Hunter of the Shadows Book 3
Enemy at the Door.
Chapter 19
Now…
Lucas suddenly sits up and stares at something out of shot. "They're here," he murmurs, then gets to his feet and walks away, motioning to his mate, Victoria.
Sam and Dean glance at each other, while the other wolves watch the Alpha's retreat expectantly.
"Arthur's with them," says Sam with a smile, and Dean nods.
"Yeah," he replies. "It'll be good to see the little tyke again."
A short while later, Lucas and Victoria reappear with a small, teenage boy clasped between them. The kid's limping slightly, despite his parents practically holding him up, and he ducks his head shyly when everyone makes a move to welcome him.
"Hey Arthur!" Dean lightly punches the boy on the shoulder. "Feeling any better, dude?"
Arthur blushes and nods. "Much better thanks," he says, quietly, but he beams at Sam and Dean, happily, and rubs his right thigh. "Just a little sore."
Sam nods. "Yeah, that's silver for you, huh?" he replies, and a look of sad understanding passes between them. "What you did was very brave, Arthur. Wish I could've seen it. We're all really proud of you."
The young pup ducks his head again, blushing furiously.
"Yes," the Alpha agrees, sternly, making a point. "It was very brave to disobey a direct order from your Alpha!"
Victoria glares at Lucas and he takes the hint because he relaxes and smiles.
"But Sam is quite correct," gone is the stern Alpha. In his stead, the father wraps his son up in his arms, then lays a kiss on the kid's scalp. "We are very proud of you. And I'm especially proud to call you my son."
"And so you should, you stubborn old bastard!" An authoritative voice booms across the camp from out of shot.
Tobius looks up at something beyond the camera, and grins from ear to ear.
"I was wondering when you two would show up," he says, and pours out fresh mead into two wooden mugs. "Sit yourselves down and we'll get you some food."
"You mean you haven't run out yet?" the voice is getting closer, until the newcomer appears in shot next to Tobius, his handsome face grinning just as widely as his brother's. "Miracles will never cease!"
Tobius shakes his head and laughs. "Just drink your mead and be quiet, Marcus."
"You see how he treats his brothers, Cas?" Marcus feigns shock and offence.
Another newcomer steps into shot, face serious, and looking terminally bewildered.
"Indeed," says Castiel, nods to Sam and Dean, and studies Tobius closely. There's a twinkle in his eye when he makes a suggestion. "I can call in the Sergeant-at-arms to arrest him if you wish, Alpha."
"Don't tempt me," Marcus growls, good-naturedly.
"You wouldn't," Tobius says, confidently. "And besides, this place is out of your jurisdiction."
Marcus swallows down a mouthful of mead then stares at his older brother.
"Perhaps, though I do have special reason for being here," he murmurs, then glances over at Dean and Sam. "This isn't just a social visit."
Tobius raises an eyebrow. "Oh really?"
The boys look worried and there's a strained silence around the camp.
"But enough of that," the Alpha of the Canadian Pack beams brightly round at everyone. "We'll talk about it later."
He glances over at the camera. "Ah, this would be Dean's famous video journal I've been hearing so much about."
"Yeah, we were recording the details of everything that's happened," Sam explains quietly, then looks down at his hands, fingers fiddling nervously in his lap. "I hope that's ok."
Marcus watches Sam for a moment, before nodding. "Yes, that's probably a good thing. It should be remembered and passed on, not just as part of pack history, but of Were history. The ones who follow us have a right to know what happened. And, of course, we must honour our dead."
He waves a hand towards the camera. "So, please. Do carry on."
Dean nods slowly. "In that case…"
Then…
To say we were stunned was an understatement, but I had the feeling the day was gonna be full of nasty surprises...
"This also arrived at the guardhouse," Castiel added, and the reason for the emphasis on 'arrived' became apparent when he held out a torn piece of parchment impaled by a silver tipped, blood stained arrow. "It took out young Petersen. He was a new recruit, fresh out of training and ordered to stay in the guardhouse for observation only, which, as you know, is supposed to be protected by specially reinforced glass."
From the narrowed eyes and tense shoulders Marcus was obviously fuming, but outwardly he remained calm and in control.
"What do you mean supposed to be?"
