Lycan Fallout: Rise Of The Werewolf (7 page)

“I can’t, Tommy.”

“Suit yourself,” he said as he drank his fill. I won’t lie, my pulse quickened as I watched him eat. A large part of me wanted to join in the festivities. Granted,
the part of me that wanted to feed was in the minority, but it was still a significant portion.

Tommy threw the man over his shoulder and headed over to the cart. I was curious to see what he was doing and I followed. He grabbed a shovel, found an area that wouldn’t be too root
tangled and dug a hole. It wasn’t any shallow grave either, it was a good six feet down. He tenderly laid the body down, filled in the gravesite and even mumbled a small prayer. I’d never seen a lion pray after eating a gazelle. I’ll admit I was pretty confused.

“What...what was that all about?” I asked him later as we sat around our small campfire.

“I prayed for his quick return to where his soul was forged and asked forgiveness for those transgressions he had committed during life.”

“Do you have that kind of pull...up there?” I asked, wondering if he could do the same for me.

“Doubtful, but it can’t hurt to try.” And with that statement, we were done.

Oggie had been patrolling the woods and came back with a fat rabbit, he dropped it next to me, I drained it dry and then put it on a small spit
. When it was done to his liking I stripped the meager meat from it and let him eat. He rested his head in my lap as I sat there through the night.

I had a hard time getting the image of Tommy killing Clyde out of my mind, and it was with that thought we started our next day. The day was dark and dreary; it looked like a storm was brewing both inside and out.

I don’t know how long we were traveling, the rhythmic rocking of the cart had me slightly in a trance, and the day was too dark to follow the progression of the sun. I was yanked from my mind when I saw the black-cloaked figure of a person sitting astride an extremely large black horse up ahead. My heart skipped as I tried to peer through the gloom.

“Eliza?” I asked with a start. I began to arise. She was back! The desire to turn around and haul ass was prevalent.

“Hello, Azile!” Tommy shouted, waving towards her.

She pulled her cloak back; even as I was seeing the woman’s face I had a hard time reconciling it. My mind had superimposed Eliza’s beautifully stark features atop Azile’s softer ones. Not to say that Azile wasn’t beautiful, just in a different way from Eliza. Our cart had just pulled up to her, and I was still trying to regain control of my emotions. When I got close, I realized the black of her cloak was actually a deep red made even darker by the muted light of the day.

“Hello, Tomas,” Azile said warmly. “Michael.” She nodded, smiling at me.

“Hello, Azile,” I said.

“I had my doubts whether you’d come or not. Tomas was relatively sure, I wasn’t convinced. I’d visited you a few times over the years; you grew more despondent each season.”

“I never knew,” I told her.

“Purpose!” she said happily as she alit from her horse. The dog that had grown to near pony proportions charged her, tongue lolling, tail wagging. He jumped into her arms. She caught him and twirled him around as if he were still a pup.

“Everybody know my dog before me?” I asked, slightly jealous.

Azile kissed Oggie’s muzzle and gently placed him back on. him ba the ground. He nudged up against her leg.

“You didn’t know because I didn’t want you to, Michael.” Azile said, referring back to my prior statement. “It was difficult for me to see you so morose.”

“Just imagine my discomfort,” I told her. “You should have said hello.”

“Would it have helped?” she asked, coming towards me.

“No.” I let my head drop a little. She placed her hand tenderly on my cheek, much like someone I had loved over a millennia ago used to.

I shied away from the intimate contact.

“I’m sorry,” she said, quickly retracting her hand. “It’s just so good to see you.” She turned towards Tommy. “Did you get everything?”

“It’s been difficult…but yes.” He removed a blanket from the back of the cart, a gleaming pile of metal shone back.

“Holy shit, is that silver?” I asked, going over towards him. There were trinkets, coins, serving plates, and even some swords. When Tommy nodded, I asked. “This really works on werewolves?”

“It won’t kill them outright,” Azile said, “but it inflicts more damage than normal steel or lead. Every town we go to I will instruct them to glaze all the tips of their weapons with it.”

“We could all retire comfortably with this much treasure,” I said, looking at the large box nearly overflowing with the booty.

“I wish that could be the case, but the fates have determined another path for us,” Azile said with a faraway stare.

“Who, exactly, are the fates, because I’ve got a couple of choice words for them.”

“Ah, there is more of the Michael I knew,” Azile said, smiling at me.

“What makes you think these towns are going to do anything but keep the silver you give them?” I asked.

“You’ll have to watch them
cover their weapons.” She smiled back.

“Wonderful, what now? Do we just find some werewolves and start hacking away?” I asked.

“First, I believe we should find some shelter. Rain and wind may not affect either of you too much, but I can’t stand it, and holding it off is beginning to wear on my reserves.”

“You have power over weather?” I asked in awe.

“There is a reason your brother’s house has not yet crumbled in on itself from crushing snow.”

“I just thought I’d been lucky…or unlucky really.”

She snorted slightly. “Come. There is an old house up ahead that I used last night. It should be suitable for this evening as well.”

The ‘old house’ was in fairly good condition considering its age
. It was a log cabin style kit home; from the outside it appeared to be roughhewn from large logs inside it looked more like a ski chalet.

