Chapter Twenty Eight
Spurred into action by the urgency in Ludwig's voice, the trembling man rushed forward, grabbing his collar to stop himself from choking as he pulled the chain taut. Even more clattering echoed off the walls as all around them more weapons were hacking away at the chains.
"A-are they all with you?" he panted with the sheer effort, dull green eyes glancing upwards to Ludwig's determined face. The Relbiner nodded stiffly, grunting heavily as he swung one final time at the chain. The werewolf put his full weight into another pull, stumbling to the ground when the metal suddenly snapped. His high-pitched yelp made Ludwig flinch before helping him up. "Th-thank you … who are you?"
Ludwig just shook his head sharply. "No time, just help us break all these chains." Although clearly taken aback, the lean man nodded and ran towards his nearest neighbour. The dark-haired, almost feminine, man was snarling and lunging at Carlos – attempting to sink his teeth into the Baucan's arm.
"Longlimb! What is going on here?" he growled when the man Ludwig freed pounced and restrained him. Dark eyes narrowed distrustfully as he watched Ludwig rush past them and snapped his teeth at Carlos once more. 'Longlimb' bit his lip and shook his head apologetically and slowly began to release the Ichani.
"I don't know, Darkpelt." he admitted, failing to hide a flinch at the sound of two blades hacking at another chain. "But they're breaking the chains. I don't know about you but I'm going to help them! Maybe we can get away before the Handlers come, yes?" Carlos groaned impatiently as 'Darkpelt' seemed to hesitate.
"Hurry up and make a decision!" he snapped. "Even if you don't want freed then just tell me so I can help those who do!"
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On the Northern side, Gilbert's team had already attracted the Handlers attention. The werewolves had been very loud in their surprised howls. Inwardly he cursed as he shoved past two trainees. With a heavy grunt he drew his sword and slammed the pommel into another man's helm, not even glancing back as he crumpled to the ground.
Vaguely he wondered how West and his team were doing, but quickly shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. He had reasons for wanting to take the North rather than the South, and he needed to focus on them. As concerned as Gilbert was for Ludwig's well-being, he just had to trust in the younger man's ability to look after himself. Dark red eyes narrowed as he weaved through the hordes – he was looking for two people in particular whom he knew to be chained to the Northern Wall. These two were his priority for now – the others could be handled by his companions.
A familiar, distressed howl reached his ears and Gilbert skidded to a halt. It only took a second for him to catch sight of the ashen hair and smaller frame he had been looking for. He was being restrained by a Handler as another knocked a lad from Solace unconscious. Gilbert snarled and rammed into the man standing over his companion. Taking full advantage of the confusion he grabbed the other man's helm and slammed it into the wall. There was a dull thud behind him as an arrow embedded itself into the first Handler, who now lay motionlessly on the ground.
"You all right, Brighteye?" he asked carefully as the eyes which were too pretty and wide to be on a man's face gazed up at him in shock.
Slowly a bright grin spread across Brighteye's features and he gripped the Sauprisian's shoulder. "Better than I have been in a long time! I have to say … I never expected to see you again. Not after..." Gilbert halted him, holding up a hand and tightening the grip on his sword with the other.
"No time for that now. I'm back, we're breaking you all free, so help me snap this chain. Got it?" Gilbert's tone was sharp and he refused to meet the smaller man fully in the eyes. He hadn't thought it would be so difficult coming face-to-face with this one again. A sudden flame sparked behind the other werewolf's irises and his grin turned more feral and determined. It was a grin that sent an involuntary chill down the Sauprisian's spine. He removed the hand from Gilbert's shoulder and howled with excitement, moving until the chain was taut.
"From the day you were assigned to me, I knew you were going to do something great, Bloodgaze!" he exclaimed excitedly, gripping his collar so as not to choke. "I'll help you with the others once we break my chain!"
