Uriah
On the sidelines of the opposing team, Quinn held his arm steady as he worked his magic on a whimpering werewolf. The creature howled as he manipulated its transformation cycle. The witch watched as its fur and claws melted away, revealing a bloodied Dachre Dark Moon.
Appearing by the professor’s side, clapped approvingly. “Whoa, look at Doc go.”
“Why don’t you pick on someone your own age?”
The unfamiliar voice distracted the duo, giving Dachre enough time to transform and flee down the field.
“Oh, great. Another unusually handsome and muscular werewolf. How original,” scoffed as he turned to face Strix.
“Look into my eyes, vampire,” Strix said through gritted teeth, ripping his shirt off with one hand as he made eye contact with .
“Oh, yeah, they’re fine, too, I guess,” began . “Really like the tattoos, though. Got a couple dozen myself.”
Strix huffed as he approached . “Do you know who I am?”
looked at Quinn before turning back to Strix. “Who, me? No way, bloke. Way too many of you Dark Moonies for me to keep track of.”
“One day you’ll wish you could remember the werewolf who took your memory,” the man replied, once again locking eyes with . “You will look into my eyes and you will forget where you are, who I am, and what year it is.”
Though what the man before him was saying sounded kooky, grew concerned as his eyes started to twitch. “Huh? Blimey bastard here is tryin’ to compel a vampire. You see that, Doc?”
“,” cautioned Quinn.
“You look like you’ve lived a long time, so how ‘bout this?” Strix began again. “Forget the last two hundred years.”
“Forget the last two hundred years?” burst into laughter. “Well, that works, ‘cause, see, I’ve had some missing memories going back about a century beyond that and I...”
As ’s voice trailed off, Quinn turned to look at him. “You okay, ?”
jumped back, his forehead wrinkling and his face contorting like he had just stepped foot onto an alien planet. “Zounds! What in the bloody hell are you wearing!?” he asked Quinn before looking down at his own outfit. “What in the bloody hell am I wearing!? This is magic, ain’t it?”
Quinn looked from Strix back to . “Um, , look?—”
“One day, a man’s simply minding his own business, lootin’ and pillagin’ villages across the Ottoman Empire. The next, he’s…”
ended his rant in response to Quinn holding up a hand. “Mr. Black, we’ll continue our, um, pillaging in just a moment. First, let me take care of our enemy here.”
Opening his mouth and raising a finger to object, pouted as Quinn shushed him. “Very well, then.”
“Interesting power you have,” said Quinn as he turned his attention back to Strix. “My friend here may not have his memory, but I still do. Sure, I don’t know your name, but I remember you from last night. You’re the absentee frat house father who led these poor werewolves astray.”
“You might not know my name, but I know yours,” Strix fumed as he circled the professor. “And those that read of this battle will remember me as the wolf who killed an Original Witch.”
“ Is that so? ” Quinn gave a nervous chuckle, his eyes drawn to the stands behind Strix.
, looked, too. “Hey, what’s up with the bow and arrow vampire?”
About thirty feet from them, Julian held a bow in his hand. His lips tight and his eyes narrow, he appeared ready to fire a wolfsbane arrow directly into Strix’s back.
“Well,” Quinn began in an attempt to distract, “I have to be honest, there’s way less historical paranormal text out there than you can imagine. I mean, trust me, I’m the guy who has studied this stuff since quite literally the dawn of time. Maybe you’ve even read some of my work, actually. You see?—”
Strix interrupted him by howling at the moon, his wolf form exploding from his body and tearing apart his pants.
cried out, jumping into Quinn’s arms. “Sweet Mother Mary!”
“Uh, now would be a good time to shoot!” shouted Quinn.
Julian fired the first shot and quickly reloaded. The arrow landed several feet behind the charging werewolf.
Quinn groaned, using his magic to pull the arrow from the ground and stab Strix in the back leg. The werewolf whimpered, but kept coming.
“Don’t make me do this,” Quinn warned, placing his hands out in front of him.
As another arrow buzzed past Strix, Kale appeared and grabbed it in his hands. Giving Quinn a wink, he sped up to Strix, plunging the arrow into his back.
“No!” the werewolf howled as the wolfsbane stunned his body and he fell to the ground.
Quinn smiled, dropping to the ground. “Wow, thanks!”
“Thank me later,” Kale shouted as he tossed Griff’s satchel bag into Quinn’s hands. “Take this.”
got to his feet, a sheepish expression on his face as he dusted himself off. “Um, can we get back to the pillagin’ now? Maybe get me some different clothes?”
“Oh, fuck,” Quinn cursed. “The memory spell.”
Strix’s human form had now returned. A spark in his eyes, Quinn telepathically pulled the arrow from his back and took it in his hand. Similar to Strix circling him before, he now moved carefully around the werewolf’s incapacitated body. “Here’s the issue. I really need my pal here back in the twenty-first century if I’m gonna take out your little werewolf cult. So, as an Original Witch, I’m gonna take a few wild guesses here. Based on what I’ve seen with my friend Pruitt, werewolves must heal pretty damned fast. I’m assuming that means everything eventually heals—you know, even sensitive parts of you.”
“Werewolves,” shuddered as he backed away. “Filthy, disgusting things, really.”
“As for my second guess, since you seem to have some kind of power to control a person’s cognition through eye contact, I’m guessing that the one way to bring my buddy’s memory back instantly is to do this. Apologies in advance.”
Strix let out a bone-chilling scream as an arrow sank into his right eye.
“Oh, shit, Doc!” exclaimed as Quinn closely studied his facial expressions. “That’s some next level dark shit. Think I’ll let you be my roomie after all.”
Quinn let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve never been so happy to hear that I’m officially moving in with my worst student.” Looking down at Strix one last time, he shrugged. “And here I thought I was gonna have to do both of ‘em. Lucky you.”