N&M: Chapter Twenty

Chapter 20

Wolves Town

 

            We walked back to our respectable groups. They seemed more relaxed than earlier. Darius was lying on the grass looking up at the sky. Jared was standing next to him like a statue. Although Haley still had Ashley tied up. Ashley was still struggling to get free. As we approached them, Darius jumped to his feet. I didn’t know if I should tell him about my fate. I didn’t want to mess with our mission.  My fate wasn’t important. It was Kayla’s and the world’s fate that was important. That was what we need to focus on.

            The man said “If you follow my scent north. It would lead you into the mountain that where Victor is. I can’t give you exact location he likes to move a lot. Now I gave you what you want…”

            I turned to Haley “You can let her go now.” She rolled her eyes and removed the chains.

            Ashley stood up “B***h!”

            “Don’t make me hit you again.” Haley snapped back.

            The man quickly changed the subject “If I were you I would leave sooner more than later. He will be summoning all the other packs around the continent.” He turned to his siblings and silently nodded his head. They moved to his sides. Then they turned to forest and started walking away.

            “Can we really trust them?” She asked watching them fading away in the forest.

            Darius said “We don’t have any other leads. We need a place to crash for a while. I still kind of bleeding”

            He stood up revealing a large cut on his chest. He also had cuts along his face and other parts of the body. He really needed a place to heal. I looked over at Haley who also looked kind of bang up. I knew if we were going to stop Victor, we need to be top shape. Darius started stumbled to Haley and me.

            I said “We could always go back to the church.” Haley shook her head displease.

            “Are you kidding? It’s not safe there,” She said watching Darius almost fall to the ground. She quickly helped him up, “We will be safer at my house, if you don’t mind my annoying mother and sister.”

            Darius spit out in pain. “I don’t mind, do you?”

            “I don’t mind either. Man. How far is your house?” I asked helping Haley carry Darius. We walked back into the forest.

            She replied “Not that far, I live on the outskirt of town. It will be a half hour walk.” I amazed that she lived that nearby.

            “Good.”

            We walked through the forest very slowly. Darius was a lot lighter than I had expected. He remained silent moving his legs as much as he could.  On the other hand, Haley was looking around the forest. It was like she was expecting a sneak attack. I started looking around to fearing exact same thing.

            Darius said “I don’t smell anything, guy. I think we are alone.” Then he took a deep breath before becoming silent again. I wondered if he was… “I hear something from east.”

            I pulled out my gladius and Haley pulled out her spear. We looked at the east when we also started hearing noise. Footsteps and snapped sticks, we quickly placed Darius on the ground. We ran behind separate trees and wait for our pursers. The noises started getting louder. My heart was beating like drum. I took a deep breath relaxing my body.

            Darius mumbled “Son of B***h!”

            I heard breathing from the other side of the tree. The person took one more step before I spring the trap. I moved to the other side of tree appearing behind the person. I grabbed the person’s collar and placed my sword by their neck.

            Haley screamed “Alan, stop. It’s just my mom’s stupid boyfriend.” She dropped her spear low.

            “I think you mean stepfather.” He said nervously.

            Haley replied “Yeah, sure whatever. Anyway he’s cool for now.” I released him and moved the sword away. He turned around to me. Haley’s stepdad was tall as me, but a bit more muscular. He had a pale skin with short dark brown hair and grey eyes.

            “I have been married to your mother for teenager and still you call me your mom’s boyfriend.”

            I sensed a very complicated family problem.  I walked away from them and head back to Darius. He was slowly started getting up. I helped him get back up when Haley rushed over.

            She said “Okay, Roger is going to give us a lift. His truck is far away.” She helped me carried Darius into Roger’s truck.”

            It was a big shiny blue pickup truck. We placed Darius in the back seat with me. Haley sat in the front next to Roger. As Roger drove us through the dark street of forest, I noticed that Darius was getting worse.

            “We should take your friend to the hospital.” Roger said looking back of a second.

            In unison all three of us said “No hospital.”

            Haley said “He needs a good rest and a lot of bandages,” She looked back at the wound in Darius,”a whole lot of bandages.”