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It never ceased to amaze Ludwig just how swiftly things could descend into absolute chaos. His group had managed to break a good number of the chains before a blood-curdling howl came from 'Darkpelt' as the first of the Handlers made their appearance, pinning the Ichani to the ground and slamming the butt of his spear into the ground. He looked young, far too young. But the cold glare which he sent Ludwig's way was too harsh and dangerous to dispute.
Within seconds of that happening Ludwig and his companions were assaulted on all sides by men in heavy armour.
The ones whose charges had yet to be released took place near the werewolves. A few took the extra precaution of taking out a dagger, forcing their charge to the ground and forcing the dagger through a link near their head into the ground. Burying the blade almost to the hilt, making it practically impossible for the werewolves to free themselves.
While the members of Solace did their best at fighting off the Handlers, the freed werewolves had more difficulty. They may have been stronger and faster, but the long weapons they faced made it hard to get into range of their opponents so they could properly fight them.
Ludwig himself had already been cut several times from his blind-side. As such he had been forced to fall back until he ran into Berwald who could watch his back and still fight his own opponents. The man's determination and sheer skill on the battlefield made him formidable as he cut down Handlers left and right – roaring with fearsome intensity with each swing of his bladed staff.
The Relbiner was glad to have him on his side as Berwald hacked off the arm of a man who was ready to lunge at Ludwig's blind-side. Ludwig was far from useless, though. He swung his axe deftly, keeping most attackers at bay – occasionally catching someone on the shoulder or arm if they got too close. Just after he succeeded in slashing the chest of a young Handler with messy black hair and fierce hazel coloured eyes, Ludwig felt Berwald's shoulder bump him. "D'n't wear y'rself out. L'ts m're w'll come." he warned gruffly, to which Ludwig nodded in acknowledgement. He would try and take that advice on-board but it could end up being difficult.
"The ox is correct." Ludwig instinctively tensed, eyes widening as Gilbert's former Handler strode calmly into view. He was dragging Longlimb roughly by his hair, wearing a wide smile as beneath his other arm Katyusha walked. The woman was trembling, biting her lower lip to the point of bleeding. "You should be saving your strength for me, yes?"
Harsh purple eyes narrowed as Ivan's smile widened even further. "I was kind in letting you leave with my Sobaka, wasn't I? It is insulting that you now try to steal my Yagnenok from me as well. Not to mention … you attempt to use my beloved Katya against me?" With a heavy sigh and a shake of his head Ivan tightened his grip on his sister's shoulders, making her flinch visibly. "I would have let you leave with your life intact … but to use my sister in such a way? For that I'll make you pay, it is only fair."
Ivan chuckled and threw his captives off to the side. He strode over to Ludwig, easily blocking the axe with his metal pipe. He calmly lifted Ludwig's chin with the pipe and leaned down until their faces were bare milimetres apart. "But do not worry mal'chik. Your lyubovnik will not be long in following you to Teybor's side."
A/N: Okay, while I'll try and make them as long as I can, it's looking likely that the action-packed chapters may be kept fairly short, so that not too much is happening at once you know? Anyway I apologise for putting two sort-of-cliffhangers in a row, but if I didn't then this chapter would have ended up far too long and it would have taken forever to finish.
Anyway, I'm happy with how this one turned out. Hope you guys enjoyed it! And please let me know what you thought because I don't know how to take the relative silence from the last couple of chapters. I can't tell if it's a comfortable silence or a disappointed one. If it was out of disappointment then I'd be even more grateful if you could let me know what I could have done better!
Thanks for reading and I hope to get the next chapter out fairly soon as well!
Werewolves and Handlers so far
Tir Longlimb (Toris Laurinaitis, Lithuania)
Gan Darkpelt (Yao Wang, China)
Von Brighteye (Tino Väinämöinen, Finland)
Leon Wong (Hong Kong), China's Handler
Nikola Balakov (Bulgaria), the one Ludwig slashed across the chest.
Translations
Sobaka – dog/puppy
Yagnenok – little lamb
lyubovnik – lover
