Fate?

  Malak came to the edge of a clearing bathed in the glow of the full moon’s light and paused for a moment to admire his surroundings. This particular area was unfamiliar to him and he found it especially beautiful. Most parts of this region grew lavender and the occasional patch of wildflowers but before him stretched a spacious clearing filled with various species of flowers he did not know could even grow in a place such as this. Roses of various colors, azaleas, heather, daisies, cosmos, irises, pansies, tulips, jasmine and more were spread about. He thought he even saw an orchid amidst the blossoms. 

  A gentle breeze stirred up a lovely mixture of scents that Malak found quite pleasant. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, allowing himself to relax just a bit. However, this enjoyment was very short lived, as the sound of a twig snapping instantly brought him out of his peaceful state. His ears perked and his muscles tensed as his eyes scanned the tree line in the direction the sound had come from.  He sniffed the air in hopes of catching the scent of whatever made the noise but the floral aroma was all that came to him. 

After a short period of time, Malak could see a human-like figure moving between the trees across from him. It was headed in his direction. He adjusted his stance, lowering himself into a position from which it would be easier to launch an attack. It was nearly midnight and this place was some distance from any town that he knew of so he knew that this simply must be his target. 

Malak was not new to tasks such as the one he had been given. In fact, he had completed such tasks more times than he could count on all four paws. Yet, as his eyes focused upon the figure that stepped into the clearing, he could not move to do what he had come to do. 

To Malak, the beauty of the blossoms paled in comparison to this angelic figure that now stood in the soft light illuminating this amazing place. Her skin was as smooth and nearly as pale as that of a porcelain doll. Her soft facial features leant her an air of kindness. Her lips were a rosy shade between pink and red. Her wavy hair, a crimson red, flowed freely down to her waist and swayed in the breeze. It stood out against her white nightie, which clung tightly around her impressive chest and fell loosely around her torso, concealing her figure. But the garment only reached to about halfway down her thighs, revealing long, perfectly toned legs. He traced them down to her feet to see that they were bare.

When the pale goddess’ gaze paused on the spot where Malak was concealed, his heart began to pound so hard in his chest that he worried she might hear it. Her eyes shone like emeralds, even in this dim light. Surely no beast could possess such eyes; each one before tonight had had piercing, soulless eyes.

This was not his target. So who was she? And why was she here at such a late hour? He could not understand why a human would be wandering the forest now and the beauty of this one served to puzzle him further so he stayed a while to slake his curiosity. 

After a moment of looking around, the emerald-eyed beauty knelt down by a rosebush from which red roses grew. There was a large green bud sprouting from the bush. She reached out her hand and touched it gently.

Then, in a voice fitting of her appearance, she began to sing. 

Beauty in the petals ~ Of the flowers come to bloom ~ Beauty in the life ~ Thriving within the gloom.

If ever Malak believed in the existence of Sirens, it was now. Her voice was entrancing, he felt drawn like a moth to a flame. 

She smiled; her focus unbroken. Malak smiled without even realizing he was doing so. Then he turned his attention, with some difficulty, to the bud. His eyes came to rest upon it just in time to see it open up into the most vibrant red blossom he had ever seen. 

Did her singing cause the flower to bloom..?

Malak was confused and intrigued by this woman. In fact, he was so fascinated by her that he momentarily forgot the reason he was here. 

  Angel had never fully understood her connection with nature but there was no denying that she had one. She loved it and it appeared to love her as well. Being surrounded by nature brought her peace, no matter what else happened. She felt full of life. And everything Angel tended to seemed to feel the same way. She had managed to cultivate an incredible garden here that defied the chilly weather and this was where she spent a good deal of her time. Even with her family life as complicated as it was, the flora here in her secret garden provided a feeling of nirvana that transformed the area into a place in which nothing could get to her. 

Tonight, Angel had the same strange dream she had had every now and again for the past few years so she could not rest and decided to make her way to her sanctuary. Just enough moonlight had filtered down through the foliage above to light her path. 

But now, as she stood in the one place she could always find refuge, a feeling of dread came upon her. Something did not feel right. She looked around and nothing seemed out of place but this did not comfort her so she leaned down and removed an intricately designed blade with an ivory colored handle from a sheath strapped to her thigh, just above the hem of her night gown. 

A dagger? Malak was surprised. This whole scene seemed like something straight out of a movie. Or, perhaps it was all a part of a dream? He shook his head but nothing changed. Well, stranger things have happened, he supposed. He could not currently imagine a stranger scene than a vampire hunting wolf watching a beauty such as this sing to plants not native to the area in the middle of the woods somewhere around midnight, but he figured there must be something stranger when considering the fact that the previously mentioned creatures exist. And those creatures are not the only ones living among the humans.

