Harker flexed his back and winced from the pain of the knife lodged in his flesh. He held Sena's arm and slowly backed a few steps from the fallen three. Should he ask Sena to pull the knife out? He took one look at her vacant looking face and denied the possibility. There was something wrong with her. Keeping a careful eye at the three on the ground, he reached towards his back with his left hand. Trying to locate the hilt of the knife there wasn't easy. He grunted as a jolt of pain jarred his whole body like lightning strike when he yanked it out. He brought the narrow, blood-soaked blade in front of his eyes as he fought off a shiver. Just an inch or two more, and the tip would have touched his heart.
The fallen bodies twitched and stirred as Harker grunted. He whirled his sword in front of him, disregarding the pulling pain from his back. Were they going to attack again?
Arban was the first manage to back on his feet. He swayed once or twice like a drunk man and then bent down. He hurled everything, in his stomach before he could stand back again. “Ugh!” Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he said in a thick, groggy voice, “I’ve been in a meat grinder or something? My body hurts like hell!” he looked around himself, spotting the other four, two of them looking around as confusedly as he was. “Is there some kind of midnight celebration going on that I missed?”
“Sena? Harker?” Arda frowned at the two people. Sena's blank expression and Harker's injuries immediately drew her attention. Especially, Harker who was pointing his sword towards them. Some of the injuries gave her a pause. She knew those knife marks. No other than she could do that. “What happened here?”
Harker's shoulders relaxed. He lowered his weapon and said, "You all—"
“Druid!” The unnaturally deep voice of Sara's imposter came from the clearing and jarred their teeth. The four of them glanced at each other in surprise, then they hurried towards the voice. Only Sena still stood there, scared, unable to move on her own as before. Harker looked back, seeing her standing there he came and dragged her with him by the wrist.
Erhan and the little girl stood glaring at each other. Erhan's demeanour was calm on the outside, only a thin line of blood trickling down the corner of his lips an indication of his inner turmoil. He glared down at the girl. "Shadewolf," he said through gritted teeth.
For the first time, the little girl’s voice had a trace of agitation and anger as she returned Erhan's glare. “I’ve allowed you a chance to see your family once again. Yet you still come to hinder me?”
"See my family?" Erhan frowned, but the next moment the sound of humourless laughter rolled up his throat as his dark hair and beard fluttered around him in the wind. “A chance to see my family again. Right!“ the last word came out of his mouth in a growl of barely suppressed anger. The four that had just come out of the forest gulped as one when they heard his laughter.
Erhan looked back and spotted Sena being dragged around by Harker. His stiff body relaxed a little. Though she had a few scratches here there, at least she was still alive. But his relief didn't last long. He frowned as he peered at her face. That wasn't right, her expression along with her vacant eyes– she looked like a little child who had been thoroughly shocked by something. He closed his eyes and spread his senses towards her. "Tsk!" he clicked his tongue in anger as he connected with her psyche. Chaos and blankness. Not even a shred of coherence. Her mind was broken. It won’t be easy to recover from that.
"You've done enough harm to her," said Erhan as he turned to face the shadewolf. "Now leave."
"Enough harm?" The little girl seemed taken aback for a moment, but then her pupils shrunk in anger. she shook a little before a cloud of mist, shrouded her form. Her figure turned intangible, dissolving and dispersing within it.
"Good riddance!" Arban couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. Shadewolf or whatever she was, she was finally leaving. The intimidating feeling she gave him sent shivers down his spine.
but before he could relax, the swirling mist seethed and surged like a stormy ocean. From the surging fog, a silhouette of a wolf as big as a horse walked out. Its flowing black fiery fur writhed around it. Tendrils of shadows wound around its body like black smoke. Its presence took the breath away from everyone except Erhan. "They killed my child!" Its animalistic snarl came from enclosed them from every direction."Nothing is finished yet," it said as it glared down at him with flaming golden eyes. After a moment its voice calmed down a little. “Give me the culprits and I’ll leave. Otherwise, the consequences would be dire.”
