Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale (43 page)

“I don’t want anything,” Thal said.

Rainer’s face fell into one hand. His other
hand flopped to his chest but his cross on a string of beads was
back at the Clementinum. He groaned, missing the comfort of his
bauble that let him cling to salvation even if it was out of
reach.

He rubbed his face and tried to gather his
wits. Thal was being so patient, and Rainer was embarrassed by his
pathetic mewling.

“I wanted to drive you away,” he
confessed.

“Drive me away? Why?” Thal said,
confused.

“To protect you. You have to get away from
Prague,” Rainer said.

“The danger is no less for you. Those patrols
hunt us both,” Thal said.

“Just go away from here,” Rainer
insisted.

“Why?”

Rainer rubbed the bite on his arm. The wound
hurt worse when he thought about his duty to God and Brother
Vito.

“Ah, I am bitten again. Twice cursed I am.
There is no hope,” Rainer whimpered.

“I’m so sorry. You attacked me. I had to stop
you,” Thal said.

“I know, but I’ll never be free of this magic
now that I’ve been bitten by two werewolves. Why does God punish me
so?” Rainer said.

Thal wondered if he could make a man into a
werewolf. He was not sure if he would ever want to put that to the
test.

“You wish you did not have this power,” Thal
surmised.

Rainer shook his head. “I’d do anything to be
rid of it.”

Although Thal had longed to return to his
true wolf state and rejoin his pack, he had never considered his
new life as a werewolf and a man to be a despicable thing.

“Our power is no curse. I can teach you to
control your urges. We don’t have to kill people. Stay with me and
when the moon is full I will guide you. We can hunt our normal
prey. You can learn to live with this,” Thal said.

Rainer’s mouth hung open. Thal’s attitude
shocked him beyond comprehension.

“You’d have me celebrate this Devil’s life as
a blessing?” he said with disgust.

“I’m no Devil,” Thal said.

“Denying your sin only makes it worse,”
Rainer argued.

The barricades around Rainer’s mind were
sturdy, and Thal despaired of breaching that haunted fortress
impervious to reason.

Returning to a different subject, Thal asked,
“What is it you want to protect me from?”

When Rainer resisted answering both bites
flared with pain.

“Brother Vito means to trap you,” he gasped.
The pain ebbed, but Rainer hated himself for betraying Vito and
failing to serve God. Thal was unrepentantly evil. He clearly had
no interest in accepting Christ, and Rainer hated himself for
hoping that Thal would seek redemption at his side.

“Are you supposed to bring me to him?” Thal
said.

Rainer nodded.

“Why did you go on that killing spree?” Thal
asked.

Rainer shuddered. “Just go away. Leave
Prague. I beg you,” he said.

“I have business in Prague,” Thal said
heavily. “It’s you who should leave Vito. These men of the Church
condemn our kind.”

Rainer shook his head vigorously. Again his
hand sought his cross. He hated its absence. “Brother Vito will
help me find salvation,” he insisted.

“Do your brothers accept your condition?”
Thal wondered.

“Only Vito knows. He’s a good man to take me
in,” Rainer said.

“He’s not your only choice. You can live with
me. I want to help you find peace,” Thal said.

“There’s no peace in embracing this curse,”
Rainer snarled.

Frustrated, Thal dropped the subject.
Although he could sense that part of Rainer deep down wanted his
kinship, the man was mentally unable to accept himself as he
was.

Patting Rainer on the shoulder, Thal said, “I
saw some cottages near the road. Let’s try to find some clothes
there and go back.”

“You mustn’t go back. You must leave. That’s
why I led you out here. To get you away from the city. Please go,”
Rainer said.

He really believed that Vito threatened him.
Although Thal did not discount the threat, he only added it to his
list of other problems.

“I can see after myself, but I appreciate the
warning,” Thal said. He offered Rainer his hand. “Can we agree to
never fight again?”

Rainer’s first thought was to agree, but then
he admonished himself for being tempted to make a truce with this
ungodly creature. His bite wounds stung, venomous with disapproval
for resisting this Devil’s magic.

He burst to his feet and flung away Thal’s
fur. “Leave this place!” he cried and scrambled off in the
darkness.

