Lycan Fallout: Rise Of The Werewolf (10 page)

“You have no idea,” I told him breathlessly.

Oggie bounded over and bit deep. The man’s scream was much more high-pitched, and less manly, than my own. As he pulled the sword out, I could feel the pull of it as the blade dragged across my internal organs. The suction caused it to pop wetly as my body released it. His body was turning and he meant to use the short sword on my dog. I used the only weapon available. As he turned, his neck was exposed. I leaned in and tore into him. I ripped twice with my canines and then I let them sink in as I drank. It was easily the most vile and wonderful thing I think I had ever done.

I felt like Popeye finally getting his can of spinach; only this spinach was laced with steroids. The little blood that spilled was from where Oggie had torn into him. I discarded his husk just as the first of his troops came through the woods.

The man froze as he looked at me, my long canines were exposed, blood masked the lower portion of my face, and maybe he couldn’t feel the power radiating off of me, but he sure as hell could feel my murderous intent.

Oggie turned and growled at the new player to our drama. I upturned my face to the heavens with my arms outstretched by my side.

I roared.

I roared with the power that coursed through me. The man tried to turn and run, but I was on him before he knew what hit him. My teeth pierced his main artery; his heart was pumping wildly in its flight reflex, which sent copious amounts of his life-fluid coursing into me. I raised
his body over my head when I was done and shattered his bones against the nearest tree. Whoever else had been in the woods that day had seen enough, they left quickly
.

I cursed and alternately thanked Azile as I plodded after her. Whether to thank her or end her life I hadn’t decided yet.

“This isn’t right, Azile,” Tommy said as he tied Oggie up. The dog was whining trying to get back to Mike.

“He needs to know what we’re up against,” she said indifferently as she tightened up her saddlebags.

“This isn’t the way to go about it. He almost died.”

“I wouldn’t have allowed it. You should know me better than that. We’re still talking about Michael Talbot…the man has an uncanny penchant for getting out of trouble.”

“He has to because of his even more uncanny knack for getting into it.”

Azile laughed. “The gods favor him, we need him, and if this is what it takes to get him motivated, then so be it.”

“The gods?” Tommy asked.

“They are more prevalent now than they have been in centuries.”

“What gods do the Lycan pray to?” Tommy asked.

“Let’s go. We need to be as far away from this place as we can when he emerges. I fear he will be blinded by anger and may not listen to reason.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Tommy replied. “Are you so sure he’ll follow?”

“I’m not, but he will feel that some measure of payback is called for.”

“Just what I want, a pissed of Talbot gunning for me.”

“Relax, it’s me he’s angry at.” Azile smiled.

They had traveled along the small trail for a few hours when they came across a felled tree.

“You there, stop!” a voice called out from the woods. “There is a toll to pass through these woods.” A burly, sparse-whiskered man emerged from the woods. A broken sword in his right hand and a flask in the left from which he took a large swig. He wiped his mouth as the amber liquid sluiced down his chin.

“What would that toll be?” Azile asked.

“You’re a woman?” the man asked, raising his glassy gaze to Azile’s high perch.

Azile removed her hood. “I’ve been told that, yes.”

“You’re a looker.” The man leered and laughed. “The price was merely your lives…now I think I’ll have to raise it.”

“If you pull that little shriveled thing you call a cock out of your pants I will cut it off and make you chew it. Slowly I might add,” Azile said.

Tommy couldn’t contain himself as he snorted between his fingers.

“Something funny, lad?” the man questioned, trying to save face as his men gathered around him.

“I’m good,” Tommy said, nearly laughing outright.

“Whaddaya have in the cart?” the man asked, pointing with his blade.

“It is of no concern of yours,” Azile told him.

“You see that’s where you’re wrong, little lady.” The man with the blade said. “I am Gregor King of the Wild Woods.”

“Seize the horse, Jon,” Gregor told one of the men.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Azile told Jon as he approached the reins.

Jon hesitated, her words held conviction.

“Taking orders from our next
victim, er one night stand now?” Gregor asked. “You won’t be so high and mighty when me and my men are done with you.

“As you wish,” Azile said.

Jon grabbed the horses’ reins. The large mare swung her head around, catching the man in the temple. The concussive force dropped the man to the ground. The horse stepped up and placed a well-aimed hoof deep into his skull, shattering it much like a person would a cockroach; and with a similar – but louder – sound. Everyone but Gregor backed up.

