Wolfen - Part 14

 
Verik looked into the wolfen’s beautiful purple eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but she pushed him away and got to her feet.

“Who are you? And what are you doing here?” She demanded with a mix of fear and anger.

Verik felt a bit hurt by her reaction, which was a complete opposite feeling that he felt when he saw her. “My name is Verik. I’m a friend.”

She stood there in a defensive position, thinking about what to do. Still not relaxing, she asked, “What happened to you? What made those…” she gestured toward his face.

Verik knew what she was talking about. “I imagine the same as you. I, unfortunately have no memory of my past. I woke up from a coma just a couple weeks ago.”

She seemed to consider this for a bit, but then she apparently decided she could trust him and relaxed a bit. “Your situation is almost the same as mine, only I have been awake for a little less than four years.”

Verik silently cursed and tried to hold back his disappointment. “So, who are you?” Verik asked, sitting down and gesturing for her to do the same.

“My name is Emmaline.” She told him as she sat down across from him. “I used to live with a human for a while before she was killed.”

“Wait, you lived with a human?”

“For about four years. Actually, you are the first of my kind that I remember seeing.”

Verik remembered the story that Keil told him about when they rescued him. He and Syla were rescued, but one of they had to leave behind. When they came back, the third was gone, taken by a human. That was four years ago. “I think my pack would really want to meet you.” Verik said. “I think we may have been in a pack together before losing our memories.”

“Well, we do share some…interesting features. Why do you think this?”

Verik got to his feet. “Come with me. I’ll tell you on our way to them.”

Emmaline stood up, but was a little nervous. “I’m sorry, but I have never been with other wolfen. I don’t know how to act. Will they accept me?”

“The leader of our pack is the best wolfen I know. I can guarantee he will do everything in his power to make you feel welcome. No follow me.”

She followed Verik into the forest toward the rest of his pack, though she was still quite anxious. On his way, he told her everything that Keil him about when they were found.

When they entered the camp, Keil and everyone else was already standing, facing their direction, detecting their scent. When they all saw Emmaline, they became a little uncomfortable. Some of them gasped in surprise, others were a little bit shocked by her appearance.

Keil did not let his surprise show, but approached them with a smile on his face and his tail wagging welcomingly. “What do we have here? Where did you come from?”

“I came from a place about a week’s journey from here. I used to live with a human, but she was killed. I found Verik outside the forest.”

Verik added, “I believe she may be the third wolfen that went missing when you rescued me and Syla.”

Keil’s eyes went wide. “Really? I thought you smelled familiar, but I couldn’t place it! Please, do tell us your story. We would love to hear it.”

She smiled and nodded her head happily. “I would be glad to tell it. I haven’t had too many people to talk to, since most of my life has been keeping hidden. So, I woke up in a relatively small human hut out in the middle of a forest. I had no idea who I was or what happened to me before that day. I was really weak, I could hardly move on my own. There was an old lady there that helped me regain my strength.

“She taught me her language and the ways of medicine. She was some kind of healer. Many people came to her hut during the day who were sick or injured. She told me that since many people feared and hated my kind, I had to remain hidden in the back until dark, when they would be alone.

“So, I remained hidden in the back by myself for most of the years, helping out in the background, but it was during this time when I discovered that I had a special gift. I could read the minds of humans and other creatures. I also could occasionally see events that would happen in the near future.

“I used this gift to help the human prepare for when people in critical condition would be coming. I would be able to sense when something serious was going to happen. This made her much more successful, but it didn’t last that long.

“A little over a week ago, one morning, I sensed something terrible. I couldn’t quite get very many details. I sensed death. Pain. Darkness. I told her about what I saw, but nothing seemed to happen. The day went on as any other day.

“But the next night, we heard strange noises outside our hut. Many creatures were hissing all around and things were brushing against the walls. One of them shrieked in a high-pitched evil voice. All at once, all of the creatures started attacking the walls. Scratching them, hitting them. They were unsuccessful at entering that way, but one of them climbed up the wall and onto the roof, which was made of mostly straw. Soon after, all of them were climbing onto the roof and tearing it apart. It didn’t take long for them to find a way in, and then these demons all poured in. They were black creatures, covered in scales, with large wings.”

