Wolfen - Part 9
 
“It’s Karthan! He’s alive!” David shouted, suddenly broke away from Keil, and started sprinting away.

Everyone else followed close behind him back into the fortress.

As they entered the front doors, Keil warned everyone, “We don’t know if any of those things are still here. Just be cautious.”

They made their way slowly to the center, where they suspected he would be. Everything was eerily silent. The only noise that they could hear was their breath and their beating hearts. There wasn’t even the sound of a bug walking across the floor. The whole building was lifeless.

They walked up to another door and Keil pushed it open. There was a loud crash from the next room that echoed loudly through the silence. Everyone jumped back, lifting their claws and baring their teeth. Keil flattened his ears and turned to the rest of them with a grin. “My apologies. There was something in front of the door.”

Nari rolled her eyes and smoothed out her fur on her neck and shoulders which were standing strait up. They continued their slow, careful walk until they reached the outer area between the first building and the dome. Keil ran the rest of the way to the doors and whispered the magic code word. The doors opened on their own again and the entered the hallway on the inside.

Reaching the door that led into the interior they paused and listened, but there was nothing. “Karthan is in there. I know it.” David said. Carefully, Keil pushed open the door enough to look inside. Apparently seeing nothing, he opened it the rest of the way and stepped through the doorway. The sight that met their eyes made them shudder. There was a large hole in the ceiling where the creatures broke through.

Near the door, where the elders stood during the attack, there was blood everywhere. The elders’ bodies were lying on the floor in pieces. David stared at them in horror, tears starting to spill from his eyes.

Keil knelt down and sniffed the air. Moving to one of the bodies, he turned it over, revealing a mutilated body bearing Karthan’s face. David started trembling and his legs gave out. “I don’t understand, I felt him! He was alive!”

“Just because my body is lifeless, doesn’t mean that I, myself, am dead.” Someone spoke from behind them. Verik and the rest of them, spun around quickly. Standing there was Karthan, his body slightly transparent.

“How…? What are you” David stammered and approached Karthan.

“I expected myself to die many years ago, so I tethered my soul to an object to keep myself from leaving this world before I was ready. I am only a soul, now. The object allows me to project myself to be seen by you, but I do not have much time. This task is a very demanding task that uses much of my limited strength. First, I must tell you good job, David. I could not be more proud of you. You were only a boy when I found you and I took your childhood away from you. I know you don’t regret accepting it, but I can’t help but feel shame. I am sorry.”

David shook his head. “Don’t apologize for doing what was necessary. If I didn’t accept, all your knowledge that you have gained to this day would have been lost.”

“That may be so.” He turned to the rest of them. “There is something that you need to do. In this room is a secret entryway to our storage area. In there are many shelves filled with our creations. Some of them are weapons, some of them are helpful tools, others are just simple comforts to make life easier. I want you to enter that room and collect everything you can and bring it back with you to your pack. You will likely need them for what is going to come. Also, there is a purple stone that is shaped like an egg. This is the object that keeps my soul tethered to this world. Grab that as well.

“To enter, David, just place your hand on the sphere floating above the pool. It will accept your touch and bring everyone with you to the room. Now I must go and regain my strength. I will try to communicate with you, but I cannot project myself every time. Good luck, all of you. And David, I love you as I would my own son. Stay strong.”

His projected body faded away and disappeared from their sight. David looked longingly at the empty space that Karthan left, but his eyes showed that much of the sorrow he had was gone, once he knew Karthan was still with them.

“So, we going to check out that magic secret room?” Nari suggested.

David looked back at the dead elders’ bodies on the ground. “Not just yet. I would like to give them a proper burial.”

“I agree.” Keil said. “Come on, let’s bring them into the garden in the courtyard.”

David nodded in agreement. “I think they would like that.”

For the next hour or so, they collected all the bodies and placed brought them into the courtyard. After they dug a large hole in the ground and put them inside, David asked, “Could I have a few minutes alone with them?”

Keil placed his hand on is shoulder comfortingly. “Of course, take all the time you need. We’ll be waiting for you in the dome. Veriki, Nari, and Syla followed Keil back inside and sat down by the pool of water. Still floating above the center of the pool was the large glowing sphere.

“What is that thing?” Nari asked while staring at it in wonder.

“Karthan told me that it was used to strengthen their link with the energy of this world to help them see observe many things. Sometimes they could see into the future.”

“Huh, too bad they couldn’t predict this.” Nari looked over to the door where the walls, floor, and even a few spots on the ceiling were covered in the blood of the elders.

Breaking the quiet, David screamed in pain from the courtyard. All four of them jumped up simultaneously and rushed to go out, but when they opened the door, David was standing in the hallway already. There was blood oozing from his closed eyes.

“What the hell happened to you?” Nari cried out.

Instead of answering, he opened his eyes, revealing two completely black spheres behind his eyelids.

“You tore out your own eyes.” Verik realized what he did. He replaced his eyes with the eye-stones the elders had.

David nodded. “The elders are now all dead. All the knowledge that they had is in me. It would be almost evil to let their hard work end there. I must continue down their path and gain more knowledge, so I can pass it down to others. I can’t do that nearly as effectively unless I can see through their eyes.”

