Chapter 1

I awoke feeling quite groggy, my vision was blurry and sounds from outside were far too loud. As I gained my bearings, the pain in my shoulder became known to me once again. The pain was horrendous, and the memory of how I gained that injury flashed through my mind. The battle with the wolves in the town square. I misjudged him in that fight, which gave Brant the opportunity to sink his teeth into my shoulder. The elation I felt at ending his miserable life was over, shadowed by the dull pain in my arm and the foreboding of what I learned. Brant was like the creature who attacked my family. There was a connection between him and that beast that I had to find. Once I did, then I could begin to hunt my true prey. It would be difficult, given that Brant and all his lackeys that were wolves were now dead. It put an obstacle in my path, but I was confident that I would be able to overcome it.

I looked about the room and recognized the furniture as my own. It was strange, as I remembered bidding Violet goodbye at the gates and the tears that followed. The rest was a bit of a blur. I could not recall how I could have made it back to my house. I pulled back the covers to take stock of myself. Nothing seemed any different than when I had decided to leave. The only injuries I had were the ones that I had sustained that night against Brant. However, they were far closer to healing than I had remembered. That begged the question of just how long I had been here. I turned to get out of my bed, choosing the left side, as it would give me the wall to steady myself if I needed it. As my feet hit the ground, I felt the expected dizziness and braced myself against the wall.

My hand hit the wall with a loud thump, and I was sure that my efforts to get out of bed would no longer be hidden from those in the house. I could hear footsteps approaching my door and tried to be as upright as possible to face the onslaught that was about to commence. I was not disappointed, as Violet was the first one to burst through the door.

“And just what in the hell do you think you are doing, Davik? You are in no condition to be out of bed. Get your butt back in that bed right now, mister!”

I tried to stand to my full height - be somewhat intimidating - while I stood my ground. I failed miserably. The next thing I knew, I was back in the bed with Violet pinning me down. In another setting, it would spark a much different response with me. Now was not that time: I felt like death had hit me with a wagon, and we were not exactly alone in the room. Ruben was there, as was Ilane, and I could see my house mates out in the hallway. Everyone had various looks of concern, no doubt I looked like walking death. I gave up resisting and looked deep into Violet’s eyes. There was a swirling storm of emotions that danced in her eyes. Fear, anger, panic, pride, amazement, terror and love all appeared and disappeared as her thoughts swam around in her head. I just gave her a goofy, lopsided grin, and it did the trick. Just as it did when we were kids, she could not help but giggle.

With the tension of the situation dissolved, the others made their way out of the room and back to wherever they had been before my ill-thought-out attempt to get out of bed. A few moments passed between us, our eyes searching the other’s. Unspoken words being sent by the simplest movement of the eye. Her resolve crumbled, and she collapsed on top of me, tears streaming down her face as powerful sobs wracked her body. I just held her as she worked through the tears and fear that had taken hold of her. I was uncertain how much time had passed before the sobs ebbed and the tears stopped flowing. I released my hold and she gently propped herself up.

“I nearly lost you that night, Davik. Then you told me you are leaving, which I understood, but it terrified me. I would have gone with you, but you wouldn’t let me. Then you got a few steps out of the village and collapsed. We brought you back to your house, and father looked at your wound. I looked like it had right after Brant bit you. We tried everything. You would get a bit better, then it would get worse again. You developed a fever and it only made things worse. It has been nearly two months, Davik! We nearly lost you - twice. And it was a miracle that my mother was able to find the right mixture of herbs to counteract the effect of that bite. After all of this, you still want to be foolish.”

I kissed her forehead and softly replied, “I am sorry, my love. I cannot change who I am. I will fight to protect those whom I can. I cannot sit idly by when people are in danger. I must find the beast that killed my parents. I believe it had a hand in Brant and the terror that has gripped this village. If I just leave it alone, someone worse could come and hurt you and your family, just to get to me. I have no doubt that the creature has learned of Brant’s death and my hand in it: Knows who I am and that I am hunting it.”

Violet slowly got up and turned towards the wall. Her eyes stared blankly at it; she was no doubt mulling over what I had said.

“You are right, beloved,” she softly said, “I hate that it is the case, but you are right. I just wish that it did not have to be this way. I just want to be able to forget all of this pain and death and move forward with our lives together.”

I sat up and wrapped my arms around her waist. She relaxed and rested her head against my shoulder with a sigh.

“I know Violet, so do I. Unless I do this, we will never be free, never be safe. And one day, this thing could come for us and our children.”

We sat silently for a while, just enjoying the embrace of the other. It was a peaceful respite from the flurry of recent events. She turned and gave me a gentle kiss on the lips, and then got up from the bed. I started to feel fatigue starting to pull at my body. Violet could see my exhaustion and helped get me comfortable in the bed before leaving me to rest. I let sleep envelop me as I surrendered to the darkness of my dreams. I could not recall the content of the dreams, only that they were dark and filled me with dread.

I woke up with a start to find myself still in my bed. I recalled the instant I had reawakened, so I wasn’t surprised at where I was. What did surprise me, was to find Liza lying in the bed with me. She was dressed in her clothes, which meant that I would not be murdered by Violet, only castrated. While my mind tried to grasp what had led to this, nature was calling. I made my way out of bed, without waking the beauty curled up on the other side.

I was feeling steadier on my feet than the last time I had attempted to get up. Thankfully, I was in bed clothes, as traipsing through the house naked would not be ideal.

I had no idea who was still in the house. I stepped carefully and tried to call on all my hunting skills to limit the noise I made as I moved through the house. Based on the sounds coming through the window, it was sometime in the middle of the night, and most of the people in the house would be asleep. I made my way out of the room and found Ruben sitting in a chair, asleep. Ilane would be giving him hell for that, I was sure. I made my way to the stairs and slowly made my way down. When I reached the landing, I turned and headed for the back door. I opened the door to find Clive standing guard, watching the back garden. He was startled by the door being opened and turned to find me standing there with my goofy grin.

“Davik? I am surprised to see you up and about, sir. I heard that you only regained consciousness a few hours ago. We were all worried about you and I know I am happy to see you pulled through, sir.”

“Thank you, Clive, I am feeling a little better. I am not ready to be killing wolves yet. Maybe a bunny ... if it is asleep.”

That made him chuckle and he moved aside. I made my way to the outhouse to relieve myself of the pressure that had built. Once I had done that, I made my way back into the house and set my course for the kitchen. I was starving. It felt like I hadn’t eaten in weeks, and I was ravenous. I knew there were cured meats and the like for me to eat, but I knew what would be good for my system. I found it sitting in a pot on the counter. One of the ladies in my life had cooked a hearty stew that smelled like heaven. It was a mixture of deer meat, potatoes, carrots, turnips, corn and various herbs and spices. It smelt fresh and savory and my mouth watered. Grabbing a bowl, I poured a decent portion of the stew. I then tore a chunk of bread off the loaf that was sitting on the shelf.

I took my food to the lovely table that Ruben built for me and dug in. My hunger demanded that I eat it as fast as I could, but I knew where that would lead. I was sick once after the incident, and I had gotten weak from a terrible fever. Once I was strong enough to eat, I had attacked the food elder mother made for me and ate it too quickly. I ended up heaving it all up in a vomiting fit that set me back a few more days. This time, I savored each bite as it filled my mouth with exquisite flavor. The bread became even more pungent and flavorful when it was dipped in the broth. With each spoonful, I felt a little bit more whole. When my meal was complete, I cleaned up after myself, putting the dishes in the sink before making my way back to bed.