The Wolf and the Necromancer: Chapter 10

Snow wasn’t sure what she was expecting Varuct to look like. She’d heard about it from her grandmother. One of the larger cities in the Sanctum. It had been an experimental place whose main industry was metallurgy. From ironworks to jewelry making. They didn’t supply the entire Sanctum with tools but they were one of the leading points of experimentation.

Before the Calamity struck Varuct there had been rumors of a new weapon finally being finished. Something that would turn the tide against the Norians. But in the wake of the destruction that was dashed. Now as they rode their way up the street to the former city, Snow wondered what was still inside of it.

She yawned, stretching her arms over her head, and felt cricks in her neck and back. She hadn’t remembered how she slept but it had been good enough that she didn’t want to get back up. Looking over her shoulder she looked at Ryza and the necromancer was awake and alert.

Ryan and Cole were at the head of their line while Ryza and Snow were two behind them. The cart with the children was ahead of them and beside them were the married pair. Two of the children were watching upfront with their parents but one was staring at Snow. A young boy with big eyes and not a lot of hair on his head.

Snow smiled at him. He didn’t smile back but his eyes seemed to light up at being interacted with. Recalling the previous night somewhat she remembered that while the other children had been loud and rambunctious, he had been quieter, sticking closer to his parents.

First, she waved to him and he waved back at her. Snow leaned forward twining her fingers together and making subtle faces at him. First sticking out her tongue, then puffing out her cheeks. He started mimicking her, going back and forth. Wiggling fingers at each other, flaring nostrils. All sorts of things like that.

“What are you doing?”

Snow glanced at Ryza mid face and then chuckled. “I am playing with the kid. Why?”

Blinking slowly Ryza said, “Just curious.”

Snow started to tease her but noticed that they were coming up to a turn in the road.

They were on the way to a formerly intact gate, in this instance though it was half standing. There was a wooden gate covering the hole there to have some semblance of security. Standing in front of it were a pair of armored and cloaked soldiers though their weapons were far from standard issue.

From the door were walls that went all the way around like a perimeter. It crumbled in some places but in others, they were partially filled in. There were people working along the walls, performing meager construction as they could fix it. There were hunters up there as well. Some had bows but when she looked closer, she saw they were actually crossbows.

“Lots of security up there,” Snow mumbled. “How much of the interior is still intact?”

“I don’t know. But we’ll have to keep on our guard while we’re here,” Ryza whispered.

Snow nodded sniffing the air. She smelled something hot and acrid. It reminded her of smoke but there was no fire. People were also too calm for that to be the case at the moment. “Will the horse cause any trouble?”

“No. Unless they have a mage themselves,” Ryza nodded confidently this time.

Their train continued to move down the path and one by one they entered the city. Just shy of the gate the person in the line was stopped and checked. The checks were pretty straightforward. They loosely checked their bags, their carts, and the like. Nothing too complicated or risky.

When it was Snow and Ryza’s turn Snow put on her friendliest face as she greeted the hunters. The hunters didn’t change their expressions as they appraised them.  One looked at Ryza’s shovel and then looked past it without batting an eye. The other peaked in some of their saddlebags but again there was nothing incrementing in there. He gave a long stare toward Ryza, scowling but not saying a word. “Is something the matter?” Snow asked.

She tried to keep her voice level but for the first time, she felt it inside her. The demonic wolf opened its many eyes and saw through her own. It stared at the hunter and she had to grip the reigns of the horse tightly to stop herself from growling. She blinked and its face flashed in front of her. It startled her and she nearly jumped. She forced it back feeling her heart in her throat.

“No,” he said waving them forward. “You may enter.”

“What?” Snow breathed.

“You can enter. Welcome to Varuct.”

“Right,” she panted softly and nodded. “Thanks.

Walking forward they passed under the gateway. The door that had been set up for them was a large sheet of metal fixed to hinges. It looked like it had been welded onto the stone.

“Are you okay?” Ryza asked looking over at her.

“I don’t know,” she said softly. “I. It. The demon. It woke up. I think because of the hunters. But it’s quiet again. Gone back to sleep or whatever it does.”

“Are you sure?” Ryza asked and it was soft.

“Yeah. Let’s keep going,” she smiled nodding quickly.

Immediately through the gate there was empty space. Outlines on the ground for where buildings once stood but now were the home of make shift camps. Tents, fires, a few poor wooden huts were set up. People wandered to and from them either on breaks, eating, or carrying materials toward the walls.

As Snow looked around the city, she could see just how devastated it had been. Buildings stood barely on their last legs. There were signs everywhere indicating which ones were stable, what was being worked on, and where not to go. From what she could see, most of the buildings that were deemed dangerous were the ones that had formerly been tall. Their entire floors were cleared, savaged by claws.

What really got her though were the smells. Everything smelled like industry. From wood to cement, metal, fires, and that strange smoke smell from before. But rather than keep getting confused she led the horse forward continuing down the line of the others. Looking at the sides of the streets there were attempts to bring some life back to it. They were lined with greenery.

