William’s head banged against one of the platforms and his head exploded in light and pain. He tried to roll away from the platform but Ares was there already landing a viscous kick to William’s mid-section.
William forgot how to breathe, and he couldn’t make his lungs fill. He was gasping but no air would enter his lungs. He looked up as Ares reached down and grabbed William’s vest with one hand. The massive werewolf lifted William off the ground. He raised the human up to meet his gaze at eye level.
William’s feet were swinging about two and a half feet off the ground. The huge paw that was lifting William by his vest was closed in a vise like grip and William struggled against the inhuman strength of the werewolf. Ares’ golden eyes, like the room around them, seemed to glow with their own inner light.
Without a word Ares ripped William from his place in space and threw him over the seats where the Elders had sat. William crashed into the mural of the changing werewolf and crumpled to the ground in a heap. He knew he couldn’t take much more of this. His body was wracked with pain, and he couldn’t bring himself to move very fast. But he knew if he didn’t do something Ares would kill him.
He got up and managed to duck under Ares’ punch. The sound of fur and bone colliding with obsidian stone made a soft gong like ring. If William wasn’t running for his life, he would have admired the sound as it echoed around the empty room. William ducked behind one of the chairs and used it as a sort of shield. At least it was something to put between himself and the enraged werewolf. He fully expected Ares to rip the chair out of the ground but for some reason he didn’t touch the chair. Nor did the werewolf try to punch through the chair.
William took the small amount of time to look around the room. There were no weapons that he could see and still no exit. The question of how Ares got into the room floated across his mind. He pushed the thought aside. How Ares got in the room wasn’t really important right now.
William ducked under a grasping hand and darted away from the chair. The werewolf chased after him. William had almost forgotten how fast werewolves were. Ares stormed at him with both fists ready to land a terrible blow. One of Ares fists connected with William’s face. William let the force of the punch rotate his body around to face away from Ares. He let his body fall to the floor. He let Ares think he had landed a knock-out punch. At the last instant William caught himself with his hands and kicked both of his feet out into the air behind him.
His feet connected with fur and muscle, and he heard a very gratifying grunt. William brought both of his feet up under him and turned around. Ares was massaging his stomach. William allowed himself to smile. The smile slid off his face as Ares howled. The howl echoed off the walls reverberating and compounding on itself. The sound was terrible, and William had to fight the urge to cover his ears.
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Ares charged after William and William just barely rolled out of the way. He felt a little like a Matador in a bull fight. He didn’t get to celebrate much. Before he had even come out of his roll, Ares had his vest in his claw once more. The sudden stop of his movement disoriented William to such an extent that for a second or two he couldn’t tell which way was up.
Ares dragged the small human to his feet and then he was just holding fur. William had slipped out of his vest and was running to the far side of the room. Ares howled again and threw the fur vest down on the ground.
William was getting dizzier by the minute. There was nothing he could do. There were no weapons in sight. Ares was charging him again. He had survived federal agents and with Aceso’s help he had survived shadows. He had survived the strange tests of this tower and now he was going to be killed by one of his own kind.
Ares scooped up William and threw him across the room. He crumpled up against the wall. His teeth rattled inside his head and his bones crunched. He probably had a few broken bones, at the very least deep bruises. He slid down the wall and lay still on the floor. He couldn’t fight anymore. His head was exploding with every beat of his heart. His body was on fire and encased in tar. He couldn’t speak even if he wanted to. His mouth was dry and even breathing burned.
He looked up and Ares was standing over him. The werewolf howled and kicked William across the floor. Without his vest the friction of the smooth floor grated and scraped across his bare skin. He felt the burn of a nasty road rash forming. He stopped moving and looked up. He was up against the wall with the mural carved into it again. He looked up at the one phase he had never experienced before. The shapeless form just before the man transformed almost completely into a werewolf.
What could that mean?
William had not moved for all of two seconds before Ares yanked him off the ground by the wrist. Ares held the wrist in a massive paw and landed a devastating punch to William’s solar plexus. William coughed blood onto the floor. Ares landed another punch to William’s midsection and more blood came up past his lips. Ares ripped William to the side, throwing him to the floor.
William wasn’t thinking clearly.
All he wanted to do was teach this wolf some manners. Rage smoldered in his midsection where Ares had punched him. He wasn’t sure how, but he stood up and started walking toward Ares. Ares darted forward but before he could reach out and grab William, he ducked under Ares’ arm and rotated backward. William caught himself in a bridge stretch and extended his right leg up and into the crevice between Ares’ legs.
The werewolf let out a hurt whine and retreated back a step. William raised himself up and moved toward the retreating werewolf. Ares was covering himself and staggered back a few more steps. William kicked at Ares again and even though his hands were protecting his soft area between his legs the werewolf grunted again.
William jumped up and landed a two-legged kick to Ares’ midsection. William fell to floor and even though he wanted to, his body refused to get up. The anger that he had felt a moment ago was ebbing away. He had to get up, but he couldn’t.
Ares recovered from the blows that William had given him and was standing over William’s limp body. William looked up and the last thing he saw was Ares smiling down at him. Then his sight was as dark as the obsidian stone that surrounded him and there was nothing.