As Snow left the town the damage was obvious and immense. Her senses had almost doubled since she’d come back from whatever it was that she was now. She could hear how empty the city was now. Smell the death that hung on the air like a cologne.
As she walked, she had flashes of memory that happened during her change. Flesh she’d torn through, the smells of insides spilled out, and screams. Worst of all she remembered the faces of the people she’d killed. People she’d traveled with. Eyes full of fear.
Her own guilt weighed down her steps but she didn’t stop walking. She put one foot in front of the other looking down. She could hear them screaming about monsters. See their fear of her. But she remembered Ryza’s words, “Monster or not I am who I am. And I have you Ryza. Right?” she asked knowing that she wasn’t going to be answering.
The first thing she did was raid as many homes or places as she could. She did her best to find ways to treat and wrap her wounds. Makeshift bandages from scraps of clothing tied perhaps too tightly but Ryza wasn’t conscious to remark on them. When the bleeding had been mostly stopped, Snow nodded and started focusing on leaving this place behind.
She reached the edge of one of the walls which had a gaping hole in it. There were signs that people had begun to repair it but no real effort had been committed to the project. She started to step over the debris when a scent hit her nose. She paused turning, sniffing harder.
She knew that smell.
Baring her teeth, she turned around slowly and stared at the four shapes that made their way through the darkness. The four that were like her including the one that forced her to turn.
But there was another one there. A fifth man that she hadn’t seen before. Somehow, he was even taller than the other two. An actual giant. He had bronze skin and an exposed toned chest. He had simple pants, dirty, torn, and no shoes. But it was his face that had Snow confused.
His jaw was square covered by black hair and mouth wide, riddled with sharp teeth and a mustache above his lips. His nose was sharp, twitching every few moments and his eyes were sharp slants with large red orbs as eyes. His hair was a long tangled black mane around his face but sticking from the top of it was a pair of triangular ears. They perked up, flicking back and forth before settling. As Ryza looked at him closer, she realized his toes and fingers had sharp black claws exposed. And just barely she could see a swishing tail behind his legs.
She looked at the others and realized that the other four had more hair, ears, and tails behind them as well. Even the bald headed one had a pair of low resting furred ears. She rubbed her eyes and wondered how she missed it the first time. She sniffed the air and they all even smelt different. Beyond just reminding her of her gran.
The new guy sniffed the air turning up his nose and then looked at the cloaked man that they had met previously, “You told me that there would be a beast on a rampage. But I see a young wulf newly awakened and very strong. It seems your claim was wrong Caius.”
“No Dioh. I swear to you this was but a child on death’s door,” the man now known as Caius said. He took a step back raising his hands. He lowered his head and bowed, his tail between his legs and ears flattening. “I swear to you that it was so.”
The other three stood behind, their faces blank and heads slightly lowered at Dioh. Dioh on the other hand turned to Caius slowly tilting his head downwards. He bared his fangs and shoved his face closed, “I hate people who can’t judge someone’s character. It means they’re careless. I don’t need careless people running in my pack.”
And then he moved faster than Snow’s new eyes could track. It was like a bolt of lightning. One moment he was crouched over Caius and the next he was standing, his foot straight through Caius’ head. A mist of blood floated and then Caius’ body sunk to the ground. The other three wulves and Snow flinched backward startled.
Dioh turned around to face Snow now licking a fleck of blood at the corner of his mouth, “Now there’s you. What do you make of my character?”
He started walking toward her and Snow’s instincts told her to back away. To run and put as much distance between herself and him as possible. But she didn’t. She stood her ground, grinding her teeth together as she stared back at him. He stopped a few feet away from her and she felt like she was being stared at by a true predator.
“You’re dangerous. Not like him,” she glanced at Caius. “Or those three behind you. You’re something different. Being honest everything in me says to run right now.”
“So why’re you still here? Huh?”
