Disclaimer: I do not own the Fable universe. Characters you do not recognize were created by me for the purposes of this story. Story contains scenes of a very mature nature, do not continue if anything of that nature could offend you (sex, violence, sub/dom, non-con).
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and for the lovely reviews that have been left so far! It is so nice to know "Wolves" is really being enjoyed :) I am especially proud of this story, more so than all my others I believe, and writing it has been a real pleasure! - Fallon.
Chapter Eighteen
"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead." - Bertrand Russell
Maya groaned and forced herself to roll over. Her head was throbbing and every inch of her body ached with a deep pain.
The sun was almost unbearably hot against her skin, but she felt it, so she figured that was a good sign. She opened her eyes and saw the sun ablaze in a clear blue sky. The smell of salt water overwhelmed her senses, and she remembered their escape from the sinking ship.
"Not dead yet..." she whispered hoarsely, coughing to get the sand out of her throat.
Maya felt suddenly sick.
She pushed herself up to her hands and knees as her stomach forced out the salt water she had consumed.
"Maya! Ben!" A familiar voice cried, "Answer me!"
She raised an arm, "Over here, Walter!"
The knight saw her hand and rushed to her side, Hale hot on his tail, "Are you alright?"
"I am," Maya coughed up what she hoped was the last of it, "have you seen the others?"
Sadly, he shook his head, "Ben is a strong swimmer, I have no doubt he made it...probably cozied up on a beach somewhere with a dozen beautiful women...lucky bastard."
Maya got to her feet, "What about Von?
"I...I'm sure he's with Ben, Princess. They're probably both drunk somewhere, waiting for us to find them."
Though his efforts were sweet, Maya could tell there was little hope behind his words - he was just as worried about them as she was.
"I'm sure you're right," Maya said quietly anyway, "they're both too tough to die".
Von awoke to something prodding his ribs.
"You alive there, wolf-boy?"
He groaned and opened his eyes to find the smug Captain Finn looking down at him, "Do I look dead to you?"
Ben shrugged, "Just thought I'd be sure, Maya'd be cross if I just left you here to rot."
He pushed himself up and looked around them, utterly panicked, "Where is she!" He demanded gruffly.
"Not here, if that's what you're asking." Ben sighed, "But right now, we don't even know where here is..." He drifted off as he scanned the strange port they had washed up on.
Standing, Von brushed the sand from his damp coat, "You don't sound concerned..."
"I am," Ben said sternly, "but I have faith in her, she's a fighter after all...or have you forgotten? She is a hero, and she will be the Queen...what she sees in you I have no idea, but it's not my place to question her taste in men."
Von glared him, "Males like you don't last long in packs. You sniff around every female you pass and shame yourself. At least with me, she'd never be betrayed...you would tire of her, just as I am sure you have with other women many times before."
Ben shook with anger. He could not believe that he had been encouraging the Princess to admit her feelings for him! He wanted to pelt the man, "You don't know me -"
"I know your kind," Von said in a surprisingly calm tone, "and I know what she means to me...so if you harm her, in any way, I will kill you."
"It's why I pulled away, you idiot!" Ben snarled, "She's too good a friend for me to do that to...besides, she's far too smitten with you to even consider me, so don't get yourself worked up."
Von stared at the Captain, "What?"
"Don't be daft!" He said in a frustrated sigh, "I swear, you're both so deep in denial it's sad..."
Von looked away, fixing his eyes on the sea while the Captain explored the dock. He had wanted to tell her everything when he had found her below deck, wandering the hall. Kissing her...well, he just couldn't hold himself back any longer. He could only hope he had said it all with the kiss - I love you, I need you, I'll never hurt you...I'm sorry.
Von couldn't believe the sea had claimed her. After everything she had survived, there was no way in his mind that she could have drowned.
But the scar on his cheek was dormant - there was no heat, no tingle...and he feared what it meant.
"Are you sure there is no other way, Walter?" She asked as the stood before a spiral staircase leading down into what seemed to be utter and complete darkness.
They had entered the cave because there were no other options leading away from the unknown shore. She didn't liked it, but Walter hated it. Going further seemed to be their only way out, but it also seemed extremely unwise.
"We have no other choice, Maya," he slipped the book he had found into his coat, "Down seems the only way out..."
Hale whimpered and tucked his tail between his legs. He looked to his mistress for an answer.
She sighed, "Let's go then."
Maya led the way, with Walter and Hale close behind her.
With every step they took, the darkness seemed thicker and heavier. There was actually weight to it, and Maya could feel it cling to her skin.
"I don't like this, Walter..." Maya muttered as she tried to peer through the shadows ahead.
Walter sighed grimly, "Push on, Princess, I'm sure we'll see light soon."
A cackle echoed throughout the darkness and Hale barked a warning.
"The light inside you will die...the light inside you offends us..."
"Who's there!" Walter shouted, "Show yourself!"
Maya drew the Dragonstomper. She had a sense something...evil was approaching them. But perhaps, she wondered, it had been there all along.
