‘’Alpha, do u read me?’’ Kane asked.
‘’Yes master, i do?’’ Alpha replied.
‘’Ugh again you and the master thing, stop it already. Did you trace the scent
of the ones running away?’’ Kane asked.
‘’I can smell them for kilometres. Their fear has left a… strange odor which is
hard to miss’’.
‘’All right. Hold on while i talk to her for a moment’’ Kane replied and walked
over to where the girl was kneeling on a patch of grass. She jerked up as she noticed
him approach, her eyes darting all over the place, as if searching for someone to
save her.
‘’Do not be afraid. If i wanted to harm you in any way, i would have done that
already’’ Kane said.
‘’What are you going to do with me, then’’ she asked, narrowing her eyes on
mine, and staring at Kane defiantly.
‘’That all depends on you’’ i replied as if i could care less. I could actually, but, i
chose not to. ‘’I will give you a choice between two things. One is that i kill you, go
after the others and do the same to them, but more gruesome. The other is, i track
them down, kill them for you, avenge your village, free the prisoners and then you will
join my company of merry men. And a woman, by that time. I will not use you as a
disposable doll, i will treat you with respect and care for you, keep you safe. I have
never really cared much about women, but, something has changed, and i need a
woman’s hand now. It gets rather lonely when you are all alone, every day of your
life’’ he said with a sad voice. His feelings were earnest and he hoped she would
accept the latter. Her defiance faded and she looked up at Kane’s eyes, seeing
genuine sorrow inside of them, but at the same time, violence and death. She looked
away and after a few long moments nodded.
‘’I accept your proposal’’ the girl said.
‘’Very well, my lady. You will not regret it’’ Kane said and smiled gently at her,
then stood up and walked over to Alpha again.
‘’Promise me one thing’’ she yelled as she stood up. Kane turned around and
looked at her, questioningly. ‘’I want to watch them die. And make them die a horrible
death’’.
Kane’s smile was as a child’s after getting candy. He liked the idea and
nodded.
‘’Very well, milady. You will have a front row seat to the play of your life. Now,
let us go. Take a seat on Alpha’s back and hold on. We will be visiting Ithice first. It is
near and i promised i will have a look there’’. She walked over to Alpha, warily, afraid
he would rip her apart.
‘’Do not fear, i will do no such thing’’ he said. She jumped slightly, startled at
the wolf being able to read her thoughts and even talk.
‘’What a magnificent beast’’ she thought to herself.
‘’Yes i am. Thank you for the kind thought’’ he replied back and growled softly,
almost as if purring. ‘’Get on and hold my fur tight with your hands’’. She did just that
and got on, her face getting red instantly as she realised she was naked from the
waist down, and was sitting atop Alpha. He didn’t reply, though she knew he had felt
her thoughts, but didn’t make fun of her.
‘’You are so soft, wolfy’’ she said as she leaned into his ear. ‘’I like you’’ she
added. He got flustered and shuddered for a second, almost throwing her off his back
but managed to keep her atop him.
‘’You hitting on my wolf?’’ Kane asked.
‘’What? No i am not. I just said i liked him, nothing else!’’ she replied, now
thinking it was a bad idea.
‘’Master, shall we proceed?’’ Alpha asked, to change the topic.
‘’Sure thing. Let me dress first and we can go.’’ Kane replied.
Alpha started running and Kane ran after him. Weapons already summoned,
in his hands, ready if there were any more soldiers around Ithice. The trees around
them grew thicker and the forest grew darker by the moment they were running. Of
course, they're speed was far greater than a normal human’s, so they were running
at about a hundred kilometres per hour. No animals and no birds were anywhere to
be seen, just a few minutes running inwards from the place they got ambushed. It
was strange, like something was keeping the wildlife away from the area. The trees
became darker and darker by the step. No leaves, no greenery, just a dull grey and
brown everywhere. Then, a bit further up, smoke was rising above the treeline. Soon
they arrived at the charred ruins that had been called Ithice mere days ago. They
stopped some distance from the entrance and slowly approached the ruins. Alpha
motioned to scout ahead since his perception of surroundings was far greater than
Kane's.
Alpha morphed into an almost translucent state and walked up to the closest
building he was facing, all the while taking care not to make any sound. As he was
sure nothing was near him, he slowly walked to the corner and peeked around. Again
nothing. He turned the corner and walked in between the two houses and stopped at
the far end that lead inwards into the town. There he stopped, rooted to the ground
by the display of the bandits savagery. In the middle of the town square a massacre
had played out. Bodies atop bodies, burned into each other, a great mass of
smoldering meat was displayed for all to see. There was a row of stakes drilled into
the ground on top of which naked women and men equally had been beheaded and
staked, their heads laying at their feet. It was a horrible sight to be seen and Kane
almost threw up, seeing it through Alphas own eyes.