“Because my instincts say to run away and leave Ryza behind. And I won’t ever do that,” she glared at him and held Ryza closer to her chest. “So, if that means I have to fight you then I will. I fought the demon inside me and won. I won’t lose so easy to you.”
He looked at her, his eyes flitting to Ryza, and sniffed the air. He scowled like he’d smelled something foul, “Necromancy. You keep strange company young wulf.” He smirked leaning back and put his hands on his hips sniffing again. His smirk turned perplexed. “You truly are young. And you called the beast inside you a demon. How have you gone this long and only just properly change?”
Snow frowned glancing away for a moment, “It’s a long story. I doubt you want to sit and hear it.”
“I don’t. But you’ve got my attention. It’s rare we see one of The First’s children this far away from home.” When Snow looked at him, her confusion visible, he broke into a bark of a laugh that sounded every bit the animal inside. “If you want those answers, come find them. Luthagen. That’s our home. Yours too. That’s where we’re going. And it’s where you should go.”
“I don’t know where that is.”
“Follow your instincts. They’ll bring you there,” His voice got soft for a moment and the edge to his eyes faded. But it came back with a vengeance as he shouted. “Come on wulves! We’ve got a long journey ahead of us! Demons. Bagh.”
He howled and then exploded forward jumping clean over the wall. The other three followed his movements leaping after him. They flipped over the wall and then they were gone. Snow watched them go, only having their scent remain. Staring through the hole in the wall Snow glanced back at Varuct before stepping through the hole.
She was greeted by a cold wind and a darkening sky. Holding Ryza closer, not just to make sure she was safe but because she was warm Snow continued forward. She had no idea where she was going but she had to get away from the city. So, squaring her shoulder she leaned forward and started running.
There were days and nights she’d spent cleaning the bar and staying inside. Days where she’d imagined just leaving the bar behind. When the forest around her village called to her. When she wanted to break free and just go. Let the beast inside her just take control and let loose.
She fought that urge every day of her life, the memory of her gran hanging over her head. And now she realized that her gran had been cautious but ultimately wrong. The curse, the beast inside her, it wasn’t something to contain. And as she ran, feeling the grass beneath her feet and the wind on her skin she knew what she had to do. Slowing down just enough to put Ryza on her back she leaned forward.
The moment her hands touched the grass the fur flowed. Her body broke itself apart and knit itself back together. Before this used to hurt, pain unimaginable. But now it was smooth. There was some discomfort but it was so fast that she could barely register it. Now on all fours, she resisted the urge to shake herself. This wasn’t the half and half of before. She was a full fledged canine. Raising her nose, she smelled the wind and finally took off.
She didn’t know where she was going or why she was going this way but the instinct in her told her this was the way to go. She ran and ran until her legs burned. Until her limbs screamed at her for her to slow down and stop. And she did eventually. The sky had darkened entirely. The stars hung in the sky and her sides heaved.
“Where are we?”
Snow looked over her shoulder and she saw Ryza. Ryza sat up slowly and groaned. She felt stiffer than a corpse. Holding her side and rubbing her arm slowly she looked down at Snow’s pristine white form and then her eyes widened sharply. She looked down at her and then at their surroundings, a prairie with a city on their horizon but not near them just yet.
“Snow? Is that you in there?” she asked carefully.
Snow turned slowly and slid Ryza off. Ryza stumbled backward barely able to keep her footing but she dug her shovel into the ground to remain standing. She looked at Snow who stood over her in her full wolf form. But she took a slow deep breath, panting, and then she changed. Reverting backward to her human form.
She shrunk down to her human form and for the first time, she smiled at her. That smile fell away as she suddenly felt the exhaustion of having transformed twice in one day and so quickly. Closing her eyes tightly she fell to the ground and let the grass rub against her skin.
She started to slide over but Ryza came forward and caught her. Snow looked up at her and gave her a lopsided smile, “Hey Ryry.”
“Hey Snow. I know you’re enjoying the change but don’t overdo it. Please.” Ryza winced almost falling to the ground and now Snow caught her.
