Chapter 6

“Excuse me gentlemen, is there a problem here?”

We all turned to look at the source of the question, to find Jerreth standing behind the two men, arms crossed along his chest. His gaze was cool and passive as he looked from person to person. I then looked at each of the men more closely, they were holding pieces of wood, no doubt scraps laying around they felt would work as clubs.

“It is none of your business darkie,” yelled one of the men, “our business is with this murderous piece of filth. Turn around and go back to which ever hole you crawled out of, maybe we will let you live!”

Jerreth lowered his arms to his sides slowly, his hands balled into fists at his side. His face still showed a neutral expression, as he stared blankly at the man who had responded.

“Which murderous piece of filth are you referring to?” Jerreth asked the man, “This man here has not murdered anyone as I recall. He did kill a bunch of wolves that then transformed into people once they were dead. The Patron of the village was one of those wolves, I believe. I also recall seeing the wolf of the Patron on every blood moon, tearing through the town murdering people. So I would say Davik did a public service.”

“Yeah, well, we do not care what you think, so get out of here before we have to rough you up as well.”

Jerreth’s eyes narrowed, and his whole-body language changed. Now, instead of calm and relaxed, his body was tense and ready to spring into action. I had seen that before in both soldiers and hunters over the years and it usually did not bode well for those in their path. I, too, readied myself to fight, hoping that I could avoid causing an attack in the middle of the fight. The two, who stood between me and Jerreth, were now looking like they were no longer willing to go along with this plan. When Jerreth started to move forward, they responded by dropping their makeshift clubs and running in the opposite direction towards their four other friends. When they continued past the leader of the group, his expression turned from mildly irritated to full of rage. He screamed out in frustration and began running towards us. His friends took a few minutes to figure out if they were going to join him or not.

One more dropped his weapon and ran off, while the other two joined the fray. I ran towards Jerreth and grabbed one of the weapons off the ground. I turned to ready myself and had only a few seconds to bring up the piece of wood and block the man’s blow. I pushed it off to my left and lashed out with a boot. The man dodged my boot by jumping back, bumping into one of the men coming to join him. The third noticed the accidental collision and moved to help his friends, as they had fallen over in the impact. This gave Jerreth time to reach us before they were ready to fight again. He had not picked up anything and was standing with his bare hands raised ready to fight.

The leader swung at me and I was able to dodge it, lashing out with a swing of my own. It was a clumsy one, as I was not used to using my off hand to fight. The other two were trying to strike at Jerreth but were not having much luck. They took turns making swings at him that he easily dodged or sidestepped. One of them miscalculated with their swing and over extended. Jerreth took the opportunity to grab the club with one hand and backhand the man in the face with the other. He sent the man flying a few feet before he crashed into some empty barrels. The other man looked in horror at how easily his friend had been taken out, so he didn’t see the large fist that crashed with his face. He too. flew a few feet before crashing to the ground. The man was out cold, but alive, as he was still breathing. This happened in only a few moments, as I continued to parry and lash out at my attacker.

I had swung again, losing my balance, and began to fall over. I could see that the leader was about to bring his piece of wood down on my head. His hand was stopped in mid swing by Jerreth grabbing it with one large hand. The guy tried to fight free, but Jerreth’s grip was too strong. He lashed backwards at Jerreth with his free hand, which Jerreth grabbed as well. Then I watched as Jerreth stretched the man’s arms out and lifted him from the ground. He cried out in pain and tried to kick back at Jerreth, but nothing would connect. I doubt he would have felt it had the man landed a blow. I approached him and made sure to stay out of reach if he decided to kick me.

“Why is it you all seem to think I did this supposedly horrible thing to everyone? Brant was the one who was killing and murdering people in the village. Did you forget that the first attack by a wolf resulted in the murder of my parents? I left and was living with my elders when this place became a feeding zone for those beasts two years later. Did you all forget I was the only one out there trying to stop these things when I returned? Cartha has been and always will be my home. and I will defend it with my life, all I ask is that you people leave me alone.”

“He said you would try to tell us lies,” the man said before he spit at me. “That you would try to play the victim, instead of admitting your crimes.”