''We leave. You do not wish to see this, milady'' Kane said as he turned the girl
around and pushed her in the opposite side of the massacre. She didn't protest,
understanding the message he was conveying to her. ''As soon as Alpha is here, i
will go and search for some female clothes for you to wear. Afterwards, we hunt them
down'' Kane said with an icy conviction.
Some minutes later Alpha had joined them after checking the rest out,
searching for possible survivors. Not a single one. He cuddled up to the girl in
comfort, but he felt that nothing could take away the pain inside her heart. She had
lost everyone she knew. Maybe even her brother now. That would remain to be seen.
Kane moved towards the village, keeping his eyes on the ground. He did not
want to see the dead people again. He entered the first house he encountered and
went up to the first floor, searching for a bedroom. Luckily he had found it full of
female clothing. He packed some female clothes and for himself some spare
underwear. He left through the window and ran towards Alpha and the girl.
''Put something on and let us leave this place. We should not linger here any
longer’’ Kane said as he turned away from her, to give her some privacy. She came
up to him and hugged him, putting her head on his back.
‘’Thank you for saving my life. Even if we don’t find my brother, or he is dead, i
will keep my part of our arrangement. I will stay you for as long as i live, or for as long
as you want me to. Also, feel free to use me as you see fit. You have earned that
right, treating me the way you did, when you could have just killed me or taken me
forcefully, and you would have been even in the right then’’ she said, softly. The
words gave Kane the chills and he was actually at a loss for words.
‘’What is your name, milady?’’ Kane finally asked. She turned him around and
looked up at his eyes.
‘’Janine. Please call me Janine’’ she said and kissed him on the cheek. His
face went beet red instantly and pressure rose to his head. Again he was at a loss for
what to do. She giggled and turned around, walking over to the clothes he brought
with him. She turned around towards him, taking off what she had on and standing
there, displayed for him to see and worship from that day onward.
‘’Why are you so flustered?’’ he murmured to himself. ‘’You have slept with
many women and done some nasty things, yet you lose your cool over a naked girl in
front of you?’’
‘’You know, the reason might be, because of the situation’’ Alpha said. ‘’When
you look at all of this as a whole since she met you, just some hours ago, the whole
situation is kind of awkward. Also, i have to admit, there is a certain attraction
between the two of you. Is it natural? I can not say, but what i do know is, you are in
love head over heels, master’’. Kane tried to talk back, but inside of his heart,
something stirred, sending goosebumps up his back into his neck. He shivered and
turned around, letting her put her clothes on.
Some time later they were moving again, this time in search for the bandits.
Alpha had taken up the scent again and they were following it closely, keeping to the
bushes and tree lines, not wandering out in the open. After all, they had to avoid
being seen, or their attack could fail.
As they moved inland, they came upon a big cave, four sentries standing
guard, laughing and drinking something, probably some kind of alcohol. The cave
was cut into a cliff by hand, probably by this same gang of thugs. Two big barrels
with wood were burning fiercely, the flames licking the air, crackling and making
strange sounds. The guards didn’t seem to notice much around them as they were
making so much noise, it could almost raise the dead. Kane told them to stay behind
until he took care of the guards, so he climbed onto one of the trees, high overhead
jumping from tree to tree until he was just above the unsuspecting guards. He
crossed his legs on one side of the tree, hung himself downwards and slowly slid
down, holding his weapons out. When he was a few meters above them, he dropped
to the ground. Before his feet had hit the ground, he had rotated himself in midair,
beheading two of the guards on one side. Obviously they were not expecting any
trouble as they had a hard time reacting to the attack. The two living guards just
looked at Kane, not believing their eyes and a second later lay on the ground, in their
own blood and intestines. Two swift slices had gutted the two remainig guards who
were sprawled around him, still dieing. When Kane noticed the blood on his clothes,
he swore inwardly and thought about how it was going to be a pain to get the blood
out. Then he remembered hei won’t be the one to clean them this time, and chuckled
inwardly. ‘’Alpha, stay at the entrance and let no one get in and surprise me’’ Kane
added and walked inside, stealthily. Outside were a stunned Janine and an annoyed
Alpha, who walked up to the guards and started chewing them.
Kane ran towards the entrance of the cave and peered in slowly, seeing
barrels of burning wood every ten to fifteen meters, barely casting enough light
around the cavern. The cave was damp, cold and dark. Everything one would expect
from a cave and more. Sleeping guards were strewn all around the cavern, but no
one suspected even anything. Kane ran further inside and checked every corner and
entrance to each room slowly, stealthily. He did not want to waste his surprise, in
case something unexpected happened. More or less all of the rooms were just a
mess with mattresses, booze and food laying all around, drunken thugs asleep,
snoring, not a single worry in their despicable lives. Then, some rooms later he
stumbled across a dark room with a single candle in the middle. The room stank to
the heavens and was very damp. Kane looked closer in and there were a few dozen
kids and women, probably sleeping. Those must be the prisoners, he thought to
himself. He closed the door again and made a mental note as to remember the room
in case something happened.
