The Wolf Queen

THEIR FIRE IS BURNING out. The village has long since fallen into darkness. Channin is staring up at the stars, Ruinir on her left and a small group of younger soldiers in front of her. She’s pointing out constellations in the sky.

“She truly is the people’s princess.” Raoul sits next to Will, keeping his voice low.

“She would never admit it.” Will tosses a piece of grass into the fire, sending up a small flame.

“Isn’t it better to be loved like she is? Or would you rather be feared, like the King Svetozar?” he asks, calm but confident.

Will starts to mention her mother and the Ozera nature he grew up hearing of, but a scream stops him.

Channin leaps up, “What’s going on?”

“Sounds like trouble.” Raoul grabs his horse’s bridle and swings up.

“Let’s go check it out. Runir, Ian, with me.” Will scrambles onto Kaiser.

“I’m faster.” Channin states, before Will can stop her, she has shifted into her wolf and is bounding towards the village.

He mumbles a curse under his breath and spurs Kaiser into motion. The bay horse thunders down the path, he can make out the general outline of Channin’s wolf form as she races forward.

A woman is running down the street, screaming for help. Channin stops her, the woman is hysterical, mumbling something he can’t quite hear. When he rides up, Channin breaks away from the woman.

“Will, her-”

“No. You can’t keep running off like that. If something happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Please, My Lord.” The woman pleas, “They took my son. My little Nicholas.”

“Who took your son?” Channin asks.

“The redcaps.”

“It’s just like the stories, Will.” Channin looks up at him, her eyes still golden from her change, “They come at sundown and-”

“Excuse us, ma’am.” he grabs Channin’s arm and pulls her away, “Channin, stop this.”

“Will, we have to-”

“Channin-”

“We could get there before midnight-”

“CHANNIN STOP IT!” he finally loses his patience, she falls silent, “There is nothing we can do. By the time we get there, it’ll be too late.”

“Then we will stop them from coming back.”

“The moon is full. Raoul can’t fight.”

“But I can.” she states, “William, what would you do if it were your son? Or mine?”

“Alright. But you’re riding. Not running.” He sighs, helping her onto Kaiser. They ride back to camp. After explaining the situation, a small group of volunteers assemble. Most of them must have children or come from small villages like this. Raoul among them.

“I won’t burn in Hell for eternity for letting a boy die.”

Channin and Raoul pick up the scent on the far side of town, it leads deep into the forest. A hunter’s cabin is nestled along the path but feels so isolated that no one would ever find it. That would be a place to hide them, the scent continues past it. She suddenly stops Alloumera, spinning the little stallion around. She’s lost the trail and Will can see her heart breaking.

“Double back,” Raoul says, “See where you can find it again and try again.” She does as he says and they find it again, “First rule of tracking. Don’t stop moving.”

With them on the trail again, they quickly gain for lost time. Channin ducks around a covered bridge and rides down into the creek bed below. It’s dry, like everything else in this part of the forest. Will notices the bones of a horse scattered through the stones. Then, a human skull. Another and another. 6 in total that he can see. He studies the walls of the ravine. They aren’t quite too steep to ride out of; but if water came down from the mountain quickly, anyone down here would surely perish. He spots something glimmer and stops Kaiser. It’s a compass. Cracked and dusty but still working. A name is etched into the back of it, Bowen Blatz. He nearly drops it. The team has ridden ahead, leaving him behind.

His first instinct is to give it to Channin, but he decides against it. He’s worried she’ll go into a rage and charge into the redcaps.

Raoul stops his horse, they both tense up. Out of the ravine comes a stone path, leading up to the ruins of an old castle. Channin steers Alloumera up the path, his hooves crunching the stones.

“Will, this is unsettling.” Ian warns, “I’ve got a bad feeling.”

He nods, “Me too.” He nudges Kaiser forward and up the path after Channin. “Channin, come back.”

She has ridden into the gates of the castle, walls rise around her, but the ceiling has long caved in. It creates a disturbing box shape. One way in and one way out. She presses her finger to her lips and motions him closer. It’s hard to be quiet on a war horse. A branch snaps under his weight, Alloumera freezes.

