Lycan Fallout: Rise Of The Werewolf (19 page)

Azile turned her horse around and waited. She lowered her hood and smiled. “The game had just begun, Michael,” she said as I pulled up alongside her. “Ah, I see you picked up a plaything along the way. And you called me too young?” she asked haughtily.

“Groupie,” I told Azile.

She raised an eyebrow.

“Long story, and it’s not like that. She’s like every other woman I’ve ever known. Once they make up their mind about something, nothing I say is going to dissuade them. And that has nothing to do with this, Azile. You betrayed me, you left me to die.”

“By the hands of Alexandr? Hardly
. That ancient Lycan was so old his clan had sent him on his
Mojid
, or his final pilgrimage. He was preparing to die when I ensnared him.”

“You’re telling me that
that Lycan was on its final legs? He nearly killed me.”

“
Yet, here you are.” She smiled.

“This a fucking joke to you, Azile? I’ve been attacked four times since this little adventure has started. Well, I guess three…you can’t really count the zombie.”

“You saw a zombie?” she asked, looking concerned for the first time.

“Azile!”

“I heard you, Michael. I sprung Alexandr on you so you could get a sense of what we’re dealing with…what
people
are dealing with!”

“And then you take off? What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Hey, Mr. T,” Tommy said, grabbing Oggie and playing with him.

“A little heads-up from you would have been nice as well!” I directed some vitriol at him.

“I didn’t know what she was going to do, and then she told me you’d be alright,” he said sheepishly, grabbing a stick so he and Oggie could play fetch and he could be away from the turmoil.

“Lover’s spat?” came another voice.

I was still astride my horse and damn near eye level with an Amazonian Goddess. Her chocolate-brown skin was nearly iridescent in the high sun. It took me a moment to notice she was flanked by a couple of other people nearly as impressive as she was, and they were all armed, with rifles.

“What the...” I started.

“You should let me handle this. My name is Azile Ashon.”

“Why has the Red Witch deemed us worthy of a visit?” the goddess asked.

“Red Witch? Is that because of your cloak?” I asked.

“It has to do with the blood she spills,” the stranger intoned, I didn’t notice any reverence or fear in her response.

“So apparently they know you as well,” I said.

Azile looked at me crossly. “We have come on o ">

“You wish to bring a vampire among us!” the woman shouted. The two men behind her tightened the grips on their weapons.

Tommy turned to look as if to say ‘Who me’?

“What business does this man have with you? If the grip on the hilt of his sword means anything I would say he wished to kill you,” the goddess said, referring to me. “A word to the wise, stranger, when one encounters the Red Witch and wants her dead, he should swing first and talk later.”

“Your advice is warranted,” I said
loosening the death-grip on my hilt.

“I will not allow you entry into our city, Red Witch,” the goddess told her.

“Bailey, of the house Tynes, you would deny my entry on my sojourn?”

I nearly swooned at the words.

“I would,” Bailey responded.

“I have brought Michael Talbot,” Azile said as she
reached over and steadied me on my mount.

Bailey said nothing for many moments. “What sort of trick is this, Azile?” Bailey questioned menacingly.

“None at all, I can assure you.”

“Michael Talbot is myth, a story spun by my Great-great-grandfather. A champion created to be worshipped in dark times. Nothing more…nothing less.”

“Yet you name your town after this figment?” Azile asked.

My head snapped up to the wooden sign suspended in the air by two cross beams, it was massive. ‘Talboton’
- “Nice ring.” I said.

I got off my horse and approached the post on the left. One of the men watched but did not bar my way.

I shielded my eyes and looked up. I turned and came back to Bailey. “You are Lawrence Tynes’ relative?” I asked, a mote maybe making its way into my eye causing a tear.

She gasped. “No one knows that name! It is a familial secret, he wanted it that way and we have respected his wishes. How, demon?” Bailey asked with vehemence
. She looked at Azile.

“I did not know,” Azile told her.

“BT was my best friend. I knew as much about the man as any man can know about another.”  My eyes were full on glossy now.

Bailey turned to look, or more correctly look down
. She towered over me. “It cannot be?”

“Oh
, it can be,” I told her. “I miss him so much.”

“It is truly you.” She knelt
; the two men with her did as well.

“Bailey Tynes,” I said as I touched the side of her face. “Can I call you BT for old-time sakes?”

“No!” she said as she arose.

“Fair enough.rienof enough.

“I thought you would be bigger,” Bailey said.

