He woke up in a dark room. He tried to lift himself up but his arms had no strength in them. Lying on his back he stared up into the darkness. He was under soft, warm, furs. There was comfortable padding that supported his back nicely. He couldn’t see anything; the darkness was perfect.
He moved his hands to rest behind his head. He involuntarily stretched his whole body and realized that he didn’t feel any pain. He felt and massaged his midsection. He probed around his ribs. He massaged his temples and shoulders. He scraped his back against some of the furs that were covering him; no road rash, and no pain. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him except being hungry. He didn’t want to think about how long it had been since he had eaten. The thought of food made his stomach rumble.
A light began to illuminate the room. He wondered what he had done to make the lights come on. He looked around the bare room and was about to get up when he realized that he was naked. That was not as disconcerting as the sudden appearance of the girl who entered his room. He glanced down to make sure he was covered.
The girl was about fifteen, maybe. She stood about five feet tall and had gorgeous black hair flowing down to her waist. Her eyes were dark brown and her skin was tanned. She was not as dark as Ansuya had been but she was not nearly as white as he was. She was wearing a plain off-white dress that was made of some rough material. It moved with her steps and rustled against itself as she walked. The girl was carrying a basin that was filled with water. She set down the basin on a dresser that he hadn’t noticed before then. Then she placed a towel on a nearby rack and set down a bundle of things next to the basin.
William watched her as she worked. “Who are you?” The girl didn’t answer. She stopped what she was doing long enough to give him a sly look. She turned back to arranging the items she had brought around the basin. William lifted himself up on his elbows. “Where am I?”
“Inside the mountain.” The girl started humming to herself. She finished what she was doing and left the room as quietly and as quickly as she had entered.
William looked up and around him as he studied the ceiling and tried to pinpoint the source of the light. Here too the walls were deep glossy obsidian He saw shining white flecks in the deep glassy black of the ceiling. It looked like the ceiling was filled with ash or snowflakes. The impure obsidian glowed from the inside out. The flecks of impurities in the rock shone.
A huge dark form filled the doorway. The werewolf ducked under the door jam and moved into the soft, light of William’s bedroom. The werewolf stood up and William convulsively jumped to his feet and readied himself for another fight. Ares stood there with his hands held up in a sign of surrender. William lowered his hands but stood there studying the large werewolf.
Stolen story; please report.
Ares stood there watching William. He began to speak in the rough tongue of the werewolves. “William, I’m glad to see you’re finally awake.” Ares sat down and rested his back against the wall next to the open entryway.
William slid back down onto his bed as well. His stomach was growling and the sudden jump had made him light headed. He sat back down and looked across the room at the werewolf that could have killed him. Ares looked back at him.
“Where am I and why are you here? You didn’t get enough of me and you came to finish what you started?”
“You are inside the mountain.”
“Is that the only thing you people can say: ‘welcome to the mountain’, and ‘you’re inside the mountain’? What the hell IS the mountain?”
Ares regarded William with an even look. “You didn’t ask for any of this.” Ares rose to his full height. His head almost scraped the ceiling. “But neither did I, neither did any of us. I have been chosen to teach and train you in our ways, how to fight, how to kill, how to move, and everything else you need to know to survive. I am your teacher and if you want me to rip your arms off just keep yelling at me.” Ares stared hard at William and William shot a look of heated defiance back at him.
“Well, before you kill me can I at least have some food? I haven’t eaten for a few days, and I’m hungry. My throat burns and I haven’t drank anything for a while either.” William looked around the room. “How long was I asleep anyway?”
Ares softened his voice. “You’ve been asleep for three days, now.” Ares crouched back down on the ground. He let his hand fall to the floor in front of him to help support his great mass. “You’ve been brought here for a very specific reason. It’s my job to see that you are trained properly and to see if you are even capable of becoming an asset to our cause. I wish I could tell you that you could leave if you wanted too, but like I said this isn’t a voluntary thing for any of us.”
“What do you mean, I can’t leave. What if I…” William’s stomach grumbled and the hunger pains that shot through him was enough to double him over. He clutched at his abdomen muscles and fell over on his side. His body spasmed and he was unable to control his own muscles. He shook and his head bobbed. He strained his neck to stop moving his head as best he could. The sudden attack made his head explode in pain. Every jerk of his body compounded the pain and he could feel himself ready to pass out. He looked up at Ares for help. The werewolf had disappeared. His breath was coming out in ragged gasps as he fought his own body for control of his muscles. The spasms died down. He lay back on his bed looking up at the beautiful shining imperfections in the ceiling. The ceiling seemed to be really far away. He had heard of vaulted ceilings before but this ceiling was only just high enough to accommodate Ares at his full, almost eight-foot, height.