Deep Wolves (18 page)

Vaughn took my hand into his and I squeezed it tightly. I knew that we would eventually find what we were looking for as we got deeper into the forest. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to find the Shidos. I was concerned with what kind of welcome they would have for us.

Irvine was walking in front of all of us when he suddenly stopped. We all stood between the trees and remained completely still. I didn’t know who or what Irvine had seen but I held my breath like my life depended on it.

“They’re here,” Irvine whispered.

I tried to look or listen to what he was talking about. But it was so dark between the trees that I couldn’t tell what was what. The only thing I knew for sure was that Vaughn was now gripping my hand as tight as I was his.

I swallowed and waited, unable to handle the tension that was building up. Then I heard something. It was the sound of a low growl. It started to get louder and closer to me. The growl was joined by another. Then another. Suddenly, something pounced upon me.

“Vaughn!”

I shouted out his name as my hand separated from his. A heavy beast fell upon me and knocked me to the ground.

“Stop!” Irvine shouted. “We are not invaders—”

His plea for peace had gone unanswered. I listened to the sound of struggling all around me. I tried to get back up but I was forced onto my stomach. I felt my hands being tied behind my back. Something was binding my wrists together.

“Vaughn!”

I shouted out his name again in the darkness but there was no response.

“Stop struggling,” a voice shouted. “You’re only making this harder on yourself.”

I heard the sound of Cyrus complaining. But it was quickly interrupted by the blunt sound of someone beating upon him. I closed my eyes and tried to drown out the noise but it was too loud. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t see. I was desperate for any clue as to what was going on but given no answers.

“Get up!”

I was pulled up from the ground and onto my feet. Someone shoved me in the back and I started to walk forward.

“Please, we mean you no harm,” Irvine said to them.

“Right. That’s why you’re carrying a sword and a crossbow. Shut up and keep moving.”

I continued to walk forward, unsure of what was going on. The moonlight started to squeeze in between the trees and I could see that the rest of my party were tied-up and bound the same as I was. I could feel the presence of several men surrounding me but didn’t see them. We marched through the darkness of the forest to the beat of their growling.

We eventually came upon a large forest clearing that was illuminated by the moon. Dozens of silver-furred wolves sat just before the trees. Their heads were held high and their chests were puffed-out. I could barely tell they were breathing from how rigidly they sat there. Their eyes were glazed and reflected the stars above. Just like the Doras had surrounded us, there was no escape.

At the center of the clearing, there was a man sitting upon a chair. The chair was unlike any I’d ever seen. It looked like it was made of a tree that was coming out of the ground. The branches twisted and contorted to form a base for one to sit on.

Sitting on the chair was a man just as rigid as the wolves that surrounded us. He was wearing nothing but a pair of tattered khaki pants. His almond eyes were brown. His long black hair was tied-back into a ponytail behind his head. His physique was solid and unblemished, the definition of his muscles apparent from the moon. He had a stern look on his face that made me feel even more uncomfortable.

Standing next to him was a woman completely nude. From where I stood, I could see that her head was held high just like everybody else. Her posture was in a manner that displayed all of the perfect features of her body. The brown-haired, blue-eyed woman was beautiful. But her demeanor wasn’t any more inviting than the rest of them.

I looked around and could finally see the men that captured us. Before I could get a good glimpse of them, they shifted. One of them threw Irvine’s weapons at the man’s feet before shifting and joining the rest of the wolves.

It was only the man with the black hair and the woman in front of us. Everybody else was bound with their hands tied behind their backs. Cyrus was the only one that had taken a beating as Vaughn, Irvine and Rio had remained unscathed.

The man sitting on his wooden throne continued to examine us. He narrowed his eyes and stared at us one by one. I turned my head down, unable to hide my now shaking body. The night air was cold but the shivers running through my body were an uneasiness from simply being in the mysterious man’s presence.

“We are looking for the Shidos—”

“Silence!” the woman shouted. “You will not speak to Daric in such a manner. Insolence…”

The woman cut Irvine off, her voice booming. The man she called Daric looked down at the weapons at his feet. He picked up Irvine’s sword and unsheathed it. He held the blade up close to his nose and inhaled, the look on his face unchanging.

