Wolfen - Part 15

As the friendly duel began at their camp, David grabbed the satchel that held Karthan’s Soul Stone and quietly slipped out behind the trees. He wasn’t really in the mood to be around other people. He walked by himself for a bit until he found a nice place for him to sit down and rest. Sitting down, he pulled out the Soul Stone and looked into it, hoping for any kind of sign that Karthan was still there, but like the last several days, there was nothing.

He kept talking to it, but he didn’t know if Karthan could even hear him. After a few minutes of silence, he disappointedly put the stone back in the bag and sighed. The feeling of emptiness inside of him was almost unbearable. The only reasons he hasn’t already ended his life is that Karthan is still with him in a way, and that his knowledge could be useful to this pack against Erebos.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain in his stomach. The pain was so strong that he couldn’t hold himself up. He lurched over and fell to the ground. The pain lasted for almost half a minute before he coughed violently until a stream of flowed out of his mouth. The pain stopped, but his body was left feeling very weak.

His health was pretty quickly failing. Ever since he saved Verik from Erebos’s attack back then. Verik seemed unaffected, but David seemed to have been poisoned somehow. He felt like he was going to die within a week or two, but with the news that Verik brought with him when he returned from his disappearance made him tremble with fear. The story he told about the Iseyla and their transformation into those “demons” as Emmaline called them. What he described about them was the same thing that was happening to him, only slower. He was becoming one of them.

He hadn’t told anyone yet. He still felt like a stranger to them, even though they treated him like they would any other wolfen, but he wasn’t normal. Not with anyone other than the Elders. But they were all gone. All he had left was Karthan’s Soul Stone in which he resided silently.

Tears came to his eyes as he unintentionally recalled the memories of his past life with them. Every day he would learn something new about the world. He was closer to them than anyone has ever been to another. Their minds were literally connected, forming relationships with each other that were deeper than any normal person could understand.

He couldn’t hold back the wave of sadness that rushed over him. His tears turned into sobs. He just sat there for a few minutes, weeping uncontrollably. He finally stopped himself and pushed himself up on his feet. The fur under his eyes were completely soaked with tears. Wiping his eyes dry as best he could, he started walking.

Normally, he was able to keep his emotions completely out of his thinking, but with the crushing sadness that kept trying to surface after the Elder’s deaths and this poison, or whatever it was that was changing him, he was starting to lose control.

As he was walking, he looked down at himself. He had already lost a lot of weight. His fur was getting thin and falling out. His physical strength was fading away. He knew that he didn’t have much time left. Either he was going to die, or he was going to become one of the demons. If the latter happened, then he would rather die. But his death wouldn’t mean much. With Karthan’s soul still alive in the stone, then the knowledge he and the Elders shared would not be lost. Verik had potentially great power. He was sure that he would find a way to communicate with Karthan somehow.

David walked up to a small wooden dome sitting on the ground between two bushes. This was where the stored all the enchanted items that took from the Elders’ fortress. He lifted the dome off and looked at all of them. Some of these things he helped create. He decided he would do one last useful thing for this pack and mark them so they know what they are. These might become useful in the fight against Erebos and his army. He picked up a scepter with a large red gem at the end. This one was designed to manipulate fire. He used his claw to write on the rod and then moved on to the next one. It was pendant that increased physical strength. The next was a head band that improved eyesight and reflexes.

It didn’t take long to mark all of them. He sighed and stood up. He guessed it was time to return to camp. He took only a few steps before he froze. Fear coursing through his veins, making him tremble. The fear quickly turned into a burning fury. He clenched his fists and let out a ferocious snarl. He had no idea what these feelings were directed at or where they came from, but he couldn’t control his body because they were so strong. Suddenly, his legs gave out and he started convulsing.

This lasted for about ten seconds before the emotions disappeared and he was able to control himself again. He got up and saw that on the ground underneath him there was a lot of fur; his fur. On his body, there were several patches of really thin fur where you could see his skin, which was already really pale, but was starting to turn grey, just like the Iseyla Verik told them about. It was not going to be long before he became one of them. That was obvious. He just hopes that he will be able to talk to Karthan one last time before he loses himself.

/.\ /.\ /.\

Verik, Emmaline, and Syla were all sitting around the center of camp talking quietly. The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon and everyone else was already asleep. They talked, but it wasn’t on the most enjoyable subjects. It was about the Erebos’ and his demon army. What their next step should be.

“Honestly,” Emmaline shared her thoughts, “I think the very first thing that we do should be to go to the humans and try to get them on our side. We both can speak their language and you have a human friend. If we can somehow get him to help us speak with the king, then maybe we can work something out.”

Verik responded, “I’m pretty sure that’s easier said than done. I need to make contact with Jack first. I can’t just be walking around the human city looking for him. Most humans would kill me on sight.”

“Would you recognize his sent?” She asked.

“Yeah, I think so. But it could be difficult. From what I’ve heard, there a really large amount of humans that live in these cities. Trying to find one scent out of a thousand might be impossible.”

“But if you get there at night when all the humans are sleeping, then you will be able to walk around without them seeing you. It would give you more time to search for his scent and then follow it back to where he lives.”

Verik nodded and then turned toward Syla. “You haven’t said much. You have any thoughts?”

She shook her head. “Not really. I just don’t want you to put yourself in danger more than you have to. You’ve already almost died on more than one occasion.”

“Don’t worry.” Verik smiled at her. “I should be fine. Navigating through a sleeping human city won’t be challenging at all.” He was pretty sure there was still going to be plenty of danger, but he wasn’t going to tell Syla what he actually thought since she worries far too much. Humans are not nocturnal creatures, but according to what Jack said during their time together some of them are still out and about late into the night.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of David stumbling into the camp. All three of them turned to see him. He looked terrible. He was thin, much of his fur was missing, and he walked like he was barely able to stand. They all rushed over and helped him.

“What happened to you?” Verik asked and then saw his skin. It was a sickly grey color. “Erebos! Did he attack you? Is he here?”

David shook his head. “No, you are safe for now. This happened when I protected you from him. I got infected by whatever it is. It’s been getting worse since then.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone? We could have helped!” Verik yelled.

“No you couldn’t have. You understand this just as much as anyone. There is nothing anyone could do to stop this. That is why I didn’t tell anyone.” His voice was really weak.

“What’s going on?” Keil’s voice was heard behind them as he exited his shelter to see what was causing the commotion, along with everyone else.

“It’s David!” Verik called back. “Help me get him inside a shelter. He’s in really bad condition.” Verik and Keil lifted him up between them and carried him inside one of the larger shelters. When they moved him inside, he was already unconscious.

“What are we going to do?” Emmaline asked as she approached David.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how long he has left. How long until he loses his mind. How long until he completely changes. I don’t know anything.” Keil was frustrated, most likely angry with himself for not being able to help. He turned to Emmaline, “You know medicine. Is there anything you can do to help?”

“I’m afraid not.” She said sadly. “If he’s in pain, then I can ease his suffering or put him to sleep, but I don’t understand what is happening to him. I’m sorry.”

Keil sighed and looked down. He looked like he was considering something very hard. His fists were clenched and his arms were trembling. Finally, he said to everyone that was standing outside the shelter, “Get me some strong vines. At least twelve feet.” They all rushed into the forest to get it for him.

Verik walked up beside him. “What are you doing? Why do you need vines?”

Keil stared ahead at David with a guilty and sorrowful face. “I’m tying him up. Securing him so he won’t attack if he loses control.” It was obvious that he didn’t want to do this, but he had no choice. Verik would have done the same thing. He didn’t want to think of him this way, but it was the truth, David was now dangerous.