Chapter 108 - Blood Curdling Howls

  We made our way back through the second door, into the hallway where Reynolds and her guards were waiting for us. Her men locked the door behind us once we were all out. One of them stepped in with a chair, and Alex set Marion down gently onto the seat so she could rest.

  “What happened?” Reynolds asked. “I gather it didn’t go well, but do we know why?”

  "I failed," Marion replied. "That man is still trapped as a monster because my magic wasn't strong enough."

  "You saved eight people tonight," I reminded her. “That’s eight people who would have transformed into creatures like that, without you. That's a victory."

  "Cameron's right," Reynolds added. "You've given us a way to prevent the infection from spreading. That's more valuable than you know. We can't cure the ones who've already fully transformed, but we can stop anyone else from turning. That's huge."

  Marion nodded, but I could tell she was still beating herself up over it. “Alex, we got a couple other Cleanse stones from the dungeon, right? Did you already hand those out to your people? Maybe we can station one of them out here, just in case they get hit again.”

  Alex shook his head. “I gave them to Marion. We figured the spell might become more useful as it was ranked up, and there were just enough to get her to rank six.”

  I grimaced, but I understood. “It was a good call. It sounds like if she’d been just a little higher, maybe should could have cured even the transformed werewolf. Marion, you said the transformation was too strong. Could you tell how much more powerful you’d need to be?”

  “I’m not sure,” Marion replied. “It was hard to know for certain. My guess is at least a couple of ranks higher.”

  “Not something we can do easily, then. Even if we get just as many Cleanse crystals from another run, to get you to tier eight will mean three more dungeon runs.”

  “Ugh. I was hoping to never have to visit that place again,” Ruiz said.

  “We may have to, though. If it’s the difference between being able to save these transformed people and not, I mean. Otherwise this menace is going to overrun us all,” I said. “They’re probably out there right now, spreading the curse to less defended homes.”

  Reynolds nodded. "We'll organize search parties first thing tomorrow. We’ll sweep the entire area around Harvard. Fighting them once we find them won’t be simple or easy, though.”

  “I’ll help,” I said.

  “Thank you,” Reynolds replied. “All of you. We’d have been in a lot more trouble without you.”

  "We won’t leave you to deal with something like this alone,” Alex said. “Cameron came to me saying these creatures were a threat to all of us, and he was absolutely right.”

  Reynolds opened her mouth to reply, but before she could add whatever she planned to say, an armed guard came racing down the stairs. He arrived sweating and out of breath. “Ma’am, we need you up top.”

  “What’s wrong?” Reynolds asked.

  “There’s a lot of howling out there,” the guard replied. “Sounds like it’s coming from all around the Yard. They’re not inside the walls—yet. But people are starting to freak out.”

  “Could be a prelude to an attack,” I said.

  “We should get out there, see what we can do to help,” Alex added. “Mrs. Reynolds, is there somewhere we can have Marion rest where she’ll be safe?”

  “It’s Catherine, please. We community leaders should be on a first name basis, as you pointed out when we met,” Reynolds replied. “And yes. Bring her with me. The infirmary still has guards stationed, and it’s fairly secure. She should be safe there, if she’s safe anywhere.”

  Alex scooped her into his arms again and we followed Reynolds and her guards back up the stairs to the infirmary. As Reynolds had promised, there were still four guards stationed there, two inside and two guarding the door just outside. Alex brought Marion in and lay her down on one of the empty beds.

  “I ought to be out there helping you,” Marion said. But her voice was weak. Her eyelids fluttered. She was clearly exhausted, struggling to keep sleep at bay. She’d burned all her mana, trying to restore Toothless to his human form.

  “You rest now, so you can patch us up after,” Alex said. “Cameron there might be bite-proof, but I’m not. I’d really appreciate it if you could Cleanse me if I get unlucky. Unless you’d prefer me to get furrier…”

  “Don’t even joke about that!” Marion said, mock smacking his arm. “Okay. I’ll rest. Just be as careful as you can?”

  “Always am,” Alex said.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Which was a lie. The man took almost as many chances as I did, with far fewer protections to help him live through it. I had to admire his guts. In gaming terms, he was almost a glass cannon. He could hit hard, but he couldn’t take damage very well at all. That made him an incredibly effective damage-dealer, but if something strong got up close and personal with him, he could go down in seconds.

  I was his polar opposite, with a ‘tanky’ build. From a strict survival perspective, I personally thought that was the way to go. Yeah, I could still get hurt, but I’d live through it. Alex might not. Even so, he had the courage to keep running back in when it was needed, risks or no.

  “Come on. We should go see what’s happening outside,” Alex said.

  We set off, Alex and I leading the way, Ruiz and Dara right behind us. Reynolds and six of her guards followed hot on our heels. I could hear the howling before we even reached the door, a distant sound. As soon as Alex opened the door, though, it redoubled in volume. A bone-chilling, blood-curdling howl shattered the night calm as soon as the door was open.

  Whatever made that sound was in a killing mood.

  The guard was right. It didn’t sound like it was coming from inside the walls. But no sooner had we stepped outside than we heard another howl. The first one had been east of us. This one sounded from the north. Then another howl, from west of the Yard.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound god,” Dara drawled.