"The children are hungry...they thirst for your light. You are weak...broken little toys..."
"If you think us so weak," Maya called lightning into her free hand, "then attack us...or are you all talk and no action?"
The thing laughed, "Princess, you under estimate my power -"
"And you mine."
"So confident!" It hissed, "Just like your brother was...but he fell, Amaythea. Do you really think you will not?"
She tensed at the mention of Logan, "Let's find out."
The darkness around them withdrew to form a ring around them. From that ring, dark creatures with glowing red eyes and wings made of a dark mist stepped forward. They glared at Maya, attempting to sink their dark influence into her.
She cursed and fired, pegging one of the creatures in the head - but it didn't go down.
Walter drew his sword, "Bloody bastards!"
He slashed through a few of the creatures, then turned to Maya, "Draw your sword!"
She did so reluctantly, having always favored the pistol, and decapitated one of the creatures.
"I will enjoy breaking you, Princess of Albion..." It teased as she killed the creatures it had summoned, "you will never be Queen...you will only bring shame to your family! And after everything you father did -"
She spun around on her heels, the creature's dead bodies dissolving around her. "I'll not be broken by the likes of you!"
"That is what they all say, but they all do - eventually. Your brother was...an amusing one to watch."
Maya seethed with anger. Whatever this thing was, evidently her brother had met it. Maybe it was the cause of his sudden, drastic change?
"And your friends? The Captain is dead...my children are feasting on him as we speak. Your wolf friend on the other hand...now he is going to prove to be a challenge! Some things are so stubborn to hold onto life, when they really have no right to live..."
"Stop!" Maya yelled, "Be gone!"
She shot a ball of lightning in the direction the voice was coming from and hit the wall just beside it. The resulting light illuminated the creature.
Maya gasped, it was like nothing she had ever seen before.
The mangled creature sneered, "You will fall to me soon, Princess, very soon..."
"Who are you?"
Ben and Von turned around, and saw a dozen nervous looking people welding rusty swords - all pointed at them.
A bald woman stepped forward, her weapon drawn.
"Our ship was destroyed," Ben explained, "my friend and I just so happened to wash up on your shore."
Kalin glared at them, "Why are you here?"
"Depends, where is here?" Ben shot back.
"You are in the City of Aurora," Kalin answered, a bit puzzled by the question, "Now...why are you here?"
Von stepped forward, "Our comrades are missing, have you by chance seen a old knight traveling with a young woman?"
Kalin's eyes opened wide, the memories of the voice rushing forward, "You mean...you are the knight, the captain and the wolf?"
Ben bowed, "Captain Benjamin Finn at your service, ma'am."
Kalin wasn't swayed by his display. She turned to Von, "Then you must be the wolf?"
He swallowed hard, not sure what her reaction would be, "Yes, ma'am, I am. How did you know -"
"Come," she beckoned them forward, "I have much to tell you both."
Maya jumped off the edge of the cliff and landed on her feet in the large chamber.
She looked up, and saw Walter covered in liquid darkness.
Panicked, she ran to him. But once she was there, she had no idea what to do to help him.
Walter groaned, "Run...Maya...g-get away..."
Something clattered behind her and she spun around to see the statues she had passed coming to life. They groaned as they forced themselves from the wall.
She sheathed her sword and rolled forward, until she was in the middle of the monsters. Quickly, she stood and sent out a shock wave of lightning that paralyzed her attackers.
Again and again she blasted them, until she was sure they had weakened enough. She drew her sword, and slashed through two of them in one stroke.
The other two recovered from the blasts and raised their weapons.
Maya rolled to the side, dodging them, and slipped around them. She slashed them across their backs, and they shattered into a million tiny pieces of stone.
"First I'll take your pathetic knight...then I will hunt down your wolf!"
Rage coursed through her veins at the mention of Von, "Do that and I'll kill you with my bare hands!"
It laughed, "He only desires to use you, Princess, he'll toss you aside once he has his fill!"
"Shut up!"
"Or maybe he'll turn you? Would you hate him for that?"
Maya shook violently. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to ignore the voice
"You'd never let him touch you though, Princess, because you still can't get over what he is! Does the thought of his hands on your flesh make you sick? Would you carry his monster in your womb?"
More shadow creatures appeared from the mist and moved in to make their kill.
"Would you dishonor your family like that?"
Maya screamed and charged the creatures, but the thing's voice was in the back of her mind.
"We need to find her." Von said under his breath.
Ben and the other Aurorans had left, and it was only himself and Kalin in the temple.
She nodded as she lowered her cup of tea, "I have no doubt she has encountered the Crawler..."
"The what?"
"Crawler." She said solemnly, "It arrived on our shores five years ago and nearly wiped out our entire civilization. The voice I heard on the steps of the temple...it told me the Princess was going to take the hard road here. That can only mean she will be forced to go through his lair."
