Enter the Frey

Chapter 15

“Go on, tell us,” Darian groaned. “What are we doing next?”

“Oh, you are going to love this,” Ziel chuckled, shaking his head as he re-read the clue.

“Come on, please,” Adam sighed. “Just tell us already.”

“Destroy the werewolf pack in the next town over—kill every last one,” Ziel read. “No room for ambiguity with this one.”

“Well, can we at least get a good night’s sleep and something good to eat before we go hunting?” Aim asked.

“No way,” Ziel cried. “I feel like we’re finally getting somewhere!”

Looking down, Ziel realised he’d been holding the severed hand of the princess since grabbing it and slicing it off. The fingers hand begun to harden into talon grasp with rigor mortis. He had to peel it off to throw it away, flinging it by the finger into the bushes as though it were a piece of trash.

He could sense the disappointment emanating from his team but looking back at their sad, blue-tinted faces, he felt no guilt. They were only there to aid him in his goal—not to become his lifelong friends and companions. He didn’t care if they despised him so long as they elevated him to where he needed to be.

“I’m so hungry and tired,” Aim complained meekly, “And there’s an entire castle full of food just sitting there.”

“Let the villagers have it,” Adam said. “I still can’t believe she killed the serving girl. I’m so mad.”

Ziel noticed the rippling sparks of white-blue energy radiating from the elf-boy and took a few steps back. He wasn’t afraid the boy might accidentally kill him—for he wasn’t susceptible to the elements. It would hurt though. A lot. He’d fought an elemental wizard in the past and didn’t wish for a repeat performance from a kid who could barely control his flow of mana.

“Living a life tied to her peasant husband will be a worse punishment for her than any death you could dish out,” Ziel pointed out. “I don’t imagine he’s going to take it easy on her.”

“She’ll be woken by the rooster every morning at first light,” Aim said. “And have to feed and tend all the animals on the farm before eating herself. Food she will have to make and also serve to her husband.”

“I don’t know who I feel more sorry for!” Jack cried with laughter.

Aim giggled as she slunk over and looked up at Ziel through her thick lashes. “Just one day where we aren’t potentially getting ourselves killed? That’s all I ask of you. Just one day.”

Ziel had to admit she looked tired. A quick scan of the other team members revealed she wasn’t alone. They were worn out. Mentally and physically exhausted. Maybe they would perform better after a rest.

“I promise we will find somewhere comfortable in the next town to rest up, okay?” he looked down at Aim. “Happy?”

“Yes, thank you, oh great one,” Aim bowed before him, “Your generosity is much appreciated.”

He wasn’t quite sure if she was being serious or sarcastic. Aim was an odd creature. One minute she was acting as though she adored him, the next she was pining after Adam or whoever else moved into her field of vision. A butterfly of a woman, flitting from man to man whenever the wind took her.

Selena, on the other hand, was clearly falling hard for Adam. Ziel knew he could put a stop to it. If he ordered it, Selena would be unable to speak to, or even look at the beautiful elf, let alone pursue him. It was something to consider if their relationship ever became a hindrance to the mission. The mission was the only thing that mattered.

Until then, he was happy to let them have their flirtatious little moments.

The path to the next town was long, winding and surrounded by woodland that was becoming thicker the closer they got.

“Shall we cut through the woods?” he suggested, becoming bored of the beaten path.

“Isn’t that where the werewolves are?” Aim asked, face drawn into a pensive frown.

“We have to face them at some point,” Ziel shrugged. “I wonder how large they are.”

“They come in different sizes?” Adam asked. He sounded afraid, which was curious since werewolves did not exist back in his homeworld.

“Oh yes, there are several types. The grey-wolves are the largest but not as nasty as the hybrids. They will tear you apart before you know you’ve been spotted,” Ziel warned him.

“Wow,” Adam said. He made an odd, whistling sound with his mouth. “Werewolves are real. Who knew?”

