Not All Heroes Are Guiltless

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The birds are chirping incessantly. My head feels like it’s about to explode. Pain ripples down my arm and legs, making my muscles sore. After a few moments, I realized my body was swaying in a rhythmic and unnatural motion. I open my eyes and quickly squint as the sun blinds me. I use my arms to shield them from the sun.

“Good afternoon, sleepyhead.” John says from somewhere above me. I sit up and let my eyes adjust to my surroundings. I’m lying *in a wagon with our supplies piled under me. The tarps of our tents are my mattress. I stretch and can feel every one of my body parts screaming out in agony.

I ignore their complaints and know I need to find out what happened after I passed out. I can see John clearly now, and he’s held the reigns on the long bench of the wagon. I stand rather wobbly but push myself to sit next to him. I look ahead of us and can see the second supply wagon. I turn my body and can see one of the two paddy wagons following us.

“John, how long was I asleep?” I say, licking my dry and chapped lips. John looks at me pitifully but reluctantly hands me his flask, and I gratefully accept it. I down all the contents in one strained gulp.

John watches with a whimper of regret but chuckles softly, “It’s been a full day. Captain Andrew warned me you might be out till tomorrow. It’s nice to see you up and about.”

I look at John, but he is already more focused on the small forest path we are traveling down. I have so many questions, and I nearly started to badger John with them when I realized he might not have any answer for me. He is one of our lowest ranked soldiers and is usually left at camp to guard our supplies when we are on missions.

“Sorry, John. My memory is a bit hazy. Are we safe?” I say trying to assess our location by trying to find some kind of familiar landmark. I was also hoping to see Andy, but he’s probably up ahead to communicate with our scouts if we are traveling.

“I don’t know if the word safe would qualify. We loaded up and are heading back to drop off. Left midday yesterday.” John says with a fake cheery smile. I know he’s hiding his true feelings. “The faster we can get the prisoners to Tolsen, the more beneficial the information.”

I nod my head. For the last five years, our job was to gather intelligence against the Bellarn army and then use that to push them out of the outlands and free ports. Redford has been growing stronger over the last hundred or so years by pushing Bellar out of our side of the continent. Making sure they keep to their corner across the mountains of Declan.

“How did we fair?” I swallow, looking at John with apprehension. My memory is still vivid to the c*****e created by the lupine.

“Only four of our dead. Several still nursing the scratches from the lupine. It’s not rabid. No one seems sick. He did go mad and slaughtered a good portion of his own men before we were able to engage with him, and they he shifted into his human form and started defending with a sword. It was nuts. Both you and him got knocked out. But he woke up last night and has been growling and scaring everything a good mile radius around us. He’s not too fond of his new collar either. He’s in his own wagon, and we had to use your horse because none of the other horses can mind with that beast in its carriage.” I listen closely to all the details, and I’m still shocked at the numbers. I figured it would be worse, and only four of ours died. John, obviously able to read my expression, added, “It’s ironic. The beast killed his own men and only injured ours. The four deaths were from fights outside of the beast.”

I concentrate on the words and try to analyze this lupine. When I fought him on top of the cliff, he never attacked me. Nor did he go after Andy. He didn’t even budge when I killed his own colleague in front of him.

Lupines are cursed, which my bloodline has held from eons. Well, there are several bloodlines. They cause the humanity of a person to slowly drain out into a carnal animal of rage and madness. The collar I wear keeps me sane against the sadistic pull of its dark promises.

However, this stranger has control over his dark impulses. In fact, John even said he attacked his own men. Was that because all the bloodlines were close to Redford, and he was protecting us? Or was he trying to intimidate us?

A notion hits me as I remember when he was fighting our men he was back in human form. He must have excellent willpower. Could he have killed his own men to protect their secrets?

“Princess, you look exhausted still, and your whimpering on every jostle is unsettling. Maybe you should get some more rest. I’ll wake you up when we break for camp.” John says, eyeing me with concern. I nod my head and climb back over into the cargo. I find a safe place to nestle in.

I’m still awake even an hour later. Questions flood my mind, and I’m nowhere close to finding answers.

What was the crystal Andy had?

Why did the lupine not attack us initially?

Was that vision an illusion?

How did he know about the name Delia?

What does Nadar mean?