“What do you mean he said? Who put you up to this?” asked Jerreth as he pulled slightly harder.

“Ohh! I do not know who he was,” The man said as he cried out in pain. “He talked in a whispery voice with a strange accent. He was shrouded in a cloak so we could not see his face. He knew that we did not like you and told us that you were responsible for everything that happened to the town.”

“I am going to put you down now,” Jerreth said softly. “So, you better run home and do not ever think of pulling a stunt like this again. I will have my eye on you and if you try to pull a stunt like this again, you will not get off so easy next time.”

The man frantically nodded in agreement and dropped his weapon from his hand. Jerreth lowered him to the ground and released his grip on the man’s arms. As soon as he was free, he ran off, promising that we would not see him or any of his friends again. As he ran off in fear, I was locked in thought about the ramifications of what the man had said. They had been sent by someone who wanted me gone. Maybe it was the beast, in human form, trying to get rid of me before the next blood moon. This meant that the beast was a man, and he had been in the town recently. A jolt of fear washed through me as my mind played out various scenarios where in each, my attacks came at an inopportune moment, resulting in my death. I had held my own in that fight, but if Jerreth had not been there it could have ended much worse. As I went to thank him. I found that he was gone. Looking around I did not see him anywhere, so he must have returned to the tavern while I was lost in thought.

I made a note to thank him the next time I was in his place for food and began to make my way home. I decided I was better off going along the main roads, as I would be less likely to get attacked in such a public spot. The two men were still unconscious, but I knew they would be okay. I would let Violet know tonight to expect a few men showing up to get helped by her unique talents. I kept thinking about the fight and how lucky I had been. I would need to find a new way to defend myself while we tried to figure out what was wrong with my shoulder. I would have a chat with Trent and Clive, maybe we could test to see how well I could use my other arm. If I could use it without an attack happening, they would just start training with the boys to build up my ability with my off hand. Even if we could fix what is wrong with my arm, having the skill to use either hand would be beneficial for many reasons.

As I approached the house, I saw that Liza was tending one of her flower beds. She was on her knees and facing towards the flower bed. She was wearing leather trousers, and I was enjoying the view as I came up from behind. I berated myself for the thoughts that were going through my head, but with the unique circumstances caused by my sleeping fits, I could not help the thoughts from coming to the surface. I was seeing her or her sister barely clothed, and I was always naked. While I saw her as my friends as well as my servant, I was imagining myself mounting her right there. Her hands bracing against the wooden frame of the flower garden as I thrust into her. Rutting like two dogs in heat, my hands manipulating her large breasts and pulling on the hardened nipples. Both of us screaming in pleasure as I emptied myself inside her. It took but a moment for the scene to flash through my mind’s eye, painting a vivid and erotic encounter.

When my senses returned, I found Liza staring at me with a knowing expression on her face. No doubt she had seen me leering at her bum, though she only looked slightly amused by it, giving me a playful wink. I blushed and bade her a good morning, before dashing into the house, her sing-song laughter following me inside. I was thankful to find no one inside, I knew that I would have Trina asking what was causing her sister to laugh so hard. I had no doubt that they would discuss it later tonight, and that would be when Violet was visiting. How Violet had been acting was odd to me. it was almost as if she was sharing me, but that did not make sense. I never thought of her as one who would share the person they loved. I know I could not share her with any other man, the thought sickened me to my core. I would have to ask her, because I feared the possibility of losing her to a simple misstep.

I went to see if either Trent or Clive were in the back of the house. I was disheartened to find they were not. I had seen all four of my apprentices, working on the plans for the workspace. The plans were coming along nicely, and the four of them had already started to work on making the ground suitable to their building needs. Very soon I would have nothing more to teach them, and I was proud of how far they had come in such a short amount of time. Ruben was right to suggest this to me, as it had helped to build a foundation for a new trade that, in time would help the town prosper. When I asked them about Clive and Trent, they told me that the two had gone west today in search of game and to check traps they had laid out a few days before. The two would go in a different direction from the town each day, hunting and laying traps for small game. It was a smart system that had been proving fortunate in their returns.