Von hung his head. He had not touched the tea Kalin had brought him and it was quickly growing cold in front of him. But he did not want to eat or drink, he wanted to find Maya as fast as possible.
"Do you care for this woman?" Kalin inquired, "You look very sad...more so than Ben Finn."
He shrugged, "Finn only cares for himself."
"And you?" She asked.
He swallowed hard and looked away from her.
Kalin nodded, "I see."
Von reached for the cup of tea, but stopped when he noticed his hand was shaking. He rubbed his hands together before tightly clasping his knees to stop the embarrassing twitch.
"What do we do now?" Von asked to break the uncomfortable silence.
"The nightly sand storms will make finding her even more difficult," Kalin said with a grim look on her face, "I am afraid we must trust that she can survive until the sun rises..."
The idea angered him, but he knew there was wisdom in it. They could hardly help her and Walter if they were blinded by the sand.
"It feels wrong...sitting here and doing nothing." He admitted.
Kalin thought for a moment, "If she is the hero you claim she is, then she must be expected to face trials, no? Perhaps this is one of those trials. Have faith in her, Von Kaiser."
Maya struggled to pull Walter out of the cave. He craved the warmth of the sun, and she was desperate to get him there. They had been underground for so long, Maya suspected at least a full day had passed. And she was eager to feel the sun once again too.
She ascended a flight of stairs and found herself on a sort of lookout point.
"W-What do you see?" Walter gasped hoarsely, "Any sign of civilization?"
Maya peered out across the desert, "I see something in the distance, a statue of some sort."
"H-How far?"
She frowned, "It's going to take us a few hours..."
Walter slumped forward, and this time she could not stop him from collapsing.
"Walter!"
"G-Go on without me, please!"
"No way, Walter, you're coming with me!" She grabbed his arm and heaved him onto his feet.
"I'll get you killed, Maya, you have to leave me behind..." He wheezed, "I'll not just slow you down, I'll g-get you killed!"
She ignored him as she went down another set of stairs.
"It weakened you too...d-don't think I can't tell!"
"Enough, Walter," she said through clenched teeth, "I'm not leaving you behind!"
They approached a cliff and she looked down. Maya did not seeing a safe way to bring Walter with her.
"S-Stop...I can't...I just can't..." His throat was tight and he was struggling to suck in air.
Maya knelt beside him, tears threatening to fall, "I can't do this without you..."
"Y-Yes, you can...you've done me proud," he closed his eyes, "you've always done me proud."
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and stood. Hale nuzzled against her leg, and she threaded her fingers through his fur.
"I'll get help, Walter, don't you worry..."
Without looking back, she jumped of the ledge.
She landed in the sand, and Hale followed soon after.
The heat was almost unbearable, but she made herself run over the dunes toward the statue. If there was going to be a chance of saving Walter, she knew she had to move quickly.
Just as she passed a giant stone arch, shadows engulfed her.
"You left him to die! He'd have done anything for you!"
She cursed under her breath and ran past the ghostly image of Walter. She knew it wasn't really him, but running past him still took a tremendous amount of strength.
"He's in pain, and it's all your fault!"
Ben appeared. His eyes were glowing red and a long sword was stuck through his gut. Blood covered the front of him, and the air around him smelled metallic and foul.
"He is dead because of you!"
Maya's sight was clouded by tears, but she managed to round the bend in the path.
She stopped in her tracks.
Standing before her was Von.
He didn't look like the other apparitions, he looked real.
Maya smiled and ran towards him, only to run through him completely.
She spun around, "V-Von?"
His scar looked dull against his skin, and he wasn't smiling.
She tried to reach out to him again, and was able to grasp the lapels of his coat.
"Von! Please! I need your help!" Maya tried to pull him forward, but he didn't budge, "We need to find somewhere safe -"
He grabbed her arms and opened his mouth to reveal long, sharp incisors. His white-blue eyes glowed and shifted to red.
Maya pushed against him, "No! Please, Von!"
Just as his teeth grazed her neck and threatened to puncture her skin, he vanished in a puff of black mist that washed over her.
Free of his grasp, Maya fell to her knees and touched her neck, sobbing uncontrollably. She tried to tell herself it was only the creature toying with her, that the real Von would never do that, but the encounter still terrified her.
She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally, but knew she had to keep going - for Walter's sake.
Unable to stand, she crawled until she found a huge staircase.
Weakened and nearly blinded by the darkness that was crawling over her skin, Maya started up the stairs. The coarse stone was painfully hot against her hands, but she was too far gone to care.
The darkness slithered across her body and shot into her eyes.
She sobbed and clawed at her eyes. She could feel it sinking into her.
Blinded, Maya whimpered and curled up into a ball on the first landing.
"He will turn you into a monster! Yes, that is what he wants!"
"N-No..." Maya stammered, "he'd never -"
"He will betray you...hurt you...leave you...just like Elliot did!"
Maya lifted her head up and screamed at the voice, "Shut up! You'll not get me! You'll never win!"
"I already have, Princess, I already have."