“You’re one to talk,” Snow teased. “And I’ll do my best. Just kinda tired now.”
“You treated my wounds?” Ryza asked looking down and touching her hip gingerly.
“It was a patchwork job but yeah. Didn’t want you to bleed out on me,” she flashed her a smile.
“Thank you. How long have you been running?”
“I. I dunno. Been a while.”
Ryza helped her slide down and lay down. She was in a sitting position and finally, Ryza pulled her cloak off wrapping it around Snow. But as she did it, she winced feeling both her hip and arm protest but she was still focused on Snow. Snow could feel the shift in her though and reached out to her, taking her hand in her own.
She stared at the wound on her arm and frowned hard, squeezing her hand. Ryza felt her eyes on her arm and shook her head, “Stop it. This was a risk and I took against it. That. Thing.”
“It was me.” Snow reached out and touched the scar on Ryza’s cheek. It had healed by now but the scar was still there. “I did that too.”
“It was you. And now you’re a better you.” Snow made a face but Ryza held onto her hand tighter, “Do not beat yourself up. We got there together. We should celebrate that.”
“Celebrate with what?”
“I,” Ryza paused. “I don’t know. We don’t exactly have many supplies right now.”
“No we don’t. Sorry about that. I just wanted to get out of Varuct.”
“I did too. There was nothing for us there.”
“Nothing but death,” Snow looked down and she felt Ryza’s hands on her face.
“Don’t start.”
“I know. Trust me. I was hearing your voice the entire run over.”
Ryza smiled at her pleased. But as she talked she looked past Snow and saw the ghost again. It walked past the two of them and stood near Ryza, “You got lucky little sister. Lucky in all of this.”
But the ghost changed and her father was there before her and she visibly grimaced, “You chose this and it panned out for you. Your choice, your future.” He chuckled. “Walk your path and don’t let anyone choose it for you.”
“I won’t. Not anymore.”
“Okay Ryry. Seriously. Who or what are you talking about? Am I crazy cause I’m fine being the crazy one.”
Ryza sighed looking her way. She started to say something but stopped herself. Lowering her eyes, she traced her finger across the trinkets that she wore at her hip. But she took her hand away from them and reached out to Snow. Snow raised her hand and took Ryza’s hand.
Ryza laced her fingers together with hers and Ryza took a very deep breath. Slowly she leaned back and fell against the grass with Snow doing the same. Snow snuggled up against Ryza and pressed her face against her. Ryza stared at their hands and closed her eyes trying to find the words.
“Ever since that transformation, when we first realized you had a demon inside you. I’ve been seeing a ghost.”
Snow looked at her closely, “And that’s different from your normal necromancy, right?”
“Yes. Though I can’t say they aren’t connected.”
“Gonna pretend I understand all of this. Keep going.”
“Well. Whatever ghost that has been manifesting with me it’s been taking the shape of my brother. I believe it is just my magic manifesting strangely since absorbing what remained from my brother. Especially since things hadn’t been exactly normal.”
“No, they haven’t been.”
“But during the stay at the caravan with the others, it turned into another dead friend of mine. A jester who can only talk in rhyme. He was a strange soul who died the way he lived, loyal to his country. But in many ways, I miss him. I wish I could have been there for him in his final moments.”
Ryza reached toward her hip and showed Snow the mask that she had been holding for a long time. The chipped mask was in one piece after all of this. Snow touched the mask, tracing it gently and Snow smiled. “This was his mask. I don’t know why I held onto it.”
“A memento,” Snow looked toward her and squeezed her hand even tighter. “You were close. Really friends.”
“I think so. I know he would have thought that,” she smiled at the thought. “There was a third friend in that group. An ancient construct. A bounty hunter. I only knew them as Orion back then. After killing my mother Orion and I journeyed together for a time. But Orion had things they wanted to accomplish. Creatures they wanted to hunt. We went our separate ways but I hope our paths can cross again one day. If they’re still alive.”
