William had just finished breakfast with the rest of his pack. He wanted to go see Huan Li later that day and see if the Elder Scout had any advice on if they could do more than just burn down a few vampire warehouses. He was worried about Ansuya and even though he could feel that what they done over the last few weeks and months had caused some chaos for the vampires. Whether that was enough to help Ansuya, only time could tell.
Suddenly a bright orange flare shot out of the western side of the city. William watched it shoot up and bounce off the cavern ceiling. He hadn’t ever seen anything like that in the city before and wondered what was going on.
Nicolas turned to face his pack, “What the hell does that mean? Is this some kind of drill?”
Charles shook his head slowly while keeping his eyes on the spot that the flare had originated from, “No, this feels wrong, very wrong.” He looked up at the buildings around them. He was thinking but William could already guess what his friend was going to say. “We need to get up to the roof and see if we can get a better look.”
“What about Aceso?” Katherine asked.
“She’ll know where to find us,” William answered.
Katherine nodded and the four of them ran up the nearest building ramp to gain a better view of the city. As he gained the rooftop William looked out over the city. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then he turned toward the north of the cavern. He saw bright orange tongues of flames lick up the trees there. Had that been what the flare was for? To warn about the forest fire? But that didn’t make sense, they didn’t have forest fires in the cavern, it was impossible.
The Sages should be going in that direction to redirect the streams to fight the fires. How could that have even happened? William felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around. He saw a similar fire burning in the south eastern indoor forest as well. He knew that something was, as his friend said earlier, very wrong. One fire could be an accident but two? Something was happening and he didn’t like the thoughts that started swimming through his head.
“We have to get to Billy, now.” William said moving back to the ramp that led to the street level.
“What are you talking about Setford?” Nicolas scoffed, “We should be going to see about fighting those fires, not visiting one of your friends.”
“If I’m right, you’re going to be much happier having a weapon in your hand instead of blindly going off to fight fires,” William replied over his shoulder as he descended the ramp.
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Charles sped down the ramp after William with Katherine and Nicolas close behind. Charles said, “This is bad. If it is what I think you are thinking of then we may already be too late.”
William gave Charles a pained look and began running down the street. His friend followed closely behind.
“You guys don’t think this is some kind of an attack, do you?” Katherine asked concerned as she ran.
“This city has been here for over hundreds, if not thousands, of years.” Nicolas said as he ran, “Who could have possibly found out about it now? This is the dumbest idea you’ve ever had Setford.” Nicolas said smiling.
William and Charles glanced at each other. They knew. The two friends nodded and shifted into their werewolf form. They leaned forward on all four legs in one fluid motion and shot off down the street as fast as their four limbs could carry them.
They had to get their weapons from Billy. He had to warn the city. He had to do something. He heard spurts of gunfire off in the distance. He skidded to a halt and listened. The gun fire rang out distantly a few more times. Then a few moments later a quick succession of two shots sounded.
Katherine came up beside him as he listened. She had shifted as well and Nicolas wasn’t smiling anymore. His dark sandy blonde fur was ruffled along his neck.
“Do you still think it’s a dumb idea?” William asked Nicolas.
“No,” Nicolas replied simply.
The four of them took off running at top speed. They needed weapons. If the city was going to stand, they would have to make the attackers fight for every inch of progress. He was going to give them all that they could handle. Whoever you are, you stumbled into the wrong place to pick a fight.
* * * * *
Ares and Physis were running through the forest chasing down a deer. Physis was flanking its right side and Ares had pulled off to its far left. Ares slowed down and let Physis pull ahead of the prey and force it into a left-hand turn. Her white fur flashed brilliantly through the deep green of the underbrush. She had no problem keeping up with the deer.
As the deer made the turn Ares hastened his pace and launched himself into the air. He caught the deer in the neck and brought his back legs swinging into the deer’s forelegs, snapping it’s knees.
The creature stumbled to the ground. With the force of the fall Ares was able to easily snap its neck and when he skidded to a halt let go of the dead animal’s neck.
Physis trotted up to her mate and nuzzled him in the deep fur of his neck. Then the two wolves buried their snouts into the hide of the deer and ripped into the meat below. The warm blood of the animal coated both their snouts and jaws.
Suddenly Ares’ head shot up and his ears were held erect and alert. Physis joined him a split second later. There was an unfamiliar smell in the air. Ares walked away from his kill and stalked his way through the forest, with Physis flanking him.
He stopped every so often to taste the air in the cavern. The unexpected scent was growing stronger. Ares crept closer towards the city, his large golden eyes taking in every detail around him. He had lived here for many years. This forest was as familiar to him as his mate. He moved unseen through the underbrush and the foliage that carpeted the ground. His paws moved silently over the dead pine needles.