Thal picked up his fur and listened to Rainer
plod toward the road. Because his offer of friendship had only
worsened Rainer’s suffering, Thal guessed that Rainer’s need for
true companionship violated his loyalty to Vito. Thal pitied the
monk’s inner conflict.

Dawn was warming the horizon and the moon was
only an ashen ghost beyond the hilltop mists. Its fullness had
waned. Thal would not need to worry about the werewolf besetting
Lady Carmelita’s house until the next moon. But would Rainer tell
Vito where he had found him?

Close to panic, Thal ran after Rainer. The
man cringed when he caught up.

“You must tell no one where I’m staying,”
Thal said.

Rainer clenched his teeth, refusing to
answer.

“It’s not for my sake. I don’t want any of
your brothers condemning my hostess and friends. They’re not Devil
worshippers or whatever your master might call them. Do not tell
him!” Thal commanded.

Rainer gasped and fell against a tree. “I
won’t,” he finally promised, clutching his neck and hating the
relief of the fading pain.

“Thank you,” Thal whispered, believing
him.

Rainer staggered onward. “Stay away from me!”
he yelled.

Thal hung back. The rejection hurt but
relentlessly trying to change the man’s mind was proving futile.
His concern for Rainer remained. If he could not convince him to
try and control himself, he would have to watch him during the next
full moon. Thal could not knowingly leave him to stalk and kill
hapless people.

While Rainer blundered back to civilization,
Thal began to feel the pain in his own wounds. Blood had dried over
many scratches and scrapes all over his body. He wished he did not
have to walk back to the city with only a fur to cover his
nakedness. He veered toward a cottage with the hope of begging some
rags off its occupant. Rainer still headed straight for the road,
uncaring of his naked wretchedness. Thal resolved to get him a
blanket and catch up to him.

A familiar high-pitched bark cheered Thal. He
turned from the cottage and hurried into some bushes along the
road. Pistol barked at Rainer disapprovingly as he ran by him
toward his master. The little dog charged into the bushes and Thal
embraced the excited animal. Pistol wiggled and jumped so happily
that he scratched Thal’s wounds. He had to put him forcefully back
on the ground. Pistol licked his ankles and wagged
triumphantly.

Thal heard horses approaching. He glimpsed
Rainer diving for cover just as three riders cantered into view.
Surprised to see that Valentino was one of them, Thal waved. The
other two men in his company appeared to be mercenaries.

Their horses snorted and stopped advancing.
Thal knew that he was disturbing the animals and stayed back.
Slowly Valentino dismounted with a bundle.

“My clothes! I thank you,” Thal cried
happily.

“Your dog and singer friend were frantic that
I find you,” Valentino said. He could hardly believe that Thal was
a man again.

Thal grabbed his clothes gratefully. “Thank
you for bringing these. I planned my night poorly,” he said,
pulling on pants.

Seeing Thal as a man again made Valentino
question his memory. Had everything he had witnessed in the
moonlight been a dream? But the long scratches across Thal’s hard
chest told of a battle that should have been beyond a man.

“How can it be what I saw?” Valentino
said.

“I’m not sure of the answer,” Thal
admitted.

“You are a servant of the Devil,” Valentino
whispered, latching on to the only logical explanation.

“I’m not anyone’s servant,” Thal said
adamantly. His shirt was back on and he tossed his fur over a
shoulder. “My weapons please,” he said.

Slowly Valentino delivered the pistol, sword,
and knives.

Dressed and armed again, Thal folded his
cloak over an arm. “I must take this to Rainer. He’s hiding up
there,” he said.

Valentino eyed the foliage down the road
suspiciously. “Who?” he said and gestured to his men to look behind
them.

“The other werewolf. He’s not well,” Thal
said.

“The other one is here?” Valentino said,
following him. The horses shied away as Thal passed. The other two
men eyed him warily. Their commander had roused them in the middle
of the night to hunt werewolves and then oddly followed a little
dog into the country.

“I must give him my cloak,” Thal said,
breaking into a run. “Rainer! Rainer!”

The wind was at Thal’s back so he had no
advance warning of the riders rounding the bend. When he saw them,
he stopped, but Rainer jumped from the bushes and ran toward
them.