“Fools,” he said. “All of you. I don’t care what reason you have for coming here. You only came here to die.”

“Please!” Irvine shouted to him. “We are not a threat.”

“Silence! I have no interest in your deception, hunter. If you are no threat, you would not have brought weapons responsible for killing my brethren. The Shidos are not to be trifled with.”

“We come to ask for your help.”

Daric stood up from his chair. He slammed the sword on the ground and made his way to Irvine. He grabbed Irvine by the chin and held his face.

“Do not lie to me,” he said. “You have no business here, hunter.”

“I am not alone,” Irvine said to him, his face being squeezed. “Look. I bring representatives from the other clans. They wish to speak to you.”

The man seemed to be growing with anger. The nails on his fingers started to extend and began digging into the skin of Irvine’s face. Irvine struggled but the man’s grip was tight. He turned and looked at the other wolves then sniffed into the air.

“…Doras… Capes… They will be down two members when I’m through with them.”

He released Irvine from his grip and started to look at all of us. We were all lined-up in front of him. One by one he began to examine us. Everybody remained silent. I was at the end of the line. When he got to me, I looked away from him. He grabbed my face and held my head so that I was forced to look at him. He stared hard at me. His brown eyes were almost mesmerizing, putting me in a trance similar to the way Vaughn always looked at me.

“You’re not a wolf,” he said to me. “Why are you here?”

I didn’t say anything. He dug his claws into my face and I struggled. Vaughn growled at him but the man swiftly punched Vaughn in the stomach to cut him off. Vaughn fell to the ground, trying to catch his breath.

“Tell me why you are here, human,” Daric asked me again.

“I… I-I am here with them. To ask for your help.”

“Just like a human. Only seeking out a wolf when help is needed. Shame on you.”

“P-please…”

“Please? Well, at least you have manners. Tell me, human. What exactly do you need my help with?”

“T-the… Nakas… We need to stop the Nakas.”

As soon as I said it, his eyes widened. A sly smile began to creep onto his face. Suddenly, he released me by throwing my head from his hand.

“You need my help to stop the Nakas?” he said. “And why exactly should I be helping you?”

“We’ll give you what you want,” Vaughn said as he made his way back up to his feet.

“And what is it that I want?”

“Power. Dominance in New York City. You’ll never have it as long as the Nakas possess their numbers.”

“The Nakas are no threat to me. You think I can’t destroy them myself?”

“Maybe you can. But you are outnumbered. It will cost you the lives of all of your clan members. How many of your brothers are you willing to sacrifice?”

“The Shidos do not fear death. The Nakas know better than to go to war with us. Brooklyn is ours.”

“But not the rest of the city.”

I didn’t know what he was thinking but he was at least allowing us to speak now. The man inhaled sharply and glared at Vaughn. Then he returned around and took his place back in his chair. The woman continued to stand there with the cold look on her face.

“You’re not as stupid as I thought,” he said. “You come here with an offering. You bring these weapons into my territory because you wish to fight on my behalf. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You wish to push the Shidos into full power of New York City.”

I turned and looked at Vaughn and Irvine. I didn’t know what they were thinking. We didn’t come here to fight for this man. But we weren’t in any position to negotiate. And apparently, Irvine realized this.

“If that’s what you want, then so be it,” Irvine shouted to the man. “Our only interest is to stop the Nakas. If you take their place, I only ask that you stay out of human business. You will not murder innocents.”

“I would not sully my hands with human business,” Daric replied. “My only concern is the control of this city and holding it in the palm of my hand. I have no interest in killing anybody unless they’re in my way.”

“Fine,” Irvine said. “Free us and we can formulate a strategy to stop the Nakas.”

The man nodded his head and some of the wolves surrounding us shifted. They freed us from our bonds but I still didn’t feel completely safe.

“The Doras and the Capes will join you,” Irvine said to him. “But we will not fight unless it’s necessary.”