Fisher spoke up at this point. "My Lord, Crowley ordered the glass to be replaced last month. He claimed it was faulty so he arranged for an outside contractor to come in and change it."
Gone was calm and in control, because I honestly thought Marcus was going to hit the roof.
"What?" he roared.
Castiel smiled, grimly. "The Sergeant here is in no way to blame for this. He was only following Crowley's orders, and he was not aware that the wrong type of glass had been fitted."
Call me paranoid here, boys and girls, but I was guessing this was no mistake.
Marcus took a deep breath and inclined his head in acknowledgment, but gestured for the parchment.
Castiel gently removed the arrow and passed it over.
Unfurling the message, Marcus raised an eyebrow then showed it to Tobius, who shook his head in disgust.
"Yes, that's Crowley's sick sense of humour all over," he muttered, angrily. "And he always was terrible at rhyming poetry."
I pulled it out of his grasp and read it out loud.
Hey diddle diddle,
The pup was in the middle.
No way could I miss that shot.
Take cover young fools,
Or I'll run you through too,
By silver arrow or not.
"…Pup was in the middle…" I glanced around at everyone's pale, grim faces. "What that does that mean?"
The Captain cleared his throat. "It refers to where Petersen was standing when he was hit: inside the guardhouse, in front and centre of the window."
My eyes widened.
I knew for a fact that the tree line began around six hundred metres out from the walls. There wouldn't be much cover for anyone trying a direct attack, and for a longbow to manage that kind of range effectively was astounding.
"So it wasn't just a lucky shot," Sam whispered, fearfully.
"And I have the unfortunate duty of explaining to Petersen's family why we lost him on his first watch," said Marcus, slowly, eyes twitching with remorse and anger.
He glared at the parchment for a moment.
"Right, let's get to the walls," he said and nodded to Tobius. "We need some damage control."
"Just one thing," said Castiel, apologetically. "I don't suppose you managed to solve that email I sent you."
I shook my head. "Sam was working on it when you turned up. So far we've found nothing."
"Why did you encrypt it?" asked Sam. "If Crowley isn't here…"
"It's not encrypted," said Castiel, tonelessly. "It is the exact email I received from Giuseppe's cell phone the day he disappeared. But I do have reason to believe there is important information contained in that message somehow."
Sam nodded, thoughtfully. "Just give me a little longer."
"Yeah," I said, resolved to stay behind with Sam. "We'll come find you as soon as we know anything."
"Call my cell…" Sire began, but I stopped him right there.
"You're gonna have your hands full as it is," I explained. "Whether you're fully wolfed out on the battlefield or handling a longbow from the top of the walls, last thing you'll have time for is to answer the goddamned phone."
Sam and I looked like the picture of innocence, while Tobius regarded us both with narrowed eyes. He was clearly questioning our motives.
"Look, you don't want us involved in the fighting, I get that," I said, reasonably. "But if we find something in that message, something that could turn the whole tide of this battle, you'd want to know sooner rather than later, right?"
Before anyone could answer, a loud explosion ripped through the grounds, shattering what little peace and quiet was left in the wake of battle preparations. An instant later, we heard terrified screams, whimpers of pain, the sound of feet running and someone yelling for help.
Galvanised into action, Tobius, Marcus, Castiel, the Captain and the Sergeant sprinted outside, with Sam and I following on.
"Jesus Christ!" whispered Marcus, green, glowing eyes wide with horror.
A large chunk of the upper south wall was gone, leaving a jagged section of lower wall. Large lumps of stone littered the base and several poor souls were trapped underneath, struggling to get free. But some had been less lucky.
"This is bad," Sam whispered, taking in the carnage.
A wolfed out leg, still twitching, lay in a pool of blood to our left, and nearby lay the unfortunate owner's head, the snout brutally smashed in and half the skull missing. No doubt the poor wolf had been in the direct path of whatever missile had taken down the upper wall.
A clearly pregnant she-wolf limped over, whining, whimpering, and sniffing at the remains.
When she began howling the sad song of the Lost, there was no doubt in my mind that this was the dead wolf's mate.
Sam paled, turned his gaze away and ran to help the survivors, but we'd all seen his sad, watery eyes glowing with empathy.