Another twig snapped. Malak felt a chill run down his spine. This girl was in danger. And what was worse: he could not so much as warn her. If he stepped out of his hiding place she would surely scream, at the very least, and draw unwanted attention. If he changed, he would become more vulnerable to attack. Not only that, but it would take him a moment to paw through the bag he always had with him and find clothing. Stepping out naked would surely be alarming to a young woman and she would likely shriek pervert or something to that effect, again drawing unwanted attention. And then there was the issue of startling this particular one possibly ending in being stabbed.

"Is someone there?" the emerald-eyed beauty spoke into the darkness. 

A cool breeze brought with it a new scent this time; the scent of blood. The hairs on the back of Malak’s neck stood up at the same time Angel tightened her grip on the handle of her blade. Both knew that something unpleasant was approaching. Neither quite knew what would happen next. 

"How interesting. Are you human?" The voice that spoke was quiet, smooth and feminine. But there was something more to it; there was no anger in the voice, nor did it speak a threat, but there was malice behind it just the same. 

"What else would I be?" Angel’s voice was just as calm as the one from the darkness. She was not one to be intimidated. 

Despite the unusual situation she currently found herself in, Angel was nothing close to helpless. Her ex-military father had made sure she was well trained from a very young age. He had trained her himself until her mother left when she was nine years old and had hired someone else to continue training when, at the age of eleven, she insisted that the training be continued. Since then, and unbeknownst to her father, she had taken up weapons training as well. It did not matter to her who this person was, she was confident she would be victorious should this meeting become violent. 

"Ah, yes. You could only be human if this is your response. But a curious one, as you don't appear to be afraid." The owner of the voice was closer now. 

"Is it your intention to scare me?" Angel’s eyes darted from side to side as she searched for the one who spoke. 

"Well, I do enjoy a good chase. But it doesn't matter either way; my true intention is to kill you." The voice had switched from her left to her right. 

"To kill me? What for?” Angel spun to face the direction of the voice once more. It was far too close for comfort.

"Your blood." Quicker than Angel had ever seen anything move, the source of the voice revealed itself as it lunged from where it had been concealed and pinned her to a tree by her neck. 

Angel found herself face to face with her attacker and the only feature Angel could focus on was this woman’s eyes. It was not the color, as hazel is not an uncommon eye color, but something else. The instant she found herself in the incredibly strong grip of this woman, their eyes had locked and Angel felt cold, as though the very soul behind the eyes into which she peered was devoid of any warmth and was endeavoring to steal her own. 

Suddenly thinking that this was actually the case, Angel thrust her blade into the ribs of the woman she was no longer certain was a human. It slid through, with little resistance, all the way up to the hilt. The shriek to follow was ear piercing, causing Angel to cringe as the woman-like thing tightened it’s hold. 

In a flash of movement, Angel was jerked forward and flung into a rose bush. Slightly disoriented, she turned to see what had happened. Her heart stopped for a fraction of a second as she viewed the scene before her. A massive black wolf had leapt from the darkness and tackled the 'woman'. And the 'woman' was quickly free, as the wolf-like creature now stood a short distance from the humanoid creature, snarling and baring it's fangs. Angel looked to the woman-like thing to see that it too was baring inhuman fangs. 

"Stupid mutt!" the thing hissed. "I'll kill you!" 

The wolf stood it’s ground, watching it’s opponent carefully. 

"But first, I'll kill her!" With that, she lunged towards Angel at incredible speed. 

"No!" The wolf growled as it moved quickly to defend her. 

Naturally, the attempted interception was foreseen and the 'woman' smoothly dodged and moved to close the distance between it and Angel. However, the next attack was unexpected. As it reached it’s target, the target shifted stance and thrust her palm into the pommel of the dagger in it’s side as she dodged the attack. The thing let loose a guttural cry as it jumped back and quickly took a defensive stance, knowing it would not have time to attempt a second attack before the massive wolf would be upon it.

This was impressive for a human but infuriating as well. The woman-like creature pulled the blade from it’s side, making the most unpleasant sounds as it did so. It’s eyes moved back and forth between the human and the wolf as it decided the best course of action. 

  Then the creature posing as a woman looked at the girl and smiled. It drew its arm back and let the blade fly straight at her. The wolf sprang into action, leaping into the path of the flying dagger, and the blade buried itself deep into the beast’s side. It howled in pain. 

  The cry of the wolf filled Angel with a feeling of anguish. Here was this strange creature with no ties to her, defending her very life with it’s own. She could not bear the thought of it suffering such terrible pain on her behalf. 

