The Wolf and His Mice

Despite his words, I haven’t dropped my guard. He continues. “Listen. The best way to remove an enemy is to make them your friend, correct? If you had cowered before me or denied the accusation of a coup when I activated my realm, I would have ordered your execution. But you proved to me that you are a worthy opponent and therefore, a worthy ally. You’re the only one who could subjugate Karvithia. So. What do you say? Will you take your rightful place as Lord of Karvithia, or will you try to kill me here and now?”

The people from around the table simply stare at me and Alister, both surprised and confused. “What’ll happen to the demi-humans who live here if I decide to take your offer?”

His smile turns back to its normal light-hearted state. “I’ll allow them to live in your kingdom. Unrestricted immigration from our two cities. And of course, whatever my daughter has promised them.”

With a heavy breath, I release my miasma and the mist spreads into the air. “Very well. I’ll become the Lord of Karvithia.”

He shoots straight up and begins walking off. “Good, good! Make sure to let the troops know that they should visit their families tonight. We march on Karvithia tomorrow!”

That doesn’t give us any time at all. It’s already past mid-day. Curse him. Still any opportunity is appreciated I suppose. I turn to the Jarcoban couriers who are standing close by. “Spread the word! Tell everyone to go see their families tonight!”

The younger prince stands and objects. “Wait! Are you really going to leave, after all that?”

I turn and glare at him. “I have nothing more to say to any of you. I have no reason to be here and listen to your complaints.”
And with that I left with my thoughts. Alister said he was after another ally, but can I really take that at face value? He’s given me such a high position, there’s no way he’s just after another ally. Surely I would be more useful as a knight or something. If I had a whole nation at my fingertips… What is he planning?
As I wander back through Solaris towards my house I find various town criers along the way and have them spread the message that the solders should be returning. As they do, any families with houses in the northern half of the city, where we fought the Karvithians, rush to see the damage done to their homes. It’s not long before the overcrowded streets become dangerous, so I make my way to the rooftops.

What am I going to tell my mother when I see her… ‘Hey, mom guess what? I’m lord of an entire city now!’ Hmm… What about ‘Hey mom guess what? I became a werewolf when the Lord of The Moon himself possessed my soul!’ Maybe I’ll just stick with the whole war hero story. I’ll probably tell them later when I tell the other captains. I wonder what their families are like?
Eventually I end up back on the meeting hall where Ren and I used to meet. It’s actually the meeting house for the elven elders so we figured it’d be the perfect place. This is where elves met anyway to discuss various matters and what naught. Just a few more rooftops now. When I’m close, I drop to the ground and watch the various families waiting for their sons and fathers to return. A few of them come running around the corner and rush straight into their family’s arms. A sight that warms my heart.

Just one last corner now and. There they are. Mother, the kids, Ren and his family all standing, anxiously waiting my return. They don’t even recognize me from such a distance. As I walk closer, my mother finally notices me.
Her maroon eyes stare at me in pure shock before she leaves a trail of tears straight towards me. She crashes into me babbling, who knows what, into my surcoat. Even with her arms wrapped around me as tightly as they can she still loses her knees and begins sliding down until we’re both on our knees in the middle of the street.

“I’ve missed you too, mom.” Shortly after, all three kids come barreling into me. I have to wrestle my arms free from my mother to hug all the kids too. They’re all just babbling nonsense, so I just laugh.

Ren moseys his way on over and looks down at me with a relieved smile. “It’s good to see you Kar.”

Ren’s parents, after greeting me, head inside to prepare food while everyone else surrounds me on the benches outside, asking question after question. While Zeale clings to my arm, the others ask about my time with the other captains, and the fighting itself. I decided to skip over that part. They asked me how I managed to grow a beard and how I became so bulky. What fascinated them the most was my time with Aroura and casting spells. Everyone saw the Moon assault the Earth yesterday, so they didn’t believe me when I told them that I did that. Each mention of Aroura causes Zeale to tighten her hold on my arm.

While they’re asking questions, two strays show up. Maheed and Wal managed to find my house. “What are you guys doing here?”

Wal with arms crossed, looks at everyone as though he’s determining their worth. “I have no family to return to and I like you better than Toross. If you wouldn’t mind, allow me to meet your family.”

Maheed nods in agreement. “I’m under the same situation.”

I have no reason to refuse them. Besides, the all the kids are staring at Maheed like he’s a puppy waiting to be pet. “Sure. You can stay here.”

My mother takes Wal’s hand and shakes it furiously. Then does the same to Maheed. “Thank you! Thank you both for looking after my boy.”

Maheed laughs nervously before the kids surround him and ask to pet him. Wal closes his eyes and smiles. A closed mouth smile, thank goodness. “If anything, he was the one looking after us. Did he tell you that he created a new river just to save me from burning?”

While mother prods Wal for more stories, I watch the kids play with the fur on Maheed’s head. They all chant ‘So soft’ before Ja asks if he has eyes. I actually don’t know the answer to that question. “Of course, I do.”