  “They’ve got the Yard surrounded, or close to it,” Alex said. “Castle, with me. We’ll do some aerial recon. You two, stay with Mrs. Reynolds. Keep her safe.”

  “You got it, boss,” Ruiz replied.

  Alex turned to me. “Ready to go see what we’re up against?”

  “Let’s,” I replied.

  We both shot skyward, rocketing into the air. If the werewolves ever got Flight, we were going to be in serious trouble. That would just be bad news, if they could fly over walls and drop on people from above. Flight was a serious advantage for our side. So far, the werewolves hadn’t shown any aptitude for ranged attacks. They were fast, deadly in close combat, and ferociously brutal, but they couldn’t bite us while we were in the air.

  Once we were out of earshot of the others, Alex slowed and turned toward me. “You think Marion will be all right down there?”

  “ I do, yeah. Those guards will keep her safe. Ruiz and Dara won’t let anything happen to her, either.” I turned to glance outward, into the dark, shadowed streets surrounding the Yard. “Let’s get this scouting trip done, though. If things are too bad, I’ll stay to help and you fly her home. Of everyone here, Marion is the one person we cannot afford to lose.”

  “Thanks, Cameron. That’s a good plan,” Alex said. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m just worried for her. She wants to do everything she can to help other people, and I love her for that. But I don’t want to see her get hurt for her passion of helping, you know what I mean?”

  “I do, yeah,” I replied. “Amanda was like that, too. Always helping others whenever she could. She was a volunteer kids’ soccer coach. That’s where we were headed when everything went to hell.”

  “I’m sorry I never met her,” Alex replied, his voice soft. “She sounds like she was an amazing woman.”

  “She was. Come on, let’s get this done,” I said, shaking my head to clear it of old memories. “East, first?”

  “Sounds good. We’ll move clockwise from there.”

  We flew east, over the thin wall protecting the people in the Yard. They’d reinforced it, filling in gaps and strengthening the structure, but it still wasn’t what you’d call a proper fortification. Before the Event, the walls around the Yard were far more ornamental than effective. Now they were a bit better, but I still worried about whether they’d hold out a serious assault, especially an attack by high ranked monsters.

  Once we were outside the walls, the first thing I saw was the deconstruction Harvard had been doing. They’d been tearing down nearby buildings and using the rubble to help reinforce the Yard’s walls. The reason for the demolition was super clear to me. Where they’d taken down a structure, there were no shadows, no hiding spots, no places where a killer monster could be lurking unseen.

  As soon as we passed the area they’d demolished, the opposite was true. The entire area was cast in deep shadows. Hiding spots abounded. Hell, there could be a hundred werewolves holed up in some of the larger buildings near the campus, and we’d never even see them. When it was done, the demolition would leave a wide open killing zone all around the Yard, making the place much easier to defend.

  It was just wasn’t done yet. Not even close, really, so there were a lot of hiding places out there.

  “Damn it, I can’t see a thing down there,” Alex swore. “You able to spot anything? All I’m seeing are pools of black.”

  “Yeah, I can,” I replied, holding my position a moment so I could examine one side street more closely. Something was moving, down there. But what? “My NightVision power helps a lot.”

  It took me only a few moments, but then I pointed at the street. “Got them. There’s a bunch of werewolves down on the street, there. At least six, no more than twice that many. Can’t count them well. They’re all moving around too much.”

  “Good work. Let’s swing around, see what else we can spot,” Alex replied.

  We examined the area south of the Yard without seeing any threats, but once we swung around to the west side, I spotted another group of werewolves hiding in a side street near the Harvard Coop. It was about the same size as the first group, near as I could tell. They all ducked under cover as soon as they noticed us snooping.

  “That’s two. Want to lay odds on whether there’s more to the north?” I asked.

  “No. I’m with you. We’re going to find more there, for sure,” Alex said.

  We cruised north through the night sky, scanning the area. We flew slow enough to be sure I wasn’t missing anything in the darkness below. The Harvard folks had knocked down another building on this side of the Yard, which cleared some of the blind spots away, but there remained plenty more.

  There—I saw a flicker of movement. We flew closer, and the movement redoubled as a whole pack of werewolves saw us coming and darted for cover.

  “Shit, even I saw that bunch,” Alex said. “A few of them were in the moonlight for a moment. How many did you see?”

  “A lot. More than either of the other groups. Maybe more than both put together,” I replied.

  “They’re getting ready to attack,” Alex said as we drifted slowly south again, toward the Yard. “It’ll come any minute now. We might have spooked them with this fly-by, so we may have bought Harvard a little extra time. But if they’ve brought a couple dozen werewolves, maybe more, we need to assume they’re aiming to strike tonight, in force.”

  “You think we can disrupt it? If I rush in, maybe we can convince them to hit somewhere else?” I asked.

  “Maybe. But I wouldn’t count on it. I wish my ground force would get here. They should be close, now.”

  More howls from below reached our ears. Lots of howls. The three enemy groups were talking to each other, sharing reports and information. Maybe sharing plans for the upcoming attack.

  “Come on, we need to get back and warn Reynolds,” Alex said. “That attack is coming sooner than anyone would like.”