New Haven
"Mead! We need mead now! we cannot hope to hold this city without it!"
"We also need more sport! it's rather dull here!"
"Don't forget Shroom water..... our minds cannot stay focused without it too!"
"...You fools just want to get high and party, don't you?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes!"
"Is that why we brought you here!? to mess around!? ge-"
"Oh! we also need more girls here! to much of a sausage fest!" Peters said, under Amari's orders, he's my new apprentice.....
I threw my tankard at him, he dodged it! unfortunately...
"C'mon Barker! it's been three weeks since we took the city, the walls are repaired, the golems patrol the hinterlands, if there is any threat to the city, we would know before hand," Crow the carpenter commented.
"I don't want us being too lax.... the humans.... that's how we were able to take this city, because they too ignorant! Had it not been us, it would have been another! I do not want their shortsightednesss Rubbing off on us," I retorted.
"It won't!" They all protested.
"Why? There's nothing special-"
"Yes there is! We have you overseeing us! There's no way we'll fail!" Peters barked.
"... The sport you proposed.... what did you call it?"
"Wolf dash! we'll-"
"-Race round the city, passing through different checkpoints round the city! Yes, yes you've gone over... I'll... consider it, we can test it out tomorrow if there's anyone willing to participate in it..... as for mead, I already know you've started producing it Grant.... Do not deny it! We can drink after the race tomorrow,"
"And the Shroom water?" Anders asked expectantly.
"Rejected! Destroy your horde immediately!" I commanded. "Now get out of my sight! This meeting is over!"
Everyone mills out of the Captain's office, all except me, this is my base of operations now, my seat of power and authority.... it got rather lonely here sometimes, luckily I have a quick fix to that!
"Ekaterina!" I shouted.
a bubbling sound comes from within my shadow, a four legged creature emerges from it, it was completely black with ash and smoke rising from its fur, the wolf like creature regarded me with it's hazelnut eyes, it misliked being summoned abruptly..... though it dare not voice such thoughts.
"....What did you do for fun around here?"
"Fun..... my lord?"
"Yes! Did you go tavern hoping? Extravagant parties? hunting seasons?"
"... we did do those things my lord.... And many others, our lives were mostly enjoyable thanks to the Duke and his family,"
"Oh! so you and your family had fulfilling lives here then?"
".....My husband died 4 years ago, the bloody fool drank himself to death, my children are in Driftbane, they moved there 4 months ago,"
"Lucky for them! We're not going there for another 3 months!"
She growled at this, she's starting to get a bit bold these days, I raise my hand and she flinched back.... I Pat her on the head, "!!" she looks at me in confusion.
"Relax! I'll give your family the same deal I gave you, serve me well and even if they refuse it, I'll take them all the same, you understand?"
".....yes my lord,"
".....now is there anything I should know about the city? any secrets she may hide? or history of significance?"
"..... There is a sewers beneath the city my lord, they-"
"-are Passages where smugglers used in the past! yes we found them and blocked it off, that's how some humans were able to flee the city during our raid!"
She has a longing look in her eyes, is she envious? she wishes she had known about it beforehand, bah! I twist her ear for that little bit of insolence, she protests but I wag my finger at her and she subsides.
"My lord?"
"Yes?"
"Do you truly plan on banishing all humans from the Molti Continent?"
"Yes,"
"Is coexistence not possible?"
"No.... far too late for that, now..."
"But surely they-"
"My mother..... bless her soul.... she wanted our kind to coexist with humans too.... she wandered the lands, she helped humans and Werewolves alike, Many my kin were led to the secret city thanks to her efforts and others live in safety near swamps, ghost towns and other humble places.... yes, she did a lot for our kind.... and the humans as well...."
"...."
".....one day during her travels, she came across a farmer and his wife, they were being attacked by a wild stone serpent, the farmer got a nasty wound protecting his family, they would have died had my mother not intervened..... she destroyed the serpent in her wolf form and spent the next few days hunting and providing for the family, eventually the farmer healed up and she went on her way....."
"So your mother's way worked? surely we should continue with her methods! we could finish what she started and perhaps us and the humans could learn to get along, right?"
"..... I haven't finished the story Ekaterina.... One day she returned to the farmer, his family had hit hard times.... their crops were dying and their livestock were sick.... they were at wits end on how they were gonna survive till the next winter! My mother being the kind heart she was..... she provided for the family again, she did so for the next few weeks while she stayed there.... and then one day..." I close my eyes and remember her beautiful face.... mother....
".....One day while she returned from hunting.... the farmer ran towards her in a panick! his son was sick with a mysterious illness and needed a cure made from a rare herb nearby.... she checked over the boy and promised to get it as soon as possible.... after a few hours, she found it, but...." I take a swig of beer in my mug.
"It was a trap, a group of hunters had coerced the farmer into laying out this trap, even infected his boy as incentive to help them.... Mother fought them off, she wasn't much of a violent person especially when it came to humans but she made sure to teach them a lesson they would never forget!"
"The cowards fled in fear and mother returned with the herb in tow, she made the medicine, cured the boy and went on her way, the farmer apologized fervently, mother being the softie she was, accepted it, the farmer and his family survived another winter...."
".....This isn't the end of the story my lord?"
"....no, a few years later, the farmer's son left his home and became a hunter, he slew many Werewolves, many deserving and many not! All for gold and glory, he studied my mother during his younger years and figured out the general weaknesses of my kind...."
"One day.... he reunited with my mother, the woman who saved his life.... and do you-know-what.... he did to repay her? to thank her?"
".....no my lord.."
"He poisoned her with wolfsbane and attacked her! Mother escaped but the poison did its damage, she died a few days after returning to the secret city,"
"I... my lord.."
"I will never... NEVER choose peace with the humans.... I will slaughter as many as I can and banish the rest from this continent! that I swear on my life and that of my kin!"
"I.... I understand my lord...."
"Good.... now get out of my sight!"
"At once!"
I spend the rest of the day drinking and reminiscing about mother.... I miss her dearly....
"Mother.... I know you'll be disappointed.... but this is the path I have chosen..... and I will not stop until my dream is fulfilled!" I proclaimed, to reassure myself, ".....Forgive me,"