            “Well can I at least ask who your friends are? I think I have the right to ask since one of you put a sword near my throat.” He was looking at me through his rearview mirror.

            I replied “Sorry, I am sorry about that. I thought you were a threat. My name is Alan and this is Darius.”

            Darius said “Yo!” He was grunted in pain and became silent again.

            “There are a couple of my friends.” Haley added.

            Roger delighted “Good, your mother will be happy. You don’t usually bring your friends home.”

            “Can we have this discussion when we don’t have a dying boy in the truck?” Haley asked.

            Roger nodded his head. Everything became silent. He turned onto an old dirt road and quickly pulled up to big house. It was white two story house with porch and garage. It also looked kind of old yet still very beautiful. Roger pulled up into the garage. There were two cars; one was a red compact car while other was covered in long brown sheet. I didn’t have time to fully think since Darius was grunting beside me. Once the car stopped, we carried Darius into the house.

            “Helen! We need some bandages!” Roger shouted as we dragged Darius to the kitchen.

            We sat him in seat at the kitchen. When we heard rush of footsteps coming downstairs, a girl suddenly appeared in door way. She looked a little older than us. She had long black wavy hair, olive skin, and big brown almost black eyes.

            Roger said “Where is your mother?”

            “She is out with her friends. What happened here?” She looked at Darius and then at us.

            Haley said “Go to the bathroom and get the damn bandages. Roger, go with her.” Roger was about the say something, but she gave him a look. He became silent and took the girl into the other room. I turned to Darius.

            ‘Darius! Darius! Darius!”

            He suddenly grabbed me by my collar and pulled me close to him. He looked me in the eye.

            He whispered “Quit screaming in my ear.”He started standing up. At first he stumbled, but he got up.  “Water, I need water.”

            He took off his shirt and moved to the sink. Haley and I followed him. He turned on the sink and water rained down from the faucets. He placed his hand into the water until it was nice and wet. With his other hand, he called upon fire. The bright orange flame appeared in the palm of his hand. He placed his burning hand into his wound and let out grunts.

            He started falling back, but Haley and I caught him. We held up as he stopped and then placed his wet hand on the wound. He took a deep breath and seemed more relaxed.

            “Talk about Icy Hot. The worst part has past. All I need to do is bandage the wound and I need to get some rest. Then we should leave tomorrow morning.” He said sounding almost back to normal.

            “Are sure we won’t be too late?” Haley said. She was staring at Darius’s muscular chest.

            I replied “Of course not, he calling every wolf across the continent. That takes time. We might be dealing with more wolves than I would like to, but nothing that we can’t handle.”

            Darius said “I would mind have a little back up.” Suddenly Roger and Haley’s sister entered the room. Like Haley, her eyes got big when they met Darius’s chest. He didn’t seem to notice as he slid to floor.  “I just need to rest.”

            Roger walked up and looked at Darius’s chest. “The wound is gone. What happened?”Haley and I looked at each other each. We were unsure what exactly to tell him. Should we have told him the truth? Would he even believe us?

             She said “It got better.” She gave him a plastic smile.

             He looked at her suspiciously first and then looked at me. I grinned and nodded my head. I was getting involved in this. I walked over and picked Darius up.  he was already knocked out. He was a lot heavier then I expect, but I carried him out of the room. I thought it would be best to give them some space. I took him to the living room and dropped him on the couch. From the kitchen I could hear Haley and Roger’s conversation.

            “I want to know what is going on and I want to know now.” Roger said practically yelling.

            She said “Maybe we should wait until Mom gets back.”

             “If you don’t tell me now, I will kick those two out.”

            She said “Wait you can’t do that those two will die out there.” She made it sound like we were a bunch of lost weaklings.

            Suddenly the front door opened up and a woman walked through the grand hall. At first she didn’t noticed us. She seemly walked past us. Then she slowly came back. She was beautiful woman like an old actress from sixty’s. She had long dark golden brown curly with lusty gray eyes, high cheekbones, and full lips. I could see how Odin would be so attracted to her. She walked into the living room.

