A Renegade’s Jeremiad

Chapter 13: Wayward Warrior

Henry raced back to his home in the woods, locking himself inside. “Thank heavens someone in this world understands my anxiety at least a little,” Henry muttered to himself, “I can’t believe it, though… Marcus was right about me being a vessel of the vampire king. Even so, there is no way I could be the Sigma wolf. That is an impossibility!” I also can’t condone what he’s done. The proper solution to change my role in this mess. I can’t go back to the training room. Marcus would hollow me out, like everyone else. And being on the frontlines now will only put me at risk of Vanessa getting her hands on me again.” As he muttered, Henry scuttled about the house checking to see what he could pack and what needs to be discarded. “I have to leave this region,” Henry concluded, “I will not be a pawn to this prophecy. No matter how that comes about.

Henry then paused, looking to the western side of the forest. “The sea…” Henry concluded, “That’s my best option.” Henry huffed before setting his things down. “I need a way over it… How can I do this, though?” Henry muttered, before looking back at the door. “Wait. The old rafts!” Henry pulled up the old copies of the forest maps, scanning their geography with a hasty stride. Henry then drew three points on the map. The Hunter Fortress in the north, the wolves’ mountains in the south, and the badlands to the east. Drawing a triangle from these three points, Henry pinpointed that the heart of the forest was the location with the best chance of a secret passage to the lower levels of the Hunter Fortress due to its connections to the rivers of the region, the strategic distance from the most common locations where werewolves would form packs, and the fact that it also acts as a convenient method for getting in and out of the forest unseen, albeit with a degree of danger of being surrounded by wolf territory. “Marcus… I’ve got you now!” Henry stated triumphantly, “Now I’ll just need to sleep through the day and then I can go exploring under the cover of night tomorrow. It should be fun!” Henry smiled as he prepared for the next night just before he readied his house for a daytime slumber.

As Henry slept through the night, Marcus was furiously auditing every department and individual. ‘What happened couldn’t be done without a mole. Who is it!? Who dares to stand in the way of destiny?’ Marcus pondered as he poured over the witness accounts. Then, by a strike of intuition, Marcus thought back to Sarah’s condemnation of his methods, the disdain in her voice. ‘Hm…’ Marcus pondered, ‘I know that Father would demand we maintain relations… But I’ll have to pay a visit to Sarah; audit her entire lifestyle and workplace to see if she could properly rise against my rulings. After all, I can’t just go after her without proper evidence, that would violate each law we hunters live by. I’d never be able to uphold Father’s legacy if I did something so deplorable.’

Marcus sifted over the notes on his desk and made a few adjustments to a set of blueprints outline a new model for a containment vessel modeled off wolf genetics. “At least all those bothersome werewolves will be a thing of the past, should everything go as planned,” Marcus muttered with a slight undertone of venom. Duncan knocked on the door to the office and Marcus let him in. “Any sign of Henry?” Marcus asked. “No, sir,” Duncan stated, “Nobody in the containment zone knows what happened. All they know is that one moment they were awake, and the next everything went black.” Marcus scowled deeply before bellowing, “Fan out through the whole forest if you have too! I’m not letting that vampire take him again!” Duncan nodded and ran out quickly. Marcus coldly turned to his portrait of Henry, his eyes swirling with hunter energy that bled into the inky-black hex magic, forming a grey spiral that seemed to bore into the reflection of said portrait in his eyes.

Back with Henry, he ventured out into the night once dusk settled, ready to activate the half-awakened hunter form at the moment he heard trouble. ‘I’m not letting Vanessa get the jump on me. If she’s anything like other vampires, she’ll be skulking after me immediately!’ Henry pondered, keeping his senses focused on his surroundings. Henry kept his ears reinforced to hear everything around him, trying not to draw attention. Once he heard a branch snap, however, Henry immediately entered the half-awaked state and kept going, immediately blocking Vanessa’s grip. “HENRY!” Vanessa screeched, “Come back to me!” Henry only gave her a cold glare as he shoved her off and raced away. Shrieking with vampiric fangs extended, Vanessa continued her pursuit.

In his half-awakened form, Henry zipped from trunk to trunk, blasting through the forest in a desperate attempt to get to the center location of the forest and simultaneously build distance from Vanessa’s grasp. In retaliation, Vanessa’s eyes glowed magenta and used her fish hooks to grab moonlight once again. With a snarl, she fired another moonlight beam, searing huge swaths of the forest in her wrath. Henry somersaulted to avoid the beam and no longer had any tree trunks to boost himself, so he merely ran off while Vanessa began to gain on him.

However, multiple ebony fang werewolves emerged, snarling and gnashing their teeth. One of them roared, “You… You filthy parasite! How dare you destroy our forest!” They intercepted Vanessa, their enhanced fangs piercing her skin easily as they attempted to shred her to pieces. Vanessa, hissing as her arms and torso burned with irradiated damage, hooked a dozen fishhooks from her ability into the bodies of the wolves, scowling as she looked down on them. “I’ve no time for you lowly dogs,” Vanessa muttered. With one flick of her wrist, Vanessa’s hooks tore each of the wolves in half, allowing Vanessa to continue her pursuit of Henry as her body healed from the damage at a snail’s pace.

