Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
Jack
Aareth was moving forward slowly. The muscles under his ebony coat twitched with anticipation.
“Remember, we don’t want to hurt him.” Jack moved forward on his cramping legs. “Let me try to talk to him first. I think I can get him to?—”
The air around the group was filled with a solitary howl.
The noise was so deep, so mournful, it saddened Jack to such an extent, he was surprised by himself.
He had heard numerous animals while acting as a tracker in the Outland, wolves included, and this was no ordinary creature.
The cry it made was so human, it almost sounded like someone mourning in great torment.
Jack and Kimberly continued to move forward. Aareth did the same, getting lower and lower to the ground as they approached the tree line.
Chills raced up and down Jack’s spine. He reached for his wand, already summoning the magical ability within himself. The tip of his wand glowed a dull green as the instrument held and channeled the power.
Soon, the single howl was joined by another, and another, and another. There were too many now to tell exactly how many werewolves lifted their throats to the sky. One thing was for certain: they weren’t just tracking Jack’s father; they had been tracking an entire pack.
“How could this be?” Kimberly didn’t take her eyes off the tree in front of them. “You didn’t mention seeing more than a single pair of tracks.”
“I didn’t, there weren’t.” Jack swallowed hard as realization hit. “They met here somehow, all coming from different directions. He must have called them, or they knew to meet him here.”
Aareth’s growling was low and deep compared to the army of howls that still lifted into the air.
The trinity of trackers were now only a few hundred yards from the forest’s edge.
More and more shapes were becoming visible through the dense foliage of the trees, shapes close enough to make out their colors: brown and grey werewolves loped here and there, all still lifting mournful cries into the sky.
“Perhaps we should rethink our strategy,” Kimberly cautioned. “If things go bad, I can lift you into the air and escape, but there’s no way I’m going to be able to lift the beast man in his current form. Too much can go wrong here.”
“I know. And you can turn back, I don’t blame you.” Jack bottled his fear, urging himself to take Kimberly’s advice, but for his father’s sake, he couldn’t. “I have to try.”
It seemed Aareth had already made up his mind. His eyes still not leaving the tree line, he continued forward.
Kimberly didn’t say a word, but she continued to keep pace with Jack. The wizard, the werewolf, and the gargoyle reached the tree line now. Jack tapped the button on his wand that extended it into a staff. Green light blazed across the instrument’s surface.
Jack went first, raising the weapon high into the air to cast as much illumination as possible into the forest’s interior.
At once, the howls of the werewolves in the forest stopped, as if someone or something had given the order to cease their manic bellows.
The entire time the wolves had blared their howls into the air, Jack wanted nothing more for them but to end. Now that they had stopped and only silence filled the air, Jack was rethinking his wishes.
“Caution,” Kimberly warned as they entered the forest. She leaned down to pick up a thick, fallen tree limb from the ground. “It’s only a matter of time before they strike.”
Jack’s heart was beating out of his chest. The flow of adrenaline made his hands quake with anticipation. His senses were on overdrive. It was difficult to see much through the thick trees, but Jack could hear the heavy panting of those watching him.
“I’ve come for my father,” Jack said to the nothing out in front of him. “I know you’re here. I know you’re fighting this new part of you you’re just beginning to understand. Fight, Dad, I’m here with you. Come back to me—fight!”
Through the dark trees and silver light coming down from the sky, two yellow orbs peered out at Jack.
Jack felt a rush of joy that gave strength to his weakened state, but the joy was short-lived. The beast that stalked forward was not the white wolf, but rather a slightly smaller brown wolf.
A fresh cut reddened its muzzle. It opened its massive maw and barked. Saliva flew from its mouth as it eyed Jack, coming ever closer.
Before Jack could decide what to do, Aareth moved in front of him. He was larger than the brown werewolf, and the way he bristled his hair and arched his back made him look even bigger.
Aareth’s show of force may have been enough to make the initial werewolf rethink her actions, but she wasn’t alone. Barks and yips filled the air once more as the entire pack materialized on all sides from the forest. Various shades of brown and grey wolves hedged them in.
“I should have stayed in Azra,” Kimberly said out loud. She placed her back to Jack’s to shield him from any attack to his rear. “What was I thinking?”
For the first moment since the party left Azra, Jack allowed himself to consider that he had been wrong, that Elizabeth had been lying to him the entire time, and that his father was still dead.
He had been holding on to the wish of a stupid little boy, a childlike faith that told him there was still hope.
Well, there was no hope now, and Jack had not only led himself into this mess, but he had also brought along Aareth and Kimberly.
“I’m sorry,” Jack whispered. Even as the words left his lips, anger replaced his sadness. “I’m sorry I dragged you two into this.”
Aareth didn’t turn around.
“If the monster that we call Aareth still had his tongue, he would tell you to shut up.” Kimberly pressed her back harder against Jack’s. “He’d tell you to shut up and fight.”
As if on cue, the werewolves circling them attacked. Jack witnessed Aareth and the brown wolf in front of him collide in a thrashing mess of claws and teeth. He couldn’t see Kimberly, but he heard a roar behind him and a echoing whack from her club.
Jack didn’t have time to process any more as a grey wolf leapt at him from his right.
The creature was horrifying in the daylight, and given the dark atmosphere, it was something out of a nightmare.
Jack struck out with the magical power shimmering around his staff.
The steel pole caught the werewolf in the chest. The combined effort of the actual blow as well as the magic slammed into the beast and knocked it backwards.
CRACK! CRACK!
Jack kept his staff charged with magic as he swirled it around and threw himself into the fight. Every time his weapon came in contact with a werewolf, it sent a blast of magical energy through their bodies, sending them flying back in a spasm of pain or rendering them useless for a few moments.
Jack called on his years of experience with the staff.
Coupled with this, he used the new spells he had learned while in New Hope.
Whenever he could, he caught a werewolf in midair with a thought and threw them to the side.
The ability to move things with his mind and magic was still new to him and required too much energy to use lightly.
Aareth was lost to his view. He could see Kimberly’s large frame striking out with her wings and tail as well as her club.
There were just too many. These powerhouses of muscle and teeth could take a beating.
Jack had already thrown down and struck the same werewolf multiple times, and they just kept getting back up.
Then it happened. Kimberly screamed in pain as one of the werewolves found a hold on her right forearm. Jack moved to help her, but it had all been part of a trap the pack had planned. As soon as Jack’s concentration was broken, a grey wolf with wicked yellow eyes blindsided him.
It felt like the same collision that Jack had experienced with Kimberly earlier that day, but this one came with fresh claw marks to his chest. The wolf barreled into him, sending his staff flying into the forest.
Jack’s vision went blurry as the wolf landed on top of him.
Pain exploded in his head. Breathing was impossible with the werewolf leaning on his chest. Lancing pain came from the area that had been ripped open.
Through all of this, Jack looked for his hold on magic.
He just needed to stay conscious enough to channel and use it.
He couldn’t; it was too much. Darkness hedged in on his eyesight. With a final thought of how sorry he was that he had led his friends into this slaughterhouse, Jack gave in to his body’s limitations.