            “Who are you two?” she asked looking at me and then at Darius.

            I stood up and walked up to her. “Hello, I am Alan and that Darius. I guess you can say we are distant relatives of your daughter.”

            “I have no idea who you are…” she said before becoming silently. She figured out what I meant about distant. “Oh, that’s distant. Does Haley know that you are here?”

            I said “Yes, she’s in the kitchen with Roger.”

            Then the three of them walked into the room. Her mom looked at them all with little surprise. It was like she was thinking of the best away to handle the situation. She bit her lip as they all turned to her. Haley looked at least kind of happy to see her mother. Roger and her sister both looked like they had hit the jackpot. They were finally about to learn the truth. I was about to get Darius again.

            She said “No stay, after all you two are family.” Everyone looked a little shock expect Haley who must understood what she was talking about.

            “Relatives?” Haley’s sister said.

            “Yes, Jennifer. They are Haley’s distant cousins from her father’s side of the family.”

            Roger said “What? I thought you guys were her friends.”

            “They are from her father’s side.”

            Roger said “Oh the mysterious Mr. Williams.”

            “You know what kids should go to bed. You have school in the morning. I am going to bed because I’m tired. Roger if you want to join me?”

            He said “I think I’ll stay with these guys.” He walked over and took a seat in a cushion. Haley’s mother threw up her hands in surrender and went upstairs with others girls.

            Darius spit out “You are an idiot. If she was my wife, I would definitely not be down here with a bunch of guys.” He looked at Darius who turned around facing the cushion. I dropped down to the floor and held my sword tightly. I drifted off to sleep.

             Next morning I woke up to the sound of car engine.  I looked around, but Darius was already up and walking out of the house. I followed him onto the porch. We looked up to see a pure white 2012 Ford Mustang appeared in the air. It descended down toward us. I was a little surprised when it flew past my head. It landed in the clearing pushing up flowers all around.

            “That’s my car! Who the hell is in my car?” Haley screamed behind us. We turned around to her and family. Roger and Haley’s jaw dropped. We started heading to the car. I already had an idea who was the driver. The door opened up and a small familiar person emerged from it.

            “Hi guys!”

            Darius and I said “Hi Kris.” Kris looked like she was about to rob a bank or something. She was wearing black outfit. She was wearing a short black leather jacket over a black tank top, tight black pants, and black boots.

            Haley picked her up “You know this dwarf.” Darius and I nodded our heads silently. Compare to Haley, Kris looked like a child both in height and figure.

            “Yeah, we know her. Kris, daughter of Hermes meet Haley daughter of Odin,” I said into the car, “Come on we got no time for this.”

            Roger said “What? Daughter of who?” Haley’s mother smiled and kissed him.

            “Honey, why don’t you take Jennifer in the house and I will explain everything later.” She said then walked over to Haley, “I knew this day will come. Haley, be careful and remember your training. Come back to me okay.” Haley nodded his head in agreement.

            Kris said “By the way, don’t call me a dwarf. The dwarves don’t like that.” She disappeared in Haley’s hand and reappeared in the passenger seat. She smiled “I’m assumed you want to drive your car. Oh and Darius I got this for you.” She pulled a piece of tree bark and threw at him.

            Haley grunted “The weird company you two keep.” I couldn’t wait until she’s meet the dark elves and the sphinx. He was sniffing the tree’s bark like an animal.

            “I got his scent. I will send up a flare to show where I am going.” He darted into the forest faster than I have ever seen. Haley closed the door and kicked the engine into high gear. The car quickly took off to the sky. We were soaring between the trees below and dark clouds above. For some reason I felt sick in the car like I was about to throw up. We kept hovered for a bit waiting for a flare. We sat in complete silence.

            Kris was the one who broke the silence. “So you are the daughter of Odin. So are you a Valkyrie?”

            “I’m only half-Valkyrie. So I have some of their powers. I won’t become full until I die a warrior’s death.” Haley snapped back.  I could see that Kris was touching a nerve. Then a ball of fire was sent into the air. It exploded sending sparks everywhere. Then another and another appeared, Haley turned the car to follow the flares.