Azile snorted.

“Legends often are,” I told her. “What are the chances you have beer?”

“What of them?” she asked, referring to Lana and the rest.

“The young lass is my charge, Oggie here,” I said, petting my dog’s head as he came over, “and the horses, would all love a place to get cleaned up and get some food.”

“The rest?”

“I’ll deal with them tomorrow.” Bailey and I headed into my town; the two armed men remained behind.

“We don’t have time for this, Michael!” Azile shouted.

“Probably should have thought of that before you left me with Alexandr the rabid Lycan.”

“Lycan?” Bailey stiffened.

“It’s okay, my lady, he killed him,” Lana informed Bailey.

“You? You killed a Lycan?” Bailey asked.

“You sound surprised,” I said to her.

“Your exploits –
if they are even half-truths – talk about great victories, but I feel as if I could beat you in a wrestling match.”

“I think I would greatly enjoy wrestling with you. Wait…that sounded a little off.”

“To be fair, the Lycan was on his
Mojid
,” Azile added.

Bailey snorted, “You killed a dying Lycan? How very lion-hearted.”

“You’re ruining this for me, Azile. Bailey, I do believe he left a little too early on his final quest. I think this was just a practice run for him. That was the toughest old bastard I’d ever come across, except for maybe Jed…but that was eons ago.”

“There is not the time to exact your revenge, Michael. You needed to be brought up to speed as quickly as possible, and I could think of no other way,” Azile entreated.

“Then why run afterwards?” I asked.

“So I could be sure you would follow and that I could lead you to her.” Azile pointed to Bailey. “I knew you didn’t want in this fight, I could think of no better way than to bring you to a relation of BT’s.”

“This whole thing has been a manipulation, Azile. I fucking hate being manipulated.”

“See, I told you,” Tommy said.

“Did it work?” she asked.

I looked over to Bailey. “I will do all in my power, Bailey Tynes, to ensure your safety and the safety of this township.”

Bailey nodded.

“Let the witch in,” I said, turning back around.

Azile had got down off her horse and caught up to my side. Bailey had gone ahead to make preparations for our arrival.

“Is it weirctiIs itd I find BT’s great-great-granddaughter extremely attractive?” I asked her.

“Yes, yes it is.”

“I wanted to kill you, Azile.” I told her.

“I thought you might.”

“You set me up, and then you sent those men knowing that I’d blood them.”

“Another necessary evil,” she told me.

“How many more of those are there?” I asked.

“How do you think I got my name?”

The Lycan had moved further south than any of them could remember to do their hunting. The herds of man had dwindled, and it was becoming increasingly difficult in the frozen, hostile tundra to eke out an existence. The lights of the Great Lycan shimmered in the sky as the trio of Lycan led by Xavier entered into the outskirts of Nome. There was a nervous excitement among them as they slunk into this stronghold of man.

“Do you smell that?” Xavier asked the pair. Slate and Long-Tooth both nodded.

“It is the stench of dead men,” Slate said excitedly, the gnawing pit of hunger in his stomach not allowing him to think properly.

“We have not yet done anything to cause this smell,” Xavier said.

“A rival clan perhaps?” Long-Tooth asked.

Xavier grumbled. It had been his idea to raid the city, and if someone had beaten him to it, they would pay dearly.

“There are so many of them.” Slate sniffed the air. “We could eat for the entire cycle. Surely, they will not miss them.”

“We will take enough to eat and no more,” Xavier said. “These humans are weak and very attached to each other. It is said the women cannot even make waste alone without someone holding their hand.”

“How are there so many of them if they are so weak?” Slate asked.

“They breed like field mice is why,” Xavier replied. They all dashed into the shadows of a nearby alley as they heard the firing of the hated rifles.

“It must be another clan,” Long-Tooth stated.

“And they have been discovered apparently,” Xavier snorted. “Fools. We need to eat.”

A dog barked off to their right, another joined in the chorus. More dogs barked as lights began to go on throughout the city. More rifle fire. The trio looked around wildly, shadows were rapidly retreating.

“It is like an angry beehive,” Slate said, looking for an avenue of escape.

“Humans come,” Long-Tooth said as he peered around a corner.

“How many?” Xavier asked.

“More than we can eat.”

Xavier looked to the rear,
as a column of humans approached. “We have been found.”

Slate began to mutter words to the Moon Gods.

“Fool, we are not dead yet. There is no need to ask for a spot just yet,” Xavier said.