“Had I known how long I was going to exile myself
, I would have chosen a place like this,="+e like ” I said as I looked at the grand staircase. Candles were blazing in nearly every corner making the house much brighter than outside. “Not very safe leaving these on while you were out.”

“They were being tended,” Azile said.

“Our fifth traveling companion?” I asked Tommy.

I nearly fell over Oggie trying to get out of the house when a scaled animal came strolling out from a side hallway. It walked on four legs, after that, any familiarity to any living animal was gone. It was red and covered in the aforementioned scales. Its head
, which was triangular shaped, had small horned protrusions arising from it. Large reptilian eyes blinked at me, its leathery wings seated high on its back flapped once or twice.

“What the fuck is that?” I asked Tommy, using his shoulder to prop myself up.

“Sebastian, what are you doing?” Azile said, approaching what I could only call a mini dragon.

“It’s her familiar,” Tommy said, dropping his pack onto the ground and striding into the house as if that explained everything.

The thing flickered once, the scales seemed to melt away, replaced with fur. The wings folded and retreated into themselves, and the angular head took on a roundish shape, whiskers poked out.

“A cat? It’s a fucking cat? I would have rather had the dragon,” I said.

Sebastian hissed at me. “Oh look at you, Mike, making new friends wherever you go,” Azile said, spreading her arms to catch the cat as it leaped onto her. You’re going to hurt his feelings.”

I wanted to tell her I really didn’t care about his feelings; his distant relatives had taken the life of my best friend and nearly my own as I had tried to destroy them. We would always be on shaky ground.

“What’s with the dragon thing?” I asked, pointing at the Gatekeeper to the Underworld.

“He likes to pretend. Sometimes he’s a dragon, sometimes a lion, and whatever else he feels like turning into,” she said, stroking his fur. He was purring contentedly whilst also mean-mugging me. If the cat could have somehow stayed in contact with her petting and slashed a claw across my face, I’m pretty convinced he would have.

“Wonderful…a shape-shifting cat. Any chance he could turn into a cheeseburger?” I asked, giving him the same stare back. He didn’t seem like he gave a shit. Go figure.

“I think it is time you made peace with cats,” Azile said as she absently stroked the cat’s back.

“Let’s give it a few more centuries and see what that brings us,” I told her. “Speaking of which, how is it that you’re still with us?” I asked, not realizing how callous my question was until I saw her expression change. “No, no I didn’t mean it that way,” I backpedaled.

“Same Mike…same womanly charm.” Tommy laughed, heading upstairs. Azile shared in his merriment.

“You guys use this place often?” I asked of his familiarity.

“It’s one of many way-stations we have across the land,” Azile said.

“And with Azile’s concealment spells, m cant spelost stay hidden from prying eyes,” Tommy said as he reached the top of the stairway and headed right.

“Most?” I asked.

“There are others with power that can see beyond it, including some of the Lycan.”

“Wonderful,” I answered her. “Is that going to be a problem here?”

“No, not yet anyway.”

“Please don’t get me wrong, Azile, I’m more than thrilled to see someone from the past, but how? And you still look so young.”

“Would you rather I look like this?” she asked sweeping her hand across her face. She instantly transformed into an old woman. A large hooked nose peeked out from the deep folds of skin that created crevices in her face. A wart the size of a rat’s nose was nearly lost in a forest of thick coarse facial hair.

I took in a sharp intake of air.

“Relax.” She smiled, her more customary face coming through.

“Which one’s real?”

“Touch me.” She leaned in towards me.

I tentatively reached out with my hand and touched her face
. It was as soft and smooth as any young woman’s face should be. I pulled back quickly. “I’m sorry,” I told her.

“For what?” She
asked smiling, I think she knew why.

“You’re nearly half my age.”

“Michael Talbot, I am a hundred and seventy-three years old, there are not many beings that can claim I am half their age.”

“You know what I meant,” I said with embarrassment.

“How about this?” she asked once again running her hand past her face.

I staggered. “T-Tracy?” I cried. “I-I’ve almost forgotten what you looked like.” I was sobbing now. “Please, no more.” I put my arm up and out to block her from view.

“I’m so sorry, Mike. I just thought you might be more comfortable if I looked like her.”

Her words were lost as I stumbled out of the house. Fat tears fell from my eyes as my steps faltered. I don’t know how far I traveled, but when I looked up I could no longer see the house. I don’t know if that was because of Azile’s spell or
if I had just wandered that far away. I could hear Oggie barking in the distance. Right now I wasn’t sure if I even wanted his company.

“Maybe I should just keep going,” I said aloud. I caught a glimmer of something bounding through the woods. Oggie had sniffed me out and was even now coming at a full tilt. I could outdistance him and be away from all of them. I stood my ground as he leaped, placing his paws on my chest. He drove me to the ground and licked the salt from my tears.

“Yeah, that was a stupid idea,” I told him as I wrestled his head.

Azile was standing at a tree not more than five feet away. She must have been at the head of her craft class. “I’m sorry, Michael. I won’t do that again.”

I nodded. Owas>I noddggie grabbed my arm and helped me to my feet.

We walked back to the house
. At first it was an uneasy silence and then it became a comfortable quiet. Sounds roughly the same, but what can I say, it’s how I felt. Oggie would wander off and come back. He sounded like a bear in some of the thicker underbrush.