Channin tries to talk to him and calm him, but the little stallion begins backing up quickly. He collides with Kaiser and stops again.

“What’s going on?” Will whispers to Channin.

She keeps her voice low too, “I don’t know.”

A small stone skitters across the ground, it’s enough to scare the already frightened Alloumera. The white horse tosses his head up and he rears up, sending Channin crashing to the ground at Kaiser’s feet. The horse leaves his rider, bolting for the doorway.

“Are you okay?” Will asks quickly, as she picks herself up.

“You think I’ve never-“ her voice trails off, she’s looking at the edge of the castle walls.

He knows what she’s seeing but needs to look anyway.

Redcaps are small, only about 30 inches tall. They slightly resemble old Dwarves, except their arms are too long for their bodies and their noses don’t quite fit on their faces. They have large red eyes without a pupil or any sign of white. The caps of their skulls are missing, revealing brain underneath. They each carry a bone club. They stand watching for only a few seconds, before pouring into the castle ruins.

Channin reaches for her bow instinctively, only to be reminded that Allou carries everything. Will leaps from Kaiser to stand between her and the Redcaps. They circle around, testing his limit. Raoul and the others ride to the door. They’ve reached a stalemate. No one moves, but no one can leave.

Runir is the first to attack. An arrow flies through a redcap’s head, killing it. The small creatures launch their own attack, Will is able to knock a few aside, but they quickly become an issue. The brown wolf leaps in front of him as Raoul’s black werewolf violently shakes one redcap and hits several others with it.

Channin is smaller and able to dance around, avoiding the redcap’s weapons. She ducks around and snaps their necks while Raoul throws them aside with his claws.

Another arrow flies and Ian charges in. The vampire steps off his horse and quickly drives his sword through an attacker. In three more moves, he has incapacitated as many redcaps.

The remaining redcaps back up and decide all together to scramble up the wall.

“What was that about?” Runir asks, lowering his bow.

Will looks between his team, everyone is accounted for. “Raoul?” his eyes fall on the werewolf, he’s in a corner with his back to them. When Will says his name, his ears flick.

“Uh oh.” Will lowers his voice, “Everyone out now.”

The black wolf turns slowly, watching everyone. Will tightens his grip on his sword, trying to decide if he should fight the werewolf or let it run its course. The wolf growls, showing his tangled teeth dripping with blood.

“Okay, Raoul.” Will slowly lowers the sword to the ground, “I don’t want to hurt you and I know you can hear me.”

“I don’t think you can do much here, Will.” Ian whispers.

The Vampire’s voice grabs the wolf’s attention and he lunges for him. Ian is faster and moves aside. He hisses and the wolf growls. Ian moves first, Channin collides with him and they tumble to the ground. The werewolf looks surprised at the disappearance.

Will takes his chance and dives for the door, pulling the gate with him.

“You’re going to leave her in there?” Runir yelps.

“They can’t be turned and he can’t kill them.” Will pants.

Channin dodges an attack from Raoul, almost running straight into Ian.

“Come on, Channin.” Will whispers, “You aren’t stronger than them.”

Her left ear flicks, she can hear him. She ducks between the two again, causing them to crash into each other. The werewolf roars and smacks Ian across the room, charging the smaller wolf again. The Vampire tackles him and they stop at her feet. She darts to the right, the werewolf catches her and slams her back to the ground.

She rolls away from him, missing his claws. He growls again and she returns the threat. The werewolf and Vampire start to back her towards the wall. The black wolf smacks her towards the wall. She slides to the stone floor again, this time shifting back. Ian grabs her by the throat and she hits the wall again. The werewolf grabs Ian and flings him to the ground, standing in front of Channin.

“Raoul, stop.” She shouts.

The wolf hesitates, tilting his head.

“Raoul, you’re scaring the children.” She states.

He backs up a few steps and whines. He scales the wall and disappears. Channin races for Ian and offers him her hand.

“Are you feeling better?” she asks.

“I don’t know what happened. Channin, I’m sorry.” He refuses her hand.

She shrugs, “Vampiric rage mode? The scent of blood and the threat of a werewolf.”

“Do you smell that?” He lifts his head.