“We’ve run into these creatures several times.” Keil said. “You call them demons?”

“They looked similar to the mythical demon that many human stories are about. I don’t know if they are the same thing, but they are evil, that I do know.

“I tried to fight them off, to keep them from the human, but there were simply too many of them. They ran past me and attacked her. Being older and weak, she was unable to put up much of a fight. They threw her to the ground and began tearing her apart. I was able to hear her dying thoughts that were directed at me. She told me…” her voice trembled at this point, as the memories flooded back. “She told me that she loved me and she wanted me to live a happy life with my own kind.” She wiped the fresh tears from her eyes. “So, I travelled for about a week straight and found you guys. You are the first wolfen I have ever met, or remember meeting.”

Keil patted her shoulders comfortingly. “Well, I’m glad you found us. We would be glad to accept you into our pack, if that is what you want.”

Emmaline smiled widely. “I would like that very much.”

During the next several minutes, the whole pack lined up in front of her and welcomed her. An act that they seemed to be doing quite a lot recently.

/.\ /.\ /.\

Everyone sat down around camp, talking to each other. Emmaline approached Keil and dipped her head. “I didn’t want to ask for something immediately after joining you, but I have had nothing to eat this past week as I travelled. Do you have anything?”

“Certainly!” Keil said happily. “Tharren, Lyan! Dig up the rest of the Kelderan.” He turned back to Emmaline. “We hunted this one just yesterday, so it’s still quite fresh. You are free to take as much as you need.”

Emmaline watched nervously as they began unearthing the dead kelderan. When they pulled it out, she just stood there. “What’s wrong?” Tharren asked her. “It’s still good. The earth preserves it.”

She shook her head. “That’s not it. It’s just that I’ve lived the past four years with a human. They…eat other things.”

“Well, I hate to tell you, but this is the only thing we have.”

“This is fine. I can get used to anything. Besides, I came to you. I can’t really be that picky.” She bent down to the carcass and took a bit out of the leg and chewed it for a bit. She paused, as if considering the taste. Immediately, she swallowed and started devouring it quickly.

After she finished, the kelderan was reburied. Everyone sat around, talking casually to each other. After a while, Keil stood up and oved to the center of their camp. “Does anyone want to try and take me on?”

Excitedly, Tharren jumped to his feet and joined him. “I would gladly do it.”

“What’s going on?” Emmaline asked quietly to Nari, who was sitting next to her.

“They’re going to duel. We do this all the time when we’re all here. All it is, is they spar with the other until one of them loses their balance until the fall. It’s good exercise for when there’s nothing else to do.”

They both watched as Keil and Tharren got into fighting position. Quickly, Keil dropped low and swung his legs at his opponent’s feet. Tharren’s legs were knocked out from under him, but this wasn’t the end of the fight. He brought his arms down, catching himself, and flipping back onto his feet.

“Nice recovery.” Keil said, nodding with approval. “You’ve been working on it.”

“I practice every day.” Tharren replied. He rushed at Keil, swinging his left claws toward his face. Keil easily lifted his hand grabbed his arm, but Tharren was already swinging his right fist from below, connecting with Keil’s stomach. He fell to his knees, the wind knocked out of him. Tharren rushed behind Keil and grabbed his shoulders, ready to throw him to the floor.

Keil, however, was not as close to defeat as he thought. Once his hands touched Keil’s shoulders, Keil reached up and grabbed Tharren’s arms with incredible speed. He kicked off the ground, jumping fast into the air. Still holding Tharren’s arms, Keil flipped around behind him, kicking him behind the knees as he landed. Tharren’s legs buckled and he fell back onto the ground.

“I, too have been practicing every day.” Keil said and then helped Tharren off the ground.’’

This continued on for the next while. Verik and Emmaline sat there watching the whole time, not really wanting to fight, themselves. Verik told her about everything that had happened to him and his pack since he woke up.

