Chapter Twenty-Seven
Typhon
The only home we had ever known came into view. It didn’t bring any sense of comfort, belonging, or joy. The feelings of resentment were strong within my heart and all of the hopes I had ever had of feeling a sense of worth from the pack had completely ebbed away from my soul. After what we had learned about the other soldiers nothing could be the same again. I bristled with aggression. It was one thing to treat me and Kull with disrespect, to look down on us and abuse us all our lives for being ‘failed experiments’, but it was quite another to purposefully bring other wolves into the world knowing that they were not going to be treated any better. It made me feel sick to think about them being born and thrust immediately into a war. How many of them were going to live past a day, a week, a month? What kind of life was that? And it all began with Vance. He gave the orders and this was his project, and now he was going to have to pay for it.
Our powerful muscles carried us through the forest. There was no need for stealth, so we crashed through branches and stormed through hedges. We sent small animals scurrying away and we growled at the bigger ones, ensuring they knew that today was not the day they wanted to engage us in battle. The mountain loomed in the distance and our snarling forms devoured the distance, each step carrying us farther away from Ambrosia.
I tried not to think about her too much. I regretted being so guarded with her from the beginning. I hadn’t realized our time together would be so limited. My chances of surviving this fight with Vance were slim, so I had taken a lingering look at Ambrosia and I had given myself completely to our kiss, for I believed it would be our last. Our lives were defined by grim responsibility and, perhaps, we were the only ones that could avert this war. At least we had been given a glimpse of happiness, a sense of what life might have been like if things had been different. If that was all I was going to receive, then I was going to have to be at peace with that.
We approached the gates and shifted back into our human forms. There were looks of derision shooting towards us as we passed into the stronghold. I stood shoulder to shoulder with Kull, ready to defend ourselves in case anyone should suspect that we were here to shatter the status quo. I feared that word might have returned to the pack about our visit to the outpost, before telling myself that there was no reason for this to be the case. It wouldn’t do any good to be paranoid.
There was no point in wasting any time, so we marched straight up to Vance, who was sitting in his chambers with Hana by his side.
“Why are you bothering the Alpha? He has more important things to do with his time than spend it with the likes of you,” Hana sneered. It was perhaps the first time that I did not feel Kull wilt in her presence. Ambrosia had been good for him as well. He had spent far too long pining after Hana and I realized that I had pined after Vance from a certain point of view.
“We’re here because we know what you’re planning. We know what your secret weapon is and we don’t like it,” I said, a sharp edge to my words. This caught Vance’s attention. He leaned forward and looked at us carefully, perhaps trying to discern if we were telling the truth. He studied us for a few moments and then nodded.
“Well, perhaps you are more resourceful than I gave you credit for. I didn’t think you were capable of such a thing. So you’ve learned one of my little secrets. Do you think that gives you the right to have a privileged audience with me?”
“No,” I growled, “but it does give me a right to challenge you.”
Vance and Hana burst out laughing. “You’re challenging me?”
“Yes,” I remained steadfast and rigid. My hands were clamped by my sides. “Because this isn’t right. All our lives you have looked down upon me and my brother for being less than wolves, yet now you would create a whole new legion to use as slaves. How is this honorable? How is this guided by the Moon?”
“This is guided by my hand,” he hissed. “You and your brother failed me. I ordered your creation because I wanted to create a powerful weapon but you two never lived up to your potential. You were disappointments from the first day you were brought into the world and I should never have allowed the experiment to continue. I should have discarded you there and then, because you’ve been nothing but trouble since then.”
“So why make more of us?” I asked.
Vance smiled and shook his head. “Do you honestly believe they are like you? No Typhon, this new breed is far improved. I assigned the scientists to work hard and perfect the technology before they ever dared create a new life. I wasn’t about to have inferior beings like you again. We were not going to repeat the same mistake twice. It has been a long time coming but finally we have perfected the formula. These new soldiers are infallible. They are not going to be distracted by petty thoughts like you have been and they are going to know their place. They will be far more obedient, and their minds will be filled with a single purpose: to fight.”
“To die,” I growled.
Vance tilted his head to the side and opened his palm. “Indeed, I gave them life. I own their lives. It is only right that they would give their lives to me.”
I felt sick inside and shook my head. “These are people we’re talking about. They’re not toys. They’re not objects.”
“That’s exactly what they are and it’s exactly what you are as well, only you’re too stupid to realize it. These soldiers are going to play an important part in the upcoming war. They will ensure our victory. You are just jealous that they are going to outperform you.”
