Book 2: Chapter 79
John
We reared again at each other, clawing at faces, and he’d gotten the pelt on my arm, ripping some of it with gemstone teeth, and when he went down to gain momentum to shake, he’d left his flank open. Without hesitation or remorse, I got his neck, shaking, and clamping down with enough force that I heard a crack. I knew I didn’t break it, but that I’d injured him this badly would usually make someone submit. I didn’t let go as he shrieked, doubling down on my arm’s skin until it came off. I resisted the desire to scream and let go, doubling down myself, and blood pooled on my paws, but they didn’t get wet…
He will get away with what he has done as he always has. He snarled, and struggled, but this time I used my speed to dodge his last attempt to make me release him. He still got me, but I was almost a shadow, somewhat dematerializing, but keeping my head solid to stay on him. If I let him go, he’d probably get me better than he already had. He’d gotten the skin on my ribs, but didn’t have the leverage to rip it off.
His bite now was especially painful, however. This was a technique I’d never learned that he’d done, but it was over. I had his most vital area, and with a good grip I pinned him to the ground by using my weight to knock him off balance since I was on top, but he wasn’t dying.
He bled but the snow remained fluffy as he screamed… his blood wasn’t melting it, and the sounds of his loss rang out through the trees…. Then my eyes grew wide. He should be dead by now; I’d severed an artery.
Herrakken…. Let go. I told him letting go, seeing him lay there defeated. Whatever he was, or if we were still in the in-between didn’t matter. He didn’t have enough blood or energy to get up.
I can’t, I’m not done. He whined weakly. I did all this for revenge… and all I gained was a bounty on my head and a broken body… while the responsible live.
It was never meant for you to get vengeance the way you tried…. I shifted, taking the amulet off his neck, and he became a man. I don’t know if he was being kept alive by this artifact or not, but I heard only the faintest of heartbeats.
You have defeated who you have searched the world for? Said Grendel. The Lady demands of you to make a decision.
What will happen if he lives? I asked and he looked at me almost as a stern parent would their child.
From what I was told, he is a traitor. He has broken oath and raised his claw against his own people. He will die, and it will be merciless. He growled. I trusted his words.
…. what of his afterlife? I asked, and he looked almost as if he would growl at me. The wind rustled a whisper sweet and clear, but I could not comprehend the words. The language was one of spoken wolfspeach…. Something not possible in the regular world. Growls were turned into a tongue, one I had no idea how to make any heads or tails of. Where there would be growls or snarls, the Pale Lady spoke a language….
She will not accept those who break oaths. She will not accept those who kill the innocent, and those who steal her artifacts, only to attempt to kill their own King, instead of winning in fair combat. His soul will roam this earth once he dies, as he has not redeemed himself. After that he will be collected by the Lord of the Dead, and sent to Tartaron.
“…What of his life if I return him straight to the king or my father then?” I asked looking at him barely alive, but if he rested a few days, he would heal.
He is a warrior, but I know my son. He will not pardon his sins, and he will die. He also knows too many secrets. I doubt the hell bound will allow him any peaceful life.
“Then I know what I must do...” I said looking down. I thought about it hard….
I was now up to me to decide if he lived or died, and he would die, but I would take his body home. He at least deserved that. If I let him live with the crimes he had, he’d have been tortured if not killed by Brutus before he could testify.
They pretty much told me this without saying it, that he would die either way…. So better I do it than Brutus….
And most of all…. Even if he did, he was already a convicted exile accusing a council member with no hard evidence, only his word, that was broken…. his heart slowed, and his eyes were closed. He would die on his own but just in case I raked my claws across his neck, and I saw his soul leave his body. He was a mighty wolf, twice the size of his former self, in his prime.
I saw him trot to a silver wolf, who wagged her tail, and that had to have been his mate, leaving the pack… if I didn’t intervene, they would both be lost souls forever, and I thought that was a little too unfair.
Be reborn my son brother. I pray to the you Lady Moon… Please consider his sins an have a little mercy. He’s done much wrong, but give me a chance to try with him.
The wind whooshed a gust that almost knocked me over, and Grendel looked me in the eyes. She accepts, and he will wait here, but he may not reach the inner sanctum nor drink its waters until he has lived a good life…... Raise him again. Love him, and treat him fairly, for he will not remember.
“Allow him that, that he make not the same mistakes.” I said standing firm. There was a long pause, and the wind whirled around his body, before everything was still.
I will consider it. Said a female voice I swear I’d heard before, but I could not understand how I knew what she said. I blinked, and it seemed I’d been kicked out of the sacred place.
“John!” Said Heidi hugging me about as hard as she could while her demon sat by a roaring fire, not glancing my direction. He was looking at the wolves, that seemed to be greeting Herrakken into the pack, but slowly where they were faded, and it was replaced by an emptiness that made my heart feel uncomfortable…. Because I saw his body there. I had to collect him.
I see now why the others had a hard time wanting to do this dirty, difficult task. He did what he did because he lost his mate, and someone took advantage of his weakness. Revenge would never bring her back, but at least with those who he felt were responsible for dead, it gave him motivation to keep moving forward.
This was the penalty of having one whose love for you is so strong…. that when they’re gone, you are empty. “To share half a soul is to lose half a soul…. To love only one forever means you can never heal, you can never move on…. Your world is in their hands, and with them no longer holding yours, you slip away. Lady Moon please grant my request. Don’t send him to hell after he just got his mate back, nor let him roam this world like that.”
“I can’t say I feel for him, but he was your brother.” She said putting a hand on my shoulder. We all sat in the cold of the night for a moment, and I went to get his body. It would have been easier to take his pelt and cremate the rest, but if I did that his soul would be tied to his pelt and keep him from his mate again. It was part of why that kind of thing was a punishment reserved for the worst of the worst.
“I can eat him if you like.” Said her familiar and I pursed my lips.
“I would rather you not. We have allot of ground to cover, and I would like you two to take his body back. I’ll make it back myself.” I looked at my mate, who was immediately against it.
“No! that would leave you alone out here…. and I was hoping that we would all get back to the coven and go home together….” She said hugging me.
“I don’t think your broom could carry three, Rahrraam can turn into a rat, but the best I could do would be to hold him or something.” I said thinking out loud. Her demon gave her the live rabbit he’d been holding the entire time, and she began to heal me. I was in pretty rough shape, but all of this could have healed on its own in a few days. We just didn’t have that kind of time.
We were all silent while the fire crackled and the sounds of magic buzzed.. Even the rabbit, as it was knocked out. It didn’t have to be awake during this transfer of health, just alive and unharmed. After Heidi healed me, it was skinned and roasted on the fire for Rahraam to eat, and he did so. But he also looked as if he were thinking.
“I can lash my whip to the broom, and tie his flesh to the whip. It will not release his flesh once I lash it.” Said Rahrraam, who was still a giant goat. He put massive logs on the fire, and laid on his back. “When the sun rises, we may also have to deal with the Mighty One. I would rather be rested, and alert.”
“He’s right.” Said Heidi, whose teeth chattered. It was freezing out here for her, and I was worried that even if she shifted she wouldn’t have the right fur to stay warm…. “I’ll shift and sleep next to Rahrraam, and you can sleep in-between to stay warm.” I suggested, staring at the small pendent my brother died for that rested in my palm, and putting it on since it could shift with me and we wouldn’t lose it. I felt strange.
There was a small thump of a heartbeat for all of the blink of an eye. It was so faint I had to have imagined it, but I knew better. The thing was likely testing me, or judging to see if I was worthy of using it, but I doubted it. I was no king, nor from his line.
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