“You’re a little late,” Daric said. “I’m afraid that it
is
necessary.”

He held his hand up and beckoned for some of the wolves. I looked to the side, curious as to what he was motioning for. Some of the wolves disappeared into the forest. After a few moments, a few men returned in their place. But they weren’t alone. They arrived with another man who was bound. His face was bloody and bruised. The rest of his body didn’t look any better.

They threw the man down in front of us. He struggled against the ground, barely conscious. Irvine took a step closer to him and looked down.

“Who… is this man?” Irvine asked.

“There’s no point in preventing a war with the Nakas,” Daric smiled. “I’ve already started it.”

Chapter 19

Irvine knelt down and examined the man. Up close, his face looked even worse. One of his eyes was bruised and swollen shut. Lacerations covered the rest of his face. Several of his teeth were missing and the rest had been shattered. There wasn’t an inch of his body that didn’t have blood coming from it. There was still life in his eyes even though he was barely breathing. Even if the Nakas were murdering innocent people in the city, this kind of punishment was extreme.

“Why have you done this?” Irvine asked Daric.

“Because he was trespassing on my territory.”

“So you beat him within an inch of his life?”

“He was threatening my clan. I have no right to defend my people?”

“Why is he still alive? Why not kill him and be done with it?”

“Because I’m in the same position you are. I want answers. There’s no doubt the Nakas have been itching for conflict. I was only curious as to why they would decide to do it now.”

“And what did he say?”

Daric shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

“I will say one thing about the Nakas,” he said. “They train their soldiers to be loyal. I beat him to get answers out of him.”

“And what did he tell you?” Irvine asked.

“Like I said, they’re quite loyal. He didn’t say anything. You’re free to try and get some answers from him. But I doubt your interrogation tactics will be as… influential as ours.”

“We’ll see… Help me, everyone.”

Irvine started to free the man from his bonds. Everybody else tried to help him back up to his feet but the strength had left him. There was no way to move him from where he laid.

“Are you all right?” Irvine asked him. “Can you speak?”

The man looked nearly lifeless, the one eye that was visible beginning to glaze over.

“What’s your name?”

“…Ri…” the man struggled. “…Richter.”

“What are you doing here, Richter?”

“The Nakas… We have been… poisoned.”

“Poisoned? What? How?”

“He is influencing us…”

“Who is?”

Richter swallowed, blood beginning to pour from his mouth.

“Who Richter? Who is doing this?”

“Do not… kill… my brothers… They are not…”

“Richter?”

Irvine began shaking him, trying to get him to talk. But it was no use. The life was slowly beginning to fade from Richter. The blood streamed from his mouth and his eyes started to roll. His body trembled in Irvine’s arms before falling completely still. Just as quickly as we had met him, he was gone. Irvine closed the man’s eyes and laid him back down up on the ground. I could sense an anger coming from him as he turned his head back up toward Daric.

“This all could have been avoided if you hadn’t done this,” he said to Daric.

“If I hadn’t done this, he would still be under the influence of whatever it was that gave him the gall to step foot in my forest. I had no other choice.”

Irvine sighed in obvious frustration. He looked back at all of us. I was almost as upset as he was. We were that close to finding the reason to all of this.

“It’s all right,” I said. “This doesn’t matter, right? We can still stop the Nakas and negotiate a peace.”

Daric started to laugh at me from his chair.

“Human values always amuse me,” he said. “So passive. You’re more interested in avoiding conflict. I wonder sometimes whether your heart beats in your chest.”

“Just because I have no interest in death doesn’t mean I’m not alive.”

“Hmph…” the woman sneered at me then rolled her eyes.

I didn’t know who she was but watching the man die stirred something within me. We had run into the Nakas before. I watched Vaughn and Irvine kill them right in front of me. But this was different. I couldn’t explain it. I just knew that it was wrong.

“What now?” I asked.

Rio and Cyrus were silent. Irvine had his head down, the thoughts seemingly racing through his mind. Vaughn took a few steps forward then looked up at Daric in his chair.