The Moonweaver Chronicles Part 14

By the time we finally got the wolf tied up, it was roughly midday. The other one wasn't really in good enough shape to make the trip back with us. I doubted he would even last the next hour. They really shouldn't have tried to just grab us like they did, it was incredibly foolish of them. Feeling sympathy for ones enemies is a good way to die in a place like this, I wouldn't make that mistake.

Vincent's ability was really more responsible for the chains than my own though. He was able to forge them from some of the minerals in the ground. I didn't really ask too many questions about it. I hoisted him up over my shoulder. and began walking.

"You know, we could just drag him. He did just try to attack us" Vincent mentioned as he followed behind me.

"I'm not really showing him mercy. We need this one alive. If he died because he accidentally hit a rock or something, we couldn't interrogate him."

As we got closer to the camp, where I could sense the others gathering, Vincent became increasingly distracted. "I'm heading off, I've got some business to take care of here."

"You've been here before?" I inquired curiously, now interested. The chances that we just happened to land somewhere significant to him were astronomically low. All of these things just converging in one place like this which I couldn't leave, it was too much to be just a coincidence, as if this was a grand convergence of fates.

"Sorry, I'd rather not say." Vincent evaded the question, seeming quite pensive. Was he somehow responsible for this? No, I shouldn't believe that. Rin said he was her nephew and she clearly trusted him. It'd be better to trust him.

Vincent was heading off, I went after him but, "I'm sorry but, the others need your protection more than I do." He told me, flicking his sword held it upside-down. "They will likely try to take hostages of them if you aren't around. I am a Warden here, I think I can handle any shadows that get in my way. If you try to pass my Sound Wall you will lose your ability to hear for at least a day. Even if you catch up to me, it will put you at a horrible disadvantage." He twirled the sword clockwise until it was in the same position he initially held it in, once it formed a circle the air began to vibrate.

I contemplated going after him, however I didn't know the nature of his technique. He might have been serious and if he was, I didn't know how far it extended or even how far he would go to keep me from following him. He seemed more familiar with this place than I was and I didn't have a good decision, I could only hope that Rin would understand.

I reached the camp eventually, Raptyr had clearly chosen a good defensive position. The trees in this spot were thick and had few leaves to obstruct our vision and hide enemies from our view. The earth energy had faded from Rin, she seemed to have helped arrange this, there was a rudimentary hut that could theoretically fit us all. The material also looked quite sturdy.

The moment I set the shadowy wolf-like creature down, Rin and Mazurek were on me. Rin had coiled around my legs and trapped me in a hug with Mazurek on the other side, mimicking the action as he nuzzled my neck. I wrapped my arms around them both reassuringly, they must have sensed the fight Vincent and I just got through with. Raptyr gave us a few moments of this before he asked the question.

“So, what exactly is this creature?” Raptyr wondered aloud. He had picked up our catch and was examining it. “It reeks of dread, death and despair.” He commented in a way that made it seem like the very words left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I have no clue,” I told him, “It just attacked Vincent and I. We managed to defeat him and his partner, who wasn’t in any shape to be transported.” Suddenly I remembered, “Hey Rin, Vincent got all weird as we were on the way back. He started dodging my questions and then he went off on his own. Should we be worried?”

“Vincent decided to leave the Forest and explore new places after he became a Warden. I accompanied him because I didn’t want him to go off alone and get hurt. I promised his brother and sister that I'd keep him safe. I didn’t recognize this place because it seems to have fallen to those creatures while we were gone. Although its entirely possible we just landed in a spot I hadn’t explored, we tended to never venture into these places unless we were taking them back. That you only got attacked by two is strange, there are usually many more of these things guarding these places.”

She just dropped a lot of information. They were either born or from here, that part was hard to discern. He had siblings? Were they like him? As strong as him? Stronger? Questions flooded my mind but were interrupted as the wolf creature began to stir into consciousness. He struggled against his chains and I watched as the situation dawned on him.

“Let me out of here you bastards, I swear I'll kill every one of you when I get free!” He threatened defiantly.

“Yeah... sorry but I’m not super keen on being killed, so I think I'll just leave you where you are.” Raptyr said. It got a bit of a chuckle out of the rest of us, at least I think so, Rin and Mazurek let out a strange hissing noise that I can only imagine was them laughing.

“Alright, who exactly are you and why did you just attack us?” I asked him.

“Hah, like hell I'll tell you. I don’t need a reason to want to kill Wardens. As for you though, our master wants you destroyed, whoever kills you gets enough power that they’ll be able to take down all of the filthy Wardens inhabiting this place.” We all kind of stared in blank silence.

Nobody seemed to want to point out the fact that he pretty much just gave us virtually everything we needed to know with very little effort on our part. Not to mention that he did so right after saying he wouldn’t do exactly that. I felt a pang of sympathy for this creature, who I was beginning to suspect might be touched in the head.

“What the hell are you all staring at. You might as well get it over with and kill me because I won't talk. I refuse to reveal anything about the Queen of Flames.” He told us, not realizing how meaningless his defiance was when he was giving up all the information we needed.

“Alright...” I said, it was a bit hard not to laugh. I felt kind of bad for this thing but it'd probably be worse to leave him wandering around to be killed by his former allies for leaking information. “Raptyr, dispose of him, I don’t care how.”

Raptyr dragged his corpse off and I went inside the hut onto one of the beds. I was impressed that there was so much detail accomplished in so little time. I brought Mazurek with me and Rin followed. I scratched under his chin and he rumbled approvingly.

“So Rin, what are they?” I asked her. It was almost impossible that Rin wasn’t somehow connected to these creatures. They were probably enemies of hers, which means she should know something.

“Now isn’t the time.” She told me” Its getting late, you should get some rest. If what that creature said is to be believed, this 'Fire Princess' or whatever is targeting you, if its strong enough to subjugate reapers and offer them enough powers to destroy the Wardens, its not something to be taken lightly. Even if its a bluff, it still has to have significant power to subjugate Reapers. I've only known one person strong enough to take on a Reaper without specialized weaponry and it drove her to madness and darkened her soul."

"So, we can talk about this tomorrow?" I asked.

"Absolutely" She responded and wrapped Mazurek and I in her coils, holding us to her chest. I was suddenly overcome by weariness and decided to just give into it. Rin seemed to know enough about this place to determine we would be safe for the night.