Once the initial shock had passed, a fairly well organised chain of command formed up pretty quickly. Guards armed with longbows took up position behind the wall and began firing at will over the top. Civilians, not involved in rescuing the trapped and injured, fetched and carried quivers of arrows.
In the distance, we could see the red hair of the doc as he called out instructions and organised stretcher bearers. It looked like it was going to be a busy day for the wolf-doctor.
This was just the first explosion, and it wasn't going to be the last…
Something zipped towards us and passed overhead trailing smoke, and another huge explosion took out a large section of a nearby building. We ducked as best we could, escaping with minor cuts and bruises from falling masonry bouncing off our heads and shoulders.
"Over here!" Sam called out, and I spied him trying to free one of the trapped wolves over by the damaged section of wall. "I need some help!"
I raced over to assist the fallen and injured, and the two Alphas began assessing the situation. Busy though we were, we got the distinct impression Tobius and Marcus weren't happy.
"Cannon!" yelled Tobius, furiously. "How the bloody hell did Crowley get hold of cannon?"
Well, that sure explained why it took so long before...
Another ball of smoke and flames dealt with the rose garden. Most of the marble statues were no more and the brass globe, with its wolves dancing around the equator, had cracked into thousands of pieces.
Yeah. Unlike modern siege weapons, cannon take a while to prepare and reload between hits.
"Let me guess," Marcus continued, sarcastically, obviously in a bit of a snit. "When Crowley signed it out of the armoury for that lecture a few weeks back, he didn't bother returning it. Am I Right?"
Captain Byrnes nodded, stiffly, still standing smartly to attention while the world around him was falling to bits.
"Yes sir," he explained, miserably, voice just audible over all the noise. "Crowley claimed the University of Vancouver asked to keep it a little longer as part of their history display. He approved the request and claimed to take full responsibility for it."
"I'll just bet he did, the little rat!" Tobius scowled angrily and Castiel managed to do a great impression of someone rolling their eyes, without actually rolling his eyes.
By the sounds of things, another section of wall a little further on had taken a hit, and there was someone yelling about a fight going on by the rear gates.
Cornelius of the Home Pack had been sent there by his Alpha, and was, no doubt, right in the thick of that skirmish. I hoped to God he was ok.
Sam's suddenly stopped what he was doing and cast a worried glance my way.
Hey, he'll be fine, Sammy.
Though I doubted it very much.
Hope you're right, dude.
But he didn't sound any more hopeful than I felt.
"We must get these people free from the rubble," said Marcus, resignedly. "But first I need volunteers to venture out and sabotage that damn cannon. I think the lower wall will hold for now, even if it takes another direct hit, but we must move fast."
The lower wall was at least twice as thick as the upper, but though the breached section of wall was still too tall for anyone to climb, a couple more hits from cannon and we might as well just fling open the main gates to welcome Crowley with a glass of champagne, chilled caviar and a complimentary massage.
At Marcus' request for volunteers, several hands immediately went up, and Tobius automatically grabbed two of them and wrenched them down.
"Not a chance, boys," he murmured in our ears.
Sam huffed and out came his bitch face, while I just sighed and nodded.
"That's decided then," Marcus smiled grimly, and we all ducked when another missile came hurtling over the wall. "Captain Byrnes and Sergeant Fisher, take another two NLSUs with you. Make sure you report straight to me on your return."
The elected sabotage team didn't waste any time. The Captain broke into a run, with the big Sergeant at his side, the two of them wolfing out and shedding their clothes along the way.
Corporals Hollis and Sandway, follow us if you want some fun! Fisher called out.
Two large wolves appeared from behind a large pile of rubble and galloped on after them, one a huge female with black and silver fur, the other a medium sized male with deep, grey-blue fur. Both wore eager grins.
I'm up for some fun, alright! the she-wolf grumbled.
Just show me the way, Sarge! the other howled.
"Those two do enjoy their playtime," said Marcus, watching them with a fond smile, until all four disappeared out of sight.
We stuck around a little longer to help the injured but it became pretty clear that, in spite of all the chaos, the guards and Dave had the rescue under control.
"There's little more you can do here," the Doc told us when we asked if he needed our help. "But I thank you for the offer, lads."