“Who are they?” Valentino worried, catching
up. His long experience in battle warned him when an enemy
approached.

Thal recognized the foremost rider. “Those
are sellswords that serve Jesuits,” Thal said.

“Jesuits?” Valentino muttered unhappily.

Thal drew his pistol. “These fellows don’t
have guns,” he said and took aim. He pulled the trigger and the
bang made all the horses jump. The ball blasted by the sellsword
leader’s head.

Thal quickly started reloading. “Care to take
a turn?” he said to Valentino.

“Damn it man!” Valentino complained but he
drew both guns.

The startled sellswords regrouped. Their
leader pointed toward Valentino’s group and advanced with most of
his men. One stayed behind to give Rainer a robe. Knowing he could
not let this group of riders catch him on foot, Valentino fired a
gun and clipped one in the shoulder. He screamed. Clinging to the
horse the wounded man turned around.

“My horse!” Valentino barked. His men hurried
up with his skittish mount. He held his second pistol ready, saving
its precious shot while Thal continued to reload.

The sellswords had stopped and were talking.
Valentino assumed they were assessing the situation.

“Why did you shoot at them?” Valentino
demanded.

Thal finished loading his pistol. “I’ve
fought with them before. They’ll try to capture me,” he
explained.

“And now I’m in the middle,” Valentino
complained.

“I’d like to think we’re on the same side,”
Thal said.

“Then goddamn hit one of them on your next
shot,” the Condottiere said.

“I was hoping to scare them off,” Thal
said.

“I’ve seen you be scarier,” Valentino
muttered. The sellswords started to advance again. Thal raised his
pistol to take aim, but Valentino caught his arm. “Wait,” he
advised. “Will these men recognize you?”

“If anyone gets a good look at me,” Thal
said.

With Thal’s memorable eyes staring back at
him, Valentino was forced to agree. “Get out of sight,” he
ordered.

The command irked Thal who was ready to
fight, but he realized that the sellswords had likely not realized
who he was yet. He slipped into the foliage with Pistol at his
feet. Valentino mounted his horse.

“Hello there!” Valentino called, moving
forward with his two men. “I think we’re on the same business.
We’re out here hunting the werewolves.”

“You’ve seen the werewolves?” the sellsword
leader yelled back.

“I thought they came this way,” Valentino
said.

“They must have. Our monk has visions that
guide him to the beasts. We have been tracking him to catch the
creatures,” the sellsword explained. “Why did you shoot at us?”

“Been up all night hunting monsters. Sorry, I
confess my associate was a bit jumpy. Are you all right?” Valentino
said.

“You shot one of my men!”

“Not badly it looked to me,” Valentino
argued. “My apologies.”

“Words are cheap,” the sellsword leader
declared.

Valentino sighed. He rode closer to the
sellswords. “Let me give you a few thalers for our mistake,” he
said.

“Did you see the werewolves at all?” the
sellsword asked.

“We’ve seen big tracks, but I’ll not go into
those woods without more men. If I even decide to come back. You
say that monk can track those things?” Valentino asked. He leaned
to the right and looked past the horses. A bedraggled man in a
loose robe was being loaded into a small two-wheel donkey cart that
had just caught up to the group.

“Jesuit business is their own,” the sellsword
grumbled. “Who are you?” He could tell that Valentino was a
military man of high rank.

“Oh, please forget you saw me. I’m just out
here hunting the beasts on a silly bet made last night. I was
mostly trying to impress a lady,” he said. He stuck a pistol in his
belt and dug some coins out of his purse. “This should cover a
surgeon for your man. Again, my apologies. It’s been a mad night. I
fear all of Prague will be jumpy as cats in a kennel till these
beasts are gone.”

Valentino’s blather had succeeded in
confusing the sellsword leader. He was tired and trying to
interrogate some foreign noble on a country road was likely a poor
use of his time. He scanned the area. He was sure that he had seen
four men. The fourth man was presumably in the bushes ready to
shoot him if anything happened. Since he had found Vito’s wild monk
and no werewolves, the sellsword decided to go. He did not really
want to capture any sorcerer spawn anyway.

Valentino handed the coins to one of his men
and told him to give them to the sellsword leader. His hand stayed
on a pistol until the money was delivered.