“No, jealousy has nothing to do with this. I’m angry because they deserve a choice in their future. They should get a say as to whether they fight or not. This war you want… how can you say you’re going to win when all the fighting is going to be done by these soldiers? It’s not your glory, it’s theirs.”
“They only exist because of me. I commissioned this project. I am the one with the vision,” he rose from his chair and snarled at me. “And you dare to come and stand before me and judge me like this? Who are you? You’re nothing. You and your brother, you’re mere scraps that somehow became conscious. You don’t deserve to challenge me.”
“Every wolf has the right to challenge the Alpha,” Kull replied in a flat tone.
“That’s assuming you are wolves. You’re not quite at our level, are you?” Hana said.
Kull and I both bristled at her words. “Are you going to refuse my request? Do I need to march out there and tell the pack that you are too afraid to face me in a duel?”
Vance smiled and wagged his finger in the air. “That is very clever, Typhon. I know you’re trying to goad me but it won’t work. I won’t be shamed into fighting. However, I will grant your request because I think it’s time I put you in your place once and for all. It seems as though you can’t quite understand your place in this world. You are at the bottom of the food chain and your entire existence is predicated on a decision that I made a long time ago. You owe me for everything that you are and you have never once shown the appropriate gratitude.”
“Gratitude?” I almost choked on the word. “Gratitude for being bullied and humiliated? For being abused?”
“Abused,” he shook his head, “who has been filling your head with these words?”
“Their little pet. She’s not with them,” Hana said.
“Ah, I didn’t notice,” Vance added. Ambrosia had barely registered with him. “What have you done with her? Did you finally get bored with her?”
“She’s somewhere safe,” Kull said.
Vance hung his head and exhaled deeply. “You really cannot see how defective you are, can you? What kind of wolf would help some human like this? You take pity on her because you are weak. They are the enemy. You are not devoted to the cause and I’m tired of your weakness. I will fight you because it’s time to bring a permanent end to this poor experiment. I have kept you around long enough but now you have outstayed your welcome. Come, there is no need to delay,” he said, rising from his throne. Hana had a shocked look on her face and tried to call Vance back, perhaps wishing to make him reconsider, but once Vance had an idea locked in his mind that was it. Nothing was going to deter him from it. The challenge had been made and accepted.
*
Vance gathered the other wolves. There had not been a challenge against him for many moons, so everyone was intrigued, especially when they realized that I was making the challenge. All of them rubbed their hands eagerly in anticipation of seeing me humiliated. The only person on my side was Kull and I knew that even he would not believe I could survive this.
Vance was perhaps the most powerful wolf who had ever lived but I wasn’t about to surrender before the fight had even begun. There was a thought I could not shake. Vance had bred Kull and I to be powerful wolves, to be the template for a generation of warriors that would lead the wolves in war. Deep down this was still inside me and I needed to tap into it. I needed to finally become what Vance had always wanted me to become in order to defeat him. It was the only way I stood a chance.
I strode forward after Vance made his statement. The other wolves were laughing. None of them expected the fight to last long. I stretched out my limbs and breathed deeply. Vance charged towards me and threw a punch. His fist was as heavy as a hammer. The air rushed around me and I just about managed to evade the blow but he followed it up with a punch to the gut. The breath was driven from my lungs and I doubled over. Vance then kicked me away and I slumped to the ground. He turned and gestured to the crowd, stretching out his arms. They roared and cheered his name. I pushed myself up, shaking off the pain, and then tried to take him by surprise. I crashed into his back, hitting him with my forearm. He staggered a few inches but it did more to make him seem furious than it did to cause him pain.
He turned slowly and curled his lip in a menacing snarl.
“You’re so weak I don’t even have to turn into a wolf to beat you,” he growled. He punched me again. I reflexively raised my hand to block the blow, but the force of it reverberated up my arm. This only seemed to anger him further. He swung again and I ducked. I hit back with a counter punch, slamming my fist against his tight stomach. His body was packed with muscles. They were taut and tight and his skin felt like armor but I knew that if I stood any hope of defeating him I was going to have to be quick and I was going to have to make every blow count. My fists moved in a blur and then I put everything I had into an uppercut. It started from my feet. This primal energy surged upwards and traveled all the way to my fist. I rose up and struck him on the chin. Vance’s neck snapped back and there was a hushed gasp from the crowd, because Vance was rocked. He flailed back and lost his balance, teetering. Pain throbbed in my fist but I tried to shake it off. Vance then shook himself out of his stupor and turned to look at me but I realized I had done something that nobody had done for a long time, something that the wolves in the crowd might never have believed they would ever witness.