            I said “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why are you here? Did Neil send you?”

            “No technically, he wanted me to stay away,” she replied looking away, “Okay! I’m actually disobeying him just being near you. I couldn’t sit back and do nothing while the world is in danger.”

            Haley asked “Do you at least have a weapon?” Kris pulled a small iron dagger from her pocket. She twirled it around showing off her effective.

            “Yeah, I know how use it.” She said when another one of Darius’s ball appeared.

            Haley asked “How is he tracking the wolves and making fireballs?” I sensed a hint of interested in her voice.

            “Horus isn’t just the Egyptian god of war, but also the god of hunting and justice. Darius probably inherited enhanced senses. They are mostly more advanced than ours.” Kris answered.

            “And the fire balls, smart a*s?”

            Kris smiled “Horus is one of the lords of sun and moon.” We flew further when another fireball appeared. It didn’t explode like the others. “He found them.”

             She opened the door and jumped out of the car. We watched as she disappeared into the forest. Haley pushed the car down making it descend down. We crashed through some branches.

            She screamed “Don’t expect a smooth landing.” We crashed into the ground hard.  I was surprised we didn’t wake the whole woods up. Haley opened her door and we got out of the car. I was even more surprised that the car was okay. It just had a few scratches in its paint. I looked around the growing dark forest. I expected the wolves to come running toward us to investigate. Instead nothing, no howling, no footsteps, it was like no one was home. I looked around, but it like an abandon town. There were only little tents.

            “Are you sure we are in the right place?” she said walking to one of the tent. Multiple howls echoed in the distant. It killed all doubt in my mind. Oh yeah, we were in the right location. I held onto my hilt as we ran through the forest. I was ready to cut down any wolf that stood in my way. We passed by more tents and other places I don’t want to talk about. I silent realized we were walking through a small village. I guessed there were probably more than twenty or thirty wolves living here. The howls started getting louder the closer we got. Then screams started mixing in. I had a feeling we were heading in the right direction. We stopped behind a tree. A couple of men were standing in front of us. They were huge like linebackers. They were old worn down clothes.

            One of them said “You think she will learn to stop screaming already?”

            “She is new. Anyway she doesn’t have long. She was last piece of the puzzle and now we can summon the Oracle. Soon Fenrir will lead to retake this world.” The other replied giving his friend a fist pound.

            I thought about just simply cut down these two down. Haley had other plans. She looked at me and instantly got what she wanted to do. It was weird like she pushing her thought onto me.  We sneaked up to them. I jumped on my guy and wrapped my arms around his neck. I squeezed tightly as he slowly collapsed to the ground. Haley on the other hand snapped her guy’s neck.

            “What the hell?” I whispered as the guy dropped to the ground.

            She said “What? I dealt with our problem.” She dragged her guy away. I followed her dragging me. We hid them in a berry bush. I just hold no one would get hungry. We continued going deeper into wolf territory. Moving from cover to cover avoid patrols, we quietly followed the scream. There wasn’t that many people around which made it a little easier. The screams were getting louder with every step.

            “Woman, if you don’t shut up.” a dark blooming voice said. I took refuge in nearby bushes. There was a man standing alone. He was tall, lean, and looked pretty boy. Something Anna would enjoy. Right behind him was a group of five cages with a single girl in them. I recognized one of girl from my dream. She looked one had been through hell.

            Not wasting any more time, I emerged from the bushes. I was ready to do a jailbreak when I was pulled back. I turned to Haley. Her face was grim as she pointed at something. There was a small group approaching. I noticed one guy in the group. Victor was in the middle surround by three wolves. He was laughing like he didn’t have a care in the world. He was mistaken if he thought that. He walked pass the guy giving him just a nod and stood in front of cages.

            He said “Hello, ladies ready for your big show.” He sounded so exited.

            “Sure, we all ready to help you end the world.” A sarcastically voice said. I couldn’t could who it was.