Ziel laughed. The mixture of foreboding and excitement in the boy’s voice suggested someone in his world knew about werewolves. The legends and stories of his world had likely seeped over from this one. How accurate they were… that would remain to be seen. Maybe Adam would prove slightly more useful on this mission.

The light of the day had almost dwindled out by the time he arrived at the edge of town, feet tired and eyes heavy. His promise to find refuge as soon as reaching the town had worked out in his favour. The others would be grateful, and he would get to rest—a win-win situation

With the advantage of high ground, Ziel could look down upon the entire town. It was relatively small, consisting of less than fifty houses and had little in the way of a commerce centre. One small shop and a tavern were the only non-residential buildings Ziel could find. Maybe they would end up sleeping rough after all.

A bell sounded as the group entered the tavern, altering the young barmaid to their presence.

“Out of towners?” she smiled, “We don’t get many of you lot here.”

As she spoke, the woman stared openly at Ziel’s horns, Selena’s skin and Adam’s… everything. Her eyes lingered on Adam for longer than made him comfortable.

“We don’t want any trouble,” she said, “We stay out of the war in these parts.”

“We are doing the same,” Darian assured her. He was the most familiar being and the best to speak up their defence. “Just a band of unlikely heroes trying to do some good in the world.”

“I’m Caris,” The woman smiled, warming to Darian. She offered him her hand. “My family owns the house at the top of the hill, you probably passed it on your way in. We have plenty of spare rooms if you need a place to stay?”

“That would be lovely,” Ziel smiled at her. The smile she returned was hesitant and awkward, making him wonder if his own had been at all creepy. People were always complaining about his creepy smile. And by people… he meant Aim.

The girl closed up the empty bar, grabbed a basket of leftover bread sandwiches and led them into the night. Animal sounds echoed from the woods, making the girls—and Adam—jump and gasp.

“Is that?” Adam asked.

“It’s just dire wolves,” Caris was quick to comment. “Of course, you will have heard the rumours. I can assure you there is no truth in any of it.”

“I hope you’re wrong,” Ziel muttered to himself.

The house seemed to groan as they pushed the door inward. Floorboards creaked as they tramped across the foyer and entered the living room.

“I’m sorry it’s so cold,” Caris explained, “My family are away, and we can’t afford to heat the place with nobody here.”

She circled the room, lighting up the lamps before placing a pile of logs on the fire. It took her a couple of attempts to light it but once she did the others surrounded the fire, warming their hands.

Small crackles and pops sounded from the wood as it turned from brown to glowing red and finally to blackened ash. Ziel stared into the flames, transfixed by memories of his childhood. He’d grown up behind enemy lines—trained by people who hated and feared him to destroy his own kind. Once they’d tired of trying to control him, they had tried every way they could conceive of to destroy him, including death by fire.

One day he would stand on the neck of the b***h who had raised him—and she would regret creating a monster. That day was coming around fast, sooner still if he could get started on this mission.

He looked away from the fire to find the others helping Caris prepare food and beds. Aim was loaded up with bedsheets and the others were setting the dinner table.

“I can’t find the cutlery,” Adam shouted from the kitchen.

“Oh, we can’t afford silverware,” Caris said. “There are wooden spoons and bread for dipping.”

Adam laid out the spoons, smiled as Caris passed him and then ran over to Ziel.

“No silverware?” Adam whispered into his ear. “Does this ring any alarm bells?”

“Huh?” Ziel asked. “What do you mean?”

“Werewolves? Silver?” Adam asked, eyes wide in question.

Ziel shrugged, not quite sure what Adam was getting at.

“You don’t know that werewolves are allergic to silver?” Adam asked.

“What?” Ziel asked. “That’s… I mean… how would you even know? They don’t exist in your world.”

“Because we have movies,” Adam gaped, sounding the statement as though it were a question.

“What’s a movie?” Selena asked, joining them at the fire.

“Oh,” Ziel said. “It is like a theatrical play but they watch in on a flat little screen that sits in the corner of their living room.”

“Oh, like remote viewing?” Selena asked.