Henry, seeing Vanessa’s irradiated wounds, continued to run, bashing Vanessa’s arms every time she tried to catch him. Snarling wildly, Vanessa’s irises went from magenta to cherry red as she activated her blood armor, allowing her to withstand Henry’s attacks without aggravating her present wounds. “Leave me alone!” Henry bellowed. Vanessa grabbed Henry’s arms, forcing him to cross them as he and Vanessa pushed against each other. “Why? Why can we not be together?” Vanessa asked, fighting back tears. “Because you are responsible for my mother’s death!” Henry spat, “If you didn’t try to puppet her, Marcus wouldn’t have had the motive to bring the axe down on her!” Vanessa scoffed, clenching her teeth as her veins bulged under the pressure. “You know not of who that worm is, do you? You still believe…” Vanessa trailed off, recognizing that Henry’s emotional state would not allow him to listen to her. In that moment of hesitation, Henry overpowered Vanessa and threw her off, racing into the tree line. Vanessa clenched her chest, blood armor fading as she looked after Henry longingly. “Henry…” Vanessa murmured, “I wish I could protect you… If only you understood.”

Henry eventually slowed to a crawl, letting the half-awakened Hunter form fall away once he saw the markers that he was close to the center. Once Henry did though, his eyes began to strain and he had to hold his head to keep himself from falling over. “Ugh…” Henry groaned, “What’s happening?” Henry then tried to stabilize himself with hunter energy, only to recognize that his reserves were low. “What?! How…” Henry exclaimed, beginning to huff with exertion. A purr then rang out in the clearing, prompting Henry to try escaping. He didn’t get far before he was locked into a firm grab. The scent alone told Henry that Clarissa was responsible and had likely been tracking his position for a while. “C-Clarissa… Let go…” Henry uttered weakly.

Clarissa growled slightly as she angled her lips right next to Henry’s ear. “Henry... You're not leaving me,” Clarissa murmured, holding a breath as Henry began to kick. Henry strained against Clarissa’s grip, yet without the reinforcement from hunter energy, he had no way of escaping her. While Henry was expecting a small chuckle, Clarissa snarled instead, tightening her grip on him. “Stop it,” Clarissa growled, “You're making me mad.” Beads of sweat coated Henry’s forehead as his breaths grew rapid and shallow. “Clarissa, please…” Henry begged, “I don't want any trouble, I just-”

“Right,” Clarissa interrupted, the amber color of her irises stretching into her sclera, “Because we can only do what you want. It's never about what I want. Do you think that's fair?” Henry squeaked, “I... I'm sorry.” Henry began to sweat buckets as his limbs began to tremble. He continued, “I didn't mean to hurt you like this, I-I-I only want to stop other people from getting hurt. I didn't think this would harm you!” Clarissa, seeing Henry in this state, loosened her grip before huffing in his face. “You're too scared to say that meaningfully,” Clarissa stated, “Not that I blame you.” Clarissa scowled, baring her teeth at Henry. By this point, Clarissa’s teeth were elongated and sharp as daggers, similar to a wolf’s teeth. Henry’s eyes widened at the sight. Clarissa continued, “My wolf and I are in sync and we both believe that you've been too reckless.” Henry asked, “Clarissa, is this about what happened before?”

Clarissa growled before shouting, “Of course it is! That parasite laid her hands on you. Spoiled you with her rotten scent. It makes me sick!” Clarissa's irises turned red, contrasting her amber sclera while her pupils grew into slits, much like a wolf’s pupils. “That is why I'm going to take you now,” Clarissa concluded. Henry shook his head violently at the sound of this, exclaiming, “Wait, wait, wait. Think about this!” Clarissa gave a wolfish smile in response as her pupils contracted. “Oh, I have,” Clarissa claimed, “And the only thing I think about is that you are mine. My mate. Only mine! You belong to me. Nobody is going to touch you anymore.” Clarissa covered Henry's mouth and nose, preventing him from breathing.

Henry used the last of his hunter energy to retaliate, striking Clarissa multiple times and bruising her in several places. However, Clarissa endured these blows, hellbent on having Henry for herself. Eventually, Henry fell unconscious as his hunter energy finally ran out. Clarissa laughed maniacally at her victory for a moment, savoring her victory. Then, Clarissa’s wolf-like pupils dilated as her eyes raked over Henry’s unconscious state. Clarissa’s voice growing deathly calm and sickly sweet as she whispered, “Shh, shh... That's it, my love. Go to sleep, you're going to be fine. I would never hurt you.” Clarissa kissed Henry's head before purring and nuzzling his forehead. “There you go,” Clarissa murmured possessively, “Now then,” Clarissa began, picking Henry up in a princess carry, “Let's go to our den, my mate.” Clarissa ran under the cover of the trees and looming starlight that stretched over the nightscape, cuddling Henry’s still-breathing body as she traveled deep into the woods, away from anything or anyone that may be looking for Henry.