Kane proceeded to what looked like a main hall, a number of barrels standing
in front, lighting the area around the room up. No way would he get inside
undetected, but, that didn’t really matter. Nothing he couldn’t handle coming at him
from behind, and nothing would get inside the cave, since Alpha was outside. Kane
decided to just walk in nonchalantly, and take it from there. Upon entering he wished
he hadn’t done that. No use crying over spilt milk, as they said. There was a big
group of people inside, no idea how many, just a rough guess of a score of people.
What the hell did over a hundred of ruffians do inside the main hall, armed, he
thought out loud.. As if they knew he would be coming. Every one of them had a
sword or saber out and a bowgun in the other hand. It looked like some kind of trap,
no idea how they had known, but he didn’t really care. He just laughed and took up a
battle stance. Basically all of them looked around at each other, puzzled expressions
on their faces. Then they burst out in laughter, pointing with their weapons towards
him, making stupid suggestions. One of them, sitting on a golden throne, stood up
and walked slowly towards Kane. He stopped a few meters away from him and put
up his hands for the crowd to be silent.The man was pretty tall, muscular, dark
skinned. He had short black hair and two oversized earrings in his ears, one gracing
his nose. He held a large two handed sword in his hand, wielding it with ease. The
clothes on his body were all ragged and with blood stains, tho a good pair of boots on
his feet.
‘’I do not care how you got in, nor do i care for the four guards you probably
killed. What i care for, is the girl that is with you.’’ he said with a sly smile on his face.
‘’How do you know of the girl?’’ Kane replied, acting dumb. His face
brightened, mouth widened, as in joy over the question.
‘’Why now that is a good question!’’ he yelled out. ‘’My mage told me. He can
sense things, the future, the past and so on.’’
‘’Oh my, how intriguing.’’ Kane replied, interested in the mage. ‘’Where is this
mage, if i may ask?’’
‘’None of your concern!’’ he yelled at me. ‘’All you need care about is dying’’ he
said sarcastically.
‘’Did your mage tell you how this battle will play out?’’ Kane asked with a smile
on his face.
‘’No. He did not see, but that doesn’t really matter. U die here, now, at my
hands’’ he said, full of himself. ‘’Attack, now!’’ he yelled, pulling his sword close to
himself, taking it in two hands and rushing towards Kane who leapt backwards, just
out of his reach. He did not know how strong the man was, nor where the mage was,
but that did not mean he couldn’t have his way with his cronies. Kane backflipped a
few meters, landing inside of a cluster of goons, spinning in a circle, he made a gory
mess out of them. Body parts were flying everywhere. Hands, arms, legs, heads
falling to the ground in a pile of gore. The poor unsuspecting men didn’t even have
time to raise their weapon as Kane was to fast and his spin was almost too fast to be
seen with the naked eye. The swords were excited, as if alive, just like before. He
could feel their heartbeat throbbing in his hands, a strange sensation. The more
blood they drew, the more excited they got. He decided to test something and
launched himself to the next grouped up meat wall, a group of a dozen goons. They
didn’t make the same mistake and attacked him viciously, slashing at him with
swords, failing miserably, while one of them had almost hit him with hsi bowgun,
bringing him almost to the ground. Lucky for him, he was as agile as a cat. The
swords broke on contact with his now vibrating, red blades, or cracked in best case.
With a wicked smile, Kane launched himself at them, slashing into their bodies like
into air, cutting them apart in a few motions. It was as if there was an after motion.
Even if he missed slightly, they got cut or severed a second later. How exhilarating.
He loved it and enjoyed every single drop of blood he drew with his blades, and at
that moment, he knew he had lost a part of him, since he had not been like this. To
his own surprise, he didn’t care much about it. All he cared about now was carnage,
death, destruction.
Seeing the carnage in front of them, the goons lost heart and did not rush at
him anymore. The leader stepped forward again, boldly. He raised his sword in both
hands and lunged at Kane who deflected his sword with one blow to the left, bringing
up his other blade to cut him up, when a follow up attack occurred just to his left. A
small one handed sword, or a big dagger, embedded itself into Kane’s side, drawing
blood. Kane got infuriated and slashed around him, his blades not connecting. The
sword disappeared and footsteps could be heard running around.
