William could see that Billy was unconscious, his eyes were closed. The rush of air from his fall ruffled his fur. William’s eyes widened as he watched the other werewolf smile and bring up his knee. The inevitable collision that was going to take place between the two werewolves drove William to move but he couldn’t do anything except stand there and watch it happen. The two objects, Billy’s unconscious body and the other werewolf’s knee, came together in a beautifully tragic display. Every second brought the two objects closer and closer together.
Just before impact time seemed to catch up with itself and Billy’s exposed back slammed into the raised knee of the werewolf. The sound was sickening and William knew that Billy Jones, the city’s weapon smith, was dead. The lifeless form slid from the other werewolf’s knee to crumple to the ground.
An inhuman guttural yell of challenge emerged from William’s unfrozen throat. The werewolf slowly turned around. The seven foot tall monster was covered with tan fur shot through with black streaks. It silently faced its new challenger.
William took a step and froze. Why couldn’t he change into werewolf form? He tried again, nothing. He closed his eyes and tried to center himself. There was no center, only darkness, a slight wheeze from smoke inhalation, and the sound of the cruelest laughter he had ever heard and yet it was very familiar.
William opened his eyes to see that the werewolf that had killed Billy was still standing in the middle of the street laughing with his head raised toward the ceiling. William made eye contact with the thing and it stopped laughing and looked at him. “What’s wrong, William? Can’t change forms?” The werewolf leaned over Billy and with speed that William’s eyes couldn’t track his jaws shot forward and took a huge chunk of flesh from Billy’s lifeless body.
William’s voice caught in his throat as he tried to challenge the werewolf again. He took a step and failed to change forms again. It was as if he couldn’t change because that ability was lost to him, as if he had never been a werewolf or a shape shifter.
The werewolf faced William in the street. “What’s the matter, William? Don’t you recognize me?”
It’s not possible. And yet the truth of it was staring him in the face. The murderer of his friend, the cause of the wanton destruction around him was himself, his other, in his werewolf form. This wasn’t possible and yet his eyes and ears and heart told him the truth of it.
The werewolf spread both of his arms out to his sides to take in the city around him. He raised his snout to the cavern ceiling and let out a howl of victory that shook William to the core of his being. William couldn’t move. He could have fallen to his knees in sorrow, he could have turned and run back the way he had come, he could have tried to get past his other and make it the Tower, which was his only chance at survival. In his present form he would be a swift kill for his other, he held no delusions about that.
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The howl rang out through the city, across the smoke filled streets and echoed off the far cavern walls. His other lowered his arms and faced him once more. “Don’t you like what I’ve done with the place?” he took a step in William’s direction. “None of this would have been possible, you know, if it wasn’t for you.” His other kicked roughly at a human corpse that lay partially in the street. “I owe you everything, William. And as a token of my appreciation, I brought along a friend of yours. I just love reunions.”
His other turned around toward a building that was disgorging fire, a steady stream of thick smoke was exiting out into the street. “He’s here.” He stepped across the street and leaned up against a building.
William now had a clear view of the fire. The smoke swirled and billowed in and out as an unfelt wind moved it. The dark greys and blacks of the smoke moved in a rhythmic flow that captivated him. He might as well have been the last being alive in the city that was crumbling around him and for some reason that didn’t matter. There was nothing else in the world except him, his breathing and the smoke, the beautiful smoke that moved and comforted him.
The building suddenly exploded outward and his eyes grew wide as he was forced back a step by the concussive force of it. The heat of the fire singed his face and he raised his hands to protect himself. His other was still casually leaning against the building on the far side of the street, seeming to have expected the blast.
William looked up into the fire and the smoke coalesced into a form. It was a very rough profile, something that looked like it might have been human. For a moment William thought that it was a survivor that was stumbling out of the building. He took a step toward the silhouette. The form grew in size and William now recognized it for exactly what it was. He tried to run but his feet were anchored to the floor.
The form raised itself off the street and grew again. The smoke was lifted from the thing and he could see colors. Black, white, and tan swirled together apart from the smoke and shadows. William saw eyes shine out from the distorting mist that surrounded it, cold golden eyes, now almost black. My God!
“You still remember me.” A cold voice sounded in his head, raspy and deeper than he remembered but unmistakable at the same time, Achelois. “I’m touched, William, really.” The gaseous form that used to his pack mate raised itself up off the street and flew at him with a speed that was frightening. Free of any earthly bonds it moved without sound. William was stone still in terror as the apparition flew at him. Through the swirling mists of the creature’s form William could make out the shape of a jaw, a bottomless hole that could never be satisfied. The shadow closed around William and fell on him in a feeding frenzy. The shadow ripped and tore at his exposed body. He had never felt anything so cold before. He heard no teeth gnashing, no flesh being ripped from his body, no sound of the attack at all. The only sound he heard was the cruel laughter of his other as it rang out through the city. Then there was nothing.