Dark Moon Brother
Part Seventeen
"Beloved, wait for me"
Wolf had always excelled physically. He was strong, swift and could run for miles without even a break. But the mile or so he covered now seemed to stretch itself endlessly in the dark. He heard vaguely the sounds of his older brother Willem pounding gamely along in his wake, but he soon outdistanced him. His eyes glowed the hunting red, lighting up the trail as if it were bright daylight. The trees were shifting, creaking and he heard the worried calls from the sprites and pixies as they clung to the swaying branches.
"Hurry, hurry, Master Wolf!" they shouted as he went by. "She is hunted!". Wolf didn't stop to listen, but lifted up his head now, sounding out the ancient warning howls of his kind.
"Danger! We are attacked! Come together! Come to ME!" he howled. Far away, he heard the answers, one by one as the alarm was spread.
"We hear you! Wait for us!" they howled back in response. But Wolf had no intention of waiting for back up. He burst out onto the newly formed avenue leading to the farm, just as the baying of the werewolf sounded once more, and then, most horribly, he heard her scream. It made his blood run cold, that scream. It was one of defeat, the voice of someone who looked death in the eye. He leapt a fence on the run, hearing now the werewolf, snarling, making a great commotion, and unbelievably, the sounds diminishing as if it were moving away at great speed. He heard it yelp as if in pain, but by the time he skidded to a halt outside the front yard, it had disappeared over the fields, still snarling and whining, heading back to the forest. He sent a silent plea that his brother would not meet with the thing, but then all thought and hope vanished as he saw what lay upon the doorstep. He staggered, lurching, as he made his way forward up the path.
She was dead. She had to be. No one could be that pale and still live. He fell to his knees in front of her. He heard a tiny sound, like wind whistling through trees. A small blood stained bubble of air formed on her lips, growing larger as she exhaled raggedly. He held his own breath while she struggled to take hers. Her knelt and put his ear to her chest. It was there! A heartbeat, weak, rapid, but it was there!
"Oh no, Lucian" said a voice behind him and he knew his brother stood there. A cold, measured calm settled over Wolf, and a true lupine awareness flowed through his mind. Time to act, time to regroup. The emotional fallout could be dealt with later. He turned and gestured to his brother.
"Quick, get this door open. We need to get her inside first of all" he spoke sharply and was grateful when he saw his brother put aside his all too obvious doubts. Another two figures appeared out of the night, the half-wolf couple Stephen and Elsie. They took in the scene with horror filled eyes.
"We told the younger ones to stay with their cubs, get them to safety. A horrible thing roams the forest, Wolf. We saw it. It seemed to be wounded, but we did not dare pursue it. This thing is huge, a monster wolf. We have come, but are we too late?" said Elsie, kneeling down to survey the wreckage of Virginia's body. Straight away she put her hands to the most obvious injury and the gushing blood flow slowed at once, but Virginia did not stir even under the agony that the pressure must be causing her. Willem ran around the back of the house and beat out the bathroom window with his fists and using Stephen's help, hoisted himself up and over the sill. Once inside, he ran to the front door and flung it wide, only then seeing the small dark shape of the cub huddled against it. The baby was up on it's feet immediately, heading for the opening, but Willem stooped to seize it as it ran past him. It snarled and spat like a wildcat, but went limp in his arms when Wolf looked up and spoke to his son.
"Be still, my cub!" he commanded. Wolf could barely restrain himself from leaping up and holding Caelum close to him, to comfort his son against the terror, but he couldn't take his focus away from Virginia, not now. He hoped Caelum would understand. He saw Willem checking the baby all over for injuries, and breathed a sigh of relief when his brother nodded to indicate that he seemed unharmed. Wolf noticed then the broken glass from the tiny window in the door and surmised what Virginia had done to protect their child. Brave girl, to keep her head under such conditions, he thought, proud of her efforts. Willem put Caelum down under a small side table, out of the way, as he came forward now, and, with Stephen's help, they lifted Virginia gently and bore her inside, Wolf and Elsie keeping their hands over the wounds as they laid her out on the floor before the fireplace. Wolf gestured with his head towards the row of lamps hanging on the wall and the other men got busy lighting them. Within a minute, the cottage blazed with light, and Wolf and the others could finally get a good look at what had been done to his mate. Elsie, keeping the pressure on, carefully peeled back the layers of shredded clothing, and a collective gasp of horror went through the room at what was revealed.
A long, curved gash was the main injury. It ran the full length of her torso, starting from just under her left breast, running diagonally across her ribcage and abdomen to end at her right hip. It gaped wide in places despite the pressure of it being held together and though it no longer gushed, blood still seeped from under the hands of Wolf and Elsie. The half-wolfs all stared at the wound in silence for a long moment. Being carnivores and hunters, wounds were one thing they knew well. They knew how to inflict them, and they knew just which one's would kill their prey. Some brought a quick death, which was the preferred outcome, but others made for a long, lingering dying. All four of them knew in their hearts that Virginia had received the latter type of injury. Elsie breathed deeply and cleared her throat to speak. Someone had to say it.
"Wolf" she began, but he interupted her.
"Don't say it!" he choked.
