Chapter 34 STEP ASIDE.

FRIDAY
Ire bubbled out of my skin. My usual dormant beast had been awoken again. My limbs were trembling because of the effort I used to keep myself from dashing at the tree and tearing him apart. He looked at us one by one through his dark cold eyes.
"Do it... Let's see how fast you can cover the distance before I slit her throat." He materialized a long bladed silver knife and put the blade to Dawn's throat and I tried as hard as I could to stop myself from moving from the spot I was.
"Doesn't anyone remember me?" He asked.
His voice was wounded and cold, like as if he had swallowed a rock that tore its way down to his belly.
Everyone was silent.
"I do."
Jhan's voice tore through the silence and carried along with it a blanket of surprise that covered us all.
"One hundred and fifty years ago."
The man looked intensely at Jhan before a wide smiled crawled into his face.
"Yes, you do. How could you forget?"
All the emotion I felt in my anger was slowly turning into befuddlement.
"Jhan? What do you mean?" Jereum asked.
He looked at all of us before he spoke.
"I encountered a Lupine human a hundred and fifty years ago."
All our mouths seemed to drop on cue.
"The beast attacked me when I was on a patrol, I stabbed it with my dagger and watched it die—"
"Oh, no. That was where you were wrong. You see we Lupine have no immortality, but we do have a prolonged life span. One that allows us to enact revenge on the people that hurt us, that thought we were defeated."
"You were at the wrong," Jhan said.
"NO!" The man bellowed, "I simply doing what I had to do to survive, kill and eat."
"Then I am sure you know that I was also simply doing what I had to do to survive, by killing any stray dog that tries to bite me."
I saw the anger grow on the man's face, his already ugly features contorted with rage.
Then he looked at me and the rage on his face slowly disappeared and in its place was a cunning devious smirk.
"I'm sure you are all at wonder why this human girl is here as well," He said slowly, looking straight at me.
"Well I am sure your, newest ally has some... Pretty interesting stories to tell us, now doesn't he?"
I saw Tia slowly turn her gaze to meet mine and the others looked at me as well.
"All those times of playing in the forest, through the trees. Entering her very house to meet her, she must be important to you."
Jereum wore a pure look of disappointment whereas Jhan looked at me blankly, like he had expected it.
"Leave her out of this," I said finally.
"Now why would I do that?" The Lupine asked.
"She has nothing to do with this—"
"Oh yes she does. You see I have been planning this for a very long time. And when I saw him"—he pointed at Jhan from the distance he stood—"had expanded his clan I realized that there is no revenge if the people around him don't also pay for his crimes."
He spoke like an old delusional crackhead.
"What do you want?" Jhan asked.
"Oh, I want revenge."
"I was the one who inflicted injuries upon you; I should be the one to pay and not them. If you let them go, you can have me."
"And how should I trust you?" His voice rising. "Do you think I am stupid? You are too strong and powerful to defeat. A demon of your age would easily kill an old Lupine like me."
"I give you my word."
"Words are not merely enough, you did this to me!" He shouted, pulling back the scarf he wore over his neck as revealing an ugly long scar across his neck.
He covered the scar again with the white scarf. "I've planned this for a long time, and I won't let anyone stop me."
He looked at me. "Not even you Supreme."
'Kaldar? Do exactly as I say."
It was the voice of the black wolf. She was around. Close.
'You have to distract him, distract him long enough for me to able to stop him.'
I nodded, as if she could sense a nod through mental link.
"But you don't have to do this, killing them won't change what happened, it won't change the fact that you were beaten, or the fact that you were mocked," I said, hoping that that would bring him to ranting again.
"Yes, it won't change the fact that I was laughed at or the fact that I was beaten to my near death but it would get me even, you hurt me and now I am going to hurt you in a way that would haunt you forever."
I grimaced in annoyance, this was a mad man.
"But I would give you a choice." He looked at me. "You, choose."
"What?" I was more than confused.
"Choose!" He bellowed, steading his grip on the haft of the blade and settling it in front of Leya's chest.
I looked at Dawn, she was still not moving. Leya on the other hand seemed to have been heavily dazed. I wasn't sure about the position of the black wolf but I had to bet one of their lives that she had gotten close enough.
"Very well then. I'll give you to the count of three, and then I'll kill them both." He produced a second knife, holding both blades to their throats with both hands.
"One..."
"Kill me instead, won't do anything to stop you, just let her go and you can have me."
The other looked at me with shock on their faces. It was one thing for them to figure about Dawn like this as another for them to realized I would even lay down my life for her.
"I said before boy, words don't mean anything to me."
"Two...!" He continued, and my mind was racing, if did as much as even attempted move, he'll cut both their heads off.
I had almost blurted out Dawn when I saw the deathly gaze as a pair of yellow eyes opened up and seemed to be hanging in the air within the trees behind him.
A smile crept onto my face "You aren't going to kill anyone."
I saw the slight look of confusion on his face but the deafening loud growl of the powerful black Lobo filled the air and the beast sent a large paw to the back of the crazed man.