I watch intensely as Maheed finally pulls back his hood of fur to reveal to normal dog brown eyes. They just look like one of the other spots on his fur. That’s it? I let out a grunt of disappointment as I slouch back into the bench, using the movement as an excuse to adjust my arm to fit nicely between Zeale’s lovely bosom. Nice. How long has it been since I last had a girl latch onto me like this?
Naz’s words pollute my head. Damn that old geezer. Trying to ruin my fun.

After mother is satisfied with all of Wal’s stories, she moves onto Maheed and so the kids decide to bother Wal. They all surround the massive lizard and stare up at him. Once he notices his gives them his best smile. “Well, what do you little ones want?”
That… That was him trying to be friendly? I only noticed it because the growl in his voice was only slightly less aggressive than usual. At the showing of his teeth and his ‘friendly’ greeting all four girls cling to my legs shivering. ‘Scary…’

Ja managed to remain standing after his allies abandoned him, so Wal crouched down to be on his level. Once he’s eye to eye, he squints and his fanged smile widens. He looks like a dragon about to devour a poor traveler. His next words don’t help that image. “Brave, aren’t we?”
Has he never talked to a child before?

Ja reaches out his hand slowly before gulping down his next words. “C-c-can I?”

“Go ahead. See what happens.” However Ja is managing to keep as much composure as he is, it’s impressive.
He must be trying to impress one of Ren’s sisters!
No way, he’s too young.
Think about it. Here you are sitting with one of Ren’s sisters. And the little ones just ran to you. He’s trying to be like you!
That… Makes sense! Go Ja! I believe in you! Tame this beast! Ja looks back to me for reassurance. I give him one confident nod and I see the fire in his eyes. The fire every boy should have. The fire to impress cute girls. He reaches his hand out and stokes Wal’s snout! Yeah! Go Ja! Hoot hoot hoot!

At his touch, Wal’s face finally looks friendly enough for others to approach. He’s closed his eyes and mouth, which allows the girls to leave my legs and pet his scaly skin. Elanalue, grabs onto his tail which causes Wal to stand and bring his tail into the air, creating a fun ride for my sister. After she’s hoisted up into the air laughing, the other kids gather and ask for turns.

Wal lets out a confident grunt. “You don’t need turns. I can carry you all at once.”
With that, the kids crowd onto his tail. When they’re all ready, he extends his tail straight out, then starts swinging it back and forth letting the kids fly through the air.

Ren, watching the same sight as me, finally says, “Your friends are weird.”

“At least they’re not chicken.”

“They’re wonderful people.” Mother had finished her questioning of Maheed who went to help Wal with the children.
“I only wish I could’ve met Toross and Naz.”

Mmm… I’m not too sure about that. “Eh. These two’ll do.”

“I still want to meet them. When…”
She studders and tries again. “When you get back again. Make sure to bring them.”

“Don’t worry so much. We’ll be back before you know it.” With perfect timing, Ren’s parents emerge from our house with a large pot of soup. Everyone’s head whips around to find the smell that just invaded our noses. His parents stagger in place when they notice the two beastmen that joined us.

“I don’t think we made enough to feed everyone.” After minimal discussion, Ren’s parents decided to give their shares to the strays. The soup doesn’t taste as good as what I would normally eat. There’s no spices, no meat, and only one type of vegetable. Even so, it’s far more enjoyable. It feels like years since I last had a meal with my family. Plus watching Maheed struggle with the bowl that was too wide for his mouth was pretty funny. When he tried to drink from the bowl, the broth fell out of the sides of his mouth and covered his face in cabbage. He licked most of it up, but he still smelled like cabbage. Which, I guess is better than smelling like sweat and blood. But cabbage mixed with sweat and blood?

The guys, except Wal, decided to wash up at the public bath house. By ‘public bath house,’ I mean a small section of the Skecargi running through the outer wall, not being used for drinking or sewage. Ren and I found it sitting behind some old stables and decided to use it for bathing. I stole some buckets from the humans and Ren made a handy sign that told everyone who was using it. He carved out a picture of a man on one side and a picture of a woman on the other. It might be the smartest thing he’s ever done.
With such a clear distinction, we could easily come by and peek when the girls were using it. Although it wasn’t as exciting as I imagined it would be. We couldn’t get a good view so we just abandoned it.

A bucket of freezing water pours over my head sending intense shivers all over my body. I forgot how cold the river is. With a rag, I begin washing off the dirt and dried blood that covered a surprising amount of my body. Zeale was clinging to this? She must really like me.
Speaking of, “How have things been back here? You all just kept throwing questions at me, so I never got to ask.”

Ren answered first. “It’s been easy. Actually. With the money you kept sending, we could eat everyday without issue. To save up some extra money, I actually began working as a fletcher’s assistant and Ja’s been looking after my sisters.”

