Chapter 28

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Ewoden

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The notion of active resistance within the human population of Nosgoth had been dismissed as impossible within the ranks of the Sarafan Army. They were the saviours of humanity after all, the great imperial knights that stood against the vile blood suckers. Anyone, human that is, that opposed them their church proclaimed heretics and sinners and they were as fair a game as vampires. Still, that said for their arrogance, the Sarafan were not stupid. Their patrols marched through the streets of Willdendorf regularly, six at a time all armed to the teeth and in full armour. With the mass majority of their army up in the north fighting against the Clans, the Order hierarchy feared even a small rebellion within the city itself.

By now the city province was just as well protected as the capital, Meridian had been. While Willendorf was not as large as Meridian and they had lost the use of the technology reliant on the glyphs, they had done well in the cities fortification. Around the outside of the island within the lake of Serenity there was now a gigantic stone wall at least two hundred foot high and protected on all sides by a rows of cannons. The bridge leading from the island to the mainland and the city there was now the centre point for a large garrison, built so quickly the people were certain magic's had been involved in it's construction.

The moon had not yet risen and it was due to be full tonight. This would be a night were the Seroli would finally move out of the shadows they had concealed themselves for so long. After the destruction of Stahlberg it soon became clear that the Order wished all non-humans to die, Vampire and Werewolf alike. Passive no aggression may have worked in previous ages, but not in such a time.

Ramak, the eldest of the Seroli Smiths, had not made the decision to go to war with the order lightly. But he had seen what had happened when the Sarafan marched into their town. They attacked without warning and without mercy. They cared little whether so they caught was a werewolf or not. Anyone captured was brutally tortured before being impaled. Forced to flee, the Seroli had taken shelter in the ruins of an old kingdom north of town and from there they watched.

Their homes, the entire town was burnt to the ground and in their place; a fortress of dead impaled stood as a message. A message of hate and great evil, masked as righteousness. It was then they knew their comfortable existence in the folklore of mankind had come to an end. If they were to survive, the Werewolves would have to take a far more active role in events being played out.

"Ah my dear Master-Smith, what brings you to my chamber at this hour?" The Princess Alicia of Willdendorf asked as the ancient called the castle wall and climbed over the edge of the balcony outside the window. The full moon was due to rise over the horizon in an hour, the white glow of its light already highlighting the row of rooftops outside the window.

"Our operations begin tonight." He told her. The way he spoke was most amusing to watch. His features had evolved to include a lupine snout and fur running down from the back of his head. The master-smith spoke with human lips that arched up into a snout half way so his words came out with short howls on the end of his sentences. The Princess stood there in the elegant clothing of a woman of nobility, her arms folded behind her back and a short smile across her unblemished face.

"And with that I wish you the best of luck." She smiled faded a little. "You do know that if caught, I expect your agents to die before giving any information. And if they survive capture, I will see to it they die before questioning." Ramak remained motionless, his flaxen yellow eyes latched on her like fishing hooks.

"Of course." The master-smith began after a brief moment of silence.

"When what is the reason for the visit?" She asked sitting back down on at the chair neck to the table.

"I wish to know if there has been any word from Vorador and the Cabal?" He asking watching her movements carefully. She was the daughter of a high ranking Sarafan collaborator after all. Even if she claimed she despised him, her allies would be most unwise to trust her.

"The last messenger reported that the vampire and his network still lives, despite being driven from their hiding hole." Alicia replied. "I know not where they have set up their operations though." She looked up at him coyly. "But the Cabal sect in this city should be enough for your operation tonight. I hope to hear of it in the morning reports." Ramak managed a short smile, showing several of his sharp teeth.

"One way or another, you'll hear of it." With that he turned and lanced out the window vanishing as if he'd never been there.

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Ewoden was inexperienced, a fledgling by Seroli standards. The wolf within had taken full hold and he was now one of them, but still he required training. This was why Obelisk had taken him here tonight, to this deserted warehouse on the edge of the docks south of the main citadel. By now, the other wolves would already have started their operation and he would like to have gone with then, but at present his obligation lay here. He was the one after all who passed on the Lupine curse to the former knight.

Obelisk stood there with his arms crossed, watching was Ewoden stood there before him in the moonbeam coming down through a broken hole in the warehouse roof. As the light from the full moon fell upon him, the former knight underwent the transformation.

"The only thing you have to fear from the lupine form is the animal side." Obelisk told him flatly as fur began running down Ewoden's back; a thick bushy tail sprouting out the end. "It is basic survival instincts that are present in all humans magnified by the light of the moon. It can be overcome with force of will." Ewoden's fists clenched and unclenched as his sides before thick claws began lancing out from the ends of his fingers one by one. "Remember, the wolf was a part of you since the moment you were born. Its form here is just a manifestation of a repressed part of yourself, ravenous and wilful after so long an imprisonment. But like any dog it can learn obedience." Ewoden's nose pushed outwards as it twisted into a snout. All the while his overall size had steadily increasing, the muscles under the skin and fur tightening and steady growing in strength. Before the transformation could complete itself however, the former knight seemed to loose his nerve. He threw himself out of the light and into the shadows. Instantly the fur and extra mass just seemed to evaporate and he was left human again.

Obelisk shook his head in disappointment. "If you show fear before a wolf the first thing it's going to do is attack you. The same rule applies to the beast within. Unless you tame it, it will tame YOU." Ewoden hoisted himself off his knees, his bare back dripping with sweat. The scars he now bore from his stay in the Sarafan garrison stood out in the semi light.

"I am not a dog trainer." He stated with a hint of anger in his voice.