Once everyone but them had dueled, Nari came up to them and pulled them to their feet. “Come on, guys. You can’t skip out on this.”

“I’m good. I’d rather not.” Verik shook his head.

“Nonsense. You and Emmaline are going to go at it. I’m not going to leave you alone until you do.”

“It wouldn’t be a fair fight.” Verik objected.

Now Emmaline spoke up. “Oh, really. I wouldn’t be so sure of yourself. It could lead to your downfall. Let’s fight.” She moved over to the center of the camp and waited for him to join her.

Verik sighed. “Fine, but don’t expect it to last very long.” He joined her in the center and lifted up his claws. Instantly, Emmaline rushed at him. Swinging her claws. In all directions. His reflexes were good enough that he was able to dodge every hit, but her strikes were done with surprising skill. He jumped away, leaving her flurries of attacks. When she got closer, he swung his leg up, aiming for her head. He didn’t even come close to hitting her, when she ducked expertly underneath his foot.

Expecting a counterattack, he moved his arms to his vulnerable side to block anything she might try, but what happened caught him off guard. Emmaline’s long scaly tale whipped out from behind her and hit him in the face, throwing him backwards. He landed on his hands and feet, and then pushed himself back into a standing position.

Verik was impressed at her speed and skill. He was expecting this fight to be really easy. He needed to pick it up if he wanted to win. With a different kind of determination, Verik ran at her. When he reached her, he lifted his arm as if he was going to strike, but he spun around behind her and kicked at her back. However, his leg shot out straight into the air, missing her entirely. She had already moved out of the way and was behind him.

Every attack from both of them were avoided by the other. Both of them kept increasing the speed of their attacks, but it still had no effect. None of them were able to land a hit. Their movements became so fast, that no one was really able to follow what was happening. They were just two blurs of fur dancing around each other.

This kept going for a few minutes without any of them slowing down, but finally, Emmaline began to tire. She did not have the excessive energy that Verik had. Verik could probably keep this pace up for quite a while longer. It was obvious that the fight was going to be over soon.

Emmaline swung her leg up into a kick aimed for his head, but it was too slow. This was Verik’s chance. He ducked under her leg, came up behind her and swung his elbow around, hitting her in the back of her head. She stumbled forward and fell to the ground.

Verik rushed to her and helped her up. “Are you okay?”

She smiled up at him. “Of course I am. I’m not that weak.”

“I have to tell you, I was not expecting you to be this good. You can really put up a fight.”

“I was kind of cheating a bit. I was able to read your mind a little, just to expect your next move. I always knew where you were going to be.”

“Well, one of the only reasons I won was because I have so much energy from my power. If I was a normal wolfen, you would have beaten me for sure. Where did you learn how to fight like that?”

Emmaline scratched her ear. “When I worked with the human healer, I found out that when they are weak, the barriers around their mind are easier to break through. Many people who came to her for help were fighters who were injured. While she was working on them, I would enter their minds and gain their knowledge.”

“That’s really impressive.” Verik said. “That could end up being a very useful skill to have in the future. Especially if we start trying to make peace between us and the humans.”

/.\ /.\ /.\

After the fight, the sun was starting to rise. Everyone was pretty tired afterwards, so they all got into their shelters and slept. Syla, Emmaline, and Verik stayed up later, getting to know each other better. Verik was hoping that conversations with them, who were all part of his previous lost life, would help him remember anything, but neither of them were able to remember anything new. He guessed he would just have to wait.

Maybe in time, he would get his memory back, maybe not. Either way, he was happy with his family right now. He had a new life with them. It won’t be the most pleasant life one could have, since they have to stop Erebos before he destroys the world, but they will stop him. Vannah believes in him. Once he gains full control over his abilities, he had no doubt that he and his pack can kill him.

His growing army might become a problem. He had no idea how many creatures are with him, but his numbers are growing. He had to pick up the pace on his training. He also needed to meet with Jack to try and form at least a temporary alliance with the humans until the threat is destroyed.