‘’What the hell?’’ Kane said more to himself than anyone else. The leader used
Kane's distraction to swing at him again, almost getting Kane who had to use both
hands this time to deflect the sword, cracking it in the process slightly. Only one more
clash with the sword and it will be almost useless, for offense anyway. The sword
appeared again, this time inside of Kane's back. Luckily it did not have much force,
so it didn’t penetrate too deeply. The sword pulled out, blood flowing out with its
disappearance. Kane's rage took over and his mind went blank. Something made a
sound behind Kane. He did not look back to see what it was, instead lunging
forwards stabbing the goon with both blades, ripping them out to the sides, almost
cleaving him in two. He gurgled something and fell to the ground. The crowd was
stunned silent and for a long moment no one moved.
The sound behind Kane could be heard again and he slashed behind him,
finally connecting with something. He smiled and went silent.
‘’Boo!’’ he said loudly. Then the hysteria began, trying to get away from him,
the bandits tried running outside of the cave. He rushed towards the exit of the room,
to prevent them from leaving. They just rushed at him, trying to move past through
sheer numbers. A few managed to get past Kane and were mowed down by Alpha.
The ones who had not made it were staring at their reaper. They all knew there was
only one outcome. Death. Kane ran into the group of survivors, deflecting blows
whilst ripping out limbs, like plucking an insect's wings. The room was filled with
screams and curses until the last bandit was laying on the ground, dying.
Not a single sound could be heard within a minute tops. Kane opened his eyes
and he was standing in the middle of a heap of gore and blood. He smiled, wickedly.
''This is what you get for attacking me, the future God king of this God forsaken
place'' he roared. ''I will remake it in my own image, and i will stop at nothing to get
there''.
Kane released his swords and they disappeared, immediately the blood lust
disappeared and a feeling of nausea swept over him. He fell down to his knees and
threw up everything he ate for the past day. Almost a hundred dead people laying
around him, disemboweled, gutted, cut apart. He had done the same as the bandits
had done to the village of Ithice. At least they were avenged.
After opening his eyes, the sight of them sickened him again and he threw up
again. Kane somehow got up and ran outside, coming to another sickening sight.
Alpha had done his share. A few dozen bodies were laying around, in almost as
much a mess as what he had done. Alpha just stood there, with his own soul forge
summoned. He held a smaller body in his mouth, chewing on it. The arms and legs
dangling to the sides, Janine sitting a few meter beside him, unmoving, pressing her
back against the wall. Her eyes were wide open, in shock, horror, disbelief.
‘’Alpha, what the fuck are you doing!?’’ Kane yelled at him, still sick to his
stomach.
‘’Huh?’’ he replied incredulous. ‘’Why, i am having a snack?’’
‘’You moron, you are eating a human! Spit him out immediately!’’ Kane yelled
at him. He chewed a few more times, then threw him to the ground.
‘’Spoil sport’’ he murmured to himself.
‘’What?!’’ Kane yelled in exasperation. The damn wolf was giving him attitude.
‘’What the hell is wrong with you man? I mean wolf, obviously since you’re not
human. Anyway, why the hell would you eat such a disgusting human. At least eat a
pretty female!’’ He put his head up slightly, staring Kane in the eyes. Then suddenly
his face went all mellow, placing a huge smile on his wolfish face. It was too funny to
see and not laugh at. Kane burst out in laughter and fell to the ground on his back,
laughing and rolling on the ground. The idiotic look he had on his face was too much
for Kane to take. A short while later, he sat up and looked at Alpha. ‘’Never do that
again, Alpha. U will laugh people to death.’’ Alpha drooped his head slightly and
growled at Kane, then launched himself on top of him and started licking his face.
Kane was taken by surprise to be honest. Such a big beast, and then to show
affection and emotion? It was strange to say the least.
‘’Say, Master. I felt something strange going on when u were fighting inside of
the cave. A presence kept appearing and disappearing. Did something happen?’’
‘’Yea. There was someone there who kept stabbing me with a shortsword and
then disappearing. But, i got him, or her, or whatever it was. U can become invisible,
maybe, but, my swords will still slice through you, since your physical form is still
present. They sure were annoying though, that much ill give them. Come to think of
it, I'm bleeding like a pig’’ he said and fell over.
‘’What will we do now?’’ Alpha asked Janine. She was still in shock but
managed to get to Kane and check him. She bandaged the wounds with clothes and
sat next to him, waiting.
A short while later Kane woke up and sat up straight, looking around him.
Janine was sleeping next to him, snoring softly. It was so cute to listen to. Alpha
looked up and walked over. ''What next?'' He asked while he cuddled up against
Janine. Janine woke up as well at that moment and turned toward Kane, who was
standing up. Then she felt the soft fur of Alpha all around her and she nested in
deeper.
‘’Where are you going?’’ she asked Kane. He turned around and answered.
‘’I’ll go inside again, look for anything edible, then have the woman prepare
dinner for all of us. In the meanwhile, i will go scavenge all the corpses, or rather, the
body parts. I still have to set the prisoners free as well and look for yo