“Yes, exactly. Sort of,” Ziel frowned. He wasn’t exactly sure what sort of magic they used in Adam’s world. He’d only been there a couple of times and both were incredibly confusing.

“I thought your world had no magic?” Selena questioned Adam.

“It doesn’t,” he replied. “It’s just technology. You record stuff, store it as information and use a device to play it back.”

“That sounds like some dark magic to me,” Selena frowned. “I don’t think you should mess with forces like that.”

Adam laughed at this but quickly smothered it when he saw Selena’s hurt look.

“Honestly? You don’t know about werewolves and silver?” Adam asked again, looking at them as though they were all stupid children.

“You’re telling us the first person we happen to meet just happens to be the werewolf? It cannot be that easy,” Aim said.

“The scroll implied there were several wolves to destroy,” Jack pointed out. Rightfully so. Were the other inhabitants of the house also suspects?

“No,” Darian gasped. “You don’t suspect Caris? She’s… well… she’s lovely.”

“The fact you like her doesn’t prove her innocence,” Ziel told him.

“And Adam’s hunch doesn’t prove she is guilty,” Darian shot back before leaving them to help Caris bring the pot of stew over to the table. She smiled, saw their suspicious looks and faltered.

“What’s wrong?” she questioned.

“Nothing at all,” Darian said quickly, smiling like a mad man. He made eye contact with the others, silently willing them to keep their theories to themselves. “This looks wonderful. Thank you.”

“Yes, thank you,” the others chimed in weakly, smiling at their host with false, hesitant faces.

Ziel didn’t have the time for the façade. He wanted to get on with it. Every second wasted was a second the world was suffering in a war that could be over. Darian must have sensed what Ziel was about to do as he flashed him a pleading look, shaking his head from side to side.

Ziel ignored it.

“Are you a werewolf?” he asked Caris.

Here face flinched and twitched as she let out a hollow laugh and told them not to be so ridiculous.

“Okay, you won’t mind if I test you with my silver knife then?” Ziel smirked. The test wasn’t even necessary at this point. He could spot a lie as easy as eat or breathe.

“H—how dare you,” she stuttered, backing away from the table. “I’ve invited you into my home and shared what little have to feed you and you throw these wild accusations at me?”

With an indignant grunt, she turned and fled. Darian stood, knocking his wooden chair to the ground as he sped off in pursuit of the angered were-woman. Ziel had the feeling he wouldn’t catch up but wasn’t particularly bothered about losing the bonus teammate. Saving Darian was something he’d done on a whim. It wasn’t as though he regretted it, but the warrior hadn’t brought anything to the table that he couldn’t live without.

Aim slammed her spoon down onto the table, making Ziel jump.

“You couldn’t have waited until we’d eaten and slept? Or even just until we’d eaten? Really?” Aim cried.

Ziel gave her the death stare as a warning but didn’t reprimand her for her tone. She had a point. He could have waited. Now they would have to drag their growling stomachs and sleep-deprived minds into the night to fight an unknown number of assailants. It had been a bad move on his part, not that he would ever admit it. His impatience had gotten the better of him once again.

“Oh, can’t we just eat? I’m sure Darian has it covered,” Jack asked, forcing Ziel to use the death stare once again. He rose from the table and indicated for the others to follow, much to their obvious and over-the-top disappointment.

The cold night air filled Ziel’s lungs as he ran in the direction of the noise and footsteps. He had a fair estimate on their location and could sense the presence of a large group residing in the same general direction. He breathed deeply, letting his body adjust to the cold. Looking back at the other, seeing their shivering gooseflesh, Ziel guessed they didn’t have the ability to adjust so efficiently, but there was little he could do about that.

He stumbled over a fallen tree, almost lost his footing, and looked up to see a dazzling array of floating yellow lights. As his eyes adjusted, he realised they were eyes, all pinning him down with fiery rage. In the centre stood Caris—still human-shaped, and Darian.

“Leave us be,” Caris spoke for her wolve-shaped family. “We mean you no harm. We only prey on animals.”

