Chapter 28

While I had seen Lillian change more than a few times now, the change happening to Violet seemed far more violent and painful. The transformation Lillian underwent happened in a matter of moments, one minute she was a human, the next she was a wolf. I had to wonder if this was what occurred during a Voguel’s first transformation as their body shifts and morphs under the manipulation of the curse. It sounded like her bones were breaking with every shift of her body, as her body repurposed itself. I watched with a mix of awe and horror at what was happening to my childhood friend and former lover, as she slowly turned into a wolf before my eyes. Her cries and groans of pain filled the air as her body forcibly shifted against her will. I was tempted to use my sword and end her now, but there was the possibility of curing her and I had to try, for the sake of her family.

I watched in amazement, until I heard snapping rope and knew that she would be free by the time the transformation was done, I just needed to incapacitate her somehow. If I could trap her somewhere, where she could not get out until morning, then there would be a chance of doing this without injuring her.

I could not waste any time; in a few minutes she would be fully transformed and out for blood. So, I turned away from where I thought Brenson’s lair was and started heading northeast. The pain in my legs had subsided, due to the wounds finally closing, so I was able to run at full speed. However, I was running into the wind, so Violet would be able to track me by my scent. If this was her first transformation, then she would be relying on instinct, which would give me some advantage.

As I ran, I opened myself fully, allowing my senses and body to no longer be restrained. I felt a rush of energy flow through me, as the area around me changed and as my senses adjusted. I could hear her groans as the last of her transformation was running its course, using it to gauge where she was in respect to me. I had eight hours still left and no clue yet where to go, but I hoped that there would be an abandoned out-building along my path that I could utilize for my plan. I really wished that Lillian was with me right now, as she would be able to guide me to a building that she would have probably come across. Lillian would also be able to help me keep Violet on her toes and help me limit the injury to her.

As Violet reached the end of my ability to listen for her, a howl pierced the night from where I had left her. I did not have time to wait as I turned heading north, hoping there would be an abandoned mine or building along my path. Given that she was now as fast as me, it limited the time I had, meaning that there would not have been time for traps. y mind wandered a moment as I thought about the traps that had already been made. They were not recent, so they must have expected me to come to the smithy at some point. Still, the plan seemed almost juvenile, causing me to wonder if it had been Brenson’s idea or Violet’s. Both have shown that their rage and need for vengeance could blind them from better options.

I was broken out of my thoughts by the sounds of something making its way towards where I was. Based on the sounds and direction, I knew it had to be Violet, but she should not be able to pick up my scent, being so new to her wolf form. I looked down and realized that she had been following my footprints, which would have also allowed her to recognize my scent, making things that much harder.

I needed to get off the ground and into the trees, otherwise she could possibly gain on me, ruining my chances of trapping her. It took me a few minutes to find a suitable limb to use, all the while she was closing the distance between us. I moved up into the trees and began heading west, hoping that traveling downwind would limit her ability to track my scent and give me a bit of a window to put some more distance between us. I was forced to slow down some, as the limbs I needed to traverse had far more small branches to try and get around. The last thing that I needed at a time like this would be a branch snapping, alerting her to where I was.

I started breathing a little easier as it did not sound like she had followed. It sounded like she had been stumped by my disappearing footprints. I turned north once again and did my best to move as fast as I could.

It was roughly ten minutes later when I noticed a path that had grown over, but the signs were still there. I adjusted my course so that I could follow the path in hopes of finding a building there. Violet was now out of range for me to be able to focus on her, but I kept my ears searching for sounds of something approaching. A misstep now could cost me my life, or even Violet’s and that was not something I was prepared to have happen.

Not being able to save Ruben during our fight had torn me inside, causing me to agonize over what had happened and I had gotten lucky. He had survived that night, but now the stakes were higher, with more to lose than ever before.

A few minutes later, I found myself at the end of the trail and near the boarded-up entrance to a mine. Better than that, it had a stone building that had seen better days, but I might be able to use it in my plans. I focused all my strength and pushed off the last limb as hard as I could, launching myself in the air towards the building. The feeling of flying was exhilarating for the few moments that I was able to enjoy it, but gravity began its pull and the building came up fast.

I reached out and grabbed for something to hold onto as I braced for impact with one of the walls. I hit the wall hard and was surprised when the wall crumbled at my impact, allowing me to continue through. I stumbled and fell onto the stone floor and turned to look at the hole I had just made, as well as the loud noise. There was no way Violet had not heard that, so I had to work fast. I made my way through the halls looking for a set of stairs, finding them damaged and crumbling but able to serve my purposes. I jumped down and looked around the main floor, trying to see how many entry points there were. Happy to find that one had a cave-in of rocks while another was still viable. There were no other issues with the walls, meaning that she would have to enter there to get to me.