"You don't need to be." Obelisk replied. "Everyone has an animalistic side they restrain. Holding it back is not a problem, but controlling while outside its prison is another matter." He tossed Ewoden a piece of clothe to mop up his sweat with. "We'll try again in a moment, only next time try to remember that you are not fighting against a creature trying to claw its way out from the inside. It's your own animalistic impulses you're struggling against." Ewoden wasn't listening. He sat there on the warehouse floor catching his breath, his thoughts turned once more to Sally. Where was she? Right now, he would trade the entire world to see her again.

The last time he had glimpsed her face had been in battle against the Sarafan army and their shadow creatures that attacked Vorador's estate. Yet someone he knew she was alive. Perhaps it was all the connection they shared with the Whisper could do while he was confined to the city; just reassure him she was alive. More than once he had considered simply running from the city and once beyond the influence of whatever kept magic from working, he would use a translocation spell to travel away to her. But he could not do that just yet. For now, the knowledge of her safety would have to do.

He had tasted the meat of a Sarafan guard during the last full moon and relished in it. What if next time he adopted wolf form it attacked an innocent, or a child? He could not live with the mere thought let alone the possibility. He had to learn how to control it and the Seroli were the only ones who could offer him training. For now, the knowledge of her safety would have to do.

"Now then, step into the light." Ewoden shuddered, took a deep breath before doing as Obelisk said and advancing once more into the moon light. As soon as his skin was under its touch, the familiar feeling of strength and power began pulsing through his veins. "Remember now, you are the one in charge; not the beast." Most of Obelisk's words were lost as the gnawing began. Ewoden could feel it start within the back of his head, a buzzing sensation that soon grew into a pounding as the animal within struggled to be free. Ewoden himself barely even noticed the physical changes he was going through, his efforts were concentrated completely on the wolf inside.

Forcing himself to remember that the think clawing at the inside of his head was not separate but another part of his overall self, Ewoden looked at in a different light. Instead of seeing a beast, he pictured a mirror version of himself. That image it seemed was easier to picture than a wolf and far easier to fight against.

"Good, good. You're almost there. Now, remember. The beast within is not to be completely restrained. Do so and you will be bound utterly by your human instincts. You will not survive for a moment in battle if you are."

Ewoden stared once more at the man inside his head, the forced image of his animal side and saw that it was not the evil he thought it was. A wolf was no more evil than men, even less so. It killed, slew and fed upon flesh because that was how it lived. It was simply instincts nature created to help animals survive. Ewoden stood before it within the space of his mind, before offering a hand forward. The man glanced at it briefly, offer offering his own forward and the two met in a handshake. "Yes, that's it boy!" Obelisk's exclamation brought Ewoden back to reality and he found himself changed. He was now over seven foot tall and covered in ginger red fur, his legs warped to become bi-pedal. His nose lay out before him in a canine snout, the end thick wet and black. He could feel the enlarge fangs in his mouth as his tongue lashed over them. "How does it feel?" Obelisk asking glancing up at him with a wide smile. Ewoden staggered backwards in sheer surprised and stepped out of the light, dropping down from his wolf form to normal.

He sat there breathing hard, eyes wide with utter astonishment. "Takes a little getting used to, but believe me you'll get it eventually." Obelisk sat down beside him, reached into his animal skin armour and withdrew a small brown bottle. It was the same substance Ral had passed him earlier, the bizarre culmination of various alcohols that produced an elixir guaranteed to put hair on the tongue. It tasted like a sword blade and gave you one hell of a hangover, but the stuff did help settle the stomach after transformations. "Remember, do not fight completely against the beast, instead channel it's aggression at those who seek to harm you. Feeding on your enemies would lessen it's hunger for the hunt." Obelisk stated, taking a swig from the bottle himself. Ewoden shook his head, a few drops of sweat flying from the ends of his hair.

"I could never willingly do that." He stated. Death, killing especially he was used to. He was used to it. During his time with the Original Sarafan Order he had learned how to accomplish violent acts and think nothing of it. Yet tearing someone apart with bare claws and then eating the meat was something he doubted he would ever be able to get used to. "I just couldn't."

"And why not?" The larger man asked raising an eyebrow in his direction. The former knight paused, before turning back.

"Because it's wrong that's why." He stated. While his believes old and new were being twisted desperately to try and weld, a single gut feeling told him that was one truth he could cling onto it. Obelisk let his head roll back and he burst out laughing. Ewoden glared at him, irritated that the Seroli smith found it so amusing.

"Anthony had the same moral code you do." He stated as his chuckling died away, leaning back against the wall.

"Anthony?" Ewoden repeated. Then the memory clicked and he remembered that was the same of the vendor he and Sally had bullied into taking them down to see the Seroli, right before Obelisk interrupted them. "Well, he lived to a ripe old age didn't he?" The larger man sat there in silence for a while.

"Aye, he did." Obelisk finally replied. "But he never left the town. He never met with any Sarafan patrols. Not all of us can be so confined. I guess he learned the hard way." Ewoden looked up.

"He's dead isn't he?" Obelisk just nodded and then he leaned forward and shot the former knight a glare. His eyes were full of hurt and pain but rimmed with anger.

"He died impaled on a stake because they fear those who are different. Vampires simply provide an excuse for them to vent their frustrations and often jealous'. Perhaps in a perfect world we can all be like Anthony, but this ISN'T a perfect world. So let me tell you something." He stood up and walked towards the beam of moonlight. "It's not about right, it's not about wrong." He paused and looked back. Ewoden could see that his eyes had changed to a flaxen yellow. "It's about survival." Without another word he stepped into the light and fur instantly began growing…