Ch. 5: A new power

Tye loosely drifted in and out of consciousness. His chest felt like it was on fire. The ringing in his ears had died down, but he now had a splitting headache. He could barely make out a small voice. But he knew it was there. "Don't worr...You'll be alrig..." Suddenly, his conscious snapped back. He shot up from where he was laying, sweat drenching his body. His breathing was heavy, causing a small pain in his throat. Tye wasn't lieing on the ground outside anymore. He was laying on a large couch in the middle of a rather small room. The couch was incredibly soft, and had a cinnamon smell. The room had another couch, which was much smaller, in the corner. Sitting on that couch, looking very frightened, sat two little girls; both were probably seven or eight. Tye tried to move, but was met by a sharp pain in his chest. He grabbed his chest, and noticed a large bandage was neatly wrapped around it. Another shot of pain pierced his chest, forcing him to cough up blood. Even more frightened, the two girls ran out of the room. Tye painfully swung his legs off the couch and onto the cool wooden floor. Clutching his chest, he stood and slowly walked through the single doorway at the end of the room by the smaller couch. He walked down a short hallway and turned into the closest room.

In this room, Tye was met by two more people. An older man with a large gray mustache and a humble appearance sat at a small table, reading a stack of papers. Across from him, and also enveloped in a small group of papers, was a young girl. Tye immediately recognized the girl as the one he had saved from Mason earlier. "Hey, are you alright?" Looking up from the page, the girl smiled warmly and nodded. "I'm alright. But you should be more worried about yourself. Here, have a seat." Smiling back, Tye sat down next to the girl, groaning a bit. "This is nothing. I'll be fine within a day or so.." The man across from them laughed, and eyed Tye with a curious look. "I'd be more careful if I were you, son. You could've been killed out there." Tye simply chuckled and reached into his back pocket. "If I was careful, then I'd be dead." He pulled out a bag of gold and placed it on the table. "What's this?" "It's yours." "You don't have to pay us for our hospitality." "No..I'm giving this too you so you can rebuild what's been destroyed." Hesitantly, the man reached out and took the bag of gold. "Thank you son..You know, most boys your age are just interested in women and fighting." Tye laughed again, leaning back in the chair. "I'm not like most boys." "That you aren't. By the way, I'm Thomas. This is Lily, my eldest daughter. The twins are Mary and Amy." Tye slowly nodded to Lily and waved to the twins sitting on another small couch. "I'm Tye." "That's quite a nasty scar you've got there." "Scar?" Looking down at his wrapped chest, Tye could see the ends of a paw shaped scar on his chest. His head became foggy. He could barely breathe, and another sharp pain shot through his skull, causing him to fall off the chair onto the floor. "Girls go get a bucket of water! Lily, help me move Tye back to the couch!"

Out of nowhere, images flooded through Tye's brain. He saw a large white wolf walking towards a cliff. It stared out at nothing, as if it were waiting for something. Then he heard it. Tye could hear his own voice ring out.

"Fangs of the moon, claws of the earth. Beast from heaven, I call for your rebirth!"

The wolf let out a loud howl that carried on for several minutes. When it had finished, it transformed into a man. The man had blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a paw shaped scar over his chest, and a sword was comfortably fitted to his belt loop. Is...That me? "Yes it is." What the- Who's there? "Calm yourself human. I mean you know harm." ...Are you the one who gave me this scar? "I am. You might not realize it Tye, but you've made a vow with a wolf." I...did? "Yes. When you spoke those words, you opened your heart to my mind and power." But...Why? "You did it unintentionally. But this vow is irreversible. And there is a mandatory payment." Payment? "Yes. You see, the enchantment you spoke was of ancient magic. It allowed a human to form a bond with an animal. The enchantment you read was to form a bond with me. But in order for you to fully inherit my powers, I had to replace half of your heart with mine." You what? "Calm down Tye. You're not going to die. You simply have half of a wolf's heart. Meaning you have the abilities of a wolf. But do not overuse those abilities. The human half of your heart will not be able to withstand it and you will die." Oh great..So what are these abilities?...Hello?...

"..Mister. Hey mister, are you alright?" "Huh?" Opening his eyes, a concerned Amy was staring at him. "Mister wolf man, are you ok?" "...Wolf...man?" The little girl nodded and pointed to his scar. "You have a scar just like the white wolf." Tye glanced down at his chest. The bandage had been replaced, and he was lieing back on the couch. "Amy, don't call our guest a wolf man." Turning around, Tye's eyes met Lily; who was standing in the doorway. Tye carefully pulled himself up, clutching his chest and coughing up some more blood as another sharp pain passed through his body."Are you alright? Hang on I'll get a towel." Lily quickly ran out of the room; returning within seconds with a damp towel. She sat down next to him, and handed the cloth over. "I told you..This kinda stuff is nothing." Tye took the towel and wiped his mouth off then gave her a small grin.