            Haley said lightly “Kayla!” She started getting up, but I pulled her back down. I knew if we were going to take him down. She looked at me for a short moment. I got it she really wanted go out there and rescue them. I wanted to have the element of surprise. She took a quiet deep breath and I continued listening in.

            Victor smiled “Good then we get along very well.”

            “You don’t recognize sarcastic when you hear it, do you?” Kayla said dully.

            Victor retorted “Of course I do. I just choose to ignore them. Now be a good little girl or otherwise my friend has to hurt you. It would be shame to hurt that pretty little face of yours.”

            Then he walked away with his wolves by his side. He didn’t seem to notice again. He stopped in front of the guard. “Prepare them of ceremony.”

            The man gave Victor a small box. Then he continued on his way whistling as the wolves followed him.  The moment he was out of sight, Haley started moving toward the prison. Just as we got out of bushes, Kris appeared on top of the man. She stabbed him in the neck with her dagger before he could react. Then she teleported herself and the guy. With the way cleared, Haley and I rushed to their makeshift prison.

            I whispered “Gotta love teleportation. Come on let’s go.” We quickly ran o the cages. Haley went to Kayla’s cage while I went to another. The cage was a old rusty iron cube with a padlock that looked new. I grabbed it when the girl touched my hand. Her hands were icy cold.

            “You need to run. He is returning, they are returning, and the darkness is returning.” she said blankly. She looked like she was out of it. Her eyes were rolled to the back of her head. I recognized her voice.

            I stated “You are the one who left us the message.” She suddenly her went back to the front. Her expression changed as she looked terrified.

            “Who are you? Are you here to save us.” She said terrifyingly.  

            Kris said “Yeah, of course.” I turned to my side and there she was reaching into his pocket. She pulled a small leather case. “Excuse me. I’ll have you out in just five seconds.”

            Before I knew it, she was already done and was moving onto the other cages. She was moving so fast, that in seconds she all of them unlock. I opened the door and walked into the cage. Then I suddenly knocked back. I wasn’t expecting that.

            Bam! I hit Kayla’s cage and knocked it over. The sound echoed throughout the forest. Haley went to the cage and slowly pushed her hand into it. She was beginning to get pushed back. She started fighting with it pushing even harder. I got up and grabbed her hand and forceful pull it out.

            “You can’t get through it.”Kayla said trying not to sound afraid.  “You never need to leave. You won’t save us if you are caught. Go!” Kris quickly undone what she did while I put Kayla up right.

            The sound of rushing footsteps echoed. Everyone heard it as it also was getting louder. Kris grabbed our arms, and pulled us away. We ended up back into the bushes. Just in time as five people emerged from forest. They entered the prison and looked around trying to find anything wrong. Everything seemed right, expect for one thing.

            A light ironic sweet voice said “Yo, where’s John?”

            “Who’s cares, he a weakening. He probably ran off to take a piss,” a strong hard voice said, “Anyway Victor wants these ladies now. We don’t want to make him angry.”

            Each of them walked into the cage and grabbed a girl. The girls fought back, beating with their fists, and kicking them. All of them expect for Kayla. She walked out of the cage peaceful. Others were hoisted over their capturers’ shoulders.  They were carried out of the pen. We followed them staying close the shadow as they marched through the trees. There weren’t much cover, but we stay out of line of sight.

            One of males suddenly stopped and sniffed the air, “Do you smell that?”

            Another one answered “Excuse me?” Then he shrugged.

            “No, not that I think I smell…”

            The light sweet voice said “Come on, keep moving. Victor will be furious if we’re late.” He simply shook his head and then continued walking. They got closer to hill where there was a huge sound of applauds coming from below.  It roared like thunder. We slowly crawled on our bellies to the top of the hill. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked like we walked into an arena. On the right half had seat that were logs while the other just had a cliff. Right next to it was Victor.

Author's Note

Please tell me everything that's wrong with this chapter.

Reviews

[Shep]

Time to kill, I cab taste the blood and I hunger for ht. Awesome chapter. Just a few spots that need to be fixed.

[melissa]

I hope they kill victor and get kayla back this an amazing book