“The hundreds of dead and dismembered redcaps?” Channin looks around.

He shakes his head, “No.” Ian stands up and moves around the castle, stopping by a beam from the ceiling, “Can you help me move this?”

She steps up next to him. The beam is wooden, but the elements have left it weathered and lighter than it looks.

“What are they doing?” Runir asks.

“I’m not sure.” Will pushes the gate open as they slide the beam enough to reveal a trapdoor beneath it.

Ian lifts it up and Channin kneels at the entrance. A small blonde child leaps out, hugging her tightly. She hugs him back, smiling over her shoulder at Will. They found him.

They arrive back in Ozim, the boy scrambles off Alloumera and races to his mother. Quickly embracing her.

Channin tries to avoid looking at the other parents. They had been holding onto the hope that their children would be found alive, even after weeks of being missing. What must they be going through? Is this how her parents looked, watching the lights of the ship disappear under the black water? She inhales sharply when someone’s hand touches hers.

It’s Will, the silver moonlight caught in his eyes. “We saved them. They won’t lose anymore kids.”

“Then why doesn’t it feel that way?” she pulls Alloumera around and heads back to camp. She doesn’t sleep for what’s left of the night, she’s too busy thinking of Peytra. What is something happened to her out here and Peytra only remembered their argument? She keeps the coals glowing. When Raoul returns at the first light, they don’t speak, only exchange a short glance. She rolls her tent and blankets up, buckling them behind her saddle.

About an hour later Will and the others are up. Channin already has Alloumera ready to go. She rides ahead of the men, keeping to herself. Her mind isn’t on Peytra anymore, but rather stuck on William. His captivating and strangely familiar blue- gray eyes, smiling at the ground with the jokes he never says aloud.

Raoul nudges Will with his foot, “Go talk to her.”

“She’s just down,” he says. “It isn’t like she’ll actually listen to what I say.”

The werewolf sighs and shakes his head, “Sometimes having someone to listen to you if you need it is worth more than advice.”

The path narrows and Raoul falls in line behind Will. Even if he wanted too, there’s no way he can talk to her now.

Ombu’s citizens are gathering the last of the harvest in when the troops ride into town. Everyone waves, but no one stops working. They are bracing for a winter.

Hana is in the Inn, sweeping in front of the fireplace. She looks up when Will enters. “You’ve made it back just in time. The signs say it’ll be a bad winter.”

A jar on the table hold a small wooly worm, he’s nearly all black and has thick hair all over his body.

“The hogs are nesting, too.” She adds, “I think it’ll be more than just cold.”

“What do you mean?” Will picks up the jar and turns it on it’s side to let the caterpillar climb the sides.

Hana stops sweeping, “Change is coming, General Starker. And whether you like it or not, you’ll be caught in the middle. That girl out there, she could damn you all.”

He looks out to where Channin stands, she’s trying to cheer up. Runir and Fairen are giving it their best shot, teasing each other. She’s forcing a smile, trying too hard. The Elves refuse to yield.

“She’s proven herself valuable to my men.” Will tries to avoid yelling it. He can’t imagine leaving Channin at Dragonspire now. Not after she worked so hard to prove herself to the other soldiers. No. Channin Ozera was part of his brigade. They would defend her no matter what.

“She’s going to find out some day that what her father is doing, isn’t all bad. Are you going to stand for that?”

His mind races to Channin putting herself between Raoul and Ian, two powerhouses charged by the moon and blood. She wasn’t concerned with what could happen to her, just protecting them from each other.

“I’ll stand for her, whatever he decides.” He places the jar back on the table.

“I thought you might say that.” She pulls a letter from her pocket and hold it out to him, “This came early this morning.”

He takes it, hesitantly. The king’s gold seal sends a small wave of dread over him. Isaac’s neatly slanted handwriting is scrawled across a paper much too large for the short script.

To: General William Starker.

The King Svetozar requests your troops at the township of Paedleigh at once. The refusal to pay the King’s tax must be dealt with swiftly to avoid further uprisings. A show of the King’s force is a preliminary measure, should that fail, an action of such force will be necessary.

Commanding General Isaac Blatz.