to lunge into that dark oblivion.

A deep, chuckling laugh came from the shadows behind them, causing them all to spin round, but there was nothing there.

“That actually hurt.” Came the patronisingly wounded melody of the demon’s voice, but from yet another direction. The chuckling laughter appeared again from another shadow. Again, they spun so see only darkness.

A dark, well-muscled and clawed arm struck out of the darkness from Teo’s left at the side of one of the wolves on his flank, leaving long, deep wounds that made Darrow yelp in pain. The pack struck back at the darkness where the claw had come from but none of them connected with anything but air.

More laughter came, seeming to come from one direction then flick to another. The pack closed tightly together, looking out in all directions but still seeing only darkness and the quiet, empty gardens outside Jodie’s building. The pack, including Teo were confused and unsettled that they couldn’t see their opponent.

The claw appeared again, swiping at the side of Ovin’s head, leaving bloody gashes and knocking him to the ground, unconscious. Teo looked down at his fallen brother for an instant, there was a lot of blood coming from the wounds on his head, but he was still breathing.

Darrow lunged at the demons disappearing claw, wildly swiping in any direction he’s thought he sensed movement.

“Now that’s just pathetic.” The demon said flatly, but still in that deep, musical way. “Try more like this.” The demon’s claws flashed from the darkness, slicing quick, deep cuts across Darrow’s body multiple times, slicing and disappearing, each time Darrow tried to react or retaliate the claws would seem to strike from a different place in the darkness around him, like an invisible viper.

Teo roared at the darkness. The demon was toying with them! This was no ordinary vampire, he had smelt the strength of its foulness when it had first come into his cafe, had brazenly walked into a werewolf den. There were many tainted creatures in the world and wolves could tell most of them instantly by their scent. It had been no mistake walking into his cafe; vampires could also tell other touched beings apart, it must have known what it was doing.

At the time, Teo couldn’t think why it would take such a bold risk, but now he was wondering if it had intentionally provoked them, if it had been looking for a fight. Or perhaps it simply hadn’t deemed them a threat. The arrogance!

Something hurtled out of the darkness towards Teo and he instinctively raised a claw to grab the object from the air before it struck him.

“Oh, good boy! You can fetch! I may well keep you around so I can play with you another time.” The beautiful voice said with plainly mocking sincerity.

Teo looked at what he was holding, a stick… it would stalk those he cared for, hurt his brothers and sisters and treat him as a dog while it did so. Fury burned through Teo’s veins as he lashed out at the darkness.

As Layna tried to help Darrow keep his feet, his blood flowing from numerous wounds, she was kicked away, causing Darrow to collapse to the ground, barely conscious but still trying to fight. Just as Teo lunged at where he thought the demon had been there was a harsh whisper behind him.

“Too slow!” He lost balance, trying to turn round to the whisper as he’d already lunged forwards, and tumbled to the ground, then saw those dark claws appear from the darkness behind Darrow, piercing him yet again as they grabbed and hurled him into the shadows outside of the moonlit spotlight of an arena.

Teo and Layna, now the single other wolf still standing at his side threw themselves at the darkness, sweeping their claws in wide arcs. Teo felt the tips of his left claw connect with something and smelt the bloom of fresh blood.

“That’s a little better.” Mocked the deep voice, slipping away into the night. “But I have a prior appointment, and if that’s the best you can do…”

“…I think we should be finishing this off soon” the voice reappeared seemingly behind them again, as one of those dark claws struck Layna, hard, rending the flesh across her back and sending her sprawling to the ground.

The creature’s arrogance and toying had finally betrayed it though; taunting them before striking had given Teo enough time to spin round and to grab that serpentine claw before it had a chance to retreat back into the darkness again.

The demon snarled and tried to pull it’s arm free, it had surprised Teo back at the cafe when it had somehow managed to just slip free of this grip, but this thing had at least wounded five of his pack and now that he had hold of it Teo was not letting go! He dug his claws into its forearm and channelled every ounce of his rage into that grip. The creature may be fast and slippery, but it wasn’t going anywhere now.

The muscles across Teo’s entire body bulged as he began to crush the bones in the arm he was gripping, causing it to bend in a way that arms never should. Although he had hold of it, and couldn’t be more than a few feet away, he still somehow couldn’t see the rest of the demon. Teo struck out with his other claw at where the demon must surely be, tethered in place by its ruined arm, but was stunned when his own claw was suddenly halted, caught at the wrist by the demon’s free hand. Teo had never encountered something this fast, yet almost as strong as himself.

Teo let out a growing growl as he felt the bones in his wrist begin to fracture, facing off with a demon he couldn’t see as they held each other in a crippling stalemate. At that moment Aqila threw herself at the demon, gripping its shoulder with her teeth and raking her claws at its back. She had been quietly watching as she guarded Ardene, waiting for an opportunity. As she had forced her mind to focus, trying to recover from the single blow which had almost knocked her unconscious, she had calmed herself and the demon had seemed to become easier to see.

Teo, still unable to see the demon beyond its claws, bit down into the darkness near where he was holding its arm. His teeth sank deeply into its other shoulder, he trashed wildly with his head and heaved until, with a shriek of pain from the demon, he tore its shattered arm off.

Suddenly, Aqila was thrown from the creatures back as large, leathery wings shot out from its upper torso. It viciously twisted Teo’s now broken wrist, let go and then rammed its remaining claw deep into Teo’s side, causing him to reflexively release his bite and howl in pain.

The six wolves guarding the perimeter knew their jobs and had expected to hear their pack mates fighting as they potentially did nothing, but the moment they heard their alpha’s pained howl they abandoned their task and raced towards him. They arrived just in time to see something soar upwards into the sky, now free of Teo’s grip, and to see Teo slump down to the ground.