A Renegade’s Jeremiad

Chapter 15: The Risen Wolf

May 9th. 7:20AM

Moon: Full

Henry walked along the path of his village. The hunter organization was gone, disappeared in the winds of golden sun shining upon the valley. Then… Off in the distance was a sapling, when Henry observed, then saw a sea of saplings and shrieked. Without hesitation, he began to salt the earth with multicolored crystals. Just as he formed a perimeter around the town, his fear shattered his chest with the sound of glass shattering.

Henry opened his eyes with a start, swiveling to and fro. He was back in Clarissa’s cave, his complexion still bone-pale. Though now, his teeth no longer pulsed and his body no longer moved. Despite any effort Henry tried, he couldn’t. Hunter energy was all but lost to him. ‘No… This weakness… I cannot move!’ Henry then looked to the ceiling and saw only Clarissa’s beaming expression in her human form. “Aw~” Clarissa cooed, “Is my dear Henry hungry?” Without a moment lost, she pulled up a bowl of cooked meat and wafted it around Henry’s nose, giggling as he realized he couldn’t smell anything. “Don’t worry, dear,” Clarissa uttered, pressing the meat into his mouth and watching him consume it, “A loss of senses is normal at this stage. When your nose reawakens, you’ll smell more than just food.” Clarissa then petted Henry’s head, fawning over him. “Everything will be fine. I’m here,” Clarissa stated adoringly. She then moved to the ropes and loosened them, knowing Henry’s weakness wouldn’t allow him to escape them before the wolf manifested. Henry whimpered weakly, shivering due to how sensitive his body became to external temperatures. Clarissa then wrapped Henry in a heavy blanket to block out the cold; she smiled gently as the resulting warmth made Henry drift back to sleep.

Duncan marched to Marcus’ office, bags and dark circles around his eyes. When he walked in, Marcus was compulsively looking over the papers sent by Dr. Cainus for his proposed cure for the werewolf curse. Marcus looked up at Duncan and with a growl, uttered, “Please tell me Henry is currently in the medical bay getting looked over.” Ducan, with a deep frown, lowered his head, closing his eyes as he braced for the verbal onslaught. Yet what followed was a silence so palpable, one could cut it with a knife. Marcus put the papers down and began to walk to the medical bay. “Come, Duncan,” Marcus commanded with an unnervingly calm tone, “We have a visit with Dr. Cainus to attend.”

Marcus strutted into the medical bay where Cainus was working in overdrive. “Doctor. We’ve lost Henry in the wild. I’ll need you to prepare your proposed cure immediately. Spare no detail on the process. I want to be sure that I know how best to help you get this cure prepared,” Marcus uttered urgently. Cainus answered, “Uff kourse, Director. Allow me to explain…” Cainus prepared a table and he began his explanation. “You see, director,” Cainus began, “Mein r-r-research has koncluded zat ze volf’s kurse iss an ancient, disease-like substance zat first affects ze body uff a fictim, veakeningkt it seferely to introduce volf schtructures into a human frame undt human schtructures into a volf frame. Ze effectifeness uff ze kurse’s transmission iss affected by moonlight, hence vhy most new verewolfes emerge duringkt a full moon undt vhy verewolfes get more feral undt powerful duringkt zat phase uff ze moon. Zerefore, ve need to act duringkt a new moon to haf ze best khance uff success.” “I see. What else can you tell me?” Marcus inquired. “Vell, ze ‘wolf’ or ‘human’ ego iss formed from subconscious personality traits in ze fictim, koalescingkt zem into an alternatife personality zat iss laced mitt a volf’s or a human’s instincts dependingkt on vhat ze fictim iss, hence vhy ze transformations in a verewolf seem to be entirely different from ze fictim’s kore personality,” Cainus explained. “That… Explains a lot. Though, how do we apply the cure? All I see is a table for experimenting,” Marcus exclaimed. Cainus continued, “So, to kure a fictim uff ze kurse, ve must first kure ze body uff ze disease by pumpingkt hunter energy into ze blood schtream to issolate undt veaken its schtructure before introducingkt a mix uff beans, lentils, undt spinach to increase iron lefels in ze body to maximize veakness in potency. After zat, some special green tea undt an introduction uff kabbage into ze diet vill flusch out ze lingkteringkt schells uff ze disease. Only after zat kan ze false personality kan be ‘extracted’ by usingkt specific freqfencies uff electricity to help ze mind break zat personality apart undt incorporate zose subconscious traits back into ze kore personality.” “And you are certain this will work?” Marcus asked. “Uff kourse, director. Zis has been schtructured from kountless experiments on human, volf undt verewolf subchects. Many uff zem profided by you, uff kourse. Vhich I am more zan grateful for, Director.” Cainus stated with an assuring tone.

“As you should, Doctor. Now, back on topic, you will have access to our backup reserves for the electricity, I’ll have some of the others gather the ingredients for your diet, and my full medical staff will be at your beck and call for now, not just the researchers. Still… Should we anticipate a margin of error?” Marcus asserted tentatively. “Vell, keep in mind, Henry iss a prodigy undt has a lot uff mental undt physical endurance, so ve haf a lot uff r-r-room to vork mitt here. Efen so, ze mezzod kould schtill fail as it hasn’t been tested. So… I r-r-recommend you pay your kondolences chust in kase. But r-r-rest assured, Director. Zat I, undt zose under mein schteady hent, schall do our best!” Cainus replied, doing his best to set expectations for his experimental cure. And with that, Marcus nodded and dragged Duncan along. “Well, Duncan. You’d better find Henry. You know what will happen when Henry fully turns. If the worst-case scenario befalls us, the subjugation of humanity and the destruction of our culture will be on your hands. Now go. Do not return to my office until you bring Henry back. Do not fail me.” Marcus commanded. “Yes, Marcus! I’ll see to it that Henry is retrieved from this peril,” Duncan answered before leaving the main hunter base.

Meanwhile, Clarissa fawned over Henry as he slept, nuzzling and sniffing him to keep her wolf calm as Henry had been nothing more than touch and go ever since she and her wolf nibbled his cheeks. “Shh, Shh… It’s ok. Henry is strong,” Clarissa muttered. ‘But he has only been up and down… No sign of his other half. I miss him,’ Clarissa’s Wolf uttered mournfully. “I know,” Clarissa muttered, “I feel the same way. But we must be patient with him. For that is how we will show our love for him in his weakest moments.” Clarissa then continued to nuzzle Henry, whimpering yet loving utterly.

The perimeter of crystals was established, Henry sat near the edge with a thousand-yard stare straight ahead. The saplings had grown into a wild, untamed forest. They did not dare cross the crystal perimeter. The sun began to sag in the background, illuminating part of the moon hanging above. Henry looked to the sun mournfully, as if mourning the loss of an old friend. Then… Without warning, a howl echoed over the forest, making Henry tense up and glare ahead, hunter energy blitzing along the perimeter he set up as the sun finally left the horizon and a full moon hung high in the air, illuminating everything. A statue of Clarissa emerged to the side, yet he could see it clearly, frowning deeply. A second howl echoed through the forest and the whole place began to come alive, as if this were just like the forest Henry had been living in for a while. Henry felt his heart race, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the tension wash over him. Opening his eyes, Henry barely spoke as Clarissa nourished him physically and emotionally; feeding Henry, giving him water, kissing his head, holding Henry close, making sure he was comfortable and warm, encouraging Henry’s self-esteem when he started mindlessly blabbing random tidbits about his mother, whispering sweet nothings into his ears, and ensuring his comfort was present as his body seemed to tear itself apart and stitch itself back together before his eyes closed and he returned to his slumber in Clarissa’s embrace.

Eventually (around 9:10PM on May 16th with a third quarter moon), Henry was met with the visage of a wolf, peering at him from afar yet its amber eyes glowed in the now present moonlight. The wolf crept over inch by inch towards Henry. It growled softly and nuzzled the statue of Clarissa when it got close before turning to him. However, before it could make contact, hunter energy blasted it back, emitted from a barrier Henry constructed around the town via the multicolored crystal. The wolf whimpered, then growled before perching on a nearby rock, watching Henry all the while.

In Clarissa’s arms, Henry’s eyes opened again. But now his pupils were wolf slits and his irises pure amber. Clarissa wept with a loving smile on her face. “There you are,” she cooed, “My mate.” Clarissa nuzzled into the wolf’s head, her heart slowing as she got comfortable and slept next to him. The wolf clumsily held Clarissa before muttering gruffly, “Mate…”