Next, I pulled off my shirt and started tearing pieces of it off, wiping my brow with them to soak them in the sweat my exertions had generated. I used them to place false scents all over the main floor before I jumped back up to the second floor and started looking around.

There was a room that would serve my purposes well, but there was no piece of loose stone that I could use to block the entrance. However, there was a wall that looked to be weakened enough it could be collapsed, blocking the entranceway and preventing her from leaving until morning.

I decided to take some time to rest, allowing myself to heal, while listening for movement approaching. It would take some time for Violet to realize I had tricked her, forcing her to figure out another way to find me. She would not be fooled forever, but it would buy me time and burn precious moonlight.

As we were in the beginning of the fall season, the nights were not very long yet, but that would soon change. It had been nearly an hour since the moon had risen; that left me with roughly seven hours of night to try and survive. With the others holed up in the inn, I knew that they were safe, as were the others I left at the smithy.

My thoughts drifted to Celka and how she had died so needlessly at Violet’s hands, wondering what her last thoughts would have been in that moment. I wondered what Brenson would think and feel about it - if he even cared about her anymore. He probably cared at one time, but whatever happened after Lillian’s elder mother cast him out, he turned darker and viler. I forced thoughts of that sick and twisted man out of my mind and knelt in a nearby room. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, allowing my body to relax and I extended my senses outwards.

Janet had taught me this method of meditation that seemed to help me focus my senses better and helped me to focus my healing as well. We had tested me repeatedly, to see if anyone would be able to sneak up on me, but each time I was able to sense them from their heartbeats. Even Violet would not be able to sneak up on the building without me knowing, her breathing and rapid heartbeat would give her away, long before she was able to get close enough.

I focused my mind on my breathing and on the area around the building, letting everything else fade away. I was unaware of how much time passed, until my meditation was broken by the sounds of something approaching. I opened my eyes and walked out into the doorway, looking through a hole in the ceiling to find the moon and gauge how much time had passed. Based on where the moon was, it looked like I had meditated for roughly five hours before something approached the building. Given how long it took, I was confident that it was Violet, but I was not going to take any chances.

I had around two hours of moonlight left to burn, though I had no clue whether they turned back before the moon disappeared behind the horizon. I listened and it seemed as though the movement was occurring where I had entered the area surrounding the building. I carefully approached the opening I had made, being careful not to be I neared, hoping to catch a glimpse of her coming out of the woods. It took a few minutes for her to emerge, but my patience was rewarded, and I was able to catch a glimpse of her wolf. She seemed to be slightly smaller than Brant and Lillian’s wolves, with dark brown fur and deep, piercing blue eyes. I watched as she carefully came out of the woods, looking around and sniffing the air, no doubt hoping to catch some hint of a scent. Due to the direction of the wind, as well as the route I had taken, she would not get anything. Even if the wind did change direction, my current scent would not be blown in her direction, though the faintest wisps of it could reach her nose. I hoped that she would be drawn to the building, giving me the chance to put my plan into place.

She looked around the ground, sniffing in the futile search for my scent and growing more agitated with each passing moment. I watched as she searched the area outside the opening, possibly catching wisps, but not knowing what they fully meant. It was rather amusing, given that she had only minor hunting experience and she never bothered to continue to learn the skills. Had she done so, she would have found me hours ago and I would have probably spent an hour or more fighting desperately not to be killed. I would have tried to incapacitate her without leaving any lasting injuries, but with the temper she had, I might have been forced to kill her.

She spent the next half an hour going along the area round the building, trying desperately to find me, but having no luck. A glance to the trees told me that the gentle breeze that had been going through the trees had become non-existent, meaning none of my scent was being carried away from the interior of the building. I took a chance and kicked a piece of rubble, causing it to fall and land on some stone below. There was no way she did not notice it and a minute later she appeared, looking around and sniffing at the pile of rubble. She must have located the stone I had kicked, as her head jerked back, and I watched as she looked up to where it had come from.