The two sat quietly on the couch for several minutes before he spoke up. "What happened to Mason and his brother?" "Oh!" Standing up, Lily ran out of the room again. While she was gone, Amy walked over to Tye and grabbed his hand. She studied it very closely, apparently making sure he was human. "Hahaha, that tickles." Letting go of his hand, the little girl gave him a big smile. "I like you Mr. Wolf man." "I like you too Amy." Giggling, she happily ran off through the doorway. For once, Tye was alone. Standing up, he took off his bandage. A small mirror lied on a table close to the front door. Picking it up, Tye studied the scar on his chest. It's shape did resemble a wolf's paw. His mind flashed back to everything that had happened up to that point. Grabbing his chest, he stumbled back onto the couch. Why the hell did this happen to me..

"I almost forgot to hand this to you." Smiling, Lily sat back down next to him. She had a large bag of gold in her had. "The military came and took both of those thugs to jail." "So Mason's brother wasn't killed?" Lily bit her bottom lip, shaking her head a little. "Oh.." Tye heaved a deep sigh. "I'm sorry you had to be put through all that.." "It's not your fault. And it isn't as if he got me pregnant or anything. I'm just glad you were there to save me." The two sat together in silence for several more minutes. The silence was broken, however, by a large BOOM that echoed through the house. "What the hell was that?" Tye shouted and rushed outside. "Wait! Tye, you can't go out there like that!" He didn't care though. Damn it! I hope it's not another one of those bastards! Dashing through the streets, he hurriedly checked down every alleyway and house he passed. Rounding a corner, Tye slid to a stop. He had ended up at the outskirts of the town by the hill where he had been sitting not too long ago. Atop the hill were several large cannons; each with half a dozen men or so standing around them. "Hey! Don't you morons know there are people here!" Glancing down the hill, one of the men shouted something and pointed towards Tye. Another one of the men pushed the cannon towards Tye, shouting something to the soldier next to him. The soldier nodded and loaded the cannon. Fine then..

Cracking his knuckles, Tye dashed up the hill. He didn't even realize his sword was still back in town. His mind shifted while he ran, instinct taking over his whole body. "Let's try this new power out, shall we!" Jumping into the air to dodge the blast, he took a deep breath of the cool crisp night air. His sense were ten times stronger then before. He could smell the sweat dripping off his enemy. He could see the crushed blades of grass beneath their feet as clear as day. He felt even more alive than before. Landing on one of the cannons, Tye spun his leg around, easily taking out four of the guards. He then took one of their lances and shoved it into the cannon itself. His ears picked up the sound of a string being released, and ducked as an arrow shot over him. This is incredible! Turning towards the archer, Tye lunged at him. A pool of blood formed around the now dead archer as Tye stood and cracked his back. "Now this is how to fight!" He spun around just in time to dodge another arrow. Five more archers stood several yards away, pelting him with a barrage of arrows. Tye charged them, jumping and ducking over arrows as they whizzed millimeters away from his skin. Once he had closed the distance between them all, Tye grabbed an archer by the throat. While he squeezed, he stepped back to dodge a sword. Killing off the archer, Tye dropped the body to the ground and tackled the swordsman.

For the next twenty minutes or so, Tye destroyed the cannons and cut down one soldier after another. He was faster, stronger, more powerful than any of them. Only one man remained. By his armor, Tye guessed he was high up in the military. The insignia was different though. Tye didn't recognize it. "W-Who are you?" Giving the man a small laugh, Tye inched his way closer to his prey. "I'm T-..." His mind quickly dashed back to the house he had stayed in for that short period of time. "You have a scar just like the white wolf!"

"..Listen and listen good. I'm going to let you live. Now report back to your Commander and tell him about me. Tell him that the beast of Rolburr has awakened and plans to wipe all of you out. Tell him the White Wolf waits for him."

Tye took several deep breathes. He carefully watched the man run off before clutching his chest. He bent over, falling down to his knees and coughing up another hand full of blood. His body began to shake from the tension throughout his body. I should...get back...to the house.. Tye unwillingly pushed himself to his feet. Straightening up, he made his way down the hill and back to the town. He was greeted by almost everyone from the town. People shook his hand, offered him something to drink, even praised him. "That was magnificent! I've never seen anyone fight like that!" "You have our thanks my boy!" Tye merely nodded and gave the townspeople a warm smile while he made his way back to the house. Once inside, he was greeted by the twins, who ran towards him and grasped his legs. "You saved us again mister!" Tye laughed a little and knelt down next to the girls; gently rubbing their heads he gave them both a small grin. "Well you're worth saving." Standing back up, he glanced around the room. "Do you two know where my clothes went?" "Uh-huh. They're in the Kitchen." The twins each grabbed an arm and dragged him through the house to the kitchen where Lily and Thomas nervously sat. "There you are!" Running up to him, Lily gave Tye a long and tight hug. "You scared me.." Tye held back a groan, instead giving her a laugh. "I get that a lot."

