Chapter 22

We made our way through the town and arrived at the bank just as the girls and Jerreth, were leaving. Lillian had a satchel on her shoulder, which I assumed had the money they were supposed to take out. Based on their happy expressions, things must have gone well, and it looked like Jerreth had taken the opportunity to start talking to Liza. I was glad that Janet’s choice was to be in my wagon, as it helped them spend some time together on the trip other than at meals.

“Jerreth, you and Liza are on the other wagon,” I called out, breaking them out of their conversation. “Lillian will be with me on my wagon and will be acting as my backup driver. Liza, you will be Revar’s backup driver, so show him how it is done.”

Liza smiled and nodded, giving Jerreth a quick glance before climbing up into the driver’s seat alongside Revar. Jerreth waited until she was seated before he made his way to the back of the wagon. Lillian approached mine with a big smile, as I leaned over to offer her a hand up. When she grasped it, I used a little bit of my strength to pull her up onto the driver’s chair, as if she was as light as the satchel. She let out a few elated giggles, as I pulled her up and I glanced into the wagon to see Janet shaking her head with a light laugh at our antics. With a snap of the reins, the horses started up and we made our way to the gate. We arrived to see Edgar there with a procession of people and I felt my emotions waver a bit at the gesture. There had to be nearly a hundred people there and they were all cheering as we approached the opening gate and I gave Edgar a salute of gratitude as we passed.

Once we were out of the town, I turned the wagon onto the road to Retvan and got the horses to a light trot. Revar had the other wagon fall into step behind me, so I only had to sit back and watch the scenery go by.

“So, Davik, what do you think of Liza and Jerreth?” Lillian asked, “I know that something had happened between you two on that trip to Dru’Tirk, I could smell her on you the night I helped with those two bounty hunters.”

I gave her a surprised look, as I did not know how she would have been able to tell Liza’s scent on me. My expression caused her to burst into giggles and it took her a few minutes to calm down.

“Sorry, Davik, but your face was priceless. I was in the woods near that camp the night you rescued Liza. I memorized her scent in case she was taken somewhere else before you got to her. I was somewhat surprised you had slept with her, but I remembered that Violet had given you permission. I can agree with that, if it was the right woman. As you know, I like women just as much as men. When Violet used that against you - when you had said you did not need to, as Violet was enough, and she had still pushed you to do it. I do not understand her, but given how she acted recently, maybe I never really did. Even you were taken by surprise when she blew up and came up with wild, untrue ideas about the things that happened while you were away.”

“Given what I heard from Janet,” I responded, “there is a possibility that it has something to do with the curse. After all, my mother and hers were pregnant with us before our fathers were cured, so maybe something of the curse was transferred. Just the way your abilities were originally inherited from your lineage before your attempt to cure yourself resulted in your new state.”

“You could be right, but you did not end up that way. Besides, I watched Ruben spoil her over the years, which probably did not help matters. The way she tossed me aside as soon as you returned only made my opinion that she was a spoiled princess grow in strength. She would need a serious wake-up call to pull her out of it, but I fear that neither of us is going to be able to pull it off.”

I nodded in reply, my mind wandering to what Janet had talked to me about and my fears of what might happen when Violet resurfaced.

Over the next few hours, Lillian and I took turns driving the wagon and trading small talk until we decided to stop for our mid-day meal. For this meal we would only eat foods already on the wagons, but tonight, Lillian would be able to go forth and use her wolf to bring us some meat for dinner. We enjoyed a delicious meal before we got back on the wagons and made our way back onto the road. Again, Lillian and I spent the rest of the day taking turns driving and trading small talk until we were all ready to make camp. I walked out into the woods with Lillian and watched as this lithe creature stripped off all her clothes. The moonlight caressed her taut, naked form before she began to shift her body into her wolf. She padded over to me and I ran my hands through her silken fur, causing her tail to wag in delight. Then with a chuff, she turned and dashed into the woods. I laughed at the childishness of it and sat down to wait for her return, as I suspected it would not take long. It had been a little while since she had been able to do this, and I knew that she had missed it a bit.

I extended my awareness to try and listen for her and instead I heard soft footsteps approaching. I could tell by the way the person was walking, that they were trying to catch me unaware and that made me angry. I stood up and listened once more to know where the person was, before dashing away to await my prey. I was not disappointed as a few minutes later, one of the soldiers arrived with a knife held point down, no doubt searching for one of us. Based on the fact she was making no attempt to hide in waiting, I assumed she sought me, but I gave the area a scan, just to be sure that no one was hiding in wait for Lillian.

Once I was sure of that, I closed the distance between us and lifted her up with one hand and slammed my palm into the hilt of the knife, embedding it in the tree. She screamed and I dropped her to the ground, she scrambled to get up and got into a fighting stance. I shook my head in disappointment and waited for her to throw a punch, using my reflexes to dodge it and lay a weakened punch to her solar plexus.

She fell to the ground gasping for air, with a slight impact impression in her chest plate from my attack. I grabbed her by the back of her breast plate, lifting her far enough off the ground, before running full speed back to the camp. When we arrived, I let go of the soldier, before I slowed down from my run, causing her to tumble into the camp. She rolled along before she slammed into one of the large wheels of the nearest wagon and let out a cry of pain from the impact. The other soldiers jumped up, at the ready.