I made Vance bleed. It was just a trickle out of the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away with his thumb and stared at it, as though he was stunned to see his own blood. He licked his lips and shook his head. It may not have counted for much but at least it proved that he could be wounded and that he was just as mortal as the rest of us.
“I see. First blood. I think it’s time we showed our true forms. It’s the only way this can be settled, and this has gone on long enough. It’s time to give you a lesson about the true power of wolves,” Vance said. As the last word slipped between his lips he embraced the wolf within. His body swelled and bulged, his bones breaking and reforming beneath his flesh as he shifted. His dark fur sprawled over his body and his evil, beady eyes stared at me. Soon enough his mouth was a snarling snout. Saliva dripped from his fangs, each one as deadly as a dagger.
I did the same, looking deep within myself and hearing the howl from the wolf within. It came rampaging out of me. The ancient arcane energy that governed my kind dulled the pain of my changing body. I felt the world come alive as all of my senses were heightened. I could scent Vance’s blood, the metallic tang prevalent in the air. Aggression radiated from him. It was like a drug to me. All of the anger, all of the pain, all of the abuse we had suffered coiled within me and fueled my fury.
And then there was Ambrosia. She might have cautioned me to work through my aggression and find some other way to release it but I was doing this for her. If we failed she would not be safe. I had rescued her once and now I was about to do it again. For myself, for Kull, for Ambrosia, I would do the impossible and kill Vance.
He kicked up dust as he came charging towards me. His teeth were bared and his eyes were filled with a menacing and malevolent desire for death. His claws were unsheathed, as though every single part of him was a weapon designed to tear me apart. I knew that all he wanted was to cut me into ribbons and leave me a bloodied mess on the ground. I was to be the first casualty of this war that was going to break the world in two.
But Vance had been getting his way for too long. It was time he learned that others were going to stand up to him. I snarled as I set myself, bracing myself for his impact. He came charging towards me in a whirling blur and threw himself at me. I caught him, just about avoiding his snapping jaws and swiping claws. We tumbled across the ground, our bodies entwined together, a mess of fur and dust. The crowd had fallen silent, although I could not afford to pay attention to them. Every sense and every instinct had to be focused on Vance, because if I let myself stop for an instant then it was all going to be over.
I pushed myself away from Vance and whirled around, trying to attack his flank. I reached out to swipe at him but he turned his body away. As he curled his body he tried to snatch my tail with his teeth but I just about managed to avoid this. We took each other’s measure for a while, knowing that if we gave an opening it might well have been fatal. I studied him carefully for a weakness, hoping that his arrogance might force a mistake. Then, he stalked towards me, putting aside any goading strategy, no longer trying to coax me into a mistake. No, he sought to end this and prove himself the stronger wolf, the indomitable wolf. His body was packed with muscle and the fury flowed from him. He increased his pace and threw himself at me again. He scratched and swiped. I tried to roll free but this time he had a better hold on me and I could not escape. Pain flared through my body as my flesh was opened and blood poured out. I howled in agony and fought back valiantly. I tore at his fur and felt his flesh open as well. Warm blood flowed like a river around my claws, staining them with a scarlet hue. His breath was fetid and he kept angling his jaw towards me, trying to clamp my neck and end this. I just about managed to hold him off. The wounds may have been superficial but there were so many of them they took their toll. With every drop of blood that seeped out of my body I became a little weaker. My concentration was scattered and my blows lost some of their force. He was pounding at me relentlessly and I knew that it was only a matter of time before his stamina proved more persevering than mine.
The growls and snarls were a cacophony around me. I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t going to stop until I was dead. I had suffered through so many things but I had never truly fought for my life before. Vance’s claws slashed and his teeth kept snapping at me. I held him off as best I could but his oppressive weight sought to crush me and I didn’t think I would be able to hold him off for much longer. He didn’t seem perturbed at all by the pain. It was as though it meant nothing to him. How could I possibly kill him if he didn’t show any signs of pain? Was I hurting him at all? Did he have an endless supply of blood?
And then it happened.
I could feel the mistake. I was too slow in adjusting my body and it was all the opening he needed. He slammed his claws in my stomach and pinned me to the ground. I squirmed but it was already too late. He drove his mouth to my flank and his teeth were spikes within me. I gasped and a strangled howl emerged from my throat. I looked down to see him ripping out a chunk of flesh. Black spots danced around my eyes and I willed myself to fight back but my limbs weren’t moving as they should and it was getting harder to think, and the world was becoming muted and everything seemed so far away. Was this it? Was this what it was like to die?