From what Snow could tell, there were civilian tents set up and they were heading that way. There were a few people in that direction stationed around to help them out. From what Snow could guess they were priests and nuns there to help out. They had some before they got there so Snow turned to Ryza to conference on their next step.

But before she could ask her anything a smell drifted along her nose. Her nose twitched and she turned back and forth uncertain. Ryza stared at her confused, “What’s wrong?”

“I smell,” she sniffed a few times. “My gran?”

“Your grandmother?”

Rather than elaborate Snow continued to turn back and forth sniffing the air. She tried to parse through all of the smells near her but she was struggling to do that. Scowling and digging her fingers into the horse’s side she sniffed again the smell fading on the air. She thought she’d imagined it, that it would just disappear and she could call herself crazy. But instead, it got stronger. As if her gran was getting stronger from beyond the grave.

But the thought struck her and she felt it bristle inside her. Felt the demon that resided in the back of her mind like an unwelcome passenger. It made the hair on her arms stick up. The demon paced the expanse of her mind angrily.

A man was walking toward them and the closer he got, the stronger the smell became. The man was dressed no different from any of the others. Simple pants and shirt. His face had a checkered beard, his skin was cream, and his hair blonde. But what Snow noticed first was he wasn’t wearing shoes and then second his eyes were yellow.

She heard it growl in her mind like a dull rumble of thunder. Her eyes widened not just because of the noise but because the man smirked. And that smirk was timed too perfectly to be a coincidence.

“Who is that?” Ryza asked already on guard.

“I. I don’t know,” Snow said but something about that didn’t feel true. The smell was familiar even if she didn’t know his face. It only made her fear grow. “Be on guard Ryry. I don’t know what’s going on but something feels off.”

He finally caught up to their slow moving line and walked alongside them. “What do you want?” Ryza asked but he ignored her. Instead, he stared at Snow.

“I know what you are young pup,” he said staring at her. His lips curved into a smirk flashing sharp fangs. “And you can keep running from it or you can embrace it. We’ll be waiting for you but not forever. If you want answers follow me. Or get caught in the cross fire. I don’t really care which you pick.”

He turned and started walking down a street, leaving the caravan behind them. Silence hung between the two of them. “What was that? Who was that? What was he talking about? Ryza you heard all of that right?”

“Yeah,” Ryza watched the man and then looked back at her. Her eyes had been glowing but they were dying down. Snow covered Ryza’s eyes as the last bits of glow faded. “Thank you. That man. He’s like you. Or at least something close to you. There’s a demon in him but unlike with you they’re the same.”

“The same?”

Ryza rubbed her head trying to find the words, “You and your demon overlap but I can still see you’re not supposed to be the same color. But him. They’re becoming the same color. I can see where they’re separate but I can see how they’re fused. How they’re conjoined.”

“Conjoined? You’re losing me Ryry.”

Ryza put a hand to her face trying to break it down. To work backward. “Remember the one I said I met, the only other person with a demon in them?”

She nodded quickly.

“That guy is like them. Except those two are nearly one. This isn’t quite that,” she said. “She was a mage. My uncle’s student.”

“So whatever this guy did it’s on the right track?”

“Potentially. But we don’t know who he is. Or what he was even talking about in regards to crossfire.”

“Okay. Then let’s follow him. If they can help, awesome. If not, we’re back to where we started which,” she shrugged. “But if it works, we may not need your uncle after all.”

“It’s dangerous,” Ryza thought hard. “But dangerous is what we do at this point. Let’s be careful.”

Ryza motioned with her hand and the horse turned, walking off the street and breaking into a slow trot. She vaguely heard someone call out to them but they ignored it. Snow sniffed the air and found the scent. The trail had already started to fade but as they continued it got stronger.

If Snow had to guess they were going toward a prison. Somehow it was still in very much in one piece. A solid building with multiple floors. Though by the looks of it, it hadn’t been exempt from the damage during the calamity. It was harder to see it but Snow could sense it. Patches of the ground she didn’t want to go near. As they walked past them it was like going through a cloud of poison and feeling it burn her nose.

When she looked at Ryza she could tell it weirded her out too. She stiffened and scowled differently than she usually did. A more pained and disgusted face. Like swallowing something rotten or far passed due its expiration. Coming to what was formerly the door and was now a gaping hole of stone.

They dismounted the horse and finally, Ryza sent it away to go die in a bush. Snow watched it walk, stumble as its leg fell down and then it collapsed to the ground. The necromantic magic that kept it alive faded away entirely. Snow made a face backing away from it and walked into Ryza.

“Do you still have the scent?”

Snow tipped her head back and nodded. “Yes. And it’s stronger than ever.” She growled and the noise she made vibrated in the back of her throat. “There’s more than him. Other smells around here. Other people. Or whatever they are.”

“Oh good you showed up. I win that bet.”

The pair of them turned around and the blonde man from before came out of the rubble. But he wasn’t alone. Another skinnier blonde man, younger this time, and a woman with black hair and muscular. Ryza tensed but Snow sniffed the air and the demon in her tensed. Not because they smelled like danger but because they smelled familiar.