“Do not leave!” Azile commanded. “You will remove this tree for my companion and me, and then the, and you are free to go.”

Gregor was shaken up, but it was still five on two, one being a young man and the other a woman. “It’s just a warhorse!” Gregor shouted. “We haven’t had pussy that fine in months and I’ll not let it go.”

“Correction, you’ve
never
had anything this fine and never will,” Azile told them.

“It’s always the haughty ones that are the funnest to ride. When they break, it’s a wonderful thing to watch.”

“Move the tree or I will save you for last,” Azile replied.

“Let’s get out of here,
Gregor. She’s a damned witch if I ever saw one.”

“The smartest of the lot.” Azile turned to Tommy, he nodded.

“You’re an idiot. Take her from her horse!” Gregor commanded.

The mare stomped her feet in response.

“I will not,” the man told him.

“Why don’t you, Gregor?” Azile asked.

He stared at her intently, took another long pull from his buckskin flask. “I am King. Kings do not soil themselves with dirty work.”

“Then I suggest, your
majesty
, that you order your men to remove this tree,” Azile said, flourishing her words with a bow.

Gregor
gazed long and hard at her. When he realized that the opportunity for harm to befall him was too great, he spoke. “Well, since you put it so kindly. Let’s go you lecherous lot and move the log for the woman.”

Azile paid them no attention as she waited. The men grunted and groaned as they swiveled the large log from the path.

“You are free to go,” Gregor said. He swept his arm down the path as if he had allowed it.

“A few hours back you will find a rope tied to a tree. If you see it you’ve gone too far, a man should be on the path behind us, you can take our toll from him,” Azile said as she spurred her horse on.

“Azile!” Tommy said. “He is wounded. We shouldn’t have left him in the first place, and now you send more to attack him?”

“He will take what we both know he needs.”

“He doesn’t like to be manipulated.”

“He’ll never know we sent them.”

“That
you
sent them,” Tommy clarified. With that, he followed her.

“What the hell is that?” I asked Oggie, looking at the figure of what looked like a prone man on the ground, but he didn’t look quite ri/foght. I approached slowly, looking around for signs of a trap. There was a large tree moved off to the side.

“Oh, friggin’ gross,” I said, turning away when I got close.

A man whose skull had been crushed was on the ground. Gray matter was spread in a circle outwards from whatever had done this. My first thought was giants, giants with large wooden clubs.

“Not out of the realm of possibilities,” I told Oggie. “Let’s get out of here.” He sniffed around the area and barked in reply. “Yeah, I know they went this way,” I told him. “I can almost smell her treachery.” Oggie whined.

For two days I tirelessly followed them, only stopping long enough to hoist Oggie up in my arms occasionally so he could sleep. With his paws draped over my shoulders he would snore. I could not remember when I had been so happy in a very long time. Happy to have his companionship, even if that entailed the back of my tattered jacket getting soaked as he drooled while he slept, or snored so loud I could barely keep an ear out for anything that might be sharing the woods with us. He would awaken happy and, with one large swath of his tongue across my face, I would let him down so he could hunt for his breakfast.

I could only believe that Azile and Tomas were not stopping as well, otherwise I would have caught up to them that first night. She was running, she knew I was behind her and she was afraid! And then I laughed
at that thought, I had yet to meet a woman that was afraid of me.

“She’s moving at this pace because she has to,” I said aloud. I surveyed the woods more carefully this time, trying to determine if what she was so concerned about was out there even now…watching.

Oggie trotted up a few minutes later as I leaned against a tree. “What you got there?” I asked him. He looked down as I approached, and he dropped a squirrel leg. A chicken claw had more meat on it. “Hungry?” I asked him. It’s alright, you don’t need to find me food anymore, I said as I rubbed his head. He grabbed the leg and headed back off. “Not too much longer,” I told him. I wanted to be off soon. Wherever Azile was going in such a rush, I wanted to be there as well.

It was midday
, on the third day, when we finally came out of the woods. I had to admit it was something special to finally see the sun not cloaked behind a curtain of leaves. I had found myself once again on an old highway. This was grown over in parts, but it wasn’t in nearly as rough a shape as I-95 had been. I was semi-convinced that this was Interstate 80, no real way to tell until I hit a toll booth. The world may have collapsed, but somebody, somewhere, would always be collecting tax.