Ryza lay in the grass and closed her eyes. “Remember you asked me why I was doing all of this for you.”
Snow rolled over and got on top of Ryza nodding, “I do.”
“Part of it was because I remember being in your position. Being hunted for being a monster,” she said softly and shook her head. “But only partially. The other reason was because I’ve watched too many people die. After that night in your bar, I won’t lie and say I didn’t get a small crush on you. And because of that I didn’t want to watch you die. Or knew you died because people saw you as a monster. I just. I just couldn’t.”
“Ryry,” Snow looked down at her and stroked her cheek slowly. Ryza turned her gaze away. “Don’t blow that off as something dumb. Without you, I’d be dead. That cut and dry. You saved me from my own fears. Maybe I would have figured this out on my own but I’m not so sure. You getting me here means a lot to me at least.”
Ryza laughed staring up at her. “I guess that’s true. And for what it’s worth I’m glad I did.”
“You know what they say about strays right?”
“What’s that?”
Snow leaned down and kissed her again pulling her close. Ryza gasped but leaned into the kiss feeling where her cloak ended and Snow’s skin began. But Snow leaned away stealing her breath away and she gasped. “Feed a stray and they’ll keep coming back.”
“You saying you’re a stray?”
“I’m saying you fed me some hope and I don’t think I’ll ever want to leave again. If you’ll have me at least.”
“I wouldn’t dream of sending you away.”
“Good. Cause you’re definitely stuck with me.”
Snow went to kiss her again when suddenly Shriek appeared. He crawled his way up Ryza’s arm and looked at Snow. He sniffed her cheek and put a hand on her face and nose. There was a determination in his little face that made Snow break out into laughter. “Do you object now?”
Ryza sat up slowly chuckling and shook her head. Raising her hand, she watched the rat scurry to her palm and turn around to stare up at her. “Come on now little one. Surely you must know that Snow won’t replace you. Just be an addition to our family.”
Snow started to say something but sniffed the air. With her new senses, she leaned forward and sniffed along Ryza’s arm and finally over the rat himself. Shriek hissed recoiling and but Snow wasn’t afraid nor perturbed. “Shriek. There’s something not quite right about him. He smells like the grave. Does he go digging around or something?”
“That’s because he’s dead,” Ryza said calmly.
“What?” Snow almost shouted staring at the rat that had been hanging around Ryza since she’d met her. She thought the rat was something special to her but dead hadn’t even crossed her mind.
“Shriek is the first creature I ever brought back to life when I was a little girl,” she explained staring at the rat. “The creature that showed me that I was destined to be a necromancer. My father rescued me and took me away from my mother’s attention but I took this one with me. He’s been my companion for years. I’ve protected him for all these years and when something happens to him I fix him. He’s truly my best friend.”
Snow made a face and stared at the rodent. Shriek stared back at her with beady black eyes that still spoke with a level of intelligence that Snow had underestimated. “Then tell me. Do I get the Shriek seal of approval?”
Shriek leaned up and sniffed at her. Sniffed at her cheek and then at her lips and hand. He bristled slightly at her scent but his fur settled down finally. He rotated quickly and turned to look at Ryza. She raised her eyebrow at the barrage of squeaking from the undead rat and she finally broke into a laugh.
“What does that mean?” Snow asked.
“It means that yes you get his approval but only if you continue to feed him bread. He enjoyed the bread that you gave him at your bar.”
Snow looked at the rat dumbfounded and then laughed loudly throwing her head back, “Is that really all it took?”
“Well convincing me was the easy part. I hear rats are hard critics,” Ryza replied.
Snow smiled pressing her forehead against Ryza’s, “Really? I heard the necromancers were the picky ones.”
“We are. And I pick you.”
“And I pick you.”
They shared another kiss before finally laying down in the grass amongst the stars. They didn’t bother to think of tomorrow or what it would bring. For now, they basked in each other’s embrace and ignored whatever problems may come with the rise of the sun.
The Harlequin Library 