Erhan eyes sharpened as his gaze pierced through the shadewolf. He shook his head. "Do you think a simple thought projection is enough to threaten me? Even if you weren't injured and arrived here yourself, I still wouldn't give them up.” Anger seeped into Erhan's voice as the face of Leah and Ellie flashed past Erhan's mind. And then the memory of that illusion. He clenched his teeth and growled as his throat tightened in pain. Suppressing the fury trying to bubble up from within, he said, "Leave before I lose control of myself."
“Don't insult me, druid! Weak as I am now, I am more than capable of vanquishing you,” said the shadewolf as it bared its fangs. It had hoped to avoid confronting the druid. He was the student of those people after all. Why couldn't the druid have arrived a little later? by then it would have ended the life of the three responsible for the death of its child. "you had also experienced the pain of losing your child, haven't you?," it asked Erhan. "Then why do you stand against me? I have the right to avenge my child's death."
“You’re right,” Erhan expression soften softened somewhat. He smiled ruefully and said, “I understand you, I do, but..." he looked back at the five people, especially at Arda who looked back at him with caution, Garan who cowered a little and... Sena. He sighed, "but as long as they are with me, they are my responsibility. And I can't hand them over to you."
Arda and Garan visibly relaxed. They exchanged a reassured glance with each other, and then as one, glanced at Sena standing beside Harker. Arda sighed. They only escaped unscathed because Sena was the one who suffered. And now Arda owed her another one.
The shadewolf growled and bared its fangs. The druid was right about one thing, its shadow couldn’t do much against him. This was so humiliating! It wanted to rush out from its dwelling right now and kill those three itself. But it couldn't leave its other child alone when the danger had not yet lessened outside. If only it wasn't injured so seriously.
It looked at Sena, who scurried away from its glaring eyes and hid behind Harker. Harker couldn't breathe in fear, even though the creature wasn't looking at him. Still, he stood straighter to prevent its eyes from falling on Sena.
the shadewolf grew bigger and bigger until it was as gigantic as a hill. It loomed over the six as it returned its gaze to the druid. Its "Give me the one who killed my child and I will leave," it said in a solemn, even tone.
Erhan shook his head.
"Druid!" There was a warning in its voice. “Give her to me.”
Erhan said nothing and simply raised his staff in a challenge.
“Then, you force my hand.” the shadewolf raised its head and roared, a sound like that of an army of wolves howling at once. Its fur rippled like waves, and then it scattered in front of them, falling to the ground like an avalanche of concentrated black mist. The avalanche broke off into parts, each part turned into a black full-grown wolf. They howled as they rushed towards the six. The sound attacked their mind with a gripping terror and forced almost everyone to their knees.
Only Erhan stood his ground. He ignored the fear invading his mind and concentrated on spreading his senses towards the tide of wolves. He took a sharp breath. Each one of those wolves was real! He could sense their incredible fury threatening to overwhelm his mind like fire eating through a forest. He shrank his senses back in pain, retreating in the secure sanctuary of his mind. His fingers tightened around the staff. There were more than a thousand wolves. The druidic arts of the Kapalics won't be of any use against them. But the price of a druidic art of sadhus that can defeat this army of wolves... he wouldn't be able to afford one even if his blood ran dry. Only the most accomplished sadhus could cast them on their own.
He clenched his teeth. There were two ways to pay for greater art like that. One of them was his memories and feelings, while the other—
Erhan smiled and closed his eyes. Torturous they maybe, but he could never give up those memories. He lifted his staff towards the moonlit sky and muttered a mantra. The weakness of blood sacrifice that usually covered him after each casting wasn't there today, but something from was disappearing from deep within. A sense of vulnerability rose from deep inside him. His black hair and beard turned as white as snow, his skin slackened and wrinkles formed on his forehead and corners of his eyes. The veins of his arms pushed up and became visible over the skin. In a few moments, his appearance became that of an old man nearing his hundreds.
But his green pupils sparkled brighter, trails of fire swirled within them, burning a dazzling golden red. Fire burst out from within the crowd of wolves. It sprouted from each wolf and turned them into huge balls of fire, burning them from inside. Soon it spread to all of them like a raging sea of flames. The wolves burned and dissipated, turning back into wailing black mists rose to the sky just before they reached Erhan. Thousands of wolf disappeared in moments, only the black fog lingered under the sky like a cloud of dark mist.