The man tumbled only once before his clothes were ripped apart by the rapid enlargement of body. His bones structure shattered and repaired itself, changing in shape and size. long red fur grew out from his body, covering him all over.
His face morphed and changed, a snout growing from his nose and in one quick instance there was no more an old man in front of us, instead there was a large, ginger-red wolf.
We all looked on in shock. The man had changed in less than a second. Both wolves growled at each other, piercing their deathly gazes into each other's eyes. This was my chance. Seizing the opportunity of the commotion, I sped to where his knives had dropped, picked one up and then cut the vines that were wrapped around Dawn. Her face was bruised and I could see a split on the corner of her lips. She fell to me and I carried her effortlessly.
Jereum ripped apart the vines that cocooned Leya and we glanced at each other before we ran away and out of the forest. I got into the house and went to my room where I lay Dawn on my bed. I looked at her unconscious form and I felt the heavy weight of guilt pull me down. I felt the stinging of tears at the corner of my eyes and I blinked back severally. But crying here like a child was not going to make me feel any better. I needed to make him pay. And I needed to do it myself.
I bent over and planted a kiss on her forehead before I sped out of the house. I got back to the forest just in time to spot the ginger wolf as he slammed a paw unto the head of the black wolf. He had a size advantage and he lunged at his opponent, biting at its neck. I spotted Jhan and Tia on a tree above, they both wielded long bladed daggers clutched tightly in thei palms and seemed to be waiting for the right moment to strike down from above.
The black one hit him off; the ginger wolf had its back to me. This was an opportunity, he was slightly bigger than black one and I thought even more powerful. I started to run to it, I had failed before in delivering the Supreme punch to a wolf but I knew I wasn't going to fail again.
'HEY!" I bellowed.
I got its attention, it turned its head to look at me and I caught sight of its lime coloured gaze. I was already twisting sideways through the air and I brought my clasped fists, with all the force of the turn, down to its snout. The wolf squealed as the force of my attack sent its head to the ground, my plan had worked. Next, I withdrew the small knife Jereum had given me from my inner jacket and I sent the blade down its arm, from the shoulder to the paw. The black wolf jumped him, driving its teeth into his other arm, and throwing the red wolf to the side.
The bones in my arm were broken but it was worth it. The red wolf was defeated. I saw the deathly gaze in the eyes of the black wolf but then I heard the sound of an arrow as it flew through the air. The black wolf growled, turning its gaze sharply and focusing it on something that was just above my head. I heard another, then another and I saw the shafts as the arrows embedded themselves into the wolf. Slicing through its silky fur.
I looked above me to where the arrows seemed to be coming from and I saw several red robed vampires wielding bows and firing more arrows at the black wolf.
'No…STOP!" I bellowed, but they wouldn't listen. The wolf slumped over to one side and rushed to it. I looked into its yellow eyes that were slowly closing. It was panting with difficulty. I heard the heavy sounds as the adjudicators landed on the floor below.
They were drawing closer with caution, silver blades in hand.
'You don't understand," I shouted to them. 'It's not the enemy."
'Step aside Supreme, or I'll make you." It was the same female adjudicator from the higher court.
'It helped us," I urged on. Jhan landed on lower ground.
'Jhan, tell them. Tell them this is not the enemy."
He looked at me with blankly, like I had just spoken in a foreign language.
'Kaldar, do not make the same mistake you made the last time," He said. But I was stronger now. I could take them if I had to.
'No Jhan, I will not let them take this wolf. It is not the enemy, and you know it."
'No Kaldar, for all what we know, that wolf may not have been fighting with the intension to save us."
'You are wrong Jhan," I shouted.
'By orders given by the board of the higher court, I command you step aside or be met with your punishment."
I looked at the female adjudicator, she seemed to be enjoying it. There was that devious smirk on her face. There were about ten in number.
'If I punch that one, I could stab that one with my blade—'
My thoughts were cut by the sound of a voice in my head, it was the black wolf.
‘Kaldar, how about you do as the woman says…'
The voice was a reassuring bliss in my head. It wasn't dead. A wide smile grew on my lips.
'As you wish."
I ducked to the side and the beast lashed out towards the forest. The adjudicators cowered in fear but a few of them fired some more arrows at the wolf. The wolf was fast, dodging around trees quickly until it was out of sight.
A few adjudicators tried to keep up but the beaats moved expertly through the trees and escaped.
The female adjudicator glowered at me.
"You have violated the capture and return of a liable asset. Your punishment shall be decided by the higher court."
The red wolf still lay on the ground. Eyes closed and I saw as an adjudicator—one that was brave enough to go near the wolf—injected a green liquid into the wolf. It reverted back to the old man. They cuffed his hands and legs and an adjudicator carried him on his shoulders.
"Move out!" She shouted, throwing me one last glare before dashing away.
I looked at Jhan. He and Tia looked at me with disappointment in their eyes. I glanced at them.
"Kaldar." It was Tia. But I didn't care. In a loud crack I disappeared from the scene.