"Hey Tye are you alright?" "Huh?"

Tye shook his head. He was standing in his room, examining his scar. Since that long night, his reputation has grown rather fast. The people from the village told the story of how a lone fighter, the White Wolf, defeated two high value criminals and a small army in one night. From there merchants and wandering mercenaries passed the story on to people in larger cities. Soon, the whole of Selius had heard of the 'White Wolf.' "Yeah..Just had a little flashback. That's all." "Well quit daydreaming and help me pick out our next job." "You pick it out. I'm going for a walk." Slipping out the door, Tye cracked his back while he walked down the large empty hallway. Most of the lighting had been extinguished, but the moon's bright glow made things in the castle easily visible. Tye stopped by a window, letting the cool wind blow past him. He could smell the large trees that swayed with the breeze, the vegetation that dotted the landscape. Standing on the windowsill, Tye peered over the edge. Only twenty feet or so. He took a step forward, and fell off. The boy easily landed on his feet. Hardly making a sound, he walked towards the steel gate at the end of the narrow

garden. As he rounded the corner, he could make out a faint voice. It was stern, commanding, and fierce. But it was far away. About three or four miles. "So, does everyone know what their doing?" "Yes Sir!" "Good. Then, as planned, we'll storm the castle at dawn. Get into position and wait for the signal!"

"You!...You're Prince-"

The ground turned a light blue, sending a chill though the air. Large ice spears pierced the sky from the earth below, one of them stabbing the lone mage through the chest. The large crystals then began to slowly melt, covering the city street in cold, clear blue water. Seth took a deep breath and turned away from the scene. He recognized me..Damn it all..Shaking himself, Seth ran off down the street. He was met with little resistance, a good sign that the fighting had simmered down. "Bert! Let's finish this off before reinforcements can arrive!" "You got it Commander." Running off, Bert called for the men and took off down another large street. Seth slowed his pace down to a walk as he approached the make shift headquarters on the outskirts of the city. "What's the damage?" Glancing up, several soldiers mumbled under their breath; obviously not at all pleased to by the appearance of such a young Commader. "Well Sir." Piped up one. "The outer walls have been hit the hardest. Also, several homes on the ring of the city have been destroyed. No civilian casualties though." "Good. I want any soldier that isn't fighting to help evacuate the citizens." "Yes Sir!"

"Commander, there's a message for you from Galma." "Hm?" Gazing over his shoulder, Seth caught sight of a skinny messenger boy holding out a white piece of parchment. "Thank you." Taking the letter, Seth read it over rather slowly:

Commander Seth,

This is the update you requested. So far, no sign of any enemy movement within Galma or the surrounding cities. However, one of our spies has spotted a large group of unknown soldiers camping approximately five miles outside Rolburr. We sent out a small band of mercenaries to confirm whether the unknown are allies or enemies. One hour ago, another of our spies returned claiming that the men we sent out had been eliminated. Currently, we do not know if this was done by the suspicious group of soldiers. We also have lost sight of them. I shall send another update when we have more news.

Captain Gorr

Hm..An enemy attack on Signa..And another possible attack on Rolburr. What are they planning... "Cancel that last order!" "Sir?" Glancing up, the soldiers stared at one another. "Send all reinforcements to Rolburr. A possible battle is about to unfold. All remaining men will wipe out any resistance and attend to the wounded. Now GO!"

"Alex grab your bow!" "What?" Barging into the room, Tye stuck on his battle gear. "There's an enemy platoon a couple miles outside the city. They're gonna attack at dawn." "But that's an hour away." "Exactly! So grab your bow and let's go!" Alex jumped up from the couch. He ran to his closet and pulled out his bow and quiver. As he ran out the door behind Tye, he could hear shouting from the streets outside. "You told the army didn't you?" "Of course. We'd just massacre everyone by ourselves." A smirk stretched across Alex's face when he heard Tye's remark. "Wait, what about the girls? They're gonna hear all this noise." "I've already asked Cassidy to keep an eye on them. "What? You asked the Princess to watch them!" "Hey, she didn't say no." Alex sighed as he followed Tye down a large flight of stairs towards the castle door. "Unbelievable.."