“What are you talking about, what did you do to your eyes?” Nari was still confused.

Verik answered, “His eyes are stones. They were created by the elders. They are what the elders used to connect him to the energy of this world, the mana.”

David nodded. “He is correct. Now, let’s go get those items from the storeroom.” And he started walking passed them toward the pool.

Nari grabbed his shoulder to stop him. “Wait! Aren’t you in pain? Don’t you need to heal?”

He just shook his head. “I am in pain, but it is nothing that I cannot ignore. As for healing, my new connection to the mana will do it for me within the hour.” He moved her hand from his shoulder and continued forward.

Nari clenched her fist, trying to hold back a growl. Verik could see what she was thinking. If the elders were still alive, she would probably kill them herself. She blamed them for his suffering.

David walked up to the pool and stepped forward onto it, walking upon the surface as if it was a solid surface. “Come on, it’s safe. Just watch your step, since it moves a little.”

Everyone carefully stepped onto the pool. Once they were all there, David reached up ad placed his hand gently on the sphere. Suddenly, the water on the edges shot strait up all the way to the ceiling, creating a large wall. After a few seconds, the wall started retreating back into the pool. When it was gone, they were able to see the room again and it had completely changed. The room was smaller and was lined with shelves.

In the shelves were many different kinds of items. Rings, amulets, human weapons, armor. The whole room was filled with them. “How are we going to bring all these home?” Keil asked.

“The elders sorted their creations into three categories. Comfort items on the left side, tools in the center, and weapons on the right. We’ll take as much as we can of the tools and weapons. Start with the weapons and load everything into these chests.” David gestured to a row of empty chests, sitting open and then began to fill them.

With everyone working together, it took just a handful of minutes before all the chests were full. David grabbed several amulets that were hanging on the wall and handed one to each of them. “Put these on. They will increase your strength so we can move these chests out of here, but be careful. They may increase your strength, but they won’t increase your energy or endurance. Once we’re done, take them off. Overusing them can kill you.”

With that warning, everybody hesitantly put on the amulets and picked up a chest. Surprisingly, they were extremely light. As if was completely empty. They all brought their chests to the pool and set them down as David touched the sphere again, bringing them back into the dome.

David led them all to the stables where they placed all the chests in wagons and harnessed the horses to them. “I assume none of you has ever directed a horse, so I will be the one riding.” None of them objected, since they didn’t really want to. The idea of riding these creatures seemed very strange to them.

During the journey, Nari stayed off to the side, her emotions still raging. Keil walked next to David, who was telling him about many things. Verik stayed in the rear with Syla, who was just eager to get back home to familiar land and her family.

Since they were travelling with the wagon, it made the journey longer and they had to stop for the day. They found a large tree to rest under until the sun set.

“What do you think is going to happen next?” Syla asked Verik as they were lying on the ground.

“Well,” Verik answered, “if David is correct, then the fight isn’t over. We will probably meet him again, but I’m not that concerned. I will be training with Keil to control my powers. I will become much stronger. I already beat him once, I will be able to do it again. Also, with the help of the elders…things. Everyone else should be much stronger too.”

“Good. I want this to be over soon. I want to live in a peaceful world where there is not conflict. I want everyone to be happy.”

Verik smiled at her. “I want that too.” He sighed and laid back. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that is possible. At least not in this life. Maybe there is another life after this world where everything is perfect. I guess we can only hope.”

They all rested, leaving someone to guard the wagon for a few hours before being replaced. They didn’t want goblins to come while they were sleeping and take it all. Luckily, the day was uneventful, nothing even passed by. Once the sun set, they all woke up and continued their journey back to their pack.

It took several hours, but finally, they reached the edge of the forest. They were nearly home. Syla looked like she was ready to jump out of her fur with excitement. She, Nari, and Keil both sniffed the air, savoring the familiar scent of their land. Verik did the same, but it didn’t mean as much to him, since he was only awake for one day before leaving on this journey. They were his friends and his new family, but he still didn’t know them enough to consider this place a comfort.

When they got within smelling distance of the pack, they already knew they were there. When they entered their camp, everyone started howling to the sky in excitement. The only one not howling along was David. The next few minutes were filled with hugging, laughter, and happiness that they were all back safely.

Finally, David stepped off the wagon and Keil introduced him to the pack and then asked him, “David, would you like to become a part of our pack? To join our family?” David nodded and all the wolves lined up to welcome him, the same way they did for Verik when he woke up here.

While they were all celebrating, and Keil told them of everything that happened on the trip, Verik snuck out into the forest to think by himself over what happened.

That large creature that almost killed Verik, Erebos. He said that he was going to kill Verik for what he did to him. What did he do? Was he mistaken or was it something that he did four years ago, before he lost his memory and fell into a coma? Another thing, when that creature roared when Verik severed the tip of his tail, it was the exact same roar as the one in his dream. He didn’t know what it meant, but he did know that Erebos was probably a key part of his past. When he found him again, he had to keep him alive. He needed answers.