In a flash, she ran around the building and I moved into the adjacent room as quickly and quietly as I could. I stretched out my senses and picked up her heartbeat, just outside the building, but she never entered. I gave it a few more minutes and she still had not entered, causing a knot to form in my stomach. She was not stupid by any means, so there was a distinct possibility that she had figured out my plan. If so, she would never enter the building; instead she would leave. That would take away any chance of capturing her and trying to help her see reason, so I needed to come up with another method. Taking a chance, I jumped out of the building and tumbled back onto my feet, ready, wherever she emerged from. A second later, she came around the building and stopped mid stride to see me there, facing her - unafraid.

I spoke to her, “So, you became the very thing that tried to kill and destroy both of our families! Your father would be ashamed of you, what you have done and what you allowed yourself to become!”

She let out a howl of frustration and a deep growl began to rumble from her chest. I knew that got to her, but I had to be careful, as one wrong move and I was done for.

“What are you waiting for, Violet? You let that maniac turn you into this beast to help you get revenge! So come get it, but it will not make anything better! You will be miserable for the rest of your life, unable to do anything but kill in his name, hurting people as innocent as you used to be.”

Her growling stopped for a moment and I wondered if I had gotten through to her ... until she launched herself at me.

I let my reflexes take over, moving out of the way and giving her torso a shove as she flew by. My blow landed as intended, my strength at less than half and I watched as she flew a few feet before landing on the ground. I did not hear anything break, but it had to have been unpleasant for her. I waited as she got back up and got ready for her next attack. Again, she launched herself at me and again I pushed her away but felt something large slam into my back sending me flying myself. I rolled along my left shoulder, allowing me to turn around and get back up, revealing Brenson in all his wolfish glory. Fear finally gripped me as I now had two very angry wolves in front of me, putting me at a disadvantage. I could not bring out my weapon to attack Brenson if I wanted to capture Violet uninjured.

Brenson let out a growl that brought my thoughts back to that night, years ago, and I felt a fire in my belly ignite. I jumped back, putting me at the edge of the woods and near enough to what I wanted. Without taking my eyes off them, I reached out and tore off a nearby branch to use as a club. It would allow me to strike Brenson at full strength while still letting me control the amount of damage I caused to Violet. I just hoped that the branch would be able to withstand the strength of my attacks.

Violet got into a lower stance, while Brenson’s did not change, no doubt believing that he had strength in numbers. He chuffed out and Violet launched herself at me, while he stayed where he was. I knew I could not just push her away as I had before, but she could give me a needed boost.

I waited until the last possible moment before jumping towards her, taking both off guard. I vaulted over her, as she passed underneath, and I used her back to jump off. This shoved her into the ground, knocking the wind out of her, while I flew towards a stunned Brenson. He did not have enough time to move or react before I brought my branch to bear, swinging it at the side of his head and body. I put the full force of my strength into the blow, slamming it into his jaw, shoulder and ribs, hearing the distinctive sound of bone yielding to the power of the blow. The branch splintered from the force, sending pieces of wood flying, before he went flying himself nearly four meters away. I moved again, trying to ignore the few pieces of wood that had embedded in my right arm and leg. I turned to find Violet slowly getting up, while Brenson seemed to lie there, disoriented. I quickly began pulling out the pieces of wood, hoping that none were so deep as to cause heavy bleeding. The worst was in my thigh and I had to rip off a long piece of my shirt to bandage the wound with. Violet noticed Brenson was down and barked at him, urgency and a sense of fear apparent in her barks. She turned to me and roared in defiance, running at me with wild abandon and I jumped away from her path as best I could with my injured leg.

While I was successful in moving away, landing caused a sharp pain to burst through my leg due to the wounds from the splintered wood. She wasted no time launching herself at me as I fell backwards. I knew I would not get up in time to move out of her way, not without exposing myself in an indefensible position, so I brought my hands up to catch her and keep her at bay. I also brought my leg up to keep her off me, but it left me in a position where I could not adequately push her off. I held her off as she snapped her jaws only a few inches in front of my face, her paws pressing and scratching my arms as she tried to get closer. I knew I could hold her off, but I could see that Brenson was starting to get up and I knew he would be upset at what I did to him. If I could not get her off in time, I feared he would be able to close in and be able to get me, but I refused to hurt Violet.

I watched as he slowly got up, his jaw now sitting at a strange angle, though he seemed to be able to walk on his front shoulder okay. He had splinters of wood in his side, bleeding lightly, though giving me a way to hurt him if I were able to get free. He slowly approached us, a deep growl resonating from his maw, as blood and saliva dripped from it. I began to get worried when he was within a few feet of me, as Violet seemed to only get wilder in her attacks, as she heard her master getting closer.