“Wow you really found a pup?” the skinnier one said. “This one’s fresh. Barely even awakened.”

“Heh you ever remember being that young?”

“Decades ago. And even then, not like this one,” the woman chuckled. “You can smell it right? They’re warring with each other. Which one do you think gets eaten?”

“My money’s on the wulf. It’s looking hungry,” the skinny one said again.

“Agreed,” said the woman. “She’s wet behind the ears. Too green. She’ll get eaten whole.”

“Oh come on,” said the blonde man who’d found them. “You’re too harsh. There’s some bite in those eyes. I won the bet, didn’t I?”

“Yeah you did,” the skinny one tossed a small pouch his way.

“Alright. Stop just talking!” Snow shouted and her voice rumbled deeper. “Who are you? What are you talking about? Why are you acting like you know me and what’s going on with me?!”

“Is she being serious?” the skinny one asked.

Snow growled, baring her teeth and raising her fist. The demon inside her took a step forward as she did and for the first time they were on the same page. “Yes, I am,” Snow growled her body trembling.

Ryza looked at her and she saw the change in her eyes. The shift from blue to yellow. Again, she felt the subtle surge of magic from her companion and she recoiled away from it. But she took a slow breath and stood at her side. She readied her own magic just in case things got more intense than they bargained for.

The blonde man backed up raising his hands and smirking, “Hey now. Don’t get mad at me. I’m just one of the scouts.”

“Then who leads you?” Ryza scowled reaching toward her shovel ready for a fight or some sort of confrontation.

“I do.”

Both women turned toward the voice as it came from within the prison itself. Stalking through the darkness was a new man. He walked toward them slowly, his head bald and skin a deep brown. He was wearing a simple cloak that covered his entire body. He had sharp eyes, a sharp toothed grin that nearly split his mouth, and scars that ran across his face like tattoos.

Snow turned her glare onto him and she felt the urge. To rip. To tear. To bite. Flashes of red behind her eyes. She opened and closed her hand, feeling her nails growing into claws. Not only did the demon not like this man it wanted to fight him. To sink its teeth into his neck and rip it out as hard as it could.

And she was tempted to oblige.

The man tilted his head to the side, sniffed the air quickly, then shook his head. “You really are a pup. What are you doing all the way out here?”

“Only one person calls me that. And it sure as hell ain’t you!”

She lunged at him, her claws going right for his throat. He caught her hand in his, ducked forward, and threw her over his shoulder. She flew into the darkness of the prison but landed on her feet, skidding backward. Climbing back to her feet, she snarled her eyes switching entirely.

He was walking toward her and she could feel the magic surging through him. He tossed aside his robe and it was like watching water flow from a container. Fur covered his skin, he grew a foot taller and almost twice as wide. The man’s face elongated into a snout lined with teeth and ears perked up. He barked once and then ran right into her.

He slammed into her picking her off the ground and pinned her against the wall. His claws dug into her shoulder and his mouth hovered over her neck. She went still but continued to growl, baring her fangs at him. Even in the position she was in, she was ready for a fight.

The wolf man laughed deep in his large throat and turned throwing her into the ground. She scrambled to her feet as he walked toward her. She took a step forward her hand raised but when she saw the fur on her skin she recoiled back. He saw that and moved in a quick blur kicking her down stepping on her chest.

“You reek of fear pup. Afraid of your own wulf. It’s going to devour you at this rate. Become nothing more than an animal,” he growled reaching down and grabbed her by the head. Lifting her off the ground he punched her in the chest and she grunted.

“Snow!” Ryza ran forward to her side but she was grabbed by the others. She struggled against their grip trying to gather her magic when the woman struck her in the stomach.

“Don’t interfere,” she growled looking back at the fighting wolves. “This ought to be good.”

Snow fought the urge to cry out feeling pain in her head. It was like a fire had been lit in her brain and now her head was burning. She felt him squeeze his claws into her head and finally let out a scream of pain. And that scream morphed into a howl.

“We had our own mission here. But now things are gonna be that much easier. Especially with a new distraction for our pack,” he said forcing her down to her knees. “Let’s see if you can subdue the wulf. Or if you get eaten.”

He leaned his head back and howled and the other three howled with him. Snow went still, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks. The demon in its dark corner of her mind almost grinned its eyes aglow. It tilted its head back and she felt her own head go back as a howl ripped through her lips.

She fought it the best she could. She tried to fight it. Tried to keep it at bay. She felt hands on her face and she looked at Ryza’s face as if from a distance. From down a tunnel getting further and further away. She heard her voice like an echo barely able to make out any of the words.

She felt her eyes grow heavy. Felt her lids drooping and it was like she was falling asleep. She knew better but she couldn’t fight it. Not long enough. But she saw Ryza’s face, saw her silver eyes and summoned all her strength. She shoved Ryza backward sending her stumbling away and forced her muzzled lips to speak.

“Get out of here Ryza! Ruuuuu-“ Her voice turned into a howl and everything went dark.