16. LYCANTHROPE

On the ground below, the war continued. It had been going for several hours now and the sun had set with the full moon now rising. The entire Romanian army had now practically been destroyed with the last of the leaders and bodyguards still hiding inside the castle.

Caius looked at Aro and said "It's happening brother! Our dreams are coming true. The Romanians shall never see another dawn."

Aro smiled as he saw that all his work and preparation was now paying off. As he mentally congratulated himself, a figure appeared on the dark horizon. It was a man. Then other figures appeared beside him. They were not men.

"Ay caray!" Eleazar gasped as he saw what lay on the horizon.

This captured Caius' attention and he wondered aloud "What are they?"

Eleazar tried to find the words. "Lycanthropes! Children of the moon! They're… they're… werewolves!"

Aro focused on the dark figures. "Do such things exist?"

"They do now," Eleazar said, pointing. "The man is Octavian. He must have had to wait until the moon rose before he could have any power over them. He can only control the beast half of them. They are wild, even to him. He risks great danger bringing them here, even to the Romanians. There is only a fifty percent chance that they will obey him!"

Octavian gave a signal and the wolf men raced forward into battle. When they ran, they used all four limbs but it was easy for them to stand on only their hind legs. Their claws were vicious and the snouts even worse with jagged teeth. Their chests were still somewhat man-like but their bodies were covered in fur and they now had long tails. They truly were a mix of wolf and man.

Fear struck Caius, "Aro, what should we do?"

Aro did not answer and was too stunned. Renata flexed her shield around them to ensure his protection. The werewolves were now on the battle field and used their powerful jaws to rip the enemies into pieces. However, they were so wild that they attacked Romanian soldiers as well.

Then Caius took charge. "Santiago! Eleazar! Athenodora!" he shouted. "We must take down Octavian!" Caius led the way as the others followed behind him and they raced to the dark horizon where Octavian stood, playing puppet master.

Octavian commanded four werewolves to race back for his protection. They were as fast as any vampire and easily caught up to Caius' group. Just before Caius could reach out for Octavian, a beast tackled him to the ground. The others were also stopped by the werewolves and now had to fend for their lives.

The lycanthrope that had pinned Caius wrapped his jaws around his shoulder and ripped out Caius' arm. He screamed in pain. The beast threw back his head and let out a great howl to the moon.

The others struggled as well but Santiago seemed to be holding his own. He kicked the wolf man in the ribs and shattered them. But right before his eyes, he saw the broken ribs pop and snap back together. They seemed to have the same healing power as vampires. Santiago grabbed the beast by the snout and gripped his hand around the lower jaw. With great force, he dislocated the jaw and ripped it out. He threw it as far as he possibly could. The werewolf whimpered in pain and ran away from the fight.

Now that Santiago was free of an opponent, he went to help the others. First he aided Athenodora. "Rip out their jaws!" he shouted. "It will make it so that they cannot bite you!" By this time, Caius' other arm had been torn off as well and he lay there defenseless. The beast was about to clamp his jaws onto Caius' head but Athenodora and Santiago reached him just in time. They kicked the beast off of Caius and Santiago went to work with fighting him.

Athenodora picked up both of Caius' arms and pushed them back into place. The torn flesh melded together and the joints fell back into place. Caius was still pretty shaken up.

"Are you alright, love?" Athenodora asked him.

He nodded, shakily. Then he pushed the fears aside and went after the original target. Athenodora went back to helping Eleazar fight off his werewolf while Caius ran towards Octavian. Octavian had to release his hold over the werewolves so that he could focus on his fight with Caius. Some werewolves continued to fight out of a pure sense of rage. Others ran off into the woods.

Caius raced towards Octavian, but Octavian used Caius' force and just barely moved out of the way and placed his hands on Caius and with the momentum, threw him hard against a great tree. The old pine split in half with a sound like thunder. Caius fell to the ground. He charged Octavian again and this time grabbed him by the collar. He shoved him hard against a tree and had him pinned.

Santiago, Eleazar, and Athenodora were now free of their werewolves and stood behind Caius and watched. Caius bit into Octavian's shoulder to loosen the flesh and then he pulled on the arm and ripped it out. Octavian was hollering in pain.

"How does it feel, Octavian?" Caius hissed at him. "How do you like it?" Caius repeated the same procedure with the other arm. Octavian collapsed in pain and Caius pressed him to the ground with his foot on his chest.

Then Aro appeared with Renata still clinging to his cape. "Hello Octavian. It's been a while," Aro greeted with a smile. He walked over to where Octavian lay on the ground. He put his boot right next to the fallen leaders face. "Why don't you give it a kiss? Why don't you pledge me your loyalty?"

Octavian had lost all dignity and only hoped for mercy. He kissed Aro's black boot and was immediately responded to with a kick in the face. Aro laughed. "What goes around comes around." Then Aro looked at Caius and said "Finish him."

Aro began to walk away when Caius called out to him, "Aro, promise me that when this is over, we will have all werewolves destroyed. These blasphemous creations cannot be allowed to exist!"

Aro smiled and nodded. Then he and Renata walked back to the castle as Caius and the others continued to rip Octavian to pieces.