  The ‘woman’ was closing the gap between them even before the blade hit it’s mark. As the wolf landed, fresh pain shooting through it from the shock of the landing, the woman-like beast was already within striking distance. It tore the dagger from the wolf’s shoulder and brought it back down, aiming for the neck. 

  Angel pounced, taking the ‘woman’ to the ground before the metal could come into contact with flesh. She could not stand by and allow further harm to come to her defender. 

  When Malak’s paws hit the ground pain shot through him and he paused for a fraction of a second. In that instant the vampire was there. It ripped his flesh open in a horrific manner as it tore the dagger from his shoulder. He turned to snap, just in time to see the vampire and the human he was trying to protect tumble to the ground. She moved faster than any human he’d seen, to have taken it down before he was able to turn his head. And she was quite strong to have taken it down at all. But he had no time to stop and think about these things and what they might mean; yet. 

  The vampire threw the girl off of it and the girl slammed into a tree, hitting the back of her head hard enough to cause bleeding. Then the vampire stood, looking back and forth between the two again. 

  Malak knew the likely outcome of the vampire’s considerations. He barely managed to position himself in front of the angel he would not see fall before the vampire did exactly as expected and threw the dagger. With the distance as it was, this was all that he could do. Needless to say; the blade found flesh once more and the vampire was close behind. 

  This time, however, it was the emerald-eyed beauty that pulled the dagger from Malak. She then jumped over him, extended her arm, and thrust the blade into the vampire as they collided. The pair hit the ground together.  

  The vampire tried to throw the girl again but the girl had a death grip on it’s wrists. This clearly angered it and Malak could see this as he closed in. It thrust it’s head forward to bite the girl and the girl lowered her own and met it with a headbutt. The blow was enough to make the vampire cringe and the human loosen her grip but the instant the thing struggled, the human tightened her grip once more. 

  Angel’s head was spinning. This entire situation was a nightmare come to life; a girl caught between a wolf roughly the size of a bear and a ‘woman’ whose appearance and behavior matched the description of a fabled vampire as they dueled in the dim light provided by a full moon shining in the midnight sky. Yet, here she was wrestling with the thing she deemed a vampire. And with a head injury, no less. 

  Yet she endeavored to hold on, knowing that if she were to let go she would be thrown again. The vampire tried to bite her again. Angel turned her head slightly and let it get close, then turned her head and bit it’s face. Clearly surprised, it froze in place for a second before starting to snarl and struggle harder than before. 

  As the wolf stood over the two, the vampire fell still. Glaring with piercing eyes, it addressed Angel. “You are not a human. What are you, really?” 

  “I am human.” She replied. “What are you?” 

  “Do you take me for a fool? No human could hold me!” the vampire hissed.

  “This one can.” Angel replied, though her strength was waning as the world continued to spin. A throbbing pain originating from the back of her head threatened her very sight, blurring her surroundings with each pulse.

  The wolf reached between the two, firmly placing it’s monstrous paw on the vampire’s chest. The vampire started to writhe again, desperately trying to free itself. Angel released it’s arms and rolled to the side where she lay struggling to simply keep her eyes open. 

  Malak shifted his weight onto the chest of the vampire, pinning it to the ground. With it’s hands released, the creature was too dangerous to allow to live a moment longer. As it reached for him, he swiftly ripped open it’s throat with his incredible jaws. It thrashed about but he held it down. A second chomp severed the spinal cord at the base of the skull, removing the head. The body went limp and Malak stepped away from it, closer to the girl on the ground. 

  The eyes that had entranced Malak were closing and Malak’s heart sank as he looked upon her. 

  “Why..?” He asked. 

  “I could ask you the same…” She looked directly into Malak’s eyes and replied with a smile that made Malak’s heart skip a beat. Then she slipped into unconsciousness. 

  As Malak shifted to his human form, the tissue that had been torn apart came together, healing the wounds and stopping the blood loss. The pain spiked as the healing began but lessened when the process was complete and Malak was left with little more than another scar. 

  Moving as quickly as he could in his human form, Malak located his backpack, made a phone call to a doctor he knew personally to arrange care for the strange girl, and donned a pair of black jeans as well as a pair of hiking boots. After doing so, he returned to the girl and lifted her onto his back as gently as he could. 

The walk to wherever she had come from would prove difficult; Malak was not feeling as well as could be after losing a good bit of blood and healing but not consuming anything to help restore the energy lost in the process. In addition, there was nothing but a scent to follow and the source was so close. But he would not falter. 

  She could have run away. She stayed and fought in an attempt to protect me. Me, in the form of a massive wolf. Most people wouldn’t even risk their own wellbeing for a fellow human…