"I must, Wolf. She's dying. Nothing will stop it now. We all know this. No medic in this Kingdom can repair this damage. No potion or spell will undo it, or hold death at bay"
"No"
"Wolf, let me help her. I can make it quick, painless for her"
"No"
"Wolf, please..."
"YOU WILL NOT!" Wolf screamed as his whole world seemed to collapse about him. No no no, his mind was full of the word, the denial. He felt his brothers arms enclose him, smelt the salt of the tears around him and still he fought the growing realisation. He looked again at the wound. It was thin, narrow, as if made by a single talon, but it was deep. He could see the pale gleam of ribcage and the thin barrier of membrane that kept her intestines in place. They were right, in one respect. No medic from the 4th Kingdom could stitch all this back together, make her whole again. Surgery here was nonexistent. Most illnesses in the Kingdoms were of the metaphysical type, a curse or a trick played on you by another. People with injuries like Virginia's were usually allowed, or helped, to die, and that was especially true in half-wolf communities. His people had a strong affinity with the spirit world. Death was an accepted part of life, a risk everyone took when just leaving the den even. But, Virginia. No, he couldn't just let her go, not without a fight. She would want him to try, at least. He gazed over at the little gleam coming from his son's eyes as he watched from under the table. He breathed deep, the decision made. He would fight for her, snatch her back from the claws of death if needed. Claws. Claws had done this. Elias. No, not Elias. The werewolf had done this. Wolf wondered vaguely what he would do to his friend if he saw him again. But he couldn't think about things like that now.
He stared at his beloved mate once more, thinking hard. She was as pale as a sheet. Lost a lot of blood. The wound, it needed, stitching, a great deal of stitching, and soon. Into his mind popped the solution, and he recalled now, lying on the floor of Virginia's old apartment, watching the television as the white coated doctors sewed up an equally gaping wound. Of course! The 10th Kingdom doctors could do such things. He had thought it a miracle when he had seen it, but Virginia had shrugged it off as being a routine thing, an everyday occurance in the hospitals of her world. He would go there. Now. But he couldn't take Virginia. She was too fragile, too weak. The journey would kill her for sure. Only one other option. But he would plan for that when he was there. No time to lose, he thought, shaking his head and staring back at the other half-wolf's who sat patiently awaiting his decision.
"I am going for help. I know what can save her. But I will be some hours away from here" he said, and Elsie gasped aloud.
"Oh no, Wolf, please no. Don't make her wait that long for the end!". Wolf glared at her fiercely, using all the strength of his will to enforce his words.
"I will return with help. Until then, you will keep her alive! Do you understand me? All of you! I have not fought all my life long to let her go so easily now. She would not willingly leave her son! She deserves a chance". One by one they lowered their eyes in submission and Wolf said a silent prayer of thanks that wolfen people were still so attuned to following the orders of their superiors. They would obey. Almost at once. Elsie straightened and began barking orders to the other two men, calling for hot water, blankets, towels for bandages. When she had amassed a large supply of things she needed, she motioned for Stephen to take Wolf's spot in holding the gaping wound together. She turned to Wolf, her eyes still red, but determined now.
"Go, then, Wolf. Hurry, and bring back her chance" she said to him firmly, then turning her attention back to her patient. Wolf stooped to kiss Virginia lightly on the mouth. Her lips were cool and unresponsive and he tasted her blood on them. He knelt to whisper in her ear.
"Beloved, wait for me" was all he could bring himself to say. Choking back tears, he rose and went over to Caelum, who had not moved an inch from his hiding place. He bent to lift the boy into his arms, holding him close for a second before handing him into the arms of Willem.
"Look after them, my brother. Do for them what I could not do, for our parents" he murmured and Willem stepped back, his brown eyes filled with love and strength. He nodded briskly, and Wolf went to the door. He did not look back as he left. Willem called out after him.
"Take care, Lucian. That thing is still out there!" Wolf huffed in the darkness. The Goddess lend him the strength to destroy the creature should it cross his path tonight.
It was not an unpleasant sensation, floating. She felt weightless, less than a feather even. What a nice dream, she mused. She'd always wanted to fly. She'd spent many hours in silent envy at the winged elves and fairies as they flitted about. Wolf had teased her about it, when she told him one morning. He wanted his feet firmly on the ground at all times, he assured her. Wolf. Ah, yes, that was his name. Where was he anyway? He always turned up in the best of her dreams. She sighed, and opened her eyes. After just a second, she shut them again as the brilliance dazzled her vision. She was more cautious the next time, and through slitted lashes she beheld that she was in a very strange place.
It couldn't have been called a room, for it had no walls, and no ceiling either. An endless rainbow of colours swirled around her, forming patterns in thin air. She used her elbows to prop herself up a bit, seeing that she was lying on a soft pallet, completely nude. She looked down at herself, seeing a thin silver line of light coming from her chest. As she watched, it wavered and rippled, though there was no breeze to speak of. The line left her body vertically and stretched right up to the ceiling that wasn't there. Puzzled, she looked down once more, seeing then the long ragged tear that gaped open when she moved. It didn't hurt, but she didn't like the look of it much. Not a good thing, that.