Besides, we had work to do all of our own, as it turned out.
"Right, let's go," Marcus announced, authoritatively. "You can access your email account from my quarters, and it'll be safer there."
Just as he spoke, a smoking cannonball rocketed over the wall and smashed into Sire's sleeping quarters, practically demolishing the entire building in one fell swoop. Tobius spared the ruins one, small, sad glance, shook his head and let it go.
Miraculously, Baby hadn't yet been touched, and I was itching to grab my Sire and brotherson, lock them both inside the car and haul ass out of Canada as fast as I could.
"How will the Captain and his team leave the grounds without anyone from the other side seeing them?" asked Sam, curiously, as we ran for cover.
Another ball of flames erupted over the wall at us and piled into the building next door, which appeared to be some kind of music room. The people gathering to help the trapped and injured were in turn pelted by flying stone, rock, at least three violins and a trumpet.
"There's a passageway in the wine cellar underneath the kitchens," Marcus called back to him. "Only large enough to take one person at a time in wolf form, so it's no use as a mass escape route. It leads under the walls and comes out several miles away."
Sam's eyes widened and I resisted the urge to turn and stare at Tobius when he started coughing.
Marcus seemed to be leading us towards the Council Chambers, all of us dodging falling masonry and keeping out of the line of fire as best we could.
"And how many know about this tunnel?" I inquired, barely managing to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
Marcus shrugged. "Only the NLSU."
A nearby explosion showered us with timber and stone chips.
"So, Crowley knows?" I prompted.
"Oh yes," Marcus grinned. "But it's a labyrinth down there, with many twists, forks and turns. Getting out isn't a problem. It's an easy route to follow, but once you're out, there's no getting back by that route unless you have been carefully watching which of all the tunnels you emerged from at each junction along the way."
"And there's no accessing the tunnel from the other end," added Castiel. "Not without triggering a booby-trap."
A group of non-lunars hurried on by us, carrying hosepipes and extinguishers, presumably to try and put out some of the fires that had sprung up from the wrecked buildings.
I raised an eyebrow. "Booby-trap?"
"A little thing called a 'controlled cave-in' at each individual entrance," said Marcus, obviously amused by my line of questioning. "Your Sire designed it last century, in fact. Quite lethal."
I nodded and smiled slyly at Tobius, keeping pace with him easily.
"Well, ain't you just the Da Vinci of modern Canada."
It certainly explained how he managed to keep people distracted during the construction of his own little project.
Tobius bowed his head slightly, mouth twitching. "Not quite, but I thank you for the compliment."
Sam looked troubled, in spite of the brief moment of levity. "Supposing Crowley's keeping all the entrances under watch," he said, worriedly, glancing around as we moved quickly through the chaos. "He could easily set up an ambush."
Tobius shook his head, confidently, speeding up and we were forced to match him. "There are many exits to that tunnel, all scattered around the forest and river banks. I don't believe he'd waste his time trying to guard all of them. Just the ones nearest the wall, perhaps, and the Captain won't choose to emerge from the obvious exits."
"Crowley needs all the wolf-power he can get," Castiel confirmed, with his usual lack of emotion, but his eyes kept scanning our surroundings.
"Besides, it'd take more than a pack of poorly trained Type One scum to best my Captain and his squad," said Marcus, without a trace of modesty. His muscles pumped as we sped up yet again. Time was of the essence. "You mark my words, young Sam. They'll get the job done. Crowley won't know a thing about it."
His confidence was inspiring, and even Sam appeared to relax a little.
The Council Chambers loomed ahead, completely undamaged. I could only assume that it was far out of cannon range. There was a noticeable lack of guards, unlike the last time we were brought here for Sam's 'trial'. Presumably, they had all been called to arms, and when I glanced at the distant main gates I spotted around two squads of one hundred guards, each formed up in ranks of three, partially wolfed out, their thick muscular hind legs set and paws firmly planted. It was easy to see why this form had been chosen: their upper bodies were human and their wolf legs added greater strength and stability. The crossbows had been ditched and replaced with the less accurate long bows, all nocked with silver tipped arrows and fully drawn. But accuracy wasn't the ticket, here. Speed, power, range and maximum devastation were more important at this stage of the game.
