William tried to control what he was feeling but the images kept throwing themselves in front of his vision. The thought of ripping Ares throat open before the werewolf had a chance to turn around. The taste of fresh blood from the kill flooding his mouth and making it water.
William tried to shake away the images, he tried to let go of his anger. The harder he tried to regain control, the more control he felt slip through his fingers. He wanted to scream for help but no words would come out of his mouth. He looked as Ares walked away down the street. His teacher was unaware of what was going on. William tried to raise an arm, something, but the harder he fought the weaker he felt himself become. He wanted to stop all of this. His mind was slipping, and he was losing himself to the blood and death that wouldn’t leave his sight.
He wanted that power. He wanted that thrill. He wanted to kill everyone.
No! No! I don’t want to kill. He felt a ripple run out through his mind. Is that laughter? If you’re laughing, you’re not thinking about killing. He was able to move his hand and grip his left arm. With an effort he was able to dig his claw into his flesh and pinch down on the nerve, hard. The involuntary yelp that escaped his lips was the greatest sound he had ever heard.
Ares whipped around at the noise. He stood still. For a moment he was a statue, framed against the backdrop of the black underground city. Then the shape shifter was in motion. He ran forward and plowed into William’s chest. The pure concussion of the impact knocked William up and back ten feet. William sailed through the air, almost in slow motion. He could see Ares take a deep breath and watch. William could feel the air on his body as he passed through it. This is almost like swimming. Before he had a chance to move his arms to see if he could swim, he crashed down on the stone street. He winced in pain and another yelp escaped him as he met the stone.
The impact was rough, and he rubbed his hands behind the back of his head. The beast was not through yet and he felt anger emanating from it, not from himself. William rubbed at his back as he forced the anger away from him. Was I really that mad at the Elders? William knew the anger he was feeling now was coming from the beast inside of him. William was able to control those emotions and deflect what he felt. He was able to rationalize and study the anger that wasn’t coming from him. It augmented my own raw emotions.
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As William sat up and got to his feet, he reflected on what had just happened. If Ares hadn’t been here… He knew that dwelling on things that could have been was unhealthy. He stood up as Ares approached him. Ares was walking in a fighter’s stance. His steps were evenly spaced and controlled. He walked with his hands and arms out in front of him and his legs remained very carefully spaced apart.
“William? Are you alright?”
William stood there flexing his arm muscle and looking down at himself. The beast was still awake, but he was diminished. William had full control over his limbs once again.
“Yes, I’m alright. I, uh, I was just scratching my arm and I dug a little too deep, that’s all.”
“You will learn to keep it in check. Or I will kill you.” Ares leaned over William. His teacher sniffed at him and spun on his foot and walked off down the street once more.
William let out the breath that he didn’t know he was holding and began to follow his teacher once more. William had no doubt the Ares wouldn’t hesitate to kill something that he perceived to be a threat to the city or to himself. William walked in Ares’ footsteps; the question of where they were going was lost to him. He was too busy trying to understand what had just happened. It was obvious that the beast fed on William’s emotions, especially anger. What are you? He asked to that part of him which he didn’t understand. The beast side of him that he had awakened was terrifying and strong. The urge to kill seemed to be the only thing it lived for. Granted, he didn’t know it that well but from the last two encounters with that part of himself, William was beginning to feel like it could never be reasoned with. Will I ever have full control over myself again? The question was disturbing on a lot of levels, but he didn’t have the time to explore them.
Ares turned up a ramp on a nearby building. William turned and started up the ramp as well. Ares got to the second-floor landing of a room and turned to face William as he drew closer to the massive shape shifter. Ares motioned William inside the room.
William walked through the door and found himself in a well-lit, well decorated room. Several paper Chinese lamps hung from the ceiling. Their bright orange paper was painted with dragons and scenes of war from the steel age, men fighting men on horseback with spears and swords. On the walls hung several scrolls. One had a long and elegant string of Chinese characters flowing downward in a broad line from the top to the bottom of the white parchment. Others showed scenes of mountains sides with houses shrouded in mist. All the scrolls had some Chinese writing on them, some had more than others.
William saw an elaborate dresser with a mirror frame crafted from plain wood. On the dresser reflected in the mirror behind it was a remarkably well-made model of a great wooden sailing vessel. He couldn’t be sure, but he could have sworn that he had seen that ship, or another very much like it, before. William made his way over to the treasure trove of antiques.