She carefully stood up, seeing that the silver line moved along with her as she turned round and round in circles, trying to get a bearing on something solid. There was a faint hissing sound behind her, and she whirled to see an opening appear. It was round, and out of it shone the most beautiful divine white light she had ever seen. She took a step towards it.
"Do you really want to go there?" said a voice. It was familiar somehow. She knew it.
"Shaman?" she asked, turning her head from side to side. There, in the corner of her eye, the little figure stood, just as she had know her when she had been alive. Alive?
"You, you're dead" she blurted out.
"Yes. As will you be should you step through that doorway"
Wolf hauled himself up onto the back of the old pony, Jed. For once, the bothersome animal had stood patiently under his fumbling fingers as he had fashioned a makeshift bridle from the cart harness. It was true that he could run far, and fast, but even a wolf could be outdistanced by a running horse. The trick was to get the pony running in the first place, but Jed had proven himself unusally obliging tonight, setting a good pace as soon as he was let loose on the road outside the farm. In his own equine mind, anywhere heading away from the forest and the thing that roamed it now was a good move, so he had allowed the bad tempered, bloodstained half-wolf to head him towards the castle.
Wolf was in inexpert rider, preferring his own two feet usually, but he clung on gamely as the pony sped down towards the main road. At the far gate though, Jed shied violently, almost unseating him. He clung to the animals' mane, about to scold him, when he saw what the pony had swerved to avoid. James lay in the ditch next to the road. His body rested in an unnatural pose, the neck and spine all twisted so that he looked back over his shoulder, staring sightlessly into the night. Wolf shuddered and slipped down off the pony, taking care to hold the reins still as he went to the boy. He stooped and touched the place over his heart. Nothing. Gone. He reached to close the boy's eyes gently, seeing that he clutched in his hand the great wood axe, and it was stained with blood to half way up the handle. Wolf smelt of the blood, knowing it be from a foreign source, not the boy's own. So, he had wounded and driven off the werewolf. Brave boy, but he had paid for it with his life. Wolf said a silent lupine prayer over the body before climbing back on the skittish pony and turning his head towards the castle. Yet another thing to fall by the wayside in his mind. A thing to be dealt with later. If there was a later.
He continued full pace until the lights of the palace came into view. Jed was labouring hard, his sides blowing and covered with foam, but he held his head proudly as they came through the gates and thundered up the drive. Wolf slipped off, giving the pony a pat of thanks as guards and servants hurried forward.
"Take me to the King!" he ordered them.
"But, sir, the King..."
"I said NOW!" he shouted, and they gave way under his anger. Following his nose and ears, he ran along hall after hall, before coming at last to one of Wendells sitting rooms. By the sound of things, the naming day party was continuing well into the evening. Not that Wolf had much idea of what time it was anyway. He burst through the doors unannounced, and the music and laughter stopped abruptly when they saw the state of him. Wolf stared at Tony. All of a sudden, he found himself unable to speak to the man. What would he say anyway? How did one break such news? Tony, on the other hand, had taken one look at the grief stricken, blood stained half-wolf and had come to his own conclusions. He leapt out of his chair, straight at Wolf.
"Oh my God, what has happened? What have you done to my daughter? You monster!" he screeched, cuffing Wolf sharply across the face several times as others in the room fought to restrain him. Wolf all but collapsed under the onslaught, going down to his knees as Tony was hauled off him, still shouting. What had he done indeed? Well, everything but strike the fatal blow. Brought the monster to stay under their very roof, no less. Tony had every right to beat him, but he couldn't find the words to explain. Virginia's father had thrown off those that held him and rushed out of the room now, calling loudly for a horse, calling his daughter's name as he went. Wolf remained on his knees, partially stunned, only gradually becoming aware of someone speaking to him. Wendell, kneeling now as Wolf was, his hands firm on Wolf's shoulders, his tear streaked face begging for news.
"Tell me you did not do this!"
"No, not I" Wolf replied, gaining his focus again. "Wendell, turn out the guards! A monster runs loose in the 4th Kingdom tonight. One it has killed, another, another..."
"Virginia?"
"Yes. She lies bleeding, almost to the very death she is. But I am going for help, to the 10th Kingdom. There are people there that can help her, I am sure of it. Now, will you go to my beloved? See that she is comfortable, see that she waits for me! Others of my kin are there now. And please, explain to Tony?"
"I will. I won't fail you, Wolf. Go now, do this. I will have fast horses and carriages waiting here for you" Wendell said smoothly, trying to sound more confident than he felt. Wolf hugged him briefly, then he rose and left the now silent room, hearing as he went the King calling orders, raising the alarm. He came to the mirror room, hauling the young guard in with him as he flipped the catch on the Travelling Mirror. New York sprang into existence on the other side of the glass.
"I'm going through now. But you must leave the mirror on, do you understand? I'll be coming back through, most likely with another" he said to the guard, who nodded in agreement.
"G, good luck, sir" he said with a quavering voice. Wolf smiled at him gently, and the young man watched as his figure warped out of sight. He took a deep breath, glancing around the silent mirror room, and went to the window to watch the spreading alarm