Distantly, we all heard an authoritative voice scream out "Take aim!" followed by "Fire at will!"
The longbows let loose with a single loud sproing! And two hundred silver missiles were launched over the iron gates.
"Sire, what about Baby?" I whispered and nudged Tobius.
Tobius sighed but didn't bother to argue. "She'll be taken care of, ok? I promise. Now…" he pointed to the Council Chambers. "Get inside. The both of you!"
Sam and I were herded along the hallway with all the Greek statues, and passed the door to the courtroom. At the end of the hallway was a stone, spiral stairwell. It was so narrow that we had to take the stairs in single file, with Sam occasionally bumping his head on the stone ceiling.
I guess it was built that way to make it easier to defend during a direct assault. Hand to hand combat would prove a lethal little bitch in such close quarters, especially for the invading force.
Plus, it was a long, long, long way up, and I was getting kind of dizzy from going round and round in circles.
We were all silent as we emerged into an oak panelled room filled with books, leather sofas surrounding a large, stone hearth with a log fire blazing away, and a solid oak bar with a vast selection of fine wines and brandy. It was a little like Tobius quarters but on a grander, much larger scale, and decorated in ancient weapons, wolf paintings, and a particularly stunning set of silver tipped, crossed spears over the fireplace.
Sam didn't wait to be asked, just sat down at a huge oak desk near the back of the room, and started tapping away at a keyboard, eyes fixed firmly on the flat screen monitor. I knew he was gone for now, deeply immersed in his task and it would do no one any favours to disturb him.
His glowing blue-green eyes narrowed at the screen and I bit back a smile. Kid was so focussed, determined to crack that email, and I tried hard to imagine what could have been hidden inside it.
Castiel had taken up his usual guard post by the door to the quarters, but this time he stayed inside the room.
He nodded to me when I stared at him curiously.
If the enemy makes it this far then we're screwed anyway, he intoned, deadpan. I might as well stay where it's nice and warm, closest to the brandy, and where I can poke at them with a big stick if they try to get through the door.
At that, he grinned and held something out. I laughed softly.
Somehow, Castiel had crossed the room completely unnoticed and removed one of the silver-tipped spears from over the fireplace.
It was at this point that I had noticed something. Cannon fire had ceased... but for how long? Could it be on the move, being readied to strike at another section of wall?
Or could the Captain have already intercepted cannon and destroyed its squad?
There was a tall set of French windows that lead onto a balcony, and when I stepped outside my eyes widened with awe and horror.
"Guys, I think you should see this," I called out.
I was joined instantly by Tobius, Castiel and Marcus, all crowding round me.
From way up here, it was possible to see a bird's eye view of the wall on either side of the main gates. I realised that there were actually small, inconspicuous battlements right at the top, where small figures fired crossbow bolts through battlement slits in the stone. Too many bodies were strewn about, their blood stark red against the grey stone where the unlucky archers had been cut down by enemy fire.
On the enemy side of the wall I could make out a long row of shadowy figures sheltered just inside the tree line, and volley upon volley of silver arrows shot out at random intervals, their arcs sailing high up into the walls. Some just harmlessly clipped the top and fell away, but it was the ones that made it over that caused the devastation.
The top of the wall was the scene of a massacre, and the wall-sergeant-at-arms, a handsome she-wolf, who looked desperate and weary even from this distance, called a reluctant retreat. She had a terrible wound in her shoulder, sliced deep down to the bone and streaming with blood, yet her people were clearly the sergeant's main priority. She began pulling them off the walls as fast as she could, making sure not to leave a single living soul behind.
But all was not lost. Another fresh troop of archers marched into view from a set of steps that disappeared down into the walls.
That's where most of the armoury is kept, just underneath, Marcus remarked, having followed my gaze.
The female wall-sergeant, proudly, and with her head held high, relinquished command to the newcomers, and led her weary guards off the walls, some slumped with grief and defeat, others limping and angry.
The new troop commander set to work immediately, and more crossbow bolts were whistling their way into the trees.
Now that I had seen the enemy, I could just make out their own fallen and injured. But the Type Ones were tough and determined. Our crossbow accuracy and power was greatly diminished by the sheer distance, and the Type One army was using that to their advantage.