“Does anyone want to explain to me why this person was attempting to sneak up on me, with a knife in hand? I was given an oath by your commanding officer that you would respect her orders and that no harm would come to me, Lillian or anyone I care for. Do you seven care to explain it to me, or would your comrade who decided to try and kill me want to try and explain it?”

“Why do I have to explain anything, filth?!” The guilty soldier screamed in defiance. “You are an abomination that needs to be eradicated just like every other creature that was not meant to be on this world.”

“What if your father, mother, brother or sister was bitten and survived? What if they were stuck with this curse and did everything, they could to make sure no one would get hurt? Would you kill them in cold blood to feed your warped sense of justice? I did not ask to be turned into what I am now, but I will use this to kill the monster that started this! That woman, who is out there hunting game for us - she is the person I trust most to have my back in a fight. She has saved my life on three separate occasions and was even planning to rescue Liza before I showed up. You have shown nothing but arrogance, disrespect and poor judgement. Had you been in our military, you would be tossed out, with no possessions or support. Your failure would be announced to your hometown or village, so that all may know of your shame. I trust Janet because she gave me a blood oath, which means - In Bardack - that she would give her life before breaking that oath. Do I need to have you all give oaths before I can trust that you will not try to kill me in my sleep?”

“No, you do not, Davik,” Janet said, her voice showing her regret and disappointment. “She should never had attempted what she did, especially when my orders were to protect you and your friends. Ethal will be stripped of her armor, weapons and rank. She will be kept under my constant watch or that of your friends and when we reach Retvan she will be sent away to find some semblance of a life.”

“You cannot do this to me,” Ethal wailed, tears were streaking her face. “We have fought these creatures for years, side by side. I have been your trusted friend and comrade since we joined, swearing to kill every Voguel we could to avenge our families. I did nothing more than try to uphold that oath, yet you deem to punish me for it?”

“Yes, Ethal, I do. The Voguel seek to rule, destroying anyone or anything that may get in their way in the pursuit of that goal. Davik had done nothing but attempt to help people and protect those around him. He has sworn me to kill him, should he ever start acting or becoming like those we have killed. Right now, Davik is far more honorable than you are, and I hope that you find peace in your new life.”

Ethal screamed and tried to attack me, but I blocked her and ripped the pieces of armor off her, until only her under clothes remained. Everyone stood shocked at the way I easily handled her attacks, save for Liza, Celka and Jerreth, who simply laughed. One of the soldiers came up and bound her hands, while another collected the armor that I had removed. I made sure to double check the bindings before I relaxed, as I did not need her making another attempt on my life.

“If you all would excuse me,” I said, as I started walking towards the tree line. “I have to go back to help Lillian with whatever she brings back for us to eat.”

I did not wait for a reply and dashed into the woods, back to where I had been waiting for Lillian. It did not take me long, and the knife that Ethal tried to stab me with made a good marker. I picked up Lillian’s clothes just as something began approaching from my right. I stretched my awareness and could tell that it was paws, not feet that I was hearing. I readied myself, in case it was not Lillian coming out of the woods, but I soon saw her familiar eyes, dragging a small fawn in her jaws.

“You could not find anything a bit more fully grown? Or did you think that it had the right amount of meat to feed everyone?”

She dropped the fawn and cuffed in defiance before I saw the telltale signs of her changing back to her normal body. I could not help at stare at her body for a moment or two before I handed her the clothes in my hand, a knowing grin on her face.

“If you do not like the meat, I provided Davik, feel free to go catch your own! Do you think you should be leering at a young lady like that, Davik, someone may think you are getting ideas?”

“The meat will be fine, Lillian, “I replied, averting my eyes from her naked form. “It is just a courtesy hunters pay, so that our prey will have a life. Hence, it’s why we never kill females and their children, if we have a chance to get a buck instead. Also, I have not leered at you, but when you make no attempt to cover up, do not expect a man to not look at such beauty.”

I did not wait for a reply, as I picked up the fawn and threw it over my shoulder, before heading back to camp. I knew that Lillian would be safe and would be at camp again in a few minutes. I brought the carcass to Jerreth and Liza and they were surprised at the pristine state of the kill.

“I have never seen a kill this clean before,” Jerreth uttered, a look of disbelief on his face.

“As I said before, Lillian is not bound to the blood moon and as such, can transform at will. She can also remain in that form for as long as she chooses, which is why the kill was so clean. She ran the animal down and broke its neck with a twist of her head.”

Lillian emerged from the woods and found a look of awe on most of their faces, even the soldiers. She ignored their glances and walked over to sit next to Celka, starting up a conversation and breaking their stares. I noticed that Janet seemed to be dealing with some inner conflict, so I walked over to sit beside her.

“Are you ok? I can tell that what happened with Ethal has caused you to start having doubts.”

“Yes I am, I mean - I think I am,” she replied with a sigh. “I have known Ethal for nearly six years and I have never known her to disobey an order. Even when I became her superior officer, she obeyed without question. For her to attempt something like this, after I gave them orders not to do anything to you or Lillian, has me worried. I can no longer trust someone I considered a friend as well as a comrade. I am now worried that the others will try something along the same lines and if they do, it would mean that they no longer trust me or my command.”

“I think you will be surprised to find that the rest will not be an issue, so rest easy. The reaction of the rest of them when I posed the question to Ethal showed that they considered what they would do if someone they loved was bitten and turned. From what I could read from the rest, they would probably do what they could to help them, using death as a last resort. Ethal, however, did not even flinch and that told me that she would kill them without a second thought. Everyone I loved was killed.