Ja quickly refutes that statement. “No! I- we’ve just been playing together, that’s all.”
Ah, so that explains his sudden crush.

Ren’s father laughs and says, “No need to be so embarrassed Ja’Lith. The girls love to have you and your sisters around.”
Not so sure that’s what was embarrassing him Mr.Klalen.

I turn to Maheed and start to ask, “What about-“
I just remembered why he’s here in the first place. Words from the battlefield ring in my mind. ‘I’m almost ashamed to return to my family.’
I lean closer to Maheed and whisper while the other three talk. “Wait, Maheed didn’t you say you had family. Why are you here?”

He looked at me for a moment before offering his normal rat-like smile. “Right, I did say something like that didn’t I? My family died due to disease when I was a pup, but it never upset me.”
When he says that with his smile… He realizes what he said and quickly tries to defend himself. “Wait, let me explain.”
He lifts up his hood of fur and shows me his eyes turn from a normal dog brown to a greenish blue as he says. “I can see spirits, so family never really left me. I worked as an undertaker before I enlisted, so eventually I got better at talking to the dead than I did the living.”
He laughs nervously and hides behind his hair again.

“I… Have many questions.”

His smile redoubles and he answers my first question even though I haven’t asked yet. “They can’t speak back. I can tell they hear me, because they react, but I can’t hear them. Even still, I treated them all like friends, although I don’t know most of their names.”
Again, he laughs nervously and rubs the back of his neck. “It’s still strange. Speaking with people. You and the other captains are the first living people I’ve talked to in a while.”

“The way you describe it… It sounds like you were content with the spirits. Why’d you leave?”

He’s silent for a moment. His smile vanished and he casts his gaze towards the river. “So, I could join them. Despite being able to see them every day… I think I was lonely. I had joined so I could have an excuse to die.”

He’s silent for a moment. “Maheed.”

He looks back to me and smiles again. “I had only enlisted with reasons to die. Before I knew it, I rose to captain for my skill alone. It wasn’t until I met you and the others that I had a reason to live. When Wal burst into flames I felt… Worried. Not that he would die. As much as I hate to admit that. I was worried about how the rest of you would feel. That you would grieve. Then I wondered how you would feel if I had died. Would you grieve or would you forget about me? Honestly both outcomes worried me. Either I would hurt my living friends, or they would abandon me.”

“Maheed, are you stupid?”
He stumbles over his own words and looks side to side for help. “There’s no way we’d grieve, because there’s no way I’m letting you die. I don’t know if you still have a death wish, but it doesn’t matter because I won’t let it come true. And I have an arrogant archer, an old geezer, and a terrifying lizard who’ll do the same. Don’t worry. I’m going to get rid of that death wish when I show you how great living can be.”
His ears fall back onto his head and he looks to the ground unsure of what to say. I scoop up some of the frigid river and throw it in his face. “I find the best way to speak to living people is to speak your mind. So long as you don’t talk too much about your dead friends. That just makes you creepy and strange.”

He shakes his head wildly, sending cold water flying everywhere. When he stops, his smile returns. “Thanks Kar. I’ll make sure you live long enough to show me how great living is.”

With all the mud and blood washed from my body, we get up and redress. Maheed and I re-don our footman’s attire, and the others put on a new set of rough clothing. When we return, the girls and Wal greet us. Zeale re-applies her position on my arm, her blonde hair resting against my shoulder. I wouldn’t mind some more time alone with her, but I should have enough of that here soon.

Except as the Sun slowly disappears behind the wall, my head starts throbbing. My heart starts pounding. Pain is coursing through me. Am I transforming? I thought the transformations only happened on full Moons! Zeale notices that my breathing has gotten significantly heavier. “Kar? Are you alright?”

I slip out of her grasp and stand. Quick, I need an excuse. “There’s something I have to take care of. I have to leave, I love you all!”

They all start to ask questions, but I don’t think I have time. I rush out of my neighborhood and to the closet city wall. Ren and Maheed chase after me. “Kar! Wait!”
No no no, I can’t wait. I run faster, driven by the fire burning through my veins. I run straight up the wall and hope over into the grass before darting into the dark as quickly as possible.
It only takes half a minute before the fire in my blood turns into knives stabbing me over and over! Further! I’m still too close! I fight through the never ending pain as I watch my hands morph. Each of my bones, breaks and cracks out of place before slowly bending to be the shape they want! Each crack and break brings with it a new surge of excruciating pain! Too close! Too close! I yell through my teeth, as though that’ll cause some sort of relief from the pain, but it only serves to make noise.

One of my legs stops working and I fall to the ground. I look down in horror as I watch my leg snap then bend into a foreign shape. I’m still to close. With my new claws and my one good leg, I limp forward further into the dark on three legs as my vision darkens.
I can’t keep this up! I slam into the dirt and writhe about in the grass as hammers bash my bones into place and spears tear at my skin! With one final scream into the night, the Lord of the Moon is standing before me.