They ignored their dead, and viciously kicked the wounded aside. More werewolves fell, and yet more stepped up to take their place, swiftly arming and aiming their longbows like automatons.
We had clearly underestimated enemy numbers, and it was a grave mistake for which the Canadian Pack would pay a heavy price.
"Where in hell did Crowley get so many?" I wondered aloud.
"My guess is, he's been turning them," Tobius replied, voice soft but angry. "He took innocent humans or strays and turned them into Type Ones."
"And voila," Marcus remarked, bitterly. "His very own tough, dispensable army."
"And it's something we should have thought of," said Castiel, solemn but self-berating.
Somewhere in there I heard the I instead of the We in his statement. And, being a pack beta, I understood that feeling well. And I also understood that not only was this not the time or place for comfort, but that it would never work on him, not coming from me. The only person who could absolve Castiel of his guilt was his alpha.
Watching the battle raging below, I marvelled at the range on those things, a combination of fine craftsmanship and sheer werewolf strength. A flight arrow of a professional longbow in the time of Edward III was recorded at an extraordinary 400 yards... but it maintained poor accuracy.
The thing to remember about the English Longbow? It could have great accuracy or long range: sadly, not both at once.
Our longbows behind the gates were cutting into the enemy lines with speedy efficiency, but it wouldn't be enough to save the crossbow troops on top of the wall.
"Sire, the archers," I began, anxiously, realising we were going to witness yet another massacre.
"This is only the start of it, Dean," said Tobius, sadly. "Missouri tried shielding them, but Crowley is blocking her efforts. And, unless she can find a way of upping the ante, as it were, no doubt he will block anything Sam throws at them, too. The real fun begins when everyone runs out of ammo, and we resort to unarmed combat."
Marcus nodded and stared at his archers, and I saw his wince when three were slaughtered outright during a rain of enemy arrows. The guy was drowning in a pool of guilt deeper than his Beta's.
"They held Crowley's motley crew back, perhaps for long enough," he looked across at Tobius. "We must honour their sacrifice by making good use of the time they have bought us."
Tobius dipped his head briefly. "Indeed, brother."
The two Alphas turned to leave, but something was happening down below, outside the gates. To my surprise, Crowley had emerged from the trees, and he was dragging another wolf with him.
I could only guess that he must have abandoned the hunt for Sam and me, and just headed straight back.
Call off your dogs, Marcus. We need to talk.
Crowley's smugness was all too evident when the ceasefire was called and instantly obeyed.
I have one of your mutts here, brother, Crowley informed us all. I'm sure you really don't want me to plunge this arrow into his neck. That would be a very slow and painful way for such a fine, gallant gentleman to die.
I recognised the hostage. It was Captain Byrnes. Long streaks of blood had dried on his face, and though I couldn't see his eyes too well from the balcony, I could swear there was something wrong with them.
Let him go Crowley, Marcus growled a warning.
I will, said Crowley, taking obvious pleasure in pressing the silver tip of an arrow against the Captain's skin. Oddly, the Captain didn't even flinch, just stared straight ahead. So long as you open the gates with the guarantee of no further hostilities.
Not a chance! Tobius snapped.
Are you absolutely sure about that? I could make out Crowley's grin even from that distance.
He didn't wait for an answer, just plunged the arrow into Byrne's neck and stepped away. The Captain didn't flinch or move, just stood there blinking slowly, blood pouring from his jugular.
I don't reckon he's got long before the silver reaches his heart and he dies, Crowley actually chuckled, the bastard. You'll open those gates before then, if only to rescue him.
The two Alphas once again made for the doorway and I heard them clambering down the long flights of steps, Castiel on their heels as usual.
They were heading for the walls.
As I turned to follow them, Sam stood up behind the desk, visibly shaking.
"I've got something," he whispered, eyes wide and angry.
TBC...
So what has he got?
Hmmm.
Thank you for your wonderful reviews.
Been tired from too many crap shifts, and so I thought you guys would prefer an update instead of a reply.
But, some of you are slacking in your reviews BIG time.
I'm a busy person, too. Yeah?
But when you're provided with free entertainment, I don't think a review is too much to ask in return.
So, hit that keyboard and be nice to me!
Love ST xxx