“Can’t do that I’m afraid,” Ziel shrugged.

“We’ll tear your friend apart if you make a move,” Caris warned. Her words were strong. Confident. But her eyes were pleading. She so clearly didn’t want to hurt Darian.

“It won’t save you. It will only anger my team,” Ziel warned. “I can assure you; you are all going to die tonight. I can make it quick or I can make it agonising.”

Ziel took a step forward, noting how they fell back, twitching their fur and whining. Like animals, they had heightened senses. They knew what his transformation would look like, and they cowered at the thought.

“But why?” Caris cried. “We’ve done nothing to you! We’d not harm you. All we want to do is live out our lives in peace, away from the fighting.”

“Honestly, I don’t have answers for you. But the Ight demands your destruction so destroy you I must,” Ziel told her.

“Stay back!” she screamed as Ziel approached. The wolves grasped at Darian, claws taught against the veins in his neck. He didn’t want to lose Darian, but it was a sacrifice that might be necessary.

To transform, all Ziel had to do was will it. He breathed the air from his lungs, relaxed his entire body and let himself become something else. Something bigger. Something with a more expansive mind as well as a larger form. He could see everything from his vantage point. He saw how the girl Caris pulled Darian away from the grasp of her brothers and from the monstrosity about to devour them. She whisked him away just in time, with a speed that exceeded her transformed friends.

Ziel moved slowly, thoughtfully, scooping up every one of the wolves in his large hands and squeezing. At least…to him it was slow. For them, it was over in less than a fraction of a second. The speed of their demise was the closest thing to mercy he could offer, given the circumstances.

When he shrank back to original size the others were looking at him abject horror.

“Di—did you just… kill… Darian?” Aim stammered.

“No,” Ziel scowled. “What do you take me for? He’s fine. The woman rescued him.”

A chorus of relieved sighs sounded from his team. They shuffled, looking at each other with strained expressions. None of them seemed to want to voice whatever was on their minds.

“What?” Ziel asked.

“Did you kill them all?” Jack queried at last. “Because the next clue hasn’t appeared.”

“Well… Caris got away with Darian,” Ziel said. “She wasn’t transformed but she’s probably one of them.”

He saw the looks on their faces. Their mouths agape with helplessness, shaking their heads with the pained realisation of what had to happen.

Ziel did not wait for them. They wouldn’t want to watch and may even try to stop him. In his other form, with the benefit of added height, he’d seen the direction Caris had dragged Darian. To the east. Toward an old crumbling shack in the thicket.

The door swung inward with a creak and fell off its hinges slightly as it collided with the wall. The sound of breathing and heartbeats led Ziel to the centre of the room. He whipped away a faded rug, coughed away the dust and pulled up the trapdoor.

Two terrified faces stared up. He reached down and grabbed one of them by the front of her dress.

“No, please don’t!” Darian cried.

He clambered from the hideaway and grabbed at Ziels arms.

“Please. Please,” Darian begged, falling to his knees. “She’s not bad. She’s never hurt anyone.”

“I don’t make the rules,” Ziel said. It was a weak defence, and he felt stupid saying it but there was nothing else he could say. The scroll said to kill every last one. It had to be done.

“This is awful!” Darian cried. “If his shard of the Light wants innocent people to be slaughtered then maybe we are better off without his aid. We could just go home. We don’t HAVE to do this!”

“You don’t have to,” Ziel said. He could feel the woman squirming against his grip. Feel her rapid heartbeat and her fear and her sweat. With a flex of his fingers, he severed her spine, killing her instantly. “I do.”

Ziel let the body fall to the ground with a gentle thud. As he turned to leave the shack, he felt a hand around his ankle.

“Let me go home,” Darian whispered.

Ziel sighed.

“No,” he said, pulling his foot away.

“Follow me,” he commanded. Seeing the others gather outside of the small building, he added. “All of you.”

They followed in silence. He could feel them judging him. Hating him.

If he had to be the bad guy to get this job done, so be it.