The indistinct mist roiled above them, flashes of golden lightning flickered within it and came together to form two round, whirling golden eyes. The mist gathering around it in a rough wolf shaped mass. The shape flickered, shadowy tendrils of black mist dispersed from it.
The shadewolf held on with difficulty. This intangible form, a single breeze would be enough to scatter it. It paid such a grave price but it still failed to avenge its child. The accursed druid had gravely injured its shadow. How would it protect its territory now? In its dwelling deep inside the mountains, Its body shook as it bared its fang.
“Howl!” it cried, its anger and frustration travelled with the sound and invaded every corner of the dreaming mountains, just like the day its child was killed. Its eyes almost breathed fire as it glowered down at the six humans. If only it was like the sadhus, it could turn them into ash with its glare. It glared at Erhan whose aged look started to regress until he looked merely a decade older than he had been, only his hair and beard retained the snow-white colour.
The shadewolf wrinkled its nose in rage. The druid was no sadhu either, and since he had denied it its right to revenge, it would make him pay the price even if it had to do something it never wanted to do. “Druid,” its eyes closed as golden glow covered its whole body, “your most cherished wish would never be fulfiled. You'll be doomed to wander alone in an eternity of suffering!” Its deep voice thundered and blended with the nature around them. Covered with a strange dignity, it was like a sound of nature itself as it reached deep inside Erhan's soul, tightened around it like shackles.
The sound brought in a strange wind that scattered the shadewolf's body into a shapeless mist. It looked at the three culprits from the dispersing fog. It was powerless to harm them now, but it could always plant a seed. The mists of its shadow gathered again to form a ghostly silhouette of Sara's figure as it floated down near Sena faced her. Its voice also returned to the little girl's and penetrated through the thick barrier of chaos covering Sena's mind and reached the depths. “I will tell you something,” it said as it stared at her eyes. “In a dream, I can only show you what I have seen.”
And then it was gone, scattered with a wind that travelled deeper into the Dreaming mountains.
“Was it all right to leave her behind?” Harker asked Erhan. “I mean, the druids decided the team. They said the fate of the quest lies with each member…”
“she‘d only become a burden if we take her,” Erhan answered. His snow-white hair waved around him in the wind. “And I believe she’d be safer in the queendom than with us.”
Arban had a constant frown on his face. His usual careless attitude had lessened significantly since the incident a week and a half ago. “Will Sena be alright? Will she recover?” He asked.
“She will eventually, but it will take time,” said Erhan. “ I’ve done whatever I could, but whatever the shadewolf showed her, had cut too deep. If a mind is wounded like that, we can only wait for her to heal.” he sighed. “Still, she is lucky to be alive.”
“Yes,” Harker nodded. A chill ran down his spine as he remembered the knife in his back. The pain was long gone, but the memory of it wasn't so easy to forget. “We are all lucky to be alive. If you arrived any later, I can't imagine what would've happened.”
“No,” Erhan shook his head. “I was too late.”
Garan and Arda both looked at each other. They had to disagree with Erhan, they were indeed lucky.
Arban sighed and threw up his hand in the air. Why was he being so gloomy? It was so not like him. He looked at the other four for a topic of conversation. Erhan! Yes, the old man was always a good topic. "By the way, what happened to you? Why did you turn from a grandpa in name to full-fledged grandpa?"
Erhan sighed. He felt old and withered. Perhaps he only had little more than a decade left, but that would be enough for him. "Nothing, just some after-effects of the casting," he said as he looked down at his arms holding the reins of his horse. The only worrying thing was the curse the Shadewolf gave him. He smiled ruefully. He made it quite angry, didn't he, Making it waste this opportunity? Well, what was done was done. It all mattered little now.
Erhan looked around at the burnt and abandoned village for the second time in a fortnight. This time he didn’t stop his horse. The five of them passed through the village, reaching the foot of the Dreaming mountains. A perilous path lay ahead of them.
Erhan’s goal lay ahead of him.
{END OF CHAPTER ONE, THE STAFF AND THE SWORD}
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