Episode 10 — When the Wolf Wakes
1156 Words
The howl shook the underground chamber.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The candles went out one by one.
For several seconds, there was nothing but darkness.
Then Silas opened his eyes.
They were silver.
Clara stared at him.
“Silas?”
He didn't answer.
The Black Wolf stood behind him.
Its enormous body blocked the altar.
Viktor slowly stepped backward.
“No.”
Silas turned toward him.
“You wanted this.”
Viktor shook his head.
“Not like this.”
Silas smiled.
“You never asked what would happen when the wolf chose for itself.”
The creature growled.
Every man in the chamber dropped his weapon.
Matthias whispered a prayer.
Clara moved closer to Silas.
“Are you still in there?”
Silas looked at her.
For a moment, his expression softened.
“Yes.”
Clara breathed with relief.
Then his face changed again.
“But I don't know for how long.”
The wolf stepped forward.
Viktor raised his pistol.
Silas moved faster.
He knocked the gun from Viktor's hand before he could fire.
Viktor stumbled backward.
“You can't control it!”
Silas grabbed him by the collar.
“I'm not trying to.”
He threw Viktor against the stone wall.
Viktor fell to the floor.
Matthias rushed toward him.
“Silas, stop!”
Silas turned.
“You knew what they did.”
“I know.”
“You let them destroy my family.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe my father abandoned me.”
Matthias's eyes filled with tears.
“I was afraid.”
Silas stepped closer.
“And now?”
Matthias looked at the wolf.
“Now I'm more afraid of what you're becoming.”
Silas stopped.
The words affected him.
His eyes slowly returned to normal.
The wolf behind him lowered its head.
Then a strange sound echoed through the chamber.
A heartbeat.
Deep.
Slow.
Coming from beneath the altar.
Everyone froze.
Viktor looked toward the floor.
“No…”
Silas turned.
“What is that?”
Viktor didn't answer.
Matthias did.
“The heart.”
Clara frowned.
“What heart?”
Matthias pointed toward the altar.
“The heart of the first wolf.”
The stone beneath them cracked.
A red glow appeared through the cracks.
Silas stared.
“You said the wolf was a guardian.”
“It was.”
“Then what changed?”
Matthias whispered:
“People.”
Suddenly, the remaining men attacked.
One rushed toward Silas with a knife.
Silas moved aside and struck him.
Another fired a shot.
Clara screamed.
The bullet struck the stone beside Silas.
Silas turned.
The wolf lunged.
It knocked the gunman across the chamber.
The man crashed into the wall and fell unconscious.
Silas looked at the creature.
“Enough.”
The wolf stopped immediately.
Clara stared.
“You can command it.”
Silas shook his head.
“No.”
He looked into its silver eyes.
“It listens.”
Viktor slowly stood.
Blood ran down his forehead.
“You think you've won?”
Silas looked at him.
“I haven't.”
Viktor smiled.
“Good.”
He reached inside his coat.
Silas prepared himself.
But Viktor didn't pull out a weapon.
He pulled out an old photograph.
He threw it onto the floor.
Silas looked down.
His father.
His mother.
Viktor.
Matthias.
And another man.
A man Silas didn't recognize.
Silas picked up the photograph.
“Who is he?”
Viktor smiled.
“Your grandfather.”
Silas's expression changed.
“My grandfather died before I was born.”
“That is what your father told you.”
Silas looked at Matthias.
The priest looked away.
Silas's voice became quiet.
“Is he alive?”
Viktor answered:
“Yes.”
Silence.
“Where?”
Viktor pointed beneath the altar.
Silas stared at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Viktor smiled.
“He has been down there for twenty years.”
Clara looked horrified.
“What did you do to him?”
Viktor's smile disappeared.
“Nothing.”
He looked toward the altar.
“The wolf did.”
The chamber shook violently.
A crack opened beneath the altar.
A cold wind rushed through the room.
The Black Wolf suddenly growled.
Silas felt pain explode through his chest.
He dropped to his knees.
Clara rushed toward him.
“Silas!”
He grabbed his chest.
Images flooded his mind.
A man standing beneath the mountain.
A wolf attacking him.
A child screaming.
His father running.
His grandfather holding a silver blade.
Then darkness.
Silas screamed.
The wolf answered.
The chamber shook.
Clara held him tightly.
“Come back!”
Silas couldn't hear her.
The voice inside his mind returned.
Remember.
Another memory appeared.
His father standing over his mother.
His hands covered in blood.
Silas saw the truth.
His mother hadn't been killed by the council.
She had been bitten.
She was becoming a wolf.
His father had tried to stop the transformation.
He had failed.
Then Viktor had arrived.
Silas opened his eyes.
His breathing was heavy.
“My mother…”
Clara looked at him.
“What?”
“She wasn't killed.”
Matthias lowered his head.
“She was turned.”
Silas stared at him.
“Into what?”
Matthias whispered:
“The first Black Wolf.”
Silas stepped backward.
“No.”
Viktor smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Silas looked at the creature beside him.
The wolf's silver eyes stared back.
A strange feeling passed through him.
Not fear.
Recognition.
He slowly approached it.
The wolf lowered its head.
Silas touched its forehead.
And suddenly he heard a woman's voice.
My son.
Silas froze.
His eyes filled with tears.
“Mama?”
The wolf closed its eyes.
Clara covered her mouth.
Matthias began to cry.
Viktor watched in silence.
Silas whispered:
“You've been protecting me.”
The wolf touched his hand with its nose.
Silas finally understood.
The creature had never been hunting him.
It had been waiting for him.
Waiting for him to remember.
Then a deep roar came from beneath the altar.
The wolf turned toward the sound.
Silas looked at Viktor.
“What is beneath there?”
Viktor's face became serious.
“The thing your mother was protecting you from.”
The altar exploded.
Stone flew across the chamber.
Everyone was thrown backward.
A massive shadow rose from the darkness below.
It was not a wolf.
It was something larger.
Older.
Something with enormous horns and silver eyes.
Clara stared in horror.
“What is that?”
Matthias whispered:
“The first.”
Silas stood slowly.
The creature beneath the altar opened its mouth.
A voice echoed through the chamber.
“The bloodline has returned.”
Silas looked at the Black Wolf beside him.
Then at the creature below.
He finally understood why his father had been afraid.
The wolf was not the greatest monster beneath Blackpine.
It was the guardian.
And something much worse had just awakened.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD