The Blood Moons

Chapter Five

Cyla stared at the empty clearing, her mind a whirlwind in conflicting thoughts. She’d waited a day, hoping Bug would return. But she was still alone. The sound of rustling paper brought her back to the present. She looked over the contract she had been considering once more. Hollow was three days back the way they had come, something she wasn’t really looking forward to. On the other hand, she couldn’t really go after Dinasis right now. Not without Bug’s help. And Bug James didn’t really seem all that keen to helping right now.

“To Hollow, I guess,” she murmured. The wind died and the sun began to beat almost instantly upon her. “Goddess’ t**s! To f*****g Hollow.” Silently, she packed her stuff and began her walk alone.

Cyla sighed as she paused on the dirt road. Her pack was feeling heavier than normal to her weary muscles. Dirt stuck to the bottom of her cloak and her knee-high boots. Bug still hadn’t returned. She hadn’t realized how nice it was to have a companion until she didn’t have one again. And she missed how bubbly and happy the girl was, how she lived life to the fullest. How had she ever gone five years working alone? Taking a swig of the brackish ale in her leather skin, she surveyed the town before her.

The dirt road wound like a hidden snake from behind and all the way past her to the large city of Hollow just within her sights. There wasn't much in the land of Vera that was extravagant. Well, besides Tremena, the city the Blood Moon people resided in. But after the crowded buildings and tall towers of Tremena, Hollow was the next largest. Roofs spotted the horizon save the massive empty space that Cyla knew the market covered. Smoke escaped chimneys in lazy waves. She groaned. If she was going to find Luka here, it was going to be a long and exhaustive task.

Cyla closed her eyes, feeling around herself. When she had started bounty hunting, she had tried to track her contracts, the supers, the way the guild had trained her. The thing about supers and their existence being kept a secret, it meant very little clues and trails. If there had been more, they would have been exposed long ago. The guild’s training only got her so far. She realized one day, so long ago, that if she stood still long enough and concentrated hard enough, she would feel a pull one way or another. That pull always ended with a contract finished. She took a deep breath, calming her thoughts, pushing herself into a peaceful state of mind, and waited. She thought about Hollow, about the buildings, the market. But nothing connected. Instead, she felt a need to turn around, to face the forest just a few yards behind her. Eyes still closed, she turned. The pull at her center strengthened, almost calling her to step forward. She opened her eyes to see Bug looking at her strangely.

“What-what were you doing?” Bug asked. Cyla pushed her surprise down enough to pretend to ignore the girl. She adjusted the straps to her pack and brushed right by her with a small shove of her shoulder. Bug huffed as she followed behind the bounty hunter.

“Goddess, I know. I shouldn’t have taken off like that. But,” she groaned, grabbing Cyla’s shoulder. Cyla was pulled to a stop by the unearthly strength. “But you said—” Cyla whipped her glare around and pinned the vampire. “We said some really harsh things.” Cyla’s expression softened and a hint of regret filled her eyes. The woman sighed and faced Bug, chewing on her bottom lip a bit.

“I’m sorry for my part,” she finally said. “I don’t know everything going on. And I don’t know what you went through. Even if I have a hard time believing it.” She threw her hands up in defense as Bug’s expression hardened. “I shouldn’t have told you how to feel. Forgive me?” It only took a moment before Bug’s face lit up and she popped a kiss onto Cyla’s cheek.

“Of course.” She grinned her signature grin. “Although, I do have a favor to ask of you.” Cyla raised a brow. “About my contract—” Cyla cut her off by turning around.

“I burned it,” she said nonchalantly.

“Burned it?” Cyla nodded.

“It’s what we do when a contract has been killed and unable to be brought in.” She glanced over her shoulder at the vampire, a small smile on her lips. “It was the only way I could think to keep you safe if you really didn’t come back. No one would know who you were if they ran into you.” Bug squealed girlishly, leaping onto Cyla’s back and hugging her arms tightly about her neck.

“Thank you, thank you!” She squealed again. Wordlessly, Cyla shrugged the girl off her. For a small thing, she was very heavy. Bug’s grin was endless as she bounced behind her. “So, what were you doing just then?” Cyla looked around them, taking in the beginning of the tree line and the darkening sky.

“Getting a direction,” she said simply. Without another word, she walked off into the shade. Bug shrugged her thin shoulders and followed after Cyla, her red dress swirling around her effortlessly. No matter how rough the road had gotten, the vampire always wore something flowing and feminine. Cyla caught the fabric flicking about from the corner of her eye and internally rolled them. Feminine dresses, bare feet, and long tresses down her back. How could she stand to travel that way?

Must be one of those traits of the resilience of vampires. Just like they couldn’t really ever get hurt. If they did, they healed rapidly. She did have to say that a piece of her was jealous of the girl, growing weary of being covered in bruises and cuts. But the downside of requiring blood as substance didn’t seem worth it.

She expected to continue deeper into the woods and come upon Luka Pela at the end. That’s how it usually worked. Instead, there was what Cyla assumed was once a campsite. Now, it would have been better described as a murder scene. Slick red blood coated the ground and surrounded a fire pit. It splashed up the trunks of a few trees and dripped off the leaves of the surrounding foliage. Cyla froze in place, her blood running cold in her veins. What could have happened here? So engrossed in her thoughts, she didn’t even register when she was hit from behind and nearly sent flying.

“What the hell?” Bug groaned, catching her balance. “Why’d you stop?” Almost instantly she stopped, the metallic smell filling her nose. Her nose scrunched in disgust and she hissed really low. “Great Goddess!” She started gagging, seeming to vomit any second.

“Do I?” Cyla trailed off, her body lean

ing away from the girl. She was ready to leap away at the first hint of trouble. But Bug waved her off, still struggling to contain her nausea.

“No, no,” she gasped, pinching her nose with little success. “This scene isn’t triggering my bloodlust. In fact, it’s doing the opposite. It smells—wrong.” Bug gagged again. Cyla forced her legs to move, stepping closer and kneeling to investigate.

“Wrong how?” Cyla asked, teeth gritting as she dipped her fingers into the blood. It was thick and beginning to darken. It wasn’t fresh.

“I’m not sure.” Bug forced herself to take a deep breath. “Almost dirty. It reminds me of something but—” Cyla looked over her shoulder when Bug stopped talking. A conflicted look marred the perfect features. She was about to probe further when a howl ripped through the air.

It was loud and feral, instantly sending shivers into her heart. “What was that?” Bug whispered, terror clear as a bell. Cyla ignored her surprise that Bug—a creature that was nearly a century old—didn’t recognize the intensity of a wolf-shifter’s howl.

“Come on,” Cyla said grimly, her hand wrapping tightly around her sword’s hilt. “It came from over there.” Not waiting for Bug to acknowledge her or even to see if she was following, Cyla left the gruesome scene. The trees gathered around her again, giving her a false sense of security. If it was who she suspected, she would be smelt out long before she could lay eyes on him. Still, she clung to the shadows as the break in the trees neared.

“Oh, Merciful Goddess,” Bug breathed over her shoulder as they took in the scene. If they thought the campsite was bad, this was a bloodbath. It was once a clearing in the middle of the forest, but now it was a bed of death. Bodies littered the grass, blood coating the wildflowers red. When she shifted her feet, they sloshed with the bloody mud that tried to stick her in place. The smell was so sharp that her eyes stung. In the center of the m******e sat a man. He looked like he was crouched forward, graying hair moving in the wind. Cyla blinked her eyes twice. No, that wasn’t right. She shook her head, forcing the repressed memory to fade back into the recesses of her mind. When she looked again, her sight was replaced with that of a shirtless large man.

Though he was on his knees, he was leaning so far over a body he was practically laying on it. Her sharp hearing picked up the gruesome sound of tearing muscle and skin. He was attacking in such a veracious manner that he was grunting out low snarls as well. Blood splattered all over the muscles of his back. Cyla’s copper eyes skipped around to all the bodies that surrounded him, taking note of their ripped-out throats. Their faces were transfixed in pain or fear or both. A few had some scraps of their clothing still visible. The pieces of a dual red moon with starbursts could be pieced together. They were, all of them, from The Blood Moons guild. They were bounty hunters just like herself.

The fear she’d been holding back began to shake itself loose. Dear Goddess, what is this man? He is unlike any wolf-shifter I’ve dealt with. Cyla swallowed hard. What am I going to do?

Bug’s hand on her shoulder startled her. “Cyla, I don’t like this. It’s too dangerous for you. Come on, let’s leave.” Cyla had a feeling in her gut about who this man was and that she would inevitably have to confront him. But in the middle of some frenzied killing spree was probably not the best time. Wordlessly she began backing up as Bug tugged insistently. The Goddess must have a cruel sense of humor because not a moment later a twig snapped beneath her heel.

The sound echoed painfully in her ears. She hoped and prayed to The Goddess that the man hadn’t heard. But just as she finished her prayer, the man froze, his head perking up. She could hear him sniff the air and slowly he turned his head, pinning his eyes in their direction. Even though she knew they were still hidden within the trees, Cyla could tell he knew exactly where they were.

“f**k!” Bug hissed. “It’s Luka.” Cyla knew she should be surprised, but she couldn’t make herself feel it. She had already known deep down that it was him. Dark black hair stood on end and black eyes stared wildly in their direction. He stood ever so slowly and despite still being crouched, she knew that he stood at a giant’s height. Everything the contract said was standing not even a hundred yards from her. The blood dripped from his mouth onto the front of his chest, completely covering him in a gruesome display. “What’s happened to him?” Bug hissed. Cyla didn’t know him personally in order to answer Bug’s curious statement of familiarity. But she knew that when a shifter was like this, attacking and behaving more animal than human, they were one step away from shifting permanently, losing all touch to their humanity. This made him extremely dangerous.

He shifted one leg forward, as if contemplating a charge. As his stance shifted, Bug made a move of her own. Gathering the front of her skirt, she side-stepped in front of Cyla, crouching protectively. “Go, Cyla. I’m sure you have many tricks and you’re plenty skilled. But if he gets close to you at all, he will kill you.” Before Cyla could say a word otherwise, Luka let out another growl.

Regular people could not make this sound, so raw and animalistic. It was the noise only a shifter could make, and Cyla was once again finding herself filled with unfamiliar fear. Bug’s eyes turned black, her fangs extending from her canines, and hissed back. Without another sound of warning, Luka charged. His speed was unnaturally quick, taking only a heartbeat to be halfway to them. But Bug was faster. In the blink of an eye, she had crossed the field, throwing a punch at his chest. Her unnatural strength caused him to stop in his tracks, but not fly backwards.

She spun on the ball of her foot, changing directions sharply to face him again. But the ground was so slick, she slipped. The split second it took her to correct her balance was all he needed. Luka snarled as he lashed out at her, catching her in the side. The wind whistled about her as she sailed through the air. She impacted with a tree, making it collapse under her weight, sawdust and splinters blasting into the air. She winced at the claw marks across her belly. She quickly ignored them though as she only had a moment to claw her way out of the trunk, before Luka was right in her face again.

She ducked under his swing, throwing a punch into his belly. Air left his mouth with an oof and he folded in half. Even in half, she struggled to reach his head. Still, her fingertips dug into his hair and wrenched herself into a swing around his head and onto his back. He snarled as she hissed, swiping at his face with her claws. Bloody cuts littered his face, yet he seemed to only be more enraged. He reached behind his shoulder, wrapping a large, clawed hand around her ankle. With a roar he yanked her down and threw her away from him.

Bug yelped as she rolled along the ground, covering herself in the spilled blood.

“Bug!” Cyla yelled, catching her attention. The bounty hunter had shaken herself from the fear that filled her and was rushing out from the tree line. The glint of metal flashed by the vampire’s face, barely skimming passed her nose. The dagger landed in a tree, just beside Luka’s head. Bug turned to keep running towards Cyla as the woman drew her sword and advanced on the shifter.

“Luka Pela!” Cyla called, her voice suddenly strong, drawing the crazed look to her. “The Blood Moons Guild has given me the authority to bring you in. Do so now in a calm manner and we can avoid any more pain.” Luka snarled and leapt towards her. “I guess that’s a no.” She readied her sword as the shifter ate up the distance. Bug sped to Cyla's side panting just a bit.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “He’s almost too much for my strength. He’s going to kill you!” Cyla grunted, her eyes trained on the half-naked man. Something inside her seemed to calm her and almost strengthen her.

“I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” she said. “Besides, as you said, he’s almost as strong as you. It’ll take both of us to take him down.” Bug looked up at the woman, trying to read the stony face.

“And then what?” she questioned softly. Cyla’s eyes flickered to her for a moment before returning to the rushing man.

“Another time, Bug.” Sword still at the ready in one hand, she fished into a pouch and pulled out a metallic whistle. Putting it to her lips, she blew as hard as she could when Luka was merely a foot or two away from them. An awful screaming noise erupted from the whistle, it sounded almost like a woman in dying pain. But Luka simply stopped in his tracks, growling and covering his ears. This was the whistle given to bounty hunters to deter shifters from civilians, the one the merchants had heard that night that felt so long ago. She was surprised to hear Bug crying out in pain as well. In her surprise, she turned to her friend to see her curled on the ground, her face twisted in agony.

“Bug? Bug, are you alright?” she asked, taking a step forward. Bug glanced up at her, sniffling. Then her eyes widened.

“Cyla! Watch out!” she cried, reaching out for her. Cyla spun around, her whistle dropping to the ground. With a yelp she blocked the thick forearm swinging down with her sword. She groaned as her knees started bending and she started leaning backwards. The man was so gone he didn’t even realize he was cut and bleeding heavily from his arm, he simply pushed harder. The deterrent tool only seemed to have served to make him angrier. He growled and threw another punch. She fell, narrowly missing the punch to her side, and scrambled backwards. Bug suddenly stepped into the space vacated and threw her shoulder into his side.

Luka lurched back, giving the women the space they needed to regroup. Bug jumped toward the man, fists flying about his head and torso as she danced about him. Cyla dug into another pocket of her cloak and pulled out a silver ball about the size of a plum. “Move, Bug!” she called seconds before hurling it at Luka. Bug barely jumped away before it impacted with his exposed chest. A burst of silver dust flew about him for a split second before slamming back into him, absorbing into his skin.

“What was that?!” Bug asked, face slack in confusion as Luka stumbled to one knee. Cyla rushed up to him and slammed the butt of her sword into his face. He collapsed backwards; his breathing heavy as he lied there unconscious.

“It’s a power bomb,” Cyla answered, cautiously checking Luka’s vitals. “They were made by the guild for us to use when our contract is stronger than us—which is usually all the time. It seals away their supernatural side for a time and renders them as ordinary as a human.” Bug watched dubiously as Cyla grunted and barely managed to roll the man onto his belly.

“Why were you so worried if you had that the whole time?” she asked while Cyla positioned Luka’s hands behind him.

“Because,” she grunted before standing up. She brushed her hands off and pushed her curls back. She sent a grin at Bug. “Even if I had been able to use it the first moment, he’s still a giant of a man and would have easily overpowered me. He needed to be weakened first, and for that to happen I needed both of us to work together. Honestly, I wasn’t sure you would be all that willing to help me.” Bug grinned ruefully and shook her head. She straightened the tattered remains of the red silky dress, using a scrap to wipe the blood smears off her face.

Bouncing over she pecked Cyla’s cheek. “How could I not rush to defend this gorgeous face?” Cyla felt it in her belly first before the surprising sound of laughter erupted from her lips. It had been forever since she laughed, it felt so foreign. The stress of the last few weeks must have been getting to be too much for her.

“Ah, Goddess! Bug James, sometimes you are too much.” Cyla shook her head playfully while the vampire grinned ear to ear. “I left my stuff back at the trees. Can you fetch it for me? Then we’ll make a plan for what to do with Mr. Luka Pela here.” Bug winked at Cyla before skipping away.

Cyla bent and applied her bodyweight to Luka’s arms as she waited for the rope in her bag. Out of nowhere there was a soft thud behind her.

“Bug?” she called, turning. Bug was laying on the ground in a heap. “Bug!” The words had barely left her lips before there was a thump between her shoulder blades. Cyla blinked her eyes as the world started to spin and blur. Her legs weakened and she started to fall.

As her head hit the ground, everything went black.